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

[Lord Pheonix]

thats main street, but 2014 chicago themed insteadof 1800's victorian themed.....

 

[DaveN1996]

the moat will return... but it will become part of the newest fast pass attraction... the log ride

take that Universal and rip saw falls!

 

[The Visionary Soul]

I remember when @TheVisionarySoul first posted about this concerning what appeared to be a total lack of trees I thought how horrible that would be. Looking at the officially released WDW Video Anime' of the project really has me impressed. They seem to have found a way to greatly increase the amount of concrete, while still adding beautifully sculpted gardens, numerous trees, additional viewing areas, marble fountains, and what look like castle extensions (I know that they are not but they visually add to the castle). I think that it is a wonderful compromise to what is currently a disaster during the nighttime fireworks and the ensuing stampede to the exits.

The part I don't get is the construction of the pathway behind MSUSA. I initially thought that it would be a street with its own separate exit from the MK. This does not seem to be the case as it now looks to me to be dumping people back out into MSUSA near the Confectionary. There will still be a huge crowd near the exits beneath the Train Station.

I know that people are upset that WDW is not building Arcades similar to DLP but that didn't necessarily concern me as much as I originally thought that this was truly serving the purpose of adding an extra exit-only to the park. My question now is what purpose does an Arcade style street serve? I saw the photo of what was built in DL and it seems boring to me. I would love to see a photo (or photos) of the DLP Arcades for a comparison to see that WDW is missing out on with this addition. Could there possible be some type of legitimate issue with how WDW MSUSA store buildings are constructed? Would the cost just be too much to add back entrances to the MSUSA stores if there is infrastructure there that we guests cannot see that would need to be relocated? Is whatever else is located in back of MSUSA to much of a hassle to knock down and relocate somewhere else? Just very curious about this particular addition and apparently missed opportunity to the MK.

Well, I am still concerned about the trees, because they are kind of small. However, I agree. The video has impressed me, and I hope the gardens look as good in person as they do in the video. However, I still am not impressed with the East Street. It just doesn't solve all the issues that are consistently problematic on Main Street. It's really just a band-aid solution, in my opinion. I hope you can do some research on the Paris arcades and understand how beneficial something like that would be in Florida's climate.

 

[The Visionary Soul]

what is there in these? sure looks nice but are there real stores ect in them?

Yes, they connect to all the stores on Main Street.

 

[marni1971]

what is there in these? sure looks nice but are there real stores ect in them?

As said, most stores and both Centre Streets link into the the arcades. There's pavement cafés, exhibitions, displays and a wonderful Statue of Liberty diorama in the west arcade. The east side is Discovery, linking invention and steampunk into Discoveryland, the west side is Liberty, featuring engineering and the design and construction of the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty and the ties between France, America and Frontierland.

Although due to the parks orientation the arcades are more the north east and south west arcades.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

As said, most stores and both Centre Streets link into the the arcades. There's pavement cafés, exhibitions, displays and a wonderful Statue of Liberty diorama in the west arcade. The east side is Discovery, liking invention and steampunk into Discoveryland, the west side is Liberty, featuring engineering and the design and construction of the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty and the ties between France, America and Fromtierland.

Although due to the parks orientation the arcades are more the north east and south west arcades.

I marvel at your economy of words. One paragraph to describe those arcades and what's great about them!

One of the things I like best about them is how they make Frontierland and Tomorrowland ('Discoveryland') start at Town Square. Such marvellous transitions, echoing the subtleties of the MK 1.0. On the Frontierland side you can even walk through arcades and covered pathways from Town Square to Phantom Manor deep in FL. At DLP you can bypass the hub altoghether like that.

 

[danlb_2000]

And the WDW arcade will look like this:

Same idea, just different theming.

As long as it comes with a good backstory, people seem to accept Chester and Hester's because it has a logical backstory.

 

[FutureWorld1982]

... a wonderful Statue of Liberty diorama in the west arcade.

I absolutely loved that. I could stand for at least 30 minutes just watching it.

 

[steamboatjosh]

I hope it's all done by the time we go.

 

[Father Robinson]

They may re-fill after installing temporary dams.
Have done this before when re-constructing the Liberty bridge:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B7AJygr_R...Y/OSYJV0Iz9EU/s1600/liberty-square-bridge.JPG

That would be great if they did it like that! Seriously, do what needs to be done first in order to get water back in there ASAP! The more theming they can preserve during this whole process the better!!!

 

[Gabe1]

I am a bit behind again in Hubland. What does the Gate 3 mean?

 

[iheartdisney91]

Will this all be finished by October? Personally I don't see why they need it, I just don't want awful castle photos with cranes and machinery. :/

 

[marni1971]

Will this all be finished by October? Personally I don't see why they need it, I just don't want awful castle photos with cranes and machinery. :/

Yes.

October 2015.

 

[ford91exploder]

Will this all be finished by October? Personally I don't see why they need it, I just don't want awful castle photos with cranes and machinery. :/

That's why they invented PHOTOSHOP!, create a new layer, use the magic wand tool to select the cranes and use the clone tools to replace crane with sky and other appropriate background or select the castle and replace the background using the layer tools...

 

[steamboatjosh]

With summer being their busiest season I would think their goal would be to have it done by then. It's not like they're building a new ride or something.

 

[BwanaBob]

I am a bit behind again in Hubland. What does the Gate 3 mean?

MK has three ways to access the park via support vehicles and CM's... Park/Gate 1 behind MS East, Park/Gate 2 directly North of the park behind Fantasyland, and Park / Gate 3 behind Splash.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Yes.

October 2015.

Are there any significant moving parts here? I know they need to fill in the moat in a few spots, but it's 20 months to pour some pathways?

 

[steamboatjosh]

I just hope that the moats are filled back up with water and the hub is finished by the time that we're there. I don't really care about the bypass.

 

[Rob562]

Are there any significant moving parts here? I know they need to fill in the moat in a few spots, but it's 20 months to pour some pathways?

If they're going to limit themselves to one section of the Hub at a time to mitigate having walls up around the entire Hub, I could see it taking that long to finish the complete project...

-Rob

 

[SpectroMan93]

Will this all be finished by October? Personally I don't see why they need it, I just don't want awful castle photos with cranes and machinery. :/

You're right, Disney just shouldn't renovate anything, in order for guests to take satisfactory pictures of everything. And if you stood in the hub at night before and after Wishes, you would clearly see why this is needed.