The New Resort Esplanade/Hub

Anthony · September 08, 2005, 12:27:37 AM

Over the last couple of weeks construction fences have popped up all around the middle of the resort...

Currently, this area is occupied by a grass bank seperating the WDS and DLP entrances, but now that the new street of Disney Village is open, they're probably going to open the area up into a central area for the resort, as seen in maquettes of the area not long ago.

The good news with this is that not only will it be better for guest circulation and the "look" of the resort's hub, but most of this area won't be able to be used by the "legal" (but unauthorised by Disney) traders.

The work is now meaning that WDS guests now have to use DLP's entrance again (like they had to when they were originally building the new Disney Village street)...

And in other hub-related news, they're also putting up new signs to replace the rather ugly old ones (which I'd never noticed as being ugly before they put the nice new ones in)...

I wonder if they'll ever re-do the signs around the Disney hotels? The current ones look very early-90s-euro-disneyland to me... :wink:

(all photos by Joel: http://joel.at.dlp.online.fr/dlp/20050906/ )

Kristof · September 08, 2005, 06:41:16 PM

We think that the groundwork for the Disney Village expansion has started too, since a digging machine was working behind the fences.

Anthony · September 09, 2005, 03:48:42 PM

That's great news - the quicker they can get all this done the better. It's impossible to miss it on a visit to the resort, so they'll want it over with quickly I hope.

I wonder how long the new hub will take? I suppose it depends what they do with it - if they just put down a new path with some flower beds and grass banks then it'll take a few weeks for DLRP. I actually hope it takes longer though, and we get some kind of central symbol/statue/mosaic/fountain/anything for the resort...

Anthony · September 09, 2005, 04:29:21 PM

Either this rumour has just spread around very quickly, or it's actually based on fact: Apparently, one of the major benefits of this redesign of the hub will be that guests pass through one single (but large) bag check point on arrival in the resort from the TGV/RER/Shuttle Bus/Car and are then free to move between DV, WDS and DLP without having to have their bag checked again.

It's going to take some good design work and planning to make sure it works well and doesn't either cause huge queues or loosened security, and I can't yet see how the new TGV station fits into these plans, since it'll be on the other side of the hub... (as is the Disney Village car park, come to think of it)

For an idea of what I'm talking about anyway, take a look at this diagram from http://www.dlrp.fr :

The red line is to give an idea of the location of the possible/rumoured new security check.

It would definately make sense, but would actually decrease the security of the parks, since you can still get into the resort without passing the barrier...

Anthony · September 17, 2005, 10:59:55 PM

It's FENCES DIGGERS ACTION!

The latest photos, from dlrp.fr:

Nice to see something going on - I'm still really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Has anyone got any good ideas for how they could make this area look nicer? Statues, fountains, flowers...? Both realistic or unrealistic ideas are fine! :wink:

Anthony · September 25, 2005, 12:43:02 PM

Here's how the work looked on September 20th:

thanks again to dlrp.fr (that site's too good to be true!)

They're working really fast on this - would a Christmas opening be possible? They've pretty much cleared all the land now, so the major work is out of the way. They've just got the time-consuming work to do now - laying the new path.

Anthony · September 30, 2005, 06:51:28 PM

Here's how the construction site looks at the moment:

(source & more: http://www.dlrp.fr/news/show_news.php?id_news=86)

So it looks like they're still removing earth from the area at the moment. The truck and digger on that slope look a bit precarious! :?

Anthony · October 07, 2005, 04:19:01 PM

Unfortunately it seems all the work they're doing is laying a new path right through the middle of the old grass bank. No statues, no central area. Just a new path going from the compass to the Disney Legends statue.

These photos from Joel show the new resort map on the beautiful new signs:

The new resort map is nice and clear, but unfortunately it also shows that there most likely won't be one main security gate. You can see new gates marked on the new path.

I also don't understand why the WDS sign is pointing to the right when, judging by the "you are here" icon on the map, it should be pointing left.

The new signs are nice though, aren't they? I don't know why they have random attraction logos on them though - I guess they're meant to show entertainment times, but for some reason the DLP one has a random Indy logo...

Kristof · October 07, 2005, 04:28:42 PM

Quotebut for some reason the DLP one has a random Indy logo...

It's "the ride of the day" :lol: :lol: :lol:

Inge · October 09, 2005, 03:20:37 PM

those new signs look great...

Kris · October 13, 2005, 11:55:39 PM

I really don't understand why they feel the need to say what season it is in Disneyland Park. It's a nice, professional touch, but kinda pointless

Anthony · October 19, 2005, 09:29:31 PM

Quote from: "Kris"I really don't understand why they feel the need to say what season it is in Disneyland Park. It's a nice, professional touch, but kinda pointless

It's a good idea, but I know what you mean when you say that it's a bit pointless. I suppose it just helps to attract people to the park and show what's going on. It makes the hub area seem like it's actually a part of Disneyland and there are new things to discover in the parks, and so I actually quite like it. The more they make that area seem like the entrance to Disneyland the better!

And to end my post, the latest construction photo - an exciting shot from October 13th!

(Source: http://www.dlrp.fr/actularge.php?id=94)

I guess a bit of curb is good though - it means they're finishing up the more major work of this project.

Anthony · October 26, 2005, 02:52:45 PM

They're moving ahead quite fast now. Lots of stones have been put down already:

(dlrp.fr)

Sweet Laker · October 26, 2005, 05:30:58 PM

Quote from: "Baloo"I wonder if they'll ever re-do the signs around the Disney hotels? The current ones look very early-90s-euro-disneyland to me... :wink:

(all photos by Joel: http://joel.at.dlp.online.fr/dlp/20050906/ )

I hope they wont do something about those signs. I find them very attracting and since the parc itself is getting more modern over the years. I love to keep some of the old parc around. Just to remember the early 90's. :blah:

Anthony · December 11, 2005, 04:19:53 PM

The new esplanade is done, gates are up, lights are on...

(source: neauneau, Disney Central Plaza)

Personally I think they should have got a nicer gate there. It looks ok, yeah, and fits the themeing of the lamposts and signs, but it's just so boring and dull. There's absolutely no Disney touch whatsoever. Just a few hidden mickeys somewhere would have been enough...