Surprisingly, I agree with what you are saying. What I do find to be, over the top, tedious is that constant need to be critical of absolutely everything. The credibility of the argument starts to get pretty cloudy. What I tried to do on my last trip was to blank out my preconceived notions and just observe. Not just what I saw, but, how I thought first timers were seeing it. I tried to disconnect myself from what WDW was or wasn't in the 80's because that really doesn't matter anymore. This is 2015 and 1980 is not returning, but, if we take a couple of seconds and really look at what is there, it is still pretty damm impressive.
If we don't take into consideration that fact that our favorite fantasy kingdom exists right in the middle of the real world, we cannot understand that things that happen in the real world will leak into our fantasy. We may feel that the creative concept was much better back then, but, we also have to understand that those days of Walt and the nine old men is gone and isn't likely to return. It took 1901 years in recorded time travel to get the one Walt Disney. Can we realistically expect another just 50 years after he left us?
Can we look at what is there and see something that visually is so much better. The buildings, although older, look better now then they did 40 years ago. We may not like what is inside them, but, aesthetically it is amazing. The landscaping, in spite of a few removed trees and, god forbid, different colored pavement is far more spectacular now then it was then. The character depictions (costumes) are of a quality now that they never came near back then.
That all said, I am not about to forgive them for empty past attractions, restaurants, etc. That is inexcusable and shows a real sense of leaders not only not being able to lead, but, having no clue as to what is psychologically important to the customer. (Guest is an unreal term, I have never charged a guest to come and see me.) The current obsession with Iger and his great cover up, the motive of which, if true, is nothing more then suggestive speculation. Even if true, if that is how business has to be done in China, what do we care. That is Iger and Company's quagmire. China is not the United States, but, I'm sure if anyone bothered to look deeply in business practices here, a whole lot of palm greasing happens as well.
Now let's look at things in the business world that would be different now. If you were a young educated, bright person with or without a Masters Degree and you had to decide what was a solid business based on just financial facts, you would also see stuff that looks really good in the spreadsheet. They don't know about how much more inspirational EPCOT Ctr. was then as opposed to today, but, they would see that it is drawing in a whole hell of a lot more money then it did then and it doesn't appear to be letting up. Now, ideologically, we can shun that idea as being short termed all day, but, it isn't anymore solid then the spreadsheet. In fact, the spreadsheet would be more credible because apparently that change has not hurt Disney at all, but, has actually, on paper, enhanced it. We can talk about how terrible WDW has become until we are blue, but, as long as people come pouring through the gates at this rate, it will be ignored.
At any rate, there is hope that the message that they cannot remain stagnant forever has gotten through, just based on the current upgrading activity in all the parks, even to a small degree, in Epcot. Oh, and btw, Show Your Disney Side had a much more positive impact then we give it credit for. We may not like it or think it's lame (actually, I do like it) but, that doesn't automatically mean that it is good or bad.
