PHOTOS - Disney reveals new lobby design and Trader Sam's lounge for the Polynesian

Sage of Time

Sage of Time

Well-Known Member
roj2323 said:
I would argue that this was not cheap or easy. The old fountain was enormous and it probably took 3 or 4 semis to remove the volume of concrete and other debris. Not to mention this debris was likely removed one wheel barrel at a time to reduce the noise. None of this ,especially the labor, is cheap.

I understand everyone's disappointment with the postage stamp sized water feature, myself included, but the simple fact is Disney could have chosen to not put one back in at all. This project was started for a number of reasons but the most common reason given was the old water feature was leaking and causing havoc on the structure. Additionally opening up the atrium / lobby gave disney the opportunity to improve traffic flow and open the area up visually. Now I personally wish the water feature was at least 15 feet across instead of the 6-8ft we are getting but there's not much anyone can do about that.
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Don't take this personally, but that's an apologist attitude.

"cheap" shouldn't be in Disney's vocabulary. They're a multibillion dollar entertainment company and they could EASILY spend a little more money to refurbish and fix and enhance their guest experience when it's pretty much an assured thing that they'll make that money back in droves.

5 semis, 50 semis, doesn't matter. They should have taken the time to do this right and put in the extra effort.
 
wdisney9000

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
roj2323 said:
but the simple fact is Disney could have chosen to not put one back in at all
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That's like saying "We should be thankful Disney put a lift hill on 7DMT, because they could have chosen not to". There's a million things they could choose not to do, but that's what makes (made) Disney so much better, they chose to it bigger and better.
 
wdisney9000

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
Sage of Time said:
Trader Sams's, lamps, and that's about it.

I'd rather have the falls back.

But I'll live with having Sam's... easily. :)
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Indeed. I'm always down to booze it up at WDW. I'm sure drinks will be game day stadium pricing as usual but at least it's a new spot. Why doesn't Fla. have a law about children sitting at a bar that serves alchohol? Nice parenting for those who do it. SMH
 
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
Actually the water feature is a little larger than what I was thinking it would be from the concept art...but it looks like a pile of rubble...maybe it is not complete enough to judge... As for more seating, the old water feature did have built in bench seating like what is there now...I guess there will be more floor space for furniture...
The Float lamps are fine...Looks like they are not finished with the install yet...
All in all it doesn't look bad... only when you compare it to what it once was, can you judge it as a letdown...but I guess if you never saw it before you would think it was OK... Nothing looks like an "ahh" moment though... Just... ok...nice... but no wow... Maybe the final touches will take it over the top? Somehow doubt it but I am hopeful the final product will be great...
 
prberk

prberk

Well-Known Member
Sage of Time said:
Don't take this personally, but that's an apologist attitude.

"cheap" shouldn't be in Disney's vocabulary. They're a multibillion dollar entertainment company and they could EASILY spend a little more money to refurbish and fix and enhance their guest experience when it's pretty much an assured thing that they'll make that money back in droves.

5 semis, 50 semis, doesn't matter. They should have taken the time to do this right and put in the extra effort.
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The most obvious answer is that they could have actually closed down and used as many semis as they wanted, to actually get it right (and probably less time). But instead they stayed open, I am sure so that the $400/night hotel rooms (even discounted) could continue to be rented.

I am sure that the apologists will say, "Well, at least they were open," or "Well, a shut-down would have hurt cast members' hours." First, a complete shut-down would have meant that no one would have had to pay bend-over hotel rates for a view of numerous construction wall and apology signs, and also it would have been done sooner (and maybe even a nicer water fall built); and second, the resort is large enough that cast members could easily have been relocated to fill other vacancies temporarily.

Just needed to shut down for the refurb, and put 100% effort into it. Anyone remember how long it took to build the original Grand Ceremonial House, the whole thing? I can't remember the actual time, but I remember it being said to have been quick and under the gun of opening.
 
Sage of Time

Sage of Time

Well-Known Member
prberk said:
The most obvious answer is that they could have actually closed down and used as many semis as they wanted, to actually get it right (and probably less time). But instead they stayed open, I am sure so that the $400/night hotel rooms (even discounted) could continue to be rented.

I am sure that the apologists will say, "Well, at least they were open," or "Well, a shut-down would have hurt cast members' hours." First, a complete shut-down would have meant that no one would have had to pay bend-over hotel rates for a view of numerous construction wall and apology signs, and also it would have been done sooner (and maybe even a nicer water fall built); and second, the resort is large enough that cast members could easily have been relocated to fill other vacancies temporarily.

Just needed to shut down for the refurb, and put 100% effort into it. Anyone remember how long it took to build the original Grand Ceremonial House, the whole thing? I can't remember the actual time, but I remember it being said to have been quick and under the gun of opening.
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My goodness, THIS.

THIS.

And yeah, Poly was built in about a year. They could have easily closed the thing for 6-8 months and done this the right way.
 
mikenatcity1

mikenatcity1

Well-Known Member
asianway said:
It seems strange that they've taken down the walls to allow all these pictures...
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I think they weren't taken down, but someone may have peeked through them- at this point, it's only curtains instead of walls around the construction (we poked our head through to see the same view).
 
prberk

prberk

Well-Known Member
ford91exploder said:
I suggest you look at the Contemporary for an example of what probably will occur at the Poly, merch carts cluttering the grand concourse.
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I was about to say that! But of course being a few days behind in my reading does prevent one from being first at the table. (Not to mention the first to a cluttered lobby...).
 
Communicore

Communicore

Well-Known Member
monothingie said:
Some shots from behind the curtain from tonight. Did notice a lot of air monitoring sensors in lobby area (not under construction) I should have gotten a picture, but there are dozens of them attached to the drop ceiling around the front desk. They also appear to be "permanent" and not something that would be around only during construction. Also noticed installation of (4) beam smoke detectors over the atrium, these should not be confused with type of LED lighting devices.

View attachment 76242 View attachment 76243 View attachment 76244
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The lighting and the colors are awesome, very 70's!
 

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