You tear down the Fountain of Nations you might as well remove the Main Street train station

[Musical Mermaid]

Yea this one hit me hard. Especially since now the lobby is just flat out generic in comparison. It was one of my favorite places in WDW. I'm at peace with the fact that Disney has no issues tearing out anything, no matter the history.

I know it was old, but The Great Movie Ride closure hit me hard too. I thought of it as the centerpiece of that park. I guess I wouldn’t have minded as much if the Mickey ride replacing it was in his classic style and the ride was unique, but to hear that it was the newer style and that DIsneyland is getting a clone of it, just stinks to lose something that was unique to that park and lasted that long.

 

[KevinPage]

The idea of fountains (in general) adds a flavor and some kinetic energy to the park(s). There was something always peaceful walking by FON after Illunimations and having the CM’s wave goodnight.

It was great for pictures in the day and especially at night. I’d be okay if they reduced its size to allow for better overall traffic flow, but the fact that it helped block your view of WS was kinda the point too, right?

Overall I’m okay with all of the proposed EPCOT redesigns, but sucks if the FON doesn’t come back in some form.

 

[Goofyernmost]

youd think they would learn... dated? im pretty sure they wish they hadn't removed these beautys

I don't think they wish that the buildings attached to those towers were rotting away because of water damage. Interesting but not practical.

ok I might get flamed for this, because I might be remembering wrong... fountain of nations is behind space ship earth, but theres the other fountain in from that used to have the three crystal spires right? Or am I combining things? If they are two separate fountains (the way I remember) whats the other one called. I remember seeing concept art of it having the spires return. Oddly google isn't helping me and going every 4-6 years has me doubting myself.

The spire fountain was in front of SSE on the way in the park (I believe that is being reincarnated). The other one being talked about is behind SSE after you have entered.

 

[FettFan]

Fountains are just dated and now that dramatic anymore.

You've obviously never been to the Bellagio.



EDIT - Or to California Adventure.

 

[AVAC Juice]

Yea this one hit me hard. Especially since now the lobby is just flat out generic in comparison. It was one of my favorite places in WDW. I'm at peace with the fact that Disney has no issues tearing out anything, no matter the history.

That was a horrible decision.

It makes me sick watching smug Georgie K. glow over the Polynesian Village makeover announcement on Youtube.

I assume the Mary Blair mural at the Contemporary is a marked target at some point as well.

Most likely be replaced with nothing at all interesting.

 

[flynnibus]

You've obviously never been to the Bellagio.



EDIT - Or to California Adventure.

No, I just know not to compare pebbles to moons. Neither of those are in the same league as FoN, nor could FoN be made to be anything in their league. So drawing comparisons or defending FoN with them is futile.

And let’s not forget the belie fountains are over 20yrs old. If you want to innovate... you got a lot of ground to make up.

And let’s not forget how close proximity the FoN really is to everything... making spray an issue even in its current form.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

I suppose that it is possible, but, my cynical mind tells me that no one would haul a few quarts of water from thousands of miles away for a fountain dedication in a theme park. If I had to guess, I'd look toward the closest restroom for the source. Some things are just to hard to imagine why!

I present, EXHIBIT A.

Furthermore:

"The countries included in the pouring of the water to the fountain were: Canada, Denmark, Italy, Korea, Japan, Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Colombia, Mexico, Barbados, Puerto Rico, China, Philippines, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, U.K., Yugoslavia. Water came from as far away as the Arctic Ocean, the Nile River in Africa, and Yangtze River in China."

 

[jt04]

No, I just know not to compare pebbles to moons. Neither of those are in the same league as FoN, nor could FoN be made to be anything in their league. So drawing comparisons or defending FoN with them is futile.

And let’s not forget the belie fountains are over 20yrs old. If you want to innovate... you got a lot of ground to make up.

And let’s not forget how close proximity the FoN really is to everything... making spray an issue even in its current form.

Exactly. The FoN was novel in its day but no longer is at the level guests should expect from a Disney park. The tech is so much more advanced now. Time for an upgrade to Future World.

 

[KeithVH]

OK. Change is inevitable. WWWD. Not a museum. It's old. Blah blah blah.

Fine. Replace it. BUT. You d_mn well better give us at least an equal quality replacement. Actually, considering improvements in many facets of Imagineering in the last 20-30 years, it should be easy to do something BETTER. Too bad that doesn't seem to be in the vocab at TDO. Ergo, "change", at this point, has the same definition as declining by degrees (I exclude SWL from this as I haven't seen it yet).

We keep hearing "it's just one thing". Well, 1 plus 1 plus 2 plus 1 equals . . . Never mind. Anyway, after many, many years of bad behavior, all those "just one things" are adding up to an overall deficit. How do you add up positives and get a negative? I dunno, ask Disney. Shall we talk about LoW?

And if the actual reason is because it's "old", then we might as well tear down and/or replace half of the parks.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I present, EXHIBIT A.

Furthermore:

"The countries included in the pouring of the water to the fountain were: Canada, Denmark, Italy, Korea, Japan, Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Colombia, Mexico, Barbados, Puerto Rico, China, Philippines, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, U.K., Yugoslavia. Water came from as far away as the Arctic Ocean, the Nile River in Africa, and Yangtze River in China."

I didn't say that the representatives of those countries weren't encircling the fountain for the dedication, I am doubting where the water actually came from. I just feel that it would be silly to ship water to dedicate a fountain in a theme park. A lot of things in life are symbolic. They may have, I just doubt it. Doesn't change anything anyway. If they did, they did! If they didn't it really wouldn't matter. That was 39 years ago. That particular water evaporated many years ago or was drained out into the lagoon when they needed to drain the fountain for repairs or general maintenance over the years. They can tell us anything. It's pretty safe since we don't have anyway to prove it one way or the other.

 

[donaldtoo]

They’re just gonna’ “update” it like they did at the Poly, but, on a slightly larger scale...

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Exactly. The FoN was novel in its day but no longer is at the level guests should expect from a Disney park. The tech is so much more advanced now. Time for an upgrade to Future World.

Disney upgrades seem to degrade the history of the parks. It's not about the tech. New technologies are great, new features are always welcome but this is more about preserving history or some semblance of what the park once stood for. One would hope that a new Fountain of Nations is built. It's removal is a downgrade not an upgrade.

 

[AVAC Juice]

They’re just gonna’ “update” it like they did at the Poly, but, on a slightly larger scale...

More or less. However, I'm not sure about DVC bungalows along World Showcase Lagoon at this point

 

[jt04]

Disney upgrades seem to degrade the history of the parks. It's not about the tech. New technologies are great, new features are always welcome but this is more about preserving history or some semblance of what the park once stood for. One would hope that a new Fountain of Nations is built. It's removal is a downgrade not an upgrade.

I'm more optimistic.

 

[donaldtoo]

More or less. However, I'm not sure about DVC bungalows along World Showcase Lagoon at this point

Brilliant...!!!!!
Why aren’t you workin’ for TDO...?!?!?!
According to my schematic below however, one country will hafta’ go to make room for the “World Showcase DVC Spectacular!!!!!!!”.....meh.......

 

[Gabe1]

Blah. Same ole whining. Disney doesn’t invest in WDW. Whining. Disney doesn’t care about yesteryear. History. What part of any history does not progress? Any implication of the WS being a DVC is lame. It is surrounded by DVC outside the parks and likely more in the future outside the parks as there is The consumer demand however never inside the park and that is what derails threads Fake news. A problem these days. Fake news.

 

[Gabe1]

I know it was old, but The Great Movie Ride closure hit me hard too. I thought of it as the centerpiece of that park. I guess I wouldn’t have minded as much if the Mickey ride replacing it was in his classic style and the ride was unique, but to hear that it was the newer style and that DIsneyland is getting a clone of it, just stinks to lose something that was unique to that park and lasted that long.

I can pick on Disney for something’s but the GMR was not a choice. More a right factor to certain entities. Little choice from any business perspective. It had to be done though not any less heartbreaking to loose.

 

[AVAC Juice]

]

Blah. Same ole whining. Disney doesn’t invest in WDW. Whining. Disney doesn’t care about yesteryear. History. What part of any history does not progress? Any implication of the WS being a DVC is lame. It is surrounded by DVC outside the parks and likely more in the future outside the parks as there is The consumer demand however never inside the park and that is what derails threads Fake news. A problem these days. Fake news.

No. You made a fake news claim where nobody reported DVC bungalows as a news story.

It was a half-hearted joke about an idea that is completely absurd.

It's just that simple.

 

[Gabe1]

]

No. You made a fake news claim where nobody reported DVC bungalows as a news story.

It was a half-hearted joke about an idea that is completely absurd.

It's just that simple.

Well I looked back. I can’t find Bungalows in any post of mine anywhere. But OK.

 

[AVAC Juice]

Well I looked back. I can’t find Bungalows in any post of mine anywhere. But OK.

I originally made a joke about non-existent DVC bungalows on World Showcase. It went from there a "fake news" tirade