Magic Kingdom was a wreck last week

anooska

New Member
I was there a few weeks ago and the MK looked nothing less than amazing. I spent a ton of time by Splash and noticed no trash or water leaking. I never even got wet :D. By Space, I noticed everything looked orderly but it was a ghost town! Buzz's que doesn't look that bad at all. And if you can't handle stepping into that then use a fp and stop complaining. Main Street was GORGEOUS. Amazing as always. Lights were perfect.
VERY HAPPY:lol: TO READ YOUR REPORT SINCE WE WILL BE THERE SEPT. 07
 

bearboysnc

Well-Known Member
We were the MK the weekend of Aug 15th. The everything was looking good.

The only thing that stuck out in my mind was the huge HUGE loogie on the rotating moon on Peter Pan. It looked like it was chasing the children.

:hurl:
 

Jimmy Thick

Well-Known Member
I go to Disney World all the time, and sadly, its almost never as bad as people on this board make it out to be. In fact, its still usually almost perfect.



Jimmy Thick- I actually DO go.
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
Excellent point.

I spoke to some guests who thought I was insane and others who agreed with me.
I have given up on talking to guests who are not fans.:lol::lookaroun


Hearing EPCOT abused last year on LWTL was enough for me...
Oh yeah - The new Hall of Presidents is VERY good. I was worried about the changes, but it was done very well.
As was I, and I agree. It was fantastic.
I still think you're crazy.:lol:

I agree..:
When we were there in June, Adventure Land looked amazing...:shrug: and granted I know I inhale Pixie Dust like it is air and always have my rose colored glasses on..:cool::king: but I did not notice anything wrong with Adventure Land at all..
I AM crazy, you should know that!:D

I just don't get how faded and rotting woodwork, a cramped and architecturally clashing plaza, and just general neglect is not noticed.

Even my Mom, who is happy as a clam in MK, and shares almost NONE of my WDW thoughts (Dad does! :D I gotta get him posting on here.) looked around and asked me what was up and of it was slated for a refurb.:shrug:
I've seen this sentiment from you before, and normally I just brush it off, but what can I say, I guess I have free time this morning. I don't agree with this--I do agree with you that there are a disproportionate number of lawyers who are scum, but I don't think that means if you are a lawyer, you become scum. Rather, I think the occupation, for some reason, attracts bad people. That said, if you go in with scrupples, and you stick to those scrupples, you can be a good person who is also a good lawyer. I know it's a shock to think a lawyer can be a good person, but it is true. I've met plenty. I find it especially troubling that it's come to a point where people caution against becoming lawyers because of what the occupation 'does' to people (I don't fault the people for cautioning, as there unfortunately seems to be good reason). There are many noble causes that can be advanced through the practice of law, and if someone wishes to engage in such a cause, they should not be dissuaded (that said, Evan, if you wish to practice Constitutional Law, I can tell you that there is a very low probability that you will actually practice in that area).

As for the legal system being in shambles, I think that is a bit of a stretch. Certainly, reform is needed. However, all of the reform that is suggested seems to involve simplifying the law. The law is not so complicated so 'only lawyers can understand it and thus everyone has to pay them' (or some variation of that sentiment, as is often stated). The law is complicated because complex parties exist, and intelligent and unscrupulous non-lawyer parties would exploit the law if it were not so complicated. I have seen plenty of clients who are advised not to litigate an issue, but they either have dollar signs in their eyes or think they can outlast their opponent since they have deeper pockets. Put another way, many of the problems with the legal system are not a result of corrupt lawyers, but with corrupt people in general.

I will cut this short here--in the end, my point is that good and bad people exist everywhere in life. More probably do exist in law. However, to think that you'll become a bad person if you practice law is untrue. As with anything in life, how you approach the profession depends entirely upon you.

Since this is a fairly substantial thread drift, I better comment on the actual topic itself. I agree with the rest of your post about varying perceptions. I guess I looked at the facade work as a sign of progress. I commented to my fiancee while we were there that I hadn't seen that many refurbishment walls in the Magic Kingdom since the early 1990s. I think it's a good thing (of course, that does assume the work will be well-done, but I think giving the benefit of the doubt initially is okay). As far as upkeep other than that, almost everywhere we went it was good. Buzz's queue was exceptionally good (despite some dings in the wall) at several times throughout the day. I don't have other specific examples, but it was better than last year in December and August when we went. I understand your point about it varying as cleaning occurs, but I don't think we could've been so 'lucky' to follow the cleaning crews to each area we went. Maybe we were.

Well said!:sohappy:
 

SirGoofy

Member
I AM crazy, you should know that!:D

I just don't get how faded and rotting woodwork, a cramped and architecturally clashing plaza, and just general neglect is not noticed.

Even my Mom, who is happy as a clam in MK, and shares almost NONE of my WDW thoughts (Dad does! :D I gotta get him posting on here.) looked around and asked me what was up and of it was slated for a refurb.:shrug:

I honestly don't know what you are talking about when you talk about rotting wood work. I'm extremely critical of stuff like that and haven't seen any in AL. Now Toontown is different.
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
I honestly don't know what you are talking about when you talk about rotting wood work. I'm extremely critical of stuff like that and haven't seen any in AL. Now Toontown is different.

Around the Veranda, and other buildings you see as you come into AL via the hub bridge.

The shoppe with Twine on it's roof is also guilty of this.
 

AdLibSean

New Member
I was there three weeks ago. No trash abounding. No tarps up except in Fantasyland. A/C was most definitely running any time we went inside.

The two buildings on Main Street have been under refurb for quite some time- for the better part of the summer actually.

I believe it takes them so long to finish these types of jobs like Main Street and Japan at Epcot now b/c that type of work is now out-sourced. Don't quote me on that. But I believe I've heard that.

I personally hate the tarps. Gone are the days where this type of work was done at night. But oh well... it'll look good once they're finished.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when they actually have to replace the concrete on Main Street. :lookaroun
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
The two buildings on Main Street have been under refurb for quite some time- for the better part of the summer actually.

I believe it takes them so long to finish these types of jobs like Main Street and Japan at Epcot now b/c that type of work is now out-sourced. Don't quote me on that. But I believe I've heard that.

I personally hate the tarps. Gone are the days where this type of work was done at night. But oh well... it'll look good once they're finished.

It'll be interesting to see what happens when they actually have to replace the concrete on Main Street.
:lookaroun

They did the sidewalks a few years ago...:wave:
 

AdLibSean

New Member
UPDATE....

The work on the Hall of Champions facade on Main Street appears to be finished and the tarps are now down. :wave:
 

Tom

Beta Return
My Two Cents

It's midnight-thirty, I'm waiting for my Ambien to kick in, so this might get a bit silly.

Anyway, threads like this give me torn feelings. On one hand, I LOVE WDW and the MK especially - my favorite park. On the other hand, sure, I see the wear and tear the poor park is displaying.

I look at it a few ways (and I'm a commercial construction manager by trade, so I am ALWAYS looking at their infrastructure, facilities, and construction details when I'm there). When I started going to WDW (and remembering it), I know that it seemed so clean and pristine.

Granted, this was 1986. The park was just getting it's Learner's Permit and going to prom - lookin' good! My dad would tell me about how they power-washed all the streets over night, and how they'd re-paint entire lengths of main street trimwork before the first guest arrived - with no one the wiser. I was only 6, but I was friggin' amazed!

But now the MK is approaching its 38th birthday. It's middle-aged by some definitions. It's seen its share of midnight re-paintings and 8-hour power sessions of tearing out and replacing concrete overnight. It's had facelifts on most of the facades around the Kingdom. But these days you just can't afford the same quantity of labor (and never get the same quality) that was available in 1980s.

A guy who'd paint wrought-iron at 1am and have it done and looking perfect by 7am either doesn't exist today, or wants 10 times what he would have made in 1986. If I were WDW, it would be hard for me to employ those people, when I'm getting yelled at by the guests in my other ear about paying our ever-increasing ticket prices.

Now, on to the griping, which I didn't want to do. MK is still a beautiful park, in my opinion. Over the years, they've taken landscaping from 25% "nice" to 100, maybe 150%. Hats off to the hort dept.

But the gateway to the park is probably one of the most embarrassing things I've seen. Going through the turnstiles, I see layers and layers of new paint over layers and layers of old paint - most of which never was completely scraped off. There's probably an inch of that dark green paint on every piece of metal in that area.

Additionally, have you ever looked at the roof of the turnstile area and side offices? YIKES! It looks like they hired a team of 5-year-olds to install all the lights and conduit. The best part is that you get to stare at it for 10 minutes while the train is stopped at MSUSA. That whole area kills me.

But the lands themselves, well, if I start inspecting things - yes, the wear and tear of a 38-year-old park is showing, but rightfully so. Any non-Disney park even nearing this age looks MUCH worse. The last time I went to Kings Island in Ohio I thought I was in some 2-bit mom and pop carnival. It was a hell-hole. Sit it next to the MK, and MK looks like it's brand new.

Some rotten wood....chipped paint....torn wallpaper in queues.....spit-wads on ride props - sure, it's all there. But to keep up on stuff like that, you have to have a team dedicated to every attraction, every night, to walk the entire queue with a flashlight and magnifying glass, and then traverse the ride a few times to see if there had been any damage or vandalism that day. That's a lot of people, even if you split it up into zones.

Deep down, I think it's more of society that we all should be mad at, and not Disney. People honestly respected property better 20+ years ago. It's fact. I've grown up in this generation and I see it all around me. Nobody respects anything that isn't theirs. The maintenance may have decreased 10-20%, but the wear and tear and intentional disrespect the parks are getting has gone up 50-100%. It's sad. Disney just can't afford to get rid of every piece of vandalism, every spit-wad, fix every broken main street bulb AND repaint a carousel horse every night.

My vote: 2 thumbs up to Disney for continuing to put on one helluva show, after almost 40 years! The MK is still the same MK I loved in 1986 - it's just wearing out a bit and showing its character!

:wave:
 

captainkidd

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Excellent post ^.

I don't get into the specifics as you do (kudos for the sharp eye), but some things, I agree. The roof above the turnstiles - How much work does it take to vaccuum some cobwebs and repaint it? It, from what I can see, hasn't been done in years.
 

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