Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of <a href="http://www.LaughingPlace.com/Latest-ID-78642.asp" target="_blank"><b>Latest: Video: Magic Kingdom Park Construction at Walt Disney World Resort</b></a> <p>Disney Parks presents via YouTube some early Magic Kingdom construction videos. Very fun stuff!</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="450" height="305" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZnC0CcfQ4wk" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p> </p>
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Phenomenal. I got a kick out of seeing the dry lake bed in front of the Magic Kingdom. Thanks for posting this.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 They don't make construction videos like THAT anymore! Sorry - just channelling a certain spirit since he seems to have disappeared. ; )
Originally Posted By macnak81 That was great. Really reminds you of just what a great feat of engineering it was and is to create Disney World.
Originally Posted By Bellella Cool. You guys should check out videos of D-land's construction. Btw, does anyone know when this expansion of your Fantasyland is supposed to be done? What exactly is going on? Do you think it'll be finished by, oh, say, next summer?
Originally Posted By dagobert Thanks for the video. It's always great to see the construction of the parks.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Not only that, it's a reminder of how special these kinds of developments once were. With all the Disney resorts around the world now the newer projects aren't as novel as DL and WDW were when they were being built.
Originally Posted By ChiMike Can't agree more Hans. First it was Tokyo, the first foreign park. Then Hong Kong, the first park in China. Now Shanghai, the first -mainland- China park. It's as if they completely forgot the lessons learned with the Disney Stores. Shanghai might, MIGHT, be a success that proves the decision on France wrong, but something tells me efforts in Shanghai will only weaken the attention Hong Kong receives. To your point Hans, Disneyland and WDW were projects that the company was gambled on. There had to be success or it was the end of the company. There was no other option but success and for WDW to deliver on a metaphorical testament to Walt's life. We've come a long way to complicated financing and capital partnership agreements. These things are being setup now as basically franchises. Everything down to the park's ""menu"" is calculated and assigned to numerical risk equations. Not the best recipe for creative risk taking and groundbreaking design.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>These things are being setup now as basically franchises<< Not as in intellecutal property, even though that certainly will come into play with Shanghai.. No, as franchises, i.e. Taco Bell, McDonalds, Panera.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<It's as if they completely forgot the lessons learned with the Disney Stores. Shanghai might, MIGHT, be a success that proves the decision on France wrong, but something tells me efforts in Shanghai will only weaken the attention Hong Kong receives. To your point Hans, Disneyland and WDW were projects that the company was gambled on. There had to be success or it was the end of the company. There was no other option but success and for WDW to deliver on a metaphorical testament to Walt's life.>> This is what bothers me about the current state of Disney. They've become so big, so influential, and so successful that there's no desperation any more. There's no drive to prove that they can still do what they used to. They had to fight and prove they were the best with things like Walt Disney World, Epcot, and Tokyo. Now it's just going through the motions. Sure, I think Hong Kong looks like a beautiful park and has some neat things on the way, but it was still woefully under built, much like DAK. And Shanghai gives me fits. Some things sound interesting, but most just sounds like ridiculous product tie-ins.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt That's why I limit my Disney park interests to the places that truly matter to me, specifically DLR, WDW, and DLP. I can't explain why, but I really don't care much about TDLR, and I have absolutely no interest in HKDL (other than a bit of curiosity about the new attractions being developed over there). As for Shanghai it on Mars. I just don't care.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Ooops, sorry, I meant to say, "As for Shanghai they might as well be building it on Mars".
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I will agree that Disneyland was a huge gamble, but WDW? Walt Disney was universally loved, east coasters had a much harder time getting to California and just the name meant that it would work. I would have invested every nickel I had and not lost a single nights sleep worrying about its success. They could have built a series of fancy Port-a-potties and had people coming to view them. Some of the others, like France and China...those are the gambles but, from what I understand, they weren't gambling their own money on these, at least not China. Another one that I really felt could not lose would be Tokyo. If you had the name Walt Disney to hang on to a venture it was a pretty good bet that it would make it. Especially shortly after he passed away.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt They spent a ton of money on WDW in an untested market. Remember that Orlando wasn't much more than a town at the time. I remember flying to WDW as a kid in 1975 and the airport was little more than a bus station back then. It really was a huge financial gamble.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Well, I think they should've built Walt Disney World in Morva instead of Florida! It's not like as if we don't have plenty of swamp land, too, you know! We could've been a lot further along than we are now! I mean, they would've had to go ahead and invented electricity here by now! Instead, we're still burdened down candles, fireplaces and fireflies!!!
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Oh, and no offense to Evenrude meant by my firefly comment...
Originally Posted By vbdad55 "I remember flying to WDW as a kid in 1975 and the airport was little more than a bus station back then. It really was a huge financial gamble." yep- I remember departing the plane down a movable stairway onto the tarmac-- I was like- what the H ?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt ^^ Exactly. When I returned years later for the opening of EPCOT they had the built the terminal(s) that are there today.
