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

[RSoxNo1]

They've got a foundation under construction on the other side too (near Casey's Corner)

Are they putting Utilidoors in this area?

 

[RSoxNo1]

On Disney's construction speed I'll just say one thing. This picture was taken in 2012 around November.View attachment 60630
This picture was taken in 2013 while Transformers was still soft opening.View attachment 60631
Now, if what @danlb_2000 said is correct and work on the Mine Train started in September of 2011 and we all know Jaws closed on January 2nd 2012 with demolition starting immediately as well as construction of Diagon Alley after demolition was done, is it so wrong to assume a SINGLE RIDE could be ready MUCH SOONER than a whole land + a train that travels between two parks? Let's face it, if it won't immediately make dollars fly out of people's wallets Disney sees no need to build in a timely manner and anyone who defends this speed of construction is just blind.

Mine Train took a while to build but the rock work is substantially more complex than the warehouse where they built Transformers. The reason for the comparison is that the construction overlapped.

 

[Mike S]

Mine Train took a while to build but the rock work is substantially more complex than the warehouse where they built Transformers. The reason for the comparison is that the construction overlapped.

I was referring to the construction of Diagon Alley, not Transformers. I only mentioned TF as a reference for when I took that picture which was during its soft opening.

 

[EdC]

Are they putting Utilidoors in this area?

Utilidors are not required everywhere. What financial benefit would be gained by having another passage way in the same area where there are other passageways? I attached an older copy of existing tunnels. As you can see, the pathways are much more simplistic than what is above ground.

 

[flynnibus]

What a curious coincidence that the projects that don't directly generate revenue are also the ones that generally have the most constraints to work around (like being in the middle of an operating theme park). Even the revenue-generating projects within the parks (recent examples like Be Our Guest or Spice Road Table) didn't exactly pop up overnight. It's far easier to build a DVC on an empty site than to change something within a working theme park with tens of thousands of guests and CMs passing through daily

While technically true - this just gets played as an excuse over and over as Disney drags their feet on projects NOT in the middle of a theme park as well. How's that new mall coming along??

Vertical buildings go up quite quickly in comparison, and it's much easier to track visible progress in photos

So again.. how quickly is that new mall coming along?

Or how about Pandora?

Or how about New Fantasyland?

Or how about Tangled toilets?

At least they built Bay Lake Tower in 2.75 years.

 

[WDW-Tex]

What is amazing to me is that tonight, while EPCOT had extras magic evening hours, wishes was full to the main street confectionary...I have been 20+ times to MK and only these last three times, April 2014, and twice this week 7/14 has wishes been so full

 

[flynnibus]

What I think most people forget is that they had already put the foundations in place for the mega princess meet and greets. They had to tear that all out and replace it with a ride they never built before.

No they didn't - nothing was built on the site of the SDMC prior to excavation.

 

[Cesar R M]

While technically true - this just gets played as an excuse over and over as Disney drags their feet on projects NOT in the middle of a theme park as well. How's that new mall coming along??



So again.. how quickly is that new mall coming along?

Or how about Pandora?

Or how about New Fantasyland?

Or how about Tangled toilets?

At least they built Bay Lake Tower in 2.75 years.

didn't they take eons to build the tanglet toilets? lol

 

[mikeh]

Are they putting Utilidoors in this area?

No. Utilidoors are already in place. No need to add more.

 

[danlb_2000]

Are they putting Utilidoors in this area?

No,that is the foundation for the new fake bridge.

 

[xdan0920]

IMHO, if you are unwilling to get out there with a shovel and help, then you have no business saying that a project is taking too long.

huh?

Is this an actual option? Can we slap on hard hats and get to work?

(is this a special VIP experience, requiring park admission and a very reasonable fee of $199 per person for access to the worksite?)

Projects at WDW take FOREVER. The pace they build at is stunningly slow. You can make all the excuses in the world for them, and justify it however you like. But the fact is, they could throw more man hours at it, and it would get done faster. That costs $$$ though, and with every project they take on already carrying hopelessly bloated budgets, they don't want to keep tacking on the dollars.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Utilidors are not required everywhere. What financial benefit would be gained by having another passage way in the same area where there are other passageways? I attached an older copy of existing tunnels. As you can see, the pathways are much more simplistic than what is above ground.

I saw the stairs, I asked a question.

 

[danlb_2000]

I saw the stairs, I asked a question.

Those aren't actually stairs, they are the foundation for the side of the new bridge. They are stepped like that to roughly follow the contour of the side of the moat. Easier then digging all the way down and pouring a flat foundation.

 

[flynnibus]

yeah, but to build a park in a single year, they did not have such stringent inspections, did not have the building codes they do now, and most definitely did not have 15 million people walking through it at the time it was being built. they were building on an ISLAND in the middle of on stage, cut off from supplies and things they did not bring with them before the park opened, and tried to not make so much noise that people would be inconvenienced during their 100.00/day trip to DW

Ok, again.. what's the excuse for every other project besides SDMC? Consider how Disney pulled off both Splash Mountain and BTMRR construction... both far greater projects in scale, both inside the park and along the boundary as SDMC was... and they were built quicker. And not in 1955 either. Shocker eh?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Those aren't actually stairs, they are the foundation for the side of the new bridge. They are stepped like that to roughly follow the contour of the side of the moat. Easier then digging all the way down and pouring a flat foundation.

Thanks for explaining it. Us non-engineers don't understand things so good.

 

[cw1982]

is this a special VIP experience, requiring park admission and a very reasonable fee of $199 per person for access to the worksite?

Let's not give TDO any ideas! I'd hate to see what's included in that package... maybe a cheap hard hat with Mickey ears on it?

 

[Gabe1]

Large corporations, especially publically traded ones, like to spread capital expendatures over multiple fiscal quarters to mask the outlay of cash flow that is being made.

For those that are claiming they are taking their time to keep quality high - remember, they are grading some dirt, putting in some utility buildings, a few planters, and some fake grass. This is not a year long project due to the complexity. There are other factors driving it. The same factors that made New Fantasyland the extracted build that it was.

As the expression use to be, where there is a Will there is a Way. That expression no longer applies in Reedy Creek.

For those that claim they are only working after hours due to the noise and concern for the guests, this is the same resort and same park that has a giant crane in front of the resort's icon for months at a time each year. Why can't that work be done after hours? Again, if there was a will there would be a way. The resort has always done construction during "show" hours. A half decade of NFL construction has served as the most recent example. With the high walls around any of Disney's projects sound goes straight up and not as far out into the park as you'd imagine. Just like the sound barrier walls you see in cities along interstates.

I encourage anyone that thinks this project should last a year to play a little game at home. Find a construction site and watch progress there versus this one. Pay attention how quickly the average construction site goes from soil grading, to foundations, to vertical construction and then report back if you think the Hub redesign should look this way a half year into its project. Then remember, that the average construction site isn't being run by the same multimillion dollar corporation that built Disneyland from soil to grand opening in a year.

Articulated well. Need to save this and repost a revised edition for every project that drags on substantially longer than it needs to. I don't agree that quick projects are low quality either or dragging them out means quality, if we look at how often Dwarf Coaster is down or has empty carts cycling, the years it took to bring this attraction online doesn't seem to promote turtle pace equals quality.

My Dad was a contractor and was one of the contractors for Sears (Willis) Tower Chicago. Ground broke and in a little less than 3 years that building was complete and had three foundation floors beneath all the while being built between other tall buildings in Chicago. Dwarf broke ground and completed a little more than 2 years later. Dwarf taking almost as long as the Sears Tower with all the elevator systems, fire safety etc makes one ponder how some of these projects at Disney could possibly take this long these days. The Hub is ridiculous timeframe even by their own standards given how quick Lion King's new home went in, the new dock at TTC or the DVD's on Stilts at the Poly.

 

[Gabe1]

The project that makes me believe that Disney takes longer to build things then necessary is the Tangled Restrooms. Construction walls went up around the old Fantasyland skyway in May of 2011, they came down again on the completed restroom March 2013.

Best example yet!

 

[Gabe1]

I've actually been working on something similar for the past few months using SketchUp (yes, I know I hae had too much time on my hands; unemployment will do that to you). Below is what I managed to come up with.

As nice as the Disney video is, it does a poor job of showing what the new hub area will look like from ground level. I thought I would try to fix that problem. Everything you see in this rendering is based solely on the video and the information and leaked blueprint documents from this thread. It is to accurate to scale (or as accurate as I could be) and tries to offer a realistic perspective of the final product. Of course, there are some details which we don't know about yet or which Have probably already changed, and I had to work within the limits of my own skill in Sketchup. It's not perfect, but I think it does a decent job of showing what the new hub could look like. Enjoy!

View attachment 60574
Main Street View

View attachment 60576 View attachment 60577 View attachment 60578
Hub View; Hub View Looking West; West Ring Path

View attachment 60581
East Bridge View (in front of The Plaza Restaurant)

View attachment 60582 View attachment 60583
Hub View from Crystal Palace; Crystal Palace from Hub

A few more:

View attachment 60584
Tomorrowland Terrace View

View attachment 60587 View attachment 60588 View attachment 60589
View from Cosmic Ray's Bridge; East FP+ Viewing Area; View from FP+ Viewing Area

View attachment 60590
Hub Fountain View

View attachment 60591 View attachment 60593
Plaza Dining Area; Casey's Corner Dining Area

Nice work. I'm guessing you are taking your references from what concepts Disney has released. As 'chilly' as that hub and castle look in your renderings I think they are warmed up by the mature trees both the concept and your renderings include. From what I saw in the concepts for FLE and the twigs that were mostly planted I am not holding out hope for the beautiful, tall trees the concept drawings seem to include. I doubt even the evergreens will be as mature as Disney indicates in the Hub. My fear is the Hub and Castle will have even a chillier feel after landscaping is added.

 

[TomHendricks]

if we look at how often Dwarf Coaster is down or has empty carts cycling, the years it took to bring this attraction online doesn't seem to promote turtle pace equals quality.

So what you're saying is that they should have taken longer and gotten it right? That they rushed to open it.