Disney slowly losing some of what made it special.

[Ariel1986]

I knew this response was coming from the second I read that the original poster was going to DARE criticize Disney.
If you even remotely criticize Disney on these boards the regulars and Disney-loyalists will attack you. That's their M.O.

THAT is what many of us consider the "same old same old".

And if you DARE to still like WDW and aren't outraged by everything they currently do or announce then the "true" Disney fans and "the sky is falling" posse attack you. That's their M.O.

There's no middle ground on this board. THAT is what is tiring.

 

[Ponderer]

I said in a previous post, maybe not this one, is that my feelings are that it's less the parks and more the people that are changing. And your comment reminds me of something I saw locally this past week. Originally, it looked like this part of Virginia would be crushed by Hurricane Florence. One of the local governments, along with VDOT, had opened up a hotline for local residents to report blocked drainage ditches, etc so that they can come by to clear them up before the storm arrives. But when they started going to these locations, most of the complaints were in people's own front yards with blocked gutters. The county sent out messages asking residents to please assist the effort by cleaning up the debris they can in their own yards. What were some of the responses? "If I start to do their jobs, does that mean I'm on the county payroll?" and "Why should I do their jobs for them? That's what they get paid to do!" Now I'm still in my 30s but where I'm from, there was a sense of responsibility to take care of your own stuff as much as possible and help your neighbors that couldn't do it themselves. Save the big work for the county and state. But now it seems like people just want to do the bare minimum and not help clean up the gutters in their own front yard!!! Where I live now, I'm forever seeing people throw trash out of their car as they're driving down this road. If they don't have respect for themselves or their neighbors in their own backyard, I certainly don't expect them to suddenly change when they go somewhere else.

Eh. Every generation says the same thing because it's always true. I'm sorry that you see people throw stuff out the window, but I guarantee you it's not as bad as when I was growing up in the 70s and they had television commercials basically begging people not to litter. Lots of people are stupid and selfish and thoughtless, have always been that way, and they will keep finding ways to be that way. I worked a lot of customer service jobs from the mid-80s to around 2008, and I can testify to that. What's important to realize in the face of all that is that progress is happening, but it's slow and incremental. That doesn't make it less valuable. What we don't do enough of in society is celebrate that progress that DOES happen. When we fail to do that, we just get into the cynical "everything is garbage now" mindset.

 

[MinnieWaffles]

And if you DARE to still like WDW and aren't outraged by everything they currently do or announce then the "true" Disney fans and "the sky is falling" posse attack you. That's their M.O.

There's no middle ground on this board. THAT is what is tiring.

Absolutely. Really irritating too.

 

[LeighM]

Eh. Every generation says the same thing because it's always true. I'm sorry that you see people throw stuff out the window, but I guarantee you it's not as bad as when I was growing up in the 70s and they had television commercials basically begging people not to litter. Lots of people are stupid and selfish and thoughtless, have always been that way, and they will keep finding ways to be that way. I worked a lot of customer service jobs from the mid-80s to around 2008, and I can testify to that. What's important to realize in the face of all that is that progress is happening, but it's slow and incremental. That doesn't make it less valuable. What we don't do enough of in society is celebrate that progress that DOES happen. When we fail to do that, we just get into the cynical "everything is garbage now" mindset.

I think a lot of it depends on the locality as well. I grew up in a very popular and beautiful place. But there were places out in the country where people would literally use the backroads as their own private dumping ground. We would see old sofas, television sets, refrigerators, etc that had been dumped by the side of the road. The police stepped up patrol on that road and some private landowners also started to do more when it affected the value of their property. But where I am now, is like it was in the 80s and a lot of the landowners are fine with that. The local sheriffs department didn't even know they had sound ordinances until I called to complain about a very loud party miles down the road at 10pm but the bass was so bad it was shaking our house. There is no stoplight in the entire county. Not even a grocery store - they don't want a grocery store and are very content to drive an hour to the Food Lion. Right now there is controversy because a brand name store might be approved to build in the county - a Dollar General LOL. This county is like the county that time forgot. They don't even seem to care about their dogs that get killed in the road because they don't keep them in their yard. They'll just leave the dog's dead body there. I've talked to a couple of the older locals and they said that the situation is getting worse with the younger generation and they don't understand why. Citizens have been writing to the shared local newsletter (shared with a neighboring county) and complaining about it.

 

[danyoung56]

....then the "true" Disney fans and "the sky is falling" posse attack you.

Some folks require a confrontation. You have to grow a pretty thick skin if you're gonna hang around a long time. Sad that it's that way . . . . .

 

[Model3 McQueen]

I knew this response was coming from the second I read that the original poster was going to DARE criticize Disney.
If you even remotely criticize Disney on these boards the regulars and Disney-loyalists will attack you. That's their M.O.

THAT is what many of us consider the "same old same old".

And if you DARE to still like WDW and aren't outraged by everything they currently do or announce then the "true" Disney fans and "the sky is falling" posse attack you. That's their M.O.

There's no middle ground on this board. THAT is what is tiring.

I like to think we can all agree that the direction of the Disney parks is questionable / controversial in some form. Some changes are for the better, some aren't. Everyone has an opinion. What I see, is the parks - consumer products merger with Bobby Chapek at the helm, in full swing. So everything new is everything advertising. Though as a disclaimer, I very much welcome Tron and SWGE.

In my opinion, Anaheim has been hit HARD in this regards. Marvel Land? Pixar Pier? Mission BO? Hyperspace Mountain? Give me a break.

 

[aladdin2007]

I like to think we can all agree that the direction of the Disney parks is questionable / controversial in some form. Some changes are for the better, some aren't. Everyone has an opinion. What I see, is the parks - consumer products merger with Bobby Chapek at the helm, in full swing. So everything new is everything advertising. Though as a disclaimer, I very much welcome Tron and SWGE.

In my opinion, Anaheim has been hit HARD in this regards. Marvel Land? Pixar Pier? Mission BO? Hyperspace Mountain? Give me a break.

agree and it has all become generic. A lot of the prices have gone up on most of it too like right now within the last couples weeks, and I mean way up!

 

[HauntedPirate]

My 15 yr old sent me a picture of the Castle this morning. For some reason, that made me nostalgic for the old resort TV loop from around 2001, with the "Zip a Dee Doo Dah Tip For Today".

Some thoughts:

- I do NOT recommend anyone go watch a recording of it, or listen to it. It's fun, whimsical, informative, and imaginative. That sort of thing has no place at WDW today, because, well, that doesn't make Disney any money.
- I do NOT recommend anyone watch it who remembers Spectromagic. And who started cutting onions in here???
- I do NOT recommend anyone watch it who remembers when Disney did grand things, simply because they could and that's what they were known for.
- I do NOT recommend anyone watch it who remembers a simpler, and honestly a better, time at WDW. You know, when they didn't nickel-and-dime you on everything, there weren't special upcharge events for those with deep pockets and they treated every guest the same once they entered the turnstiles, and there were a multitude of things to see and do outside the parks (that didn't involve eating at a restaurant or shopping).

Better to forget any of this existed, though, because, you know, "it's not WDW today and so why does it matter what they used to do, my vacations are still a good value so I don't care".

 

[Ponderer]

- I do NOT recommend anyone watch it who remembers when Disney did grand things, simply because they could and that's what they were known for.

They literally just opened a land so amazing that it made Time's first-ever list of greatest places on Earth.

They're in the middle of building one of the biggest gondola systems on the planet, starting to fulfill the potential of one of Walt Disney's most cherished showcases - not as a stunt attraction, but a real, serviceable travel system as he originally envisioned.

They're building a new land which is probably going to be the most interactive experience ever designed. The promise of not just visiting characters but actually getting to PLAY a character is a stunning development.

I don't know what other people's definition of grand is, but it sure wasn't slopping a big rubber pink cake over the castle or janking up Spaceship Earth with a Mickey wand. Not that things are flawless, especially when it comes to how they're jacking up prices or cramming IP in everywhere, but I would argue that we're entering one of the most exciting periods of Disney innovation since AK went up.

But YMMV.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Slowly? LOL... It's been declining for a long, long time if you ask me - but especially the cost. Every year it gets harder and harder to justify $4k+ for a trip. In fact, it's already caused us to rethink several years. We're going on a week-long Tuscany trip to Italy for $1,600 this year. Sorry, Disney.