2025 was an awful year

[HMF]

Oh, they messed it up for sure. I'm saying the BUYING of the content was a great idea and a good price. They just fumbled it.

I like what the current rumor mill is saying. It would have been more ideal 12 years ago but any progress is better than none at all, I guess.

 

[HMF]

Oh, they messed it up for sure. I'm saying the BUYING of the content was a great idea and a good price. They just fumbled it.

I agree in theory, but Disney has had a long history of screwing up beloved things, EPCOT, DHS, DAK, Muppets and so forth.

 

[jloucks]

The only thing 2026 will bring is price increases and more of the Kohl's strategy --raises prices than give a discount which is the same or more then the original price

That is a pretty good strategy. Most people fall for it.

To be fair, it is a strategy that pre-dates Kohl's.

 

[jloucks]

When I was in college and worked as a character performer at both Disney and Universal, there were rare occasions where furries would come to the park as guests - not in costume - but would very intentionally make it known who they were.

It led to some extremely awkward and uncomfortable interactions. For me, this was a job - not a lifestyle.

You might be able to get a 1M+ views video on a YouTube channel with this topic. I'd absolutely tune in for the deets.

 

[jloucks]

I responded but it got deleted so I’ll try to phrase this in the most neutral way possible.

They are connected, but this is the direction: Higher wages are going to get rolled into prices. The inverse is not true, you are correct - higher profits are not going to get rolled into higher wages.

I’m not making any kind of subjective analysis on how things “should” be, just defending the semantics of the claim I made.

This is the "Glass just gets bigger" theory of trickle-down. ...which I believe is true to a degree.

 

[mkt]

You might be able to get a 1M+ views video on a YouTube channel with this topic. I'd absolutely tune in for the deets.

I work for a media conglomerate... doing so is not in my best interest.

 

[John park hopper]

That is a pretty good strategy. Most people fall for it.

To be fair, it is a strategy that pre-dates Kohl's.

I cited Kohl's as most people are familiar with how they operate

 

[JIMINYCR]

The only thing 2026 will bring is price increases and more of the Kohl's strategy --raises prices than give a discount which is the same or more then the original price

That is a pretty good strategy. Most people fall for it.

To be fair, it is a strategy that pre-dates Kohl's.

It's a play on the bait and switch program that's been used by businesses forever. Advertise something that peaks the consumers interest to get them in the door and then get them to pay for something more expensive or just get them to shop for additional items. They are never at risk of losing money to begin with, only increasing the odds for more income and profits. IF you can get them/ tempt them to just walk in the door they know a large percentage of customers will spend their money.

 

[LittleMerman]

I went in Dec and had a blast! Might not have been the biggest or flashiest year but some cool things happened and people are enjoying the parks. Sounds like a win to me.

 

[Chi84]

It's a play on the bait and switch program that's been used by businesses forever. Advertise something that peaks the consumers interest to get them in the door and then get them to pay for something more expensive or just get them to shop for additional items. They are never at risk of losing money to begin with, only increasing the odds for more income and profits. IF you can get them/ tempt them to just walk in the door they know a large percentage of customers will spend their money.

Sounds more like using loss leaders than bait and switch.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Sounds more like using loss leaders than bait and switch.

Yes, it can be considered either. Both intend to get the customer on site, both get the customer to hopefully spend. Get you in the door is their primary purpose in any case.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I went in May of last year. I had fun, but it was so hot. I got sick at Epcot. I probably was experiencing heat exhaustion. One of my prescription medications makes it worse. I'm also 41 (40 at the time of the trip), so those don't help.

 

[graphite1326]

Muppets could end up being a move - but losing Dinoland is definitely losing a core identity of the park.

Will the park be “better” - that’s a different discussion.

I’m not entirely sure if I think DHS is better now vs. lights motors action days. I know I personally liked the park better back then. But I can also see the popularity of Toy Story land and Galaxies Edge.

On our last trip most of Dinoland was closed but Dinosaur was still open. So I did exactly what I have done in most of our previous trips. Walked in and rode Dinosaur and walked out. So I'm not with you that the removal of Dinoland is losing any identity.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

So I'm not with you that the removal of Dinoland is losing any identity.

The dig site, restaurant, animal trail, and gift shop all told a really cool story. The carnival left some to be desired but when they had lucky and the jugglers, etc. it was a fun and unique vibe.

 

[cheezbat]

Yeah 2025 was crap. 2026 won’t be much better….

It’ll take 2027 or 2028 to really improve the parks.

 

[Spectro shire]

The dig site, restaurant, animal trail, and gift shop all told a really cool story. The carnival left some to be desired but when they had lucky and the jugglers, etc. it was a fun and unique vibe.

Wasn't there only one animal display?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Wasn't there only one animal display?

Yes - plus the little Dino trail.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Yeah 2025 was crap. 2026 won’t be much better….

It’ll take 2027 or 2028 to really improve the parks.

2027? 2028? Hope springs eternally. It will be seen to improve then only depending on who is making the calls on Disneys path forward. Will Iger go? Will he be a voice in the background calling the shots? Who is taking over the helm? What abilities will this phantom person bring to the table and how much influence will they have once in place? Adding the new attractions and lands may be positive depending on how much of the plans actually are completed. How are these new additions once in place be seen and accepted as improvements?
Will the numbers of guests start to expand on a continual basis, guest friendly programs implemented for guests affordability, and Dis be profitable enough to keep them competitive.
Get that crystal ball shined up and start collecting 4 leaf clovers. 2027 and 2028 just may be the restart of Disneys golden years back.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

The dig site, restaurant, animal trail, and gift shop all told a really cool story. The carnival left some to be desired but when they had lucky and the jugglers, etc. it was a fun and unique vibe.

Dinoland was very hit and miss.

A restaurant with a layered theme, part cool dinosaur stuff from a paleontologist's perspective rather than as 'scary big monsters’, as in many a theme park or movie. And part a bit too convoluted. 'Nerds shooting arrows on the roof’ wasn't needed. And later additions didn’t match the vibe, a plain table outside with alcoholic drinks just looked ridiculous.

The walk-up to the Dino ride is fabulous. Great sculptures, great architecture. Every time I get super excited to walk into a great natural history museum, a bit stuck in time, as I prefer them. I forget I'm in Disney, even get a bit dissapointed when I snap out of it and remember I'm doing a ride here, can't just stop and read the descriptions. Then get excited again because yay! a fun dino-ride waits, followed by being slightly underwhelmed. In the boneworks of Dinosaur there must lie hidden a superb ride, just within reach, but they never quite found it. Not bad though, just not bull's eye.

Then the trek. Over before you've started. But really well done. You need to stop and explore the botany. I love it when WDW takes its audience seriously. Like Maharadja Trek, you need to put in the work here to get something out of it. It's not even that deep, just understanding why there are ferns and ostriches and crocodiles in this area. The mini-trek got mistly ruined since the late 2010s by character meets and infantilisation.

The gift shop is a delight, one of WDW's finest. Somewhat convoluted again, but it works. Chester and Hester though, nah, not so much. A carnival is a carnival, even as you theme it as a cheap carnival so it doesn't look like a cheap carnival, or something.


The new area might very well be better. Or not. Indy is idealised a bit, as much as I adore the theme, character and movie I&III the ride doesn't really suck me in. Confused bumping around. Still this is one of the few new projects where I think an area could end up an improvent over what was before. At face value, that is. Because it will further dilute DAK's theming and cohesion, thus story, thus immersion. Which was one of the finest works in all of Imagineering history.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

- The year of constant shut downs.

- The year they officially gave up on Animal Kingdom's theme.

- The year they officially killed Frontierland.

- Tiana's opened in 2024, but I think this year is when it sunk in that Disney gaves so little of a care they have no intentions of even giving the ride they killed Splash Mountain for proper maintenance. They put it on Disney Plus blatantly broken.

- The Summer of constant DJs and random pop music playing in inappropriate places.

- The year we got Zootopia: Better Zoogether. Then the only thing people agreed was good about it (animatronic) broke within two weeks.

- Asha's still here and taking up valuable space.

- Starlight debuted to thunderous "well that was okay"s. Then quickly started having issues.

- One step closer to drinking around the Magic Kingdom.

It's been so bad I think it's permanently changed how enthusiastic/tolerant I am for anything Disney related. I don't expect that enthusiasm to come back in 2026.

Yes. After all these decades, it was finally the destruction of the Lake District that was the nail in the coffin for me.

I never would have thought, but it wasn't losing Horizons, or Toad, or the Great Movie Ride, but a paddlewheel steamboat gently cruising a river. Frontierland never was about rowdy adventure to me. It was rather the MK's most gentle area, its tranquil haven, a soft melancholic echo of simpler times.