Hello Everyone,
I wasn't quite sure how to approach this, so I figured I would discuss my latest visit to WDW and my overall reflections and opinions of the state of the parks. This is meant to open up the discussion to other's opinions in relation to my experiences and their own and see where it all goes.
Now, you probably read the thread title and were a little puzzled as to why someone would want to be in such a family-oriented area for as long as I was. The short answer is I always wanted to go solo and see what it was like. What follows are my takeaways from the current state of the place I hold so dear to my heart, WDW.
I've been fortunate to visit the parks a lot in my life. I'm 30 years old, and I've been going since 1989. In total, I've been 13 times and have visited the parks in 1989, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and most recently 2018. As you can see by the years I visited, my childhood was The Disney Decade; the largest expansion of the parks in history. Throughout my youth, They added two gates, almost a dozen hotels, two water parks, and expanded what is now Disney Springs into what can almost be considered a 5th gate. Needless to say, my childhood was possibly the best time to visit the parks and we did as a family almost every other year. That being said, the standard of WDW is set very high for me personally, and the current state of where things are are naturally disappointing. There are a few factors that contribute to this but we'll start off with the first to get the ball rolling:
Quality
On my week-long solo trip, I really was able to notice a lower quality of upkeep, merchandise, cleanliness, maintenance, and fiscal value. On my very first day there, which was in MK, three E-Ticket attractions had noticeable malfunctions, broken effects, and broken-down animatronics. Now, one attraction here and there is expected, but three, for me, is pushing it. And it wasn't just any-old three, it was Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain. Three marquee attractions with very prominent issues. Could it just be a bad day? Yes, but IMO that's throwing them a very large bone.
Additionally, there were a lot of dirty looking areas I really noticed. The Robot in front of the PeopleMover is filthy, paint is noticeably faded and chipping on buildings and within attractions, I could visibly see dust on the animatronics on Living With the Land and on the projection screens, the list really could go on and on. It's not what I have come to expect at WDW.
The merchandise selection is really poor as well, not to mention the quality. It's the same merch in every store, with a few exceptions, the theming is irrelvent (fantasyland merch in TomorrowLand...), and the quality in relation to the price is absurd. A graphic T should not be $37.50 with tax...especially when two years ago it was $29.99. What happened in 24 months to raise prices like this? Countless examples of that too. This leads to my next point, value.
If prices went up, and quality was maintained, and all of the above weren't relevent, I wouldn't care. But prices are rises every year on everything including admission. Prices are rising, but there isn't AC in the monorails, and they are literally falling apart. Prices are rising and E-Ticket attractions are so poorly maintained, I don't know how it goes unnoitced by so many. Prices are rising, and you're not offering anything new. IMO Pandora, Toy Story Land are poorly executed copies of HP World in Universal; much smaller, less theming, less shopping, fewer attractions, and yet rising prices....Prices are rising, and you're removing things. One Man's Dream is smaller, Muppet's 3D post show has no Muppet merch and the statue outside is missing figures, Space Mountain post-show is gone...the list goes on.
And yet somehow, the parks are so packed it makes it almost unenjoyable. Somehow the WDC has managed to raise prices, lower quality and offerings, and somehow raise attendance. It's baffeling.
This is post #1 of my reflections, but Im interetsed to see what people think so far.
Geoff
I wasn't quite sure how to approach this, so I figured I would discuss my latest visit to WDW and my overall reflections and opinions of the state of the parks. This is meant to open up the discussion to other's opinions in relation to my experiences and their own and see where it all goes.
Now, you probably read the thread title and were a little puzzled as to why someone would want to be in such a family-oriented area for as long as I was. The short answer is I always wanted to go solo and see what it was like. What follows are my takeaways from the current state of the place I hold so dear to my heart, WDW.
I've been fortunate to visit the parks a lot in my life. I'm 30 years old, and I've been going since 1989. In total, I've been 13 times and have visited the parks in 1989, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and most recently 2018. As you can see by the years I visited, my childhood was The Disney Decade; the largest expansion of the parks in history. Throughout my youth, They added two gates, almost a dozen hotels, two water parks, and expanded what is now Disney Springs into what can almost be considered a 5th gate. Needless to say, my childhood was possibly the best time to visit the parks and we did as a family almost every other year. That being said, the standard of WDW is set very high for me personally, and the current state of where things are are naturally disappointing. There are a few factors that contribute to this but we'll start off with the first to get the ball rolling:
Quality
On my week-long solo trip, I really was able to notice a lower quality of upkeep, merchandise, cleanliness, maintenance, and fiscal value. On my very first day there, which was in MK, three E-Ticket attractions had noticeable malfunctions, broken effects, and broken-down animatronics. Now, one attraction here and there is expected, but three, for me, is pushing it. And it wasn't just any-old three, it was Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain. Three marquee attractions with very prominent issues. Could it just be a bad day? Yes, but IMO that's throwing them a very large bone.
Additionally, there were a lot of dirty looking areas I really noticed. The Robot in front of the PeopleMover is filthy, paint is noticeably faded and chipping on buildings and within attractions, I could visibly see dust on the animatronics on Living With the Land and on the projection screens, the list really could go on and on. It's not what I have come to expect at WDW.
The merchandise selection is really poor as well, not to mention the quality. It's the same merch in every store, with a few exceptions, the theming is irrelvent (fantasyland merch in TomorrowLand...), and the quality in relation to the price is absurd. A graphic T should not be $37.50 with tax...especially when two years ago it was $29.99. What happened in 24 months to raise prices like this? Countless examples of that too. This leads to my next point, value.
If prices went up, and quality was maintained, and all of the above weren't relevent, I wouldn't care. But prices are rises every year on everything including admission. Prices are rising, but there isn't AC in the monorails, and they are literally falling apart. Prices are rising and E-Ticket attractions are so poorly maintained, I don't know how it goes unnoitced by so many. Prices are rising, and you're not offering anything new. IMO Pandora, Toy Story Land are poorly executed copies of HP World in Universal; much smaller, less theming, less shopping, fewer attractions, and yet rising prices....Prices are rising, and you're removing things. One Man's Dream is smaller, Muppet's 3D post show has no Muppet merch and the statue outside is missing figures, Space Mountain post-show is gone...the list goes on.
And yet somehow, the parks are so packed it makes it almost unenjoyable. Somehow the WDC has managed to raise prices, lower quality and offerings, and somehow raise attendance. It's baffeling.
This is post #1 of my reflections, but Im interetsed to see what people think so far.
Geoff