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

[xdan0920]

I actually like it better with smaller vegetation. The new plants will grow. I hope they keep them well pruned, shorter than the previous ones.

I do think the building has lost much of its architectural saying power with the terrace being glassed in. And visual unity with the neighbouring TL Terrace. Surely there was enough indoor seating to leave those balconies open for guests who prefer to sit outside in the shade?
(Or re-open the many closed restaurants, so all seating issues are solved at once. Ops may prefer every table occupied for maximum efficiency, rather one table opening up at the exact instance a guest shows up, but the guest experience is better served by a surplus of tables and seating options, so the guest can decide at his leisure where and when to sit)

Completely off topic. but it hit's on my 2nd biggest pet peeve with present day MK. Why do I have to employ special ops level reconnaissance to secure a table for a QS meal? The guest experience would improve dramatically if they just re-opened the shuttered restaurants.

 

[xdan0920]

I found this book from my childhood over the weekend, I think it was called "Walt Disney World: The First Decade". In it I found this section, which I thought was interesting considering the construction.
View attachment 52831

Is this your revenge post?

 

[sshindel]

Is this you're revenge post?

Who, me?

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I found this book from my childhood over the weekend, I think it was called "Walt Disney World: The First Decade". In it I found this section, which I thought was interesting considering the construction.
View attachment 52831

Astonishing to look at. So much more sophisticated, mature. Less plastic.

Disney parks were designed better before designers had notions about what a Disney park looks like. Modern Disney often feels like a parodie of itself. The MK is being turned into one of those knock-off parks. You know, those comical Asian and European parks with plasticy fairytale castles and lots of pink flowers everywhere, because that's what they think makes the Disney magic.

 

[COProgressFan]

Completely off topic. but it hit's on my 2nd biggest pet peeve with present day MK. Why do I have to employ special ops level reconnaissance to secure a table for a QS meal? The guest experience would improve dramatically if they just re-opened the shuttered restaurants.

Agree completely on this. It's been discussed here a lot. But it's way more cost effective to cram everybody into a couple of large operations. The fact that it is a complete inconvenience for guests and poor show (when people sit on floors, sidewalks, etc.) is merely an afterthought. Every exec in Florida should be forced to take their lunch hour finding somewhere to sit/eat at the MK. I'm sure things would change quickly.

Funny how the supposed most visited park in the world has the most amount of unused dining facilities. You can thank Phil, Meg, et al. for that.

 

[CrescentLake]

Agree completely on this. It's been discussed here a lot. But it's way more cost effective to cram everybody into a couple of large operations. The fact that it is a complete inconvenience for guests and poor show (when people sit on floors, sidewalks, etc.) is merely an afterthought. Every exec in Florida should be forced to take their lunch hour finding somewhere to sit/eat at the MK. I'm sure things would change quickly.

Funny how the supposed most visited park in the world has the most amount of unused dining facilities. You can thank Phil, Meg, et al. for that.

Not being argumentative, genuinely curious. What else is shuttered besides Diamond Horseshoe and Tortuga Tavern? Those alone would be enough to warrant such a comment, but are there more?

 

[meyeet]

Not being argumentative, genuinely curious. What else is shuttered besides Diamond Horseshoe and Tortuga Tavern? Those alone would be enough to warrant such a comment, but are there more?

Tomorrowland terrace

 

[CrescentLake]

Tomorrowland terrace

Ah got it. Too much wasted space then. Trying to get a seat anywhere in the MK during Easter was an absolute nightmare.

 

[sshindel]

Not being argumentative, genuinely curious. What else is shuttered besides Diamond Horseshoe and Tortuga Tavern? Those alone would be enough to warrant such a comment, but are there more?

Don't forget The tomorrowland terrace noodle station, Aunt Polly's, and the one in Adventureland that is a fairy M&G now who's name escapes me at the moment.

Edit: Adventureland Veranda

 

[meyeet]

Ah got it. Too much wasted space then. Trying to get a seat anywhere in the MK during Easter was an absolute nightmare.

Friar's Nook is listed as seasonal as well.

 

[COProgressFan]

Not being argumentative, genuinely curious. What else is shuttered besides Diamond Horseshoe and Tortuga Tavern? Those alone would be enough to warrant such a comment, but are there more?

As others have mentioned, there's Aunt Polly's, Diamond Horseshoe, and "seasonal" locations (which are open a couple weeks or year) like Tortuga Tavern, Tomorrowland Terrace, Friar Tuck's.

And, if you've ever tried to get a hot breakfast at the MK without having a made a reservation months in advance for a pricey character meal, forget it. You don't even really have an option for a hot quick-serve breakfast if you wanted one (a Starbucks sandwich? maybe a waffle at Sleepy Hollow?). And The Plaza closes early most nights, so you can usually forget about dinner there after 7pm. And don't try to have a late lunch at Tony's (tried to get a walk up once) because they stop serving lunch around 2:30 or so, only to re-open again a couple hours later at dinner.

It's a real problem. They are leaving lots of money on table. They don't care though, because as long the places that are open operate at "peak efficiency" as seen on a spreadsheet, management is happy.

 

[Kman101]

Considering the hordes of people I saw today, I think it makes absolute sense to expand the hub and expand walkways. It was very very cramped just about everywhere. Awful. And it was a slow day (in terms of wait times). Just awful. The person I was with was completely shocked at all the people. Just couldn't get over it (I warned them). And the strollers. My god.

And they need SHADE too. And places to SIT.

 

[tirian]

It was built as a park with enjoyable entertainment.

It has become a spreadsheet that values year-round crowding.

That's the gist of it.

 

[Voxel]

It was built as a park with enjoyable entertainment.

It has become a spreadsheet that values year-round crowding.

That's the gist of it.

Some would argue that Magic Kingdom was built as a spreadsheet to fund a greater project. (Devils advocate) The Hub needs to redesign to traffic flow, but they need to continue to have beauty to it. Trees can be beautiful, but after getting back from Busch Gardens Williamsburg they can be to much. They need to be find a balance between the Trees/no trees.

 

[tirian]

Some would argue that Magic Kingdom was built as a spreadsheet to fund a greater project. (Devils advocate) The Hub needs to redesign to traffic flow, but they need to continue to have beauty to it. Trees can be beautiful, but after getting back from Busch Gardens Williamsburg they can be to much. They need to be find a balance between the Trees/no trees.

Those would be people without a full understanding of how WDP operated at that time. People like to say that Walt wasn't interested in theme parks anymore, but they forget that everything in Florida was still intended to be superior to California.

 

[DManRightHere]

Some would argue that Magic Kingdom was built as a spreadsheet to fund a greater project. (Devils advocate) The Hub needs to redesign to traffic flow, but they need to continue to have beauty to it. Trees can be beautiful, but after getting back from Busch Gardens Williamsburg they can be to much. They need to be find a balance between the Trees/no trees.

Busch gardens Williamsburg is awesome. If I was informed correctly Busch gardens built their park into the topography of the area instead of bulldozing the land flat and building a theme park.

I guess Florida would have the opposite problem, if you want any topography you'd have to build it (only AK comes to mind). Maybe that's why it seems so freakin hot in there?

 

[Bolt]

Tomorrowland terrace

I ate there last week. Not too shabby.

 

[marni1971]

I ate there last week. Not too shabby.

One of the few weeks it's open to the masses? Lucky you!

 

[Kman101]

It was certainly nice to skip the crowds and walk THROUGH it, lol. And it still has a nice outdoor seating area. For now I presume. Cosmic Ray's was awful and packed. I don't know if the Terrace was open or not yesterday (never got back by there) but if not, it needs to be. Along with Tortuga. People are desperate for seating and shade. That was obvious.

 

[JungleTrekFan]

Don't forget The tomorrowland terrace noodle station, Aunt Polly's, and the one in Adventureland that is a fairy M&G now who's name escapes me at the moment.

Edit: Adventureland Veranda

Adventureland Veranda will be taken back by F&B, once Tink moves to Town Square Theater. It will probably need a nice refurb after and be seasonal but, it will be able to be opened in the future.