Just a quick note, since a lot of people around here are praising Imagineers almost unconditionally. Now there are some fantastic Imagineers that work in the Disney Company. Creative geniuses who are equal to none. But it seems that in the recent years, anytime anything isn't liked by the general internet going public, there is a lot of defensive statements for the Imagineers, with a major portion of the blame going to whom the armchair internet imagineers call "Bean-Counters."
You wanna blame the "bean-counters" for the quality of attractions, go ahead. Stick out your lip, pout, and cite "not having enough money to do the job" as the reason for any performance, and really that just ends up being a cop out.
Go back to the time where you had Imagineers who were truly creative, before the solution to every problem was "throw money at it until it goes away." You know, in the creation of Disneyland, the money was extremely tight. And it wasn't because "bean-counters" were in charge of the company; it was because there simply was no money to give to the Imagineers. The creation of some of the classic Disney attractions which still survive today, (Peter Pan, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Pirates, Haunted Mansion) hinged upon the fact that when the money was tight, Imagineers got creative. Haunted Mansion (pre-refurb) is a collection of simple, inexpensive magicians tricks which have been around for hundreds of years. Dumbo is a highly themed amusement park ride which has become a treasured memory. Heck, even the much-beloved Mr. Toads Wild Ride was a Coney-Island special.
It wasn't the money that was spent, it was the loving attention to the story, the theming, the painting with a wide brush which seems to have been forgotten. Heck, back in the day, when Bill Evans didn't have enough money to put themed plants into Adventureland, Walt didn't hand him a stack of bills and say "get to buying." They went through the land, putting placards with the Latin names of the weeds that were growing in the California wildlands. It was sure as heck creative, and it wasn't about Walt "cutting corners to save a buck" it was about getting it done with what you have.
I think the general public has become inured to large sums of money. When I hear about a budget of $70 million for one attraction, I think of exactly what that means. In no world should $70 million not be enough for ANYTHING that goes into a theme park. Think of what Walt could have done with that sum, even adjusted for inflation. And I am sure as shoot that nobody would have had the brass ones to approach Walt with a request for more money. Could you imagine Marc Davis, Claude Coates, or Fred Joerger saddling up beside Walt with a figure like that? They built all of Disneyland on $17 million.
In short, budgets are budgets. In the olden days, Imagineers stuck to their budgets because they had to. Going over budget was allowed to an extent, but at some point, there was no more money to go around. Now that the Disney Company has a good bit of coin, there is still no excuse for not getting the job done. You cannot replace creativity by "throwing money at it."
Creativity happens when you are forced to contend with budgets.
