So if you were there yesterday for the 50th, what did you think?

Greenlawler

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I have not seen a thread like this.

If there was one, I apologize. Mods can delete.

I was there yesterday for the 50th. I was so excited.

However as I arrived at MK and waited for an hour to see the spectacle, I realized, I had played this wrong. WDW
did not have much planned aside from merch.

It really felt like it was all about selling the merch and not about anything magical in the park. I mean seriously very few things happened that were special. This was the parks 50th anniversery! Seriously?

Thousands of folks arrived early all expecting something special. What did they get? A special map? A really blah poster as they left?
Both were appreciated but where was special entertainment?

The only thing special about the 50th was that CM's were standing outside stores taking names and numbers for virtual cues. So the 50th was about getting there early so you could buy stuff?

Look I love Disney but this was so un-Disney. Co-Vid should not be an excuse at all. It was business as usual. they did not hardly try to make yesterday feel special.

So it is true they had all the princesses do a cavalcade, they had them wave to crowds in front of the train station, and that was appreciated. But that was about the only thing

They had folks standing shoulder to shoulder without masks all the way from the front of the stage to the train station, but they did not do any special character meet n greets, because Co-Vid?

They did caravans and not any special parade? It was everything October 2nd would be.

The welcome show was underwhelming, and there was very little that made me think it was worth all the effort I had made to be there for the actual 50th anniversery .I 100% believe it was the welcome show they will present the next 18 months.

It was really about standing in line to buy merch.

Great from a business perspective, but sigh....the magic was not there. No way to defend this.
 
Last edited:

Musical Mermaid

Well-Known Member
I have not seen a thread like this.

If there was one, I apologize. Mods can delete.

I was there yesterday. I was so excited.

It really felt like it was all about selling the merch and not about anything magical in the park. I mean seriously very few things happened that were special. This was the parks 50th anniversery! Seriously?

Thousands of folks arrived early all expecting something special. What did they get? A special map?

The only thing specail about the 50th was that CM's were standing outside stores taking names and numbers for virtual cues.

Look I love Disney but this was so un-Disney. Co-Vid should not be an excuse at all. It was business at usual.

The welcome show was underwhelming, and there was very little that made me think it was worth all the effort I had made to be there for the actual 50th anniversery .I 100% believe it was the welcome show they will present the next 18 months.

It was really about standing in line to buy merch.

Great from a business perspective, but sigh....the magic was not there. No way to defend this.
I agree with a lot of this. I don’t care about the merchandise. That’s not why I go to a theme park. Free map? That’s expected. The mini poster was a nice little gift.

Things that were supposed to be special, like the free photopass, I had no idea about, because they didn’t mention it in the guidemap or even hand out any slips of paper or anything mentioning it. It makes me upset that I have no special photos because of that and had I known, I would’ve lined up for some. Sending a notice only through the app is not the best way to deliver that information to all guests. I have a phone, the app rarely works as intended, and my internet connection wasn’t working the majority of the day, so I never got the notice. Why would I be motivated to get Genie, mobile order, etc. after their app performs horribly and they can’t even keep the internet working? Also, what about people who don’t have smartphones? People can access those photos at home on a computer, so they should’ve chosen more ways to deliver that information.

There should have been so much more happening on the special day. Rare characters. I mentioned somewhere else it would’ve been great to see the Orange Bird, not just a statue of him. Hatbox Ghost could have been added to the Haunted Mansion. They could have had the longer versions of Country Bear Jamboree and The Enchanted Tiki Room playing. It wouldn’t need to be forever, but 18 months isn’t too long to ask. I’ve seen other terrific ideas mentioned, but I guess they were all beyond the creativity or willingness of the company. Trams weren’t even running.

Thankfully, ride times were low yesterday, so at least I got to enjoy those, but they had nothing amazing or unique to the 50th. I watched the piano player at Casey’s. He was fun to watch. I wish there was more entertainment in that park. You’re right about the “business as usual”.
 

SteveAZee

Well-Known Member
I have not seen a thread like this.

If there was one, I apologize. Mods can delete.

I was there yesterday for the 50th. I was so excited.

It really felt like it was all about selling the merch and not about anything magical in the park. I mean seriously very few things happened that were special. This was the parks 50th anniversery! Seriously?

Thousands of folks arrived early all expecting something special. What did they get? A special map? A really blah poster as they left?
Both were appreciated but where was special entertainment?

The only thing special about the 50th was that CM's were standing outside stores taking names and numbers for virtual cues. So the 50th was about getting there early so you could buy stuff?

Look I love Disney but this was so un-Disney. Co-Vid should not be an excuse at all. It was business as usual. they did to make yesterday feel special.

So it is true they had all the princesses do a cavalcade, they had them wave to crowds in front of the train station, and that was appreciated. But that was about the only thing

They had folks standing shoulder to shoulder with masks on but they did not do any special character meet n greets. They did caravans and not any special parade? It was everything October 2nd would be.

The welcome show was underwhelming, and there was very little that made me think it was worth all the effort I had made to be there for the actual 50th anniversery .I 100% believe it was the welcome show they will present the next 18 months.

It was really about standing in line to buy merch.

Great from a business perspective, but sigh....the magic was not there. No way to defend this.
I'm curious about what you might have been expecting. I've never tried to be at WDW when it's a big anniversary thing going on, mostly because I try to avoid times when it's likely to be crowded, so I don't really know what they usually do for these events.
 

wendysue

Well-Known Member
It was exactly as I expected. We have been there for other "anniversaries" and they were always underwhelming if you were expecting anything other than new merchandise. This was why we took our trip a few weeks ago and had a great time. We have AP's, so are getting as much use from them as possible before they expire at the end of the year. We had some great trips over the years but we have no desire to be tied to our phones or paying extra above the thousands we paid for AP's just to ride some rides.
 

Sonconato

Well-Known Member
I agree with a lot of this. I don’t care about the merchandise. That’s not why I go to a theme park. Free map? That’s expected. The mini poster was a nice little gift.

Things that were supposed to be special, like the free photopass, I had no idea about, because they didn’t mention it in the guidemap or even hand out any slips of paper or anything mentioning it. It makes me upset that I have no special photos because of that and had I known, I would’ve lined up for some. Sending a notice only through the app is not the best way to deliver that information to all guests. I have a phone, the app rarely works as intended, and my internet connection wasn’t working the majority of the day, so I never got the notice. Why would I be motivated to get Genie, mobile order, etc. after their app performs horribly and they can’t even keep the internet working? Also, what about people who don’t have smartphones? People can access those photos at home on a computer, so they should’ve chosen more ways to deliver that information.

There should have been so much more happening on the special day. Rare characters. I mentioned somewhere else it would’ve been great to see the Orange Bird, not just a statue of him. Hatbox Ghost could have been added to the Haunted Mansion. They could have had the longer versions of Country Bear Jamboree and The Enchanted Tiki Room playing. It wouldn’t need to be forever, but 18 months isn’t too long to ask. I’ve seen other terrific ideas mentioned, but I guess they were all beyond the creativity or willingness of the company. Trams weren’t even running.

Thankfully, ride times were low yesterday, so at least I got to enjoy those, but they had nothing amazing or unique to the 50th. I watched the piano player at Casey’s. He was fun to watch. I wish there was more entertainment in that park. You’re right about the “business as usual”.
Thank you for mentioning people who don't have smartphones. I don't have one and feel left out on a lot of information.
 

drew81

Well-Known Member
I have not seen a thread like this.

If there was one, I apologize. Mods can delete.

I was there yesterday for the 50th. I was so excited.

It really felt like it was all about selling the merch and not about anything magical in the park. I mean seriously very few things happened that were special. This was the parks 50th anniversery! Seriously?

Thousands of folks arrived early all expecting something special. What did they get? A special map? A really blah poster as they left?
Both were appreciated but where was special entertainment?

The only thing special about the 50th was that CM's were standing outside stores taking names and numbers for virtual cues. So the 50th was about getting there early so you could buy stuff?

Look I love Disney but this was so un-Disney. Co-Vid should not be an excuse at all. It was business as usual. they did to make yesterday feel special.

So it is true they had all the princesses do a cavalcade, they had them wave to crowds in front of the train station, and that was appreciated. But that was about the only thing

They had folks standing shoulder to shoulder with masks on but they did not do any special character meet n greets. They did caravans and not any special parade? It was everything October 2nd would be.

The welcome show was underwhelming, and there was very little that made me think it was worth all the effort I had made to be there for the actual 50th anniversery .I 100% believe it was the welcome show they will present the next 18 months.

It was really about standing in line to buy merch.

Great from a business perspective, but sigh....the magic was not there. No way to defend this.
Makes me appreciate what Disneyland Paris had for their 25th anniversary so much more.

Florida will take the pathetic and cheap route for entertainment. Always. This has and will be SOP going forward.
 

Mickey5150

Well-Known Member
I have not seen a thread like this.

If there was one, I apologize. Mods can delete.

I was there yesterday for the 50th. I was so excited.

It really felt like it was all about selling the merch and not about anything magical in the park. I mean seriously very few things happened that were special. This was the parks 50th anniversery! Seriously?

Thousands of folks arrived early all expecting something special. What did they get? A special map? A really blah poster as they left?
Both were appreciated but where was special entertainment?

The only thing special about the 50th was that CM's were standing outside stores taking names and numbers for virtual cues. So the 50th was about getting there early so you could buy stuff?

Look I love Disney but this was so un-Disney. Co-Vid should not be an excuse at all. It was business as usual. they did to make yesterday feel special.

So it is true they had all the princesses do a cavalcade, they had them wave to crowds in front of the train station, and that was appreciated. But that was about the only thing

They had folks standing shoulder to shoulder with masks on but they did not do any special character meet n greets. They did caravans and not any special parade? It was everything October 2nd would be.

The welcome show was underwhelming, and there was very little that made me think it was worth all the effort I had made to be there for the actual 50th anniversery .I 100% believe it was the welcome show they will present the next 18 months.

It was really about standing in line to buy merch.

Great from a business perspective, but sigh....the magic was not there. No way to defend this.
Covid may not be an excuse but it is still a reality.
 

Grumpy06

Member
I have to agree with the OP
we have been planning this trip and excited that we were going to be there for the 50th, we arrived last Saturday and spent the whole week getting home a couple hours ago
we did have a great time but didnt see much hype all week about the 1st. It did also seem to us the biggest thing disney cared about Friday was the merchandise and that was it, we are pin traders and they did have a number of new pins,we also new nothing about the free photo pass or we also would of takin advantage
not sure how Disney expects there new app to work when the couldnt supply enternet to everyone at the parks
all and all we had a great time but think Disney missed the mark with the celebration on the 1st
 

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
From what all I have seen, this makes me glad we decided to go in January. It would have been really special to be there on THE day, but I was also thinking there would be huge crowds and I didn't want to deal with that. How crowded would you say it was (considering there weren't any international travelers)?

I was also wrongly hoping more things would be open by the time January rolled around (Tron, GotG, etc.) Oh well... I've heard the morning show was very similar to the rope drop morning show we used to have, which I miss, so that'll be nice to see.

I know we're still in a pandemic, but as you said, if the parks are open it should be business as usual and the 50th only comes around once... I guess they didn't think it was worth it since they weren't at full capacity? With that said, I'm still very much looking forward to our trip in January! I guess I'm just glad I didn't make the effort to be there right on October 1.
 

muddyrivers

Well-Known Member
Thank you for mentioning people who don't have smartphones. I don't have one and feel left out on a lot of information.
I was wondering how people without smartphones will be able to continue operating at Disney Parks. It seems more and more Disney is forcing everything over to their app and making it more difficult to do the parks without a smartphone.

However there are still a lot of people who either come from abroad and don't want to get a data plan, or domestic vacationers who just don't use smartphones.
 

JoMarch

Active Member
I’m just confused about anyone who says they were disappointed. Were they expecting something more? Was something promised somewhere? Did the WDW web site promise special shows, speeches, characters, and then not delivered?

A lot of what I’m reading is coming off as “they owed me.”
 

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
I’m just confused about anyone who says they were disappointed. Were they expecting something more? Was something promised somewhere? Did the WDW web site promise special shows, speeches, characters, and then not delivered?

A lot of what I’m reading is coming off as “they owed me.”
Think many people who were not in the know were expecting something significant to happen to mark 50 years. It would seem logical to expect that if you didn't know better.
 

John park hopper

Well-Known Member
A year and a half ago Disney closed all their theme parks and theaters stopped showing their movies. Kind of hard to spend money on projects when some of your biggest income earners are shut down.
I have to ask in managing my own budget I have money socked away for emergencies Disney prior to the pandemic was making big profits. Did Disney not have money socked away to continue projects and upgrades or am I being naive thinking businesses would do that. The CEOs continued to draw their full salaries
 

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