Kali River Rapids reopens.... and guess what??

[OFTeric]

I doubt Universal Orlando is capable of becoming "top resort" when it comes to attendance, due to the immense draw that Magic Kingdom has. Though I have no doubt that Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure will pass both DAK and DHS in terms of attendance. Both USF and IOA already passed DAK and DHS a long time ago when it comes to maintenance.

I don't think Universal wants to be the most attended park. I think they want to be best.

When you think about the Apple Model. They don't want to be everything to everyone, they really don't want to be the number computer manufacturer, phone maker, tablet maker.

Just like Mercedes Benz, BMW, Ferrari don't want to sell the most cars.

They want to sell the best cars, and charge the premium price for that product.

Universal's business strategy going forward matches that. They are trying to discount less, trying to offer the best product that when compared against everything else fails to compare.

Universal wants to make the most money, and they will do that by having the best product.

 

[OFTeric]

Can't blame the guests for thinking fountains are kiddie playgrounds with WDW building splash and soak playgrounds everywhere.

Just why people think their kids should strip their clothes off and run around half naked splashing about in every puddle they come across is beyond me (unless they live in the Alabama Backwoods), but then, I suppose this is the audience that a dumbned down WDW would come to attract. You can not re-imagine yourself from a quality middle class resort into a white trash / obnoxious South American / Eurotrash resort without consequence.

This is largely cultural differences. As someone who has lived in Eastern Europe where public fountains are meant for the public to enjoy, I can understand how international visitors would think that these fountains are made for their enjoyment, even though that isn't as cultural middle class America.

I think lumping people into offensive categories because you find it socially taboo is a bit closed minded.

While I am not the biggest fan of public fountain bathing, a vast majority of the world does enjoy it.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

You can't even compare that ride to Bilge Rats at Universal which is so much fun!

 

[hoke2007]

I HATE the excuse of not closing attractions down for refurbishment due to all the guests that would be inconvenienced. Refurbishments are a necessary part of maintaining the magic within Disney parks. I'd rather visit WDW and not be able to ride a few rides than be able to experience everything and then say, "meh, it looked like garbage." With that logic there shouldn't be any road construction. Just let all the roads turn to gravel!

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I HATE the excuse of not closing attractions down for refurbishment due to all the guests that would be inconvenienced. Refurbishments are a necessary part of maintaining the magic within Disney parks. I'd rather visit WDW and not be able to ride a few rides than be able to experience everything and then say, "meh, it looked like garbage." With that logic there shouldn't be any road construction. Just let all the roads turn to gravel!

Hey I am POed that the Mad Tea Party will be down, but hey, it is what it is. I do think they should be able to get refurbs done faster but that costs more money(more workers, overtime). I think it would be kinda smart if Disney treated the Early Months, January, Feb and March to just hunker down and do a bunch. Stager them a bit but let it be known, if you come then you will pay a lot less, but ride less too.

 

[hoke2007]

Hey I am POed that the Mad Tea Party will be down, but hey, it is what it is. I do think they should be able to get refurbs done faster but that costs more money(more workers, overtime). I think it would be kinda smart if Disney treated the Early Months, January, Feb and March to just hunker down and do a bunch. Stager them a bit but let it be known, if you come then you will pay a lot less, but ride less too.

That seems too logical for those in charge. From an outsiders perspective, it seems like they would be content with letting all the parks stagnate while jacking up prices for everything. But hey, we will get more meet-and-greets!

 

[J_Carioca]

M
My experience is yours. Maybe 1 in 10 times ill actually get wet. Out of the many many times I e road it, have gotten wet once. It's poorly designed

I think that's what makes it exciting. You know you will get a little wet, but you might get drenched from head to toe.

 

[aladdin2007]

All the sentiments here really need to be shared directly with Disney as time consuming as it is. Its great to discuss and sound off on here about it but its not going to do an ounce of good unless letters are sent or more people walk into guest relations etc. Not that those methods will change anything either, but the more letters/complaints they get the better. Just sayin.

 

[Alektronic]

I dunno ... how many management apologists have excused this already? Has anyone used New Fantasyland or MM+ as excuses?

I truly hate the attraction. Even told Joe Rohde that, which led to a 30-minute 'discussion' of what the original attraction was supposed to be (think real tigers, think twice the length etc). I haven't seen a need to ride it since Y2K. Still, I can't help but add to the piling on because after just skimming the thread it's obvious a typical WDW refurb.

In other words, do a basic cleaning, maybe some painting and deal with anything about to fail and then turn it back on.

IT IS GODAWFUL SHOW!!! No excuses are valid.

But that is par for the course at WDW ... wonder if Al Lutz has a clue (hey @Kevin Yee, you may want to point it out to him as he doesn't respond to me!) that DLR's new Prez, the nice-looking youngish fella selling popcorn (Michael Colglazier) has presided over the park that has all of its signature attractions in various states of disrepair.

But let's wait for Splash Mountain to open with filthy logs, missing and non-functioning AAs etc before we really get upset because that attraction used to be worth a visit to the MK by itself. And we all saw how great Disney took care of BTMRR!

I had similar conversations about Tiger Rapids Run with Jack Blitch and Ray Warner. It was supposed to be twice as long, had 3 drops instead of one, and supposed to go along the edge of the Discovery River also. It got butchered when they slashed the budget for DAK including Beastly Kingdom. In fact, a lot of the people working on Kali were working on the Dragon's Tower. The lead WDI Mechanical Engineer for Kali is now the Manager of Future World East Maintenance. The Manager of AK East Maintenance (Kali, EE, Dinosaur, Dino-Rama) was the opening team supervisor for Splash Mountain and he cared a lot more about show quality back then.

 

[HM Spectre]

At this point, I'm not sure TWDC can even be shamed into cleaning up its act. Remember that embarrassing article in that Florida newspaper about the broken yeti? It was pretty unsparing. How did WDW react? With a shrug and excuses. Pitiful.

If things keep deteriorating I think it'll happen eventually.

Think about it like a house... if you patch-fix problems with duct tape or leave a light bulb or two burned out, it's not a huge issue even though it's noticeable to those paying attention. When those bad fixes pile up so much that they eventually become the condition of the entire house though, it becomes a "dump" and dilapidation usually spurs (costly and timely) activity.

WDW is apparently well down that path... little things here and there might not be so noticeable by themselves but when they add up (and when BIG issues like the Yeti join the parade) people will eventually decide to head up the road to a place where quality is held at higher importance. It might not be shame (given that you have to care first to have shame about something) so much as a hit to the bottom line that gets things rolling but it should eventually have a breaking point.

It's just sad because it's MUCH cheaper to do preventative maintenance and keep things clean and working smoothly than it is to take a ride down for months for a refurb to fix little problems that have become big ones. Unfortunately, executives nowadays aren't compensated much on their ability to be forward thinking.

 

[BryceM]

I don't think Universal wants to be the most attended park. I think they want to be best.

When you think about the Apple Model. They don't want to be everything to everyone, they really don't want to be the number computer manufacturer, phone maker, tablet maker.

Just like Mercedes Benz, BMW, Ferrari don't want to sell the most cars.

They want to sell the best cars, and charge the premium price for that product.

Universal's business strategy going forward matches that. They are trying to discount less, trying to offer the best product that when compared against everything else fails to compare.

Universal wants to make the most money, and they will do that by having the best product.

Oh, no doubt.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I doubt Universal Orlando is capable of becoming "top resort" when it comes to attendance, due to the immense draw that Magic Kingdom has. Though I have no doubt that Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure will pass both DAK and DHS in terms of attendance. Both USF and IOA already passed DAK and DHS a long time ago when it comes to maintenance.

Wasn't the same thing said about Disneyland prior to Carsland opening? Now it's possible that DCA actually passed Epcot in attendance last year.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Not that I ride Kali very often, but haven't seen any mist on the ride anywhere in quite some time. Definitely not early last summer. I remember when the lift and first part of the ride were shrouded in a thick cloud of mist. It looked very cool and at least kind of made up for the lack of props or theming.

Does anyone know exactly when the fire effect was turned off? I just noticed that it wasn't working in a video that I made in 2011. It's a shame that the few effects that this ride has are being shut off or minimized. Half of the time the mist on the lift hill is turned off. The geyser fountain after the lift sometimes is turned off and never soaks guests anymore. Now the deforestation scene has been turned off. Whats left? Just the smoke smell. Very sad because I actually really like this ride, what little there is of it. Disney get your sh*t together!

The smoke smell and visible smoke clouds as seen in this video are still there. You can even see it from Everest sometimes. Just no fire. And there are significantly fewer trees on the ride now, especially the portion before the logging scene, than in that video. And, that was before this "refurbishment."

 

[RSoxNo1]

Why not???

Disneyland's Space Mountain was closed for two years in the mid 2000's. Last year Disneyland's Matterhorn (Everest's Coaster Great-Grandfather) was closed for six months. Right now Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland is closed for 10 months for a massive refurbishment. And all this while Disneyland Resort boasts record attendance, maxed out hotel occupancy, while CFO Jay Rasulo summed it up in a recent press conference... "The great success of Cars Land, both from a quality and from a quantity perspective in terms of attendance and pricing, has reflected itself in Disneyland Resort greatly outgrowing Walt Disney World," said Jay Rasulo, the company's financial officer... http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/california-496298-disney-disneyland.html

If WDW is the big, sprawling property that it's supposed to be, with a gazillion and one things to do, the Vacation Kingdom Of The World, then surely they can close one roller coaster for six months to get it fixed correctly for the next 50 years of proper Yeti operation. Or can they?

Disney doomed themselves by underbuilding DAK. Disneyland isn't underbuilt, and Space Mountain was structural unsafe when it was closed all of a sudden. Taking Thunder Mountain offline is a much better example. The park can handle it a lot easier than MK can. MK is probably 3 e-tickets short, and each of the other parks is at least 1 short of where they should be at this point in their growth.

Disney may think that the market is mature, but I think it's certainly reasonable with modest expansion for MK to reach 20 mil in attendance, Epcot to reach 15 mil, and DHS And DAK to reach 12.5 mil.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I don't think Universal wants to be the most attended park. I think they want to be best.

I don't think it's long before those two things aren't mutually exclusive. I don't expect Universal to be passing MK anytime soon, but I think it's very realistic to see the Universal parks pass some Disney parks.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Can't blame the guests for thinking fountains are kiddie playgrounds with WDW building splash and soak playgrounds everywhere.

Just why people think their kids should strip their clothes off and run around half naked splashing about in every puddle they come across is beyond me (unless they live in the Alabama Backwoods), but then, I suppose this is the audience that a dumbned down WDW would come to attract. You can not re-imagine yourself from a quality middle class resort into a white trash / obnoxious South American / Eurotrash resort without consequence.

Heh, you know, I was thinking about starting a thread regarding this but deemed it might just sound too offensive. I am not saying every American guest is trashy, every South American guest is obnoxious, and every European guest is Eurotrash, but these days in the parks its something that is kind of hard to ignore - these classes of people continue to make up a bigger and bigger percentage of the attendance at WDW.

Contrast to my experience at Disneyland - while I only was there for less than a week last year, one of the most unexpected differences I felt was overall a much classier and more respectful clientele than what WDW of today gets.

 

[TP2000]

Disney doomed themselves by underbuilding DAK. Disneyland isn't underbuilt, and Space Mountain was structural unsafe when it was closed all of a sudden. Taking Thunder Mountain offline is a much better example. The park can handle it a lot easier than MK can. MK is probably 3 e-tickets short, and each of the other parks is at least 1 short of where they should be at this point in their growth.

Good point. Although I would think using Disneyland as the model that MK is 3 E-Tickets, 2 D-Tickets, 4 C-Tickets, and a couple of B-Tickets short. There's a whole lot of rides missing at MK compared to the ride roster at Disneyland.

But if you've got four theme parks, two water parks, and all that other recreation to spread the crowds that closing on E Ticket for six months to get it ready for the next 50 years would be manageable.

 

[TP2000]

Contrast to my experience at Disneyland - while I only was there for less than a week last year, one of the most unexpected differences I felt was overall a much classier and more respectful clientele than what WDW of today gets.

You encountered the typical modern Disneyland crowd, which I find to be a mixture of...

• SoCal Locals with respect for the park and Walt Disney who created it for them
• Affluent tourists from Western US states and Canadian provinces for whom a few days at Disneyland is just part of their broader family trip experiencing the great cultural and natural wonders of Southern California (these are smart people who live in stunning natural splendor already, and they know the best things to see in life don't require Fastpass, but Disneyland is a fun stop)
• Japanese/Taiwanese/Korean/Australian/New Zealand tourists who are tacking a day or two at Disneyland onto grand USA trips-of-a-lifetime.
• Plus a smattering of English and western European tourists, again on a grand "See The USA!" vacation package.

The South Americans seem to avoid Southern California, at least for group tour packages.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Waitaminute here. "The Foundation is Cracked" is not an excuse. You really cant shut down Everest for six months to fix the Yeti. Just not feasable.

While you received a lot of flak for this, I'll rush to your defense!

WDW doesn't operate as a whole. No, DAK is operated as a seperate entity. With a vice-president solely responsible for DAK. If Michael Colglazier (DAK vice-president until last month) had closed Everest for six months in the three years he had been DAK vice-president, then indeed guests would've simply gone to the other WDW parks instead. BUT...DAK's attendance would've taken a major beating, and DAK would not have been the park that in a complete surprise move overtook DHS to become third park in Orlando - which it did under Michael Colglazier's watch. And he woudn't have been made president of the entire DL resort on account of this spectacular result.

This is why nonsense such as is the sorry state of Kali happens. The man responsible got rewarded for it. The other vice-presidents at WDW all have taken notice: TWDC promotes those who increase the numbers of their own unit, and do so in the short term. Unless you want to be the village idiot, a WDW manager knows: the good of the whole or of the long term be damned.

 

[Clever Name]

Any one remember Iron Eyes Cody (the Italian actor) in the PSA "Keep America Beautiful" tv ads? I picture Walt, standing on the walls of Cinderella castle, looking sadly over the expanse of WDW, with that single tear slowly slipping down his cheek.

I know, a bit dramatic, but I do feel that way myself at times.