Back in the day...

[AllydoesDisney]

And I can have absolutely no disagreement with you. You either accept my comments, reject them or are indifferent to them for your own reasons. You will appreciate disney or reject them within your own realm ... Coming from your vantage point I would also would hope you hold no deep seeded misplaced bias against Universal as well. Is that correct?

I'm not in to Universal. Its OK but I'm a Disney girl.

 

[Figaro928]

I think a large part is that-- at least for me-- we went three times in my childhood and into my teens and my parents made sure we new it was a BIG DEAL. We appreciated Disney because we appreciated a vacation in general. There was wonder to it because, although having been there before, we hadn't seen the park since the last time we went.

Slight tangent, but my three year old went in September. Since we've gone, she's watched the new parade several dozen times on my tablet. She also loves watching you tube videos of the fireworks and POV rides. While I love that she enjoys watching that stuff, I have to wonder if she will lose the special "awe" moment when she walks down main street the next time we go because the sights and sounds become common-place. I guess that kinda brings it- at least for me- that maybe Disney was better back then because, without the internet/social media Disney had a more magical allure to it then now. Before it was Walt Disney World - ohh ahhh.... now its a theme park

 

[belledream]

I just miss the man's voice on TTA. The new woman's voice just doesn't do it for me.

 

[WDWVolFan]

A decent back lot Tour and MGM being an actual studio...

 

[AllydoesDisney]

I think a large part is that-- at least for me-- we went three times in my childhood and into my teens and my parents made sure we new it was a BIG DEAL. We appreciated Disney because we appreciated a vacation in general. There was wonder to it because, although having been there before, we hadn't seen the park since the last time we went.

Slight tangent, but my three year old went in September. Since we've gone, she's watched the new parade several dozen times on my tablet. She also loves watching you tube videos of the fireworks and POV rides. While I love that she enjoys watching that stuff, I have to wonder if she will lose the special "awe" moment when she walks down main street the next time we go because the sights and sounds become common-place. I guess that kinda brings it- at least for me- that maybe Disney was better back then because, without the internet/social media Disney had a more magical allure to it then now. Before it was Walt Disney World - ohh ahhh.... now its a theme park

I do agree with that. YouTube has kind of taken over a little. But its not the same as actually BEING there. At least not for me. I don't get to go every year so its more fresh for me.

 

[AllydoesDisney]

I watched Celebrate the Magic on YouTube several times before my trip. When it started live, I had serious chills and I was in tears when it was over. But that may have been because it was our last night. Still, it was so much better in person.

 

[ParkMan73]

For me, it's not so much that WDW was better back then. To me, it's that WDW has not lived up to the expectation I had back then.

I went 4 times as a youth - about every 4 years. The final time I was in high school. I remember walking into the parks having the thought - though I'm older, I want to enjoy this like a younger kid. There's no - I'm too cool for something on this trip.

I was blown away with how much fun I had. I remember being so impressed with World Showcase that I came home and signed up for German class in school.

A few years later, I went to WDW on my honeymoon. I had a blast. I recall we had a few reservations at key places, but otherwise, we winged it. Though I was just out of school, I'd put away some money so that I never had to feel like I was spending too much. We park hopped - we rode the monorail. It was a great time.

Fast forward years later, and my trip to WDW feels a bit stale. We still go every 4 years or so, but there has not been a lot of change since then. The newer rides are things like - the Nemo re-do on Living Seas, the Little Mermaid, Everest, Mission Space, the updated Test Track. Of those, Mission Space & Everest were fun, but the others were kinda disappointing. I was excited for the new Star Wars update. However, an updated movie in the ride was again - disappointing. My expectations are that I want to be wowed with some new stuff.

Somewhere along the way, we started needing to have reservations just to get a decent sit-down dinner. Now I've got to spend weeks hunting for that one opening at Be our Guest.

Everytime we go to WDW now, I'm ready to spend money on merchandise - but most everything I find is the same everywhere across the resort. I'm bored shopping after the first day.

Let's not forget about the prices now. It seems like counter service lunch for my family of five is now about $80. A sit-down dinner is often over $150. My food budget is now one of the largest expenses at the parks.

I mention all this not to complain - but more to say - all these little things wear away at the magic. The lack of significant new attractions over the past decade, the requirement to plan it all, the rise in prices - it just bums me out. When we go now, I give myself that same speech - "I'm not going to be negative or too cool. I'm not going to worry about maintenance issues or anything like that. I'm here to have fun." But, it all just seems to eventually catch up with me at some point.

 

[Clamman73]

I just miss the man's voice on TTA. The new woman's voice just doesn't do it for me.

The mid 80s - early 90s ORAC Peoplemover spiel was the best.

 

[Walt is angry]

Its on the t'internet so its a FACT (capitalised to indicate that it is beyond contestation)

Hyperbole must be word of the day.

I would suggest that rather than the effect of nostalgia laden clichés, that many of the faults discussed ad nauseam are the result of the penurious attitude of those charged with the custody of WDW presently.

As the one who first used "hyperbole" on this thread, please note that I totally agree with your pedantic, yet extremely accurate assumptions as to the penstock relating to this discussion. I.e. Iger is certainly not a great keeper of the light.

 

[mergatroid]

I first went in the 70's as a young child aged 6 or 7. Back then there was only really the Magic Kingdom and it didn't have Splash or Thunder either. I fell in love with it straight aay and it really did feel magical. I sometimes wonder how amazing it would have been had all the parks we have now been available back then. It would very probably have seemed even better if I'm honest as there's more to do now. Certainly there are things I miss from days gone by, mostly I miss Disney Studios being MGM/Disney Studios back when they had a working studio there. I miss the magic shop on Main Street, 20,000 Leagues and for some reason I miss 'If You had Wings'. I loved IYHW and would go on it repeatedly, it was a 'free ride' if I remember correctly, back when you had to buy books of tickets to use on individual attractions. It just seemed so great back then and felt so magical to me as a young child.

I think nostalgia plays a big part in it really, also through a childs eyes the world always seems a more magical place.

 

[joeytomatoes]

These boards are heaving with comments referring to 'the good old days' or something similar.

My question to you all is... What made Disney that much more magical in its heyday in comparison to now?

Well, its all in the little details. First off main St. USA. It used to be a destination in itself, individual stores that offered different merchandise. The arcade and quaint shoppes that you could spend an easy hour or two. Now it is just a giant merchandise shop that offers things that you can get anywhere else in the park. almost makes main st. just something you walk past to get to other places! The attention to detail in the cleanliness of the parks. You never saw little things like burnt out light bulbs or scratched or missing paint etc.Also, the parks were cutting edge technology in the 70's and even early 80's. Now it is the same technology. Lets keep things the same as long as people are willing to pay attitude. the technology that was cutting edge and magical is 40+ years old and nothing special...... having said that I am still a fan!

 

[morningstar]

for some reason I miss 'If You had Wings'. I loved IYHW and would go on it repeatedly, it was a 'free ride' if I remember correctly, back when you had to buy books of tickets to use on individual attractions. It just seemed so great back then and felt so magical to me as a young child.

I don't know what If You Had Wings was, but I remember an (I think) short-lived attraction called Dreamflight, sponsored by Delta. I recall it was a pretty lousy attraction, barely more than a commercial for Delta. However, I remember two enjoyable things about it: one, there was this spiraling strobe light you'd go toward that would give you a feeling of turning nearly upside down, despite no motion other than horizontal; two, a very optimistic catchy little jingle. I think incorporating theme songs into attractions has kind of dwindled. "It's Fun To Be Free" from WoM is another forgotten gem. Many like "A Pirate's Life For Me" are certainly not forgotten, but it's hard to think of any great new ride songs. Did someone decide this kind of thing was corny, or are the Sherman Brothers just irreplaceable?

Anyway, Dreamflight was only an A or a B ticket, but I have more interest in re-riding it than Mission: Space. All that technology, but little creativity.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

I don't know what If You Had Wings was, but I remember an (I think) short-lived attraction called Dreamflight, sponsored by Delta. I recall it was a pretty lousy attraction, barely more than a commercial for Delta. However, I remember two enjoyable things about it: one, there was this spiraling strobe light you'd go toward that would give you a feeling of turning nearly upside down, despite no motion other than horizontal; two, a very optimistic catchy little jingle. I think incorporating theme songs into attractions has kind of dwindled. "It's Fun To Be Free" from WoM is another forgotten gem. Many like "A Pirate's Life For Me" are certainly not forgotten, but it's hard to think of any great new ride songs. Did someone decide this kind of thing was corny, or are the Sherman Brothers just irreplaceable?

Anyway, Dreamflight was only an A or a B ticket, but I have more interest in re-riding it than Mission: Space. All that technology, but little creativity.

If You Had Wings was the precursor of Dreamflight. Same building, same track, different scenes and music and dialogue. I liked them both, but most people seem to have preferred IYHW.

 

[mergatroid]

I don't know what If You Had Wings was, but I remember an (I think) short-lived attraction called Dreamflight, sponsored by Delta. I recall it was a pretty lousy attraction, barely more than a commercial for Delta. However, I remember two enjoyable things about it: one, there was this spiraling strobe light you'd go toward that would give you a feeling of turning nearly upside down, despite no motion other than horizontal; two, a very optimistic catchy little jingle. I think incorporating theme songs into attractions has kind of dwindled. "It's Fun To Be Free" from WoM is another forgotten gem. Many like "A Pirate's Life For Me" are certainly not forgotten, but it's hard to think of any great new ride songs. Did someone decide this kind of thing was corny, or are the Sherman Brothers just irreplaceable?

Anyway, Dreamflight was only an A or a B ticket, but I have more interest in re-riding it than Mission: Space. All that technology, but little creativity.

If You Had Wings was the precursor of Dreamflight. Same building, same track, different scenes and music and dialogue. I liked the both, but most people seem to have preferred IYHW.

Here's a rather interesting video of the ride through of 'If You Had Wings'



and a video of the creation of both IYHW and dreamflight by Martin and is excellent as would be expected

 

[MarkTwain]

To me, a huge part of it is the Disney branding around every turn. The things that I remember as being incredible were things where Disney took ‘generic’ concepts and presented them in a high-quality engaging format like only Disney could. Things like Big Thunder, World Showcase, and (to a lesser extent) the MGM studio tours really lit up my imagination and let me believe that anything was possible; now it’s all tied into characters and franchises that I’ve seen countless times before, so it’s just not as exciting as something completely new

Now, it seems like it’s more of a place where you can go down a checklist to experience things you already know, and have been branded Disney just in case you forgot. Instead of learning new things and having new experiences in WDW, it seemed to be designed to spark nostalgia and remind you of old experiences, whether from previous visits or from recognizable characters around every corner. And just in case you’ve somehow missed the Disney-branded magic, they’ve titled everything to constantly remind you: Disney Dining Plan, Disney FastPass+, Disney’s Magical Express.

THIS.

Burnt-out lightbulbs and paint chips I could forgive, if the resort still had a sense of vision and uniqueness in how it presented itself. To me it feels like Disney is now using WDW as another outlet for its branded content, effectively a 44-square mile version of the ads before a Disney DVD movie, than a place one can go to experience inspiring and imaginative ideas. WDW is still seeing additions, but only in places where Disney can use it as an opportunity for promoting existing franchises: New Fantasyland, Avatar, Toy Story (Midway) Mania. And places that cannot be easily tied into a franchise - Imagination, Universe of Energy, World Showcase, most of Animal Kingdom - are left to be ignored... or more accurately, afflicted with cut after tiny budget cut as Disney fails to see their synergistic potential.

 

[morningstar]

THIS.

Burnt-out lightbulbs and paint chips I could forgive, if the resort still had a sense of vision and uniqueness in how it presented itself. To me it feels like Disney is now using WDW as another outlet for its branded content, effectively a 44-square mile version of the ads before a Disney DVD movie, than a place one can go to experience inspiring and imaginative ideas. WDW is still seeing additions, but only in places where Disney can use it as an opportunity for promoting existing franchises: New Fantasyland, Avatar, Toy Story (Midway) Mania. And places that cannot be easily tied into a franchise - Imagination, Universe of Energy, World Showcase, most of Animal Kingdom - are left to be ignored... or more accurately, afflicted with cut after tiny budget cut as Disney fails to see their synergistic potential.

Hmm, Figment movie and Imagination update?