LETS FIX WDW

[MerlinTheGoat]

Yup. At least that's the plan.

Wasn't aware! Thanks for the info and I hope they don't slash any budgets. If there's a major upgrade planned, it sounds like the attraction is probably safe from removal at the present time.

Perhaps this is part of the budget allotted to the Magic Kingdom alongside EPCOT ($350 million each I think it was) from the main ~$3.5 billion DHS project. Hopefully Space Mountain gets some attention as well, it is really an embarrassment at the moment. Peoplemover was looking better lately at least.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Regarding what is needed to "fix" WDW. A lot. Though a huge priority would be the maintenance. Up the cleanliness policies, hire a lot more people and keep more parts on hand to fix things more effectively. Touch up paint and clean as needed (during the day and overnight). Have cast members ride things a lot more to be on the lookout for problems. Basically reapply what they used to pride themselves in, they broke what never needed fixing here in order to save some cash. I'm sure these original policies still even exist in old abandoned documents somewhere (the "change at 80% life expectancy" lightbulb policy for instance is commonly circulated on this forum as an example of the original attention to detail and upkeep). The food around property also needs work (though in some places this seems to be improving lately). As for cast members, never going to happen but they need raises. I'd also propose having a more strict policy on poor guest conduct as well.

Magic Kingdom is certainly crowded. While people definitely need to be given compelling reasons to visit the other three parks, the ride count at the Magic Kingdom is still going to need to be increased. Disneyland's Fantasyland (not including spinners) has 9 rides. Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland (again without spinners) by comparison has 5. No additional rides were added to Fantasyland since opening. I consider the circus area separate since they just repurposed Toontown (Toontown gives Disneyland yet another dark ride as well). It has been about 25 years since the last real ride *addition* to MK. The park still has capacity problems, more additional rides are still needed (not replacements).

EPCOT has a lot of existing squandered infrastructure to work. Prioritize a better use for Wonders of Life. Same with Odyssey (plenty of space elsewhere for conventions). Imagination is so unpopular that closing it even for a massive and long overhaul shouldn't make a major impact (Tony Baxter seems to have ideas and a wish to fix it). Afterwards, Universe of Energy needs help. Innoventions is also a waste currently (if CES can occur every year, Disney can afford to do better and keep things fresh). Those changes alone should fix a lot. Despite my intense distaste for Test Track, it's not reasonable to expect change there since it just got a major overhaul. Mission Space though perhaps, tons of wasted potential there. I'd love to evict Nemo from the Seas and give that pavilion some love and expansion, but probably not happening. I fear World Showcase is destined to become spillover for cartoon IP's, but it would be nice to get some of the rides originally planned for the park.

Not much to say about DHS since it's getting a lot of attention. I had an existing idea for the park before the expansion plans came about, but that's no longer realistic (armchair Imagineering anyways). Animal Kingdom will also be in better shape once Avatar opens. Though it still needs some calmer rides that don't limit the audience that can experience them, the boat ride at Avatar will be the only ride that fits that bill when it finally opens. The Dinorama area a good place to start, it's an ugly blight of carny rides in an otherwise lovely park (ideally traditional lengthy experience like Pirates with high capacity and no height limit). Again with the IP craze so popular in the company at present, i'm worried we may never get a South America or Australia...

And get a new monorail fleet already. Plus either expand them to the other parks or at least get better and more appropriate transport than buses. Even a train (themed appropriately) going to Animal Kingdom would be nice.

 

[mergatroid]

We need a Hooters in the MK to replace the rarely used Noodle Station, it's clearly what Walt would have wanted

 

[BuddyThomas]

so the threads are full of the folks that feel the place has changed, there are things lacking, stuff needs to be done etc. to bring it back, so lets make one big list that we would like to see done at WDW. Just post single changes that are needed to bring our WDW back to its hayday. No long posts, try to keep it short and sweet. Positive changes only.

How'd that short sweet positive posts only rule work out for ya?

 

[POLY LOVER]

So, if i am reading this correctly, you think that Disney, a company in the United States of America, should raise their prices so they don't get the most people possible into their parks, spending more money on the stuff inside the parks, and then using the remainder of the money they still have on a hotel room, just because you think it's "too crowded."

Yes isn't that How capitalism works. Lol

 

[POLY LOVER]

How'd that short sweet positive posts only rule work out for ya?

As Ozzie said 'off the rails on a crazy train'

 

[erwinalber4]

Here's my list
1. Theme and update the TTC, this is a first impression of WDW for many guests and could use a little more "Disney".
2. Replace/update unpopular attractions such as Stitch, Imagination, ect...
3. Fix the dining reservation system to accommodate those who don't want to preplan every second of the day. Leave a certain amount of seating available on a first come first serve basis on the day of.
4. Get rid of Fastpass+ on attractions that clearly have no reason to have it. Things like Nemo, Mad Tea Party, Turtle Talk, ect...
5. Enhance popular attractions with new effects, and keep them current. Things like Peter Pan, Space Mountain, ect...
6. Bring back the old feel of Main Street with shops that have variety and not just the standard WDW merchandise. Open a WDW Emporium style store at the TTC to compensate.
7. Update the Monorails with new trains (keep the classic WDW colored stripe style and shape of course). Expand to DHS and DAK and clean them nightly.
8. Fill in empty buildings with new attractions, or even a shop/ restaurant or demolish them. Things like WoL shouldn't be seen.
9. Add more trees and shade to open concrete spaces in the parks. Adding a few planters in the middle of wide pathways not on a parade route would do wonders. Maybe some decorative fountains.
10. Replace the Tomorrowland Speedway with a new mini-land or darkride for Tomorrowland or Fantasyland.
11. Do away with the Street parties in Tomorrowland and Main Street and restore the atmosphere of those areas.

I'm sure I could think of more but this will do for now.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Reasons for further expanding Magic Kingdom:

(1) People view MK as the "main" park, representative of Disney, or even just "Disney" (with the other parks being "owned by Disney" or whatnot). As such, guests' experience at MK often reflect on their perceptions of Disney much more than anything else, and thus MK seems key to maintaining a positive public perception of WDW as "must do" (especially with increased competition, etc). New land(s) and new e-ticket(s) would serve this end.

(2) MK is crowded, and new/expanded lands, as well as new attractions, will help spread the crowds (rather than only having major new things in the other parks, which inevitably draw people back into MK as well, since it's the "main"/"must-see" park, etc.

I would vote for IJA in an expanded Adventureland (south of Splash), and JttCotE in a Mysterious Island or other new land (perhaps with an entrance where Autopia is now).

A controversial thought: Are everyday guests' experiences lessened by an over abundance of c-tickets and below at MK (when they don't know which are the major attractions, and thus select things randomly, thus causing their visits to be filled with 2nd-tier attractions)? If so, should new e-tickets purposely replace lower-quality/lower-tier attractions, rather than just being added elsewhere? (This is of course at odds with capacity concerns, but perhaps a balance can be found...)

Totally about MK needing massive expansion. Not only is it the most popular park, its design is not "open" enough and just seems like a park built in the 1970s for 1970s type crowds.

1) Main Street is too small.
2) Splash Mountain/Thunder Mountain Area is a disaster.
3) Adventureland is WAY to congested around the carpets.
4) Fantasyland is still not big enough, particularly OLD Fantasyland
5) Restaurants and food stands are WAY too crowded (Plaza, Dole Whip, Lunching Pad)

Yes, addressing a dead EPCOT and expanding space/offerings in other parks would help, but MK is fundamentally too small and underdeveloped.

Tokyo Disneyland feels much more open and the crowds there are pretty insane. The pathways, walkways, and general areas just feel newer and more spacious. I don't have measurements, but just walking around is so much easier there.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I'd like to see more resort and park specific merchandise.

 

[George]

It's a thread asking for opinions on ways to improve the park. He gave his opinion. You could've just muted him.

Your version of the message board come with sound? It would be really cool if I could assign voices to each poster.

 

[Bob]

Your version of the message board come with sound? It would be really cool if I could assign voices to each poster.

I call dibs on Darth Vader's voice.

 

[George]

I call dibs on Darth Vader's voice.

No probs. James Earl Jones is a close personal friend, except for the fact I don't know him and can't really call him a friend.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

I'd like to see more resort and park specific merchandise.

To piggy back off this, I'd love to see a more expansive line of home decor items. My wife and I were talking about doing an Adventureland themed bathroom in our house and there's really not much that is Disney specific. Though over the past few years, the amount of items offered for home decor has vastly improved.

 

[xdan0920]

Here's my list
1. Theme and update the TTC, this is a first impression of WDW for many guests and could use a little more "Disney".
2. Replace/update unpopular attractions such as Stitch, Imagination, ect...
3. Fix the dining reservation system to accommodate those who don't want to preplan every second of the day. Leave a certain amount of seating available on a first come first serve basis on the day of.
4. Get rid of Fastpass+ on attractions that clearly have no reason to have it. Things like Nemo, Mad Tea Party, Turtle Talk, ect...
5. Enhance popular attractions with new effects, and keep them current. Things like Peter Pan, Space Mountain, ect...
6. Bring back the old feel of Main Street with shops that have variety and not just the standard WDW merchandise. Open a WDW Emporium style store at the TTC to compensate.
7. Update the Monorails with new trains (keep the classic WDW colored stripe style and shape of course). Expand to DHS and DAK and clean them nightly.
8. Fill in empty buildings with new attractions, or even a shop/ restaurant or demolish them. Things like WoL shouldn't be seen.
9. Add more trees and shade to open concrete spaces in the parks. Adding a few planters in the middle of wide pathways not on a parade route would do wonders. Maybe some decorative fountains.
10. Replace the Tomorrowland Speedway with a new mini-land or darkride for Tomorrowland or Fantasyland.
11. Do away with the Street parties in Tomorrowland and Main Street and restore the atmosphere of those areas.

I'm sure I could think of more but this will do for now.

Boom.

Short and Sweet

 

[blueboxdoctor]

Fix EPCOT:

• Make Innoventions actually innovative, right now it's stuck in the past, and not a cool retro past, just a boring past.
• Update/get rid of Captain EO, the thing with the purple dragon, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Wonders of Life.
• Wonders of Life and that long brown building behind Test Track are depressing since they're not small and have a feeling of abandonment.
• There's so much they can do to make EPCOT cool but they seem to have zero interest in it.

Animal Kingdom:

• Change Avatar to Beastly Kingdom. Wishful thinking but it won't happen even though Avatar is so far removed from the public mind at this point while dragons and mythical creatures have proven to be timeless (hello says Game of Thrones, to name just one popular, recent show with dragons). Avatar wasn't even a good movie, but I'll save that for another time.

Magic Kingdom:

• I really can't stand the basically almost always empty counter service that you can walk through to get from Main Street to Tomorrowland. It's depressing. It also feels abandoned. They use a little part of it for firework viewing. Sometimes, once in a while, I hear they have it open, but I can't tell you the last time I saw it open.
• Make Tomorrowland a little more retro feeling, really play up on the themes already established. Not really a complaint, but it would be cool if they did this.
• It also won't happen, but bring back the bakery on Main Street and kick Starbucks out, they don't know how to make even a half decent baked item, it's all the same unappealing things they have around the country. The old bakery had some pretty good things that are sadly gone from Main Street.

Hollywood Studios:

• I'll hold judgement until they are down their two expansions, both of which I am excited for.
• Perhaps make shows run longer into the evening.
• Make Indiana Jones into something more current.
• Also somehow bring back the movie props and sets, I really liked walking through the warehouse of props before the back lot tour and seeing the props/costumes after the ride ended.

 

[Nick Wilde]

Your version of the message board come with sound? It would be really cool if I could assign voices to each poster.

Ah, I'm used to saying muted. Been playing too many video games. Make that "blocked". Though voices for each poster would be cool. I could give certain people the voice of Charlie Brown's teacher, so I wouldn't have to understand anything they said.

 

[scout68]

I would simply like to swim in the morning. Preferably before 10:00. Yes that's right. You are not allowed to swim before 10:00 at the Beach Club. It's apparently for MY safety.

I'm 6'1", I have multiple SCUBA and deep diving certifications blah blah blah. I think I'll be ok in a 4.5 foot pool.

We pay a huge premium to stay at these accommodations and a huge amount to enter the parks. Parks that open at 9:00 am and if you choose to stay till closing there is no chance of making it to the pool after.

So you have no choice but to sacrifice one high priced commodity or the other. Hogwash.

The hot tub on the upper level of the pool at Kidani has NO supervision all day. Why would they close this area for "my saftey"????

I guess the real change I would like to see is the ceasing of the constant flow of BullSheet that is poured over the guests on a regular basis.

Just tell me that closing the pool is a cost cutting measure. Just tell me my room isn't ready because you don't want to pay more CMs to make them ready before 5:00PM. !!!

Be honest. Be truthful. I give you plenty. At least give me this in return.

 

[Phineas]

Re: George's post on restroom policy

What, are you the president of Urinetown? That would not work for me. I have to go every half hour to an hour. Even during my two-three hour visits, I couldn't hold it that long.

But-don't you know?
It's a privilege to pee!

 

[thehowiet]

Just to be clear, I'm not in favor of raising prices because I like paying more. I'm in favor of it because it's the only "quick" solution to a problem Disney themselves have created. Expansion, renovation, and updating should have been a pillar in their parks strategy for the last 15 years, but they essentially throttled back to nearly nothing after Animal Kingdom and Fantasyland were completed.

The expansion efforts have frankly been inadequate and unacceptable. Until some of these projects get off the ground and a lot more, crowds will be Disney's biggest friend but also their biggest enemy.

I guarantee you Disney is worried about maintaining a quality guest experience and also exceeding guest expectations. They really do want you to have a good time because if you don't, your experience will impact your desire to come back, tell friends, and will eventually erode their brand.

That is the reason demand based pricing has gotten traction and will be the reason you will see prices continue to increase. If they increased capacity with the times, they wouldn't have this issue and probably would have even bigger crowds, but enough area to spread people out effectively. They are bursting at the seams, particularly at MK and restaurants.

I agree with mostly everything (especially about it being a problem Disney created), except for the bolded text.

Disney is mostly worried about doing just enough to keep people coming back, IMO. So I agree that Disney worries about the guest experience, but only to the extent that it doesn't end up hurting them. "What can we get away with cutting or not adding?" seems to be a fairly common question asked within the walls of TDO and/or Burbank.

As far as demand-based pricing goes, I don't believe it's true goal is to decrease attendance. If Disney wanted to decrease attendance they would lower the daily cap and revise their phased closing strategy. Disney wants to get the most money out of the people who are going there anyway, the people who are already paying the highest room rates, so money isn't likely to stop them from going. Now you might ask "well then if Disney doesn't want LESS people in their parks then doesn't that imply that they want more, and if so wouldn't they build more attractions to increase capacity?" Not necessarily. More attractions increase operational expenses and potentially decreases their margins. From their perspective it makes more sense to keep things the way that they are and just increase prices for the people who likely won't bat an eye if they have to pay an extra $10 a day, when like I said they are already paying the highest room rates anyway.

Side note: I'm really curious to see how Disney views the value of a WDW ticket after the planned expansions...they seem to have no problem increasing prices when not much is changed or added, so I'm sure when the expansions at both AK and DHS are complete we'll see a pretty significant ticket increase.

Now to keep this post on topic, to fix WDW I think they need to return to the level of quality and the higher standards of yesterland AND increase capacity. Those two were the two biggest differences I found between WDW and DL last summer. Even DCA has a great attraction menu. It's amazing how much there is to do in those two parks out on the west coast.

 

[thehowiet]

Perhaps that's one reason why the phasing should be readdressed and thresholds lowered or actual capacity should be massively expanded.

Completely agree. If Disney truly wants to control/lower crowding, this seems like a logical course of action.

Try as they might people want MK it seems. Not Epcot. Not DHS.

I wonder how much they actually try. Most of the marketing material seems to focus heavily on MK, or at least that's my perception...I'm curious to hear what you and others think about that. Obviously most people equate MK with WDW, but I often wonder if Disney could be doing a better job of marketing everything else that WDW has to offer, especially pushing the other parks. Only problem is the other parks don't have as much to do, but if they build them out they might have more success marketing the other parks and convincing guests that they do want EPCOT and DHS. Thoughts? Is this achievable, or an exercise in futility?