George's Epic WDW predictions

speck76

speck76

Well-Known Member
tirian said:
It's also extremely bad show to overhear some CMs onstage talking about how little they get paid. Unfortunately, if it weren't true, they wouldn't have to complain...
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99% of workers will never be happy with what they make.

Pressing a button to launch a boat on IaSW was never meant to be a career.....
 
Krenshar

Krenshar

New Member
NadieMasK2 said:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Are you sure you are not my husband under another name!! He is EXACTLY like you! A real technical guy! Sometimes can't see the forest through the trees. And did you see how close we are...I work in Westfield!
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Hey now...watch what you're saying. ;)
 
SpenceMan01

SpenceMan01

Well-Known Member
I think another thing that hasn't been mentioned is the bottom line. When management/the board/etc. becomes short sighted and only looks at the bottom line, you get attractions/experiences/etc. that might make a quick buck (or not), but don't stand the test of time and have little to know return value.

I think a great example of this is Stitch's Great Escape. Sure, many will argue that the concept was doomed from the beginning and never should have gotten out of blue sky. I think the budget was also at work here. When WDI began bidding for the job, they were quoting (approximately, I think) $25 million. In the end, WDI ended up with a budget that was about half that, most of which going to the Stitch AA's. Animation for the preshow had to be outsourced, storylines were probably rushed, and so on.

I personally believe that given the opportunity and the budget, WDI could have really turned SGE into something cool. It could have become something that drew people back, trip after trip, but only if the 'suits' would have had the foresight to invest more funds into it. Think about it... would the saturation of Stitch at WDW made as many people upset had the attraction been a wildly popular success?

I think the 'suits' need to shift focus to the long term, despite what shareholders may think. In the long run, it will be better for the company, better for the shareholders, and better for the guests.

That's my $.02
 
GenerationX

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
peter11435 said:
No punch line. That’s my honest opinion. As Ben Franklin says in the American Adventure "the golden age never was the present age." You see when you look back things always seem better, but in reality they rarely were. Other posters are 100% right that most of the problem today is the Internet. The fact is lights went out and things stopped working in the 70's. The only difference now is that you don't only have one chance to see these problems on your annual trip. Now even those who only go once a year have the power to know every little flaw on WDW property. Not to mention the fact that in the 70's on your once a year trip if you say a light out at Mk you just assumed it would be replaced the next day. And most times you had no way of knowing if it had or had not. Now with the power of the Internet it has become possible to track every little light out (read: flaw of any kind) from start to finish (read: being fixed).

The other problem is that at 20-30 years ago most of us on this board were most likely kids/teenagers in the early days of WDW. I don't think that issure needs explained.
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I agree completely. As for the human tendency to look at the past with rose-colored glasses, Paul Simon said it best in "Kodachrome":

If you took all the girls that I knew when I was single
Brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match my sweet imagination
Everything looks worse in black-and-white.
 
speck76

speck76

Well-Known Member
SpenceMan01 said:
I think another thing that hasn't been mentioned is the bottom line. When management/the board/etc. becomes short sighted and only looks at the bottom line, you get attractions/experiences/etc. that might make a quick buck (or not), but don't stand the test of time and have little to know return value.

I think a great example of this is Stitch's Great Escape. Sure, many will argue that the concept was doomed from the beginning and never should have gotten out of blue sky. I think the budget was also at work here. When WDI began bidding for the job, they were quoting (approximately, I think) $25 million. In the end, WDI ended up with a budget that was about half that, most of which going to the Stitch AA's. Animation for the preshow had to be outsourced, storylines were probably rushed, and so on.

I personally believe that given the opportunity and the budget, WDI could have really turned SGE into something cool. It could have become something that drew people back, trip after trip, but only if the 'suits' would have had the foresight to invest more funds into it. Think about it... would the saturation of Stitch at WDW made as many people upset had the attraction been a wildly popular success?

I think the 'suits' need to shift focus to the long term, despite what shareholders may think. In the long run, it will be better for the company, better for the shareholders, and better for the guests.

That's my $.02
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But is SGE the rule, or the exception?

One thing I have noticed is that the big complainers that used to frequent these parts would always focus on the one or two misses, but ignore the hits.

Look at the other newer attractions....EE, Soarin, LMAX, Philharmagic, Mission Space......they can't be compared with Stitch
 
NadieMasK2

NadieMasK2

Active Member
Krenshar said:
Hey now...watch what you're saying. ;)
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LOL :lol:

Guess you never know who could be lurking around these parts!

I agree with what others have said about the post 9/11 slump. However I feel that we are on the verge of a return to glory, and with new management and the creative minds of Pixar it should be an exciting time!
 
wannab@dis

wannab@dis

Well-Known Member
:lol:

I didn't really notice that there were fewer topiaries, but I did think there were some really good ones last December. Maybe they are going for quality now instead of quantity. *shrug*
 
Laura

Laura

22
wannab@dis said:
:lol:

I didn't really notice that there were fewer topiaries, but I did think there were some really good ones last December. Maybe they are going for quality now instead of quantity. *shrug*
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Well, some lady on our tour (KTK) was really hung up about the number of topiaries. Personally, I have never paid a bit of attention to how many there are. :lol:
 
JimboJones123

JimboJones123

Well-Known Member
ASJHLJ said:
Here is my main question – Is the quality of WDW slowing declining? I don’t know if it is true or not, but I thought a general discussion about this would be nice. I’ve seen countless allusions to this on other threads (i.e. someone will claim that such and such isn’t as good as it used to be and some people will agree with them and some won’t). I sometimes feel as though the quality of the WDW experience has declined over the years, but I could be wrong. Since I’m about to give you my take on things, you should know what lenses I am looking at the WDW experience through. I don’t work for WDW, I’m not privy to inside information, I don’t know anyone important (relative to Disney) first hand. However, I do love Disney and have been going to WDW since ffice:smarttags" /><ST1:place><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:place> was the only park. When I was in high school, my friends and I got off season passes ($50 at the time) so we could go to that new park – EPCOT all the time. I also like the two Universal parks, but Disney is my first love and I root for them (much as I root for a sports team). Now – Here are my reasons I think some of us could feel that WDW is declining (I should note – I don’t think it has declined a lot. I still have a great time when I vacation there).
1) I’m older. It could just be that. As a middle aged man, I’ve seen a lot more, traveled a lot more and am harder to please. Also, I’m now the family patriarch and now care a lot more when I pay 5 bucks for a churro.
2) WDW has gotten too big. Mixed emotions here. I think part of the grandeur of WDW is its size and I get excited every time something new opens. However, the size has diluted things to some degree. When the two newer parks opened they weren’t any where near as attraction dense as their older siblings. The monorails weren’t extended to the two nearer parks or nearby deluxe resorts. More employees almost certainly decreases the level of pickiness about hires and increases the chances of getting someone who is rude or doesn’t know anything. Going to WDW has become like going to my local hardware store. There is a 2.6 in ten chance that I’m going to get an employee that knows more than me.
3) The existence of Universal. I know this may be controversial, but I think the fact that two pretty good theme parks that seem to be cheaper to maintain and don’t/haven’t had an ownership group into theme parks as much as Disney kind of hurts Disney in a subconscious way. Especially the existence of the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. The ride has been around for 7 years and I still haven’t seen anything better. If I were to rank the top 5 attractions in Orlando, Disney would hold spots 2-5, but AAS would be number 1 and I’d have to include some other Universal attractions in the top ten.
4) Shoddier maintenance. I don’t know if this is true, but upkeep sure doesn’t seem to be as good as when I was a kid/teenager. Dinosaur is a shining example of this. Before I stumbled on this website, I was writing reviews of theme park attractions (for fun, just as a theme park fan) on another website and I found Dinosaur to be almost impossible to rate. I mean when everything works, it is awesome. But if something only works 15% of the time do all the awesome effects matter?
Anyhoo, I really do love Disney and would like to have a constructive debate on this. On a side note – I’m a scientist so I’m used to my thoughts/ideas being picked apart. What would bother me more is if no one responded to this thread. I’m not going to be able to check for a while, so please don’t assume if I don’t respond in the next few hours that I posted this and quit caring. Quite the opposite, this website is such an entertaining diversion for me that it concerns the wife.
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churros aren't five bucks -- don't get the first point wrong in your big opus -- you look the fool!
 
rd0127

rd0127

New Member
Last March (2005), was our first time to Disney and it was MAGICAL! We are going again this year (03/2006)! We have a disabled daughter and we have had many people tell us that this was the vacation place for her. Well, I can honestly say, they were 100% right. NO WHERE on earth (vacation wise), is more accomodating to guest with special needs and I truly believe my whole family believes it is a magical place! :)
 
KrazyKemp

KrazyKemp

Member
The quality of Disney parks has not gone down...if you compare quality of rides, atmosphere, employee friendliness, and overall number of potential problems that never come up....Disney is very much still in the top spot.

Walking around Disney World next time, look on the ground. A CM walks over that area of ground once every 15 or so minutes, just sweeping and cleaning.

Universal's quality is much lower than Disney's...having gone there last year, most of their top rides were either broken, or shut down every 10 minutes. I waited in line for the Mummy ride for 2 hours, when the sign said 30 minutes. (mechanical problems) And even got stuck in the middle of the ride as well.

Disney almost never has ride problems...and that is because they care enough to think of the attraction as just that. It is not a "ride" to Disney-goers it is an adventure.

You will not find quality like Disney's anywhere else...that is why competitors study Disney...trying to be better...
 
George

George

Liker of Things
Premium Member
Original Poster
Epcot82Guy said:
You are my new hero. This is pretty much my life. Analyze everything, love Disney because of that, entertaining-based food as a hobby. How odd that I grew up in South Bend and went to school less than an hour from you guys at DePauw! Maybe it's the water there! :p

Anyway, let me know if you ever want a pick-apart vacation. Analyzing everything is lots of fun, especially when things actually have some layers to peel back.

I am waiting for the day, though, when I will be the one staring at my child's screen asking if we are going to Disney World, though. ha ha
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Sounds like an offer I can't pass up. Unfortunately, we have another thing in common. I'm about to go on a long Disney dry spell (I believe you said its been 3.5 years in this thread or another?). I've decided to wait until both kids are out of diapers. However, I think I've talked the wife into a quick day at DAK next time we're in Florida provided we can talk the grandparents into watching the kids. That way we can get a few EE rides in and I could feel that I was staying partially up to date.
Anyhoo - getting read to start the hellish commute.
 

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