Plutoboy86
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News Reflections of Earth confirmed to be replaced by Harmonious
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Welcome.
Plutoboy86
New Member
I caught that after I typed it and corrected it!
Plutoboy86
New Member
They have been switching a lot of their go to brands for outside use to the Proteus. They also recently swapped over both of their Disneyland resort parades routes to LED pars (SL Punchlite 220s) from the decaying Thomas Engineering Pars. They seem to be going more IP65 rated instead of using enclosures.
Plutoboy86
New Member
Also. Not sure if anyone noticed in the video of the icon platform being brought out that Disney posted, but these barges are not drivable. They are pushed by tugs. So moving them nightly would not be feasible. Also I’m going to take a wild guess here, but do to the onboard show action, lighting, and fountain equipment, power consumption is quite large. Considering this, the size of genny needed on board would be the size of the barge. So my guess is power, data and water lines come up into the mooring docks they are attached to. The chains seems to be guides to keep the platforms from moving positions.
Good news! They fixed the stargate from being off-centered!!....
Rose&Crown
Well-Known Member
After seeing these massive things in person I really don’t see how fountains are going to hide them at all. That center piece is so tall water spraying from that high is going to be laughable. I get what they’re trying to do but seems pointless to me. Also curious how much noise the fountains are going to create.
Rose&Crown
Well-Known Member
I keep thinking about this and the show at universal where it’s all hidden. Or at least have these things move in and out of the lagoon like reflections did.
I’m not as big of a sight line person as others but this really bothers me. I found it funny how people I was with at Disney recently could careless about the guardians building or Rats but were so annoyed by the lagoon barges.
Movielover
Well-Known Member
I know I'll get flak for this but Guardians and Rat do not bother me, and Tron really only bothers me from the Fantasyland angle. But these Monstrosities are just bad. Its just so confusing why they wouldn't use the World of Color tech here. Its a big open lagoon, perfect amount of space for the World of Color platforms with plenty of space left over for the firework floats and other movable platforms. It just seems like a perfect fit.
peter11435
Well-Known Member
The structure and geology of the world showcase lagoon is very different from Paradise Bay.
So, Harm-on-i-us will be in stereoscopic 3-D?
Brenthodge
Well-Known Member
Right? Years ago WDI and Disney Creative Entertainment INVENTED technology to tell stories, now they just copy what’s out there alongside the interstate. At least Rivers of Light made a tech advance. It may have even been the victim of it (that and loosing sight that show equipment is a means for telling a clear and compelling story -Not the story itself.)
Brenthodge
Well-Known Member
Does anyone know the height clearance of the bridge? It just seems like with advances in show tech and smart designs, they could have designed something “modular” so that many components could have passed under the bridge without even raising it, the only lift it one or twice for a large icon (good grief, their new favorite word) item.
Movielover
Well-Known Member
Nothing a little engineering couldn't solve. Which would you rather have, a lagoon that looks like this
Or this?
*ignore the Pixar stuff in the background of the first photo, nobody wants that! Just comparing the water
peter11435
Well-Known Member
No doubt which one I prefer. But there is a big difference between a small concrete bottom body of water and the massive world showcase lagoon that has a sand and muck bottom. They could and should have done something very different in this location; but world of color style platforms are not as easy as they seemNothing a little engineering couldn't solve. Which would you rather have, a lagoon that looks like this
Or this?
*ignore the Pixar stuff in the background of the first photo, nobody wants that! Just comparing the water
Virtual Toad
Well-Known Member
It seems like EPCOT is a reflection of the larger issue at WDW right now that's the trend toward rampant overdevelopment (ironic since it's the same trend plaguing many areas of Florida right now as well). In the past several years, WDW has been on an unprecedented building spree. A spree without much consideration, it seems, to any responsible or cohesive master plan. A dramatic departure from the first few decades of the resort's operation.
Today we have theme parks jammed to the hilt with food and merchandise kiosks, scores of trees and landscape at some of the resort's most picturesque spots plowed under forever (see the Ft. Wilderness Settlement), tranquil lakefront views decimated with scores of bungalows that 90% of visitors will never be able to afford to stay at, 15 story towers springing up at resorts that were originally deliberately laid out with low-lying buildings, highway overpasses everywhere you turn, giant show buildings destroying carefully crafted sightlines, and now a nighttime show at EPCOT with a ton of cold, ugly, post-apocalyptic hardware thrown in without any regard to the brilliant design of the park's original layout. A design where architecture and sightlines weren't just a byproduct, they were the entire point of the thing in the first place.
Whew.
Ironically, one of the only buildings coming down anywhere is Innoventions West, which further throws EPCOT off center, diluting the architectural and design intent of harmony and balance that was deliberately and carefully crafted as a metaphor for the park's theme.
Folks say they might not notice the changes, or spend much time appreciating the views. But I don't think overt appreciation was the point. Good design works in the background, informing and supporting intent without calling attention to itself. This was discussed at length in Karal Ann Marling's The Architecture of Reassurance: Building the Disney Theme Parks (both the book and the touring exhibition that inspired it). From the exhibition's introduction:
"Primarily, Walt was dissatisfied with Los Angeles and with other American cities of his era, the 1940s and 1950s. He was dissatisfied because the American city, it seemed to him, had become an utterly chaotic environment: cars rocketing here and there, unplanned suburbs, no sense of visual coherence, no sense of safety and reassurance. Walt Disney was also interested, however, in theming. Specifically, he was interested in what the American city had been in the past, the frontier West, the life of the small town as he remembered it at the turning of the century. He was interested finally, I think, in creating a place where people could feel safe and reassured.
We call this exhibition “The Architecture of Reassurance” because at every point in the design of Disney’s theme parks you feel safe, secure—you feel as though you know where you are in space."
Sadly it seems this philosophy has been all but abandoned, and in some ways also actively frowned upon. The Guardians show building, for example, almost seems deliberately designed to tower over Spaceship Earth, as an expression of power and metaphor of disdain for everything that made the park great in the first place. A deliberate insult to the design philosophy and talent of those who created EPCOT. A message from current management that they know better, that their creation, Guardians of the Galaxy, is literally way bigger, and far more important, than that "stupid golf ball" and everything it represents.
Much in the same way the size, scale and deliberate off-center location of the Harmonious barges destroys the balance and beauty of World Showcase. The message is clear: ignore the stuffy, preachy, outdated concepts of the past. Pay attention to our message. Buy what we are selling instead.
But in their haste, they took the lazy approach. To simply build the embodiment of their vision so large and intrusive that it literally cannot be ignored.
Which, at the end of the day, is the exact opposite of the very word "harmonious."
It's anything but harmonious. But it does, however, perfectly represent the odious nature of WDW's current design philosophy. Or the utter chaos of not having a coherent design philosophy at all.
Today we have theme parks jammed to the hilt with food and merchandise kiosks, scores of trees and landscape at some of the resort's most picturesque spots plowed under forever (see the Ft. Wilderness Settlement), tranquil lakefront views decimated with scores of bungalows that 90% of visitors will never be able to afford to stay at, 15 story towers springing up at resorts that were originally deliberately laid out with low-lying buildings, highway overpasses everywhere you turn, giant show buildings destroying carefully crafted sightlines, and now a nighttime show at EPCOT with a ton of cold, ugly, post-apocalyptic hardware thrown in without any regard to the brilliant design of the park's original layout. A design where architecture and sightlines weren't just a byproduct, they were the entire point of the thing in the first place.
Whew.
Ironically, one of the only buildings coming down anywhere is Innoventions West, which further throws EPCOT off center, diluting the architectural and design intent of harmony and balance that was deliberately and carefully crafted as a metaphor for the park's theme.
Folks say they might not notice the changes, or spend much time appreciating the views. But I don't think overt appreciation was the point. Good design works in the background, informing and supporting intent without calling attention to itself. This was discussed at length in Karal Ann Marling's The Architecture of Reassurance: Building the Disney Theme Parks (both the book and the touring exhibition that inspired it). From the exhibition's introduction:
"Primarily, Walt was dissatisfied with Los Angeles and with other American cities of his era, the 1940s and 1950s. He was dissatisfied because the American city, it seemed to him, had become an utterly chaotic environment: cars rocketing here and there, unplanned suburbs, no sense of visual coherence, no sense of safety and reassurance. Walt Disney was also interested, however, in theming. Specifically, he was interested in what the American city had been in the past, the frontier West, the life of the small town as he remembered it at the turning of the century. He was interested finally, I think, in creating a place where people could feel safe and reassured.
We call this exhibition “The Architecture of Reassurance” because at every point in the design of Disney’s theme parks you feel safe, secure—you feel as though you know where you are in space."
Sadly it seems this philosophy has been all but abandoned, and in some ways also actively frowned upon. The Guardians show building, for example, almost seems deliberately designed to tower over Spaceship Earth, as an expression of power and metaphor of disdain for everything that made the park great in the first place. A deliberate insult to the design philosophy and talent of those who created EPCOT. A message from current management that they know better, that their creation, Guardians of the Galaxy, is literally way bigger, and far more important, than that "stupid golf ball" and everything it represents.
Much in the same way the size, scale and deliberate off-center location of the Harmonious barges destroys the balance and beauty of World Showcase. The message is clear: ignore the stuffy, preachy, outdated concepts of the past. Pay attention to our message. Buy what we are selling instead.
But in their haste, they took the lazy approach. To simply build the embodiment of their vision so large and intrusive that it literally cannot be ignored.
Which, at the end of the day, is the exact opposite of the very word "harmonious."
It's anything but harmonious. But it does, however, perfectly represent the odious nature of WDW's current design philosophy. Or the utter chaos of not having a coherent design philosophy at all.
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Blame the Merchandiser philosophy and its emphasis on ROI instilled in MBAs today. If a square foot of land isn't bringing in money, it's wasted.
Walkways: anything over what's necessary to get a customer from POS to POS is wasted.
Benches: People on benches aren't spending money.
Scenic Sightlines: Unless there's some advertising in it, waste of money. Theming on a "big box" is a waste of money.
Entertainment: People watching entertainment aren't spending money. Some will argue that people paid money to get in to see the entertainment. Merchants will argue that once you pay your entrance fee, and you enter, the contract is fulfilled.
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
but what kind of ROI does a half vacant future world bring? The Coke and Starbucks location brought in money... the vacant nothingness does not... It add absolutely nothing to the park...except an odd half-finished and off balance hub...Drawing a pink line on the map doesn't make it feel any better... And people don't want to pay $100/day to go to a vacant lot full of temporary kiosks...
I mean for the last several years, WOL has been empty, half of innoventions was empty, the original ImageWorks has been repurposed as a lounge...they’ve been OK with empty for a while