Originally Posted By ssWEDguy Why does Epcot face to the north? The MK faces directly south. So does Animal Kingdom. Heck, so does Disneyland. The main reason for this is that in the northern hemisphere, the sun will mostly shine on the main icons from the front during the course of the day. Epcot faces north. So the sun goes behind Spaceship Earth, backlighting it at certain times of the day. Why is this? It seems to me that they could have chosen to face the whole park the other way if they wanted to. (DCA in California faces north, because it's directly across from Disneyland. They didn't have a choice there.)
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Perhaps because of the monorail extention from the T&TC. If they situated EPCOT with southern exposure, there would have to be a much different routing of the beam if they were to keep the loop around Future World.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN If it makes you feel better... TDL and TDS also suffer from positioning as those parks also face to the northwest and northeast. Very difficult to photograph the parks's icons when the sun is up. The same happens at HKDL to some degree...as the park faces east, but in the late afternoon...the sun is behind the castle. Makes for some stunning Sun-shots from Adventureland.
Originally Posted By tonyanton trekkeruss...that sounds likely. Also, with SSE sitting at the park entrance, most guests view it from the south side while in the park, with the sun behind it, as the bulk of the park sits behind SSE.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> Perhaps because of the monorail extension from the T&TC. If they situated EPCOT with southern exposure, there would have to be a much different routing of the beam if they were to keep the loop around Future World. << Perhaps. But then I'm thinking "they really turned the whole park to face the north to save a half mile of monorail track?" Maybe, I guess. >> with SSE sitting at the park entrance, most guests view it from the south side while in the park, with the sun behind it, as the bulk of the park sits behind SSE. << This sounds plausible too. But I think SSE makes a better picture from the front rather than the back. Even before the backside millenium wire tent area got built. The frontisde makes a better picture because of the closer proximity. In the case of the Tokyo or Hong Kong parks, it's likely Disney had lesser control over such orientations. But for the WDW parks they had total control, and chose a northern exposure for reasons.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<But then I'm thinking "they really turned the whole park to face the north to save a half mile of monorail track?" Maybe, I guess.>> I wasn't only thinking of the amount of extra track, but the show aspect of it as well. With the current setup, the trains head towards SE and then make the loop around FW. But if the park was oriented the other way, the trains would head towards SE, then circle around it to get to a point where it could then make a loop around FW. In my mind that wouldn't be quite as dramatic.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think that the backlighting of most of the attractions (SSE, TT, Imagination, and most of the World Showcase) really add to the feel of Epcot. Unlike the other parks where the sun shines directly on the icons, in Epcot the sun outlines them, leaving something to the imagination. This, to me at least, leads to curiosity and makes it easier to blend into the edutanement stuff.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> In my mind that wouldn't be quite as dramatic. << I see what you mean. Perhaps that's why....
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> in Epcot the sun outlines them << I would agree with this notion as well. The best pictures of SSE are from the front, early in the morning and later in the evening, when the sun is coming from a low side angle. The spherical nature of SSE is emphasized so much more then.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It also helps SSE work as a weenie much better, since most of the park views it from the south, where it gets more light. This causes it to fill in the mostly empty gap between the Canada and Mexico pavilions, when viewed from the World Showcase.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy But what was the original thinking on why the park should face north? We're putting our spin on things as we see them today. What was the thinking back when they originally made the decision?
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy And while we're at it -- Studios. It also faces north. Now when it comes to the size of the Studio's Main Street and the Hat Icon, that's not a problem so much. The smaller size of the hat (compared to the castle or SSE), it's conical shape and it's angled presentation make it pretty visual even if the sun is coming around behind it. However, the original main icon -- the Chinese Theater, had that high-walled courtyard in front of it. Wouldn't that make that courtyard in shadow pretty much from most southern sun angles? What was the thought process there? Or was it just a simple choice of location for that park?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think the Studios was more based on where they decided to build the park. For whatever reason, they decided to build it there, and the only feasable to have room for roads, parking lots, and the park was to have the park face north. Now that the park needs to grow some, there is no room for that. But at least they got it open before Universal...
Originally Posted By brotherdave I've always wondered why the Studios were built the way they were, where they painted themselves into the proverbial corner. With all that land in WDW, why did they build abutting to major roadways?
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Well there HAS TO BE A REASON for the way the park faces. I mean they got Kodak to tell them what color to paint the parking lots!!! There's a reason for position of the park I am sure.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Man, I don't understand why I didn't see the importance of that in the past. OK, sarcasm aside, it would make perfect sense that the Icon, Spaceship Earth, would be better served if it were lighted on the park side. It, unlike the other Icons is at the very entrance to the park therefore, the best lighting would only be seen from the parking lot, if it faced south. And who really spends time in the parking lot? Or it could be that no one really thought about it in that way and they just did it because they built it south of MK and unless they made the north end the "back door" it would require a whole lot more monorail track to go around it.
Originally Posted By DigitalDisney More speculation ahead... - The land between the EP parking lot and the MK toll plaza / road to Fort Wilderness may not be very suitable for a theme park. To date, there's still not a hotel, park, or recreation area there. - The airstrip may have interfered with park operations. - Was the World Showcase lagoon a man-made body of water, or was it natural before Epcot was constructed? If it was natural, then that would certainly affect the orientation of Epcot. - The monorail was obviously an expensive construction project, and track length must be kept to a miniumum for maxmium effeciency. Having the monorail go past the entire park just to get to the entrance is less effecient than dropping people off at the front of the park. - Also, the monorail would possibly end up being visible from World Showcase if Epcot was oriented the other way. A picture of a classic British street would def lose its appeal if you could see a monorail or monorail track directly in the background. As far as MGM goes, I can only assume theat the park's orientation was part of a master plan. I assume they have always planned on building the resorts on Crescent lake. If MGM's entrance was moved to where LMAX is now, then buses and boats would have to travel farther than they do today. Roads and waterways that go around the park would potentially limit the park's expansion. Also part of this master plan are certain corridors. Having MGM in its current orientation means that one major road could service MGM, the MGM/Epcot Resorts, and Epcot's backstage areas. Epcot's orientation and design obviously influenced MGM's design/orientation.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> Was the World Showcase lagoon a man-made body of water, or was it natural before Epcot was constructed? << I'm pretty sure WorldShowcase Lagoon was entirely constructed. I remember seeing pictures of the entire area being totally dry during the early construction.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj World Showcase Lagoon was a smaller, natural body of water before it was sculpted into its current shape. It was actually a very large sinkhole before becoming a Disney lagoon.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I've always wondered why the Studios were built the way they were, where they painted themselves into the proverbial corner. With all that land in WDW, why did they build abutting to major roadways?>> It actually made sense ... at the time. It was on World Drive. The nearby Epcot resort area was in the planning stages. There was going to be monorail connection from EC to both the Studios and the Epcot Resorts and that was, obviously, more cost effective than if the Studios were built say where the All Stars are ... or where Celebration is. The problem was the park developed very chaotically due to lack of attractions fom Day 1 ... I think cast parking has been moved about 6-7 times since 1989 for expansion.
