As Great As It Once Was?

[dreamscometrue]

My family's first trip to WDW was in the summer of 2003. We've gone back since, are going in a few months, and have plans to go every year in future. WDW has always been exactly what we expected-super fun, friendly, clean, etc. Our family always says that if the rest of the world was run like WDW, we'd all be better off.

Despite our belief that WDW is as perfect as a place run by humans can be, I've read posts and reviews on different sites where an occasional veteran visitors comment about how things have 'gone downhill' and how WDW has declined over the years. Our experiences and those of many friends (and many people on these boards) have been so positive, I'd simply like to know from those of you who have been going for years, do you think things were better/different in the 'good old days'?

 

[Connor002]

If you look for faults, you will find them.
If not, you'll have a great time.
It's that simple.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I agree with Connor on this one. Plus, once you have been going for a while you tend to be more sensitive to things.

 

[dreamscometrue]

I agree with Connor on this one. Plus, once you have been going for a while you tend to be more sensitive to things.

That's a great point. I've definitely noticed that, on occasion, some frequent visitors complain about something like a smoke effect not working, while the people who get there once, or a few times during their entire lifetime, tend to be so happy and grateful that they are even there, these types of things are either not noticed or simply unimportant.

 

[miles1]

If you look for faults, you will find them.
If not, you'll have a great time.
It's that simple.

Amen.

Yes, some of the infrastructure has gotten a little worn/dated, but heck, some of it is 30+ years old. Overall I find it more enjoyable now than ever.

My first visit was in 1976. There's been tremendous improvements in attractions, and the biggest improvements are in crowd control since the early days. Back then, 1 1/2 to 2 hour waits were the norm for ALL of the attractions. Now its just a select few, and there usually 90 minutes or less. This has made it much more enjoyable for families with impatient kids.

There's also a lot of improvement in little, sometimes hard-to-quantify, things, like CM interactions and little details in scenery, etc.

Like Connor says, if you go with a crummy attitude, you'll have a crummy time. If you just go to enjoy yourself with what's there, there's no better place to vacation.

 

[dreamscometrue]

Amen.

Yes, some of the infrastructure has gotten a little worn/dated, but heck, some of it is 30+ years old. Overall I find it more enjoyable now than ever.

My first visit was in 1976. There's been tremendous improvements in attractions, and the biggest improvements are in crowd control since the early days. Back then, 1 1/2 to 2 hour waits were the norm for ALL of the attractions. Now its just a select few, and there usually 90 minutes or less. This has made it much more enjoyable for families with impatient kids.

There's also a lot of improvement in little, sometimes hard-to-quantify, things, like CM interactions and little details in scenery, etc.

Like Connor says, if you go with a crummy attitude, you'll have a crummy time. If you just go to enjoy yourself with what's there, there's no better place to vacation.

The crummy attitude thing always surprises me, but I see it on every trip. There are sometimes legitimate gripes, but I'm sure we've all heard people complain about the 'long' 3 min. walk to get coffee, the 10 min. wait in a FastPass line, the $100 million ride that 'sucks', or the meal that was good, but not perfect. How about feeling blessed that you are physically and financially well enough to be at WDW on vacation? There are millions of people who would gladly trade places.

 

[Bravesfn1]

How about feeling blessed that you are physically and financially well enough to be at WDW on vacation? There are millions of people who would gladly trade places.

Yes, this is true. However, I think people can have their opinions on what they like and don't like about the parks and still have a great time. I for one don't like the direction that Future World at Epcot has gone in the last 8-10 years. And frankly in my opinion I enjoyed it a lot more back then than I do now. That being said, I always have a great time at WDW and will always continue to go there and have a great time. I will not bury my head in the sand and turn off the critical thinking part of my brain, but hey that's just my opinion. You are entitled to yours, but I disagree with some of what you are saying.

 

[CThaddeus]

Yes, this is true. However, I think people can have their opinions on what they like and don't like about the parks and still have a great time. I for one don't like the direction that Future World at Epcot has gone in the last 8-10 years. And frankly in my opinion I enjoyed it a lot more back then than I do now. That being said, I always have a great time at WDW and will always continue to go there and have a great time. I will not bury my head in the sand and turn off the critical thinking part of my brain, but hey that's just my opinion. You are entitled to yours, but I disagree with some of what you are saying.

Ditto on all counts. Great post.

 

[rcapolete]

I think another reason behind this may be that they are remebering how it was when they were younger (perhaps kids). I know that as a child there was something almost mystical about disney. Now when i go the magic is there but it is different.

 

[dreamscometrue]

Yes, this is true. However, I think people can have their opinions on what they like and don't like about the parks and still have a great time. I for one don't like the direction that Future World at Epcot has gone in the last 8-10 years. And frankly in my opinion I enjoyed it a lot more back then than I do now. That being said, I always have a great time at WDW and will always continue to go there and have a great time. I will not bury my head in the sand and turn off the critical thinking part of my brain, but hey that's just my opinion. You are entitled to yours, but I disagree with some of what you are saying.

I didn't mean to suggest that people should stop having high standards. People will always have different opinions, and constructive criticism, feedback, etc. is what drives change and improvement at WDW and elsewhere. I'm just surprised that sometimes I see/hear people who are seem to have huge issues with things that most of us would believe to be petty.

Anyway, my original post was simply one of curiosity. Since our first trip was only 4 years ago, I just wanted to know what things used to be like.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

Things are simply different than they were. Most hardened WDW Veterans will say that things are downhill, but this is mostly because people don't like change to the things they fell in love with. But the park is changing with the demands of the times, and a whole new generation is falling in love with DIsney and becoming overly obsessed like us. And I'm sure that they will be on these boards one day lamenting the exit of Nemo and Friends just like we did about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

 

[Nemo14]

If you look for faults, you will find them.
If not, you'll have a great time.
It's that simple.

How about feeling blessed that you are physically and financially well enough to be at WDW on vacation? There are millions of people who would gladly trade places.

What they said!

The other thing is that even though we've gone to WDW upwards of 25 times in the last 20 years, there's always something new or something we haven't done yet, so there are always new experiences to be had. Some may not have been as magical as others, but every trip has been a wonderful vacation!

 

[dreamscometrue]

Things are simply different than they were. Most hardened WDW Veterans will say that things are downhill, but this is mostly because people don't like change to the things they fell in love with. But the park is changing with the demands of the times, and a whole new generation is falling in love with DIsney and becoming overly obsessed like us. And I'm sure that they will be on these boards one day lamenting the exit of Nemo and Friends just like we did about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Great post...well said. I never had the opportunity to experience rides such as 20,000 leagues or Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but I'm sure that as things continue to evolve, I'll find myself missing some of the experiences we had in 2003. Even though that was only 3 years ago, I find myself already telling friends (who are going soon for the first time), about 'Tarzan Rocks', 'Millionaire', 'ExtraTerrorestrial' and AK before Everest. Change is necessary and often great, but I know I will always want to experience the things that I did on our first trip. Long live Splash Mountain! (my first ride ever at WDW).

 

[polynesiangirl]

Oh, these are good points, guys. I used to be more of a complainer myself, but it's really worn on me after awhile reading so many posts, etc, about how such and such isn't good enough anymore, etc. Yes, WDW is not the place it was 20 years ago, but that is by and large NOT a bad thing.

As someone pointed out, us veterans (and especially, I think, for people in my age group who were the first or second round of children to spend yearly or more family vacations there -- kids of the 70s and 80s,) just have a lot of sentimentality attached to many of the "old" rides (Mr. Toad, Tiki Room, etc,) because we have such fond childhood memories of them. Does that mean that what has replaced them is necessarily "bad"? No...but it's not "our" ride the way we always remembered it.

These days I always go keeping in mind that for so many people, even one trip to WDW would be unbelievable. I've been very, very spoiled to get to go so many times and share it with my family...this doesn't mean I keep low expectations now, but it does mean that I turn that Inner Nitpickyness off as much as possible while I'm there. :wave:

 

[Bravesfn1]

I think when you talk about this issue, you really can't speak in terms like "it isn't as good as it used to be" or generalizations like that. It is more complicated than that. That being said, I don't think every change that has been made at WDW is for the better. I perfer Horizions to Mission Space, I perfer World of Motion to Test Track, and I perfer Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. By no means do I think Mission Space, Test Track, and Winnie the Pooh are "bad" attractions. Actually I like all those attractions, but just not as much as the previous ones they replaced. Is that nostalgia? Maybe, but I just like those old ones better. That is just my opinion, most other people may like the new rides better and that is ok. I am not whining or complaining that those rides should never have been removed, I accept that they are gone and it won't prevent me from enjoying WDW.

What I don't understand is the mindset that "everything at WDW is great", "every new attraction is great" and "everyone who expresses an affection for an old attraction is wrong and stuck in the past". I feel it is more complicated than that.

 

[dopeylove]

We have an autistic child and live in southeast Florida. We are forutnate enough to go at least once month and sometimes every other weekend depending on our work schedules. But no matter what, we still are all in love with Disney and feel the magic every time.

In fact, if three or four weeks go by and we haven't been there, I go through withdrawals and get "grumpy".

What amazes me is that we have been annual passholders since 2003 and every time we go I can guarantee you that we will have seen or experienced something new.

Disney is not perfect, but it is a safe haven for me and my family. Having an autistic child it is the only place we can go and relax because he is such a totally different child when we are there.

So I'm grateful for all the things we experience, big or small, on each of our trips.

 

[wannab@dis]

I perfer Horizions to Mission Space, I perfer World of Motion to Test Track, and I perfer Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. By no means do I think Mission Space, Test Track, and Winnie the Pooh are "bad" attractions. Actually I like all those attractions, but just not as much as the previous ones they replaced. Is that nostalgia? Maybe, but I just like those old ones better.

Did a little selective quoting to get to the gist of the whole point I think the OP was trying to make. You posted that you like the new attractions. Yet you also said you didn't like them AS MUCH as the old ones. Personally, I think that IS due to the nostalgia factor and whether any of us like it or not, nostalgia doesn't pay the bills or provide the capital needed to continually build and improve the parks.

I think this is where I tend to digress from so many that complain that things aren't as good as they used to be. No offense, but that is usually more of a "selfish" reason than reality. The nolstagia affect, whether intentional or not, has clouded the objectivity. It also isn't the view that a corporation can afford to make. They have to keep things fresh, they have to continually entice the masses back to the parks and they have to find new ways to entertain people.

I think we should all be happy that many of the attractions at MK has benefited from a "classic shield" that has kept them popular. The other parks are not as lucky and it's probably due to the fact they are just not as popular as MK. We also have to recognize a simple fact... we're not the majority of guests. We're "super fans" and have a tighter bond with individual attractions than most guests. Many people I know don't see an individual (or even multiples) attraction as the highlight of their trip, it's the whole package. That package must keep evolving to keep them returning. For me, I would return just to see ROE or Wishes... :lol:

Overall, I personally find WDW more magical every trip than the previous. When I think back to the first trips in the 70's, I just see how everything is SO much better.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

For me, I didn't go to WDW for my first time until 1996 for the 25th Anniversary, and I felt that was a perfect year for WDW that had a great blend of old and new attractions, themes, and ideas that we tend to debate here on wdwmagic.

However, learning directly from countless people who are WDW veterans, and doing great amounts of research, I feel part of WDW as a whole was somehow better than it is now.

First off Disney will always hold itself to a higher standard than its competitors. I never and rarely have ever seen something in so much disrepair, etc to even bother or notice it, because I am enjoying the atmoshpere of WDW itself! :wave:

I agree it is a blessing to go to WDW, even for me going 2-3 days for only once a year is fine.

However, I find that WDW and perhaps more the Disney company is now a heavily commercialized company, shoving in more shops,etc at us.

Having the old WDW logo, and message "the vacation kingdom of the world", emobides to me what WDW truly is, and gives it a sense of place.

WDW has certainly improved with technology, organization, service, etc, but for me some things, such as the loss of many unique character created attractions, for the modern main streem character attractions, along with turning Main Street usa basically into a shopping alley to me, destoryed a valuable and creative part that the disney company had for the magic kingdom throughout the 70s and 80s. I am of course also not a fan for the wand and stars over spaceship earth, or the MGM hats location, but yet enjoy the land pavilion makeover, and living seas makeover.

For me, and for many people on these boards, we can discuss, and lecture all we want when not at WDW, but the key thing to WDW itself is to enjoy what you have before you as best as you can.

So for me not much of WDW can be used in its nostalgia factor, but more in its direction. The lake buena vista shopping center, later wdw village, and now downtown disney usses many of the original disney village buildings, etc but they and like pleasure island are creating new and creative things in the similar spirit that just happens to be the wdw village.

However even the heavily dated flight to the moon and mission to mars, made a great transition for AE in the new tomorrowland of 1994, which I feel was exectured nicely, but is now falling apart piece by piece.

I just try to find something in cases than can please both parties.

 

[culturenthrills]

For me being someone who had been going every year or 2 for years and now lives near WDW and goes about every other week it is just certain things that bug me. The proliferation of ODV carts all over the place just really hurts the "show". It irks me every time I am in Epcot and the walkway near Imagination that has a temp ODV cart right across from a permanent ODV stand that is never open. That is just bad show. I have no problem with the permanent ODV stands that are all properly themed to the area it is those temp carts that pull you out of the show and make you feel like you are at any other park.
Also, I think of some us have the biggest problem with MK. That park has become stale and they have just not updated it enough. The park is getting old and things are really starting to fall apart. It is really disappointing to me when I go to Disneyland and see some of the same attractions that MK has have gotten updated over the years whereas MK's have not esp. Space Mt. However, I think MK management are starting to realize that many of the major attractions are in need of some major rehabs and we will be seeing that in the next few years. The park is 35 years old and they are just not going to be able to get away with these short rehabs on many of the attractions anymore. I love the park but it has so much potential to be even better than it is. That is just my opinion.

 

[jedimaster1227]

Nostalgia is fine, but don't let you mourning of past attractions ruin you ability to enjoy new ones.