Do the fans always seem to know what's best?

[Inspired Figment]

Check. I never went to Epcot back in the day and my kids hated it when they were small. They wanted Mickey every where. I know we use to go to Ellen's ride simply to cool off and catch a nap but mainly Epcot was the afternoon park where we did the world show case and ate.
I wonder how the Epcot of the 80s would have faired with today's video loving, cell phone carrying pre teen today

Again, I don’t think there’s necessarily a problem with wanting more characters within the parks. Infact, by the mid-80s, they already had Mickey & Friends and other characters meeting and greeting in appropriate EPCOT attire to fit in with the theme & park.. sometime in the early 2000s though they ditched that for the same generic outfits you can find in every other park (which I feel was a big mistake).

And personally, I think it would’ve faired well had the park & it’s attractions simply been marketed better and had they created more/had more park original characters ready for meet n greets by opening along with being in some the more major attractions rather than not, it would’ve been much more successful. Not to mention in merchandise,

I should also mention that In ‘82, the original Journey Into Imagination ride wasn’t ready to experience til ‘83. But when it was, it was a MAJOR success. Dreamfinder & Figment became very popular characters and the ride was a perfect example of integrating characters with a real world subject in a way that was fun & captivating that fit EPCOT.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Check. I never went to Epcot back in the day and my kids hated it when they were small. They wanted Mickey every where. I know we use to go to Ellen's ride simply to cool off and catch a nap but mainly Epcot was the afternoon park where we did the world show case and ate.
I wonder how the Epcot of the 80s would have faired with today's video loving, cell phone carrying pre teen today

That would explain a lot tbh. As the EPCOT experience (with the exception of the World Showcase as you described) started declining by that point. The focus being more on being ‘hip & trendy’ and relying on big celebrity talent rather than focusing on making the presentation on the subjects timeless.
Personally I feel like speeding up the ride vehicles a bit, shortening the film portions’ lengths, and perhaps either creating a brand new character (perhaps a dinosaur character or group of animated dinosaur characters to follow along the journey) or using a character like Professor Ludwig Von Drake, Mickey & Goofy, or even the DuckTales cast as hosts would’ve been far better solutions to go about in regards to updating it than what they ended up doing. That or they should’ve just had Bill Nye be the host and that be it. Since Bill Nye, even today in schools, has been a well-used & well-respected source on science topics, especially for the family. But that’s just my personal opinion on the matter.

 

[Inspired Figment]

Oh wait.. there ‘was’ infact a comic that starred Mickey & Goofy exploring the Universe of Energy…. Now why on earth didn’t they decide to go with this approach in updating it first rather than the big name celebrities like Ellen… who knows.. talk about a missed opportunity,;

 

[Goofyernmost]

None of us are expecting that from the current company leadership and trust me, ‘We Know’ it’s no longer Walt’s company. But you know full well as much as I do that isn’t a good excuse to not uphold to the standards that made the company as beloved and as large of a success as it has. There are certainly plenty of & much better ways to improve with the times while still staying true to what made the company as successful as it has all these years

The truth of the matter is, I feel like the company is currently declining by the degrees so much to the point that guests are actually making the effort to mostly spend their money elsewhere. And if things continue to go that route. I have a very good feeling that we’ll get the change the majority of us want to see. Only time & circumstances will tell, but I have faith it’ll happen. That’s the only thing we can have in times like this.

Reality determines what direction it will or should go in. Not thoughts of how it made money before. Even the slightest measurement of reality will tell you that the success of WDW has nothing to do with Walt except for buying way to much swamp land the needed for what he wanted to do, he was gone before they even started to build MK. He was focused on the actual EPCOT not what they tried to do to make up for not doing what was envisioned. They didn't go that way because it honestly doesn't take a scientist to realize that EPCOT would not have worked not even in the 60's. It would have left us without any Disney theme parks at all. He was looking for a totalitarian state where he ruled everything probably down to how often to flush the toilet. He was going to be king of the utopia. Hell, we can't even get people to wear a simple paper mask to help keep themselves alive now.

Disneyland was a first and it came to being in the 50's. That is when it all would work and people visited the place in Suits, Women wore Dresses, hats, carried purses and high heals, by the 70's that was gone, or at least started to go. We had gone through a social revolution that we are about to experience again and if anyone can tell me that Disney Co. was anywhere near as financially stable when Walt died as it is now, show me how that math works. We don't think they are doing things right because they are different then back when we started to go, but it has been a long time since those days and yet we continue to worship at those steps which were nothing like what everyone seems to imagine. That's OK, if we want to, but being upset because the past is gone is a recipe for a never ending sadness and dampening of enjoyment.

 

[marni1971]

I apologize if it's already been brought up before, but...

Does it seem like the fans always seem to know what's best for the company, or at least for the parks?

Currently with present overall management there’s a valid argument that fans have a good idea what’s wrong with the parks.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Check. I never went to Epcot back in the day and my kids hated it when they were small. They wanted Mickey every where. I know we use to go to Ellen's ride simply to cool off and catch a nap but mainly Epcot was the afternoon park where we did the world show case and ate.
I wonder how the Epcot of the 80s would have faired with today's video loving, cell phone carrying pre teen today

In my opinion it would have gone over like a pay toilet in a diarrhea ward or a screen door in a submarine. It just quickly declined through out the 80's before the advent of phones that can seem to do everything and tell them anything they want to know in Nanoseconds with no death marches and standing in lines.

 

[SteveAZee]

Maybe it disappeared because that's not what the consumer wanted (just throwing that out, I have ZERO inside information) today. Could it be that Jane/Joe consumer wants IP in every park?? Maybe they don't want to be educated on vacation?

The Disney Institute would agree.

 

[Disone]

I apologize if it's already been brought up before, but...

Does it seem like the fans always seem to know what's best for the company, or at least for the parks? It seems like the fans think they know better than the powers that be do, and as such, they seem to believe that everything should be done their way, the fans' way, and no one else's. Is that true?

It can feel that way. But it's important to recognize that this forum is made of many different individual parts. One member posts about how they dislike "that". Another posts how they don't Approve of "those". Yet a third vents about the late policy regarding "these" and still another has very strong opinions about "this".

Read back to back it can feel like this forum does not approve of anything. But really those are for individuals voicing their opinions about four different things.

Some you agree with some you will not but all of them are valid topics. And the very reason this forum exists.

 

[erasure fan1]

Do the fans know best? Sometimes they do. I think you can learn a lot from a fan base as a collective. Does it really matter? Absolutely not. Disney is gonna Disney, no matter what anyone thinks.

I've seen a few times in this thread, people say the site scews negative. This is a discussion board about something a lot of people are extremely passionate about. I don't really think the board is overly negative. Are the people critical? 100% yes, as I would expect them to be. I've always said, it's fine to change, as long as the change is as good or better. I didn't create my expectations for Disney, Disney did. So if something isn't up to par, than I don't think calling it out is really being negative.

 

[mharrington]

Currently with present overall management there’s a valid argument that fans have a good idea what’s wrong with the parks.

The problem isn't so much fans seeing something wrong with the parks, it's that they seem to know what's going on better than management, and as such, they, the fans, should be the ones in charge.

 

[Inspired Figment]

The problem isn't so much fans seeing something wrong with the parks, it's that they seem to know what's going on better than management, and as such, they, the fans, should be the ones in charge.

So? Do you think someone with great management skills with a genuine passion & love for the parks & its legacy shouldn’t be in charge of Disney? And if so, why is that??
Tbh, Hardly anyone here believes they could genuinely handle the role of CEO. ‘However’ they ‘do’ believe there has to be a manager out there that’s capable for the job with the same/similar love, admiration, and respect for the parks that we have. And we can still judge the quality of new attractions & additions and from our own opinions on them from what we’ve seen Disney capable of before.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

The problem isn't so much fans seeing something wrong with the parks, it's that they seem to know what's going on better than management, and as such, they, the fans, should be the ones in charge.

No one believes that all us Joe and Jane Schmoes on a forum should take over as management at Disney. You're arguing against a strawman of your own creation.

 

[mharrington]

So? Do you think someone with great management skills with a genuine passion & love for the parks & its legacy shouldn’t be in charge of Disney? And if so, why is that??

Of course not. Absolutely, someone should be in charge with great management skills and a love of the parks and the legacy. The fact is, though, Disney, for better or worse, is in the business of making money and pleasing its shareholders, and I wish more people understand

 

[Inspired Figment]

Of course not. Absolutely, someone should be in charge with great management skills and a love of the parks and the legacy. The fact is, though, Disney, for better or worse, is in the business of making money and pleasing its shareholders, and I wish more people understand

The thing is though, we/they ‘do’ understand that. But we are arguing there are far better ways to please the shareholders long term. than simply focusing entirely on the short term only. The entire reason Disney even became successful at is has, has been entirely due to the standards they set & the legacy that’s went with that. All we’re saying is it seems redundant to completely/nearly disregard everything that put them on the map/made them the leaders in the industry to begin with, as it’d be far more efficient to stay true to those standards & make that profit/please their shareholders both short term ‘and’ long term as a result of that.

 

[Inspired Figment]

 

[marni1971]

Of course not. Absolutely, someone should be in charge with great management skills and a love of the parks and the legacy. The fact is, though, Disney, for better or worse, is in the business of making money and pleasing its shareholders, and I wish more people understand

They always have been. But they used to balance it better (and knew how to run a Disney theme park)

 

[Indy_UK]

I apologize if it's already been brought up before, but...

Does it seem like the fans always seem to know what's best for the company, or at least for the parks? It seems like the fans think they know better than the powers that be do, and as such, they seem to believe that everything should be done their way, the fans' way, and no one else's. Is that true?

Absolutely not. I feel the Uber fans do expect way too much sometimes. If it was down to those same fans, the parks would look the same as they did 20-30 years ago when they were young.

nostalgia is a drug for Disney fans but kids today would find that boring as hell

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I think you're confusing fans in general with fans as individuals.
Each fan knows what is best for them not collectively.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I apologize if it's already been brought up before, but...

Does it seem like the fans always seem to know what's best for the company, or at least for the parks? It seems like the fans think they know better than the powers that be do, and as such, they seem to believe that everything should be done their way, the fans' way, and no one else's. Is that true?

Define "know what's best". There are different perspectives to the question and each side has a valid argument depending on the desired outcome.

Most "fans" come from a position of "expectations" of a visit to DW. No Disney exec can ever make a decision on what they feel is "best for the parks" and base that decision on how my, or any other guest will react to that decision.

As an example:

To me "what's best for the parks" would be an upgrade in the quality of food and beverage. Let's say I want a higher quality steak. Even if it costs a little more.

To a Disney exec "what's best for the parks" is a standard quality steak - to keep product and distribution costs down.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Hypothetical: Kevin Feige announces tomorrow that he is retiring. Would anyone suggest that his replacement should be someone with no experience in movie making who has only seen a couple of the Marvel movies and wouldn’t be caught dead reading a comic book?