Kevin Yee Reports - All the missing curtains

[TarzanRocked99-]

Or you know, it's just a natural occurrence. I enjoy myself immensely when I'm there. But it's hard not to notice the obvious things like swatches of lights out, shoddily maintained attractions, and parts of the park looking tired. Has nothing to do with looking for it, and everything to do with just seeing it.

Are people just supposed to overlook it because they're on vacation? I don't. I was raised on a Disney that didn't accept burnt out lightbulbs and broken effects. And honestly I want that Disney back for my kid's. Which is why I'll probably take them to DLR when the time comes. Because WDW isn't that Disney anymore.


First of all, the MK is basically the only park this is applicable to, and even then 3/4 is a gross overstatement.

And while the MSUSA refurbs are nice, that's where most of the maintenance has stopped. Rides and attractions are still neglected resort wide due to minimal maintenance staffing and budget cuts.

Absolutely agreed and its certainly a uniquely WDW problem and one thats gradually worsened since right after the Millennium Celebration. As someone whose profession depends on selling the Disney Difference, I cannot tell you how disheartening things have gotten as of late and the most alarming part is how many people are starting to notice it. When your clients use the words tired and dated when referring to Disney you have a real problem on your hands. Meanwhile you continue to watch the trend of outsourcing and lower maintenance standards grow.

I leave Friday for my second trip out to DLR in the past six months, I am becoming hooked on the place as it still gives me the Disney Quality and Magic I grew up on. Its sad that I have to travel all the way across the country to find that now.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

While I had been to WDW before 2004.....2004 was the first year that began annual trips to WDW and later on as an AP Holder. I've gone to WDW between 2004 and 2011 with different family members and friends, only two which were familiar with much of WDW like I was. By 2011 it was becoming obvious to myself and my family and friends that WDW was not the place we knew it from the 90s and 80s and for some relatives as early as 1973.

My family and friends were actually feeling ripped off. Prices going up everywhere, yet barely any unique merchandise that you couldn't find resort-wide among a lack luster food selection. One of them demanded we go off property and eat at a higher end restaurant for less. :lookaroun Yeah that was a fun trip that year (2009).

As mention before and as some other WDWMAGICEARS have said, I too have not newed my AP. I haven't been to WDW since the summer of 2011 and have no interest in going back anytime soon.

I actually feel kind of sad thinking about it. I used to love going there, but barely anything changes and I'm one of those fanboys that goes gaga when they refurb classic rides the right way like haunted mansion 2007, the morgan freeman version of the hall of presidents, tiki room 2.0, and the digitally remastered version of impressions de france. But...70s parade, old fireworks shows, old floats, tired stage shows....magic...dreams....memories....the same basic marketing gigs that have been going on for about 5 years now in various forms? No....sorry, not interested.

Had more fun watching all the plathora of halloween and christmas seasonal displays at Disneyland Paris, plus all of that is FREE and still offers you MORE. Plus the great range of restaurants from counter to sit down where you still feel like a king eating at toad hall at disneyland paris and getting great proportions for your euros. (I was going to say dollars, but that would have been awkward :lol: )

Sorry kids, next stop Disneyland USA this summer when DCA's expansion opens.


WDW is not the vacation kingdom it was...and hasn't that "where dreams come true" banner been on the entry archs for a few years now...poor thing is bleaching in the sun. I love Disney and love Disney Theme Parks, but the management of WDW has turned a place that offered classy and upkept service into a generic cash cow of tired entertainment or classic attractions such as country bears and carousel of progress that need refurbs desperately, but screw that when you can look at TV monitors on it's a small world and your build-a-doll.

Well spoken.

 

[Mickey_777]

There are things being done at EPCOT and DTD besides it's MK that gets all the flak most of the time which explains all of the walls.

The details are also what I love about the parks so I'm not happy when things aren't up to snuff. I just don't recall ever noticing anything wrong until these threads "reprogrammed" me to look for stuff I never did before and in a way it sucks. One thing is Yety but another is to purposefully look under a handrail and complain/report about a piece of gum that's been there for more than a day. Some things are like "Really?"...there's gotta be better things to do with you time when you're at the park.

 

[disney fan 13]

There are things being done at EPCOT and DTD besides it's MK that gets all the flak most of the time which explains all of the walls.

The details are also what I love about the parks so I'm not happy when things aren't up to snuff. I just don't recall ever noticing anything wrong until these threads "reprogrammed" me to look for stuff I never did before and in a way it sucks. One thing is Yety but another is to purposefully look under a handrail and complain/report about a piece of gum that's been there for more than a day. Some things are like "Really?"...there's gotta be better things to do with you time when you're at the park.

Epcot is getting one refurb just cause of GM, so lets make that clear... And DTD is just getting exterior refurbs exempt for the lounge they are doing in the rain forest cafe it...

 

[xdan0920]

There are things being done at EPCOT and DTD besides it's MK that gets all the flak most of the time which explains all of the walls.

The details are also what I love about the parks so I'm not happy when things aren't up to snuff. I just don't recall ever noticing anything wrong until these threads "reprogrammed" me to look for stuff I never did before and in a way it sucks. One thing is Yety but another is to purposefully look under a handrail and complain/report about a piece of gum that's been there for more than a day. Some things are like "Really?"...there's gotta be better things to do with you time when you're at the park.

You are right and wrong. Yes these threads may have you thinking about the maintenance issues more. But the fact is, there are more maintenance issues then before. The reason there are so many threads like this, is because there are so many issues.

 

[Mickey_777]

Epcot is getting one refurb just cause of GM, so lets make that clear... And DTD is just getting exterior refurbs exempt for the lounge they are doing in the rain forest cafe it...

Not just attractions. Tutto Italia is being worked on and Katsura grill was just finished up.

 

[Mickey_777]

You are right and wrong. Yes these threads may have you thinking about the maintenance issues more. But the fact is, there are more maintenance issues then before. The reason there are so many threads like this, is because there are so many issues.

Not in my case. I've been visiting regularly since 2008. That's withing the "TDO sucks more than ever" window

 

[xdan0920]

Not in my case. I've been visiting regularly since 2008. That's withing the "TDO sucks more than ever" window

What do you mean?

 

[Alektronic]

Anyway, point here is while that column may have showed just how pathetic SQS (do they even exist in O-Town anymore?) are at WDW, it also raved about Disney's latest NEXT GEN push.

Do they care about curtains or laugh them off as obsessive crazy fanbois complaining or do they care about a $1.3 billion (and rising) NEXT GEN project more? Think about it.

SQS is still there and they still do their job, but you would be amazed about how many things are on the list just for a normal attraction.

BUT, then turn over the list to Engineering Services (Maintenance Management) to be corrected then management decides what to be fixed or not. Maybe nobody notices besides SQS, so just turn it off or we don't have the parts so why fix something that nobody notices, etc.

 

[Mickey_777]

What do you mean?

I mean that I've been going to WDW regularly only in the past 4 years. You say maintenance has gotten worse but I assume you mean the glory days that everybody speaks of (mid 90's and before). I only went to the parks once during that time period so the way things are now is pretty much all I know.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Besides 3/4 of WDW is behind walls and tarps right now. So anybody who still says TDO does nothing (not saying it's you), can also go to jail. .

One of those tarps was for work on the exterior of the candy shop. Kevin reported on Facebook today that the work is "finished." Yet the conveyor inside the store that has been broken for who knows how long...still broken.

These tarps may be better than "nothing," but they are cheapened, "only do what is absolutely necessary" maintenance.

If you think that the attention to small details and immaculate maintenance are still factors in WDW, simply because there are tarps around, you are kidding yourself.

 

[flynnibus]

I don't mind a show effect being broken - as long as it's corrected.

The problem with these 'report every problem' ideas people have is.. you also need to report when they are fixed. You also need to differentiate between 'down for the day' vs 'down for the week' etc.

Making a Show Quality list for something like the size of WDW would just be insane. Heck, trying to do it for a single attraction is difficult.

To the problem on hand.. I think the missing effects are significant - they alter the show. The flying stage/backdrop in Philharmagic and reveal are the most significant physical effects in the show.

However we must be able to make a distinction between REMOVING effects and letting effects sit broken for too long.

If Disney actually cared about their show standards, they'd quickly find how expensive it is to fix things 'on demand' with quick turnaround. But if you are not motivated to fix things quickly.. you'll never see that cost implication (or at least, far less of it).

It's that lack of urgency I think that needs to be corrected. If that were true top down, the budget would make itself appear.

 

[jakeman]

As mention before and as some other WDWMAGICEARS have said, I too have not newed my AP. I haven't been to WDW since the summer of 2011 and have no interest in going back anytime soon.

As a consumer, that's what should be done if you are unhappy with a product.

If the product is not the desired quality for the price you pay you should cease to purchase the product.

It's really that simple, especially in the case of WDW where nothing that is produced there is a necessity.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Heck, 90% of why they are fixing up Main Street is due to it being captured on video of various events and promotions. Gotta make it look pretty kids! :wave: Let's not talk about the streaks of mold and mildew you can find throughout tomorrow, or the bird droppings all over the railings on the TTA or the rusted out boxes that are supposed to protect the magnetic tracks.

Looking back at all the interesting and unique stores that have existed on main street, it has turned into a shopping mall with a victorian theme. There's no essence of turn of the era main street. Thank God they still have the trolly show and the mayor walks around. They don't run nearly as many vehicles as they do anymore. You'll still find all the different vehicles running at DL USA and DL Paris. Most of the sound effects coming from the second floor windows of main street at the MK don't work anymore, yet you can hear them just fine at DLP on a busy day. Anyone remember the party line phone in one of the main street MK stores? that was removed years ago, and there's just a few penny arcade machines left at the train station, 2 of which have been broken since 2010.

Don't even get me started on the queue windows in space mountain's fast pass line. Since the spring of 2011 the projects on the spheres to form Mars and the Moon have been turned off, just revealing balls on a stick, and the cookie astroid effect has been broken too...let's not talk about the pealing paint that has been in the queue since 2010 or in Buzz and has yet to be repaired.

 

[devoy1701]

I mean that I've been going to WDW regularly only in the past 4 years. You say maintenance has gotten worse but I assume you mean the glory days that everybody speaks of (mid 90's and before). I only went to the parks once during that time period so the way things are now is pretty much all I know.

if you've only been going regularly since 2008, then TDO's maitenance has actually improved since then. But that's because they realized (or not) that they can't get away with not doing anything...so now they're doing the bare minimum.

I hate the DL vs. WDW card...but the best way to tell the difference is to take back-to-back trips to DL and WDW (or even better, TDL and WDW as some people have been able to).

And everyone here is right...you really don't have to "look" to see the problems...they stare at you straight in the face. WDW has shifted from a "let's fix things before they give us a problem" mindset to "we're only going to let you fix something after it breaks and ONLY if people notice AND complains about it. If someone mentions it BUT doesn't complain...we don't have to fix it yet."

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I mean that I've been going to WDW regularly only in the past 4 years. You say maintenance has gotten worse but I assume you mean the glory days that everybody speaks of (mid 90's and before). I only went to the parks once during that time period so the way things are now is pretty much all I know.

That's actually big of you to realize... If you're not being sarcastic. I don't think you are.

I know you've probably read it plenty by folks here, but if you want something to compare WDW to, compare it against itself. Try making your next trip to DL instead of WDW. They do an INSANE amount of things right out there. There are still issues, to be sure... But they just don't jump out at you like at WDW. Especially with Carsland and Radiator Springs Racers opening this Summer, giving DL a turn in the "vacation rotation" is really a great way to "cleanse the palate" and get a breath of fresh air.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

if you've only been going regularly since 2008, then TDO's maitenance has actually improved since then. But that's because they realized (or not) that they can't get away with not doing anything...so now they're doing the bare minimum.

I hate the DL vs. WDW card...but the best way to tell the difference is to take back-to-back trips to DL and WDW (or even better, TDL and WDW as some people have been able to).

And everyone here is right...you really don't have to "look" to see the problems...they stare at you straight in the face. WDW has shifted from a "let's fix things before they give us a problem" mindset to "we're only going to let you fix something after it breaks and ONLY if people notice AND complains about it. If someone mentions it BUT doesn't complain...we don't have to fix it yet."

D'OH! I just posted virtually the same thing as you. :lol: My bad.

When I really got bothered by some things at WDW, I did exactly what you are saying. I went to DL. When I loved that, I thought "Well... I wonder what it's like in Tokyo?" and I went there. Perfection. Absolute perfection. Then I thought "What about Paris?" and went there. And Hong Kong.

The amount of money WDW was getting from me yearly was sizeable. That was 3 years ago. I've only been to WDW twice since then, which for me is not much. DL has gotten my money, and will continue to do so.

 

[devoy1701]

That's actually big of you to realize... If you're not being sarcastic. I don't think you are.

I know you've probably read it plenty by folks here, but if you want something to compare WDW to, compare it against itself. Try making your next trip to DL instead of WDW. They do an INSANE amount of things right out there. There are still issues, to be sure... But they just don't jump out at you like at WDW. Especially with Carsland and Radiator Springs Racers opening this Summer, giving DL a turn in the "vacation rotation" is really a great way to "cleanse the palate" and get a breath of fresh air.

to this point 20k... I don't know when the next time we plan on visiting WDW is (and we only live 60 miles away) but I am planning a trip back to DL already for after Carsland is opened.

It's those little details that matter. It may not seem like a big deal to some when an effect or two are broken on an attraction, but the end result of all of those details when they are working and properly maintained makes a huge difference in enjoying and appreciating what has been done. I get that feeling over at Disneyland.

 

[Mickey_777]

That's actually big of you to realize... If you're not being sarcastic. I don't think you are.

I know you've probably read it plenty by folks here, but if you want something to compare WDW to, compare it against itself. Try making your next trip to DL instead of WDW. They do an INSANE amount of things right out there. There are still issues, to be sure... But they just don't jump out at you like at WDW. Especially with Carsland and Radiator Springs Racers opening this Summer, giving DL a turn in the "vacation rotation" is really a great way to "cleanse the palate" and get a breath of fresh air.

Thanks. I wasn't being sarcastic. It makes sense that since I've only been going to WDW since 2008, I'm not as doom and gloom as others who've been going for 20 years. To me, given how little time I've been a park fan (started late) things are looking better. My wife and I have in fact gone to DL twice in the last two years between our WDW visits and we enjoyed ourselves. We didn't stay on property there and we don't at WDW either so in that respect I feel I can truly compare both resorts in a fair way. I have just as good a time there as I do at WDW. But because I'm always hearing about how much better it is, I paid special attention to things like paint etc and found tons of imperfections at DL. My wife (a true neutral) likes the parks but is far from a fan or somebody who'd join a Disney forum. After our first trip to DL she said she prefered WDW. After the second trip she still prefered WDW. I like 'em both the same but I also try to be realistic and know that millions upon millions of people go thru the gates in WDW and DL every year. Somethings gonna break every now and then. The only times I've ever been evaquated from a ride was at DL believe it or not. Not everything can be perfect all the time and MOST people won't even notice.

 

[culturenthrills]

We just let our AP's expire. Just felt it wasn't worth the money for the time being to keep them. We will continue to keep our Universal Orlando passes cause we feel we actually get a good return on our money. Between Potter, Mardi Gras, discounts and new stuff coming this year it is just worth the money to us. We will just use our cast member friend to get us in when we want to go to certain things like Food and Wine and Flower and Garden.