Disney going downhill?

[Vaslav Gerkoff]

Sorry for so many posts. I had to tell somebody.

How long did it take you to write and then cut/paste all that shyte?

 

[wm49rs]

How long did it take you to write and then cut/paste all that shyte?

Probably less time than it took you to come up with that ingenious screen name.....

 

[raven]

EPCOT

1. Gran Fiesta Tour - They wasted money destroying (what used to be) El Rio Del Tiempo, the ride in the Mexico pavilion at Epcot. It used to be a cheerful and exotic ride. Now, it is a Donald Duck ride, mocking and offensive to Mexican culture. Donald Duck isn't, and never will be, Mexican. I'm sure many people who come from Mexico now take personal offense and find this ride obscene. To be honest, it's hard to believe this ride isn't just some kind of a joke.

No one is claiming that Donald is Mexican. The ride is based on a movie he was in.

2. The Epcot Graveyard, a.k.a, the Leave a Legacy Tombstones. These have got to be the most depressing things I have ever seen. Disney's never-ending greed has led to the downfall of all of these poor, unsuspecting victims. They have drained them of their life savings, and in turn, their souls.

It only cost me $20 to get my picture on there for 20 years. Pretty cheap if you ask me. :animwink:

3. The Wonders of Life Pavilion - First, they took out the best of the Wonders of Life Pavilion - the stationary bikes that allowed guests to bike through Disneyland California. Then, they shut down the Wonders of Life Pavilion altogether, turning it into a ghost town, not to mention, a tremendous waste of space.

It's used quite often for special events and festivals. Not a "waste of space" but they went in a different direction. A very large event was just in there this past weekend.

4. Journey into the Imagination - Please, please PLEASE turn down the volume, Disney! This ride is so unbelievably loud, that riding it too often will literally make you go deaf. Any sound over 85 decibels can cause hearing loss, and any sound over 140 decibels can cause immediate damage to your hearing. Figment screeches at the top of his lungs probably pushing around 200 decibels. Unfortunately this is not an exaggeration by any means. I saw a seeing-eye dog on this ride once (and we all know dogs have very sensitive ears), and I just felt so bad for the poor thing. After the ride was over, it didn't seem to be hearing its owners commands. Disney shouldn't allow seeing-eye dogs on the rides that cause hearing loss. That is cruelty to animals among other things. In fact, they really shouldn't allow service animals on rides at all, but rather, allow them to meet their owners at the exit. Here are some reviews from theme park insider.

Loud? Not compared to UOE or Dinosaur. Try those if you crave decibles.

5. Spaceship Earth - As one reviewer put it, "This ride used to be a lot of fun. But now they've taken out all of the audio animatronics at the end because they're too cheap to bother maintaining them."

Maintenence had nothing to do with the change to the ending.

6. Ellen's Energy Adventure - Speaking of boring, how exciting does a 45 minute lecture on drilling for oil and the benefits of windmills sound? Not like an adventure, that's for sure. Apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way. One reviewer of theme park insider had this to say:

"This ride is 45 minutes of pure, unadulterated torture. The "educational ride" aspect may be a good concept, but Ellen's Energy Adventure does not portray it as such. Instead, it takes "education" to absurd extremes. When I went on this ride, ten minutes into it, I was already begging and pleading to get off, but I couldn't. I was trapped - trapped in a horrible dimension I couldn't get out of. The person sitting next to me soon fell asleep, most likely out of sheer self-defense, and proceeded to snore loudly throughout the remainder of the ride. The little boy behind me kept informing us all about his urgent bathroom needs, which he had no hope of taking care of any time in the near future.

I'm sorry but an announcement is made clearly explaining the length of the attraction before you enter into the theater.

MAGIC KINGDOM

7. The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management - I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this. Iago has a very distasteful and annoying role in this no-longer-enchanted tiki room. Not only that, but the theming no longer makes any sense whatsoever. The tiki room is supposed to take place in a tropical setting - so how did an African Hornbill and a Macaw from Morocco find their way into the tropics??

Someone is just digging now for things to complain about.

8. Stitch's Great Escape - The absolute WORST. The terrible thing is, it doesn't cater to ANY age group! Younger children don't like it because it's dark and loud, with sudden noises and blasts of air. Older kids, teenagers, and adults don't like it because it also happens to be very corny, and many find Stitch's little sayings (such as "Missed me, missed me, now you've got to kiss me") to be neither entertaining nor amusing, but instead irritating and bothersome. To say Stitch acts obnoxious on this ride is putting it mildly.

As if this wasn't enough, Disney also decided to add in one final wicked and immoral act of cruelty : the horrible, sickening, nauseous, repulsive, revolting smell of Stitch burping in your face. Yes, that's right. You get burped on. If this has been your lifelong dream, then Disney really is the place where dreams come true. The foul stench of chili-dog burp is so realistic, so pungent, it can actually induce vomiting and gag reflexes. And the smell is incredibly powerful, so that you can even notice a faint stench in the air when you first walk into Stitch's torture chamber. I think it is safe to say that $100 admission is a steep price to pay to be belched on.

I also found this on theme park insider:

NOTE FROM FORMER CAST MEMBER OF THE ATTRACTION: MANY times I have had to escort kids out of the Chamber (theater) that were scared between the ages of 4 and 8. Parents this is not the stitch you see in the movie. This is Experiment 626, meaning, this attraction was meant to be a prequel to the movie and stitch was pretty obnoxious. Like it says in the description 3 of the 8 minutes spent in the chamber are in TOTAL DARKNESS and special effects make it seem like stitch is on top of you and harassing you. SPOILER: for parents with young children, be ready in the second dark scene for air to shoot into the back of your hair startling most young kids. I have yet to figure out the target audience Disney set for stitch because older kids and adults find it cheesy and sometimes boring or dumb and young children get scared half to death!

Do you know actually know Stitch's characteristics? This attraction has his personality down perfectly. And kids are escorted out of ITTBAB for the same reasons.

9. Space Mountain - The rockets no longer glow and you can no longer see the rockets whizzing through space above you while standing in line. To add insult to injury, they also made it so you can no longer see the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover passing through.

That was the point. Too much light bleeding into the show building from these elements. They now fixed that problem. You're the first person I've heard that actually has complained about this change.

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
-nothing I can think of really. It seems to be the one park in Disney World that hasn't really been destroyed... yet. Based on (some of) the incompetent management we've seen so far, it's probably only a matter of time.

Really? Back lot tour? Walking tour? Adding the hat? This is the area I'd expect the most complaing to come from as I am not of fan of what has happened.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

11. Expedition Everest - Even though this is a relatively new ride, Disney's ruined some of it... already. When Expedition Everest first opened, Disney boasted about how advanced the Yeti audio animatronic was. Unfortunately, this is something many people will never see. The Yeti, now rendered motionless, appears to be no more advanced than a brick wall. While the ride itself is still fun, the principle is insulting. Disney either takes out or immobilizes many of their audio animatronics because, as one reviewer said, "they're too cheap to bother maintaining them. Just another sad tale of Disney's newfound greed and hatred toward their guests."

If Disney were to shut down the attraction to fix the Yeti it would be down for a very long time. This is the main pull for AK and maybe they are thinking of an alternative way of fixing it or replacing it without having to shut down the ride and risking a major decline in park attendence.

DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

12. DCA - This is VERY sad. As many people know, it was built on the cheap. The only good ride there is Soarin' over California.

California Screamin'? Grizzly Rappids? Found those to be quite exciting myself.

OTHER

14. Lately, Disney has been trying to cater too much to little kids, and not enough to other age groups, even though all of these other age groups combined (ages 10 - 100) make up the majority of the population. The "pirate and princess" things have a very limited target audience - namely, spoiled and/or rich kids within a certain age group only. As a result, little kids who fit into the age group but can't afford to spend $50 on hair and makeup end up feeling very left out, as do those who would like to dress up but feel they are too old.

I don't think there is even an aregument here.

15. Disney has consistently raised the price of admission every year for the past five years. This is clearly not inflation. This is greed.

Greed? Greed is raising another theme parks price to match someone else's.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Im sure I heard on the keys tour it was something to do with false perspective and the tunnels.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

It's so painfully obvious that Leanne is from that god-awful, overly-facist and intensely hateful and nihilistic Re-Imagineering blog.

She's dead wrong in every respect and let's hope that she gets banned ASAP!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Im sure I heard on the keys tour it was something to do with false perspective and the tunnels.

I see what you did there.

 

[WDW Monorail]

5. Spaceship Earth -
As one reviewer put it, "This ride used to be a lot of fun. But now they've taken out all of the audio animatronics at the end because they're too cheap to bother maintaining them.

You might be surprised to hear that there was not ONE single audio-animatronic in the descent of the ride.


I really hope you do not go to WDW ever if all of these things trouble you. Many of your negatives are positives for me.

 

[raven]

You might be surprised to hear that there was not ONE single audio-animatronic in the descent of the ride.


I really hope you do not go to WDW ever if all of these things trouble you. Many of your negatives are positives for me.

Also, the old decent scenes are largely still in tact, just hidden from view.

 

[Tigger1988]

EPCOT

1. Gran Fiesta Tour - They wasted money destroying (what used to be) El Rio Del Tiempo, the ride in the Mexico pavilion at Epcot. It used to be a cheerful and exotic ride. Now, it is a Donald Duck ride, mocking and offensive to Mexican culture. Donald Duck isn't, and never will be, Mexican. I'm sure many people who come from Mexico now take personal offense and find this ride obscene. To be honest, it's hard to believe this ride isn't just some kind of a joke.

Why don't you go watch the movie the ride is now based on, before sprouting this BS.

 

[David S.]

Why don't you go watch the movie the ride is now based on, before sprouting this BS.

EXACTLY, Tigger! Walt Disney HIMSELF used these VERY characters to act as hosts of a fun and festive, musical travelogue of Latin America, including Mexico, in the film The Three Caballeros! And the film was a big HIT in Latin America!

I don't think the attraction portrays Mexico in an unfavorable light at all. The fun and festive music and picturesque scenery makes me want to go there!

 

[Tigger1988]

EXACTLY, Tigger! Walt Disney HIMSELF used these VERY characters to act as hosts of a fun and festive, musical travelogue of Latin America, including Mexico, in the film The Three Caballeros! And the film was a big HIT in Latin America!

Not to mention that several big Latin American stars of the day appeared in the film, doubt they would have if it were "offensive".

And for the record the only one of the Three Caballeros that is Mexican is Panchito. Donald isn't Mexican, nor do they ever claim he is!

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Quote

"Someone is just digging now for things to complain about."

Unquote


You really don't have to dig to find something to complain about the New Management, it's an insult, it's annoying and aggressive, has about as much charme as a visit to the city dump and a desecration of a classic Disney attraction, that has lost it's original charme completely and became one of the least popular attractions in the MK.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Here's where I see downhill disappointment: the narration at Tomorrowland Transit Authority; the immobile Yeti at Expedition Everest; and the losing bid of Harry Potter to Universal.

To be honest, these are the only ones that are obvious, while I see things going uphill in the resorts, in new attractions from time to time, in Kimpossible at World Showcase for my kids, in the Vacation Club, in many of the restaurants, and keeping things moving forward through a tough recession. New movies are good, with UP. The cruise line is expanding. The Disney channel has good stuff with Phineas & Ferb and Zack & Cody, etc . . . Other revenue streams seem to be going okay.

Of course, nobody will ever be 100% pleased with everything, but 100% is impossible, and money for improvements is not infinite. Neverthess, things are pretty good, overall. Find another company doing nearly as much.

 

[SCB502]

I always here people in the parks complaining about how much they hate this place and saying they will never come back. Why then does the place remain so crowded. I wish they would never come back also.
As far as people saying Walt wouldn't have wanted the parks to cost this much, he also said he wanted them to be a place that families could enjoy together. If it were any cheaper to get in, imagine how big the crowds would be. I wish they would raise the prices more.
My biggest complaint about Disney is that they are bending over backwards to get more people in with free dining and free nights. I miss being able to visit in November and January and nearly be alone. There really is no off season now.
I don't like the dining plan. If you don't get your reservations six months in advance you can be shut out of restaurants. I miss being able to walk into restaurants and sit down. We used to make reservations to eat in the castle on the same day.
I say to Disney, raise the prices, make it harder for people to go, not easier.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

What a poor attempt at fishing.

 

[durangojim]

Yes, ever since they got rid of the pats of butter that had the WDW "D" logo with the mouse head in them and also the butter in the shape of Mickey at the castle.

 

[mp2bill]

I think people's idea of going "downhill" have more to do with how society, technology and guest expectation is changing. It's a tough battle to please everyone anymore and you can't expect one company to do it all.

Well said.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

Not to mention that several big Latin American stars of the day appeared in the film, doubt they would have if it were "offensive".

And for the record the only one of the Three Caballeros that is Mexican is Panchito. Donald isn't Mexican, nor do they ever claim he is!

Yep. And not only that. Panchito is technically the leader of the 3 Caballeros.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Yes, ever since they got rid of the pats of butter that had the WDW "D" logo with the mouse head in them and also the butter in the shape of Mickey at the castle.

Yup, that was it for me too. Never again.

 

[JustInTime]

I think if they have gone downhill, it is very slightly. I do think we are going to be seeing the rebirth of WDW soon. One day. They have some growing to do. But overall, I am very happy with what we have/what we are getting. Also, every ride in AK needs a refurb. But still, I am happy which is why I keep going back.