Walt Disney World is in decline and has been since the late 90's. I have written rants in the past about how WDW was and is slowly moving away from it's core, its very soul. Please pardon the cliché but that soul is “Magic”. This erosion has been slowly and steadily moving away from that most crucial center the “Magic” – the theme parks themselves.
Let's review what our dear parks once had but alas, are no longer there (Thanks to DoctorDisney.com for assisting with building this list)
Magic Kingdom:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
If you Had Wings (and Dreamflight)
Mickey Mouse Revue
Mike Fink Keel Boats
Mission to Mars
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Skyway
Snow White's Scary Adventures
Swan Boats
The Timekeeper
Exhibition Hall
Main Street Cinema
Penny Arcade
The Diamond Horseshoe
Discovery Island
Pleasure Island
Epcot:
The Original Communicore
The Original Journey Into Your Imagination
The Original Living Seas Pavillion
Wonders of Life Pavillion
Body Wars
The Image Works
Horizons
World of Motion
Kitchen Kabaret
Food Rocks
The Original El Rio Del Tiempo
Norway Viking Ship
Omnibus
Odyssey Restaurant
Hollywood Studios:
Superstar Television
Monster Sound Show
Sounds Dangerous!
Animal Kingdom:
Very little lost but not much to lose.
Now, I don't know about you but this list makes my heart sink in a very profound way. If you go through the list slowly and really think about the existence of each item, you will slowly come to the realization that almost all of these missing items had something in common – A sense of place and time that was kinetic and simple, some might use the word, charming. Not flashy, not fast, not high action.
I believe Walt Disney World's “magic” comes from suspending disbelief. It's about bringing you physically, mentally and emotionally to an almost surreal place for a period of time. It's about accepting that there are real ghosts in that mansion. It's about believing bears and birds can sing you a song. It's about the notion that the real magic in life is in the little moments, the ones that are profound in a way that you can't put a label on. like when a seal nods in response to a little girl nodding her head through the glass in an underwater city or The Mona Lisa is ready to chide Davinci for his distraction or Figment imagines himself doing so many things with his life. Peering through a porthole at a fantastic world, under real water, at mermaids. Discovering you are good at painting digitally. Peering at an old movie, showing a little mouse on a steamboat and breaking into a big smile knowing it all... IT ALL.. started with that simple, kinetic... charming little film and so glad it is just here... playing all the time as a monument to that premise.
Nostalgia right? Not necessarily... follow me on this. Right now, there is a small kid climbing into a boat and getting ready for the ride of his life down a river with swashbuckling pirates. Right now, there is a little girl dreaming of her future because of the inspiration gained from her ride through Spaceship Earth. Right now, a little kid is imagining himself standing in Italy and finding from that experience to learn more about the world. The part of Disney World that now fails us is that same little girl and boy will never experience those tiny moments, those quintessential moments that no longer exist. Those moments that are now gone and these would not be nostalgia for them, not at all. They would all be brand new moments. There are many adults who have never experienced the lists above who would experience these as all new moments even now. I am fortunate enough to be someone who did experience all of these great lost moments. A fortune that brings a curse with it. The curse of knowing what beautiful moments have been lost. This is what makes Disney World “magic”. This is where the money should go, into fostering the imaginations of those to take simple... not flashy, not fast, not high action moments that mean so much in life and paint them onto the canvas of attractions for all to experience and hold on to. Those experiences must be kept intact and fostered with updates and improvements, not replaced.
Some say that you cannot keep all attractions forever, it's just not practical. I argue that from a space/land standpoint, that is nonsense. New attractions do not have to come at the expense of old ones. I believe you must upgrade and refresh attractions to keep them current and timely. That does not automatically mean replacement or removal. I argue that nearly every experience listed above is an attraction that would still work to this day in the parks. Sure, some refinement and upgrades would be needed but those attractions would still deliver and still provide those moments of “magic” that are so desperately needed back in the parks. Disney is focused on money as #1 right? I think we all agree on that. In fact, I think we all agree that this isn't an issue. I don't begrudge them for wanting to make more and more money after all, they are a business. The trick is, how do you do it better than anyone else? In simple, thoughtful, charming moments.
“Do a good job. You don't have to worry about the money; it will take care of itself. Just do your best work – then try to trump it.”
"I don't want the public to see the world they live in while they're in the Park (Disneyland). I want to feel they're in another world."
"Disneyland is a work of love. We didn't go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money."
"It has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement- I knew when I was a kid."
"Why do we have to grow up? I know more adults who have the children's approach to life. They're people who don't give a hang what the Joneses do. You see them at Disneyland every time you go there. They are not afraid to be delighted with simple pleasures, and they have a degree of contentment with what life has brought - sometimes it isn't much, either."
- Quotes from Walt Disney
