Repainting of Epcot Central Plaza?

[rnese]

Maybe they're utilizing the strategy casinos use. Casinos use ugly, confusing carpet which diverts customer eyes away from the floor so they look up, at the machines. This causes people to spend more money. Well, Disney's simply trying to get guests to keep their eyes from looking up, and directly into shops!

 

[maxairmike]

I want to know if the person(s) responsible for this stupidity have seen this in person. I don't know how anyone thought it was a good idea conceptually, but seeing it in person should be enough to make them realize how bad it is.

 

[Hobnail Boot]

I like the actual colors, but wow it looks like a crayon box.

 

[sshindel]

I know it's been said, but I don't think it makes this area all that much more hideous. It's already so bad compared to the original version, truly, it's all relative at this point anyway. On a scale of 1 to Ugly, we're already at Ugly, so splashing a little paint on there really doesn't change it all that much.

 

[note2001]

Are these the new Star Wars colors?

 

[ToTBellHop]

There is. Stupidity.

Home Depot must be having a paint sale. Between this and the Castle...

 

[vonpluto]

strange color choices (greys to browns) but at least is not as boring as before

It will work really well after Drinking Around the World,
or, after participating in the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test!
"Wow! Far out dude, I hear colors and I see music!"

 

[ToTBellHop]

I know it's been said, but I don't think it makes this area all that much more hideous. It's already so bad compared to the original version, truly, it's all relative at this point anyway. On a scale of 1 to Ugly, we're already at Ugly, so splashing a little paint on there really doesn't change it all that much.

And if I'm overweight, I might as well avoid cardiovascular training because I'm likely to get heart disease anyway. Why bother?

 

[PumpkinEeyore]

Clearly I am in the minority here... but I think it looks nice.

I enjoy the alternating colors. I wish, though, that they'd go with "legacy" colors and harken back to the EPCOT's original color scheme and feel:

image source: "First Look at Merchandise for the 30th Anniversary of Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort"

 

[aladdin2007]

well now it goes with the rest of Future World....a sloppy mess.

This above sums it up........one problem is signs like mousegear with the purple dont work well with this at all, neither do all the purple junky poles etc,,,,its a little to desert like in a way. Maybe some lighter tones of these colors wouldnt have been so bad.

 

[ogryn]

I like it. They seem tonally similar to me... in fact it reminds me a bit of Kuler

 

[sshindel]

And if I'm overweight, I might as well avoid cardiovascular training because I'm likely to get heart disease anyway. Why bother?

So, the painting was an improvement?

If they were to have moved in a positive direction, more power to them. I'm all for them correcting this area!
IMO, they did not, but I don't think it made the place that much worse, because at this point, it was bad enough in the first place that this doesn't change it much.

 

[ToTBellHop]

So, the painting was an improvement?

If they were to have moved in a positive direction, more power to them. I'm all for them correcting this area!
IMO, they did not, but I don't think it made the place that much worse, because at this point, it was bad enough in the first place that this doesn't change it much.

I don't think it was an improvement. On the contrary, I think Epcot is letting itself go...

 

[note2001]

Is this one of those tricks designed to have us watch and discuss the hand that's dancing around in our face while something else is going on elsewhere?

 

[Texas84]

I like it too. Someone do a poll.

 

[jmmc]

To me, this looks okay in some pictures and angles, but terrible in others. Not sure I get what this look is about.

 

[sshindel]

Is this one of those tricks designed to have us watch and discuss the hand that's dancing around in our face while something else is going on elsewhere?

Maybe it's like one of those pictures that were all the rage in mall kiosks in the 90s. If you stare at it long enough in one specific way, you'll see a big 3D picture. Probably a big 3D middle-finger aimed at original Epcot fans!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I kinda like them... but then again I also don't mind the BAH so my opinion is no good here

 

[MarkTwain]

I'm trying to keep an open mind about it, because I'll be the first to admit that the original color scheme was starting to get really old and IMO a replacement was long overdue. I also understand, to some degree, what WDI was trying to do here: they likely thought the scale of the buildings was too large for human scale, and were trying to figure out a way to break it up and feel more approachable. I think you could argue the Communicore buildings look better from satellite photos or from a distance - say, from the Land building or the World Showcase plaza - than they do when you're standing up next to one. I think the Communicore buildings suffer a little more than most of Epcot for their touch of 1980s brutalism (a movement that emphasized big, unornamented concrete expanses in massive scale, and which isn't looked upon well at all in modern times), and I suspect the Imagineers were trying to move the buildings away from that.

So while there's something to be said for what they were perhaps trying to accomplish, I'm not sure the implementation was effective. I think this might largely be due to the color choices; perhaps a more restricted blue to purple palette with the same idea might have been more effective. Or if the "random" color scheme wasn't working out (and that's kind of a trendy design idea too, my own architecture firm plays around with "barcode" paint a lot), maybe a simple gradient between two colors from one side of the plaza to the other would have been simpler and more visually pleasing. I think they there's something in the idea but the color range was just too wide and the result just looks too busy. I'll see if I can try out some new color concepts when I get home.

 

[Rob562]

I'm definitely scratching my head on this one. I can only hope that it's signalling SOME sort of overall plan to refurbish the entire plaza and that it'll make more sense when it's done, but I really can't fathom a final plan where it would...

-Rob