The World's Most Magical Celebration - Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary

Bullseye1967

Is that who I am?
Premium 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:


"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."
We forgot the "shimmering new name tags"! See that's new for the 50th. :hilarious:
 

Jrb1979

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.
They were doomed only cause Disney did it to themselves. Sorry but when a regional park can still go all out for their 150h this summer and deliver everything they planned for it. It's hard to accept Disney's excuse.
 

Dan Deesnee

Well-Known Member
I simply cannot give Disney a pass on how underwhelming the 50th is. The pandemic was not a rainstorm that comes out of nowhere and ruins your garden party. The signs that this pandemic could hit were there months in advance. The creative geniuses at Disney could have come up with incredible ways to deliver a 50th full of heart and soul in imaginative, spectacular ways that only they can deliver.

Instead we are receiving a soulless corporate event that seems more like a marketing campaign than a celebration of such an amazing park.
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
They were doomed only cause Disney did it to themselves. Sorry but when a regional park can still go all out for their 150h this summer and deliver everything they planned for it. It's hard to accept Disney's excuse.
Cedar Point was not in the midst of massive construction that was delayed. By all means, be annoyed by the lack of entertainment, services, and parades at Disney, but what needed to happen for Disney to successfully deliver what people were expecting out of WDW's 50th is not at all comparable.
 

mikejs78

Well-Known Member
The signs that this pandemic could hit were there months in advance.
That's completely ridiculous. No one was prepared for this, and no one could have been. It's unprecedented.

We've had pandemic scares before - and none have ended up like COVID, not even close. To think that Disney should have had a crystal ball for *this* is about as much of an example of "hindsight is 20/20" as you can possibly get.
 

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
Cedar Point was not in the midst of massive construction that was delayed. By all means, be annoyed by the lack of entertainment, services, and parades at Disney, but what needed to happen for Disney to successfully deliver what people were expecting out of WDW's 50th is not at all comparable.
Disney is also a much bigger monster. I think a lot of people forget that even though WDW was open, many parts of the company we’re not, and for better or worse they want to spread the money around.
 

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
Disney is also a much bigger monster. I think a lot of people forget that even though WDW was open, many parts of the company we’re not, and for better or worse they want to spread the money around.
I don't fault them for delaying construction. My beef is with them using Covid as to why entertainment can't be back for the 50th or even a parade. It's why I bring up Cedar Point. For their 150th they had a night time parade and everything they planned on doing. The only thing was it was delayed a year due to Covid.
 

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
I don't fault them for delaying construction. My beef is with them using Covid as to why entertainment can't be back for the 50th or even a parade. It's why I bring up Cedar Point. For their 150th they had a night time parade and everything they planned on doing. The only thing was it was delayed a year due to Covid.
I totally see what you’re saying, cedar point just isn’t a great comparison, WDW and TWDC are a totally different beast.
 

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
I totally see what you’re saying, cedar point just isn’t a great comparison, WDW and TWDC are a totally different beast.
Disagree. You have a smaller regional park that had no problem going all out for their anniversary. Yet TWDC, who is a bigger company with deeper pockets, decides its ok to put out a lackluster anniversary. I'm not even talking about new attractions.
 

castlecake2.0

Well-Known Member
Disagree. You have a smaller regional park that had no problem going all out for their anniversary. Yet TWDC, who is a bigger company with deeper pockets, decides its ok to put out a lackluster anniversary. I'm not even talking about new attractions.
The reason it’s different though is WDW isn’t a regional park, it’s part of a conglomerate that includes tv and radio stations, streaming service, movie studios, hotels, guided vacations, international theme parks, cruise ships, private islands etc etc. Just because WDW is making money doesn’t mean they get to keep it and spend how they want. I’m sure they’d love to add back entertainment, but they don’t hold the purse strings unfortunately
 

Jrb1979

Well-Known Member
The reason it’s different though is WDW isn’t a regional park, it’s part of a conglomerate that includes tv and radio stations, streaming service, movie studios, hotels, guided vacations, international theme parks, cruise ships, private islands etc etc. Just because WDW is making money doesn’t mean they get to keep it and spend how they want. I’m sure they’d love to add back entertainment, but they don’t hold the purse strings unfortunately
Cedar Point is part of a group of parks as well. It's not like they get to take all the money either. If Disney really wanted to go all out for the 50th they could have. Problem is they are more concerned about profit.
 

JS514

Well-Known Member
I apologize for this sort of random question, as well as if it has already been discussed, but has anyone heard anything regarding Park Hopping for Friday?

We will be at MK, have some friends that will be at Epcot, but they were going to attempt to hop over to MK in the afternoon for a bit. Just was curious if we knew any details on that.
 

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