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jerhow
12-31-2003, 09:55 AM
Warning! DCA Praise Ahead!

For all the negativity about DCA (I myself am slightly guilty of this, hee hee ;) I do have to say they seem to be doing an amazing job with the Tower's exterior. If the rumors of the attraction's budget cuts are true, it sure doesn't seem that way on the outside.

Purchasing fully-grown palm trees is not cheap, folks. And there appears to be multiple palms as well as a very diverse group of other trees and various foliage.

So much of the visual appeal of Disneyland itself is that it takes you away from the real world - landscaping plays a HUGE part in this, which is why you don't see power lines and convention centers from the park.

This is also why DCA has received it's share of negativity - that they seemed to forget this vital "escapist" concept, hence the power lines and convention centers and bird doo doo on tarps in the middle of lagoons, etc etc.

Well, if Tower's landscaping is any indication, perhaps, just perhaps, this is the start of a very good thing for this park. :)

TheatreTech
12-31-2003, 11:21 AM
Trees?...in DCA?...I like the concept.:)

Hopefully the trend will continue.

innerSpaceman
12-31-2003, 12:36 PM
Originally posted by jerhow
Purchasing fully-grown palm trees is not cheap, folks.
Not cheap, but certainly stupid. My friend and I were commenting just last week on how the palm trees ruin the forced perspective effect of the not-true-scale tower.

Loric
12-31-2003, 01:03 PM
Disney has their own tree farm out in FL, lest we forget.

How else do you think they even maintain the extensive gardens in Animal Kingdom, the excessive number of palms in Epcot, and can afford to just randomly yank out the trees in the MK's hub and replace them.

Then there's the resorts.. I'd bet there's probably atleast one tree replanted each day somewhere on the WDW property - so that probably means theres lots to share with California - when they feel like it ;)

Cadaverous Pallor
12-31-2003, 03:12 PM
Originally posted by innerSpaceman
Not cheap, but certainly stupid. My friend and I were commenting just last week on how the palm trees ruin the forced perspective effect of the not-true-scale tower. Aren't there trees on Main Street?

zapppop
12-31-2003, 03:23 PM
CP: it's not the idea of having trees, but rather, their size that he's referring to. Planting large trees right next to the building has taken away some of the perspective and now the Tower Of Terror doesn't look as tall and towering as it did before they were planted. It would've been smarter to plant smaller trees. I doubt they'll change them out now, but since it's not open yet, here's hopin'.

Loric
12-31-2003, 03:33 PM
Originally posted by Cadaverous Pallor
Aren't there trees on Main Street?

Once the trees on Mainstreet reach a certain height, they're yanked out and "Relocated" (My theory is to a wood chipper).

Same is true for trees around Epcot's World Showcase. I think the same is also done at MGM's Chinese Theater. Essentially, if it ruins perspective, the trees are gonna go.

Kuzcotopia
12-31-2003, 03:46 PM
What false perspective? Isn't the actual building 13 or 14 stories? That's how far you fall, after all.

It seems like the correct size to me.

MonorailMan
12-31-2003, 04:12 PM
Originally posted by Kuzcotopia
What false perspective? Isn't the actual building 13 or 14 stories? That's how far you fall, after all.

Well, look at the doors. The doors are so large, that it seems there's only 4 floors. ;)

I agree with iSM, after all, the Tower is large, but it does ruin that forced perspective a bit. :)

Bruce Bergman
01-02-2004, 03:20 PM
Originally posted by Loric
Once the trees on Mainstreet reach a certain height, they're yanked out and "Relocated" (My theory is to a wood chipper).

Same is true for trees around Epcot's World Showcase. I think the same is also done at MGM's Chinese Theater. Essentially, if it ruins perspective, the trees are gonna go.

Not quite - there are a whole lot of original trees still left at Disneyland - look at the trunks, there are some 20' trees that have the big fat trunks worthy of 50' monsters. The crowns get expertly pruned back each year.

Problem was, they tried to root-prune some of the old trees when they were digging up around them to do pavement and plumbing work (like in Frontierland in front of the Horseshoe), and they had a few big mature trees with reduced root-balls (or rotten ones) fall over in windstorms... :eek:

In the last couple years they are being much more aggressive about removing damaged or diseased older trees before they have a chance to fall over, and replacing them with smaller (but still mature and fully established) trees.

They just did this again in Frontierland - there was a very huge mature pine tree that was there since Casa Del Zocalo was Casa Mexicana was Casa De Fritos... (A good 30 to 40 years, if not since 1955.) Recently removed and replaced with a much smaller mature tree - I have pictures of the tree people digging to china to get out the old root ball and prepare the hole.

:fez: --<< Bruce >>--