Miceage 4/28/14 Update

Originally Posted By PeterPan1313


Those Miceage folks are at it again with another update. And of course some odd observations, which don’t necessarily jive with what is happening in the park.

<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://micechat.com/65571-disneyland-springtime-refurbishments/">http://micechat.com/65571-disn...shments/</a>

1. Alice.

Miceage: The “vine” portion of the ride track that takes guests outside of the ride’s show building has been trimmed and new wooden beams have gone up along the route…

The “wooden beams” are simply temporary framing for the concrete/rebar which will be added later, not exactly “wooden beams”, if you get my point.

2. Space Mountain Repainting

Miceage: “Nearby, Space Mountain’s new Cal/OSHA safety additions are in place, including a new “ring” around the top of the peak. Still, the mountain is covered in filth and looks worse every week.”

As Miceage might know (or should know), Space Mountain’s paint is being stripped, a process that has been going on for some time, and will be repainted bright white in the near future. Yes, superficially, the exterior looks like it is getting “worse” every week, but this is just part of the refurbishment process. Does this get fans worked up for nothing?

3. Mermaid Refurbishment

Miceage: “On Paradise Pier, the Little Mermaid attraction is wrapping up its refurbishment and will reopen by the end of next week. The enhancements you’ll see when the ride reopens include a black light-based re-Imagining of the “Under the Sea” room and another new hairdo for Ariel in that scene. Plans to rework the ending of the attraction didn’t make it through this refurbishment but are still expected to come at a later date.”

Uh, yeah, there aren’t any changes coming to Mermaid’s interior, they did routine maintenance on the omnimover system and some other stuff. Once again, Miceage trying to setup fans for heartbreak.

4. Orange Bird in Disneyland.

Yeah, it doesn’t fit there, but how many folks routinely make it out to Orlando to pick-up one of these? Miceage made a big deal about this.

5. Bizarrely Using Knotts to attack Disney.

Miceage: “Kudos to Knott’s for taking its own park history and tastefully using it to create a really engaging experience for guests with the Boysenberry Festival — this sort of thinking is something Disney could learn from.”

Too bad Disney doesn't celebrate Disneyland's history enough, or do something special for the guests like handmade candy canes during the holidays.

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

>>The “wooden beams” are simply temporary framing for the concrete/rebar which will be added later, not exactly “wooden beams”, if you get my point.<<

I agree that the toothpick-looking wood members are clearly not structural. I'm not even sure they're part of the formwork for the concrete pour, since that would typically come after they've already inserted new rebar into the edge of the existing concrete, to help form a bond between the two. It looks like this might just be to help them get an idea of exactly how wide the finished track will be, and what sort of visual impact it will have

>>As Miceage might know (or should know), Space Mountain’s paint is being stripped, a process that has been going on for some time, and will be repainted bright white in the near future.<<

Really? This is the first I've seen any mention of this. And judging by the weekly progression of photos I've seen, it looks more like built-up grime than paint being removed. Plus, when they reverted the mountain to white, they didn't actually paint it, but rather covered it in a non-stick membrane (essentially a plastic sheet with teflon on one side) to help keep it clean; I'm not sure how they'd peel that off and "repaint" it.

I really hope that they do some major cleaning and/or repair during the ride's upcoming refurbishment (though I have no idea why they'd need the interior attraction to be closed to do it), but it doesn't appear to have begun yet, at least for the side facing into the park that I've seen in photos

 

Originally Posted By Witches of Morva

ORDDU: I'm not so sure I can agree with your interpretations of the Mice Chat writers, PeterPan1313, duckling. You sound as though you have a personal axe to grind with them by creating ulterior motives for them. If that's the case then your own post, here, is very distasteful.

 

Originally Posted By phruby

Just wait until he posts about the latest "fakie-Lutz" article where they basically reaffirm their January rumors. They said the subs are in mothballs and some projects have been greenlite but do to mymagic+ cost overruns, we can't have the subs or star wars! No mention of the Star Wars studio group at WDI though.

 

Originally Posted By Malin

The MiceAge update is a joke and both DustySage and Fishbulb are to ignorant to see the damage being done every time an article is posted. Too many inaccuracies and both are incredibly unprofessional when it comes to anyone who writes against the credibility of what's being written. I was called by Todd Dustysage a douche bag and have had my MiceChat account suspended for speaking out against what was written by the site. Very nasty people who clearly have an axe to grind against Disney which is fine but to raise people's hopes up and then a month later knock them down for post counts is just appalling. Not everyone has the intelligence to work out what the site is reporting is mostly lies or news that has been sensationalise to fit the sites agenda.

In regards to its comments about the subs talk about select memory. The site originally claimed the Subs would be closing for good but have since had to retract comments after Disney publicly spoke out against the rumours confirming it will be returning. Right now anything written by them is pure speculation because neither of them know for certain the true status on the Subs. But right now I'm more inclined to take Disney for its word then MiceAge.

 

Originally Posted By CuriousConstance

From the Miceage update:

"To do this Disney is going to need to purchase at least part of the business park sitting just north of Pumbaa, while Anaheim will be expected to do the dirty work and use eminent domain laws to take over the existing Park Vue Inn and adjacent IHOP restaurant to build the tracks and multi-level pedestrian walkways to and from the park."

Hey! I love the Park Vue Inn!

 

Originally Posted By phruby

I hope they never get rid of the HoJos down the street. That is where they should put Star Wars land. Just a bridge over Harbor from Tomorrowland should do it.

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

Malin, sorry to hear that you had so many troubles over there, but I'm not too surprised. Your posts always seem well thought out and full of logic, so I can see why they might not like your style. Great to see you back on LP!

>>Hey! I love the Park Vue Inn!<<

Granted it's been a couple years since I spoke with the designers of that project, but the plan (at that time) was to route the fixed guideway system down Manchester Ave/Disney Way to Harbor Blvd, the station on the south side of the Pumbaa garage. The pedestrian path would be elevated (starting on the 2nd or 3rd level of the garage) and would run beneath the Edison power lines to Harbor Blvd, where they would have a long gradual ramp to the existing bus station (which may or may not require removing the short-term parking lot). Moving walkways would be used to make the distance more manageable

In addition to requiring additional property takes, this "proposed" design would necessitate some sort of additional vertical circulation (elevators, escalators, etc), since a bridge over Harbor couldn't use a ramp that close to the resort entrance. Given the number of park-goers that would be using that route, I can't imagine they would want people to use traditional crosswalks, so it would have to be some sort of elevated or underground walkway

 

Originally Posted By PeterPan1313

>>Plus, when they reverted the mountain to white, they didn't actually paint it, but rather covered it in a non-stick membrane (essentially a plastic sheet with teflon on one side) to help keep it clean; I'm not sure how they'd peel that off and "repaint" it. <<

Space Mountain was painted when it reverted to white. You can see some of the work here on an old Mouse Planet post:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/6485/Disneyland_Park_Update

Incidentally, it would probably be cost prohibitive, as well as requiring Space to be covered in scaffolding, to apply some sort of membrane as that would be labor intensive to avoid air bubbles and such they need to get close to every square foot of surface.

They've been spraying/applying paint stripper on Space for a while, and you can see the progression in the photos. It's the old paint job beneath this stuff, not grime that miraculously grows by the week. SoCal smog isn't that bad!

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

"They've been spraying/applying paint stripper on Space for a while, and you can see the progression in the photos. It's the old paint job beneath this stuff, not grime that miraculously grows by the week."

Sure looks like dirt to me.

<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2014/042813-Edited-Update-Photos/i-PjgfHKZ/0/X2/IMG_0389-X2.jpg">http://datelinedisneyland.smug...9-X2.jpg</a>

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

When standing in the outdoor queue, you can clearly see the edges of where the panels meet up, like wallpaper. In the last few years, it's begun to look a little lumpy, which makes the seams even more noticeable. When applying typical roofing membranes on a slanted roof (like a house), roofers don't need to put up scaffolding, so I see no reason why they'd need it for Space Mountain

Given that the streaks are in the same places that they've been for well over a year now, I'm going to continue to believe that they're from dirt build-up, rather than paint stripper. As seem in those photos, they really don't remove the old paint before adding a new layer. I would assume that the white painted panel is some sort of primer or basecoat for the adhesive for the membrane. Plus, it clearly shows that they typically work around the mountain, completing the work in stages, rather than stripping the whole thing and then repainting the whole thing; why would it be different this time?

That said, those old photos are pretty incredible to look at and compare to the current ones. It's crazy how dirty and faded the surface has become after 10 years (several of which have been without any real maintenance)

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

Hans' photo also makes it quite clear that they used some sort of membrane on the roof, rather than painting it. The spires are still white, since they were painted (almost no grime sticks to the vertical surface), while the dome itself has faded to a yellow-ish hue over time. While some of it is the dirt and scum, most of the color change is because of how plastics age, especially in direct sunlight

I really hope you're right that they're planning to thoroughly resurface the exterior, but it doesn't look to me like they've done anything yet

 

Originally Posted By PeterPan1313

>> When applying typical roofing membranes on a slanted roof (like a house), roofers don't need to put up scaffolding, so I see no reason why they'd need it for Space Mountain<<

A typical house doesn't have the slope of the Space Mountain! You can't walk on the surface of Space's root as the slope is too great, remember the accident with the workers?

>>When standing in the outdoor queue, you can clearly see the edges of where the panels meet up, like wallpaper. In the last few years, it's begun to look a little lumpy, which makes the seams even more noticeable.<<

I have no idea what you're talking about.

Space Mountain's roof is concrete slabs, there is no need, or desire for a regular type of flat roof, and install anything less than a peal and stick would needlessly damage the roof, and a peel and stick wasn't applied as that would have required scaffolding, and would have be *painfully* hard to get off in the future. They painted it, the pictures are online.

How told you that Space's roof is teflon? All it needs is a white reflective type coating. Easy to apply and maintain.

 

Originally Posted By PeterPan1313




>>Sure looks like dirt to me.

<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://datelinedisneyland.smug...9-X2.jpg">http://datelinedisneyland.smug...9-X2.jpg</a>

<<

As the picture shows, the lower spires have had paint stripper applied to them.

>>Hans' photo also makes it quite clear that they used some sort of membrane on the roof, rather than painting it. The spires are still white, since they were painted (almost no grime sticks to the vertical surface), while the dome itself has faded to a yellow-ish hue over time. While some of it is the dirt and scum, most of the color change is because of how plastics age, especially in direct sunlight

I really hope you're right that they're planning to thoroughly resurface the exterior, but it doesn't look to me like they've done anything yet<<

I don't think you looking the same picture, there is paint being stripped from all of the old surfaces.

<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2014/042813-Edited-Update-Photos/i-PjgfHKZ/0/X2/IMG_0389-X2.jpg">http://datelinedisneyland.smug...9-X2.jpg</a>

There is "grime" on the vertical surfaces, there is "grime", everywhere, the old paint job, and the discoloring is due to the chemicals being used.

 

Originally Posted By PeterPan1313

>>I really hope you're right that they're planning to thoroughly resurface the exterior, but it doesn't look to me like they've done anything yet<<

Maybe Miceage doesn't want folks to know about Space's repaint, but they've been working on stripping the paint for a while, and it will be repainted.

 

Originally Posted By PeterPan1313

>>Plus, it clearly shows that they typically work around the mountain, completing the work in stages, rather than stripping the whole thing and then repainting the whole thing; why would it be different this time?<<

They didn't strip the '98 Tomorrowland paint job at all. If the paint below is in good condition, then, yes, you can paint over it.

Basically, they used the old paint as the "primed" surface, and used a paint which didn't require priming as well. But you can't bet your bottom dollar that at least they washed the old paint job.

Well, there's a reason why they always say to use a primer that is similar in color to the topcoat, that is because *eventually* the top coat will chipped away, washed away, be abraded away, and you'll see the primer's color come through.

They were doing some paint stripping last year when the fall occurred.

Check out the following link for a picture of space in 2013 before the paint stripping started (the picture past the 2004 pic):

<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.yesterland.com/brownmountain.html">http://www.yesterland.com/brow...ain.html</a>

<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.yesterland.com/images-tomorrowland/brownmountain_recent2013ww.jpg">http://www.yesterland.com/imag...13ww.jpg</a>

looks pretty good to me!

I was really gritting my teeth when they just painted over the '98 dark hues, knowing that this would have to be remedied at a future date.

Disney uses high-quality paint on a lot of stuff in the park, and they often don't sand/strip down to the original surface, but sometimes you have to strip.

 

Originally Posted By FerretAfros

>>A typical house doesn't have the slope of the Space Mountain! You can't walk on the surface of Space's root as the slope is too great, remember the accident with the workers?<<

Really? Most houses have roofs at a 45 degree angle, making a nice little 90 degree angle where two sides of a roof meet up for a gable. Without pulling out a protractor, I'd guess that the Space Mountain roof is about 20-30 degrees above parallel, which is less steep. Just look at the photos:

Random house from Google image search:
<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.meritpaint.com/images/EX3.jpg">http://www.meritpaint.com/images/EX3.jpg</a>
Space Mountain:
<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Space_Mountain_Top_Platform.JPG">http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...form.JPG</a>

>>I don't think you looking the same picture, there is paint being stripped from all of the old surfaces.<<

Let's take a look at some photos from an old update. Here's a look from mid-February that shows the same discoloration on the dome, yet the spires are more white (and both have grime on them because of the lack of maintenance in recent years). If you look at Hans's picture (which you reposted), you can even match up the same streaks of dirt. Unless of course you want us to believe that they've actually been stripping the "paint" off of the mountain for months on end, and that's why it looks so bad
February 2014:
<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2014/021714-Edited-Update-Photos/i-K2RMZfN/0/X2/IMG_7813-X2.jpg">http://datelinedisneyland.smug...3-X2.jpg</a>
October 2013 (not the greatest lighting, but it works):
<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2013/10-21-13-Edited-Update-Photos/i-sC4d2w6/0/X2/IMG_4527-X2.jpg">http://datelinedisneyland.smug...7-X2.jpg</a>

And here's a nice shot that clearly shows where the seams of the panels meet up, and how lumpy the whole thing has become:
<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2013/10-21-13-Edited-Update-Photos/i-CqtnNWq/0/X2/IMG_4529-X2.jpg">http://datelinedisneyland.smug...9-X2.jpg</a>

 

Originally Posted By berol

Space Mtn's angle is much steeper than any roof I've ever lived under. Had I lived in snow country, I'd be saying something else.

 

Originally Posted By PeterPan1313

>>Really? Most houses have roofs at a 45 degree angle, making a nice little 90 degree angle where two sides of a roof meet up for a gable. Without pulling out a protractor, I'd guess that the Space Mountain roof is about 20-30 degrees above parallel, which is less steep. Just look at the photos:<<

The "random" house you show requires harness work, I'm saying that most houses with flat roofs don't require harness work, and plenty of houses don't have a 90 degree angle at the rake. Depends on neighborhood, part of country.

Space was painted for the most part. The "seams" for the roof are actually on the ribs, make sense water flow wise, and they did cover this area with a bit of 'membrane', but to keep water out and for the aesthetics of removing the presence of the seam.

<a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/06/24/article-2347730-1A7CF189000005DC-281_964x616.jpg">http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix...x616.jpg</a>

LOL, the membrane is "bubbling", probably because water got in at the top.

Anyway, it's all going to be fixed.

 

Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt

"A typical house doesn't have the slope of the Space Mountain! You can't walk on the surface of Space's root as the slope is too great, remember the accident with the workers?"

So then how are they stripping it then? From a bungee cord dangling from a helicopter in the middle of the night?

"They were doing some paint stripping last year when the fall occurred."

The worker fell in 2012, not last year.

"And here's a nice shot that clearly shows where the seams of the panels meet up, and how lumpy the whole thing has become:"

BAM!