The Best Wand Update "Hands Down" - 7/31

[jmvd20]

But overall I do slightly understand what you are saying, but I completely disagree with it. But that is all for tonight, I just realized that it is past midnight and I have a long day ahead of me.:wave:

:lol:

It is getting too late, I think all of us are in basic agreement but may be too tired to realize it... :snore:

 

[jmvd20]

I understand what you're saying too... but you don't think they would have "finished" it if it was meant to be left up longer?

I know structurally it's the same - it _has_ to withstand hurricanes whether it was up for a year or 10. But you don't think they would have poured some more money in it to finish it if they meant to make it a permanent addition to SSE?

Exactly!

It looked cheap where it was at, even though it really wasn't cheap. After all that is why most people didn't like the wand, it was built next to an engineering and architectural wonder - pretty hard to compete with that!

I still think that if the wand were to have been built above a billboard people would have loved it. It is just too difficult to look good next to SSE when so many people feel SSE is an architectural and engineering wonder.

 

[brianplace]

Exactly!

It looked cheap where it was at, even though it really wasn't cheap. After all that is why most people didn't like the wand, it was built next to an engineering and architectural wonder - pretty hard to compete with that!

I still think that if the wand were to have been built above a billboard people would have loved it. It is just too difficult to look good next to SSE when so many people feel SSE is an architectural and engineering wonder.

they could have spent a lot more on it; hence this is the "cheap" version of what was probably proposed. (I know "cheap" is relative - the thing probably easily cost $5-10 million to put up. No, I don't have a source, but I know how much roller coasters cost.

They probably would have spent _more_ if the original designers meant for it to stay around a lot longer. A better quality wand would not have looked so bad next to SSE - just visualize it for a second...

Not that I'm saying there should be anything next to SSE, but the 2D painted metal panels were a particularly bad aesthetic choice. The MGM hat on top of SSE would have looked quite a bit _better_

 

[tirian]

The MGM hat on top of SSE would have looked quite a bit _better_

I know you're joking, and I will therefore laugh.

Ha, ha, ha, ha.

 

[Brian_B]

What I really didn't like about the wand at all was the fact that it only looked good (and I use the word "good" in a relative sense...the wand on SSE looked like a plastic flamingo on the lawn of versailles) from either DIRECTLY in front of, or DIRECTLY behind the geosphere.

When I was little, I remembered being awed by the fact that you could see SSE from a lot of places, mostly Epcot Center drive, but also Yacht and Beach and other places. The coolest thing about it, and the reason why it was such an effective "weenie", was the fact that you couldn't really tell how epcot was laid out relative to where you were standing, just because SSE looked the same no matter what angle you were facing. Looming above the landscape, it was as though the future itself was beckoning to you. No matter what direction you were looking at SSE, both inside the park and out, it looked the same, and was therefore always inviting.

With the wand in place, the excitement derived from the mystique of the geosphere rising out of the surrounding flora was ruined. Not only did the exposed girders make the wand look as though it was always under construction and/or incomplete, but it totally "gave away" the rest of the park.

In short, it sent a very negative subconscious message to anyone who wasn't staring at the wand straight-on, almost as though it was WRONG to look at it from any other angle. Like you were glimpsing some of the "backstage" that you really weren't supposed to see. It was discouraging, and it took away more magic than it made.

I suppose that you could argue that the average guest wouldn't think on this level, but the assumption that guests are stupid and therefore not bothering with the supreme detail that made DL and WDW the places they are today is often a complaint around here.

It was a nice change for awhile while it was around. It made the people who'd never been to Epcot before mostly happy, and it drove a lot of people who were used to the "classic" SSE look very insane. Now that it's reverting, I say it's time the "new" Epcot fans who don't know a SSE without the wand experienced a little "attraction loss", so that maybe they'd see what us Horizons and WoM (and UoE and JII and TLS) fans have been going through and complaining about.

I am tired, sorry if any of that didn't make sense.

- Brian

 

[brianplace]

"Yes."

 

[spoodles]

The wand was *NEVER* meant or designed by WDW to be temporary. Originally it was planned to stay up until at least 2009 to defer construction costs and indefinitely after that.

The only reason it is coming down right now is because the fine people at Siemens did not like it.

I don't doubt you at all. You (or somebody) should update this section on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceship_Earth_(Disney), under Recent changes):

"The structure was originally not meant to be permanent; it was intended to have only lasted for one year. After the Millennium Celebration ended, the structure was left standing due to popular demand."

 

[hauntdmansion79]

Imagine, if you will, that they _enclosed the sides_ of the steel support structure. This would have cost a lot more money, yes, but they probably would have gone for it if it was meant to be a permanent structure. They may have even opted for a 3D look to the arm and the wand.

What we had was a cheap metal tower with what appears from a distance to be "plywood cutouts" of Mickey's disembodied arm on the front and back of it.

Contrast this with the "Hat" at MGM - they obviously spent some time and money on it, because it doesn't look "temporary." There's no visible "structure" in it. It's fully 3D--it looks like a real-life version of a cartoon representation of a hat. Whether you like it or not, it's designed to stay up for a very, very long time.

This is Disney, if they build things permanently they look finished. Disney doesn't, as a rule, put naked steel towers next to timeless masterpieces.

I completely agree with you. I have listened to people on these boards debate over whether the wand structure was intended to be perminent based only on structural design and strength. I have always believed that whether or not something Disney builds is intended to be perminent or not, the structure needs to be designed and built very safe and strong. But if we look at the artistic design of the wand structure, it looks like something that would be on an old movie set. When I first saw it back in 1999 in person, the FIRST thing I noticed was the metal framing and the 2D parts attached to it. When I heard it was staying up, I wondered why Disney wouldn't have made it 3D so that from all sides it looked rounded and fully built.

And you are right about the Hat too, I remember when I saw that being built I said "Now why didn't they take that approach to building the wand and hand at Epcot?" I still do wish the hand and "ears" on the hat were fully 3D too though, but it's a big improvement over the industrial look of the wand.

I've seen what they do in rides when budget gets slashed: they switch to cutouts.

I notice this too. If they don't do video screens (which they do all the time now....Turtle Talk, Seas with Nemo, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Mission Space, Toy Story Mania, Nemo Submarines...etc.), they'll do cutouts like in Buzz Lightyears Spaceranger Spin. When I see an actual animatronic like in Everest or Monsters Inc. in Disneyland, or the Pirates remake, I freak out with joy!

Ok, I'm off topic now. In short I agree with your opinion of the wand design.

 

[Vernonpush]

To me it has always looked like those "painted scrims" they put over scaffolding during refurbs. (like they have on the temple in China now).