I think it depends on what you call major problems. In the last couple of years MK has been getting to the point where attendance is so high that you can barely get through Main Street after dark due to the crowds.
I think I have been very thorough in describing the problems the MK has. We can briefly go over them again ... old stale attractions that aren't being kept up, major infrastructure problems due to neglect and poor upkeep, cleanliness not nearly what it once was, almost no live entertainment that isn't foamhead (i.e. 18-year-olds getting paid $7.50 an hour) vs. real shows with entertainers like the Diamond Horseshoe, a total dumbing down/WalMarting of retail, shops closed and retail moved into carts and areas that once were peaceful (see Pirates Plaza), huge empty dead zones where attractions, shops or dining locales closed and were replaced by ... nothing, 1991 and 2001 parades still running, cartoon based attractions placed in every land completely muddling the whole story behind each land (again a WalMarting), a dumbing down of costuming with many managers/leads wearing street clothes onstage, mature trees being chopped down and replaced by seedlings etc ... I wish we could just pop this graph out whenever someone questions where I am coming from with my 'MK bashing'
I don't know when you first visited, but I've been a WDW regular since (well, you guess the year) and to see how far standards have fallen is very, very sad. So aren't the Defenders of Mediocrity who either don't know that things were better or don't care.
As to the point you bring out above, I'd only say that Main Street has always been crowded at busy periods. It isn't any worse now ... well, actually it is ... for one very LARGE reason: the proliferation of huge monster double-wide strollers and folks using ECVs because they're too lazy to walk (I am speaking of the vast majority here, not the few folks who truly need them for medical reasons).
Go take a look at old pictures of the MK in the 1970s or 80s or 90s and compare them with today and you'll see so many more strollers and ECVs and wheelchairs too (people rent them thinking they're an automatic front of the line pass).
That's why the MK feels busier even on days where it isn't moderately crowded.
Space Mountain very rarely has a line less than 30 minutes. For a 30 year old coaster, it's doing pretty well popularity wise.
As it currenlty stands, I dont think MK could support another land without some significant changes to how guests get in and out of the park. That second Main Street might need to be looked at again.
I never equate the popularity of something with its inate quality, whether it's WalMart, McDonald's, SUVs, American Idol, or politicians.
I will agree that Space Mountain remains popular, though. But it's largely because of nostalgia mixed with it being the MK's only real 'thrill' ride, and the fact it is in that huge white kewl looking building.
Wait times, though, mean little in the era of Fastpasses and capacity/labor cuts. A 30-minute wait today is very likely a 10-minute wait a decade ago.
And again as far as entrance/egress issues, I know just from talking to Ops folks that except on the busiest of times the problems are caused by way too many lazy people pushing their kids around instead of making them walk ... as an aside you see far fewer strollers (and hardly any double wides, although WDW rents them causing the problem and profiting from it) and ECVs at DL, at DLP you see very, very few ... on my visit to HKDL this summer I counted 12 strollers on one day. That's it. Because the Chinese make their children walk (the healthy, appropriate way to raise kids) as soon as they can. No pushing obese 10-year-olds thru a park as they devour a turkey leg.
Epcot is having some of it's best performance since 2000.
I don't have the numbers to agree or disagree at this moment. I do know that anecdotally I have seen smaller crowds at traditionally busy periods (like Food and Wine Fest last month) than in the past. I do know all WDW parks had very healthy attendence the first six months of 2008. I think we can surmise the past four months haven't been that good.
The Studios, well I dont quite get what is going on there. The change of name and TSM was an ideal opportunity for a big push, but somehow it got left behind. Accounting wise, for it's size, I understand its doing well financially.
Well, I think they missed the boat by delaying Star Tours 2.0. And I can tell you if Disney hadn't of killed Rivers of Light that DAK would have easily surpassed The Park Formerly Known as The Disney-MGM Studios in annual visits. But hey, we can all get excited by AI coming soon ... WOO HOO!
Don't get me wrong, I want new attractions just like everyone else. I just think you have to be careful in saying that there are major problems with the current resort.
I disagree. I think I can make a very compelling argument for why I say what I do and back it up with evidence and examples and reasoned opinion.
Again, while new attractions are part of the issue with WDW today they certainly aren't the only one. It's way too simplistic to say just build more attractions. Disney has added quite a few new or replacement attractions in the past five years, but the quality is debatable on many and having Everest doesn't justify dirty bathrooms or filthy walkways, adding MILF (a disaster on its own merits) does nothing to help the merchandise situation, swapping out one version of O Canada for a very, smarmy cheap replacement does nothing to negate the fact Wonders of Life sits and rots (except when special events takes it over), adding TSMM doesn't change the fact a giant tacky cartoon hat is sitting in the middle of Hollywood Blvd. blocking the beautiful Chinese Theater (and there is no legal or 'rights' issues with the building before that untrue Internet myth/urban/CM rumor gets spouted by someone), the fact PhilharMagic is a nice 3D show that was poached from HKDL doesn't change the fact the theater is always dirty or that half the effects on Splash Mountain don't work on any given day.
I hope I've cleared up my position with this post ... new attractions will help, but they aren't the issue ... WalMarting WDW is!
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