The Unofficial Guide to Things They Hope You Don't Notice

AVITWeb · Post by **AVITWeb** » May Thu 07, 2009 3:07 pm

napastoy wrote:DisBeamer, you got the ball rolling and it's great!

DisBeamer wrote:
AVITWeb wrote:The Pop Century thing is a BIT understandable. They stopped when the economy tanked after 9/11. It is more economically feasbile to rapair any exposure damage then it is to rebuild when it is time. They could have, however, placed something over or in front of them to block out the eye sore.

I would agree it was understandable for the first ... two or three years. I would have granted them the 'uncertainty' angle up to maybe five years. But we're looking at the business end of a decade now, and that unfinished structure has been completely exposed and not maintained through all of the Florida humidity and a couple of significant hurricanes.
This illustrates the problem beautifully. Yes, we can all understand leaving something to sit for a year or two, but after that it just becomes a plain eyesore. It also leaves questions about how you plan and finance revamps.

Are they planning sufficiently ahead of time or are decisions being made "on the cuff." Shutting down or stopping work on a project to save money at the time usually will only end up costing you a lot more money down the road.

Visuals used to mean a lot to Disney, but lately, I don't know. It just seems that where they used to be so attuned to the small things that really make an attraction or area unique, they now seem to not really care about the overall presentation.

The list we develop here I think will be eye-opening...River Country, The submarines areas, Millennium Village, Discovery Island. It's kind of surprising there are so many.

Yeah...its sad these days to see the "visuals." I remember when you had a hard time finding where the music was coming from because they at least got speakers that looked like rocks....not you can just plainly spot the green abominations that pass for speakers all over the place.

RiaLucia · Post by **RiaLucia** » Jul Sat 11, 2009 1:52 am

This topic cracks me up. I thought I was the only one who found the Unfinished Pop Century to be unspeakably creepy! I think I took video footage of it some four years ago and said as such. Hahaha. What I find amusing is that it's been 3.5 years since I've been to WDW at this point, and I remember all of these things people are mentioning, and they are clearly still around! Maybe someday my children's children's children will still get to see them and wonder, "Uh...why are those still here?"

agingerbugg · Post by **agingerbugg** » Jul Sat 11, 2009 1:39 pm

I don't think I need to say more. This was taken on July 5, 2009. Looks just like nothing happened.

momeja · Post by **momeja** » Jul Sat 11, 2009 1:43 pm

I'm still hoping that once they're finished with all the refurbs of PI, they'll bring it back. I still don't understand why they closed it.

Jacca5660 · Post by **Jacca5660** » Jul Sat 11, 2009 3:41 pm

MW1218 wrote:Jim Hill is an absolute dunce. Anybody who heard his Night Kingdom reports knows this.

Ever since Disney said they were going to ban Jim Hill from the parks he has become a Disney w***e! Sorry about the way I put it, it seems the only way to call it.

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jul Sat 11, 2009 7:57 pm

The picture of the Adv Club reminds me of my past trip down there. It was so sad to walk past the old Pleasure Island and it makes me so upset that the buildings just sit there, untouched. They had these random live musicians in random areas throughout DTD and I was like WHY? Just so upsetting. They had one in front of the Virgin Megastores, and I said to my friend "Their shoudl be a sign, Please pay attention to me, not the empty big building behind me"

But it's also sad that they still call it Pleasure Island when it really isn't the same thing.

agingerbugg · Post by **agingerbugg** » Jul Sun 12, 2009 9:41 am

Yeah, when I was there last week, PI was just sad. You walk through there and there is nothing. They had some sort of distraction in the area outside the Comedy Warehouse, to me it looked like a pathetic attempt to distract people from the empty AC and CW.

I should have taken a picture of Mannequins, because that store front is even sadder than the Adventure Club. At least the Adventure Club just looks like it is closed and might open again tomorrow, but Mannequins looks like it is closed for good.

T-Rex Cafe is just an eyesore and Ralgan Irish Pub is a sad pathetic attempt to use up empty space. What happened to all the shops and restaurants that were rumored to come in? The only thing I noticed new is the Harley-Davidson store and Ralgan's. Everything else is the same as it was, just closed.

It makes me wonder, what was the reason for closing PI? At first I thought it was so Disney could add more revenue generating retail space, but I don't think so anymore. It seems that they just wanted to get rid of PI.

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jul Sun 12, 2009 9:58 am

Well they will eventually have that Make your TShirt Store, then they brought in the balloon, and I guess more restaurants will go there....BLAH BLAH BLAH All boring stuff. Bring back PI, even if it's only CW, AC, Mannequinns & 8*Trax.

spodie · Post by **spodie** » Jul Sun 12, 2009 6:42 pm

I find the whole Pleasure Island thing really weird to me too. Not only is the whole area kind of strange to walk through now that almost nothing is open, but as of May 2009, there is still a sign out front for PI advertising for it. I would think that after Disney closed down PI, that would be the first thing to go. It's almost like Disney wants people who aren't privy to current WDW news to think that it's still there...

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jul Sun 12, 2009 7:56 pm

Well I guess they still consider it there (PI), just not the "night club area" but more "family enteraiment area"

cousininmiami · Post by **cousininmiami** » Jul Mon 13, 2009 8:33 am

Seriously, when we were there in May, PI was really spooky!

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jul Mon 13, 2009 7:54 pm

Yeah is it true that Adventurers Club still remains the same in the inside as it did when it closed a year ago?

Mr.ToadWildRider · Post by **Mr.ToadWildRider** » Jul Wed 15, 2009 11:25 am

My guess it the Adventurer's Club remains rather untouched because even if the Adventurer's Club never returns (as I suspect, sadly, to be the case

) the facade is worth keeping to them and indeed even the interior could be turned into a store of some kind or perhaps an alternate attraction/show.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jul Wed 15, 2009 10:49 pm

Hey, we found the thread again? Swanky. I wasn't looking forward to having to rebuild it all.

We lost some of the 'guts' though. If anyone remembers things that I'd added to the first post in the list, feel free to shout them out and I'll re-add.

agingerbugg · Post by **agingerbugg** » Jul Thu 16, 2009 7:37 am

DisBeamer wrote:Hey, we found the thread again? Swanky. I wasn't looking forward to having to rebuild it all.

We lost some of the 'guts' though. If anyone remembers things that I'd added to the first post in the list, feel free to shout them out and I'll re-add.

The firsts posts are still here, it the stuff like the "wal-mart-esque" building behind Canada that we are missing.