Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
He forgot the golden lawn ornaments - which are absurdly underwhelming in person, to the point that they almost feel like parody.
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The World's Most Magical Celebration - Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Splashin' Ryan
Well-Known Member
Sparkly banners and a copied rat ride aside, everything reopening now is getting the parks back to the state they had been in previously.
The fact that people are defending what's coming as a "be grateful" scenario is ridiculous.
The company has the money to finish things on time, rehire people, create new attractions, finish Tomorrowland, etc but refuses to because it would "look bad" to investors to spend money on a profitable sector of the business plain and simple.
At what point do people stop defending how little we are getting?
The fact that people are defending what's coming as a "be grateful" scenario is ridiculous.
The company has the money to finish things on time, rehire people, create new attractions, finish Tomorrowland, etc but refuses to because it would "look bad" to investors to spend money on a profitable sector of the business plain and simple.
At what point do people stop defending how little we are getting?
Waters Back Side
Well-Known Member
For now they get a pass on that. When meet and greets are reinstated (even if some of them never return but many do) I would hope the characters meet and greet and you can wait in line for photos and autographs with them at the hotels. Especially works well for those who spend a week at a time on vacation at WDW with an off day at the resort.
I'm not gonna get on them now for it. It's the same reason Artist Point, Park Fare for brrakfast and dinner Ohana Breakfast and Cape May for breakfast have not reopened while others have in a modified experience for character dining. Imagine if the bring the dining plan back without all the character meals.
BaymaxFan
Active Member
Tron, GOTG, Remy, The MK railroad, Harmonious, and much more were supposed to open before the 50th. Not on or during. I understand they had to stop working on things for 4 months and there were staffing shortages but there isn't really an excuse anymore. A lot of the workers have come back.
The thing that gets me the most is they paused construction on these things and instead started working on unannounced projects like the Contemporary retheming. They could've focused their money elsewhere.
They are bring back things that we had before covid and are acting like they are new editions for the 50th when they're not.
The thing that gets me the most is they paused construction on these things and instead started working on unannounced projects like the Contemporary retheming. They could've focused their money elsewhere.
They are bring back things that we had before covid and are acting like they are new editions for the 50th when they're not.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Absolutely. I’m sure meets of that nature will return. They already did them at Christmastime in the resorts.
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
If I'm not mistaken, there were things intended to be done in time for the 40th anniversary which have still yet to happen (like a proper rebuild of Space Mountain. I'm sure @marni1971 can elaborate).
Oh well, I guess there's always the 60th...
Oh well, I guess there's always the 60th...
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
It’s simple--why open them all now? They want people to book vacations and think Rat plus 2 fireworks shows will do that now. Then they’ll add TRON in 6 months and, I presume, Cosmic Rewind 6 months after that. Keep people coming. I don’t really question that strategy. Just keep it going and don’t get lazy. There should be a major addition in one park at least yearly (along with smaller additions). They’ve been doing this consistently since 2017.
BaymaxFan
Active Member
Spacing things out is a good money making strategy, the issue is Disney (mostly Mr Chapek) has started prioritizing money making over guest experience. There wouldn't be anything wrong with spacing things out if they would've told us that in the beginning. They gave us a time frame and instead of pushing everything back by a few months they decided to switch everything up.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
TRON was obviously delayed (but not by as long as expected when they sealed it up) but I don’t recall Guardians ever being announced for now. Was it?
BaymaxFan
Active Member
I have to check but I believe at D23 they said it would be open before Summer of 2021.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
50 statues!
BaymaxFan
Active Member
From Disney Parks Blog.
"In time for the 50th anniversary" Implies to me that it would be open before October 1st.
Waters Back Side
Well-Known Member
Not to sound like an excuse, but they have made it clear all along that the 50th anniversary celebration would be 18th months long. Not specifically a 1 day event. So what you think it implied and how they have specified it are entirely different.
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prberk
Well-Known Member
Am I the only one that thinks this is fantastically ugly for an anniversary special promotional picture? To me it speaks directly to the hurried, schizophrenic, tone deaf approach they have taken to the whole thing.
And once again a special that, although it mentions some historical perspective, emphasizes pop stars, athletes, and performances that seem to have nothing to do with WDW itself. I will give it a chance, but it seems tone-deaf to a 50th anniversary of a place that changed vacations and brought so much real innovation. I know I would rather emphasize interviews with the imagineers and innovators who made WDW.
TTA94
Well-Known Member
It is definitely a major miss and one, particularly a night, that I think many fans wanted for the 50th waay more than a HEA replacement. Disney unfortunately felt different. As for FoF, we don’t have a definite answer as to why it hasn’t returned. Could be staffing, could be costs, could be still covid safety related, could be deliberately on hold to be a draw for 2022.
I’m tending to lean toward the latter.
brb1006
Well-Known Member
That new to me, where did you hear that from?
Waters Back Side
Well-Known Member
Several times it's been mentioned by credible sources. It is already confirmed for the 50th that characters will appear randomly at a Disney resort. And it was recently confirmed:
Stay in the Magic and Get Extra Pixie Dust During the Walt Disney World Resort 50th Celebration
We can’t wait to welcome you to Walt Disney World Resort as we kick off our 50th anniversary celebration on Oct. 1! If you’re staying in the magic at one of our Disney Resorts Collection hotels, we have extra pixie dust waiting for you during
disneyparks.disney.go.com
"But the fun doesn’t stop there! In addition to this special access to our theme parks, your Disney Resort will be serving up some special moments, with surprise appearances from some of your favorite Disney friends, donning their dazzling EARidescent best. These pals have a lot of character, and they’re not the only ones! With shimmering new nametags, our legendary cast members are the heart of this once-in-a-lifetime celebration and are eager to share a little bit of their world with you during this special time."
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
What you're talking about has very little to do with what I'm talking about.
The things specifically intended for the 50th were, in many cases, doomed from the moment their timelines were blown due to their timid response to the uncertainty around COVID. There was no going back. The lack of shuttles, the pricing, and the shuttered shows you mention surely negatively impact the overall experience, but they have nothing to do with what people expected from the 50th. People aren't saying it feels anemic in terms of content because of services that are still missing; they're annoyed that Tomorrowland is still in pieces with a vacant Stitch, that the hatbox ghost isn't in the Haunted Mansion, that there's no updated finale to Small World, that Philharmagic wasn't fully updated, that TRON and Guardians won't open in time, that Future World is a mud pit, that the train isn't running, etc.
I'm glad that Universal was more bullish in terms of their construction, and I agree that it's a bad look for WDW to use the pandemic as a great reset on once-free services. They should also absolutely have worked out parades or more robust cavalcades by this point, and things like full housekeeping need to return if they're running everything else as normal. However, this topic is about the content of the 50th, and I'm not going to "condemn" them for being shy about restarting construction a year ago when there were so many unknowns. It's unfortunate that many of their plans rested on massive builds that were often interconnected.
