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

[KrazyKat]

I went to WDW 25th and it was fantastic have no plans at the moment to go to the 50th. Anyone do both and how do they compare?

My wife and I went there in ‘96 for our honeymoon. We took a picture in front of the giant birthday cake castle . We are going back next week to celebrate our 25th anniversary and now WDW‘s 50th. Can’t wait!

 

[GhostHost1000]

"The World's Most Magical Celebration" what a joke.

the only thing they worked hard on to be celebrated was their profit margin

 

[John park hopper]

My wife and I went there in ‘96 for our honeymoon. We took a picture in front of the giant birthday cake castle . We are going back next week to celebrate our 25th anniversary and now WDW‘s 50th. Can’t wait!

That's great how about a trip report?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Sadly no… nothing more happened.

I don’t think there was even a happy birthday sing along with characters galore like Disneyland will usually do. Nor a rededication ceremony for regular guests.

I am told it was actually embarrassing, managers on the ground were embarrassed, including the VP of MK.

Lots of people asking “Is that it?”.

This is the direct result of bad/inexperienced management who have been “trained” to trim the edges on everything…everyday.

its 1:1

believe it or not…the philosophy was not “what do we have to do?” Until recently. That attitude is a huge change that affects all details.

i’m skeptical the VP was “embarrassed”….sure looks to be the standard order taker these days. “They’ll forget tomorrow”
Read her canned comments about the nightmare kraken now floating in the lagoon at Epcot…

…uh huh

 

[trainplane3]

The entire set of Randy and his last performance:

 

[JS514]

That is so sad to hear. But you’re not the only one to say it.

Once I put aside my (sadly, expected) disappointment and put on my big boy pants, we had a pretty good day. Rode 14 rides, including 7DMT, and never waited more than 20 minutes.

 

[Chomama]

If you’re still at WDW, try to make it over to DS. You’ll find the Vault collection in the COOP shop next to Guest Relations (which is next to Ghirardelli Chocolate).

Thanks! Going there tomorrow!

 

[Padraig]

Even when they do open travel for international guests I'm not sure many are going to flocking to WDW. With the requirement for testing still needed I think many will just not bother.

Testing hasn't really been much of an issue when it was a requirement for travel within Europe and I can't imagine that'll put many off who have waited two years getting back to Florida. The vaccination situation on the other hand is something a lot of people are paying a close eye on.

That along with with other behaviour (guest fighting yesterday for example) is painting a fairly bleak picture of the state of Florida the moment and I'm not sure Americans overall have understood how the perception (whether rightly or wrongly) of them has changed over the past few years. We're wondering should we postpone our 2022 trip a year just to see if common sense begins to win out.

 

[JohnD]

Now in the queue for Imagination. Another one and done for a long time unless they bring back Imagination 1.0

 

[Disneyson]

I think I would have booked a trip if the two night shows got rave reviews. I don’t think I’ll return to the parks until I have a reason. It looked like the reason is Guardians. If you think of it in a way the company cares about, two potential trips have been whittled down to one, maybe none in the next few years. Maybe I’ll tack on a side trip for a Horror Nights. It’s too bad, I love the concept of limited-time offerings, and almost always jump at them.

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

Wow, back when Disney cared

I miss the Eisner years

 

[JohnD]

I miss the Eisner years

He’s like Hayden Christensen. You didn’t appreciate him until something worse came along afterward.

 

[Casper Gutman]

The pandemic has been a massive disruption in travel habits. For a significant number of people, that kind of break presents an opportunity to reevaluate patterns and priorities. It would have been in WDWs best interest to pull out all the stops to get people to resume old Disney-centered travel habits - a really spectacular 50th and a bunch of new rides would have helped here. What they did instead was push heavily in the OPPOSITE direction, with massively inflated prices, unappealing new rules, and confusing and potentially off-putting new crowd-management systems, all right when folks were reevaluating the value and appeal of WDW travel habits.

Disney saw the pandemic as an opportunity to do a bunch of things they’d been planning for a while, and the result may have been deeply counterproductive. They should have waited for at least a year, probably two, for a full return to normalcy.

 

[mikejs78]

The pandemic has been a massive disruption in travel habits. For a significant number of people, that kind of break presents an opportunity to reevaluate patterns and priorities. It would have been in WDWs best interest to pull out all the stops to get people to resume old Disney-centered travel habits - a really spectacular 50th and a bunch of new rides would have helped here. What they did instead was push heavily in the OPPOSITE direction, with massively inflated prices, unappealing new rules, and confusing and potentially off-putting new crowd-management systems, all right when folks were reevaluating the value and appeal of WDW travel habits.

Disney saw the pandemic as an opportunity to do a bunch of things they’d been planning for a while, and the result may have been deeply counterproductive. They should have waited for at least a year, probably two, for a full return to normalcy.

I think there's some truth in what you say, although I do think that if they had gone all out for the 50th, added a couple more attractions, plussed A bunch of classic attractions, returned a night parade, had The redo of Epcot complete (regardless of what you think of it), They probably could have slipped in and gotten The changes that they've wanted to make in place with much less attention. The problem is that because of a lack of intention on actual stuff for the 50th, all the attention is going to the new changes like genie, the park pass system, etc

 

[Dan Deesnee]

The pandemic has been a massive disruption in travel habits. For a significant number of people, that kind of break presents an opportunity to reevaluate patterns and priorities. It would have been in WDWs best interest to pull out all the stops to get people to resume old Disney-centered travel habits - a really spectacular 50th and a bunch of new rides would have helped here. What they did instead was push heavily in the OPPOSITE direction, with massively inflated prices, unappealing new rules, and confusing and potentially off-putting new crowd-management systems, all right when folks were reevaluating the value and appeal of WDW travel habits.

Disney saw the pandemic as an opportunity to do a bunch of things they’d been planning for a while, and the result may have been deeply counterproductive. They should have waited for at least a year, probably two, for a full return to normalcy.

This is extremely well said and it's funny because I just had this conversation with my wife last night.

It is amazing to me that Disney has literally done the exact opposite of what they should have done. They should have enhanced things and added perks instead of stripping things away. When people are already hesitant to travel and possibly concerned about budgets instead Disney cuts features, cuts amenities and raises prices.

You don't have to be an economic mastermind to realize that that is a recipe for disaster. I think the incredible high availability of DVC 4, 5, 6, 7 months out is a testament and that Disney might have pushed it too far.

 

[Figments Friend]

I was at the Magic Kingdom earlier today.
Must say that 30 minutes early entry for Resort Guests is pretty sweet right now.
I don't think a lot of folks staying on Property know about this 'new' benefit.
Either that, or there are not a lot of people staying on Property right now.

MK areas beyond the Resort Guest checkpoint were sparse.
Like, scary empty in Fantasyland this morning until about 10am.
Surreal.

Guests are still lined up for the Emporium ....and the Cinema.
Did they ever leave the Park last night.....?

Seriously, I was surprised to still see lines for this today.
The main Pin Trading shop over at Frontierland also has a long line...I beleive its for AP Limited Editions pins or perhaps the card swap ( to a 50th design ).
Nothing happening over at Big Top.
You can walk in, but there isn't anything on display.
Must have been wiped out yesterday....or whatever was left sent back over to the Main Street Cinema or Creations Shop.


Speaking of Resort stays .....and merchandise for the 50th -

Wanted to mention that yesterday Disney released TWO new Resort Refillable Mug designs for the 50th.
Just had them in my hands as of ten minutes ago, just to get a good look at the artwork used for the two designs.
Sorry I can't post photos....no can do with my tablet remotely.
Both are nicely done though, so these will be popular.
One is themed to Magic Kingdom with some retro throwback Attraction icons, and the other is a colorful stylistic collage of the various WDW Resort hotels.

-

 

[JohnD]

The most retro I got so far this trip is using the Imagination restroom. Original music. If you don’t want to be creepy, you can hear the music on benches just outside the restrooms.

 

[vikescaper]

For me, the best part of the 50th was the addition that was made to the Electrical Water Pageant. We were very happy that we watched it last night.

 

[Dear Prudence]

I miss the Eisner years

TRULY

 

[Casper Gutman]

I think there's some truth in what you say, although I do think that if they had gone all out for the 50th, added a couple more attractions, plussed A bunch of classic attractions, returned a night parade, had The redo of Epcot complete (regardless of what you think of it), They probably could have slipped in and gotten The changes that they've wanted to make in place with much less attention. The problem is that because of a lack of intention on actual stuff for the 50th, all the attention is going to the new changes like genie, the park pass system, etc

Probably true - although Genie would still seem menacing to many. You at least need to bury the undesirable in a pile of perks - a spoonful of sugar, and all that.

It also pertains to the public images of CEO. Eisner destroyed EPCOT, beginning the fall of WDW, but he also saved the company, plussed the parks immensely and built MGM and AK and I’d take him back in a minute. Iger began many of the trends that are harming Disney right now, but he won’t be known for that, he’ll be known for his massive IP acquisitions. Chapek, however, didn’t wait before Intensifying the problems with the parks (and picking fights with beloved movie stars). That’s going to be his reputation until something bigger and more dramatic occurs, and I don’t know what that could be.

Spoonful of sugar…