Repainting of Epcot Central Plaza?

[wm49rs]

Epcot doesn't have a billion dollar budget. Maintenance at Epcot certainly doesn't have a billion dollar budget. They weigh what's most important to the show, as you say. The fountains? They still work. Is it worth the time and expense to drain them, rebuild them, retime them, etc? It's not a simple task -- that's weeks of work, minimum. If your maintenance budget has X amount of dollars and you need to decide which is most important, a still-functioning fountain or one of the only rides in World Showcase, which is visibly falling apart... I'd choose the ride.

EP and WDW have the budget to make the repairs, particularlying when one considers the number of years (decades) that these issues have been ongoing. And considering TDO has never been shy about closing attractions when it suits their purpose, I don't see time being a factor either. Expect for the fact that addressing these issues years (decades) ago would have allieviated both the time and cost to repair them....

 

[ABQ]

Epcot doesn't have a billion dollar budget. Maintenance at Epcot certainly doesn't have a billion dollar budget. They weigh what's most important to the show, as you say. The fountains? They still work. Is it worth the time and expense to drain them, rebuild them, retime them, etc? It's not a simple task -- that's weeks of work, minimum. If your maintenance budget has X amount of dollars and you need to decide which is most important, a still-functioning fountain or one of the only rides in World Showcase, which is visibly falling apart... I'd choose the ride.

That's a silly way to look at it. What's more realistic is something along the lines of an automobile owner driving his/her car with bald tires till they fall off and ruin the wheels, hubs, brakes and all. Sure, they saved a few hundred dollars on tires, but now have a few thousand to pay in repairs to all the others parts.
Short sighted budgeting and penny pinching leads to all the billions in repairs needed now. Rather than the thousands they could have spend just maintaining a product routinely.

 

[Otterhead]

How is EPCOT's actual budget relevant to a conversation on show quality that WDC/TDO can easily fix when they're practically printing money?

Right, because every cent that comes in at the door goes into a big money bin at Epcot they can dive into.

Disney's in the middle of building a massively expensive theme park in Singapore, rehabbing Disney Springs, redoing half of DAK, adding the billion-dollar MM+, gearing up for the Star Was additions, etc. That's where the money's going. It doesn't surprise me that fixing a working fountain isn't a top priority, sorry.

 

[wm49rs]

Right, because every cent that comes in at the door goes into a big money bin at Epcot they can dive into.

Disney's in the middle of building a massively expensive theme park in Singapore, rehabbing Disney Springs, redoing half of DAK, adding the billion-dollar MM+, gearing up for the Star Was additions, etc. That's where the money's going. It doesn't surprise me that fixing a working fountain isn't a top priority, sorry.

Of course it doesn't. Besides, the fountains are probably just one small maintenance issue throughout WDW....

 

[DDLand]

Right, because every cent that comes in at the door goes into a big money bin at Epcot they can dive into.

Disney's in the middle of building a massively expensive theme park in Singapore, rehabbing Disney Springs, redoing half of DAK, adding the billion-dollar MM+, gearing up for the Star Was additions, etc. That's where the money's going. It doesn't surprise me that fixing a working fountain isn't a top priority, sorry.

Switch it to Shanghai!

If they wanted to keep Epcot sparkling they could. They just haven't shown an interest in doing that.

 

[Sage of Time]

Right, because every cent that comes in at the door goes into a big money bin at Epcot they can dive into.

Disney's in the middle of building a massively expensive theme park in Singapore, rehabbing Disney Springs, redoing half of DAK, adding the billion-dollar MM+, gearing up for the Star Was additions, etc. That's where the money's going. It doesn't surprise me that fixing a working fountain isn't a top priority, sorry.

And EPCOT makes enough money to fix the fountain, "priority" or not. These excuses are pathetic. Sorry. I want more out of what I get, considering how much I pay to go to Disney. Anything else is a waste of money, at this point.

And Singapore? LOL. No.

 

[marni1971]

It doesn't surprise me that fixing a working fountain isn't a top priority, sorry.

It never used to be nor should it be.

It used to be regular maintainence to prevent things falling into such a level of disrepair.

Don't try and defend cost cutting mediocrity. Or maybe you forget that the parks were excellently maintained whilst EPCOT Center AND Tokyo Disneyland were being designed and built. Bang. There goes the excuse of having too much to do at the shopping Mall expansion and DAK.

 

[ABQ]

It never used to be nor should it be.

It used to be regular maintainence to prevent things falling into such a level of disrepair.

Don't try and defend cost cutting mediocrity.

Have you got enough footage for an Ultimate Tribute to the Fountain of Nations video? Or perhaps it already exists and I didn't look hard enough?

 

[Sage of Time]

Have you got enough footage for an Ultimate Tribute to the Fountain of Nations video? Or perhaps it already exists and I didn't look hard enough?

I can't remember which video it is, but there's a ton of FON footage somewhere in the Martin Archives. Maybe in the CCORE to INNO tribute?

 

[Bing Bong]

So may I ask why my post was deleted when it was completely on topic? I'm beginning to think the mods here don't like me.

 

[Otterhead]

I enjoy MM+
I can't wait to see Pandora
Disney Springs is an incredible undertaking- impressive to almost anyone
No need to mention Star Wars- we'll believe it when we see it

All of that is true, yes. But simple maintenance should happen.

Totally agreed.

My honest feeling is that they're pouring resources into DAK, MM+, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. It's obvious that Epcot is in dire need of polish. I think that once the bulk of DAK and Shanghai are done, Epcot will get its due. I certainly hope so, anyway.

 

[Kman101]

If you compare videos of the fountains 20 yrs ago with now, of course you'll see missing effects and jets, etc. But here's the thing: the fountains still work, they still put on a good show, and they're still running regularly. I was just there a month ago, and they still draw crowds of people ooh-ing and ahh-ing. It's not like people are walking by and shaking their heads sadly at them saying "what a shame, what a disaster, the park is in ruins". Ridiculous.

But why have it be "good enough" though? I understand what you're saying but Disney used to pride themselves on keeping things show ready at all times. Yes, certain things are going to be nitpicked but it's funny to me what gets dismissed by someone who either works for them and won't admit failure, or you just truly believe that because most guests aren't aware, it's good enough, and that's a problem.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm somehow guessing that your plumber doesn't have the parts on hand to fix 30+ year old custom-made high-powered fountains. We don't even know if Disney has parts on hand at this point. If fixing the fountain was as simple as calling a plumber, they'd have done it in 1986. It's not that simple and certainly not that cheap. That's why I think it's completely ridiculous to use some malfunctioning fountain tubes as a symbol of the supposed "downfall of Disney". But hey, if that's your breaking point...

You say this as though Disney's only option is the plumber who makes house calls. Disney has a vendor right now working on a fountain project at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The biggest name in the business, Wet, is ex-Disney people. And worst case, IAPPA and the TEA have member directories so Disney could find someone if they were really desperate.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

It doesn't surprise me that fixing a working fountain isn't a top priority, sorry.

It never ceases to surprise me that current Disney does not think that when the centerpiece of the hub of it's third most visited park is a grossly malfunctioning fountain, that this should be an immediate priority.

I'd have heads rolling if I were in charge. Middle management would get five minutes to clear their desk then be escorted out the office by security.

 

[Otterhead]

You say this as though Disney's only option is the plumber who makes house calls.

No, my whole point was that the fountain NEEDS specialists like Wet to service it. I was responding to someone who kept insisting that he and his friends could fix it in a few days or call a plumber to jerry-rig it or something.

 

[marni1971]

I was responding to someone who kept insisting that he and his friends could fix it in a few days or call a plumber to jerry-rig it or something.

I think that was a joke.

 

[Otterhead]

I think that was a joke.

So was mine. But jokes are hard to parse, I guess.

 

[wannab@dis]

Could someone please post a video and point out the horrible condition of the fountains? We were just there in Nov and they seemed very similar to what they've been over the years. I didn't notice any missing streams or gaps. The music played, the lights works, the fountains danced, the geysers popped, the people stopped and watched... everything seemed to be fine.

 

[Bing Bong]

Could someone please post a video and point out the horrible condition of the fountains? We were just there in Nov and they seemed very similar to what they've been over the years. I didn't notice any missing streams or gaps. The music played, the lights works, the fountains danced, the geysers popped, the people stopped and watched... everything seemed to be fine.

1993:

1994: (Fountains at 17:25)

1997: (fountains at 14:25)

2000:

Now:

 

[Monoblanco13]

Whole top jet sections are inoperable
The mister system has been broken for years
The side canons are often low on pressure (not weather related) and mis aligned
Some of the centrepiece arch nozzles are jammed
The PA system has multiple blown speakers and amplifiers. Only specific places can hear the music. Ironically the head on centre view is not one of them.

How does one seem to gather all this info? Insider information or just being observant?