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Skyway Station Area Redesign
- Thread starter SeaCastle
- Start date
They sadly will be exposed during demolition and construction, but afterwards it should be covered
mp2bill
Well-Known Member
That'd be sweet! I can never seem to find any cool Haunted Mansion stuff, so if they had a store specifically for it, I'd be all for that!
Atomicmickey
Well-Known Member
I seem to remember, correct me if I am wrong about this, but John Hench himself picked the transition between Liberty Square and Fantasyland as his favorite in the park--the most successful "cinematic transition".
(beats the heck out of the "transition" between fantasyland and Tomorrowland, for example)
Is the same walkway under the building going to be there?
Although what I see of the whole thing looks really good, and I am positive about it, I wonder about whether the things that Mr. Hench was so proud of will be retained as is, or lost forever.
Anyone know?
(beats the heck out of the "transition" between fantasyland and Tomorrowland, for example)
Is the same walkway under the building going to be there?
Although what I see of the whole thing looks really good, and I am positive about it, I wonder about whether the things that Mr. Hench was so proud of will be retained as is, or lost forever.
Anyone know?
eilie
Member
Based on the plans, the existing transition under the Columbia Harbor House bridge is staying. Thank goodness, because I'm with John Hench - that is (by far) the most successful transition in the park. It also happens to be my favorite themed area in MK. Unfortunately, the area will lose some of its intimacy, since now there will be that second pathway to the north. The second pathway will also lack the "compression/expansion" transitional element that is used so successfully here and elsewhere (Main Street entry under train station, tunnels leading into Mysterious Island, just about every Frank Lloyd Wright house, etc.). Still, I'm quite optimistic.
And yes, that Tomorrowland/Fantasyland "transition" just stinks. I was really hoping that WDI would fix it with the FLE, but unfortunately no. Maybe when they finally decide to replace the speedway someday? It's not like there isn't some way to thematically bridge the two themes of "fantasy" and "tomorrow" (e.g. Jules Verne), but it really seems like they threw their hands in the air for this one.
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Was there ever a JV presence in the MK besides 20K ? Anywhere else in WDW ?
Vernonpush
Well-Known Member
Wasn't JV in Timekeeper and Horizons?
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
How quickly we (I) forget.
But....Nine Eye was a replacement attraction anyway, so it shouldn't really count towards JV being a presence in the park.
eilie
Member
Agreed. I am really surprised as well and hope it is part of a larger trend. Between the waterfalls/stream here and the numerous pools/rivers/waterfalls in the FLE, I hope we're seeing a change in their overall mindset.
jmuboy
Well-Known Member
The landscape in this area, as well as in FLE proper is really going to go a LONG way to beautifying the MK. TL nad FL especially in their current state are such concrete jungles. I can forgive TL for this. But the wide barren walkways of the current FL are about as charmless as they can be. Glad this will all be changing.
Scuttle
Well-Known Member
yes!
docnabox
Active Member
I agree. I have always thought that FL was awfully underlandscaped, especially the corridor from the skyway station to the Village Haus. It has always struck me as a congested, concrete alleyway. The landscaping around the skyway was the only green part there and I am hoping the redo makes it all the more fanciful. I wish there was at least some way of putting some shade trees or something along that stretch between SW, PPF, VH, etc but since it is so narrow, I know that would only make things even worse in terms of crowds.
NoChesterHester
Well-Known Member
I will likely get blasted for this...
Not only do I agree, but I always pictured the straight run between Small World and the east end of Peter Pan to be the perfect stretch for a fabric covering. Keep it open air, but provide some shade and relief in what is the ugliest part of the park. It is "fair" themed after all anyway.
Bork Bork
Active Member
Maybe they could repurpose the "Triangle Tarps" from Epcot! :lookaroun
It's times like this that, out of fairness, we need to remember that TDO is not always "cheap".
Even with the new Fanatasyland coming (which is sure to draw more crowds through that area), they could have easily left the pathway a bottleneck. They could have kept the Skyway station as a stroller area. And they could have continued to have occasional lines going into the crowded restroom.
But think of the expense that is going into this not-so-simple pathway improvement:
*The IASW queue was flip-flopped from its original design, moving people away from that attraction's western edge.
*A newly-expanded HM queue was carved out of vacant land to get people away from that attraction's southeastern edge.
*The construction of new restrooms is not cheap.
*The amount of labor needed to demolish the old Skyway building, excavate the hill, theme the backside of Yankee Trader, and landscape the area will be significant.
*The elimination of the existing restrooms will presumably allow them to expand the Peter Pan queue, perhaps the worst queue for a popular attraction other than Dumbo (which is also being fixed).
We can (rightly) moan and groan about a Yeti that hasn't moved in years. But when it comes to the operation of a theme park, the company still knows what it is doing.
Even with the new Fanatasyland coming (which is sure to draw more crowds through that area), they could have easily left the pathway a bottleneck. They could have kept the Skyway station as a stroller area. And they could have continued to have occasional lines going into the crowded restroom.
But think of the expense that is going into this not-so-simple pathway improvement:
*The IASW queue was flip-flopped from its original design, moving people away from that attraction's western edge.
*A newly-expanded HM queue was carved out of vacant land to get people away from that attraction's southeastern edge.
*The construction of new restrooms is not cheap.
*The amount of labor needed to demolish the old Skyway building, excavate the hill, theme the backside of Yankee Trader, and landscape the area will be significant.
*The elimination of the existing restrooms will presumably allow them to expand the Peter Pan queue, perhaps the worst queue for a popular attraction other than Dumbo (which is also being fixed).
We can (rightly) moan and groan about a Yeti that hasn't moved in years. But when it comes to the operation of a theme park, the company still knows what it is doing.
MotherOfBirds
Well-Known Member
Excellent point, Skyway. I hadn't really thought about these other more minor changes like HM and the skyway as pre-FLE-"infrastructure"-improvements until you put it that way XD
flavious27
Well-Known Member
Agreed, but hasn't it always been that way because of the skyway running in the middle? Though if tdo wanted to add instant shade to that area, I am sure there are some 30 - 40 year old trees that they could plant single file in the middle of the path.