My letter to Al Lutz..
First, I meant Al Lutz in the title. So many Al's, so little time. :hammer:
But I digress, something in Al's update on his site this morning touched a nerve with me and I couldn't resist emailing him. Just thought I'd share. (Apologies if it's a faux pas to mention the other site by name.)
"Good Morning Al,
First, let me just say that I love your site and appreciate all the hard work you and your colleagues put in to it. Miceage.com is one of the first websites I check in the morning. I look forward to each and every update!
I spent a week at Disneyland for the first time last October. The quality and attention to detail at Disneyland is, indeed, everything you say it is. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Disneyland Resort and cannot wait to go back next March!
That being said, there was something you said in this morning's update that struck a nerve with me: "...as he continues with a maintenance and freshening standard for Disneyland that is noticeably superior to the rather lower standards considered business as usual by managers of the Florida property."
First, I have to ask why it was necessary to take a swipe at Orlando in a Disneyland update? I don't think it's any secret that TDO has been notorious for taking the easy and often times, cheaper way out of things. From the broken Yeti, to the noticeable lack of holiday decorations at Epcot, the list could go on. However, there has been something going on at Magic Kingdom that has received no coverage at all on your site, at least not that I am aware of. For the past many months, scrims have been all over Main Street USA, Fantasyland, and Frontierland. New paint and refurbishments have taken place all over Magic Kingdom and practically all of it has gone unmentioned on your site.
Kevin Yee recently did a piece on the declining value of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Having made a recent visit to Magic Kingdom, I would have thought Mr. Yee would have mentioned any one of the numerous improvements being made to the Kingdom. There's the major rework of Pooh's queue and facade, the refurbishment taking place at the tea cups, the recently refreshed paint and refurbishment of the Peter Pan building, the restructuring of the queue and freshening of It's a Small World, the recent construction that started on the plusing of Haunted Mansion's queue. There's also the extensive work being done on the buildings on Main Street USA, or how about the little things like the refurbishment and new roof at Mrs. Potts, or the new themed meet and greet location for Donald in Frontierland. Every Monday there are photos of all the amazing construction going on at DCA, and yet there has yet to be a single photo of the Fantasyland construction at Magic Kingdom.
Please don't think I'm some sort of TDO apologist. When they do something questionable, they should absolutely be taken to task for it. There are any number of things around Walt Disney World that deserve a lot of criticism. But I also think when things are done correctly, such as the things I've mentioned above, they should recieve the recognition they deserve.
I realize Miceage.com focuses primarily on Disneyland and the Southern California theme parks. However, if time can be made for criticisms of TDO with a "Declining by Degrees" article, or the random swipe in a Disneyland update, I think equal time should be given for an "Inclining by Degrees" article or random praise in a Disneyland update when it is warranted.
As I said earlier, I appreciate the work that goes in to Miceage.com and I always look forward to the next update. Hopefully in the future I can look forward to more positive coverage when it is warranted for the Orlando resort.
Keep up the great work!
-Kevin"
First, I meant Al Lutz in the title. So many Al's, so little time. :hammer:
But I digress, something in Al's update on his site this morning touched a nerve with me and I couldn't resist emailing him. Just thought I'd share. (Apologies if it's a faux pas to mention the other site by name.)
"Good Morning Al,
First, let me just say that I love your site and appreciate all the hard work you and your colleagues put in to it. Miceage.com is one of the first websites I check in the morning. I look forward to each and every update!
I spent a week at Disneyland for the first time last October. The quality and attention to detail at Disneyland is, indeed, everything you say it is. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Disneyland Resort and cannot wait to go back next March!
That being said, there was something you said in this morning's update that struck a nerve with me: "...as he continues with a maintenance and freshening standard for Disneyland that is noticeably superior to the rather lower standards considered business as usual by managers of the Florida property."
First, I have to ask why it was necessary to take a swipe at Orlando in a Disneyland update? I don't think it's any secret that TDO has been notorious for taking the easy and often times, cheaper way out of things. From the broken Yeti, to the noticeable lack of holiday decorations at Epcot, the list could go on. However, there has been something going on at Magic Kingdom that has received no coverage at all on your site, at least not that I am aware of. For the past many months, scrims have been all over Main Street USA, Fantasyland, and Frontierland. New paint and refurbishments have taken place all over Magic Kingdom and practically all of it has gone unmentioned on your site.
Kevin Yee recently did a piece on the declining value of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Having made a recent visit to Magic Kingdom, I would have thought Mr. Yee would have mentioned any one of the numerous improvements being made to the Kingdom. There's the major rework of Pooh's queue and facade, the refurbishment taking place at the tea cups, the recently refreshed paint and refurbishment of the Peter Pan building, the restructuring of the queue and freshening of It's a Small World, the recent construction that started on the plusing of Haunted Mansion's queue. There's also the extensive work being done on the buildings on Main Street USA, or how about the little things like the refurbishment and new roof at Mrs. Potts, or the new themed meet and greet location for Donald in Frontierland. Every Monday there are photos of all the amazing construction going on at DCA, and yet there has yet to be a single photo of the Fantasyland construction at Magic Kingdom.
Please don't think I'm some sort of TDO apologist. When they do something questionable, they should absolutely be taken to task for it. There are any number of things around Walt Disney World that deserve a lot of criticism. But I also think when things are done correctly, such as the things I've mentioned above, they should recieve the recognition they deserve.
I realize Miceage.com focuses primarily on Disneyland and the Southern California theme parks. However, if time can be made for criticisms of TDO with a "Declining by Degrees" article, or the random swipe in a Disneyland update, I think equal time should be given for an "Inclining by Degrees" article or random praise in a Disneyland update when it is warranted.
As I said earlier, I appreciate the work that goes in to Miceage.com and I always look forward to the next update. Hopefully in the future I can look forward to more positive coverage when it is warranted for the Orlando resort.
Keep up the great work!
-Kevin"
