Magic Kingdom was a wreck last week

CaptainessKylie

CaptainessKylie

Active Member
I do agree with the OP about the state of MK last week (we went on the 27th). I hope I don't make to many of you angry when I say this but a lot of you seem to forget the parks weren't built for the person that wants to and almost can go back every day, but for families around the world and across the country who save every penny to make one visit in their entire lifetime to the happiest place on earth, also on the flip side my dear friend who visited me (I was on the ICP this summer) a couple of weeks ago who has at most 2 or 3 months left to live and she put all her money into going to disney one last time. Could you imagaine hers, or that little kids face the one and only, the last time they were ever going to disney and it looks like a building site! They turn up in August and find halloween decorations every where!! It's august, fair enough in September but it's August!!!!! They do go to have their magical picture in front of the castle, oh but what's there the biggest eyesore of a crane ever and 6 builders tramping around cinderella's turrets! never mind they'll just continue with their walk down main street admiring the tarps.....

I think WDW has lost the idea that some people will have one visit, and to have that much wrong as well as the ugly turnstiles etc etc. Maybe there should be a rule that you can only see one area of maintenance at a time. I.e, if there are tarps on main street theres no crane until the tarps are down, would be so much better.

I do have to say though that after visiting Disneyland 2 days ago, WDW have some of the best cast members in the world and it's easy to forget that sometimes!

Sorry if I offended anyone.

Kylie x
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
CaptainessKylie said:
I think WDW has lost the idea that some people will have one visit, and to have that much wrong as well as the ugly turnstiles etc etc. Maybe there should be a rule that you can only see one area of maintenance at a time. I.e, if there are tarps on main street theres no crane until the tarps are down, would be so much better.
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While it may be sad for some to see construction work, there has to be some basic efficiency in maintaining the park. Remember that the work is begin done so it will look good in the future. Last time I checked there are only 2 buildings on MS with scrims on them so I think everyone needs to calm down the exaggerations that all of Main Street is hidden under some tent. The cobwebs on the turnstile buildings of course should not be there and the crane putting up the fishnet like Christmas light on in August is awful, but I don't think the complaints over scrims (especially now that they for the most part are not all blue) is validated.
 
EPCOT Explorer

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
AdLibSean said:
UPDATE....

The work on the Hall of Champions facade on Main Street appears to be finished and the tarps are now down. :wave:
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Yep...Saw it on the web a few days ago, it looks great! Very vibrant.
edwardtc said:
It's midnight-thirty, I'm waiting for my Ambien to kick in, so this might get a bit silly.

Anyway, threads like this give me torn feelings. On one hand, I LOVE WDW and the MK especially - my favorite park. On the other hand, sure, I see the wear and tear the poor park is displaying.

I look at it a few ways (and I'm a commercial construction manager by trade, so I am ALWAYS looking at their infrastructure, facilities, and construction details when I'm there). When I started going to WDW (and remembering it), I know that it seemed so clean and pristine.

Granted, this was 1986. The park was just getting it's Learner's Permit and going to prom - lookin' good! My dad would tell me about how they power-washed all the streets over night, and how they'd re-paint entire lengths of main street trimwork before the first guest arrived - with no one the wiser. I was only 6, but I was friggin' amazed!

But now the MK is approaching its 38th birthday. It's middle-aged by some definitions. It's seen its share of midnight re-paintings and 8-hour power sessions of tearing out and replacing concrete overnight. It's had facelifts on most of the facades around the Kingdom. But these days you just can't afford the same quantity of labor (and never get the same quality) that was available in 1980s.

A guy who'd paint wrought-iron at 1am and have it done and looking perfect by 7am either doesn't exist today, or wants 10 times what he would have made in 1986. If I were WDW, it would be hard for me to employ those people, when I'm getting yelled at by the guests in my other ear about paying our ever-increasing ticket prices.

Now, on to the griping, which I didn't want to do. MK is still a beautiful park, in my opinion. Over the years, they've taken landscaping from 25% "nice" to 100, maybe 150%. Hats off to the hort dept.

But the gateway to the park is probably one of the most embarrassing things I've seen. Going through the turnstiles, I see layers and layers of new paint over layers and layers of old paint - most of which never was completely scraped off. There's probably an inch of that dark green paint on every piece of metal in that area.

Additionally, have you ever looked at the roof of the turnstile area and side offices? YIKES! It looks like they hired a team of 5-year-olds to install all the lights and conduit. The best part is that you get to stare at it for 10 minutes while the train is stopped at MSUSA. That whole area kills me.

But the lands themselves, well, if I start inspecting things - yes, the wear and tear of a 38-year-old park is showing, but rightfully so. Any non-Disney park even nearing this age looks MUCH worse. The last time I went to Kings Island in Ohio I thought I was in some 2-bit mom and pop carnival. It was a hell-hole. Sit it next to the MK, and MK looks like it's brand new.

Some rotten wood....chipped paint....torn wallpaper in queues.....spit-wads on ride props - sure, it's all there. But to keep up on stuff like that, you have to have a team dedicated to every attraction, every night, to walk the entire queue with a flashlight and magnifying glass, and then traverse the ride a few times to see if there had been any damage or vandalism that day. That's a lot of people, even if you split it up into zones.

Deep down, I think it's more of society that we all should be mad at, and not Disney. People honestly respected property better 20+ years ago. It's fact. I've grown up in this generation and I see it all around me. Nobody respects anything that isn't theirs. The maintenance may have decreased 10-20%, but the wear and tear and intentional disrespect the parks are getting has gone up 50-100%. It's sad. Disney just can't afford to get rid of every piece of vandalism, every spit-wad, fix every broken main street bulb AND repaint a carousel horse every night.

My vote: 2 thumbs up to Disney for continuing to put on one helluva show, after almost 40 years! The MK is still the same MK I loved in 1986 - it's just wearing out a bit and showing its character!

:wave:
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FANTASTICALLY said.:wave: Love it.
 

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