MK construction ruining the atmosphere?

[alhurricane]

It would be nice if they could do most of the construction work overnight, similar to what state DOTs do for major road construction projects.

 

[agavegirl1]

My visit to MK in 2010 was quite a bit less "Magical" due to the fact that Fantasyland had construction walls everywhere and numerous closed attractions. It looked and felt like a construction site. I think WDW is getting better about hiding construction but it seems to always be a work in progress. Sigh.....

 

[Bay Lake]

It is something you will notice, but with other expansion in the parks it has always been on the perimeter or close to it. These 2 big projects, The Hub and 7DMR are in the middle of the action. Will you notice it sure, but I think your curiosity will take over.

 

[FireDancer]

It would be nice if they could do most of the construction work overnight, similar to what state DOTs do for major road construction projects.

They do but they aren't going take down and put up the crane and construction walls every day and night. That would be logistically impossible for both cost and safety reasons.

 

[alhurricane]

They do but they aren't going take down and put up the crane and construction walls every day and night. That would be logistically impossible for both cost and safety reasons.

I understand that. I guess I was referring to avoiding more of the construction noise than anything else.

 

[BrianL]

Yeah, construction happens, and it stinks, but it is also necessary. The moat being drained is one I particularly hate, but whatcha gonna do? I know that once I am riding my Doom Buggy through the Mansion or finding my Laughing Place that I really won't be thinking about it at all. On the plus side, Disney has the prettiest construction walls in the world, so at least it's not too bad.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Anyone know when the moat is supposed to be filled again?

Also, when does construction on the hub start?

 

[Thumper_Man]

Sure, people won't get that perfect photo of the castle without the crane, but to me, that's not anything to be upset about.

Ah, but you can get the perfect photo.

These are photos I took back in October 2010 when FL was still in full construction. We had early ADR's for CP.

This first photo I took right as we entered Main Street. You can see the big yellow crane.



I took this next photo about 2 minutes later. I was closer to the castle and the crane had just moved enough.



You can still see one of the smaller cranes, but I was able to get the angle just right and not have the big yellow crane in the picture. Even if it had swung back around, it still might not have showed up in the shot as it was more to the right of me now.

Regardless, we didn't let the construction bother us at all. We still had a blast. A day at Disney is better than a good day at work anytime.

 

[Mousemommy1]

3 out of our past 4 trips since 2009 have had quite a bit of construction going on. It hasn't affected us at all. I fully expect construction for our upcoming August trip. I'm afraid that when it's all done, we might flip out at that point because we've become so used to it!

 

[sonofanarchy]

In all honesty, the construction going on at WDW has been an eye-sore for quite some time. Not just at the MK, but all over the resort. We've taken to calling it Wall Disney World. Either Disney hires incredibly slow contractors to do the work, or the contractors they hire do really lousy work. It seems you can't walk more than 50 yards without passing some construction walls with those signs with a Walt Disney quote on it. I think this one of those management issues, where Disney just does too much at one time, as opposed to spreading projects out.

 

[2Tiggies]

Everything will be fine.....unless you like to spend a lot of time in that area looking around.

We've pretty much accepted the crane as a part of the castle We were there over Easter for 2008 and 2009 then switched to September and October so the crane was there pretty much all the time except in the evenings.

Since the crane is up every year they should at least theme it. Maybe it would make a good dragon.

And you should probably be hired as one of the Imagineers

In all honesty, the construction going on at WDW has been an eye-sore for quite some time.

Yes. It's been 5 years since we were in the Magic Kingdom without scrims and construction walls. In a way, they have become part of MK to us - they just relocate between visits.

Disney just does too much at one time, as opposed to spreading projects out.

I could expand on that and write pages, but you've already read what I think about this in so many respects so all I need to say here is I agree, 100%

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Whats funny is...if there was no cranes, people would just complain that they never improve things or add new attractions.

 

[MermaidMommy]

Wednesday was our first day in MK, and I was prepared for the crane, but it turns out that, in addition to the one big crane, they had THREE big orange lifts in front of the castle for repairing the turrets. Needless to say, we did. Not take any castle pictures hat day.

It's a little jarring to see the all the construction equipment in the moats next to the castle. And, as Josh noted, the Tomorrowland area looks like an oil spill where there's a big concrete "lake."

OP, MK is our favorite park, and we particularly enjoy it's beauty. One tradition we have is to get a ice cream and eat it at the tables overlooking the castle. Sadly, because of the walls, we can't do that this trip. We're definitely spending less time in the hub area than in the past, and it's certainly not a pretty as it usually is, but it hasn't ruined our trip. I think it's good to be aware of the changes so you'll know what to expect. But, the Hub will likely be a construction zone for the foreseeable future.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Whats funny is...if there was no cranes, people would just complain that they never improve things or add new attractions.

I don't agree with that. What people are saying is, they need to work quicker and think about the "show" experience. Disney is slow as molasses with this work. It's almost like a poorly run town, where they begin 1 project, then start another before the 1st one is finished, and continue this trend until they have 12 different projects going on at the same time.

 

[Punzie]

I don't agree with that. What people are saying is, they need to work quicker and think about the "show" experience. Disney is slow as molasses with this work. It's almost like a poorly run town, where they begin 1 project, then start another before the 1st one is finished, and continue this trend until they have 12 different projects going on at the same time.

I live in that town^.

So are the cranes up this late removing castle lights from Christmas? We go in sept so I know it takes awhile to put them up since if we to late enough in sept the crane is there- somehow we got several days of castle pics without it even that trip!

I guess I just assumed by Easter they'd definitely be down! It's like Christmas town if not.

 

[MermaidMommy]

I live in that town^. So are the cranes up this late removing castle lights from Christmas? We go in sept so I know it takes awhile to put them up since if we to late enough in sept the crane is there- somehow we got several days of castle pics without it even that trip! I guess I just assumed by Easter they'd definitely be down! It's like Christmas town if not.

The crane is still up because they're doing refurbs to the castle.

 

[The V Gang]

I don't agree with that. What people are saying is, they need to work quicker and think about the "show" experience. Disney is slow as molasses with this work. It's almost like a poorly run town, where they begin 1 project, then start another before the 1st one is finished, and continue this trend until they have 12 different projects going on at the same time.

I totally agree with you. It also seems off to raise prices out of nowhere and turn the most popular of your four parks into a mega construction zone at the same time. The view down main street of the hub and castle is the first thing I picture when I think of WDW. Planning refurbs on such a central location should have been better thought out.

I cant imagine the reaction a family who may not get to visit often or does not research like us disers will have when they first walk in....especially after paying up to $100 a ticket.

 

[Go Vols]

How long is the hub construction expected to take?

I would like to know this too

 

[crostorfer]

At this point I've just accepted that the MK is a mess. My trip is paid for, I didn't realize that so much was going on when I booked, but I'm too cheap to cancel a trip that is already paid for, so I guess I deserve what I get when I go this time.

I've changed our plans to include some Universal time, even though I didn't really want to return to US until the fall, when phase 2 of HP is complete. If I want beautiful pictures in front of a castle this time, it will be in front of Hogwarts.

 

[2Tiggies]

I've changed our plans to include some Universal time, even though I didn't really want to return to US until the fall, when phase 2 of HP is complete. If I want beautiful pictures in front of a castle this time, it will be in front of Hogwarts.

From my recollections over the years, the crane is usually down by early evening so if you wait until then, it may not be in your photos. Just had a scan through some of mine from last trip (it was Fall and the crane is always up in the Fall) and the day time ones have the crane and the dusk/evening ones do not. It's not ideal but it hopefully gives you the chance to still get your photo you want, even if you still do US