News New Gondola Transportation - Disney Skyliner -

GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
monothingie said:
This is the perfect example of how WDI can't seem to see the forest from the trees when it comes to doing these projects. There is no effort made to coordinate and shape the design so that it blends in rather than sticks out.
GOTG, SWGE, RAT, Gondolas, are recent examples of a total disregard for theming and continuity that used to be a hallmark for WDI.

WDI used to try so hard and succeed in integrating their designs with what was around them. Now it seems like they just don't care. Maybe they outsource to external contractors a lot of the design and engineering work, or maybe they just don't care anymore, but whatever it is, it's disappointing to see, especially considering the historical past of WDI and the ground breaking design and engineering that they were capable of.
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It seems to be very inconsistent. WDI still goes to extremes (in a good way) when building things like the elaborate rockwork in FLE or Pandora (and soon to be SW Land) but then misses the boat on smaller details like this. Maybe there’s nobody looking at the big picture with everyone focused on their individual projects.... or maybe it’s something simpler like they can only do rockwork these days ;)
 
Phil12

Phil12

Well-Known Member
GoofGoof said:
It seems to be very inconsistent. WDI still goes to extremes (in a good way) when building things like the elaborate rockwork in FLE or Pandora (and soon to be SW Land) but then misses the boat on smaller details like this. Maybe there’s nobody looking at the big picture with everyone focused on their individual projects.... or maybe it’s something simpler like they can only do rockwork these days ;)
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I think the entire idea is to make the rock work in the Gondola stations look like lava rock from a BBQ grill. This way the theming helps to convey the feeling that the passengers have as they depart the gondola; that of cooked meat.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Goofyernmost said:
Yes, I know what you were talking about, which is why I think they will probably do something about it or we can ignore the Gondola's exactly like we can accept that we are looking at the Eiffel Tower from a long distance when we all know that it is sitting on top of a roof and is actually quite small. We know that yet, we still see it as it was intended.

I don't know how it is going to affect it, and frankly, considering what is happening in the "real world" I am at a loss to really think anything in the fake world is all that important. The overall gain, in my opinion, for having the Gondola's far outweighs one small detail. They can hide the Gondola's from view if they really wanted too, so lets just see if they do. Even the addition of "the rat" will destroy the perspective as seen from the pathway to it. Either way... I don't know just exactly how much it is going to be a problem or even if a fake structure designed to be an illusion is really all that important. I don't even find the Beast Castle to be a perspective problem except that the Dining Room is down at ground level like we are. That is much harder to fool the brain with. If I forget the restaurant is there I find it as realistic as any other fake thing in the wide world of fake scattered all over WDW. Before everyone goes Kindergarten on me, this is all my opinion. I have no idea how it will end up, but, am willing to wait and find out.
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This is a website for fans of a theme park based on a cartoon mouse. I never take it seriously. Part of the reason I come here (and go to WDW) is to get away from real life problems. I’d prefer to escape to a world for a little while where our biggest issues are pure trivial nonsense like we debate here.

On to the issue at hand, the addition of the gondolas is great. It’s also possible to have the gondolas and not impact the views from in the park. Possible and even easy with a little better planning. Maybe they will clean it up. In the past it was important to Disney that if they had a fake structure that was designed to be an illusion that the illusion actually worked. They cared a great deal about those small details even if the average guest didn’t care. It was those levels of details that differentiated Disney parks and still does most of the time.
 
Grimley1968

Grimley1968

Well-Known Member
IMO, the Eiffel Tower replicas were kind of tired even before EPCOT opened, and the one there (again, IMO) is no better than in other places. I'd be fine if they just removed it, and not just because of the gondolas.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
GoofGoof said:
This is a website for fans of a theme park based on a cartoon mouse. I never take it seriously. Part of the reason I come here (and go to WDW) is to get away from real life problems. I’d prefer to escape to a world for a little while where our biggest issues are pure trivial nonsense like we debate here.

On to the issue at hand, the addition of the gondolas is great. It’s also possible to have the gondolas and not impact the views from in the park. Possible and even easy with a little better planning. Maybe they will clean it up. In the past it was important to Disney that if they had a fake structure that was designed to be an illusion that the illusion actually worked. They cared a great deal about those small details even if the average guest didn’t care. It was those levels of details that differentiated Disney parks and still does most of the time.
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I agree and certainly hope they do, but, if they don't the world will continue to turn. If that is the worse thing that we notice in the place, it will be fine with me. Epcot already has the blue Soarin building and the sight line the exposes two hotels along with the building for GoTG. We are able to ignore those, we can ignore that. It would be better if they cared enough to do something about it, but, one of the options is they remove it completely and just put up a low wall that will hide the Gondola's. Or they might just put up a 3D picture of Notre-Dame Cathedral. We just have to decide which option is the most desirable.
 
Ponderer

Ponderer

Well-Known Member
Grimley1968 said:
IMO, the Eiffel Tower replicas were kind of tired even before EPCOT opened, and the one there (again, IMO) is no better than in other places. I'd be fine if they just removed it, and not just because of the gondolas.
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Yeah. I would argue that the Epcot Eiffel Tower is one of the least successful pieces of scenery Disney has ever implemented. It's always looked like a toy haphazardly stuck on top of a building.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Ponderer said:
Yeah. I would argue that the Epcot Eiffel Tower is one of the least successful pieces of scenery Disney has ever implemented. It's always looked like a toy haphazardly stuck on top of a building.
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It works best from a distance. Here’s the original vs the EPCOT one side by side:

504F3807-5761-4076-BB24-92403A61D82A.jpeg
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
GlacierGlacier said:
That's perfect conditions right there. Literally an official d23 photo lol.
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MisterPenguin said:
Yeah, take a zoom picture from across the lagoon like all the sightline-istas do, and it's obviously sitting on top of a building.
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You can google Eiffel Tower EPCOT and see hundreds of pictures where it looks pretty good from a distance. Depending on where the picture is taken its also pretty easy to set it up to see that its on top of a building. It’s not a perfect illusion but pretty decent IMHO.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
GoofGoof said:
You can google Eiffel Tower EPCOT and see hundreds of pictures where it looks pretty good from a distance. Depending on where the picture is taken its also pretty easy to set it up to see that its on top of a building. It’s not a perfect illusion but pretty decent IMHO.
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Its weak IMO... the distance it needs to convey for that size is just completely out of wack. I mean, there is reason why for Carsland Disney did the greying out of the tops, etc... to give that hazy distance type look. The real tower is just so huge the EPCOT one just doesn't have the distance trick nailed.

One can argue efforts like Everest also fail at conveying the real size.. but something about it with knowing its a coaster you are just happy with it looking 'real' and miss a lot of the size issue. I think the tower's lack of 'something else to get hooked on' is what leaves it exposed to be seen as just a cheap, tiny icon knockoff.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
The thing that stands out to me most from WS as an adult vs experiencing it as a child is the real lack of impressive size in the replicas. Things like the sites in England, the plaza in Italy, etc.. they are cool looking and detailed, but they lack that punch of credibility and really feel like doll houses. Places like the Venetian I think do a better job of transporting you, even if not as authentic in the details.

Just another area where I think what was impressive in 1980 - is not as impressive as in 2018 where people have such rich media experiences around them all the time. I almost feel like it will devolve into selfie spots...
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Not sure if this site is a true reflection of guest’s feelings, but I am apparently in the minority on the Eiffel Tower thing. If Disney is aware that most people don’t think the Eiffel Tower works anyway then it makes sense that they wouldn’t care if the gondola towers showed in the background. They wouldn’t have a reason to bother to try to fix the issue other than maybe removing the tower completely.
 

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