Seven Seas Lagoon-would Disney do it again?

[Dr Albert Falls]

After taking a spin on a Sea Raycer recently, I came away with a deep appreciation for the Seven Seas Lagoon. First of all, being man-made, it's a stunning piece of engineering. More importantly, it's simply beautiful. Besides giving each resort a scenic beach, it provides another layer of "escape" from the outside world. It also creates a sense of discovery and anticipation, as you navigate the Lagoon on your way to the MK or another resort. It was an amazing decision on the part of WDW's early designers.

My question-- given today's business climate-- would Disney have built a Seven Seas Lagoon TODAY???

There's no doubt the Lagoon generates revenue. There are the boat rentals, the fishing excursions, and the fireworks cruises. Plus, Disney hotels charge big money for a "lakeside view".

However, there's also no doubt the Lagoon costs Disney a lot, too. Without a huge body of water to cross, Disney would not have the expense of boats, monorails, or buses.

Unfortunately, I think if Disney were to acquire a WDW-sized property today, they would probably place all their hotels within walking distance (or inexpensive tram distance) to the MK, with a big concrete parking structure just outside the entrance. Those hotels might include large "retention ponds" where vistors could rent watercraft-- similar to Coronado Springs. But I just can't imagine Disney repeating the Seven Seas Lagoon concept.

 

[ogryn]

I would say 70/30 for building a new lake. DLP has one with some resorts round as well (although not on the scale of Seven Seas Lagoon)

 

[waltdisny]

Interesting...
Much of the fill from the Seven Seas was used to elevate the MK, which rests on top of the Utilidoors. Otherwise Utilidoors would be impractical due to the high water-table. So the question is, would Disney build a MK with Utilidoors in FL? If not, then there would have been no need to create the lagoon.

Does Tokyo have Utilidoors? Or Paris? That would give an indication.

Also, given the water table situation, would it have been possible to excavate the 20K lagoon, Small World and the PoC with out raising the MK elevation first? Not being a civil engineer, I have no idea, but it seems to me that unless you kept them above the water table, it would be difficult to keep ground water from seeping into the pools over the longterm. (I do have more than my fair share of experience with damp basements. )That in turn would lead to all sorts of water purification problems.

So, in order to build the MK as originally concieved, yes they would have to build the lagoon. But without Utilidoors and 20K, no they would not.

 

[bork]

Actually, they wanted to build the MK on the site of the Seven Seas Lagoon, but it was too swampy. They couldn't build anything there. So instead, they excavated it to create the Lagoon and used to dirt to build up the more stable area where the MK was built.

So the lagoon actually was a necessity. Otherwise, you'd have a nice swamp at the entrance to the MK.

As an aside, the sand for the beaches was found at the bottom of Bay Lake.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Forgetting all of the science and money involved, I think they would still build it today. It's what Walt wanted. Sadly, with the upper management, many have forgotten this was and still is Walt's company and we should still strive to do what we can in order to do what Walt would want us to do. Just an idea, though!

TheDisneyGirl02

 

[Donfan]

What's going on at Hong Kong? Disney is building a new park; are they building a new Seven Seas Lagoon-sized lake to go with it? Or is the fact that the South China Sea is right next door sufficient?

 

[Dr Albert Falls]

TheDisneyGirl02---

In all due respect, the Seven Seas Lagoon is NOT exactly "what Walt wanted".

Need proof?

http://www.waltopia.com/images/drawing.jpg

http://www.waltopia.com/images/map.jpg

The first image is Walt's hand-drawn map of "Project Florida". The other shows the area in better detail. Notice the "THEME PARK" sits right on top the existing Seven Seas Lagoon--- with the hotels surrounding the park.

 

[spoodles]

Actually, they wanted to build the MK on the site of the Seven Seas Lagoon, but it was too swampy. They couldn't build anything there. So instead, they excavated it to create the Lagoon and used to dirt to build up the more stable area where the MK was built.

Thread drift alert...

I love this forum. I'm online a lot, and this forum is special. It has held my attention for a long time, and I think it's because of this kind of knowledge, shared love of Disney, and the fact that you folks are just plain nice.

Sorry, OK, I'm going to sleep now...

 

[spoodles]

Sorry Dr Albert Falls, you asked an excellent question and I think I killed your thread! It was late, it was the Blackberry Brandy talking.

I totally agree that the lagoon adds another "layer of escape" - I always felt this way but never articulated it so well.

It probably would not be built today (except maybe out of necessity), which just adds to the magic of it being there.

 

[MissM]

I don't know. It's a good question. One of the reasons they might not now is because while it's great in the morning when you arrive to take the ferry or the monorail over to the park, at the end of the night when there's thousands of people all trying to leave at the same time, with the two limited sources of transportation, it causes massive congestion and back up. Tired people plus crowding plus long waits = really grumpy people. Some nights it can be really difficult to get back to the TTA and the lines can be backed up to the turnstyles.

So, they might not do it now, in hindsight, simply because of the logicial nightmare it makes at the end of the night.
-m

 

[KevinPage]

Disney is much more 'calculating' these days, so before they gave the go ahead for any project, they would know if they needed to clear out the muck and marsh of an area that size.

For whatever reason, Disney wasn't aware of thie problem initially, but they were past the point of no return already.

So to answer your question: depends on how important the project was to them. If they started to build a new park and everything was ready to go, and they realized they needed extra funds to clear an area, they would do it. It would probably be cost prohibitive to back out.

 

[imagineer boy]

What's going on at Hong Kong? Disney is building a new park; are they building a new Seven Seas Lagoon-sized lake to go with it? Or is the fact that the South China Sea is right next door sufficient?

Nope. No lake. I was surprised that they didn't even build the MK Hong Kong park right next to the sea. You'd think they would do that instead of placing it far away from it.