Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of: <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2014/03/04/the-hub-transformation-begins/" target="_blank"><b>3/4/14: The Hub Transformation Has Begun</b></a>
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Dshyates, ever heard the expression you get what you get and you don't throw a fit?
Originally Posted By dshyates "I say we compare this to UO's new Harry Potter land." Nah, we will save that for Battle Royale: Family Coasters 2014! This hub redo with help a lot with traffic flow at the expanse of a lot of greenery. A classic case of function over form.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros If the end result looks like the renderings, I think it will be a good change, and possibly even feel like more greenery. Instead of large swaths of grass, there will be more trees, which will help make it feel more cozy and welcoming. Yah, it will reduce the overall greenspace, but I think it could increase what the eye sees and recognizes as greenery, since most of the grass is hidden from any given spot right now I also hope (though doubt) that they'll use this as an opportunity to redo the edge of the moat. Right now, it looks like a bathtub, with the smooth concrete lip all the way around. It would be great to see something like what DL's waterways have, which has just enough mud/rockwork to make it look like a real body of water. I would be shocked if this happened, but it's a detail that would go a long way IMO
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: As long as they have plenty a benches fer an old witch ta sit on it won't matter ta me what they does. But I gotta have lots a places ta sit in between frog hunts!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert The concept art shown in the video looks good. the current hub looked so empty thanks to all the lawn around the moats.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN My only hope is for them to lay down brick sidewalks and surfaces to make it more in style with the expansive and totally classy hub at TDL. Although I've heard that not to be the case due to weight issues and concerns about the cast tunnel below.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>My only hope is for them to lay down brick sidewalks and surfaces to make it more in style with the expansive and totally classy hub at TDL. Although I've heard that not to be the case due to weight issues and concerns about the cast tunnel below.<<< Is TDL's Main Street made of bricks like the ones in Paris and Kong Kong? The bricks look a lot better than the concrete MS in Florida. Is Anaheim's MS also made of concrete?
Originally Posted By Socrates When I was at TDL I was surprised at how everything was scaled up and out of proportion. The hub was huge and it seemed like a half a mile between the castle and International Street (or whatever their main street is called). Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Is Anaheim's MS also made of concrete?" Anaheim has an asphalt street and brick sidewalks.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Although I've heard that not to be the case due to weight issues and concerns about the cast tunnel below.<< I'm not positive, but I think that bricks/pavers are typically lighter than concrete, however it could have something to do with the additional subbase that it would require Maybe it's a maintenance thing? The name-on-a-brick pavers at the MK entrance and TTC seem to get worn down with the foot traffic, but it seems like the pavers themselves are still firmly in place without any real issues >>Is TDL's Main Street made of bricks like the ones in Paris and Kong Kong?<< If I'm not mistaken, the street itself is concrete, but the hub area may be brick. The 'street' portion is under a glass roof due to the weather, which led them to not even build curbs into the street, as they could be a tripping hazard. There's a strip of colored concrete to simulate the transition from sidewalk to roadway, but there's no elevation change >>Is Anaheim's MS also made of concrete?<< Yes. The street is black concrete (which vaguely looks like asphalt), and the sidewalks are brick. Around the hub in the areas where the curb is lowered at the entrance to each land, the sidewalk is stamped concrete that looks like bricks, due to the additional (foot and vehicle) traffic those areas get
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "The hub was huge and it seemed like a half a mile between the castle and International Street (or whatever their main street is called)." I read somewhere that the vast hub was necessary so that Cinderella Castle would be framed inside the roof of World Bazaar when viewed directly down the street.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros That's an interesting idea. The archway at the end of World Bazaar certainly does a nice job of framing the castle for a photo, but I also have a hard time believing such a major component of the park was designed for a simple photo trick that's really only available from one angle. If they really wanted that to work, why not make the castle smaller, or the roof/arches bigger? I don't know the answer, but it's certainly something unusual to think about. Why build such a big hub in one of the parks, but not in the parks built since then?
Originally Posted By dagobert I always thought that the huge hub at TDL was designed to offer more open spaces in contrary to the city of Tokyo, where everything is so narrow and cramped.
Originally Posted By Castleowner77 << When I was at TDL I was surprised at how everything was scaled up and out of proportion. The hub was huge and it seemed like a half a mile between the castle and International Street (or whatever their main street is called).>> Did you like how it looked or was not as intimate as other Disney parks?
