Bonnet Creek will get free view of Epcot

Originally Posted By ssWEDguy

>> Poppycock. <<

Surprised this hasn't been Adminned.
;}

 

Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA

<You are taking a standard Walt created for a fantasy park and trying to apply it to everything.>

I'm not doing it. The Walt Disney Imagineers are.

<That’s the problem I have with the "purists". They take a design standard that Walt had for ONE place at ONE specific time and declare that they are sacred principles governing all future Disney development. Poppycock.>

It's poppycock to suggest that Disney purists somehow made up these rules. Disney Imagineering made these rules -- and applied them to all Disney theme parks -- not just Magic Kingdom parks.

My apologies for holding Disney to higher standards. My bad.

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

I look at the Swan and Dolphin as very unique, and whimsical structures. Like the hat at the Studios, and the wand on SSE, Just poor choces of location for some. I think they could have picked a better location for those that are offended by their presence on the skyline of the World Showcase. I have to admit that it was odd the first time I noticed it, but I've grown use to it over the years. My own personal opinion is I like seeing them. It's part of WDW, just like some of the billboards on World Drive. I don't look at them as an intrusion on the landscape like billboards on an interstate, but just another part of WDW.

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

<<My apologies for holding Disney to higher standards. My bad.>>

You should never apologize for holding Disney to the standards IT set.

It wasn't Walt's standards either (for those who insist on bashing the genius into insignificance decades after his death). It was the standards created by the most amazing staff of artists, movie folks, techno-wizards ... the Imagineers.

 

Originally Posted By Spirit of 74

<<I look at the Swan and Dolphin as very unique, and whimsical structures. Like the hat at the Studios, and the wand on SSE, Just poor choces of location for some. >>

Absolutely.

I love the Swan and Dolphin. They are two of my fave hotels at WDW. I like the architecture ... even moreso, after the recent multi-year renovation.

But they were positioned poorly. Like the upscale mall that towers over the nearby subdivision because of poor zoning.

As for the BAH, I hate it ... but only due to its locale. Place it at the entrance to the park or the animation exhibit and I'd enjoy it.

The wand ... well, that monstrosity has no redeeming quality.

 

Originally Posted By mrichmondj

So, where does that leave Space Mountain at DLR, considering how it looms over Main street and can be seen from several locations amidst the turn-of-the-century streetscape?

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> The wand ... well, that monstrosity has no redeeming quality. <<

I think it would work at the entrance to the parking lot at Epcot as a compromise. That would return SSE to its' former glory, and all the people who liked the Wand could still see it when entering, and leaving. WDW loves to recycle things anyway.

 

Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA

<So, where does that leave Space Mountain at DLR, considering how it looms over Main street and can be seen from several locations amidst the turn-of-the-century streetscape?>

Space Mountain is an icon within Disneyland park. The Imagineers did a great job of trying to mask Space Mountain from Main Street U.S.A. -- including a transition building that transitions from turn-of-the-century to 'futuristic' and trees that do their best to mask too.

But for some reason, the 'Space Mountain Effect' is very, very different than the Dolphin Swan visual intrustion.

 

Originally Posted By mrichmondj

<< But for some reason, the 'Space Mountain Effect' is very, very different than the Dolphin Swan visual intrustion. >>

Not all that different.

Or, too make another comparison, I don't see how Dolphin and Swan is any different from the futuristic pyramids of Journey Into Your Imagination juxtaposed against the Canada pavilion when you look across World Showcase Lagoon. There's only a few locations where you even see the Dolphin and Swan, and when you are within the interior boundaries of the countries themselves you can't see the hotels at all.

I just don't get what the big deal is. It's not like World Showcase is a very cohesive themed environment -- it's a jumble of different countries and architectures smashed up against one another. When you are inside each country, you see them individually without interference. From a distance, you see all sorts of stuff. You might actually fail the original EPCOT Imagineers for creating an environment that is just too expansive to shut out the outside world. One of the amazing things about the coziness of DL is that despite how jam packed everything is, it is the same coziness that keeps neighboring buildings out of the sight lines since most of what guests see are "close ups." You only get the close up shots at EPCOT when you are inside each pavilion.

 

Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy

Seeing anything "intrusionary" would really bug me too. As for EPCOT and DCA being about the real world, the thing for me is that they're still Disney parks, which IMO should remain secluded---even though we learn about the world, there's still a special feel to it, like you're in a different realm learning about how things work or are in "our world"---a feeling that "once you get back into it [your world], you can apply this knowledge there---but in the meantime this is a magical special Disney place, so enjoy yourself until you have to get back to reality".

When I was a junior in high school and my mom had reservations for us at Medieval Times, I kept my eyes closed in the car on the way to and fro---I took immersing myself in the parks and ONLY the parks very seriously, lol.

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<Seeing anything "intrusionary" would really bug me too.>>

Though it would bother me tremendously in the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom; it just doesn't bother me much at Epcot or DCA.

As others have pointed our far better than I, many Future World buildings can be seen from the Showcase and they really don't fit in any more naturally than the Swan or Dolphin hotels.

And as I motioned in a prior post, there is no way anything outside the park presents an intrusion as jarring and just plain ugly as the fireworks barges.

So no, I don't oppose holding Disney to "higher standards" when they make sense and have not already been violated 100 times. I just don't feel the standards in some parks necessarily pertain to others.

For instance, "weenies" would be terribly out of place in the Animal Kingdom. I think the AK has done a wonderful job presenting a sense of place without needing to draw people to the different areas through the use of a "weenie".

 

Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA

<Not all that different.>

Well, to me it is.

 

Originally Posted By TALL Disney Guy

<Though it would bother me tremendously in the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom; it just doesn't bother me much at Epcot or DCA.>

I take the Disney parks as a "whole", like Narnia---all the parks are in the "wardrobe" to me. So seeing anything intrusionary at the Magic Kingdom, AK, EPCOT, or DCA would be like seeing a McDonald's sign or movie billboard in Narnia, Calormen, The Lone Islands, Ettinsmoor, or The Wild West.

;-)

 

Originally Posted By plpeters70

"For instance, "weenies" would be terribly out of place in the Animal Kingdom."

I wouldn't call the Tree of Life or Everest out of place -- and those are both weenies at AK. Frankly, I think the park could use a few more -- how about something on the Camp Minne-Mickey side -- say a Dragon's Tower drawing you into Beastly Kingdom... ;-)

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<I wouldn't call the Tree of Life or Everest out of place -- and those are both weenies at AK. >>

I disagree. The Tree of Life is the park icon, similar to the Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom. It is different (at least to me) from a "weenie" which is supposed to draw people into specific areas of the park.

Everest is something of a weenie and I even thought about mentioning it in my first post. But I believe its status as a "weenie" is secondary... it's the size it is because it needs to be to house the attraction. It was not developed at the time Asia initially opened. Also... it DOES NOT pull people into an area of the park... nothing is back there except Everest. If is a pretty fair walk from all other parts of Asia.

 

Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA

<it DOES NOT pull people into an area of the park...>

Expedition Everest doesn't pull people into that area of the park?

What does? The nicely themed restrooms?

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<What does? The nicely themed restrooms?>>

Come on Jim... you know what I mean. From what I've read, weenies were meant to draw people into an AREA of the park; not a single attraction. That combined with the fact that Everest is an add-on and not a part of the park from the beginning says to me that it was not intended to be a weenie.

To me, a weenie would be against everything that AK represents. It is a theme park based on DISCOVERY... they do not make all of the options noticeable from the time you first walk in the gate. In fact you never even see the primary park icon, the Tree of Life, until you exit from the Oasis which opens the park.

By the way... I have no problem if you disagree with me. But do you really have to be such a smart-ass about it?

 

Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA

<By the way... I have no problem if you disagree with me. But do you really have to be such a smart-ass about it?>

Sorry, sometimes I just can't resist. I mean, the set-ups are right there...

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<Sorry, sometimes I just can't resist. I mean, the set-ups are right there...>>

OK... I understand. I couldn't pass up a good straight line either...

 

Originally Posted By Goofyernmost

>>>Expedition Everest doesn't pull people into that area of the park?

What does? The nicely themed restrooms?<<<


I don't care who you are, that's funny!