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

[azox]

Just saw your post, I was there today and took a couple of snap shots. the right hand side of the hub has a ton of walls up. These are the two photos I took before seeing your post. If I go back tomorrow I can see if that spot is affected as well. This shot was taken from the noodle station area in tomorrowland

 

[DisneyGentleman]

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.

Very insightful, and sadly, very accurate.

 

[GetAPaperBag]

Just saw your post, I was there today and took a couple of snap shots. the right hand side of the hub has a ton of walls up. These are the two photos I took before seeing your post. If I go back tomorrow I can see if that spot is affected as well. This shot was taken from the noodle station area in tomorrowlandView attachment 53618 View attachment 53616 View attachment 53618

Thank you. I knew that side was a disaster area, but I've seen a few pictures and videos online that show the rose garden area and this spot are okay. At least they were about a month ago when the video I found was shot.

Thank you for checking!

 

[JLipnick]

I'm considering this spot, anyone know if it's normal or has it been affected by the construction?

I proposed to my wife on the path leading from frontierland to the castle (looking at the castle from main street, the path on the left). very quiet spot and not affected by the construction. However, it can be a little more crowded when the path through the castle is blocked due to shows, but find the right time and you should have some privacy. I assume she doesn't read this board or else it won't be a surprise

 

[JLipnick]

Just saw your post, I was there today and took a couple of snap shots. the right hand side of the hub has a ton of walls up. These are the two photos I took before seeing your post. If I go back tomorrow I can see if that spot is affected as well. This shot was taken from the noodle station area in tomorrowlandView attachment 53618 View attachment 53616 View attachment 53618

so they don't have walls up to block the construction from the noodle station bypass? that is odd. but it allows for great pics!

 

[Bocabear]

Our expectation of theme has also changed in 40 years... When WDW was built you did not have shopping centers that looked like theme parks...Amusement parks looked like carnivals, Shopping centers were un-themed buildings... We now have come to expect design and theme in the most mundane of places... So naturally, a theme park designed in the late 60s looks a lot less impressive to us after going to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch sitting in a pseudo Egyptian temple. The new Fantasyland I think brings us up to date with our expectation for this day and age... The icons of the park however were beautifully designed and leaned more towards serious architecture than cartoonish whimsy.

 

[DManRightHere]

Soooo....any new photos/info on the hub? (Attempt to deescalate the tension)

Disney World  

 

[eastvillage]

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.

I would really love for it to open again!

I found this article on the shuttering of Adventureland Veranda. The entire article is interesting to read, but I found these two paragraphs especially poignant.

http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/advv.htm

"The Veranda presents one of the earlier Magic Kingdom case studies in / are you serious? By closing up shop a few months ahead of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and proceeding to sit empty (save for those occasional special events and a couple peak season stints) for the next sixteen years and counting, this one-time oasis of South Seas languor served as a nice poke in the eye to park visitors who missed both its atmospheric charm and its great menu items. Everyone working in the park at that time knew that the Veranda was closed as means of reducing labor costs - other high-capacity restaurants in the park could take up the slack for a fraction of the staffing demands necessary to keep a completely separate location running on a full schedule. But at what price to the park's environment? It's a constant reminder of how a WDW that once infused every possible corner with places to relax and discover unexpected details had set out in the mid-1990s to unceremoniously dismantle as many of those wonderful hideaways as possible.

That wouldn't be so obvious if all the Veranda ever consisted of was quiet interior spaces, but the building's exterior constitutes a quarter of Adventureland's exterior elevations. And for guests entering from the Hub, it's the first quarter. So whereas the average building on Main Street USA still houses some ground-level approachability for those wanting to see what lies within, the ex-Veranda building has managed to offer nothing more than closed doors and shuttered windows for a seeming eternity ... babies born when the Veranda closed are now driving cars and the average dog born at that time has gone on to meet its maker. People have been walking past a closed Adventureland Veranda for more years than they've been riding past that weird "hair salon" scene on the Peoplemover."

 

[Bocabear]

I know a while back they were considering turning the Veranda into a Pirate Themed restaurant...like Cinderella's Royal Table... Dining with Pirates....Which I thought was a brilliant idea, then it just sort of fizzled out and opened as a Tinkerbelle meet and greet... sigh.

 

[JenniferS]

I would really love for it to open again!

I found this article on the shuttering of Adventureland Veranda. The entire article is interesting to read, but I found these two paragraphs especially poignant.

http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/advv.htm

"The Veranda presents one of the earlier Magic Kingdom case studies in *** / are you serious? By closing up shop a few months ahead of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and proceeding to sit empty (save for those occasional special events and a couple peak season stints) for the next sixteen years and counting, this one-time oasis of South Seas languor served as a nice poke in the eye to park visitors who missed both its atmospheric charm and its great menu items. Everyone working in the park at that time knew that the Veranda was closed as means of reducing labor costs - other high-capacity restaurants in the park could take up the slack for a fraction of the staffing demands necessary to keep a completely separate location running on a full schedule. But at what price to the park's environment? It's a constant reminder of how a WDW that once infused every possible corner with places to relax and discover unexpected details had set out in the mid-1990s to unceremoniously dismantle as many of those wonderful hideaways as possible.

That wouldn't be so obvious if all the Veranda ever consisted of was quiet interior spaces, but the building's exterior constitutes a quarter of Adventureland's exterior elevations. And for guests entering from the Hub, it's the first quarter. So whereas the average building on Main Street USA still houses some ground-level approachability for those wanting to see what lies within, the ex-Veranda building has managed to offer nothing more than closed doors and shuttered windows for a seeming eternity ... babies born when the Veranda closed are now driving cars and the average dog born at that time has gone on to meet its maker. People have been walking past a closed Adventureland Veranda for more years than they've been riding past that weird "hair salon" scene on the Peoplemover."

I first started visiting the parks in '91, but have no recollection of ever visiting the Adventureland Veranda.

I was so excited two years ago to visit the Fairies, not just to meet Tink and Fairy #2, but to actually step inside this perpetually shuttered beautiful building. Sadly, we didn't get to see much of it.

I would love to see this location permanently re-opened. Another QS is desperately needed at MK.

Does anybody know what the plans are for the Veranda once Tink moves on?

 

[dstrawn9889]

sooo... mulched the old dock area i see...

 

[note2001]

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

Looking at the image of the lit tree, it reminded me of a couple of questions I asked my parents as a kid about them: "Are the lights always on the tree?" and "What do they do when the tree grows?"

Answers were "Yes" and "They re-string the trees every once in awhile."

I now see Disney changed the second answer to "They remove the trees"

 

[dupac]

I echo that the presence of the trees in the hub gave off a park (not theme park) like feel. I wish I could have seen it in person. Also all that concrete is hot....

 

[Kman101]

I think I saw in this thread that they are (or at that time it was posted) rumored to be adding lights again. Let's see if they actually hold true to that.

 

[WDWLover#1]

I think I saw in this thread that they are (or at that time it was posted) rumored to be adding lights again. Let's see if they actually hold true to that.

there are twinkly lights in the hub. Skip to 11:05. Granted it's 2 from what i can see. From late march:

 

[marni1971]

there are twinkly lights in the hub. Skip to 11:05. Granted it's 2 from what i can se

Yes, they have a few now. Back in the day ( I know...) virtually every hub tree twinkled. I think that's what is hoped to return.

 

[Rob562]

sooo... mulched the old dock area i see...

Since there's more planned in that quadrant of the Hub, presumably the mulched area is just temporary until they finish the southern end and start construction over there.

-Rob

 

[dstrawn9889]

just to keep runoff(mud and dirt) out of the moat river around the hub

 

[omurice]

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

"But how can anyone be expected to see fireworks or get a massive tan with all that GREEN FLUFFY STUFF blocking out the sky?"
(Seriously, I do love these pictures of the green, old-school hub. Thank you.)

 

[MissM]

I'm considering this spot, anyone know if it's normal or has it been affected by the construction?

Ok, as promised, I took some photos of the hub construction yesterday when I was there for my birthday - including this spot for you!

So you're good to go!!

There were also some people wondering if you could see it from Main Street. Here's a view from the Train Station:

It's not until you get further down to the end of Main Street that you start seeing the walls.

The Swan Boat dock is completely gone and the area is landscaped again:

There's just a new section of railing where it used to be:

And here's a quick shot taken from the PeopleMover looking down at the chaos behind the walls:

A side note: I presume that it's because of the standing water/draining water going on but the ENTIRE HUB (including the bridges from Tomorrowland and between the Castle and Cosmic Rays plus the Rose Garden) were COVERED in SWARMS of noseeums/gnats. I mean TENS OF THOUSANDS of them swarmed every inch at dusk and everyone was swatting at their faces and running to get past the swarms. It's terrible. Disney really needs to do something about it.

Anyway, that's a peek as of yesterday!