Ok,
I read about the first thirty pages, then started skipping through and only read the posts of WDW1974, EpcotServo, Buried20KLeague, including a side-track through the pictures of the PoC III premier and story.... All great by the way...
Only to now feel somewhat justified in reading that much and spending the past 2 1/2 hours reading, I have to sum up my thoughts on all of this.
- WDW1974 put it best many pages ago. I visited MK (and I say only MK as it was the only park open then) in 1981 and stayed at FW and I was 6 years old. I don't remember many of the particulars, but remember the majors like IaSW, POC, pretty much all of fantasy land. But, I do remember Space Mountain and my unending fear of going on that ride. My fear was SOLELY centered around the fact that everytime I stood in the line with my father and siblings, the darn thing broke down. EVERYTIME! I remember being the next family to board and it broke down and that scared the life out of me (was I going to go off track and plummet to my death??) My father, to say the least, finally gave up and wouldn't bother standing in line for the umpteenth time for me to only have me scream and cry in fear.
It goes to say that the first time I rode this ride was in 2001 on my honeymoon.
---What does the above story have to do with this thread? Well, 2 reasons:
A) Space Mountain is in desperate need of a rehab, as it may have needed in 1981. Give some attention to it so it doesn't become a storage room or cm locker room ala the shops in adventureland.
B) Some things in life are going to be scary to 6 year olds and are not intended for everyone to see. That fear stayed with me and is now a 'pleasant memory' I have of a family vacation. While I don't remember Alien Encounter whatsoever, the scariness of the space mountain breakdowns still linger when I ride it now.
Now onto Alien Encounter/SGE
I have a 6 year old who has been at Disney at least once a year for the past three years now. His first disney movie he loved was Lilo & Stitch. Stitch cluttered his bedroom, we could recite the movie, the soundtrack played constantly in the car, and we named our dog Stitch. He was not afraid of the character at 3 years old and SGE was by far the attraction he was excited about. While he wasn't dissatisified about the ride, it was a one-timer; he didn't want to ride it multiple times, nor has he wanted to ride it many times on later trips. My stomach turns at the smell of the chili dogs. The only thing that gets him on the ride ONCE a trip is seeing if he can remember where Stitch spits to get sprayed.
What does this have to do with AE? While I don't remember the ride whatsoever, and I'm not even sure if I was on the ride ever, that fear is something that is lost in today's society. A poster before mentioned that the entire park (and pretty much USA) for that matter has become a place that has to be acceptable to all. (I'm trying to paraphrase) I have had enough of that mentality. Fear is a part of life (albeit fear of a ride). I can imagine the people that would complain at guest services for frightening their youngster and demanding recourse. Like I said earlier, the fear of the Space Mountain break-downs is still alive in me and I hold that close to my heart in family vacation memories, more so than riding AE (*if I had in fact rode it, none of my family remembers! No offense AE lovers)
I have been to disney multiple times and very spread out between 1980 and 2001 and can't pinpoint the torch-lighting, or disney topiaries, or diamond horseshoe. I came to Disney on a family vacation and just hoped that I got to see Mickey himself, afterall, that is the only thing I was interested in. A picture with Mickey and his autograph. The rides were a definite plus. It is the character experiences that keep my son wanting to return year after year. Using the DDP to take part in these experiences is starting to become less cost effective due to the changes and that have been made as of late. But we looked at it as a means to killing two birds with one stone (eating and not having to wait in endless lines in the judges tent or character spot).
Even though memory hasn't been my best friend on many of these topics, nor do I have the ability to have an AP, insider knowledge, an economics or business degree, or the time (unlike this morning) to read through pages on a message board, I do see the suttle changes in Disney quality and not just in the parks of Orlando. I think there might have been a bit of over-saturation going on here. Yeah, this thread is about WDW, but take into account the Disney Store closures this past year. A disney store was 15 minutes away from me and it closed (quickly I might add). Having befriended the manager there, I felt terrible for her for how the whole thing played out. In hindsight, it was a "slash and burn" mentality that occured when they closed the stores. Now going to a nearby Outlet store yesterday, I actually walked in there, not having any disney magic since my August trip and walked out with a stuffed animal for my son. I thought of the magic that was in my neighborhood store and how quickly that turned into "business" I see it now with how WDW1974's simple and blunt reality check was in the first post. It's business, there is no other way around it. It is so believable that WDW did nothing but funnel money into other areas of TWDC during times, but now that is not reciprocating for whatever reason, the cash cow as it was put earlier will eventually stop being productive.
... or is that apolitical? 
