My look at Walt Disney World
I want to take a few minutes to share my opinion and thoughts about the current status of Walt Disney World. The parks are a wonderful place to be, but something has changed drastically over the years: Management. This is a major problem at WDW; management doesn’t want to spend loads of money or have attractions closed for long periods of time – both which really need to happen in order for better guest experience down the road. Here is a look at some of the recent happenings at WDW that should have been a hundred times better than the outcome. I’ll also briefly touch on several things that will be coming to WDW that are underwhelming and things that need to happen for TDO to improve.
NOTE: As the title of this says, it’s my look at WDW, so it’s heavily opinionated
Spaceship Earth
Let’s start here. This is a wonderful attraction and when it was taken down for a major refurbishment I was expecting an even better SSE once it opened, but that wasn’t the case. They improved much of the beginning with a new musical score, updated AA’s, and several other new or changed show scenes. The descend was far less impressive. The beginning of your descend back to earth showcasing lots of LED lights in a mesmerizing way – awesome. Then you continue down backwards with absolutely nothing to see. Sure you could take a look into your future with your onboard touch screen (though the graphics look like they are from 20 years ago). However, not everyone wants to do this. What happened to the wonderful show scenes? All the lights? Now you’re stuck in the dark with some triangles. This is very upsetting. I can only hope that SSE will see a more “grand” of a finale, but I’m not holding my breath.
Pleasure Island’s Closure
I never went to PI, but I can tell from the fans reactions that it was a horrible mistake. It left a bad taste in many mouths. It was a popular district in Downtown Disney, so it’s surprising it closed suddenly. The fear I have is that Disney is trying to make WDW too “kidish”. There needs to be places for adults, since that’s a major target group which will only get smaller and smaller when things such as PI are removed. Not a good choice at all.
Lack of “new” at WDW
There have been some new things at WDW over the past couple of years – Expedition Everest, Toy Story Midway Mania, American Idol but when you look at the history of the resort there should be a lot more happening. There is an expansion for Pixar Place to include a Monsters Inc. themed coaster and maybe something of Cars. There are plans for an Imagination refurbishment too – but when is all of that happening? We’ve had the same parade, firework show, and castle show at MK for a long – where is the new entertainment? Where are the new MK attractions? Where is a new addition to WS? Disneyland & other worldwide parks are getting a lot more at their parks compared to the size of WDW. There should be multiple new attractions/entertainment happening every year at WDW. This is something that really needs to be changed, big time.
Attraction “refurbishments”
This is upsetting. It’s great to know that attractions such as Space Mountain will be going down but it’s very disappointing to know that half of what was originally plan doesn’t make it into the “budget” – why? Why can’t the management see that these attractions need to be top quality and nothing less, just like Walt always wanted? This was proven with the Haunted Mansion refurbishment though, which came out to be an extreme winner. But what’s with the let downs? There are still many attractions across the resort, but especially in MK that need major refurbishments. Some of those include the messy inside of Peter Pan and the unPOPular version of the Enchanted Tiki Room. I’m hoping that management can do more refurbishments like Haunted Mansion to these other attractions, while at the same time as adding new entertainment and attractions to other parks.
The Future: “Summer Nightastic!” & Fantasyland Forest
Let’s start with Fantasyland Forest. I’m looking forward to the themeing that will be added onto Fantasyland, however, I’m only excited for the Little Mermaid Dark Ride & Beast’s Castle Restaurant, but that’s it. The rest of the land is just M&G’s or little kid rides (Dumbo & Barnstormer). Where is anything for boys? Adults? Nope, nothing. Management is just trying to nickel and dime parents with little girls/kids – not a good thing. What about the rest of Fantasyland (west)? All of those attractions need refurbishments & a new façade design. None of which is happening.
As for Summer Nightastic… I’m really excited that MSEP and MM&M will be returning to Magic Kingdom, but what about the rest of the parks? Nothing “Nightastic” for DHS or EPCOT? How about an overhaul for Fantasmic or a new finale tag on Illuminations? Nope. Just an old parade and an old firework show. While parts of this are positive, there still should’ve been more to a summer promo. I’m hoping for some changes or something new after the summer, but I doubt it’ll happen (it’s a shame I’m saying that, I should be saying that I guarantee you it will happen).
How TDO could improve
At the same time as Fantasyland Forest is being built, they need to announce the Imagination refurb, Phase II of Pixar Place (Monsters Inc. Coaster), and something new for Animal Kingdom. Also during the same time as those “new” things are happening, new entertainment and refurbishments need to happen. Jungle Cruise needs some slight enhancements; the Tiki Room needs an entire new show; Fantasyland West attractions just about all need extensive refurbishments; and Tomorrowland (as a whole) needs a lot of work. In the next couple of years it would also be nice for TDO to approve budgets for oh say… Indy in Adventureland? Or a new pavilion/thrill ride in World Showcase? Both of those are extremely needed. Indiana Jones out in DLR is one (if not the most) popular attraction in the park. At opening, everyone goes running right to Indy to either get a FP or to get in line. As for WS, it hasn’t seen anything new in a looong time. Canada through Japan – somewhere in one of those pavilions needs some sort of an attraction or thrill ride – OR - a new pavilion needs to be added at the huge empty lot known as the Outpost.
On top of all of those “new” additions and refurbishments, new entertainment is a must. Parades, firework shows, stage shows, etc. all need something new. Some shows do well such as Fantasmic & Illuiminations, those two nighttime offerings just need to be “upgraded” with newer technology and effects. Animal Kingdom needs to enter the realm of nighttime entertainment with either a light parade or a water (WoC) type show.
All of that isn’t just a onetime blow out either. Refurbishments and additions need to continue to happen long after. Everything I listed could be completed anywhere from 4 or 5 to 7 or 8 years. It’s pretty bad when I have doubts about new things happening at WDW or that I have a doubt that a refurb will turn out good – it should be completely the other way around. I should be expecting new things, I should be expecting excellent refurbs, I should be expecting top quality – that’s how the parks should be, not a TDO Wal-Marted version of a resort.
