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

[flynnibus]

And therein lies the only real argument you have -- you say its a dumb idea. I didn't realize people paid thousands of dollars to experience trees. We have those where I live, not sure about you. I do pay thousands of dollars to experience things like wishes. As do most visitors to WDW.

Do we really need to explain the sum of the parts is greater than the parts alone? Or do I need to pull out the obvious 'why would I pay thousands of dollars to see stupid store fronts and a town square... I have those where I live'

 

[flynnibus]

you really got a thing for trees in the hub, huh?

No, I have a thing for the creative process and design that decided to put those trees there in the first place. It was no accident they were there.

 

[tirian]

Does anyone recall a time lately that there is not some major construction going on in MK? I was hoping the new fantasyland fences would be down when we get there in April and finally for once get the chance to see the MK with relatively few skims and construction fences and now I see all the pics of the central hub. Ugh! I haven't walked down mainstreet without a skim for the past 5 years. I understand and appreciate their improving and maintaining things but couldn't they give us a little break for once?

It's the result of waiting a decade before performing significant maintenance. Disneyland went through the same thing for its 50th anniversary. Don't get me wrong; I'm thrilled to see the maintenance and I think the new hub plans are necessary. But proper care would have helped avoid the latest construction insanity.

 

[orky8]

Do we really need to explain the sum of the parts is greater than the parts alone? Or do I need to pull out the obvious 'why would I pay thousands of dollars to see stupid store fronts and a town square... I have those where I live'

OK, Flynn. Got it. Trees good, because they throw the castle out of scale showing the failure of the creative process. Fireworks bad unless looked at through trees by the twelve people dedicated enough to camp out for hours to get the few spots not blocked by trees. Makes sense to me.

 

[Mr. Peabody]

Trees were trimmed for the projections already. Any foliage after late 2010 didn't get in the projection path.

The hub was trimmed in 2005 specifically for Wishes, due to sightlines, not for fireworks.

Just making things clear.

Why did fireworks sightlines suddenly become such an issue when Wishes was introduced? The Magic Kingdom had been putting on fireworks shows with those trees in the Hub for years.

I can understand trimming the trees a little if they're getting overgrown, but, with the trees gone, the Hub feels like a desert (and the rest of Main Street, for that matter).

 

[xdan0920]

I have a fireworks question.

Aren't they shot way up in the sky?

 

[jdmdisney99]

I have a fireworks question.

Aren't they shot way up in the sky?

That's what I keep thinking. Just. Look. Up. The only reason I figure they couldn't be seen is if you were standing right under the hub trees.

 

[flynnibus]

I have a fireworks question.

Aren't they shot way up in the sky?

Don't be ridiculous!!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I have a fireworks question.

Aren't they shot way up in the sky?

Depends...

 

[flynnibus]

OK, Flynn. Got it. Trees good, because they throw the castle out of scale showing the failure of the creative process. Fireworks bad unless looked at through trees by the twelve people dedicated enough to camp out for hours to get the few spots not blocked by trees. Makes sense to me.

If you don't get it.. you don't get it. I'm not paid to try to force the horse to drink.

 

[orky8]

If you don't get it.. you don't get it. I'm not paid to try to force the horse to drink.

I was thinking the same thing...

 

[Maerj]

So, when is this construction supposed to be finished?

 

[xstech25]

Pretty Pretty! Perfect backdrop for new parade.

attractions magazine twitter

I was at MK today and while I must admit it looked really bad, to be fair they were cooking with this paint project. By the end of the day the castle looked totally different than it did at the start of the day; a nice change of pace considering most things Disney does take awhile (but i'm sure they want those cranes out of there ASAP).

Also most people saw it and said "cool, they're painting the castle" and moved on. I didn't hear any complaints (and I was listening for them).

 

[Gabe1]

Depends...

good point but I think the picture of Under The Sea roof burning on 2/13/14 because of the fireworks would add some flame to your post.

ra pedersen

 

[marni1971]

As always, that actual facts and inside information you bring the conversation are most welcome

Thank you.

 

[danlb_2000]

So, when is this construction supposed to be finished?

2015

 

[Tobe]

Wow... Complaining about too much maintenance... That's one I haven't seen here before.

Also, welcome to the boards. (And for future reference, it's "scrim", not "skim")

Thanks, I knew that skim didn't sound exactly right. I should have checked the word before I posted.

And I hate to complain about too much maintenance but I haven't gotten to enjoy a scrim free walk down mainstreet in years and it's beginning to get a little old always having to shoot pictures to try and avoid the current one on each trip. Of course it may just be the time of year we go - usually April or May. We are planning a trip in November or December this year too so we'll see what that is like. Of course the hub will be full of construction but maybe mainstreet will otherwise be scrim free.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Why did fireworks sightlines suddenly become such an issue when Wishes was introduced? The Magic Kingdom had been putting on fireworks shows with those trees in the Hub for years.

I can understand trimming the trees a little if they're getting overgrown, but, with the trees gone, the Hub feels like a desert (and the rest of Main Street, for that matter).

I would say that, apart from having a close look at the sightlines when Wishes was introduced, there are two other reasons why trees have become a bigger sightline issue:

- The MK was designed for around ten million visitors. It currently receives seventeen, pushing on eighteen. This puts tremedous strain on all operational assects, a great many of which are adressed as we spweak: a MS back alley, extra ferry dock, extra bathrooms, extra buses (and to think there were no buses planned to begin with!)

- The hub trees need to be trimmed and regularly replaced. When this doesn't happen sightlines become compromised.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Here's a random thought... put show before efficiency. Oh wait.. Disney thought of that.. before they ignored it.

There is a huge demand for fireworks... fantastic. Is it taboo to accept there is a limited viewing area for said fireworks and maintain the show... vs gutting the show so you can stuff even MORE people into an already crowded place?

How is stuffing more people in to the point we have now 'better' for guests?

I wish that instead of gutting the MK for an industrial holiday processing plant, WDW would, or would've, opted to build a second MK. That is, the kiddie cartoon park of the tv commercials that never was and always will be. Then you can move all the Pixar and princesses and Junkie Sparrow nonsense there, so you can sell the MK as the authentic adult park.

Tokyo managed a succesful new gate that relieved the pressure on the castle park. DCA 2.0 managed it too. As did EPCOT Center, before they destroyed it. How come modern WDW with all the space in the world and four theme parks can't manage to spread the crowds?

 

[FerretAfros]

Why did fireworks sightlines suddenly become such an issue when Wishes was introduced? The Magic Kingdom had been putting on fireworks shows with those trees in the Hub for years.

I can understand trimming the trees a little if they're getting overgrown, but, with the trees gone, the Hub feels like a desert (and the rest of Main Street, for that matter).

The old Fantasy in the Sky fireworks shows were basically just a bunch of random fireworks, with Disney music playing. When they created Wishes in 2003, it became much more of an 'experience' type show, which needed to be seen from the right angle. Instead of just stopping where you were and watching the show in the sky anywhere in the park, you now needed to more-or-less have a view of the castle in order to see the projections and low-level pyro that fill in the 'gaps' in the show

DL has a similar problem when they introduced Remember in 2005. They ended up creating 'alternate' viewing areas in front of it's a small world (where they did some of the earliest architectural mapping projections) and Rivers of America (using some of the Fantasmic! infrastructure) to help disperse the crowds. With the amount they're investing in the hub redo, they could easily create a new fleet of fireworks shows that solve the problem

Similar to the recent focus on character meet & greets, it blows my mind that they put such a huge focus on something that really has a low capacity compared to the park's capacity, leading to the overcrowding issues we have now. If they could design a show that could be seen from more vantage points, or create alternate vantages for the existing show, they could sidestep a big part of this problem. But I don't see that going over well for the folks that they've brainwashed into thinking Wishes is the greatest thing ever (far from it, IMO) and that it *must* be seen from the hub (which it sort of doesn't)