I agree with this and feel the same way. It's a double standard and we hold Disney to a higher standard. Disney and Universal were somewhat unique in their style and their execution. Universal had more speed, action, excitement and screens. Disney relied on a slower pace, elaborate storytelling and a religious dedication to theme including elaborate queues and show buildings. I loved having both be different and never understood why people wanted one or the other to change or conform. Why people complain that Universal is too screen based or Disney needs more thrills. I fear some of the recent moves by Disney are actually attempts to "compete" with Universal in what a lot of fanboys wanted, the "theme park war". As I said in an earlier post, be careful what you wish for. Disney may be taking a page from Universal's play book and going IP based rides to pump up attendance.
Disney had 4 somewhat unique parks in FL: a MK park, a studio park, a zoo/park combo and EPCOT. The MK was most popular by far. The complaint from a lot of fans has always been that AK and DHS were half day parks because they lacked a volume of "rides". I never felt AK was a half day park, but if you just wanted to ride the headliners and skip the animals I could see why people thought that. Same with DHS (the version of DHS before it became a construction zone). A lot of people were bored with the studio tour and the shows and just went, did the headliners and left. EPCOT thrived because of the popularity of the countries in the evening and several headliner attractions. The common theme is that a lot of people these days just want a volume of rides. They don't really care for shows or animal exhibits (why do you think Sea World keeps adding coasters instead of more animals) People aren't as interested in elaborate theming or intricate details (see the criticism of FLE), they don't want to invest the time in exploring areas of a park like TSI or the trails in AK. They want instant gratification. a selfie to post on Instagram and a ride that takes 5 mins or less so they can get back on their phones and tweet or post about it.
It does seem that some of the uniqueness of each park is being lost with each addition, but the truth is that the majority probably prefer it that way. They'd rather have an AK with 12 rides and no character or soul than what we currently have. They'd rather have DHS without the studio part and with a fleshed out Star Wars and Pixar Land. They would prefer IP based attractions at EPCOT over slow moving, time consuming, educational rides. Disney seems to be pushing its 3 other WDW parks to be more like MK and more like IOA. I don't like it, but I don't think they care, I'm just 1 voice. A lot of other people do like it.
. Get it done and don't skimp...if not a traditional dark ride than go with a boat ride with the big boats and a giant drop or even a Splash style flume ride. It gets damn hot at AK it would be nice to have another way to get wet.
