Disney going downhill?

[DisneyNut2007]

Silly fanboys the company is doing a LOT better than it was right before Eisner left.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[Leanne]

Sadly, yes. Disney World used to be a land full of such magic and enchantment. Now all I can see is the hatred and greed of upper level management. Where do I begin?

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.

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.

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.

 

[Leanne]

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.
"This one needs to just be replaced. It is past it's prime and could do with something else in it's place." - Brandie S



"I didn't like this one at all. Although it may appeal to kids, I mean this jawn should be closed down. I'm sure the imagineers can think up something new...maybe a WALL-E dark ride...idk" - Derrick O. Foreman



"Weak. This attraction is a tremendous waste of effort and space. If you look up "Epic Fail" in an Urban Dictionary, there is a picture of this attraction next to the definition." - James Rao

"Pathetic. It's ironic how little imagination went into this attraction. An excellent concept with no delivery." - Joshua Counsil

5. Spaceship Earth - what used to be the best and most imaginative part of the ride, the ending, has been mercilessly ripped out and thrown to the sharks. The audio animatronics, the imagination, everything... gone. Now at the end, all that remains is a horribly unimaginative (not to mention boring) cartoon on a screen that makes you wish you could go back home and watch some paint peel. This cartoon was boring enough when it was in Innoventions or wherever it was. But at least then, guests had the option of walking away, the option to flee for their lives. When you're on Spaceship Earth, there is no escape. Welcome to Spaceship Earth, where no one can hear you scream.

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. Just another sad tale of Disney's newfound greed and hatred toward their guests."



*sigh* At least they left the beginning like it was... only one of my favorite scenes was at the end.

 

[Leanne]

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. And who could blame either of them? After waiting in line for what seems like ages, you're unsuspectingly thrust into an atmosphere more frustrating and difficult to cope with than the line itself. This ride forces you into a mentally exhausted state, thus preventing any sort of learning experience whatsoever. The most boring of school days can't even compare to the incomprehensible boredom Ellen's Energy Adventure brings to the table. Families come to theme parks for fun and excitement, not pain and suffering. How could an classic ride like Horizons be closed down, yet this poor excuse for an attraction be allowed to remain? It is one of life's mysteries that may never be explained.” - Miranda H

I have to agree with this reviewer. You can only take so much lecturing from Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy before you start begging for mercy.

 

[Leanne]

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?? I really wish Disney would stop trying to FORCE Disney characters into all of their rides. Not only is it depressing to see how sad their attempt to "update" the ride is, but it ends up ruining the ride altogether. And listening to Iago's screech - I'm just SURE Disney is going absolutely out of their way to find ways to torture their guests.

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!

"Why oh Why did they take the brilliant,scary and amazing Alien encounter and turn it into this pathetic drivel. This has no appeal to anyone, it's not cute, not scary, not funny - totally pointless. Please bring back the Alien encounter!!!!" - Simon Harris

"Major fail for this ride. Please just remove it and realize that Stitch is neither funny nor is he a good ride sponsor." - Brandie S

"Very disappointing. My girls (9 and 11) are big Stitch fans, but they were not impressed. My youngest summed up the ride for all four of us: "That was dumb." - Roger S

 

[Leanne]

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. Now when you get to that area (near the loading docks), you get stuffed into this long boring unthemed hallway that they added that smells like a locker room. It used to be entertaining watching the rockets flying through space, and it also offered a unique syle and flair to the ride and added a bit of charisma and charm. Disney sucked all the charisma right out of it. To add insult to injury, they also made it so you can no longer see the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover passing through.

10. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover - In my opinion, this used to be really great. You could chill out and tour Space Mountain. Now when you go through Space Mountain, it's mostly just boring pitch-black for an undue amount of time. You can only see one section of it for a very brief second. And the new voice sounds a bit cheesy sometimes. Why they spent all that money to ruin something that was fine the way it was, I will NEVER understand.

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.

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."

 

[Leanne]

DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

12. DCA - This is VERY sad. As many people know, it was built on the cheap. Now Disney's spending more money trying to fix it up than it cost to build it in the first place. It would have been cheaper and more profitable just to build it right the first time. It's also filled with boring, unoriginal rides. The types of rides you can go on just about anywhere. But the price is not the price you would pay just about anywhere. It has boring rides that come with a high price tag. The only good ride there is Soarin' over California.

13. The Tower of Terror - The Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios is great. But at DCA, it's completely the opposite. Like the rest of DCA, the Tower of Terror was built on the cheap. It has cartoon-like lighting, the elevator doesn't move forward, and the ghosts aren't as nearly as realistic as they are in Hollywood Studios. And when the elevator doors open, instead of getting on an elevator, you get on... a hallway??? And not even a themed hallway at that! It's pretty insulting. Here are some pictures I found from theme park review.

 

[Leanne]

This is kind of ridiculous.

For more pictures, visit theme park review's website. http://www.themeparkreview.com/dca2004_2/dca1.htm


From abc news: http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/entertainment&id=7174222

"In his resignation letter, [Roy E.] Disney called for [Michael] Eisner's ouster, complaining that on his watch the company's standards had declined, particularly at theme parks like California's Disneyland and Florida's Walt Disney World.

"One of the reasons for my leaving... was that I saw that quality slipping away from us," Disney told a 2004 meeting of memorabilia collectors."

This is without a doubt the saddest part of it all. Because it's true. The quality is slipping away. Disney has become primarily run by greed.

 

[Leanne]

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.

15. Disney has consistently raised the price of admission every year for the past five years. This is clearly not inflation. This is greed. And what's more, they keep building everything on the cheap, so that the phrase "you get what you pay for" no longer applies. This is not what Walt Disney stood for. He said he wanted to create a park that was affordable; that children and adults of all ages could enjoy. Unfortunately the company now seems to have forgotten many of the core values that once made the company great.

Disney needs to learn a couple of simple but valuable lessons:
1. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. (i.e., don't waste money ruining rides) Updating and ruining are two different things, but lately Disney seems to think they are the same.
2. Sometimes you need to spend money to make money. They need to quit penalizing managers for spending money and start rewarding them for choosing quality. They need to become more like they used to be, with morals and values. Not this evil empire we see today. Disney started on a downward spiral, destroying one thing at a time, building new things on the cheap, and turning itself tacky. I used to love Disney World. But lately things have changed, or rather, the Disney company itself has changed.

The sad thing is, these problems were probably only caused by a select few. But the rest of the cast members, the guests, and the company as a whole have to suffer because of it.

Sorry for so many posts. I had to tell somebody. Sometimes I just wish Disney could go back to being the way it was. Thinking about it makes me very depressed.

 

[David S.]

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. Now when you get to that area (near the loading docks), you get stuffed into this long boring unthemed hallway that they added that smells like a locker room. It used to be entertaining watching the rockets flying through space, and it also offered a unique syle and flair to the ride and added a bit of charisma and charm. Disney sucked all the charisma right out of it. To add insult to injury, they also made it so you can no longer see the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover passing through.

10. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover - In my opinion, this used to be really great. You could chill out and tour Space Mountain. Now when you go through Space Mountain, it's mostly just boring pitch-black for an undue amount of time. You can only see one section of it for a very brief second. And the new voice sounds a bit cheesy sometimes. Why they spent all that money to ruin something that was fine the way it was, I will NEVER understand.

The resoning behind this is that too much light was bleeding into the ride area from the queue and Peoplemover track, so to make the ride experience of Space Mountain truly feel like you are traveling through the darkness of space, these steps were taken to drastically limit the amount of light bleeding through.

One thing that was added that is very important is safety gates, to prevent guests from accidentally falling into the path of an approaching rocket while waiting to board. I'm surprised the ride was open as long as it was without them, as they are standard on most coasters!

As for your other comments, I actually prefer Gran Fiesta Tour over the original, even though El Rio was my 3rd favorite Epcot attraction. And being a die-hard fan of the uber-cute Figment, Imagination is my favorite attraction at Epcot, even though I agree the original was better. I am sorry it hurt your ears, but as a regular rider, I don't think the audio is always as loud as you described it.

As for Stitch, I prefer it over AE precisely because it is NOT as dark, sinister, and scary as Alien Encounter, but more cute and mischevious instead. It's a shame some kids are still scared by it, but I bet the number of scared kids was a LOT higher on AE!

And I LOVE Ellen's Energy Adventure. The original version was even more dry IMO and often felt like a commercial for the Exxon corporation. The new version still fulfills Epcot's mission of being educational, but does so in a more humorous and entertaining way, IMO. And I LOVE the AA dinos!

I do agree that the original Tiki show was MUCH better than the current, but as a hardcore fan of the original host birds Jose, Michael, Pierre, and Fritz, I still want to spend time with those characters. So I've now seen the new version enough for most of it to grow on me. EXCEPT the part where Iago insults the original show, which I try to block out!

These are just my opinions and I am not posting them to be argumentative, just to present an alternate viewpoint!

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Epcot needs more rides. Yes I know Epcot in Disney fanatics eyes is their perfect version of a theme park. But look at it if it was your first time there and you just spent $80 + per person for 3 worth while rides. ThEat's just not going to cut it nowadays. I know the main argument here will be, well it's the 3rd most visited park in the USA. But I think it still needs more rides. First timers really don't see the value here when I'm with them.

Yep Epcot definitely lost a lot of it's maximum roster.
Gone since 1990 is not only the very heart of Future World, Horizons, which was to me the epitomic ride of EPCOT, but also the original JII (the present one is cheap and extremely underwhelming, a total lost) and the entire Wonders of Life, with Cranium Command and Body Wars. Completely new came only Soarin, Test Track was a replacement for World of Motion, Mission:Space for Horizons, Gran Fiesta Tour is only a refurb of El Rio del Tiempo and The Seas with Nemo one of The Living Seas. So EPCOT lost more attractions than it gained new ones in the last 20 years.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

The World Showcase could use a few C-D Ticket attractions. Future World definitely needs some work. I would love to see a preshow for The Seas, an update to Energy, something done to Wonders of Life, and an update to Imagination (the ride and 3D movie).

WS not only needs new rides but it is desperately in need of a new PAVILION. I mean the last one was added in, what? Norway 1988! 22 YEARS without ANY addition (no new rides, no new pavilions, refurbs like in Mexico don't count). That's a record for WDW I presume.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

As for Animal Kingdom, again, it's a good start. It could use an expansion, though. I would love them to replace Chester and Hester's with the roller coaster that was supposed to be built there, fix the Dinosaur effects, and fix the Yeti, namely. Rafiki's Planet Watch is ignored by most guests, and I think they could do something about it by making it accessible via a trail.

Exactly. The present situation is a desaster. The "Wildlife Express Train" that brings you there is by far the most boring train ride or even ride in any Disney Park, absolutely nothing interesting to see (Plantlife and Animal cages, big deal). And as Rafikis Planet Watch is not that interesting either its a cumulation effect. You have to take an extremely boring ride, with some waiting time at least, to get to a part of the park, that is not that interesting too. By getting there by train only you expect to see something very special, it must be special if you only get there by train. NO. Instead you get some exhibits, a petting zoo and Conservation Station, which can be quite interesting but doesn't justify the long approach by train.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

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.

Erm..actually it is. I don't like the ride either (and I hate Figment) but if Figment would shout at 200 db it would be instantly lethal for anyone near him. It would be 100 times as loud as a rocket engine at takeoff.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Erm..actually it is. I don't like the ride either (and I hate Figment) but if Figment would shout at 200 db it would be instantly lethal for anyone near him. It would be 100 times as loud as a rocket engine at takeoff.

:lol: WHAT?!?!?!?!?

Again, you might want to do a little homework before posting.

Your post says that a rocket engine at takeoff would be 2db, which is VERY wrong. Simple casual conversation is between 60-70db. A jet engine (smaller than a rocket, but still quite loud) would be 140db.

Source:

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html

The other poster had some info off as well, like the 200db figure (the loudest sound possible is apparently 194db).

EDIT TO ADD: As posted below, you might be right... Db's aren't linear. Makes sense. I'm definitely not too big to admit when I might be wrong.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Sorry for so many posts. I had to tell somebody. Sometimes I just wish Disney could go back to being the way it was. Thinking about it makes me very depressed.

All good opinions, if you ask me. :wave:

Welcome to the boards!

 

[Thrill]

:lol: WHAT?!?!?!?!?

Again, you might want to do a little homework before posting.

Your post says that a rocket engine at takeoff would be 2db, which is VERY wrong. Simple casual conversation is between 60-70db. A jet engine (smaller than a rocket, but still quite loud) would be 140db.

Actually, it wouldn't be two decibels as decibels aren't linear. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe a 60 decibel difference means that it would actually be 64 times louder than a jet engine. As you said, 194 decibels is the maximum. If 200 decibels were even possible, it would be lethal.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Actually, it wouldn't be two decibels as decibels aren't linear. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe a 60 decibel difference means that it would actually be 64 times louder than a jet engine. As you said, 194 decibels is the maximum. If 200 decibels were even possible, it would be lethal.

That's a good point... And makes sense. Maybe I'm the one that doesn't know what they're talking about!!

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

That's a good point... And makes sense. Maybe I'm the one that doesn't know what they're talking about!!

Glad you corrected yourself, thanks. Although still a little off topic, but if any one wants to know, there was already a sound above the theoretical maximum. The NASA built a signal horn out of concrete in the 60ies, that was able to produce unbelievable 210 dB (roughly 1000 times louder that the taking off space rocket). It was loud enough to pulverize solid objects. So if Figment would really shout at 200 dB chances are high that he would at least demolish the entire JII sets. Which actually is quite a good idea as long as no one is around to be killed by the noise.

 

[Mouse Man]

Back on topic, I don't think Disney is going Down Hill. First take a look at all the fixing and repairs for the most part that they are doing. They took advantage of the Economy and decided to maintain, refurbish and repair while the prices for doing so did indeed go down. The FLE is under way, EPCOT is being thought of, I wish they would move a little quicker and create or red-design items like JII and the empty life pavaillion. Yes a new country added to world show case would be great as well. Lastly, add some love to DHS and look out. Back to the up side. THe resorts look wonderful and well kept and the water parks are a blast. Back to the only soar eye I see that needs to be addressed is Pleasure Island. Fix that side and DTD is back to being great again. I just look at the issue in whole and see there is room for improvement. Over all I do not see Disney slipping. Every one is talking about UNI and how wonderful HP is if you like HP. Uni does not have much more room to expand and UNI would have had some really financial issues if HP never came to fruition. Disney is far from that.