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

[note2001]

yeah, if you would please clean off your camera lens, it would look much better

I thought those spots were on my monitor...

Gabe1's pic does give a citified feel to the plaza. Seems as though there should be an underground subway station off to the side here. Would one or two well placed decent sized trees would resolve that? There is so much pavement now, I doubt it, but it's worth a try.

 

[Gabe1]

yeah, if you would please clean off your camera lens, it would look much better

A clean lens would only demonstrate more clearly how awful it looks. Note: I did credit the photographer for his photo. So the jab at me kinda unwarranted.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Today at the MK. Does that look horrible.

Intercot

The new paint looks nice.

 

[GrumpyFan]

So, is the big crane gone? Or was it just not up in the pic?

 

[dstrawn9889]

another thing to shoot this weekend... i hope that my remote shutter button arrives tomorrow. (got a monopod to mount my t1i to, and the remote to fire the shutter, that's like having a 57" arm extension!)

 

[MarkTwain]

I don't know if this has been discussed yet, but... it sounds to me like the primary reason the hub is being expanded is to better handle fireworks crowds and MK egress on the busiest days of the year. Isn't likely that with all the expanded guest area, Disney will just expand MK's capacity accordingly, negating any improvement? Just thinking about this today.

 

[danlb_2000]

I don't know if this has been discussed yet, but... it sounds to me like the primary reason the hub is being expanded is to better handle fireworks crowds and MK egress on the busiest days of the year. Isn't likely that with all the expanded guest area, Disney will just expand MK's capacity accordingly, negating any improvement? Just thinking about this today.

Even if that is the case, which I am not sure if it is, it will only impact a couple days out of the year. MK doesn't close for capacity that often.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Even if that is the case, which I am not sure if it is, it will only impact a couple days out of the year. MK doesn't close for capacity that often.

It could impact crowd control staffing, which is already lacking at the park.

 

[steve2wdw]

I was looking at some old shots of the hub and Main Street and thought that these might bring back some old MK memories for the "old-timers" (me included in that group).

 

[psherman42]

I love the shot with the trees down Main Street towards the train station. However, I guess I'm one of the few who likes being able to see the entire castle from the end of Main Street. I'm not saying Main Street couldn't use more trees, however there has to be some sort of middle ground between then and now.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Today at the MK. Does that look horrible.

Intercot

Between the cult of personality and that statue, the rigid planning everywhere and long lines just to get food, and the vast expanse of concrete leading up to a castle devoted to fairy tales, the MK is beginning to remind me of Moscow's Red Square.

Quite the feat for the place that once above all others symbolised the capitalist alternative!

 

[Gabe1]

View attachment 50419 View attachment 50420 View attachment 50421 View attachment 50422

I was looking at some old shots of the hub and Main Street and thought that these might bring back some old MK memories for the "old-timers" (me included in that group).

Such a pleasant area that was. You can see guests just taking a moment to relax on a bench all finding a bit of shade even though it wasn't hot judging by their clothing. That last photo brings back memories, between the Hub and Castle is where my DS just a hair shy of three broke away from my parents and joined the parade. DS who just loved Winnie and his Friends grabbed Pooh from behind by the leg just as he past the opening of the Hub. Security wouldn't let my folks grab him and eventually security brought him back to my mortified parents.

Yep, anyone have that on video tape from June 1990, afternoon parade I'd love to see it!

Note: In that last photo look at how little space that old Disney Stroller is using.

 

[marni1971]

The Hit Parade from June 1990?

In the hub no less.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I love how the hub looks with trees but I also love Wishes and the castle projection show so I can understand why they removed the trees that blocked the view. A good compromise would be to build a couple small peninsulas jutting into the moat from the front corners of the castles to allow for a couple huge tree to anchor the castle with greenery without blocking the view of the nighttime shows. Even 1 big tree in each corner would be a huge improvement.

 

[optjay]

"Main street USA" no longer exists at the Magic KIngdom. The only thing missing from the baren concrete area between the train station and the caslte is a Walmart.

 

[Otamin]

A good compromise would be to build a couple small peninsulas jutting into the moat from the front corners of the castles to allow for a couple huge tree to anchor the castle with greenery without blocking the view of the nighttime shows. Even 1 big tree in each corner would be a huge improvement.

Agreed.

It's not the most ideal thing to do, but doing such a thing would at least help make the castle sit a bit better. Perhaps similar to how the Tokyo castle is?

http://www./wp-content/uploads/2011/03/tokyo-disneyland.jpg

The stage in front also doesn't help in Florida, and nor does the post-2006 colour of the castle either.

Whilst the 2006 colours of the Tokyo castle made the castle look better (as evident above), the 2006 colours of the MK castle made it look worse.

 

[Cesar R M]

Agreed.

It's not the most ideal thing to do, but doing such a thing would at least help make the castle sit a bit better. Perhaps similar to how the Tokyo castle is?

http://www./wp-content/uploads/2011/03/tokyo-disneyland.jpg

The stage in front also doesn't help in Florida, and nor does the post-2006 colour of the castle either.

Whilst the 2006 colours of the Tokyo castle made the castle look better (as evident above), the 2006 colours of the MK castle made it look worse.

it also helps a lot all the green there.. green that they love to kill at WDW D:

 

[CrescentLake]

View attachment 50419 View attachment 50420 View attachment 50421 View attachment 50422

I was looking at some old shots of the hub and Main Street and thought that these might bring back some old MK memories for the "old-timers" (me included in that group).

Never seen the hub/MSUSA like that before...thats gorgeous. My goodness, breathtaking.

 

[mm52200]

Honestly I'm always the most confused by the removal of the trees in Town Square. Those do nothing to "block" the fireworks or projection show, so I don't understand why they had to get rid of those trees. I feel like there can be some kind of compromise between no shade and benches, and overgrown trees. There has to be some middle ground.

 

[Rob562]

Honestly I'm always the most confused by the removal of the trees in Town Square. Those do nothing to "block" the fireworks or projection show, so I don't understand why they had to get rid of those trees. I feel like there can be some kind of compromise between no shade and benches, and overgrown trees. There has to be some middle ground.

I think the old ones were removed because they out-grew the available soil, but I have no idea why they chose to replace them with smaller trees that wouldn't grow like the originals.

-Rob