Changes at WDW - The Good and the Bad

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
Heres my run down of the recent changes at WDW, and what I think of them in person.

We'll start with the Good. :)

1. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - PLAY IT!
This is a great addition to the studios, much better than I thought it would be. It works on 2 levels. 1, it adds a great show to the Studios. Secondly, it adds more of a "working" studio feel to the Backstage Pass Tour. As you pass through the Backstage Tour corridor, you get to see onto the soundstage (just like you did before) - but now you can see a a large scale set at work below you, works really well.

The actual show itself is well executed - infact its 100% accurate to the network show, witht he exception of the soundstage being larger at WDW. The hosts of the show are great - I saw 4, being rotated throughout the day.

FASTPASS is a must for this attraction, the standby line tends to get very busy.

2. Aladdin
Again, good addition to a quiet area of the park. Probably the best kids spinner ride at WDW. Nicely done.

3. Sorcerer Hat
This looks betetr in the flesh than it does on the web. However, it does kinda wreck the Hollywood image that the rest of the park has. Willt ake some time to get used to but, its OK. One thing, it compeltly covers the Great Movie Ride frontage. Definately something planned there..

4. AK Lodge.
Great resort - Imagineering did a top job on this one. Shows what Disney can do with resorts. The animal savannahs are superb, room views and public overlooks give up close and personal views of things like Zebra, Giraffe, Kudu, Tommies, Wilderbeast etc... The cutural Representatives from Africa are great! AKL also had the best trasnportation I have seen at any resort.

5. Busses.
Seems about the best I have seen it. Low waits at both the resorts and the parks. Looks like they have got things in order now.

Onto the Bad..... :-(

1. Operating Hours.
Things are not good here folks. Mk closing at 10pm in the summer?!?!?
Other annoying closing hours. ABC restaurant at Studios, closing at 5pm. Tusker House closing at 4pm at AK. Flame Tree at AK closing at 3:30pm!!! What are they thinking? Villains in Vogue was also closed when we exited Fantasmic! Have the merchandise people gone mad? We couldnt believe they would close a store like that at park exit time.

2. CM cuts
Theres less of em around...thats for sure. Noticeable on RnRoller (where Chris is no longer inside the recording studio to pass the guitar to Joe!)
Preshows have been cut. No preshow at Fantasmic, or Beast.

3. Timekeeper
No way this is reopening in my opinion. All signs have been removed, the audio on the TTA above has been changed to chop out all mention of Timekeeper. Its history, and is now deserted.

4. July 4 IllumiNations
The budget had been slashed for this one.
In the past, the July 4 show has a 15 minute extension, with perimeter pyro behind the countries, as well as in the lagoon. This year, the show was 4 minutes, and with no perimiter pyro, no National Anthem! and NO Finale barge. It was one feeble show, and I bet the Illuminations crew were embarrased to put it on.

5. Unthemed CMs in attractions.
This one is bad news. They now have "generic" CMs doing FASTPASS at all attarctions. EG. in Tower of Terror, there is a CM wearing a white Studios shirt, standing in the Tower lobby, collecting FASTPASSes. Same at Hainited Mansion, and Rockn Roller. It just doesnt fit in with the theming, and should be changed right away. I hope they get the message soon!



Think thats about it on the changes - I'll add some more when I think of them.
 

JAY-ROD

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by wdwmagic
Heres my run down of the recent changes at WDW, and what I think of them in person.

We'll start with the Good. :)

1. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - PLAY IT!
This is a great addition to the studios, much better than I thought it would be. It works on 2 levels. 1, it adds a great show to the Studios. Secondly, it adds more of a "working" studio feel to the Backstage Pass Tour. As you pass through the Backstage Tour corridor, you get to see onto the soundstage (just like you did before) - but now you can see a a large scale set at work below you, works really well.

The actual show itself is well executed - infact its 100% accurate to the network show, witht he exception of the soundstage being larger at WDW. The hosts of the show are great - I saw 4, being rotated throughout the day.

FASTPASS is a must for this attraction, the standby line tends to get very busy.

2. Aladdin
Again, good addition to a quiet area of the park. Probably the best kids spinner ride at WDW. Nicely done.

3. Sorcerer Hat
This looks betetr in the flesh than it does on the web. However, it does kinda wreck the Hollywood image that the rest of the park has. Willt ake some time to get used to but, its OK. One thing, it compeltly covers the Great Movie Ride frontage. Definately something planned there..

4. AK Lodge.
Great resort - Imagineering did a top job on this one. Shows what Disney can do with resorts. The animal savannahs are superb, room views and public overlooks give up close and personal views of things like Zebra, Giraffe, Kudu, Tommies, Wilderbeast etc... The cutural Representatives from Africa are great! AKL also had the best trasnportation I have seen at any resort.

5. Busses.
Seems about the best I have seen it. Low waits at both the resorts and the parks. Looks like they have got things in order now.

Onto the Bad..... :-(

1. Operating Hours.
Things are not good here folks. Mk closing at 10pm in the summer?!?!?
Other annoying closing hours. ABC restaurant at Studios, closing at 5pm. Tusker House closing at 4pm at AK. Flame Tree at AK closing at 3:30pm!!! What are they thinking? Villains in Vogue was also closed when we exited Fantasmic! Have the merchandise people gone mad? We couldnt believe they would close a store like that at park exit time.

2. CM cuts
Theres less of em around...thats for sure. Noticeable on RnRoller (where Chris is no longer inside the recording studio to pass the guitar to Joe!)
Preshows have been cut. No preshow at Fantasmic, or Beast.

3. Timekeeper
No way this is reopening in my opinion. All signs have been removed, the audio on the TTA above has been changed to chop out all mention of Timekeeper. Its history, and is now deserted.

4. July 4 IllumiNations
The budget had been slashed for this one.
In the past, the July 4 show has a 15 minute extension, with perimeter pyro behind the countries, as well as in the lagoon. This year, the show was 4 minutes, and with no perimiter pyro, no National Anthem! and NO Finale barge. It was one feeble show, and I bet the Illuminations crew were embarrased to put it on.

5. Unthemed CMs in attractions.
This one is bad news. They now have "generic" CMs doing FASTPASS at all attarctions. EG. in Tower of Terror, there is a CM wearing a white Studios shirt, standing in the Tower lobby, collecting FASTPASSes. Same at Hainited Mansion, and Rockn Roller. It just doesnt fit in with the theming, and should be changed right away. I hope they get the message soon!



Think thats about it on the changes - I'll add some more when I think of them.

How about the wait for lines? Where they real bad?
 

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
Lines were not bad at all. Attendance is noticeable down on previous summers.
 

JAY-ROD

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by wdwmagic
Lines were not bad at all. Attendance is noticeable down on previous summers.

good less lines for me. he he he

and when I go down there i check in on some of ur bad news to see if it is still the same.
 

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