The part that gets me is that folks, with absolutely no knowledge of how mechanical things work, say that it is because Disney is somehow lacking any effort to maintain things. People, pay attention here, THINGS BREAK, almost every time without advance warning. The machinery at Disney, much of which is 40 years old, is taking on more and more visitors and are working harder then ever before. Short of completely rebuilding everything from the ground up not a lot can be done to slow that process. I feel that they are not intentionally letting things go, but they must prioritize and it is economically irresponsible to fix things that aren't broken unless doing so is life threatening.
And since my first visit to WDW was an a mid-thirty's adult, I will trust what I remember over what some child saw in a maze of fantasy and fun as "how it was". No that is how you remember a time, when the things were new, the crowds were smaller, the job of making sure everything was in good shape was far less complicated and you wouldn't have seen problems if they had jumped out and hit you in the face.
I'm not saying that problems don't exist today, what I'm saying is painting the picture of earlier perfection is just a case of the powers of observation of a different time and experience. I remember the worst years of WDW as being in the late 80's. The very same era when others are saying how perfect everything was.
Because Disney schedules down time for attractions to do the maintenance that everyone seems to say isn't being done, does not mean that nothing else will have a mechanical failure during that same time period. That can cause multiple problems to the degree that it is highly noticeable. I remember WDW from those early years and in my adult memory, things are better now then before. Colors are brighter, things to do have increased exponentially, and the only reason that the parks might be a bit dirtier is because Guests are slobs and anyone that has ever lived in a home situation that included a slob, knows how difficult that is to keep up with. Now imagine that problem thousands of times worse.
Have you personally ever driven your car one day and everything was absolutely top notch, jumped in it the next day only to have it quit on the side of the road? Didn't you maintain it? Why didn't it give you a warning that it was about to break? Is it your fault or that of a piece of metal that you had no control over? How much did you pay for that vehicle? It would seem that if you paid that much, it should just work for you on demand with no problems what so ever, shouldn't it? But, that isn't how life works and neither is it how Disney should be expected to work. If you really want to appreciate that place, check out some other parks. You'll be happy to return to an occasional broken Monorail.
