Test Track 2012 Update

[JNota0005DakMC]

Thought about it, and I've got a couple:

- The Fantasyland Skyway building - but it's not done yet, and I'm actually forgetting what it will become...

- 20,000 Leagues - the building was still there, but it was demolished except for a single wall to build the new Ariel ride. The single wall was retained because it allowed it to be classified as a remodeling instead of a new structure.

- The Tomorrowland Skyway was only partially demolished, and not repurposed.

Beyond that, it's all minor stuff like the theaters, etc.

But as for Disney spending money for no apparent reason...one only has to look at Flamingo Crossings and Hyperion Wharf...

Doc this is what i mean... it is a bit different if all we are doing is changing one show to the next... like EO and HISTA... and i am with the idea that the Philarmagic building has housed a few attractions in its day...but Disney has been known to waste money in the past... (think Golden Oaks...) WoM was one of the times i was a bit surprised that they designed the attraction around the existing building... they do repurpose buildings, I'm not disagreeing here... but i have seen them do some strange demolition for some things that though needed or wanted could have been used elsewhere... (a whole wing of the Contemporary might not have had to be demo'd to build the BLT...)

[Mo Noyz]

Could the Ariel ride fit in the old 20K show building?

And I may be incorrect, but neither Skyway building is being replaced with anything. The bigger question being what could they have put in them?

We're talking about an old show building that the new attraction could have easily fit inside. There really are no examples of this.

[Mo Noyz]

but i have seen them do some strange demolition for some things that though needed or wanted could have been used elsewhere... (a whole wing of the Contemporary might not have had to be demo'd to build the BLT...)

BLT was partially built over the old foot print of the north wing.

[doconeill]

Could the Ariel ride fit in the old 20K show building?

If they designed to the building, sure, like they did with Test Track. But it wasn't designed to the building, it was designed independently.

We're talking about an old show building that the new attraction could have easily fit inside. There really are no examples of this.

Agreed, other than M:S. It wouldn't make any sort of financial sense. But like I said, they have thrown money away elsewhere...

[Mo Noyz]

Agreed, other than M:S. It wouldn't make any sort of financial sense.

And there's my point.

They've done things that we can consider as "throwing money away", but nothing on the kind of scale we'd be talking about by simply tearing down an old show building just to build a new one.

[supernova]

Thought about it, and I've got a couple:

- The Fantasyland Skyway building - but it's not done yet, and I'm actually forgetting what it will become...

I thought that was totally removed as of the last month or two, unless I'm missing the sarcasm.

[doconeill]

I thought that was totally removed as of the last month or two, unless I'm missing the sarcasm.

"not done" meaning they haven't finished building whatever they are building, which I couldn't remember - but now I think it was just a new bathroom building to replace the ones by Peter Pan so they can rework the queue over there.

There was also reports that they were going to rework the flow in that area as well to remove the archway chokepoint, but I don't know if that it still planned.

So that building doesn't fit in the "demolish and replace with another attraction building" criteria either.

[JNota0005DakMC]

See and I am drawn to the pleasure island area... Now I agree that in the Parks Disney hasnt done a boat load of demo work to buildings that may be reused (with the exception of Horizons and 20k) but their decisions to demolish all of pleasure island and then put the whole project on hold is a bit crazy for me... I cannot wrap my head around why they did all that work without knowing for sure that their plans were going to be received positively... Once they heard people weren't really excited they decided to go "back to the drawing board..."

I'm not using this as a way to prove my point... I know that Disney generally tries to keep structures up so long as it fits their original usage of the building... I was just surprised that TT was made to fit basically within the WoM building because they are different in concept...

[Mo Noyz]

I have no idea, but I'd be willing to wager that the WoM building may have been one of the most expensive ones built there. That may have played into their thinking as well. And it's really a landmark building in Future World.

So they have actually demolished all of PI? I thought they were planning to keep a lot of those buildings. (?)

And honestly, if they were having the trouble that they were, why didn't they simply go back to making it a hard ticket area? That's the thing I've never been able to understand. I was there several times when it was something like $35 to get in. Never saw any trouble then.

[doconeill]

So they have actually demolished all of PI? I thought they were planning to keep a lot of those buildings. (?)

No they didn't...they stopped themselves before several of the buildings they planned to demolish were touched.

[Mo Noyz]

Ah, OK. I just read his post incorrectly.

[JNota0005DakMC]

And honestly, if they were having the trouble that they were, why didn't they simply go back to making it a hard ticket area? That's the thing I've never been able to understand. I was there several times when it was something like $35 to get in. Never saw any trouble then.

See I don't understand that either... I thought it was a good program as I originally was set up... I guess they though otherwise... I know they weren't in the business of running clubs but still...

The kicker was that they started and accomplished some demolition only for there to be a backtrack... It seems like Hyperion Wharf is completely she does for the forseable future... Any bets on when they actually get somewhere with that area...?

[Mo Noyz]

I have no clue. I've never seen Disney put themselves in a position like this. Yes, they've had complete lapses in intelligence. Take Rocket Rods as a prime example. They've also closed down an entire pavilion (WoL) without replacing it with something else.

This situation seems a completely different animal. You close down a very popular area on property essentially to renovate it into something more family friendly (after you make a huge blunder and just allow folks to walk right in without a hint of a cover charge), then completely abandon the project and put it on indefinite hold?!

Been a Disney fan and patron since they opened WDW in '71. But, I've never seen anything to compare with this. Closing the Virgin Megastore was one thing. They had no control over that. But shutting down a major money maker and then saying "eh, maybe not"?

Very bizarre chapter...

[doconeill]

I think there were two reasons they "opened PI up"...

1) The "flow of guests" excuse...they wanted a better way to get guests between West Side and Marketplace. In the meantime, people would see what PI had to offer and might be interested.

2) They wanted to more directly attribute income to clubs. This showed which clubs were more "profitable", although there was still some funny accounting since there were multi-club tickets, which were required for AC and CW.

However, AC's unique design I think made it rather difficult to get an idea of what it was about until you paid the cover charge...

[HauntedGabe]

See I don't understand that either... I thought it was a good program as I originally was set up... I guess they though otherwise... I know they weren't in the business of running clubs but still...

The kicker was that they started and accomplished some demolition only for there to be a backtrack... It seems like Hyperion Wharf is completely she does for the foreseeable future... Any bets on when they actually get somewhere with that area...?

PI was great when it just opened. We saw it through its opening to the icky end. It wasn't just one thing that lead to the current mess. Originally it was meant for night entertainment for the childless couple or when night childcare came about, for a couples evening out. Your tickets generally came with free admission to PI for a multi-day pass. To limit locals, the price was high.

That area off property has steadily declined over the years. (Disney's college program, Vista, sits in the heart of a pretty dangerous neighborhood. Disney's solution is to build the rest of the college housing elsewhere.) So now you have local thugs wandering, so in the middle of the night you have guests wandering to either park lots, bus stops etc., a bit tipsy. Easy targets. Plus they believe they are "safe" in DTD 'cause it is Disney.

Then Disney kinda got greedy and expanded DTD and added the West Side to the mix but it was free. Over saturation of restaurants and bars. Then PI was free. Then you had thugs and pick pocketers there all night. Move in now a lot of Disney security.

Disney learned from their mistakes and built a mini night life area for after World Showcase hours. You have Dance Club and Jelly's both with a cover charge. They also intelligently made it difficult to park and actually flee. Thugs don't like being trapped rats. There are not "open" free parking areas. Also Clubs are not on the edge of the property lines like DTD is.

I think someone in Disney was smart to pull the plug on Hyperion. Really they didn't have a purpose/draw to the area. While touted as a Family area it was designed to be pretty but nothing more. Who brings their family to Disney World, at those prices says hey lets go sit on the grass at the Wharf, you'd be more inclined to keep the family at the parks or go back to the resort and enjoy the pool. Disney really needed to get their act together before they trashed anymore buildings and spent too much money on the nothingness. They have to remember the ill thought project called The Disney Institute.

Now what I am interested to see is how Flamingo evolves over the next decade. That little cove presently sits on a nicer piece of real estate.