The American Adventure closing for refurbishment

[Sir_Cliff]

Plans were being concocted to gradually reduce and remove references to Walt a few years ago. It would be done very slowly and quietly over the course of a decade or more.

I don't mean any disrespect to any posters on here, but surely if a group of Disney executives outlined a decade-long plan to gradually remove all references to Walt from the company until everyone forgot about him so they didn't have to be held to such high standards they would be fired and/or sent to counselling?

I'd find it easier to buy that some people would suggest being too tied to his legacy leaves the company vulnerable to changing public perceptions of that legacy. But to pitch a long-term plan to purge Walt from the Walt Disney Company because they don't want people associating the company name with quality entertainment?

It all just sounds too weird and irrational to be true.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Forgot to post this. The only obvious update to the show side was the lighting at the end. Jane was working, as was Will Rogers and everything else. It looks and sounds very good.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I don't mean any disrespect to any posters on here, but surely if a group of Disney executives outlined a decade-long plan to gradually remove all references to Walt from the company until everyone forgot about him so they didn't have to be held to such high standards they would be fired and/or sent to counselling?

I'd find it easier to buy that some people would suggest being too tied to his legacy leaves the company vulnerable to changing public perceptions of that legacy. But to pitch a long-term plan to purge Walt from the Walt Disney Company because they don't want people associating the company name with quality entertainment?

It all just sounds too weird and irrational to be true.

An executive is not getting reprimanded or fired for disliking Walt and sharing that opinion with the other executives behind closed doors. If anything, that's likely to make them friends and increase their mutual respect. It takes a brazen and doltish public stunt like Chapek pulled to get someone that high up in trouble. Not because they disagree with the opinion, but because it compromises the carefully crafted public mask and becomes a PR mess when blurted out unfiltered.

There isn't a single person on the board who likes or respects Walt Disney. This distaste isn't even well hidden. As lazyboy mentioned, the nickname "Walties" was coined by executives as an insult towards anyone who likes him. At best he's neutrally tolerated for marketing. But there are a number of board members who genuinely dislike Walt and would be happy to whittle him down to the point where nothing but the last name remains as a generic corporate label.

You are entirely correct to think a Walt purge sounds weird and irrational, because it absolutely is. But I also didn't get any of this info from the deranged "red team" crazies either. Quite the opposite end of the spectrum in fact. Take it however you like though.

All that said, I don't know if they still intend to go through with such a purge at this point. It was a pre-covid scheme from several years ago and it seems like it still hasn't begun yet. The last couple of years have also been a very tumultuous time for the company. They have far more pressing issues to attend to. Hopefully they've shifted away from this nonsense. It would be an unfathomably foolish and self destructive thing to attempt.

 

[PrinceCharming617]

This is definitely one of my favorites at Epcot. Hopefully they don't ever change it just so they can save money (Splash Mountain).

 

[alphac2005]

We visited The American Adventure the other evening and the audio animatronics look absolutely superb. The fluidity of the movements were very noticeable along with new hair, costumes, etc. All of the carpet has been replaced throughout the pavilion and all of the theater chairs have new seat backings and cushions. The only issue that we saw was in the closing scene, Mark Twain's cigar was dangling off his hand as it was not connected properly, which got a laugh from some people sitting near us.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Did the AAs get new skins? Some more recent models have the more realistic skins that look less like plastic in show lighting.