Terrifying Tile
Hello, friends! Welcome back to the blog! This week, we're taking things in a different direction, featuring a commentary, rather than our typical loo review. We hope you enjoy the brief diversion, and we -- as always -- welcome your comments!
We here at WDW Loo Review are, if nothing else, HUGE fans of The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiary Parks & Resorts. I mean, listen: we run a blog devoted to, of all things, the restrooms at Walt Disney World. If this isn't proof-positive of our obsessive fandom, I'm not sure what is (and don't act like you're not one of us -- look where you're at right now!).
That said, we're not all about blindly hoisting the WDW colors without appraising things with a critical eye. We try to stay positive here (an attitude we hope we consistently convey in our light-hearted reviews), but we're not afraid to point-out potential problems; and, this brings us to the topic of this post.
Take a look at the following photo:
Now, take another look. Really soak it in this time. Now, go back and soak it in some more.
Do you recognize this floor tile? You may not right away, but we're certain that, if you've been to the parks more than a handful of times, you've got this pattern emblazoned deep in your subconscious. Ringing any bells? Of course it is: it's the floor tile throughout the restrooms in Disney's Hollywood Studios!
This floor tile is ubiquitous in the restrooms throughout the front of the park. Loos along the park's exterior and those lining the Boulevards Hollywood and Sunset are the home of this unique pattern. Alternating stunted plus signs of green and purple run diagonally across the floors, with squares of golden hues plopped in-between.
Before methodically surveying the restrooms at the parks, we're pretty certain that we never really took much notice of this pattern -- which is odd given its bright colors. Once we started canvasing the Studios, however, we noticed just how often the Imagineers employed this tile.
And now? Now, we can't take our eyes off of it.
Why not? Well, it's certainly not because its pretty (I'm not saying this tile is ugly, but my cat would bury it in her litter box -- ed) . The colors are an odd combination, more befitting a pair of circa 1980s M.C. Hammer parachute pants than the floor of a Hollywood heyday loo. Of course, the park was built in the late 1980s, so I'm sure it looked great back then, but even Hammer isn't wearing those pants anymore.
Maybe it's the pattern: a strange combination of squares and "plus" signs? It's a psychedelic game of Connect Four on the floor! It's a fever-fueled Warholian dream of purple and turquoise. It's as if someone's acid-dropping grandmother knitted an afghan out of James P. ("Sulley") Sullivan's hide, embroidering it in gold filigree (Don't believe us? Check it out!):
And yet, for all its out-datedness, kitschiness and just plain weirdness, we just love to hate this tile, primarily because it IS outdated and kitschy and weird. Oh and also because we associate it with our favorite place on the planet. Walt Disney World is full of colors, moments, music that are a little tarnished, in need of polish, Imagineering attention; and, while many would rush to demand for an immediate overhaul of these attractions (<cough> The Great Movie Ride <cough>), just as many (if not more) would be devastated if the slightest detail was changed.
So, for now, we hope this tile stays put. Moreover, we here at the blog have taken to lovingly and irreverently referring to this tile pattern as "The Hollywood Tile of Terror": expect to see it crop up on many more occasions through the years. We're even thinking of making a t-shirt to celebrate it (... and we're criticizing the tile for being strange).
We'd love your thoughts on the Tile of Terror! Love it? Hate it? Interested in a t-shirt? Please, let us know by leaving a comment, posting on our FB page or sending us an email at: wdwlooreview@gmail.com. We always love to hear from you! Oh, and if you're at the parks this weekend, keep one eye open for we Loo Reviewers -- we've got boots on the ground in all four parks, and we'd love to stop and chat with you!
Thanks, as always, for following us! Until next week!
Loo Review Matt