News Disney's own survey is a list of Walt Disney World's 50-anniversary shortcomings

[doctornick]

I personally don't really care about most of the options on the list as I think in general that celebrating the anniversaries is silly. So stuff like having a 50th centric nighttime show to me is kinda meh. I know others disagree, but just my take.

What I would have wanted to happen for the 50th would have been building new/additional attractions (*sigh* Main St Theater), sprucing up older attractions (Hatbox Ghost, BTMRR explosions, etc.) and adding additional entertainment (light parade for MK, daytime parade for DHS, new nighttime show for DAK, etc). The kind of stuff that would just enhance the parks in general and making visiting better not just for today but going forward.

They should have used the 50th for an opportunity to get those in charge to loosen the purse strings to improve the parks overall.

WDW got more stuff from DL's 50th than for their own.

 

[Minthorne]

Why is it Disneyland can do it right but WDW just phones it in every time.

 

[GhostHost1000]

The 50th hasn’t just failed, the changes since Covid have

 

[GhostHost1000]

Why is it Disneyland can do it right but WDW just phones it in every time.

location of corporate headquarters

 

[Randall1028]

The "the day feels like any other" point hits home very hard. I remember being there on 10/1 and after the new "welcome show", which ended up just being just the standard "new" welcome show, and then NOTHING else to commemorate the day, the crowd collectively went "that was it?" The disappointment was palpable. I overheard several say something along the lines of "I got up at 3AM for THIS??" There were media crews there to cover the event and I had the thought of "So what exactly are they covering? Nothing out of the ordinary is happening."

I remember the day being a great day for Rides, though. Everyone was waiting for either a commemorative show to popup (which never happened) or went to stand in a line to buy merch or food. Which left the ride lines pretty much walk on.

location of corporate headquarters

Normally, I'd buy that, but we've heard more about DLP's 30th than WDW's 50th. And I'd wager to say Paris is a lot farther away than Orlando So I definitely don't think that's the sole reason. But yes, we've also got a ton of noise for the Electrical Parade's 50th. And also all the Marvel stuff happening at DLR (and DLP), all of which has been marketed more than the WDW's celebration. The only thing WDW seems to get is pointless/overpriced food offerings that don't even look appealing most of the time. Oh and half-baked merch that I wouldn't even look twice at if it wasn't for the 50th branding on (but still won't buy anyway).

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It's amazing how bad Chapek and D'Amaro have botched the 50th. The tone deaf IP thing is one thing, but to then push the other parks' celebrations more than the WDW celebration is a whole other problem. And when you add in the Covid changes that Chapek/D'amaro were clearly salivating over from the jump, it makes it even worse.

Even if Covid hadn't happened, though, I don't see much change from what we ended up getting. Could be wrong, but the only change I think is Tron would've been open on the day, Remy would've been open in Epcot, and there'd be more to do generally, but none of that is 50th-centric. We still wouldn't have a nighttime parade, Enchantment still would be "meh", and we would all still be "the magic" and commanded to go to Disney to "answer the call".

Literally went into the belly of the beast for shopping... intending to buy... and found nothing of interest to me. Swing and a miss!

Yeah there 10x10 area of 50th stuff was awful

yeah, the 50th merch in World of Disney feels like a wal-mart display you would find somewhere far away from WDW, not there on property. It all looks cheap and borderline knock-off.

 

[Greg from Philly]

I personally don't really care about most of the options on the list as I think in general that celebrating the anniversaries is silly. So stuff like having a 50th centric nighttime show to me is kinda meh. I know others disagree, but just my take.

What I would have wanted to happen for the 50th would have been building new/additional attractions (*sigh* Main St Theater), sprucing up older attractions (Hatbox Ghost, BTMRR explosions, etc.) and adding additional entertainment (light parade for MK, daytime parade for DHS, new nighttime show for DAK, etc). The kind of stuff that would just enhance the parks in general and making visiting better not just for today but going forward.

They should have used the 50th for an opportunity to get those in charge to loosen the purse strings to improve the parks overall.

WDW got more stuff from DL's 50th than for their own.

 

[marni1971]

Well.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The "the day feels like any other" point hits home very hard.

I think this is our complaint also, we went in November and it felt like a normal WDW trip, nothing stood out as unique to the 50th celebration.

We enjoyed Harmonious, enjoyed finding the 50th statues, and loved the SSE lights but that was it, for such a big anniversary it was very anticlimactic, especially at MK, the park that actually turned 50 along with WDW, the fireworks show at MK was our biggest disappointment, it lacked any emotion and our immediate reaction after seeing it was they should immediately go back to HEA, or even Wishes for nostalgia.

6 months post trip nothing stands out in my memory as special for the 50th.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Why is it Disneyland can do it right but WDW just phones it in every time.

I’ve mentioned this before but back in 2011, for whatever reason, there were folks from TDO visiting the DLR. I stood in front of two of them in line for Indy and I overheard one of them pointing out all the extra and “unnecessary” stuff in the queue and in our Adventureland surroundings. He said that California/TDA wastes a lot of money and they’re able to do things for cheaper out in Florida. I heard him laugh and snicker, so he was proud of cutting corners. He was absolutely bragging.

This was over a decade ago, but that mindset may still be running smoothly out there.

location of corporate headquarters

I’m afraid this isn’t likely the reason.

 

[HauntedPirate]

So you're telling me the execs who approved this 50th "celebration" don't really know what they are doing? Color me shocked.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I’ve mentioned this before but back in 2011, for whatever reason, there were folks from TDO visiting the DLR. I stood in front of two of them in line for Indy and I overheard one of them pointing out all the extra and “unnecessary” stuff in the queue and in our Adventureland surroundings. He said that California/TDA wastes a lot of money and they’re able to do things for cheaper out in Florida. I heard him laugh and snicker, so he was proud of cutting corners. He was absolutely bragging.

This was over a decade ago, but that mindset may still be running smoothly out there.

I’m afraid this isn’t likely the reason.

I'd love to know where that person is working these days. Judging by his level of incompetence, he'd likely be Chapek's #2.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I'd love to know where that person is working these days. Judging by his level of incompetence, he'd likely be Chapek's #2.

I bet he’s high in the ranks. What was really sad was the other guy was likely a newbie and was on some sort of training mission, based on the way he was being spoken to. Bragging about cutting corners and being cheap is not something one should be doing in front of newcomers, no matter what the job is.

 

[Heelz2315]

Is there a place to check or comment about them not bringing back masks?

 

[GCTales]

So you're telling me the execs who approved this 50th "celebration" don't really know what they are doing? Color me shocked.

No, they know exactly what they are doing. They just don't care.

 

[1955MMCFan]

I personally don't really care about most of the options on the list as I think in general that celebrating the anniversaries is silly. So stuff like having a 50th centric nighttime show to me is kinda meh. I know others disagree, but just my take.

What I would have wanted to happen for the 50th would have been building new/additional attractions (*sigh* Main St Theater), sprucing up older attractions (Hatbox Ghost, BTMRR explosions, etc.) and adding additional entertainment (light parade for MK, daytime parade for DHS, new nighttime show for DAK, etc). The kind of stuff that would just enhance the parks in general and making visiting better not just for today but going forward.

They should have used the 50th for an opportunity to get those in charge to loosen the purse strings to improve the parks overall.

WDW got more stuff from DL's 50th than for their own.

I mostly agree. My biggest disappointment was that they didn’t bring back one of the nighttime electrical parades, followed by the fireworks shows are not nearly as good a previous shows especially at EPCOT. Please get those ugly barges out of the middle of the lake at EPCOT. They’ve messed up enough with the never ending construction walls.

 

[TalkingHead]

See, Disney cares! They’re collecting feedback so they can get it right and exceed guest expectations for the 100th. Can’t wait!

 

[Trauma]

Is there a place to check or comment about them not bringing back masks?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Now what happens in the future other than a survey we’ll see

There's still time! 5pectr0Magic lives!

 

[Virtual Toad]

WDW's 25th anniversary was so completely superior in almost every way imaginable. A resort near the peak of its existence. A fantastic night parade, attractions running on all cylinders, extended park hours all year long, incredible value and quality at parks and hotels, and yes, even the castle cake, tacky as it was, had more sincerity in a single oversized gumdrop than the entirety of the IP-driven, nostalgia-lacking, soulless, joyless, half-hearted and tired cliche that the 50th anniversary has turned out to be. I feel sad for those who never got to see the 25th. At least Disney's at least pretending to be aware of how badly they missed the mark.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

WDW's 25th anniversary was so completely superior in almost every way imaginable. A resort near the peak of its existence. A fantastic night parade, attractions running on all cylinders, extended park hours all year long, incredible value and quality at parks and hotels, and yes, even the castle cake, tacky as it was, had more sincerity in a single oversized gumdrop than the entirety of the IP-driven, nostalgia-lacking, soulless, joyless, half-hearted and tired cliche that the 50th anniversary has turned out to be. I feel sad for those who never got to see the 25th. At least Disney's at least pretending to be aware of how badly they missed the mark.

Ironically, one of the most soulless things they've been obsessed with lately is shoving Soul into everything as if it's a beloved classic.