Okay, I'm sure I'll get slammed for this by the DoM crowd, but whatever, I'm going to throw it out there anyway.
I could be wrong, but it didn't seem to be this way before. I don't know what happened, I assume it was the regime changes at the upper managment level and the economy, but something definitely changed with the way TDO maintains (HA) their attractions.
The last time I rode EE this past Friday it left something to be desired, ESPECIALLY if one rode it back before most of the effects fell into disrepair. It's been hashed over and over on other threads about fixing the AA yeti so you don't go flying past a what now amounts to a giant stuffed animal with red christmas lights for eyes and a strobe. Again, if you rode it before you'd see the difference.
RnRC... well, it's GOT onboard audio, and I'll be honest. It seems like almost every third time I ride it, the audio cuts out/fades in or out/just plain doesn't work and the result is that you get to hear what sounds like horrible metal fatigue and other banshee screams (not including riders, lol). Also, even more of the time the lights in the ride aren't working. I'm talking about the light up black light effects on the road signs as you progress through the ride. I don't know if it was intended to be this way, but this coaster has ended up just like SM, a ride mostly in the dark.
It's about time for SM to be refurbed. I'll take whatever I can get, be it cosmetic or functional because again, it's time. I'd LOVE to have a full gut and rebuild, but I don't think that management would've been willing even if money weren't an issue. As far as their choice to axe the onboard audio well, in my OPINION, it's one more thing to break and not fix. I've never been to DL, so I don't know about their SM. I've read that it's great, and their onboard audio makes it even better. We'll just have to see what the end result is when WDW's ride reopens.
I also took the Keys to the Kingdom tour while I was there and I can say that if it wasn't for the tour guide being spectacular, I'd have gone straight to Guest Relations and asked for my money back. I know I wouldn't have gotten it, but that's not the point. This tour has become so watered down in the last two years that was almost not worth going on for me. For years I've wanted to see a few things about backstage in MK. Not that the garbage collection system wasn't interesting, but it shouldn't have been the highlight. Neither should have the movie in the utilidor.
ToT was actually working pretty darn good, to report something positive. All effects seemed to be 100%. I've skipped this attraction in my last two trips, but this time I was impressed.
I can say this with some confidence, nothing will change unless something lets TDO know that this is not acceptable. If I read things correctly, it was people not coming to DCA that inspired them to invest more money to make it more desirable. I don't know if that would work or not with WDW. This particular management group seems to be stubborn about things. Almost as if their attitude were, "We don't have to fix things the right way, we're going to do it minimally and if the guests don't like it, screw them."
I don't have all the answers, or even one of the answers. All I know is what I've seen over the last 20 or so years that I've been to WDW, and what I read and experienced which unfortunately amounts to doing less and less as time went on. Consistently I've been disappointed in the last 10 years, and this is not to say that I've not been impressed as well. But it's easier to notice the bad than the good.
Folks, I know that nothing is perfect, and that if you look hard enough at anything you're going to find faults. I don't think that these things I've mentioned fall into that category. I think this is a clear and consistent attitude problem for upper management.
End of rant. Let the flame fest begin. LOL
I could be wrong, but it didn't seem to be this way before. I don't know what happened, I assume it was the regime changes at the upper managment level and the economy, but something definitely changed with the way TDO maintains (HA) their attractions.
The last time I rode EE this past Friday it left something to be desired, ESPECIALLY if one rode it back before most of the effects fell into disrepair. It's been hashed over and over on other threads about fixing the AA yeti so you don't go flying past a what now amounts to a giant stuffed animal with red christmas lights for eyes and a strobe. Again, if you rode it before you'd see the difference.
RnRC... well, it's GOT onboard audio, and I'll be honest. It seems like almost every third time I ride it, the audio cuts out/fades in or out/just plain doesn't work and the result is that you get to hear what sounds like horrible metal fatigue and other banshee screams (not including riders, lol). Also, even more of the time the lights in the ride aren't working. I'm talking about the light up black light effects on the road signs as you progress through the ride. I don't know if it was intended to be this way, but this coaster has ended up just like SM, a ride mostly in the dark.
It's about time for SM to be refurbed. I'll take whatever I can get, be it cosmetic or functional because again, it's time. I'd LOVE to have a full gut and rebuild, but I don't think that management would've been willing even if money weren't an issue. As far as their choice to axe the onboard audio well, in my OPINION, it's one more thing to break and not fix. I've never been to DL, so I don't know about their SM. I've read that it's great, and their onboard audio makes it even better. We'll just have to see what the end result is when WDW's ride reopens.
I also took the Keys to the Kingdom tour while I was there and I can say that if it wasn't for the tour guide being spectacular, I'd have gone straight to Guest Relations and asked for my money back. I know I wouldn't have gotten it, but that's not the point. This tour has become so watered down in the last two years that was almost not worth going on for me. For years I've wanted to see a few things about backstage in MK. Not that the garbage collection system wasn't interesting, but it shouldn't have been the highlight. Neither should have the movie in the utilidor.
ToT was actually working pretty darn good, to report something positive. All effects seemed to be 100%. I've skipped this attraction in my last two trips, but this time I was impressed.
I can say this with some confidence, nothing will change unless something lets TDO know that this is not acceptable. If I read things correctly, it was people not coming to DCA that inspired them to invest more money to make it more desirable. I don't know if that would work or not with WDW. This particular management group seems to be stubborn about things. Almost as if their attitude were, "We don't have to fix things the right way, we're going to do it minimally and if the guests don't like it, screw them."
I don't have all the answers, or even one of the answers. All I know is what I've seen over the last 20 or so years that I've been to WDW, and what I read and experienced which unfortunately amounts to doing less and less as time went on. Consistently I've been disappointed in the last 10 years, and this is not to say that I've not been impressed as well. But it's easier to notice the bad than the good.
Folks, I know that nothing is perfect, and that if you look hard enough at anything you're going to find faults. I don't think that these things I've mentioned fall into that category. I think this is a clear and consistent attitude problem for upper management.
End of rant. Let the flame fest begin. LOL
