Carousel of Progress Update

[Horizons1]

Sniz!

 

[Goofyernmost]

It would be nice to have all rides running at top show quality. Remember in the early 80s when it was hard to find anything not running properly??

In all fairness... in the early 80's nothing in WDW was over 10 years old. Some of it (EPCOT) was brand new. It is all 30 to 40 years old now. Mechanical things do wear out over time.

 

[Slowjack]

In all fairness... in the early 80's nothing in WDW was over 10 years old. Some of it (EPCOT) was brand new. It is all 30 to 40 years old now. Mechanical things do wear out over time.

Certainly older rides take more care, but it's still just a question of commitment. And a lot of what the original poster was taking about really comes under the heading of cleanliness. And although I haven't experienced this first-hand, there seems to be a general consensus that the much older Disneyland park is consistently in better shape than the WDW parks. I'm sorry, but there's no doubt in my mind that WDW could be maintained at the high quality I saw in my younger days. This isn't to say that nothing would ever malfunction, or that I'll never see a burned-out bulb, or litter, but that such things would be exceptions rather than the norm.

 

[ford91exploder]

In all fairness... in the early 80's nothing in WDW was over 10 years old. Some of it (EPCOT) was brand new. It is all 30 to 40 years old now. Mechanical things do wear out over time.

Yes they do it's why you perform a function called MAINTENANCE where you replace worn components with new ones. It's why many military and civillian aircraft are older than their pilots because they are MAINTAINED. However maintenance is something which TDO no longer does willingly and the results are obvious.

 

[ford91exploder]

Certainly older rides take more care, but it's still just a question of commitment. And a lot of what the original poster was taking about really comes under the heading of cleanliness. And although I haven't experienced this first-hand, there seems to be a general consensus that the much older Disneyland park is consistently in better shape than the WDW parks. I'm sorry, but there's no doubt in my mind that WDW could be maintained at the high quality I saw in my younger days. This isn't to say that nothing would ever malfunction, or that I'll never see a burned-out bulb, or litter, but that such things would be exceptions rather than the norm.

Precisely - back in the old days sure we saw a dead bulb or two and chipped paint, The difference was we did not see it two days in a row. It was fixed OVERNIGHT. Now we see strings of dead bulbs spanning years at the GF. Mold in the monorail - I could go on but what's the point.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Yes they do it's why you perform a function called MAINTENANCE where you replace worn components with new ones. It's why many military and civillian aircraft are older than their pilots because they are MAINTAINED. However maintenance is something which TDO no longer does willingly and the results are obvious.

True, but, sometimes there is no way to know when a part needs replacing until it breaks. If it were feasible to replace all moving parts that might change things, but, even new stuff can be defective. I don't believe for a second that they don't maintain things like they used to do. They have too much at stake to ignore safety issues, etc. Maybe instead of going through nightly and painting everything, they have cut down on the frequency that might be considered less maintenance, and it would be true. Those machines run an average of 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, year after year. If it is true that there is no maintenance being done none of that stuff would be working at all.

The next thing I am going to say I know will cause everyone to jump to the conclusion that I am a Pixie Duster. My first visit to WDW was in February 1983. I, honest to god, do not see how things are any different then they were back then. I wasn't a kid, with stars in my eyes back then either. I was 36 years old. In fact, I think most things look better now then they did back then. That, of course, is just my opinion, but, even the idea that things were much better years ago is also an opinion. There is nothing of substance that proves that physically. It's just what everyone says about it.

 

[CDavid]

In all fairness... in the early 80's nothing in WDW was over 10 years old. Some of it (EPCOT) was brand new. It is all 30 to 40 years old now. Mechanical things do wear out over time.

As already pointed out, the key is maintenance. There are railroad dining cars built in 1948 and still in daily service.

I don't believe for a second that they don't maintain things like they used to do. They have too much at stake to ignore safety issues, etc.

The guest fatality on Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland was the result of improper maintenance.

My first visit to WDW was in February 1983. I, honest to god, do not see how things are any different then they were back then.

Please take this in the spirit in which it's intended, but I submit that possibly you need glasses. Badly.

 

[Goofyernmost]

As already pointed out, the key is maintenance. There are railroad dining cars built in 1948 and still in daily service.




The guest fatality on Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland was the result of improper maintenance.



Please take this in the spirit in which it's intended, but I submit that possibly you need glasses. Badly.

I said it wasn't going to be accepted didn't I?

I have glasses and have had for all those years. I will admit that I don't and didn't spend my time looking for problems. I do notice some when they are glaring. I just think that a lot of the memories that people have come from the first impression when they were quite young. When you are confronted with the glittering visual overload that is WDW, it is quite possible that people didn't see any of the flaws. I did, again only because the ones I did see were glaring problems. The smell of garbage on MSUSA, the rancid ketchup at Casey's, the filthy and non-functioning chicken AA's on Tom Sawyer's Island and other things such as that were seen and experienced by me personally. The time frame was from the early 80's through the mid 90's. The three mentioned were all on the same trip. I have not experienced stuff like that in recent years. That is what I base my opinion on. If I don't witness the situation, then to me I can only accept what I did see. I subscribe to the idea that I don't trust anything I hear or read and only half of what I actually see.

 

[pumpkin7]

Did they fix Rovers fur in the third scene? Granted we visited over a year and a half ago, but it was glaringly obvious you could see the plastic that makes up his head and the mechanisms that run his head!

 

[cflwcast]

water costs money and they have Meg Crofton's bonus to think about...lol

Lol....speaking of Meg.....anyone know why she's in town?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

WDW is quite obviously not kept in the fantastic shape it was 20 years ago. There are always going to be a few people who claim otherwise (like our old buddies Jimmy Thick and jt04 among others), but that just isn't the reality by any measure. It's an objective FACT that starting in the 90's and onward, Eisner began ridding the company of the "old guard" executives who largely adhered to Walt Disney's philosophies of upkeep. And he also eliminated a HUGE chunk of the maintenance crews and cut budgets across the board. Despite showing signs of learning from these mistakes, Eisner of course was pushed out before he could fully rebuild what he had screwed with. His bad habits have been largely escalated under Iger/Rasulo/Crofton/Staggs/etc.

There are those who wear rose colored glasses, but it doesn't change the fact that eliminating massive amounts of maintenance positions and cutting budgets across the board are going to have obvious and unavoidable repercussions. You can't function at only a tiny fraction of the maintenance crews and budget and get away without blatant consequences. This is what Disney learned the hard way with Disneyland during the Pressler/Harriss era (though there has been some relapse since then as they're beginning to fall back on old habits again).

It's even more apparent for one like myself who stopped visiting for well over a decade (I stopped vising in '97 when upkeep wasn't really in the toilet yet and didn't return until 2010), it was a huge slap in the face to return and see the mess WDW had gotten itself into. I didn't have the gradual conditioning that many other people had (boiling frogs slowly so they don't notice) and the drop in quality was startling and jarring.

 

[ford91exploder]

Lol....speaking of Meg.....anyone know why she's in town?

To see what guests are enjoying too much so she can cut it...

 

[disneygeek90]

I don't understand why they can't just find some broken mac and put it in front of the mom in the last scene. And the dad's wrist is always so awkward after the oven "explodes". Always a good laugh with the family every time we go on it.

 

[prberk]

Say it isn't so! Is she upgrading to the latest iMac running Yosemite?

This one is not clear enough or high enough in definition, but has anyone ever taken a really good zoom camera and noted what the whiteboard says or what is on the bulletin board. I would be curious to see. I wonder if the imagineers or set designers left some references there to fun stuff or "inside" jokes, like they do sometimes in set design for TV shows.

 

[Andsome]

Sniz!

Yes!

 

[zulemara]

True, but, sometimes there is no way to know when a part needs replacing until it breaks. If it were feasible to replace all moving parts that might change things, but, even new stuff can be defective. I don't believe for a second that they don't maintain things like they used to do. They have too much at stake to ignore safety issues, etc. Maybe instead of going through nightly and painting everything, they have cut down on the frequency that might be considered less maintenance, and it would be true. Those machines run an average of 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, year after year. If it is true that there is no maintenance being done none of that stuff would be working at all.

The next thing I am going to say I know will cause everyone to jump to the conclusion that I am a Pixie Duster. My first visit to WDW was in February 1983. I, honest to god, do not see how things are any different then they were back then. I wasn't a kid, with stars in my eyes back then either. I was 36 years old. In fact, I think most things look better now then they did back then. That, of course, is just my opinion, but, even the idea that things were much better years ago is also an opinion. There is nothing of substance that proves that physically. It's just what everyone says about it.

The boats (all 6 launches and 3 cruisers) used to be cleaned every single night by a dedicated wash crew. The cruisers were on a rotation for back-in night as well(my favorite!) so their sterns got washed on a frequent basis. I'm not just talking a wash down with a hose, I'm talking deep cleaning with chemicals to clean those boats up inside and out. Ferries were also rotated and cleaned. That ended during my time in watercraft between Jan 2009 and December 2012

Enter: budget cuts

Result: No more wash crew. There is an early morning crew responsible for doing check lists and basic garbage pick up. The only boats getting washed on a regular basis are the MK I and MK II because they have those pirates fireworks voyages. The rest of the boats get rotated so they are getting effectively washed once every 9 days(if that) and don't even get me started on the sterns of those cruisers!

So there ya go, straight from the inside, they do not maintain like they used to.

 

[ChrisFL]

They used to be world famous for not having one light out on Main Street, and having NO gum or chipped paint in lines for more than one night. They even had business school classes that taught about doing things "The Disney Way," with customer service excellence as setting such a standard that people learned to expect it and became loyal customers. They attracted people who would accept lower wages of the amusement park industry because of the experience of working there and gaining experience that they could take elsewhere later or grow with through the company.

But mostly they had a reputation for cleanliness and going above and beyond, both in service and in attraction design. To be honest, that is one main reason that many of us became so loyal. We saw that, and "got it," and we still see the possibility of it.

The tide seemed most to turn when Eisner brought in the Strategic Management group, mostly MBAs who had no experience with "The Disney Way." They held a lot of sway, from what I understand; and more and more departments had to put things through the strategic planners before projects or budgets could be approved. Not sure it was exactly this way -- and financial review is good -- but it seemed to put a damper on the corporate culture of excellence, and their reputation has suffered a lot more than it should have, even with healthy review by "outsiders".

Yep, if you want to find the best Disney quality standards still in existence, you have to visit the Disney parks NOT owned by Disney, in Tokyo

 

[Mr Bill]

This one is not clear enough or high enough in definition, but has anyone ever taken a really good zoom camera and noted what the whiteboard says or what is on the bulletin board. I would be curious to see. I wonder if the imagineers or set designers left some references there to fun stuff or "inside" jokes, like they do sometimes in set design for TV shows.

@KevinYee has! http://ultimateorlando.com/index.ph...ar-even-in-the-world-of-disney-park-tributes/

 

[RSoxNo1]

There are quite a few Easter eggs in the scenes. Here's a few of my photos:

 

[BoarderPhreak]

This one is not clear enough or high enough in definition, but has anyone ever taken a really good zoom camera and noted what the whiteboard says or what is on the bulletin board. I would be curious to see. I wonder if the imagineers or set designers left some references there to fun stuff or "inside" jokes, like they do sometimes in set design for TV shows.

It's plenty clear and high in resolution - this photo is merely downsized for the web.

I can provide a larger/cropped version with the exposure tweaked (brighter) in the shadows to show off the Mac...