Main Street U.S.A. hub redevelopment at the Magic Kingdom

[JediMasterMatt]

This photo helps make it clear why the poles are so distracting in this project.

They tend to be the tallest thing in a wide open space. This hub is so expansive now and open.. contrast this the examples highlighted from DL, etc.. the poles while present, don't stand out to you at first glance as they blur into the busy background. They are on the edges, and will be backed by buildings, trees, etc making them stand-out less.

But here, you have them out in the center of the hub areas... lone standers... drawing your eyes to them vs blending away like infrastructure should.

If you want an example of where they are obtrusive at DL.. along the parade route back towards the Matterhorn and ISAW they are more obnoxious looking.. given their size to the relative surroundings.

Here I think the mistake is they left this infrastructure out there bare and naked in a way that draws your eyes to it.

Kinda like that giant crane next to the Castle that has been up everyday since mid-January. Remember when the time to take down the lights took less than the time to put them up? I know they are also doing maintenance now; but, it's up everyday and is in use for a fraction of that time. My nine days onsite in late January saw perhaps 15 minutes of work being done on the crane while I was in the MK for hours at a time.

There's more than just parade light poles that are wrong with the way TDO puts on the "show" for all of us.

They just don't care like the use to.

I hate to keep harping on it; but, Anaheim put up a scrim to repaint their castle, painted it, took the scrim down for high winds, put it back up and have it down again all before the MK gets their lights taken down and maintenance done.

There's something broken in the swamps of Reedy Creek.

 

[note2001]

In no way am I defending Disney, but there are two things to consider here: 1) Disney is not done yet, there's an entire center to this hub that's not completed/landscaped; and 2) Who's park is it anyway?
I wish folk would let Disney finish the job they're setting out to do before complaining.

I'm sure in time as technology progresses Disney will change out some elements for other things. But for now, those lifts we see in Tokyo are massive, painfully slow, lifts that need an attendant to raise. I can't even imagine them putting them in the MK until the tech improves to make them smaller, faster and automated.

 

[flynnibus]

I hate to keep harping on it; but, Anaheim put up a scrim to repaint their castle, painted it, took the scrim down for high winds, put it back up and have it down again all before the MK gets their lights taken down and maintenance done.

There's something broken in the swamps of Reedy Creek.

Well to play devil's advocate... Anaheim had the castle up behind scrims for a good long bit before they painted them. They left Alice for years with a setup that looked like someone threw it up overnight half-a'd and left it.

I don't think this is about DL leading and MK ignoring... this is about design and focus IMHO.

 

[erclvrb18]

maybe if there were enough in park or online complaints just like with the trees a lot of ppl loved... the poles would come down.....

 

[TomP]

Having actually walked on it myself yesterday, the photos don't tell the whole story. Unlike the smooth concrete that has historically been there, this has a lot of exposed small round stones in it. The result is that it ends up looking more like a natural gravel path you might actually find in a garden of this type. The transitions to the old red concrete are a little abrupt right now but I anticipate all of that will get sorted out as they finish this all up in the coming months.

All in all, having actually seen it in person and walked through the areas instead of judging by photos, I think the whole area looks quite nice and is a really pleasing addition to the hub. We've still got a few months of work yet to go to finish up the north half of the hub including the turret towers to replace the lighting and tech booths, and a few missing railings in the southern part but it's looking really good to me.

Exposed aggregate paving would be a very nice touch to a garden area...more natural looking.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Kinda like that giant crane next to the Castle that has been up everyday since mid-January. Remember when the time to take down the lights took less than the time to put them up? I know they are also doing maintenance now; but, it's up everyday and is in use for a fraction of that time. My nine days onsite in late January saw perhaps 15 minutes of work being done on the crane while I was in the MK for hours at a time.

I'm posting this not in the form of defense, but, more in the celebration of reality. You do not take down a crane that size everyday. Why, because it is an 8 plus hours of labor to do so. If taken apart everyday it would involve 8 hours of assembly and another 8 hours of dis-assembly leaving only 8 hours of usable time. With what they are doing, it would still be up during the day.

Part two, because I know someone is going to suggest it. No, you cannot just lower the boom so it isn't visible. The castle is 187 feet high and the crane towers over it that would mean that you would need to have a space that is about 230 feet long to store the entire crane out of sight. Can anyone think of a place where that would fit on a daily basis.

But wait, I've seen the lower part of the crane, it's on wheels and is on a truck type bed. They could just drive it out during the day if they cared. OK, let's go back to the length of the boom. To do that they would still have to dis-assemble it to move it out of the park and not knock down any buildings in the process.

In January, when you said that you only saw them work about 15 minutes in 9 days, you are probably quite correct, however, during that time they were taking down the Christmas lights. They were only doing that at night. Now they are doing other maintenance and a lot of it, unless you look up behind the turrets or on roof tops is not visible by the public.

Once again, the realities of procedure and common sense conflict with our vision of what fantasy should look like. That fact of the matter is that you cannot have fantasy without reality setting it up.

 

[Goofyernmost]

maybe if there were enough in park or online complaints just like with the trees a lot of ppl loved... the poles would come down.....

Unless the poles are only up there to illuminate the area for nighttime construction, they are not coming down so just get used to tilting your head slightly to look around them.

 

[dstrawn9889]

This photo helps make it clear why the poles are so distracting in this project.

They tend to be the tallest thing in a wide open space. This hub is so expansive now and open.. contrast this the examples highlighted from DL, etc.. the poles while present, don't stand out to you at first glance as they blur into the busy background. They are on the edges, and will be backed by buildings, trees, etc making them stand-out less.

But here, you have them out in the center of the hub areas... lone standers... drawing your eyes to them vs blending away like infrastructure should.

If you want an example of where they are obtrusive at DL.. along the parade route back towards the Matterhorn and ISAW they are more obnoxious looking.. given their size to the relative surroundings.

Here I think the mistake is they left this infrastructure out there bare and naked in a way that draws your eyes to it.

again, the OUTER ring is for travelling, not standing and watching, and if you will notice, the light poles are between the INNER and OUTER rings, so out of view for the areas(except the FP+ viewing areas, and really if you use a FP for fireworks, you deserve to see poles --> LOL) that are designated for 'viewing'

 

[Cesar R M]

Yup. Section 23, Row 2, Seat 17:

50 dollars, face value. However, the light poles at WDW are narrower, and not infinitely tall, the fireworks would be above them if standing far enough back.

who the hell designed this stadium? ())

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Just an observation... I love how people love sitting on grass - even if it's fake grass. Heh.

But a more practical issue; this consumes a lot of space per person (let alone a family) and will surely lead to some trampled fingers. Obviously, this won't be allowed during the shows. Just sayin'.

 

[Cesar R M]

So is the project complete or is there still more to come?

the front ring and the area on the partners still need to be worked on.

 

[Cesar R M]

Hate to be that guy - but most of the fireworks are in the sky...above all of these poles. The area refers to Firework viewing, not Castle viewing.

what if they want to see the castle projections before the fireworks?

 

[note2001]

who the hell designed this stadium? ())

It's not the who designed it, it's the when was it designed/built. Hint - it's one of the oldest stadiums still in use by MLB. And no, I cannot afford to take my family to see home games, unless it's a rare occasion such as "beard day"

 

[Cesar R M]

Not only that, the telescoping pole wouldn't need to go into the ground. They could have built a planter type box around it for it to retract into.

or just an ornate concrete box (like those used for the mini statues), and the pole would go up from there.. aka not need to hide the pole all the way down.

Or you just choose not to stand right where the lights are in the first place? When walking up, divert your course slightly to the left, and bam, no light posts.

again.. it depends on how packed the place is.
when the place is full, you sometimes do not have much maneouver space.

 

[Bolt]

what if they want to see the castle projections before the fireworks?

Don't reserve that FastPass then? In the grand scheme of things, I'd never book it anyways. I've never really struggled to find viewing.

 

[Cesar R M]

In no way am I defending Disney, but there are two things to consider here: 1) Disney is not done yet, there's an entire center to this hub that's not completed/landscaped; and 2) Who's park is it anyway?
I wish folk would let Disney finish the job they're setting out to do before complaining.

I'm sure in time as technology progresses Disney will change out some elements for other things. But for now, those lifts we see in Tokyo are massive, painfully slow, lifts that need an attendant to raise. I can't even imagine them putting them in the MK until the tech improves to make them smaller, faster and automated.

Well, people would die of age if they waited until they finished the job all the time

 

[Martiyoman]

You don't need much vertical space for telescoping, because the pole would, well, telescope. This isn't an issue of there being one or two bad places to stand. Most people will have some sort of obstruction and all anyone is saying is that it's not ideal and an odd design for an area specifically marketed for pre-reserved firework and parade (? on that one...) viewing. I can already see the commercial..."Pre-reserve to save time and we will give you an off-center, partially-obstructed view of the fireworks!" Magic, pixie dust, and happy (awake?) 3-year olds with their (thankfully) nearsighted grandparents.

I am continually astonished by the willingness of folks on these boards, who spend a fortune on Disney vacations, to defend decisions by Disney that are clearly favoring cost over guest experience. That goes beyond mere apathy, which honestly would be better here. Disney could remove the restrooms "in response to [their] guests" complaining that they are sometimes dirty and people here would defend the decision.

Re: @Goofyernmost. You may be astonished at our ability to defend disney (which, incidentally, is not my intention, but rather to see a problem outside of the magic kingdom), however I'm astonished at people's ability to ignore budgets and money. You and others may think that priority one is guest experience, but priority one for TWDC is returns for stockholders. No returns=no new stock purchases= no new money= REAL stagnation. So given that, magic kingdom and tdo in general have to work within specific budgets; your options are telescoping light posts or the better turf stuff. They made a choice. If you don't like it, well...

 

[marni1971]

Hate to be that guy - but most of the fireworks are in the sky...above all of these poles. The area refers to Firework viewing, not Castle viewing.

And with the castle featuring more prominently in future shows, let alone low level rooftop pyro...

But for the now...

 

[Cesar R M]

Don't reserve that FastPass then? In the grand scheme of things, I'd never book it anyways. I've never really struggled to find viewing.

...redirecting the blame of a design/building mistake to the guests....

@ISTCNavigator57 was pretty much spot on about the ridiculous brand defending..

Re: @Goofyernmost. You may be astonished at our ability to defend disney (which, incidentally, is not my intention, but rather to see a problem outside of the magic kingdom), however I'm astonished at people's ability to ignore budgets and money. You and others may think that priority one is guest experience, but priority one for TWDC is returns for stockholders. No returns=no new stock purchases= no new money= REAL stagnation. So given that, magic kingdom and tdo in general have to work within specific budgets; your options are telescoping light posts or the better turf stuff. They made a choice. If you don't like it, well...

the WDC could be swimming in money and still build nothing.
It was Universal who pushed them to invest.

also bonus points for the classic excuse of "but..but.. disney is a business!"
seems to be the most blatant and common excuse.

 

[marni1971]

A quick google finds a picture of what the view used to look like...


It used to include trees and, gasp, light poles. The new view is a huge improvement and the lovely view down Main Street is still there without the light poles. Unfortunately, it does get dark at night, so the lights are necessary. If they bother you, stand on Main Street.

Great to see you still around. Not heard from you for a looooong time.

(And I'm being sincere )