Magic Kingdom Hub Update: More New Railings (PART 2)
Welcome to the second part of our newest Magic Kingdom hub construction-update! Click here to go back to PART 1 of this article.
As you have seen in the previous installment of this photo-report, the west side of the hub is starting to look beautiful, and only a few months of work remain. Now we will continue checking out the east side. After that, we will move on to the area surrounding the "Partners" statue:
Other sections of the new railings can be seen on this side of the hub:
The other bridge:
It seems like the interior has been completely painted black:
Moving along:
Future walkways and seating area for The Plaza restaurant:
The heart of the hub:
All the trees and flowers have been removed:
The "Partners" statue is still inside a box:
The other bridge:
It seems like the interior has been completely painted black:
Moving along:
Future walkways and seating area for The Plaza restaurant:
The heart of the hub:
All the trees and flowers have been removed:
The "Partners" statue is still inside a box:
Time to leave the park...
And that is all for now. Before concluding, remember to like us on our official Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for live updates from the parks. If you would like to make a donation to OTPN, feel free to use the big "DONATE" button on the sidebar. Thank you for your support, and see you again real soon!
PHOTOS BY: Alex, Official Orlando Theme Park News Team Member and Photographer.
CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO PART 1 OF THIS MAGIC KINGDOM PHOTO-UPDATE >
CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO PART 1 OF THIS MAGIC KINGDOM PHOTO-UPDATE >
I've seen snails crawl quicker than this construction work!!!
ReplyDeleteHundred bucks says those fountains will have some kind of water height adjustments and lighting effects to correspond with the night time shows. Maybe???
ReplyDeleteAre the snails confined to working 99% of the time in the dark while the busiest area of the world's busiest park is closed, some days for less than 6 hours? Yes I agree it's taking a long time, but they have such limited work hours in order to guarentee guest safety. And I've been in the park recently and as stupid as this sounds, the walls don't take much away from the experience. The pictures make it look much worse than it actually is. Very little space that was usable before the walls went up has been blocked off, these are mainly along the walls of the former paths.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Universal has built a massive new building and is starting rock work on the entrance in roughly half the time it is taking Disney to build a few fountains, pour some new cement and put in guard rails and speakers blows my mind!
ReplyDeleteSure they can only work at night, but that still gives them 6-8 hours per night for months! VERY LITTLE progress has been made since the last time pictures were posted on here.
Now look at the massive hat. They have knocked that thing down SUPER fast! Disney sure has no problem shutting things down and removing things, but when it comes to building new things, they move slower than a snail! Just look at Avatar. It's going to be nearly 10 years in development by the time they get it open. Universal designed and built TWO MASSIVE (and more themed than anything Disney has built in YEARS) additions to their theme parks and connected the two parks together by a train in less time than that!
I used to be a Disney fan, but going year after year with nothing new being added except things that require more money has made me change my tune. Disney needs to seriously step it up! I fear the Hollywood Studios rumored "make over" might take another 10 years (or more) to be completed. They simply don't have that kind of time anymore. That park needs help ASAP!!
Here we go again! Universal builds buildings, not theme areas. Sure, a building can go up where there are no people walking near it. All the work is in a completely closed off area, unlike the hub at Magic Kingdom. Another 3D ride at Universal. Big deal!
ReplyDeleteHogsmeade and Diagon Alley beg to differ. They are the peak of themed areas. Disney offers nothing close to the level of immersion you feel when inside of them. Carsland came close, but when you look to your side and see the Tower of Terror, it totally kills the feeling that your IN the movie. When your inside a HP land, you can't see anything BUT HP themes and the attention to detail in the smallest and most minor areas is astounding. Unless you have gone, you can't judge it.
ReplyDeleteSure they are remaking the hub, but honestly that is not a TON of work. No major steel frames, no rock work, etc. Some more cement and stone, pipes for fountains, etc. I get that they can't close off the hub and knock it out quickly, but they could hire more workers so when they work at night, they get stuff done.
The last update was 10 days ago. Around the Partners statue, they have simply removed two flower beds/tree areas. No way that takes 10 days! Very minor progress has been made in 10 days when you compare the pictures. Sure they can't work during the day, but that is 10 nights of work to add a few guard rails and remove two flower beds. Something a small team could do in far less time.
You would think with the hub of the park being such a major part of the experience they would be having a ton of people working on it at night to get it done in a few months. Taking a year to remake the hub is insane.
I don't think that anyone here has enough construction and theme park operation experience to actually be able to accurately criticize the speed of the construction. The idea that somehow Disney is consciously slowing this work is a little ridiculous, and the comparison in construction times to Universal is also absurd since they are completely different projects with different constraints.
ReplyDeleteIt is in Disney's best interest to complete this project as quickly as possible in order to minimize disruption and affect on ticket sales. So why would they move the project any slower than they need to for safety and noise control reasons?
I am sure there are constraints to this project moving faster which, (surprise surprise) we are not aware of.
Good points, above!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous.....although Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are wonderfully themed areas.....they wouldn't have even been conceived of if it weren't for Disney who originated the "Theme Park" idea in the first place with Disneyland.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day, Disney own and operate the busiest theme parks in the world. The people running the company know so much more about what they are doing than any of us sat at home reading and commenting on a theme park news site. Disney as a rule of thumb do not get things wrong. Attendance is increasing year on year.
ReplyDeleteJust to add to my comment above, do you know how many building projects Disney have going on at this time? I can think of these major projects off the top of my head: Avatar Land, Animal Kingdom Discovery Island enhancements/nightime show prep, MK Hub regeneration, Polynesian resort, Disney Springs (and all the associated road works). These are just what I saw there this month. I'm sure there are other projects that we don't see. What are Universal doing? A new ride and a new hotel...
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeletemain thing, is there a projected end date?
i am going late September 2015 so i hope it will be finished by then
Plus the Frozen ride in Epcot.
ReplyDeleteYou need to remember that there is no need to rush this job through. Yes it makes a bit of an impact on people's visit with all the walls up around the hub, but not to the extent that anybody will change their holiday plans for.
ReplyDeleteAlso the completion of this project won't prompt any surge of attendance, it's purely an infrastructure improvement to make the guest experience more comfortable in that area of the park.
So why spend extra money on getting it completed quicker, when that resource can be employed elsewhere in the resort.
A few observations.... you like universal, I like disney, you like coke, I like pepsi. I don't have to hate coke for you to like it more... do I? I don't "like" things more by tearing down others. Your a Universal Convert... congratulations to you. If it makes you happy, enjoy, I'm genuinly happr for you... .but leave my stuff alone.
ReplyDeleteA few other points... construction projects.. Soarin 3rd theatre, isn't there another hotel being worked on (Caribbean beach maybe?)
The Hub... why are they doing it? Well its not just a pretty infrastructure thing. The MK is reaching capacity. The feedback from the guests is that WDW is too crowded, too many lines, and too much waiting around. Ask your non Disney fan friends. Many will say it. Some go once, and never come back because of the crowds. Look at the changes that have been made. The extra ferry dock, magic bands, interactive q lines, bigger hub, the backstage quick exit mainstreet bypass... new double sized busses, expanded soarin theatres, the additional bus stops at the MK. All capacity expansions. These things are not sexy, but they need to be done. To keep WDW and the MK from collapsing under its own success.
Add in Avatar, and whatever they are doing at DHS and you can easily see attendance growing. Yes, they are losing market share to Universal. And only time will tell if a) universals expansions are timeless... harry potter may level off or even drop, or not, no one knows for sure and b) if Comcast is willing to continue to pump the money into it. They are busy, sure, but are they getting the Return on Investment needed to continue to fund more and more. (Don't assume they are just because they are crowded, Amazon.com is extremely busy, and they make almost no money, and many quarters they are not profitable at all)
I have dealt with Disney and TRUST me, they watch every penny. SO they would not just sit and watch contractors waste their money by not getting the job done. There is probably much more to the project than we see. Remember the tunnels are underneath this construction.
ReplyDelete