I’m 29.
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I think “The Magic” is mostly gone for me…
- Thread starter Mike S
- Start date
Perhaps that was referencing my post where I touched on that.
jloucks
Well-Known Member
WDW has a significant opportunity cost associated with it. There are so many other things to see and do in the world, and for the cost of WDW there is nothing stopping you if you are willing to venture out of your comfort zone.
Hawaii was amazing, and for us just a little more expensive than WDW. We helicoptered around the volcanoes which was much better than any ride at WDW or Uni.
CaptainAmerica
Well-Known Member
I wasn't being literal or addressing anyone in particular, just making the general point that many of us have been visiting Walt Disney World for decades. While it's true that the parks have changed in those years, so have each of us as individuals.
CaptainAmerica
Well-Known Member
I don't think any person, even the most hardcore pixie-duster, has ever suggested that you should only go to Walt Disney World for vacations and nowhere else.
I’m wondering if you even read my post because I touched on this briefly.
Kamikaze
Well-Known Member
This is comedy, right? You list attractions but of the first 5 you talk about, 3 are the absolute worst. Longing for Universe of Energy? It was an ad for OIL COMPANIES. It was awful. I don't see how any one can possibly miss it.I recently returned from a trip to the parks last weekend and, well, the title says it all. It’s still a fun place to go, don’t get me wrong, but that feeling is kind of gone now. The “Disney Difference” is only found in a few attractions still left over from what seems to now be a bygone era. Strangely enough I did find great enjoyment with the CircleVision films in World Showcase which we don’t always do.
Moving on though attractions like Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, and Test Track seem to be in terrible shape. Dinosaur has a ton of busted AAs, timing on the lighting is completely off in some areas, and what used to be a deafening roar from the photo Carnotaurus has been severely muted. We were held for far too long at both track switches on Everest and our car crawled through the mountainous handling test(?) on Test Track. I don’t know what’s causing these issues.
Then, the realization that these parks are just simply changing from what I used to know. The absence of The Great Movie Ride and Universe of Energy hit once again while gazing at Splash Mountain undergoing construction and seeing how the tree at the top being removed throws off the entire forced perspective. There’s also the idea that Dinoland will be leaving for Moana and Zootopia which could likely be why Dinosaur has been allowed to get to the shape it’s currently in. As a man that loved Dinosaurs as a child and still does to this very day, this is going to hurt after having already lost UoE. Rise of the Resistance and the Millenium Falcon are also in rough shape concerning their animatronics which also brings me to my next point.
The newer rides that have opened the past few years, while fun and impressive, don’t feel “Disney.” The only major ride that does imo is Flight of Passage. Guardians really feels like Disney trying to be Universal and even with Rise being as technically impressive as it is I think it could fall into that camp as well a bit. The Falcon remains a fun video game like ride but you really need to be a pilot to have the most fun with it (right pilot for hyperspace). Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway is a fun ride that should’ve been an addition and not a replacement. Disneyland wins on that case. Tron is fun and the inside portion is cool but if I had the choice of what to bring from Shanghai it would’ve definitely been Pirates. I hope Tiana is worthy of what it’s replacing. I really, really do.
To end this little rant I will give a few positives. I’ve heard the animatronics had some work done in the American Adventure and it definitely shows. I don’t know if I missed It’s a Small World getting a refurb but it looks better than I’ve seen in a LONG time. The lighting package on Spaceship Earth is fantastic. The new Jungle Cruise which I was finally able to see was a much better update than the auction scene in Pirates and I had possibly one of the top Skippers EVER. She was a riot
I know Disney can still deliver but it seems for the most part they just refuse to make the right decisions these days. I don’t know, maybe I’m just trying to chase something that was never there in the first place. Maybe “The Magic” is just being a kid and now that I’m almost 30 I’ll never be able to replicate it with a place like Disney. The closest I’ve felt to that feeling of amazement in recent years was a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana with my father.
These thoughts have been buzzing around my head the last few days and I just wanted to put them out there and possibly discuss them further. I’m going to get some sleep now since I’m writing this pretty late lol.
I explained why later. Reading comprehension is your friend.
ppete1975
Well-Known Member
I think when you go matters as well. I went mid April and although i wasnt able to drop all my stresses and totally immerse myself as I had before was more my fault, for not allowing myself to relax (something im working on, although the older we all get its harder for us all). But it was wonderful, lowish crowds I was able to do anything I wanted as often as I wanted without genie plus.
But if I had gone in a busier time with higher crowds, I am sure my impression would have been different.
But if I had gone in a busier time with higher crowds, I am sure my impression would have been different.
Kamikaze
Well-Known Member
'Explaining' doesn't mean anything. It was a bad attraction. Period. Missing it is absolutely bonkers.
Just because something is old doesn't make it classic.
I mean, I would have replaced Test Track and Dinosaur first, but those are garbage level attractions as well.
I’m definitely able to relax and have fun while there.
I think what some people are missing is that I don’t purposely look for faults to ruin my own experience. They simply jump out at me because I’ve been so many times and know how things are generally supposed to operate it’s hard NOT to notice.
So update it like they did in the past. I may have enjoyed it but I’ll also be the first to tell you it wasn’t perfect. Guardians could’ve easily been in the same spot but use the old Wonders of Life as it’s entrance.
WondersOfLife
Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
I get my dose of Disney Magic over at Universal these days.... Kind of odd, really.
threvester
Well-Known Member
Disney stopped being as magical the minute i started being the one paying.
Universal is definitely on the up but they’re still far from Disney’s old standard, at least imo.
ppete1975
Well-Known Member
So I do have a question about Energy. I first went in 1983. And loved the ride, and it might have been my favorite when i was 8. But by the time that it was removed, its time was over. IF you read tourist guides or reviews, they told you to skip it, with its too long of a ride time (in todays world of short attention spans), people used it for the ac and to sleep.
The ride cost alot to run, and was usually 25 percent full (kind of like the star cruiser), a refurb wouldnt have helped it as it still would have been really long, with a ride mechanism that would always be a slow ride first watching a movie then a short ride through animatronics. No matter what they did, it would have been a D style ride in a location, cost and size that needed to be an A or B.
So my question, when does nostalgia outrank reality?
COP and other rides that have some of the same faults are saved due to history. While being an opening day attraction at Epcot and 35ish years later, it didnt qualify for that same historical status imho.
Kamikaze
Well-Known Member
It was never good. So the answer to your question is day 1.
shambolicdefending
Well-Known Member
There's a small pack of kids that have been oddly following my wife and I around for a few years now, and I can tell you unequivocally that Disney parks are just as magical for them today as they were for me 30+ years ago.
I also have vague memories of my parents complaining about "modern" Disney spoiling the magic for them during our trips in the 80s and 90s.
This is not to say that there aren't major magic-spoiling issues in the company today that can and should be better. There certainly are, and good keyboard warriors should continue to call them out.
But, there is something to the idea that we can sometimes find ourselves chasing a childhood memory that was probably never real to begin with.
I also have vague memories of my parents complaining about "modern" Disney spoiling the magic for them during our trips in the 80s and 90s.
This is not to say that there aren't major magic-spoiling issues in the company today that can and should be better. There certainly are, and good keyboard warriors should continue to call them out.
But, there is something to the idea that we can sometimes find ourselves chasing a childhood memory that was probably never real to begin with.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
Depends where in WDW you ate then and where you eat now.
I remember eating in the Contemporary's cafeteria (prob late 1970's). WDW's cafeteria was very good compared to other cafeterias of that time period.
Disney quick serve burgers (1980's) were not good, but the type/quality of burgers and fries they served were not uncommon for that era.
Alas though, I also remember the few times we dined in what is now California Grill. Food there was excellent!
When Epcot was young, the World Showcase restaurants had comparatively great food for that era.
WDW food quality has had numerous ups and downs over the last 20 years. On my most recent visit this spring, some food was very good, some was terrible.
The food we were served at Pinocchio's was nearly inedible. Hot food was not hot, and cold food was not cold. The pizza was room temp, the chicken strips were rubbery, and we were not late picking up our food.