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

[Brenthodge]

Should they be doing more given what we pay? Almost certainly. In light of the decision to reduce scope due to the time crunch, do I think they've diverted focus to the things I would prefer they focus on? For me, that's a yes as well. A parade just doesn't seem comparatively important to me, even if we "should" have one. Guest experience is factoring into the decisions even if not in the way you want; they're not giving guests everything that they perhaps deserve, but they are using the experience to weigh relative importance.

Less is more! The new Disney parks way. Thanks COVID. As long as they raising prices, cutting offerings, people keep coming, and others keep justifying and apologizing for them, they are golden (like an anniversary)

 

[Disneyson]

The infrastructure upgrades will be with us for a long time and will benefit us for years to come. A 50th parade is enjoyable for 18 months, if that given the current uncertainty with live entertainment. Considering that they must make choices now that they're short-staffed and in a time crunch (even if they deserve the blame for some of that), I know where I'd rather they put their effort.

I’m just wondering what you see as infrastructure upgrade - the awful World Showcase Lagoon barges, the Main Street Projectors that Disneyland got some time ago, or the… temporary statues? I don’t see any major infrastructure being included in this celebration.

I also don’t understand how you see the short-staffed/time crunch situation in light of both Universal Studios being able to put on ten haunted houses, five scarezones, and a live show AND SeaWorld being able to run two concurrent Halloween events with MOST of their normal shows running concurrently, with a shorter “time crunch” than Disney had when planning this event.

I see no valid excuses.

 

[James Alucobond]

I’m just wondering what you see as infrastructure upgrade - the awful World Showcase Lagoon barges, the Main Street Projectors that Disneyland got some time ago, or the… temporary statues? I don’t see any major infrastructure being included in this celebration.

I see the lighting enhancements to Spaceship Earth, the repainting of many attractions and structures, the refurbished facades, the light changes and repairs to some rides, the new pavement practically everywhere, the new nighttime shows, and the rides scheduled to launch during the anniversary window as things that would not ordinarily coalesce around this time were it not for the 50th, and all will outlive the celebration. I am not making an evaluative judgment as to whether or not it is "enough", just saying that if constrained, I would also focus on these things over a parade, which seems a fixation for some people (and fair enough if it's what you like best about Disney).

I also don’t understand how you see the short-staffed/time crunch situation in light of both Universal Studios being able to put on ten haunted houses, five scarezones, and a live show AND SeaWorld being able to run two concurrent Halloween events with MOST of their normal shows running concurrently, with a shorter “time crunch” than Disney had when planning this event.

You are free to compare it to different parks if you like. I never did in my posts. I was just saying that I agree with the decisions around what deserves priority even if the decision to prioritize at all is problematic.

 

[Brenthodge]

“repainting of many attractions and structures, the refurbished facades, the light changes and repairs to some rides, the new pavement practically everywhere” ???

so, basic maintenance that should always be performed being given priority for an anniversary

and all of these “additional” attractions were already under development, many with “tentative” opening dates in advance of this celebration. They got lucky that they closed, got behind and could now just milk what they already had in the works, delay some of it, and act like “it’s what we had planned all along”

I think it’s sad we are focused on what will “outlive” the celebration. That means there is very little timely and relevant to only the anniversary. That’s what disappointing to me, that Disney will now only invest in this that have long term, depreciated investment.
I can’t WAIT to tell my kid’s “pack your bags, we are going to see new PAVEMENT for Disney’s Most Magical Maintenance Celebration!”

 

[James Alucobond]

“repainting of many attractions and structures, the refurbished facades, the light changes and repairs to some rides, the new pavement practically everywhere” ???

so, basic maintenance that should always be performed being given priority for an anniversary

Yes, maintenance should be prioritized specifically for the 50th. It is more important that the parks look their absolute best than it is that there be more opalescent bunting or that the cavalcades be upgraded to full parades. Again, they should do a better job of maintaining things all the time, but this is important work that they should be doing now even had they not deferred previous work. As much of the park as possible should be touched up, and it’s the prospect of something that looks “good as new” again that’s exciting, not the pavement or whatever taken in isolation.

 

[Disneyson]

I think I’d definitely consider this point if there was something tangible to point to in basic attraction maintenance aside from the Small World facade (love that they’re going retro/colorful with it, I admit), the Partners Statue refurb (which feels redundant) and, presumably, some pavement? I guess I’m just not following all the refurbishments and don’t really see what, exactly, is being improved. I’d agree with Spaceship Earth’s lighting package, even though that’s part of the Epcot Transformation that was scheduled distinctly from the 50th and probably draws on a different budget. I mean, HoP was necessary, and Jungle Cruise was due to cultural sensitivity, neither for the 50th. Otherwise, praising the return of basic maintenance feels like the scraping of the bottom of a barrel.

Is there a 50th refurb calendar out there someplace?

 

[Brenthodge]

I think I’d definitely consider this point if there was something tangible to point to in basic attraction maintenance aside from the Small World facade (love that they’re going retro/colorful with it, I admit), the Partners Statue refurb (which feels redundant) and, presumably, some pavement? I guess I’m just not following all the refurbishments and don’t really see what, exactly, is being improved. I’d agree with Spaceship Earth’s lighting package, even though that’s part of the Epcot Transformation that was scheduled distinctly from the 50th and probably draws on a different budget. I mean, HoP was necessary, and Jungle Cruise was due to cultural sensitivity, neither for the 50th. Otherwise, praising the return of basic maintenance feels like the scraping of the bottom of a barrel.

Is there a 50th refurb calendar out there someplace?

Fab 50 FixUps? LOL. I wouldn’t be surprised if the spaceship earth lighting was originally planned as part of the overall “infrastructure improvements” and they just figured that if they used existing infrastructure at AK and HS along with the already planned castle makeover, they could lump them together, call it “beacons of magic” and pass it off to another budget as a”seasonal or event enhancement” I’m not saying it’s not smart.

 

[DCBaker]

 

[James Alucobond]

I think I’d definitely consider this point if there was something tangible to point to in basic attraction maintenance aside from the Small World facade (love that they’re going retro/colorful with it, I admit), the Partners Statue refurb (which feels redundant) and, presumably, some pavement? I guess I’m just not following all the refurbishments and don’t really see what, exactly, is being improved.

Is there a 50th refurb calendar out there someplace?

I don't know that anyone's formalized it, but there's not much that hasn't been touched in the Magic Kingdom over the past year. Off the top of my head, there's:

• Main Street Train Station refurbishment
• Main Street Confectionery refurbishment
• Announced 50th displays in various shops
• New hub tree lighting and projectors
• Cinderella Castle repaint and 50th decor
• Partners statue refurbishment
• Announced Fab 50 statues
• Rivers of America and Harper's Mill refurbishment
• Frontierland facade and boardwalk refurbishment
• Splash Mountain exterior painting
• Jungle Cruise refurbishment
• Swiss Family Robinson refurbishment
• it's a small world repainting
• Fantasyland facade refurbishment
• Fantasyland pavement refurbishment
• Prince Charming's Regal Carousel refurbishment
• Mad Tea Party repainting
• Bonjour Village Gifts repainting
• Beast's Castle repainting
• Casey Jr. Splash 'n' Soak refurbishment
• Big Top Souvenir and circus tent refurbishment
• Tomorrowland horticulture and pavement
• PeopleMover refurbishment
• Cool Ship repainting
• Ongoing work to restore original details to Tomorrowland

And this is within Magic Kingdom. Obviously, there's a ton of work happening at the resorts (TTC, Polynesian, Contemporary, etc.) and EPCOT (though I'm not sure if much of that should be counted for the 50th or EPCOT's 40th). Obviously, the attractions that were rumored to be getting bigger upgrades (Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, etc.) still need help, but I do wonder if they'll get their due intermittently throughout the celebration as some of the new attractions open or if the new plan is to shuffle them under the 100 Years of Magic celebration.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I'm normally critical of Disney cutting back offerings while raising prices, but on the anniversary celebrations I'm finding it too hard to get outraged that they're not showering new offerings on us as if the continuing global pandemic never happened. They did have to close all of their parks worldwide with hundreds of millions of dollars in new attractions under construction at WDW and have been slowly reopening amidst second, third, and fourth waves which continue to make things very uncertain. In this regard, as the different mask policies between parks show, Disney has tended to be more cautious than other parks, though still not cautious enough for some. Another barrier to opening everything up as normal is the difficulties they've had with staffing, which again shows that we're still not quite out of the pandemic.

All the Cedar Point stuff is great, but I wouldn't be surprised if Disney is spending more on their lighting package for Spaceship Earth let alone just one of the new nighttime extravaganzas.

Completely understand people not interested in going because they don't feel like they're getting value for money. Still, I struggle to sympathise with the notion that WDW should be operating as if this major global event that has directly hit their business never occurred.

 

[Brenthodge]

All the Cedar Woods stuff is great, but I wouldn't be surprised if Disney is spending more on their lighting package for Spaceship Earth let along just one of the new nighttime extravaganzas.

which goes to prove its now how much you spend, but the intent and passion you soend it with. Disney Worlds HALF CENTURY anniversary could’ve traded more on nostalgia and its own history without breaking the bank. Doesn’t really matter. I’m not engaged enough to go anytime soon, but it’s just my opinion and observation.

 

[UNCgolf]

Thanks but that thread is about guessing the 50 statues. Hard to distinguish people guessing and actual info. I don't need to waste my time on that thread. This thread has posted info on the actual statues, so it seems to be more relevant here. Nearly every official statue has been posted here, so I think my post was relevant to this thread. thanks, but your post wasn't really helpful.

It started out as guessing the 50 statues, but it's turned into a thread for information about the actual statues.

As to your original question, Disney has an image with 50 spaces that fill in as characters are announced, and the dual statues take up two spaces on the image. Unless they're going to release a supplemental image, that's pretty close to confirmation that there will not be 50 statues.

 

[HauntedPirate]

#ThanksSlappie

Remember that Chapek has been pushing prices up while reducing “things” since 2015. He even proclaimed himself a “Master Ship Builder” by 2017 for some unknown reason. I have a picture of the sign on CC with my opinion of it.

 

[skypilot2922]

Fab 50 FixUps? LOL. I wouldn’t be surprised if the spaceship earth lighting was originally planned as part of the overall “infrastructure improvements” and they just figured that if they used existing infrastructure at AK and HS along with the already planned castle makeover, they could lump them together, call it “beacons of magic” and pass it off to another budget as a”seasonal or event enhancement” I’m not saying it’s not smart.

Ya know that on a aircraft they call the strobe light a ‘beacon’. What else at Disney has a strobe light why the Yeti of course. Does that one count, Asking for a friend

 

[skypilot2922]

Fab 50 FixUps? LOL. I wouldn’t be surprised if the spaceship earth lighting was originally planned as part of the overall “infrastructure improvements” and they just figured that if they used existing infrastructure at AK and HS along with the already planned castle makeover, they could lump them together, call it “beacons of magic” and pass it off to another budget as a”seasonal or event enhancement” I’m not saying it’s not smart.

Ya know that on a aircraft they call the strobe light a ‘beacon’. What else at Disney has a strobe light why the Yeti of course. Does that one count, Asking for a friend

 

[TTA94]

50th merch is now up on Shop Disney.

 

[DCBaker]

Countdown timer added to MDE -

 

[mightynine]

50th merch is now up on Shop Disney.

And selling out. I had my eye on the pin and *poof* gone.

 

[TTA94]

And selling out. I had my eye on the pin and *poof* gone.

Yeah just noticed their sold out. I wanted the hat but for some reason it wasn’t on ShopDisney, US anyway. The hat, tumbler, ornament and magic band were only in the parks apparently. I’m sure those are now gone to.

I wonder if these items will be restocked tomorrow or the coming days? Or once their gone their gone? Which yeah is typical for limited merchandise.

 

[TTA94]

@Figments Friend For the pre merch 50th shirts that went on sale today, do you know if there are better ones coming on Oct 1? Or were these the main ones? If these were the main limited edition shirts, will they be the ones sold on Oct 1st?