News PHOTOS - Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom to receive enhancements this summer

kevlightyear

Well-Known Member
Interesting how they've reduced the show buildings behind Philharmagic and Fairytale hall... they must be feeling some heat over the BBB and the Behemoth of Tron.
I noticed that too. Guess they wanted the map to be more "magical". i.e. What you would actually see while walking around. The new version also adds security screening for busses.

Part of a larger map refresh to the buildings of Fantasyland. I guess they wanted to get rid of the giant flat gray roofs in favor of more appropriately themed (if imaginary) roofs.

Here's a comparison. You can also see the new small world entry facade.

Fantasyland-Changes.gif
 

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
Part of a larger map refresh to the buildings of Fantasyland. I guess they wanted to get rid of the giant flat gray roofs in favor of more appropriately themed (if imaginary) roofs.

Here's a comparison. You can also see the new small world entry facade.

View attachment 515307
While I'm sure it won't be that huge, it would be funny if it was a case of "open modeling program, open current IASW entrance, set scale=250%, save".
 

cjkeating

Well-Known Member
Interesting how they've reduced the show buildings behind Philharmagic and Fairytale hall... they must be feeling some heat over the BBB and the Behemoth of Tron.
I never liked it when they introduced the MDE maps that were meant to be more real life accurate that they included the show buildings just to fill space.

Hopefully this means they can flip the paper maps so Epcot/DHS aren't oriented to represent due North.
 

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
Part of a larger map refresh to the buildings of Fantasyland. I guess they wanted to get rid of the giant flat gray roofs in favor of more appropriately themed (if imaginary) roofs.

Here's a comparison. You can also see the new small world entry facade.

View attachment 515307
Gee, it's almost as if they've realized that using maps that are entirely true to scale isn't the most effective way for guests to navigate the park.

Disney's park maps evolved over the years, but they consistently eschewed an overly-exact design in favor of one that places emphasis on points of interest, whether those be attraction entrances, shops and restaurants, or iconic pieces of scenery that could be helpful in wayfinding.

story-of-wdw-1971-mk-close-1024x757.jpg


MK-Maps-kodak-big-1993.jpg


MK-Maps-kodak-2006-guid.jpg


However, when the NextGen/MyMagic+ resort-wide integration rolled out, so did new maps. This iteration was designed to be seen on a phone/computer screen first and a printed piece of paper second. While they added the functionality of realistic location-based directions, much of it came at the expense of hiding the valuable information amongst the clutter of vast rooftops, meandering walkways, and unnecessary detail.

Magic-Kingdom-Map-2018.jpg


If I'm a guest trying to find my way to iasw, it's a lot more important for me to know to look for the (blue and white?) striped marquee than it is to know how far the building extends into backstage, or exactly how many pennants are sticking up over the waiting area.

The field of mapmaking has spent hundreds of years trying to find ways to deliver the most important information, rather than the most exact; in a 3-dimensional world, a 2-dimensional map is never going to be accurate, but that doesn't mean it can't be useful. The MM+ maps, for all their tech savviness, put too much emphasis on accuracy at the expense of usability.

This latest update seems to put more emphasis on these important wayfinding landmarks. The facades take up more space, and the big blank roofs are minimized so as not to be a distraction; the changes in scale not only highlight points of interest, but also help delineate different zones within the land for easy identification. It looks like the guest walkways are still shown roughly to scale to allow in-app navigation, it appears that the pendulum is swinging back toward a more user-friendly direction.
 

_caleb

Well-Known Member
Gee, it's almost as if they've realized that using maps that are entirely true to scale isn't the most effective way for guests to navigate the park.

Disney's park maps evolved over the years, but they consistently eschewed an overly-exact design in favor of one that places emphasis on points of interest, whether those be attraction entrances, shops and restaurants, or iconic pieces of scenery that could be helpful in wayfinding.

story-of-wdw-1971-mk-close-1024x757.jpg


MK-Maps-kodak-big-1993.jpg


MK-Maps-kodak-2006-guid.jpg


However, when the NextGen/MyMagic+ resort-wide integration rolled out, so did new maps. This iteration was designed to be seen on a phone/computer screen first and a printed piece of paper second. While they added the functionality of realistic location-based directions, much of it came at the expense of hiding the valuable information amongst the clutter of vast rooftops, meandering walkways, and unnecessary detail.

Magic-Kingdom-Map-2018.jpg


If I'm a guest trying to find my way to iasw, it's a lot more important for me to know to look for the (blue and white?) striped marquee than it is to know how far the building extends into backstage, or exactly how many pennants are sticking up over the waiting area.

The field of mapmaking has spent hundreds of years trying to find ways to deliver the most important information, rather than the most exact; in a 3-dimensional world, a 2-dimensional map is never going to be accurate, but that doesn't mean it can't be useful. The MM+ maps, for all their tech savviness, put too much emphasis on accuracy at the expense of usability.

This latest update seems to put more emphasis on these important wayfinding landmarks. The facades take up more space, and the big blank roofs are minimized so as not to be a distraction; the changes in scale not only highlight points of interest, but also help delineate different zones within the land for easy identification. It looks like the guest walkways are still shown roughly to scale to allow in-app navigation, it appears that the pendulum is swinging back toward a more user-friendly direction.
GPS is the reason for the change in approaches to mapping the parks. Electronic mapping apps would not be able to effectively show your location on an exaggerated/oversimplified map.
 

180º

Well-Known Member
I assume that high-gloss finish is durable and weather resistant. Otherwise I don’t see the appeal at all to keep using it on the stateside castles as of late. 🤢
 

SpectroMan93

Well-Known Member
I assume that high-gloss finish is durable and weather resistant. Otherwise I don’t see the appeal at all to keep using it on the stateside castles as of late. 🤢
Considering they won't be able to repaint the turrets for another 18 months, I'm sure they'd prefer to paint it as glossy as they can now as it will inevitably fade underneath the 50th decorations.
 

Brian

Well-Known Member
I’ve asked this before, but does anyone know if they ever remove the old paint layers to keep all the edges and details sharp? Anyone who’s lived in an old building with layers and layers of paint knows how gunky things like window frames can get.

I thought about that the other day, actually. I would imagine there has been some kind of paint thinning done at some point after all the repaintings there have been over the years. You wouldn't see that kind of texture on the shingles of the spires without it.
 

MagicWDI

Well-Known Member
I think the new blue is much better than the purple and see how the purple is now clearly a mistake.... and a costly one at that. However, all things considered, I would have liked it more if it better represented the darker blue in the concept art. I believe it would have given it a much bolder appearance, even with the pink "iridescent rose gold" backdrop.

Again, I was originally hesitant of the pink but it has rubbed off on me and now I am fond of the it. I still call it very "photogenic" compared to what it was before. It was just the purple that left a bad taste in my mouth. Glad that is being addressed.
 

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
One side is purple and the other side is painted blue?????
Wait til you see the effect of the time delayed paint. Full of high tech micro crystals that have a timed release. Exactly at the start of the 50th celebration they will burst and the turrets will be coated in golden, iridescent rainbows. It will be so magical to see them transform as if a wizard's wand waved over them.....
 
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