Originally Posted By leemac <<Ah yes, that looks great. Thanks>> It is that seriously just four trees in the whole of the hub now? Those Trivial Pursuit wedges looks mightily smaller than before. I appreciate that it is all about guest capacity but it is a shame that the hub is becoming a huge swath of pink asphalt.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>What's the deal with the alleyways they were building behind Main Street at DL?<< It was completed before the holidays, and some photos popped up online. I assume it was used during the busy Christmas/New Years days, but really haven't heard anything about how successful it was. I was in the park on the 26th and didn't notice it in use, though I wasn't near Main Street during the busiest periods >>It is that seriously just four trees in the whole of the hub now? Those Trivial Pursuit wedges looks mightily smaller than before.<< Looking at Google Earth, it looks like the planters are the same size that they've been since the 2005 (post-Wishes) hub redo. They currently have 2 trees in each of those planters, though they appear to be smaller than the single trees shown in the video. I'm hopeful that the addition of the second ring of planters with trees will help bring back some intimacy to the hub. With all the stage shows and projection effects they do there, they've really backed themselves into a corner for creating a space that is even semi-pleasant during non-show times
Originally Posted By FerretAfros There are photos of the Main Street bypass about halfway down this page. It's nothing fancy, but is a pleasant enough path for an alternate exit. I particularly like the overhead archways that will block any potential views of fireworks, to help keep people moving along <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/main-street-u-s-a-hub-redevelopment-at-the-magic-kingdom.880663/page-105">http://forums.wdwmagic.com/thr...page-105</a>
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Thanks Ferret. The design inspiration looks like it was based on the main entrance areas of the park, specifically the stroller/wheelchair station and the restrooms. As for the hub at the MK, anything that helps manage crowds will be a welcome improvement. Years ago I got tangled in a massive crowd of people during a parade while traveling from one side of the park to the other. Everything just came to a stop. The whole time I was thinking that there has to be a way to alleviate those kinds of regularly occuring traffic flow problems.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros ^^DL manages to squeeze a ton of people into its much-smaller hub without any real issues. It's all about crowd management, which WDW doesn't seem to have any interest in enforcing. Instead of the counterclockwise traffic flow that DL has, it's just sort of a free-for-all with people walking, sitting, and standing wherever they can find room It looks like this new layout is designed to keep the traffic to the outer rings (with landscaping to block views of shows) and viewing in the inner areas. Hopefully this will keep things orderly and efficient, but it still all comes down to enforcement IMO, another huge step toward improving this would be to create fireworks shows that can be seen from all over the park, rather than centered on the castle/hub. As it is now, they have Dream Along with Mickey at the castle stage, Move It Shake It Dance and Play It streetparty, castle projection show, and Wishes, all of which are ideally seen in the hub. If they had shows in other areas (the former Galaxy Place Stage or high in the skies above the park), I think it would do a lot to alleviate congestion in this area. According to their semi-factual numbers, it's the busiest theme park in the world; it doesn't make much sense for its central circulation corridor to also be its main entertainment venue
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I wonder if there's any construction going on with the service tunnels to match hub construction above.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I wonder if there's any construction going on with the service tunnels to match hub construction above.<< From the photos I've seen, the Utilidor hasn't made any appearance yet, but that's not to say that it couldn't happen (or hasn't already) I think it would be great if they could finally connect the castle stage to the Utilidor, which would allow them a lot more flexibility for staging the shows there. They could do all of the backstage stuff below the stage, and just have the performers pop up when needed. This would let them keep the walkway through the castle open (though they may want to close it to traffic during the show itself) and would clear out all the junk that they store there behind the wooden walls. As long as that whole area is torn up anyway, it seems like this would be the time to do it
Originally Posted By 9oldmen >>Why the slam on academics? I spent a lifetime working for the (sic) University of Minesota (not as a professor) and am damn proud of it.<< You of course mean "Minnesota". Do you always make spelling errors, or just when referring to places that you "spent a lifetime working for" and are "damn proud of it!"?
