OT - Disney Map

[B.J.]

For those that have been to Disney World, the maps that you get for each park are very nice in their own right. My artistic side really likes the way they were done, but my engineer side is really driven crazy by the fact that they aren't accurate! The relative distances are way off, and there are many paths and nooks that are missing. So, spurred on by wife reserving our vacation plans for the fall, I decided to come up with my own version of a map for the Magic Kingdom (my favorite of the parks). Even though I included the full buildings for the attractions, I'm only including those parts of the park that are part of the guest areas. It's about as accurate as I can get with the information I can find. This isn't quite done - I'm planning on adding a directory and labels, similar to the official maps. So, any glaring errors or omissions, other than the really big one in the upper right?

Oh, and I've seen the pictures and leaked blueprints for what they're planning on doing with Fantasyland, but I'd prefer to wait until that's actually built before including that area. As has been seen before, things can change significantly from inception to reality. But I am unsure as to what parts of Toontown they're leaving untouched, so if anyone has that info, let me know.

 

[USS Jack Riley]

Great work on this. Especially love the "There be dragons here" over Toon Town. Have you checked GoogleEarth? You can get overhead views and zoom in for 3D views as well.

One thing I can suggest is to delineate the borders of each land (I understand this is a WIP). There is a specific border for each land (and each attraction for that matter). For example, Tomorrowland actually moved further East following its rehab to incorporate the Tomorrolwnad Speedway (I forget what it was called before). Originally, it was a part of Fantasyland.

Pooh's border extends across from the ride itself and includes the 100 Acre Woods playground. Obviously you many not want to get that specific (depends on your wife's interest in Disney and her orders, er...um... requests), but I offer it as food for thought.

Great start though.

BTW, what are your thoughts on the new Fantasyland (I call it Fantasyland East, since that is the only part affected by the changes). PM me if your interested. I don't work for the Mouse, but if you look at my signature, you will notice my interest in all things related to theme parks, including Disney.

YMMV

 

[B.J.]

Great work on this. Especially love the "There be dragons here" over Toon Town. Have you checked GoogleEarth? You can get overhead views and zoom in for 3D views as well.

Thanks! I actually used Bing maps extensively, since their pictures are a bit clearer than Google maps, and they have that nifty "Bird's eye view" feature that you can get an angled view of a lot of places. That really helped fill in some blanks. Unfortunately, I can't use Google Earth since I'm currently using a company-owned computer (on long-term business travel) and can't install that.

One thing I can suggest is to delineate the borders of each land (I understand this is a WIP). There is a specific border for each land (and each attraction for that matter). For example, Tomorrowland actually moved further East following its rehab to incorporate the Tomorrolwnad Speedway (I forget what it was called before). Originally, it was a part of Fantasyland.

I thought about that, by maybe using a different colored path in each land, but I decided against it. I figured that using different colors for the buildings in each land would be sufficient. And you'll notice that I'm using the same colors that Disney uses on their maps.

BTW, what are your thoughts on the new Fantasyland (I call it Fantasyland East, since that is the only part affected by the changes). PM me if your interested. I don't work for the Mouse, but if you look at my signature, you will notice my interest in all things related to theme parks, including Disney.

Except for the Dumbo expansion (which sounds interesting, we'll see how it works in practice), it's all very girly to me. Several places to meet princesses, and not much for the boys, and it seems only one new ride (a Little Mermaid one). I have a daughter and two sons myself, and my wife and daughter aren't really the princess-y types, so I imagine we won't visit that area much after it's done. I've heard that they're going to relocate Mickey and Minnie's houses from Toontown to near the front of the park, but I have no idea where they'll fit them in.

 

[Kaiser]

very nice map

 

[B.J.]

I've uploaded an update with labels here: http://bj-o23.deviantart.com/art/Magic-Kingdom-Map-169500422

 

[Kaiser]

Cool map with Labels

 

[B.J.]

Thanks!

 

[137th Gebirg]

B.J. - awesome job! Are you planning on doing the other park areas? Reason I ask, is the soon-to-be-wifey and I are going down there in late October and these kinds of accurate high-detail maps would be fantastic to use to get around.

 

[B.J.]

Thanks! I might do Epcot at some point, but I don't have any firm plans right now. Wikitravel has similar maps for the other three parks, but of course they're not as nice as mine! I was actually surprised they didn't have one for the Magic Kingdom.

 

[B.J.]

Didn't think I needed another thread for this, but I did an illustration of the Mark VI Walt Disney World Monorail. Don't know why I'm so fascinated with these vehicles, but I just love these things. I only wish they'd expand the system, but I know that's highly unlikely.

Monorail Red


All the colors

Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Black
Silver
Gold
Coral (currently redone as the "Tronorail")
Lime
Teal (built from parts of Pink & Purple)
Pink (retired)
Purple (retired)
Maroon (speculative - will enter service in Fall 2010)

 

[sbk1234]

That's not just good. That's damn good! As a major Disney park fan, I am really, really impressed. Hopefully someone at Disney will see this and see how it should be done.

 

[B.J.]

Thanks! (Gonna give me a big head with compliments like that!)

 

[USS Jack Riley]

I only wish they'd expand the system, but I know that's highly unlikely.

I know what you mean. I was there the weekend before the 4th. I have been to disney World countless times since I was a kid and this past time the traffic was the worst, not because of the amount, but because of the lack of proper signage. Hint to Disney World - (1) either add more signs to help get from one destination to another in more than one way; (2) expand the monorail system; or add personal transit (like the people mover) to allow easier access to the parks and hotels.

 

[FrontLine]

Awesome job. But there aint no more 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Bastards!!!!