Why is There No Path Between the Grand Floridian & Magic Kingdom?

Should there be a walkway between the Grand Floridian and the Magic Kingdom?

  • Yes

    Votes: 33 91.7%

  • No

    Votes: 3 8.3%
  • Total voters
    36
JaguarGator9

JaguarGator9

Member
Original Poster
One of my favorite things about staying on Magic Kingdom property is that it's relatively easy and simple to get from place to place. From the Polynesian to the TT&C is a nice walk, as well as from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom. However, one thing that I never understood is why there is no pathway connecting the Grand Floridian to the Magic Kingdom. I know that there's no pathway between the Contemporary and the TT&C, but I understand why that is because unlike the distance between the Contemporary and the Magic Kingdom (and the distance from the Grand Floridian to the Polynesian to the TT&C), that's a long walk. However, it seems as though it's not a huge distance between the Grand Floridian and the Magic Kingdom. Especially when it's late at night and I want to avoid waiting in lines for a monorail, a walkway between the Grand Floridian and the Magic Kingdom would be convenient. It doesn't seem as though it would cost too much money to build (the land is not being used anyways, so it's not like Disney would have to work around visitors. If the Contemporary and the Magic Kingdom can be connected, why not the Grand Floridian to the Magic Kingdom?
 
The Incredible Schmulk

The Incredible Schmulk

Well-Known Member
The original plans called for a path to completely encircle the Seven Seas Lagoon. In fact, if you can find the old Jack Wagner monorail narration on YouTube, he actually makes mention of this, I believe around the point where the current-day sidewalk heading towards the Grand Floridian ends (when walking from the park).

As to why that sidewalk was never completed, let alone the original plan for the walk that encompasses the entire waterway, I don't really know. I'm sure there has been something written on the matter, perhaps over at the Progress City blog. I can only speculate that the idea was scrapped due to cost/utility analysis and/or logistical issues, such as how to built a safe path capable of crossing the water bridge between the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake or the drawbridge necessary for travel between the lagoon and the storage canal just to the North of the Grand Floridian, as @wolf359 mentioned above.
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
Disney can certainly build safe bridges. They just don't want to in this case. As with most question that start with "Why is there no...?" pertaining to WDW, the answer is money.

In Disney's defense, that would be quite the walk from the GF lobby to the MK bag check. Given that the monorail goes right to MK with no stops and that there is a boat, too, I'm not sure many would make the walk. Still, for the money people pay to go to GF, it would be a nice perk and certainly something Disney could do.
 
durangojim

durangojim

Well-Known Member
I would love it if you could walk to the MK from the GF or the Poly, although I admit it would be very very strange seeing large masses of people walking around the lagoon. I think some serenity would be lost.
 
mm121

mm121

Well-Known Member
ISTCNavigator57 said:
Disney can certainly build safe bridges. They just don't want to in this case. As with most question that start with "Why is there no...?" pertaining to WDW, the answer is money.

In Disney's defense, that would be quite the walk from the GF lobby to the MK bag check. Given that the monorail goes right to MK with no stops and that there is a boat, too, I'm not sure many would make the walk. Still, for the money people pay to go to GF, it would be a nice perk and certainly something Disney could do.
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two drawbridges would maybe be required, though I dont recall the majority of the boats being overly tall, so they could probably find a height that would require as few openings as possible.

whats the biggest boat on seven seas lagoon/bay lake? do they ever take the big huge boat inside the MK out of the park to the service bays? that would be the main boat needed drawbridges.

durangojim said:
I would love it if you could walk to the MK from the GF or the Poly, although I admit it would be very very strange seeing large masses of people walking around the lagoon. I think some serenity would be lost.
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i doubt many people would use it, but would be nice for those that like to go for a run, to go jogging around seven seas lagoon.
 
durangojim

durangojim

Well-Known Member
mm121 said:
two drawbridges would maybe be required, though I dont recall the majority of the boats being overly tall, so they could probably find a height that would require as few openings as possible.

whats the biggest boat on seven seas lagoon/bay lake? do they ever take the big huge boat inside the MK out of the park to the service bays? that would be the main boat needed drawbridges.



i doubt many people would use it, but would be nice for those that like to go for a run, to go jogging around seven seas lagoon.
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I would think a lot of people would use it. Not as many as those that use the International Gateway at EPCOT, but I'll bet 1/3-1/2.
 
Polydweller

Polydweller

Well-Known Member
mm121 said:
two drawbridges would maybe be required, though I dont recall the majority of the boats being overly tall, so they could probably find a height that would require as few openings as possible.

whats the biggest boat on seven seas lagoon/bay lake? do they ever take the big huge boat inside the MK out of the park to the service bays? that would be the main boat needed drawbridges.

i doubt many people would use it, but would be nice for those that like to go for a run, to go jogging around seven seas lagoon.
Click to expand...
The canal is where the EWP barges are stored during the day and the canal is also used to move the Liberty Belle in and out when it needs refurbishment. Have only seen it once so don't know how common that is. But the height required can be seen by how high the monorail is at that point.

There are a couple of things other than construction cost that are issues. There are ongoing operational costs of having to post CMs at both ends of a bridge when it started to move. It would be like Epcot but without the convenience of so many CMs available within the park. And with liability issues they'd have to do it. So at a minimum twice a day at about 8:30 pm and again at about 10:30 pm, plus staffing for any other activity. Not a trivial amount in the long term.

And, the are on the GF side is currently backstage and has no path, just an access road for maintenance vehicles. So a lot of prep and construction of pathways. There doesn't seem to be a strong ROI argument for extension of the pathway.
 
ABQ

ABQ

Well-Known Member
ISTCNavigator57 said:
Disney can certainly build safe bridges. They just don't want to in this case. As with most question that start with "Why is there no...?" pertaining to WDW, the answer is money.

In Disney's defense, that would be quite the walk from the GF lobby to the MK bag check. Given that the monorail goes right to MK with no stops and that there is a boat, too, I'm not sure many would make the walk. Still, for the money people pay to go to GF, it would be a nice perk and certainly something Disney could do.
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Somewhere on these forums, maybe I can find it later, someone else and I had been yapping about this very thing and the walk is almost the same as that from the Boardwalk/Swalphin to the Studios along the waterway over that way.
 

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