Dissapointed..

[CThaddeus]

I can't say I ever get tired of the Parks. I'm always watching some video or another about them - whether home video or something from a cable channel - I'm always planning my next visit (even if it's just down the freeway to Disneyland), and I'm hard at work on creating an Ipod of nothing but Disney Park music (20 GB and counting).
I still like Disney's Hollywood Studios, though I apparently like it for the opposite reasons many here do. I'm actually not a fan of pretty much everything on Sunset Boulevard except Beauty and the Beast. The only other attraction I ignore there is Lights, Motors, Boredom! I still love The Great Movie Ride and make sure to hit it at least twice a trip. Muppet-Vision, Star Tours, One Man's Dream, Indiana Jones...all classics. Heck, I'm even a fan of Sounds Dangerous! The Park is still a one day plus kind of place for me, but then I think that of all of Disney's Parks.
Interestingly, I've never felt like I needed a break from the Parks, including Disneyland - and I worked there. I've also had an annual pass and gone almost once a week for over 15 years. I know the secrets, I've toured the backstage areas, I've taken breaks in the America Sings and Mission to Mars buildings. No matter how much time I spend there, I don't tire of it, and I still get this childlike sense of wonder whenever I go. Yes, I find certain attractions to be less than stellar - Tower of Terror, Test Track, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Under New Management, Grizzly River Rapids - but there are so many other wonderful things to do that I just never lose that desire to go again. Hopefully you'll get past your slump. And hopefully, I'll never feel it.

 

[Piebald]

My apologies for misspelling "Disappointed" in the original title. I was at work and I quickly logged on to write about this.

 

[Rabflmom]

Those are reasons why businesses raise prices during a slump. Whether or not it is smart to do so, is debateable. Take my opinion for whatever it's worth (which granted, may not be much, LOL), but I think the smarter thing to do would be to take a price cut so that you could make more money in the bigger picture by having more people come down at cheaper prices, vs less people coming down at greater prices.>>>>>>>>

I can tell you from experience that with economic downturnm the first cut companies make is to number of employees and to upkeep. I see it happening where I work. We all have many hats to wear as more and more people either quit or get fired or let go.

In the 80s when Disney was almost going under they got creative on how to get people into the parks. Every teacher in Florida could get her/his class into EPCOT for free and schools took advantage of the program. The parking lot was full of school buses for almost a full year! The kids bought food and souveniers. They went home with 1 free pass to come back with their families.
In the late 70s when I moved here there was an unfinished building on the beach that Disney was building, They ended up selling the property and never building the condo/high rise here. Since they are going forward with the new cruises, I am thinking Disney is doing OK and won't be giving breaks on the passes for a while anyway. I did see that they were on a list of troubled companies to watch list put out by MSN Money or one of the other economics type websites, yesterday.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I can tell you from experience that with economic downturnm the first cut companies make is to number of employees and to upkeep. .

Nahhh, training and marketing are always the first to go, then its freeze recruitment, then cut heads, then cut services, then cut outlets......

IMHO of course............:animwink:

 

[Susan Savia]

We go to Disney World one time a year and have never tired of any of their shows, rides, parades, food or otherwise. Perhaps its time for you to check out other venues for vacationing...the beach, other parks, cities, etc....There are things in each park we never do, either because of timing or interest factor. We tend to only eat meals in Magic Kingdom and Epcot and rarely spend more then half a day in Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Not because we don't like them, but because we have our favorites and we do those then move on. We'd rather use our time riding and seeing shows we like better. To us, just being there after saving hard to come each year, forgetting our worries and being together makes each and every time just as special as the last. :animwink:

_____________________

Next Trip - January 2009

It's like coming home again......

 

[shawn]

Just got back on saturday, first off i think tsm is awesome way better than buzz lightyear and that used to be a favorite but the parks were great clean and everyone very friendly, especially housekeeping, even more so because this was the 1st time i regularly tipped them, the best two weeks i have ever spent but it helped being with my wife and 3 little kids

 

[bears163]

we just got back from a 7 day trip at WDW. I totally agree with the coments on the food not being very good. as for DHS...IMHO worst park. after TOT & RRC there is not much to do besides the same old things that have not changed ever. american idol will do nothing for this park. why they are doing it now & not a few years ago i dont know. but it has lost its excitement. i understand if they need to make cut backs but at what point are the cut backs they make will start to affect a persons view of disney itself? i personally think they are at that point now. they are sinking so much money into DVC resorts rather than the parks. i am a DVC memeber but they need to take a break & start to get back to caring about the people in the parks.

 

[scarpiapiano]

Being a huge WDW fan, sometimes I'm asked why I don't simply try to get a job there. I'm a pianist and I sometimes dream of having a job playing at one of the hotels or playing rehersals for the onstage shows. I think if I worked at WDW it would lose the magic that the Walts place currently holds for me.

Right now I play for a major ballet company. My deep dark secret - I Hate Ballet!! When I used to see a ballet company, it may have been magic but after 25 years of playing classes and rehersals, the magic has completely gone. I'd hate to see my Disney passion and obsession suffer the same fate.

 

[jmicro59]

If there's too things we Americans are good at, it's math, speling, and managing money.

And invading other countries. :ROFLOL:

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

And invading other countries. :ROFLOL:

I think you will find that compared to us you still have a lot of catching up to do....... but your young..................

 

[jmicro59]

I think you will find that compared to us you still have a lot of catching up to do....... but your young..................

I'm not sure we could lower our standards enough to catch up.

 

[Lucky]

I think you will find that compared to us you still have a lot of catching up to do....... but your young..................

You may not have noticed jmicro is from Canada. They have a whole lot of catching up to do.

 

[jmicro59]

You may not have noticed jmicro is from Canada. They have a whole lot of catching up to do.

Of course I'm from Canada. Where do you think I got this outragous accent? :ROFLOL:

 

[MKCP 1985]

:ROFLOL:

Piebald, it is simple really. There's nothing different about Disney, the difference is you.

My guess is that if you take some time away doing other things, and some new things come along in the meantime (a Space Mountain refurb, a Monsters Inc coaster, etc. ) and you get weighed down by the pressures of work and the real world, or return with a child or people who are enthused to be there, you will once again find delight in a Disney break somewhere down the road.

Best wishes!

 

[jhastings74]

I'm not sure I've ever had that feeling about a whole trip to WDW, and even having been a CM, my time 'behind the scenes' actually made things a little MORE special. For ME, at least...

But I can DEFINITELY say that I have felt that way about specific places around the resort.

The first time we went to 50's Prime Time Cafe, for example, it was fantastic. Funny, yummy, etc. And we swore the next time we went back to MGM (at the time), we were definitely going to eat there. So we did. At it stunk. I think a lot of it is like what was previously mentioned, about our expectations were SO high going back that there was no way it could have lived up to it. Same deal with Whispering Canyon...the first time we went, the manager spent SO much time talking to our 5-year old. The chef came out and offered him a cookie, and my son said that since it was his birthday, the chef could keep the cookie for himself but bring him some cake (I was just a tad embarrassed, but they were great about it...). The chef left and came back a minute later with two other chefs, a whole cake and it was just a fantastic memory (My son is now 8 and still talks about the chef who is his friend at the restaurant...). So of COURSE we wanted to go back there the next time we went. And we DID. And it STUNK. But for a first-timer there on that same night, it was probably great. Our expectations were just too high.

So now, when we know we're going there, we talk about it, but we don't fixate on it. We try to find at least one new thing we haven't done before, whether it was renting one of those little water mice boats, doing the horseback riding, eating at a restaurant at a resort we weren't staying at, etc. Those things have ALL been 'great', because they were all first-time things, and we haven't done them again since. We may in the future, but we've learned that too much of a good thing, even though it's a good thing, is just too much sometimes.

<ends rambling>:wave:

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

You may not have noticed jmicro is from Canada. They have a whole lot of catching up to do.

I dont differentiate between the former colonies especially Yank lite. :drevil:

 

[jmicro59]

I dont differentiate between the former colonies especially Yank lite. :drevil:

That's it. No more oil for you! Three years.

 

[sublimesting]

We went in '05 and it was total magic. We waited 2 years and it may have even been better! I remember saying how much you forget in 2 years. We went this year (a year later) and it just didn't feel magic. I spent so much time planning and reading about it and watching Disney movies that my expectations were so high. The other thing is you don't forget much in a single year. I had every ride memorized! It got to the point where even though we could walk on most things we felt "obligated" to ride on ride after ride til it lost the fun and we were just lining up like 2 sheep.
The other thing is that we did Disney Free Dining and although ate at places we would not normally do and, although the food was great and gave us new experiences, we felt constrained by having to be at this restauarant at this time. We ate more than normal and it felt more like a chore that we had to do cause we had reservations than what we wanted to do.

I think we'll be waiting 2 years now.

 

[disneydiva72]

...... they are sinking so much money into DVC resorts rather than the parks. i am a DVC memeber but they need to take a break & start to get back to caring about the people in the parks.

I agree with you on the DVC part, in my opinion, Disney really started to go downhill when they put that train on the track.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Well, the most profitable thing to do would be to make it exclusive... only for the wealthy. Less overhead for Disney and better service for the customers, which they would be paying out the butt for.

If they stick to what Walt Disney actually wanted, which I do not believe they will, then we will see cheaper prices before we see more expensive.

The trend proves they don't care what Walt wanted and that they are just like every other business out there.

The wealthy will only buy so much stuff. They make a much higher profit by getting kids to buy $25 hats that cost pennies to manufacture. How do you get kids to buy that? They come through the gates, meet Mickey and beg mom and dad for the ears.