Biggest Mistakes in WDW

[juniorthomas]

Biggest mistakes in WDW...hmm.

Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Hollywood Studios
The sad current state of Epcot

:lol:

I kid, I kid.

I would say that a lot of what people have been listing here is pretty on par with what I consider to be "mistakes." I think Toy Story Midway Mania is a huge theming mistake...and one completely WRONG attraction in terms of how its characters act in the ride vs. their behavior and what they expect us to feel and think in the Toy Story films. Here's a great article written by someone who agrees with me.

Wow. That article is absurd.

"Toy Story (Midway) Mania! is overwhelming, mean-spirited, thematically undercooked, philosophically offensive, over-produced, Darwinian, and encourages guests to shoot the heroes from Toy Story."

If he doesn't like the ride, here's hoping he simply skips it next time around.

Admittedly, I'd love to read his reviews of other WDW rides just to see how far he'll go:

"'it's a small world' is a racist exploration of overwhelming attitudes of superiority from each corner of the globe. The ride assaulted my intelligence, as well as my family, and is an affront to humankind."

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I like the big hat, though I think it would look better elsewhere as others have said, as well.

SGE
Doing away with the strawberry swirl at Enchanted Grove!!!!!!!! (I always had a strawberry swirl while watching the parade at night!)
Doing away with live narration on Backlot Tour and Living With The Land

And they need a new daytime parade at MK!!!!!!!!

 

[Greenkai3000]

Mistakes

Mistake was not building the Monorail as a major transportation vehicle around the resort and back and forth to the airport.

I'm with you on that one. Id much rather ride the monorail than those boring buses.

As far as what I think are some of WDW's biggest mistakes are as follow:

MK
Turning Alien Encounter into Stitch's Great Escape...not as effective or fun!!!

DHS
From what I hear, and this was from a former CM, Tower of Terror was supposed to be a full on dark ride + the drop(S)...they should've stuck to that concept.

EPCOT
Not adding more countries or rides to World Showcase.
Getting rid of Tapestry of Nations.... that was such a cool parade, minus the looooong intro/voiceover

DAK
Leaving that lake empty of rides.

 

[cheezbat]

Biggest mistakes....hmm...

-Sounds Dangerous(whose idea was this in the first place?)

-Stitch's Great Escape(what a butchering of an awesome experience)

-placing Monsters Inc in Tomorrowland

-leaving WOL Pavillion and Odyssey just sitting in the middle of Epcot vacant

-Chester and Hester's Dinorama(could have been SOOO much better)

-building and basically keeping DAK a half day park (its over 13 years old already! Come on...where are the additions?)

-no additions to Blizzard Beach (that place is 16 years old!)

-only one real addition to Typhoon Lagoon in 22 years(Crush 'N Gusher in '05)

-building the parking lot so far away from the MK(with today's crowds and all the recent transportation issues, it's been a nightmare at times)

 

[juniorthomas]

Biggest mistakes....hmm...

-Sounds Dangerous(whose idea was this in the first place?)

-Stitch's Great Escape(what a butchering of an awesome experience)

-placing Monsters Inc in Tomorrowland

-leaving WOL Pavillion and Odyssey just sitting in the middle of Epcot vacant

-Chester and Hester's Dinorama(could have been SOOO much better)

-building and basically keeping DAK a half day park (its over 13 years old already! Come on...where are the additions?)

-no additions to Blizzard Beach (that place is 16 years old!)

-only one real addition to Typhoon Lagoon in 22 years(Crush 'N Gusher in '05)

-building the parking lot so far away from the MK(with today's crowds and all the recent transportation issues, it's been a nightmare at times)

Good call about BB and TL. How often do they both updating those? CNG was six years ago, but what was before that?

I've only ever been to TL and it was a good time. I wonder how they've kept up over the years. Anyone been recently?

 

[Otto]

My Top 5

Getting rid of 20,000 Leagues under the Seas
No Matterhorn
No additions to World Show Case is about 20+ years
No additions to the monorail
Not a lot of quality restaurants in the MK

 

[Gator]

Whine and Cheese festival found here daily. Really, though, I find myself disagreeing with a lot of these comments with the exception of Stich. I love the Hat, the carpet rides, TSMM, Indy stunt show, pretty much indifferent to the Pleasure Island shut down, like the new Figment just fine, think the 3 Cabbaleros kicks the old ride to the moon, glad they got ride of Block Party Bash (boring parade), and I love that Soarin' is over California.

For the most part, I like what Disney has done over the last 10 years... but Stich is truly terrible. My kids, who love that particular movie, didn't like the ride - and I miss the really scary alien that used to be there. I'll probably get nailed for this, but I liked the wand on SSE, too. However, I like it without it as well. I just didn't hate the wand like most people seemed to. I thought it made it feel very Disney and gave it perspective to its actual size. But that's my crazy left coast opinion.

 

[Communicore]

- the EPCOT doodads, shade, pin building, eliminating the lake/bridge in the plaza, and the tombstones

- that stupid hat at the studios and the elimination of the huge hidden Mickey

- Mission: Space and the Energy Adeventure

- the entire AK

- the anti-preservation of the LBV 70's architecture, aesthetics, and environment

- the bastage-ization of Communicore

- the elimination of the "e Coli" tasting hotdogs at Pinocchio, the delicious stack sandwich at Cosmic's, the wonderful Pasta Piazza at EPCOT Center and the phrase "reserved for Mickey's little friends only, please" on the restaurant kids meal menus!

 

[JustInTime]

I think the biggest mistake is the Hat in DHS.

 

[devoy1701]

Wow. That article is absurd.

"Toy Story (Midway) Mania! is overwhelming, mean-spirited, thematically undercooked, philosophically offensive, over-produced, Darwinian, and encourages guests to shoot the heroes from Toy Story."

If he doesn't like the ride, here's hoping he simply skips it next time around.

Admittedly, I'd love to read his reviews of other WDW rides just to see how far he'll go:

"'it's a small world' is a racist exploration of overwhelming attitudes of superiority from each corner of the globe. The ride assaulted my intelligence, as well as my family, and is an affront to humankind."

While I agree that the article was a bit over-the-top. I do agree with his sentiment about the ride not following the "rules" of the Toy Story Universe with having the backstory of the toys wanting to have a surprise waiting for Andy when he gets home.

Then again that was the first time I had ever heard of that backstory. :lol:

He's spot on about Potato head though! He had so much potential...and we ended up with a horrible execution!

 

[plaz10]

Yes there are things at AK I would have done differently...but the entire park? I think DinoLand is a mega mistake and the park as a whole needs new attractions. But the whole park? The attention to detail in that park is incredible. And thats coming from someone who doesn't really like AK and doesn't really feel the need to visit it every trip.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

- the EPCOT doodads, shade, pin building, eliminating the lake/bridge in the plaza, and the tombstones

- that stupid hat at the studios and the elimination of the huge hidden Mickey

- Mission: Space and the Energy Adeventure

- the anti-preservation of the LBV 70's architecture, aesthetics, and environment!

These, spot on! One does not hear enough that Disney could take more care of its 70s infrastructure.

Yes, I know WDW is a theme park. But it is also almost a city. And even modern cities preserve their heritage. Heritage and history give body, substance, profoundness to a place.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Hey, folks, please be considerate for those of us who have to take a few minutes to conjure up the fact that LMA refers to Lights, Motor, Action. Again, when something with a handy acronym is used for the 1st time, please write it out. After the first writing out, resorting to the acronym is fine. Honestly, I don't know what half of the acronyms used in those posts actually refered to. If you want people to gloss over your wisdom, like I just did for many of these posts, feel free to acronym all you want.

In any event, the new narration for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA) is my pet peeve. What a bunch of junk, and how easy to put back. Yes, other things like the sorcerer's hat and stitch are ill-advised, but it would take alot of time and money to replace them. Changing the narration should be very simple and inexpensive by comparison. Please, John Lassetter, disintegrate the bland wimpy junk that replaced the fun and clever narration that once was. No one, and I truly mean no one, could put forth a convincing argument that the new narration is better. It's a mediocre travesty that cries out for eradication.

 

[GLaDOS]

Building DHS and DAK as shells of theme parks.

 

[JustInTime]

what?!

That was my reaction as well. It was so absurd I decided to ignore it.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Yes there are things at AK I would have done differently...but the entire park? I think DinoLand is a mega mistake and the park as a whole needs new attractions. But the whole park? The attention to detail in that park is incredible. And thats coming from someone who doesn't really like AK and doesn't really feel the need to visit it every trip.

Obviously Dino-rama is a mess, but the rest of the land has potential. Here's the problem with Dinoland, USA in general:

1. Little kids love dinosaurs.
2. You would expect there to be dinosaurs in Dinoland, USA.
3. You cannot see an "actual" dinosaur in Dinoland without getting the pants scared off you.

 

[chrissyw14]

Lights Motor Action is an awesome show!!! I cannot believe the haters :[

 

[cheezbat]

Good call about BB and TL. How often do they both updating those? CNG was six years ago, but what was before that?

I've only ever been to TL and it was a good time. I wonder how they've kept up over the years. Anyone been recently?

As for anything before the Crush 'N Gusher, the ONLY thing added since the park opened was a third drop body slide. That park gets closed for routine maintenence every year, but nothing is ever added.

Same can be said for Blizzard Beach. It opened in 1995 and has not added even ONE new attraction since the park opened. While I love the theming in both waterparks, I generally spend my waterpark days at the other parks...seeing as how they actually add things every few years to keep me coming back.

 

[The Rat King]

With the exception of Everest and Kali rapids, I think AK is horrible.

 

[KichijojiBear]

First post, and I sincerely hope that I am indeed posting in this thread and not creating a new one(If I mess this up someone please tell me how to do this properly next time).

In defense of DAK, as it is my favorite park albeit very flawed, I feel that it has some of the best and worst offerings in any park. Africa and Asia are the most immersive areas IMO. The "Weenie", or icon if you will, of the park is truly captivating! It is something that I will try to catch glimpses of from every angle, unlike almost all the other parks signature structures.

All that said, I do really hate the "street fair" aspect of Chester and Hesters, even if I like the story they based it on. I would be content with just the roadside gas station converted into a gift shop. Additionally, there is no excuse for Camp Minnie Mickey. These two areas are ripe for remodeling/ expanding into.

I would be okay with Trotsky's suggestion of having them just put the money into their three existing parks. Epcot with more countries with rides would be fantastic!

Not to write a novel here, but my thoughts on the biggest mistakes are as follows:
Replacing classic Epcot rides, JII, horizons, World of motion, mexico ride, and all of wonders of life, the seas. The new ones seem to miss a certain cohesion within the park, and I find them less charming(Maybe nostalgia?).
Lastly, a huge pet peeve are the flying carpets in adventureland, cheap looking ride that kills my immersion.
Other than that, I pretty much agree with the lists on here, except pleasure island and the parades. Just not my cup of tea I guess, but a slip in quality is still not appreciated for those that enjoy them.