NickMaio
Well-Known Member
Love the pictures......Things have changed over time, but some of WED's wonderful design work is still there in Florida's Magic Kingdom:
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WED's Wonderful Kingdom
- Thread starter Animaniac93-98
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
How about Peter Pan's Flight? I hope they never change the load area, no matter how "dated" it looks.
The dimensional murals created for WDW's Peter Pan, Snow White and Mr Toad dark rides were another wonderful example of "plussing" the original painted walls of Disneyland's Fantasyland (pre-1983). The little touches like the Tinker Bell on wire or the "waterfalls" of Snow White's load gave them added life.
Tokyo Disneyland replicated two of these and still has Snow White intact as it was over 50 years go in WDW. The figure of the Queen peering through the curtains in the 1983 Disneyland exterior was originally created for this tableaux
jah4955
Well-Known Member
Yesterday I perused the 4 pages; today I read them. So many great insights @Animaniac93-98 ... and there are so many more examples (maybe they were there but some of the photo links wouldn't open) .... all of which beautifully contribute towards so many experiences that at times felt transcendent. It echos most of what I've read everywhere else: that The Magic Kingdom was the chance to, in a sense, recreate Disneyland without, comparatively speaking, the restraints of space or money, 2 areas Walt previously lamented. Incorporating much of DL with previously unused ideas of Walt's, like HoP & MMR, they made The Magic Kingdom feel magical in it's quality, especially through the details.
I haven't been to Disneyland, but, looking at the photos, there just doesn't seem to be as much TLC in the details as in many of the Magic Kingdom counterparts. As many have frequently noted, Disneyland seems to have its unique intimacy and charm, but Magic Kingdom this unique awe-inspiring factor thru its greater scale (as @lazyboy97o offered yesterday) and greater lavishing on the details, as books like "The Architecture of Reassurance" observes.
I haven't been to Disneyland, but, looking at the photos, there just doesn't seem to be as much TLC in the details as in many of the Magic Kingdom counterparts. As many have frequently noted, Disneyland seems to have its unique intimacy and charm, but Magic Kingdom this unique awe-inspiring factor thru its greater scale (as @lazyboy97o offered yesterday) and greater lavishing on the details, as books like "The Architecture of Reassurance" observes.
Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
Having stumbled on this thread today, it just makes me sadder that TSI has been sacrificed to build WDW’s version of Cars land…without opening an additional can of worms, I’ll just leave it at that…
For as rightly praised as DLP is for its immaculate attention to detail and stunning design, there's one thing it fails to do as good as The Magic Kingdom did, and that's where and how it parks its riverboat for maintanance.
At Disneyland in California, there's a bend in the river where the Mark Twain can be docked for work. It's uncovered and is used occasionally for that purpose, but is largely inconspicuous. Walt didn't like it, but during initial construction of the park it was considered the best overall solution.
Shown above is my picture taken of what's left of DLP's Mark twain, in a similar dock, but one that is fully enclosed to protect it from the harsher elements of the local climate.
This works in a practical sense, but as you can see it not only looks unflattering, but this big structure (sitting next to the the huge Frontierland Theater) dwarfs Becon Joe's cabin next to it and kind of spoils the illusion of this being the untamed wilderness beyond Thunder Mesa.
Magic Kingdom over engineering a solution to Disneyland's problem is another example of how WED went the extra mile for the sake of show and should be considered in the same vein as the Utilidors for that reason. Having to pull the Liberty Belle down a long river to get to the Seven Seas Lagoon, then cross that lagoon to get to Bay Lake where the actual dry dock was is incredible. Both in that such effort had to be made for routine fixes, but also that WED wanted to preserve the aesthetics of Seven Seas Lagoon AND Bay Lake too! Three bodies of guest facing water that were considered on stage, part of the show and needing to look as natural and picturesque as possible. And they succeeded.
At Disneyland in California, there's a bend in the river where the Mark Twain can be docked for work. It's uncovered and is used occasionally for that purpose, but is largely inconspicuous. Walt didn't like it, but during initial construction of the park it was considered the best overall solution.
Shown above is my picture taken of what's left of DLP's Mark twain, in a similar dock, but one that is fully enclosed to protect it from the harsher elements of the local climate.
This works in a practical sense, but as you can see it not only looks unflattering, but this big structure (sitting next to the the huge Frontierland Theater) dwarfs Becon Joe's cabin next to it and kind of spoils the illusion of this being the untamed wilderness beyond Thunder Mesa.
Magic Kingdom over engineering a solution to Disneyland's problem is another example of how WED went the extra mile for the sake of show and should be considered in the same vein as the Utilidors for that reason. Having to pull the Liberty Belle down a long river to get to the Seven Seas Lagoon, then cross that lagoon to get to Bay Lake where the actual dry dock was is incredible. Both in that such effort had to be made for routine fixes, but also that WED wanted to preserve the aesthetics of Seven Seas Lagoon AND Bay Lake too! Three bodies of guest facing water that were considered on stage, part of the show and needing to look as natural and picturesque as possible. And they succeeded.
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Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
"Seven Seas Lagoon" is such a charming and whimsical name.