By and large has Disney improved since you first went?

[mergatroid]

I first visited Disney around 1978 when The Magic Kingdom was the main focus of a visit with perhaps a visit to a much smaller Disney marketplace also an option. A lot of negative things get posted about Disney, yet back then I could never have dreamed of it becoming the multi park resort we have today. OK not everything is perfect, but I think we forget how long the expansion took and expect a new attraction every year which never used to happen even back 'in the good old days'. So my question is, is there anyone who doesn't think it's improved since their first visit?

 

[stphnbogert]

I first went to Disney last December. Since then I have always been amazed everytime I go. Just last month I went to Epcot and saw the details they put into World Showcase by naming the streets! I thought that was pure genius. I like the subtle details and the m&g. So I think Disney is improving and I think its very close to perfection. I'm actually going to Hollywood Studios on Sunday for the Osborne Lights. Haven't seen them before so I'm hoping it's going to be amazing.

 

[mergatroid]

Hi there.

Never ceased to be amazed by the Osbourne lights, you'll have a great time seeing them I promise you! My wife still talks about our Christmas Eve visit drinking hot chocolate.

 

[s8film40]

While I visited prior my first memories of visiting WDW were around the mid 90's. I absolutely loved it. The MK was a great park a decent Disneyland type park. EPCOT Center was amazing, every pavilion had a great optimistic view of the future. MGM Studios was lots of fun, it really captured the old fashioned Hollywood feel and the studio really was a working studio seeing the sets and the expansive backlot was a real treat. The current WDW really is just an empty shell of this. While some of the expansions have been OK I think they tried to expand things so fast that they forgot the purpose of each of the parks. I would gladly trade every new thing WDW has gotten since 1994 to be able to visit the resort at that time.

 

[Lee]

Improved?
Nah, not really. I've been going since 1973, and it's just...bigger.
I see it as more quantity, less quality.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the place...but they simply aren't trying as hard as they should, and once did.

 

[atsolomon]

I think the single best improvement Disney has ever made was dropping the ticket book system and going to the all you ride on your admission model. As a child the limited number of E tickets, etc. was a real source of stress.

--Adam

 

[s8film40]

I think the single best improvement Disney has ever made was dropping the ticket book system and going to the all you ride on your admission model. As a child the limited number of E tickets, etc. was a real source of stress.

--Adam

I think this has been the worst thing to happen to the resort. On the surface it sounds good but really it just makes it easier for Disney to neglect the quality of attractions in the park without having to worry about ticket sales.

 

[mr_braver23]

I think this has been the worst thing to happen to the resort. On the surface it sounds good but really it just makes it easier for Disney to neglect the quality of attractions in the park without having to worry about ticket sales.

Myself, I disagree with this.....I like scanning the card and walking right in to anything I wish to ride or see. The "ticket book" is a little old fashion to me. Just my two cents!!

 

[mergatroid]

I must admit that (and no disrespect to any current cast members) years ago when the world was smaller, every cast member seemed superb. As it's grown I think due to the sheer number of cast members employed, they've had to accept in some cases a lesser standard of person for the role. This sometimes shows on the odd occasion when you ask for assistance and are met with a shrug of the shoulders which has happened to me at the water parks and in the parking lot in the past.

 

[C&D]

"By and large has Disney improved since you first went?"..........

Absolutely; been going for over 25 years regularly (and hope to go for another 25, make that 50).

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

It has added a theme park and changed water parks which are both very positive. However by and large the attractions are at best stagnating and the street entertainment and shows in terminal decline. I would suggest that WDW management has lost sight of what made it a premium product and are willing to sacrafice market leading product for short term increase to the bottom line.

The additional hotels are nice but what they offer in terms of accommodation is no better than any other significantly cheaper chain.

 

[Susan Savia]

Our first trip was in 1984 with our 18 month old daughter. I am not much for 'change' persay, but just about anything Disney does, we enjoy. Oh we much preferred the old Imagination and World of Motion and Horizons to Space. I'd much prefer to walk into a restaurant and be able to get a table without having to call 6 months ahead to do that. We rarely do dining unless its counter service anymore. We will continue to stay at our offsite for a better value and more amenities.

 

[WDW Monorail]

Absolutely it has improved. There are more parks, mpre resorts, more attractions, restaurants, etc.
My best trip was my most recent trip, exactly one year ago.
Epcot was not my favorite park when growing up. I didn't care for World of Motion much and while Horizons was nice, I could not stand the narration. And let's face it, IllumiNations prior to 1997 or 1998 sucked.
Now, SSE is my favorite attraction. I do prefer the Iron's version but only because of the score and not the scenes themselves. The giant computer room is much better than the girl and boy that were there before.
Now, when the attraction first re-opened I was reading the reviews here saying how terrible the ending was and I started to believe myself that it was bad. But when I finally rode the attraction, I thought it was very good. One of my most memorable moments from the parks was seeing my parents get a good chuckle at the descent video. That was very special to me.
Test Track and M:S are very good attractions that replaced meh attractions. Heck, the reason why Horizons closed was because it was one of the least ridden attractions in the park.

 

[stlbobby]

I've been going regularly since the early 90's and sporadically before that. I think things are way better now. I am always amazed at how the parks are always evolving and how every time I come there are new things to see.

Things I really enjoyed have disappeared--The Lion King Show in MK, Boatwrite's Breakfast, CBJ Xmas. And there have been a few missteps--AE replaced by Stitch or closing PI without a solid plan for re-imagining it. But I understand why those things happened and I also understand that no matter how hard they try Disney can never please everyone.

Some will always want things exactly the same, others will want constant change. Some will want characters everywhere, others don't want them anywhere but in MK. People often let personal bias turn into a belief that things are disintegrating.

IMO Disney has really improved by adding a number of thrill rides to compliment the Magic of the parks. To me M:S is the embodiment of this balance. The pavilion really brings the majesty of space flight to life, while providing a great deal of actual knowledge, and incorporating a spectacular thrill ride.

I love it more each time I go.

 

[atsolomon]

Clearly, your older brother didn't try to con you out of your E-tickets! ;-)

When you ran out of paper tickets you were pretty much done for the day, unless your parents would cough up some more money. Then it was down to repeated runs of "If You Had Wings" presented by Eastern Airlines. Which was OK with me, because I loved that ride. But still.

Disney still very closely tracks how many people ride per hour on a given attraction. They don't need the stubs to do that, and now you can ride Space Mountain all day and do nothing else, if that's what you want to do.

--Adam

I think this has been the worst thing to happen to the resort. On the surface it sounds good but really it just makes it easier for Disney to neglect the quality of attractions in the park without having to worry about ticket sales.

 

[s8film40]

Clearly, your older brother didn't try to con you out of your E-tickets! ;-)

When you ran out of paper tickets you were pretty much done for the day, unless your parents would cough up some more money. Then it was down to repeated runs of "If You Had Wings" presented by Eastern Airlines. Which was OK with me, because I loved that ride. But still.

Disney still very closely tracks how many people ride per hour on a given attraction. They don't need the stubs to do that, and now you can ride Space Mountain all day and do nothing else, if that's what you want to do.

--Adam

Yeah, I wasn't referring to the ticket system from the point of view as a guest but the way the company has to handle the operation. If they want to close a ride to refurbish it, it's really not that big of a deal. A long time ago if they wanted to close for example Space Mountain for a refurbishment, immediately they start to count up how much ticket revenue they will lose and decide to do it in the slowest time of year so it will have less impact. Also when it comes to the quality of a ride, if a ride declines in quality at some point guests will decide it's not worth spending a ticket on and Disney will lose money. If you don't believe this go complain about a particular ride. I can almost guarantee they will just suggest to ride something else. Whereas a long time ago they had to take things like that a lot more seriously since if people weren't happy with a particular attraction the ticket sales would drop.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

If they want to close a ride to refurbish it, it's really not that big of a deal.

Apart from the impact on guests and pressure on other attractions.

Imagine losing one of the big two at the Studios for an extended period.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I first went in 1991. We only went to the Magic Kingdom that year. Not a whole lot has changed since then but the biggest thing is adding Splash Mountain. I think we can agree that an MK with Splash is better than one without. I do worry a bit that they think quantity is better than quality. My thought is why not focus on both (which I hope they are doing with the FL expansion). You can make more rides but never ignore the quality and how much better you can make them (an old Walt trick).

So in general the parks have gotten better. How could they not? They've added Typhoon, Blizzard Beach and Animal Kingdom since my first visit. DHS is much improved and Epcot I'll just say has changed and not gotten any better or worse.

So long as Disney doesn't forget their roots I have no problem with it. The day they remove Small World or Peter Pan in favour of Hannah Montana is the day you know the park is going in the toilet. In general, Disney keeps the nostalgia buzzing and that's just fine with me

 

[wolf359]

My first trip was 1994, but I had been going to Disneyland for years before that.

I really enjoyed the Magic Kingdom, being both familiar and yet a new park to me and EPCOT Center was so completely different, yet completely amazing I instantly fell in love with it.

Each trip has had new things to discover, from small changes to entire theme parks, and I've been able to see a lot of growth first hand over the last 15 years.

To answer the main question, the answer is yes, I think things have improved. I saw a small but noticeable dip in quality on a couple visits around the turn of the century, but things have rebounded significantly. On my last visit the parks looked great (even if the Magic Kingdom was covered in scrim), Cast Members were all really friendly, and transportation seemed much more efficient.

I feel sometimes that because of the daily, up-to-the-minute updates and the unfortunate trend to shout loudly about every problem yet whisper when something goes right that the overall impression is that there are far more problems now than in the past.

And I firmly believe that if Walt Disney World had been under today's level of scrutiny in the past that at NO point in time would it live up to the rose-colored memories some cling to so much.

 

[s8film40]

I guess everyone has a different perspective.

I first went in 1991. We only went to the Magic Kingdom that year. Not a whole lot has changed since then but the biggest thing is adding Splash Mountain. I think we can agree that an MK with Splash is better than one without.

I do not agree at all, I would without a second thought trade Splash Mountain for 20K.

I do worry a bit that they think quantity is better than quality. My thought is why not focus on both (which I hope they are doing with the FL expansion). You can make more rides but never ignore the quality and how much better you can make them (an old Walt trick).

So in general the parks have gotten better. How could they not? They've added Typhoon, Blizzard Beach and Animal Kingdom since my first visit. DHS is much improved and Epcot I'll just say has changed and not gotten any better or worse.

Yes I agree with you that adding stuff doesn't necessarily make it better and from my perspective this is why it has gotten worse. They have added stuff but the things they have added to me at least aren't as good as things that they have taken away.

I would say that EPCOT is significantly worse than it was before. If your a fan of Mission Space or Test Track etc. I guess you might see it differently.

So long as Disney doesn't forget their roots I have no problem with it. The day they remove Small World or Peter Pan in favour of Hannah Montana is the day you know the park is going in the toilet. In general, Disney keeps the nostalgia buzzing and that's just fine with me

To me the day they are in the toilet is when they do things like:
Stiches Great Escape
Monsters inc. Laugh Floor
Tiki Room Under new management
The Seas with Nemo
Put a big ugly hat in front of the chinese theater

I could go on with more examples but you get the idea.

I try not to be so negative, but in being true to how I feel I much prefer the WDW from before than the current version, just saying that they have added things isn't enough to make it better. Like I said before I would gladly give up all the additions even the good ones to get back what has been lost.