Walt Disney World Resort Non-Park Discussion Thread

The monorails have special place in my heart being an ex-pilot and all, but I have to say those look absolutely TERRIBLE and heartbreaking at the same time. I was never a fan of the balloons, but this design is just silly.

Love the Tron-orails! Can't wait for the movie too. I remember seeing the first movie in the theaters as a kid.

A lot better than the balloons, but I don't really like them.

I like this idea, but it could be the fact I am a huge Tron fan. If Disney were to advertise another movie on the monorails, I would probably be against it. Can't wait for the movie.

Hmmm, must've missed that huge train-long beam of light the first time I looked at it.

That would have been awesome. I really liked the original Tron. It is one of the great acid trip films. I hope the new film is better than this hack job they did on these trains.

Bummer! I don't like it at all.

Reminds me of the last couple of times that I went to SFOG and they had some stupid ads on Mindbender. Yuck!

If you think the wrapping/moving billboard look will end when Tron: Legacy comes out, think again.

When Disneyland first wrapped its Mark V Monorail, it was to promote the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. It was to make only one of the three working Mark V's look like one of the Subs. Then, Disney got it in its head to wrap ALL monorails in the "Year of a Million Dreams" blue/white frilly clouds look. Those wraps were never taken off the Mark V's. If the Mark VII's hadn't come online to replace the YOAMD-wrapped Mark V's, we could very well still be seeing wrapped monorails here instead of the current sleek & sexy look of the Mark VII's. The only reason that Disneyland's Mark VII Monorails aren't wrapped in advertising is because of a hard-fought internal battle to keep the wrappings off Disneyland's shiny, new Mark VII Monorail trains.

To see this same shenaniganry come to WDW is a quite a shame. The traditional look of the Monorail is one of those small, special little immersive tidbits of the experience of going to Disneyland or WDW. Covering that over for advertising, be it for a theme park promotion, a movie, or whatever, marks a loss that will likely never be recovered. I hope the traditional look comes back, but it didn't happen in Disneyland because they fell in love with wrapping the monorail, even though the locals hated seeing it. We'll see what kind of backlash, if any, comes from this. WDW'ers might wish they had the balloons in the windows back after this wrapping goes on for a while.

True, it's better than clouds/balloons, but I still don't like it much at all. I love the sleek look of the monorails, these wrapping just aren't very appealing, in my opinion. Makes as little sense to me as wrapping Viper's (SFMM) trains with those hair gel ads. Wrapping the monorails , especially with the Tron theme, messes with the cohesiveness of the resort. The Tron wrappings are very 'Tomorrowland', but nothing else.

However on a side note, I'm very excited for the movie!

Well, better than the Six Flags wraps of the last couple of years. I can at least see the monorail as the shape of the path the bike makes. That said, is it that hard to just make them white with a stripe again?

I love it! I actually really like the colors.

Actually, the original Disneyland monorails had chrome along the sides. Here are a few pictures of a model of one, but they looked exactly like that. The Mark II and III did as well.

As for WDW's Tron-wrapped trains, eh. But at least they aren't wrapped with Schwarzkopf Hair Gel ads...

Eric

I think it's worse then putting hair care product decals on coasters! When such a major attraction is modified to a specific franchise, it just sort of seems like they are selling out. But money is a huge deal a disney.

Though I would laugh if they had the axe hair care relief mountain

Well im really diggin those trains. Hopefully they will light up at night!

Think How cool it would be to see a lightcycle speed around Spaceship Earth!!!

Sorry fanboy moment.

I really hope they put Flynn's Arcade in at Space Mountain's exit by revamping the current one to go along with the Monorails.

Meh. It looks like the kind of thing that will be cool for a few weeks and then will be kind of annoying. I wish that they could just leave them plain for a while. That way, it would actually be special when they decorate the monorail.

Maybe I have missed it, but the whole reason the trains have kept their whites and stripes is due to the System using the colors to identify the trains, correct? This is much more of an issue at WDW with 11.5 trains than it was at DLR with 3.

So, unless they plan on painting a Coral or Teal colored Tron train, how is this gonna work?

The movie looks incredible, I support this!

So, unless they plan on painting a Coral or Teal colored Tron train, how is this gonna work?

I'm assuming they'll call them TRON yellow, or TRON Blue. Or something like that.

I don't know why everyone is so afraid of change these days. They can always go back to the original look anytime, but times are a-changing, and everything is getting plastered with propaganda. There's no escaping it. At least it's simplistic and sleek, and doesn't look completely out of place. It could have been a lot worse.

That being said, I like it. I ride a train every day with some really ugly, random-looking ads on it, and this is a lot nicer looking.

Maybe I have missed it, but the whole reason the trains have kept their whites and stripes is due to the System using the colors to identify the trains, correct? This is much more of an issue at WDW with 11.5 trains than it was at DLR with 3.

 

So, unless they plan on painting a Coral or Teal colored Tron train, how is this gonna work?

I could be wrong, but here are some ideas...

The 2 trains pictured one page 1 are two distinct colors in the light trails... also, it's been about a year since I've been down there so I may be recalling incorrectly, but it looks to me like there's a solid color stripe in the light trail right where the colored stripe is on the current design... perhaps the system will pick that up?

Another thing that I thought about... WDW isn't just one huge track... there are distinct lines. While I'm sure there are probably various transfer tracks, etc. so that any given monorail can be relatively easily put on any of the lines, if you keep it consistent (i.e. only the tronorails go on a particular line on a given day, which it said Epcot in the OP) then the system can adjust. When you have white and stripe, it looks for the color stripe.... when you have tronorail, it would look for the color of the light trail...

One last thing I thought about... it's Disney. I mean, seariously... it's *DISNEY* we're talking about. They innovate so much that they even made up a word to refer to their innovators - imagineers! If they wanted/needed to, I'm sure they could come up with a new system and/or modify another system accordingly. If not, I'm sure it wouldn't be too expensive to add bumpers

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to comment... I like them, and I second the idea to have the light trails.... light up at night - or even better (which would take a lot in special effects, but it would be so cool) have a trail of light follow the monorail at night! (maybe even as simple as a small fog machine trailing it with a colored spotlight to match the color on the train?)

Lots of words there.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/03/annual-passholder-d-street-sneak-peek/

On Saturday, April 3, 2010, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Passholders will have an opportunity to be among the first guests to experience the opening of D Street, the newest merchandise location where urban inspired product “intersects” with a Disney creative edge. Passholders will also be among the first to catch a glimpse of the new Create Your Own Vinylmation table, have the opportunity to participate in Vinylmation trading activities (trade your own Vinylmation or ones you purchase) and see the Disney Channel Star Celebrity Signed Vinylmation on display at D Street!

 

In addition to catching a sneak peek of D Street, Passholders will also have the opportunity to purchase new and Oh Mickey, Sports, and Vinylmation Jr. Series releases (and yes, your Passholder Merchandise Discount will apply!). There will also be a purchase with purchase opportunity featuring a Vinylmation Tote Bag for $1.95 when you spend $30 or more at D Street. Plus, the first 500 Passholders at the D Street location on Saturday, April 3, 2010 will receive a complimentary Vinylmation button.

 

D Street located in the Downtown Disney West Side, will showcase a mix of products for both men and women. Items will include Vinylmation figures and collectibles, cutting-edge apparel, pop culture novelties and more. The store will have a raw, unfinished industrial look and provide a great venue to showcase Disney art created by local artists.

 

There are a few details you should know about. A valid Passholder ID AND government issued photo ID must be presented to enter D Street for the D Street Sneak Peek opportunity and must be presented at time of purchase to receive offers. Qualifying purchase based on pre-tax, post discount single transaction. Purchase with purchase offer not valid on previous purchases. Merchandise and offers valid while supplies last. Not valid with any other offer or discounts. Other restrictions may apply. Information and offers are subject to change without notice.

Score, I'll be there for the passholder preview. I'm very interested to see how the store looks.

A few days ago, I stopped by Downtown Disney to see the new RideMakerz store (and to pick up some stuff at Goofy's Candy Co. for Bryan). I took plenty of photos around the area, showing some more progress that has been made since my last visit.

This used to be a path for guests to exit Pleasure Island at night. It is currently closed.

I truly hope they never remove this sign from the Island.

Although the old ticket booth by T-Rex has finally been removed, the two rail-car booths at this entrance still remain.

Here's a plaque I hadn't seen before, on the side of the Sosa's Cigar Bar next to Raglan Road.

Another gem of the past that I hope is preserved.

Motion is still being used for private events and storage.

Despite it closing first, very little has been done with the Rock & Roll Beach Club that would put it ahead of its neighboring clubs, in terms of progress.

While the Adventurer's Club banner has been removed, there are subtle hints of its existence in plain view.

And then there are those not so subtle hints.

From the window of the BET Soundstage Club, it can be seen that very little has been done here.

D-Street will be opening very soon...

I posted a photo very similar to this of Virgin Megastore right before it closed, so I thought it was appropriate to post one now that RideMakerz has opened (temporarily).

New banners have been added, but the marquee where the "Virgin Megastore" signage used to be remains unused.

I choze not to build, sonicize, mobilize, motorize, customize or cruize with a car.

It seemed like this location was just too big for RideMakerz' own good.

The old CD wall has been covered with curtains to prevent guests from seeing the bare (and paint-free) walls that were left behind.

They did have some nice new cars inside the front of the store.

Most of the columns in the store had these left over from when you could find CDs in them during Virgin's tenure.

Lots of parts to choose from...

Like I said before, it seems there is just too much space for RideMakerz to be able to make use of...

As a result, we are left with a good amount of dead space.

If I had purchased a vehicle, I would have bought the turtle decals to deck it out with.

Even the escalators have been covered with curtains to prevent guests from accessing the shuttered second floor.

The old international music selection section has become a storage area for RideMakerz and is accessible only to cast members.

In this area, kids can test their cars in a "battle" setting to try and earn street cred.

And here is the battlefield.

The old second floor balconies have been curtained off as well.

Even the old checkout counters have been reutilized.

The store is a nice temporary addition to Downtown Disney that I'd expect to become more permanent in another location.

What were the prices like for the cars? It's a pretty nice concept that in a much smaller location could do well imo.

It's so sad to see Pleasure Island totally dead. Downtown Disney in general has really gone down hill since the early 2000's.

Just saw this on the news. Didn't see another post anywhere.

www.wesh.com/entertainment/23026301/detail.html?hpt=T2

A 9-year-old boy was hit and killed by a bus at Walt Disney World's Fort Wilderness Resort Thursday afternoon. The victim was identified as Chase Brubaker, of St. Petersburg, Fla.

 

Police said the crash happened as he was riding his bike with an 11-year-old girl on Big Pine Drive at about 1:35 p.m. Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said both of the children were on a sidewalk along the roadway. A preliminary investigation showed that the boy left the sidewalk and entered the roadway, Montes said. "The little boy ... left the sidewalk and went into the southbound lanes of Big Pine Drive, struck the side of the bus and then was subsequently pulled underneath the bus and run over by the bus," Montes said.

 

Brubaker was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said he was wearing a helmet. The girl was not hurt, though officials said she was very shaken up.

 

Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger extended the park's sympathy to the boy's family. "We wish to extend our deepest sympathy to the boy's family and loved ones for their loss," she said. "We are currently providing the necessary resources and care to help the family with the situation."

 

The bus driver was identified as 56-year-old David Russel Rich, of Montverde, Fla. Troopers said it doesn't appear that Rich did anything wrong. He has been a Disney employee for more than 30 years. He was making stops around the two-mile Fort Wilderness loop, picking up and dropping off guests around the campground when the crash happened.

 

Officials said it could take up to two months to determine if the bus driver was at fault in any way. Disney said they don't know right now if Rich will be put on paid leave or be allowed to get back behind the wheel of a bus.