The worst decision WDW ever made?

[polynesiangirl]

Mangling the Tiki Room, and putting the wand over Epcot and leaving it there for a million years. Oh, and the hat. The horrible horrible hat.

More seriously, cutting back significantly on overall everyday maintenance/cleanliness. I get that WAY more people visit the parks now (and trust me, I know that people in general are terrible about breaking stuff, standing on things they're not supposed to, and my personal favorite, not throwing things in the trash despite the fact that there is a trash can every 3 feet at WDW,) but it is probably my number one gripe these days. There should not be a multitude of trash floating in the water on water rides. There should not be gross blackened cobwebs hanging from Small World. The monorail cushions should not have rips and holes in them. I understand that age (let's face it, the World is a lot older overall than it was when I was a kid,) and sheer volume of stuff to clean has increased, and I'm willing to accept that standards from 1990 may not be reasonable today to some extent. But seriously, one time I saw a Band-Aid floating in the water on Splash, and it did not look recent. I actually said "oh come ON" (Gob Bluth style) out loud.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Not really a tough system to figure out

Oh, it's very easy to figure out. What's difficult is getting a Fastpass after they run out. No one seems to be willing to figure that out. So instead of making the erroneous statement that "Everyone CAN get one". The proper truthful thing to say is that everyone cannot get one because there aren't enough available for EVERYONE to get one. I think if there is anything about Fastpass+ that I like it is that now when one now spends major bucks to stay onsite there will be a limit to how many they can have. How special they are going to feel when they are standing there in standby because they cannot get the Fastpass to their favorite attraction. Then they will know what it feels like to have a disability, or small children, or have to travel a distance and cannot get there as early as others.

And that is when everyone will realize that the worst decision ever was Fastpass at it's birth. It never did more than make a few feel good and the majority feel frustrated. I wouldn't think that is the mindset that is wanted in an expensive entertainment venue.

 

[cheezbat]

Too bad it's not just one thing. It's bad decision after bad decision that I'm seeing.

•Closing 20,000 Leagues-for nothing
•Closing Horizons-for a lesser attraction
•Closing Alien Encounter-for Stitch
•Closing The Animation Studio-for nothing
•Closing the clubs at Pleasure Island-for nothing
•Building a half a** park in Animal Kingdom
•Half-a**ing the Space Mountain refurb
•replacing the original Imagination-for a lesser attraction
•spending $1 Billion + on MyMagic crap...

The list goes on and on. What's the worst? I don't even know.

 

[luv]

I forgot about the Tiki Room! That was terrible. So glad they backed off on that ridiculousness. Much better now.

 

[Fable McCloud]

FP+
Cutting Block Party Bash
Closing of the Adventures Club

1.The Adventurer's Club should have never been closed.

2. Princess Fairytale Hall should not exist, put the girls in their own little themed areas relevant to their personas/movies. It makes it more special to see them that way.

3. The HM queue is a mess, perhaps they could have though it out better, or you know...just left it alone. it was more atmospheric and creepy with just the horse-less carriage and cemetery.

4. Dream Finder and Figment should have never been removed.

5. And TDO, seriously, stop showing the video of the dang Yeti in A mode if it's never gonna be in A mode again. Nothing makes me more annoyed than seeing the vacation videos/behind the scenes specials which show things that currently don't work and probably won't again. What was the point of spending all that time putting research and effort into creating something that moves and functions a certain way only to have it become a Disco Ball?

Also, Avatar.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Swan and Dolphin

I hope you didn't put that hotel on because the lease. The fact is Disney had no chose in terms of the lease of the Swan and Dolphin. The Tishman Group group claimed the claimed that the Epcot deal gave them exclusive rights to operate convention hotels on the Disney property.

Disney needed a convention hotel at the time because WDW needed more hotels to built at the time since Disney was losing business to area hotels that catered to conventions and large meetings. The other thing is what should Disney use the Swan and Dolphin space for if it wasn't for a hotel?

The fact is Epcot was big enough the way it was without expanding it to where Swan and Dolphin is in terms of World Showcase. Disney didn't get anymore countries after Norway for World showcase for one reason or another. That means Epcot Would have had wasted space.

I am sure Disney didn't want DHS closer to Epcotby adding more land to DHS.

That means Disney was in a no win position based on what Disney had to do the Swan and Dolphin.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

I guess mine is a little nuanced, but the worst decision WDW ever made was, generally, the abandoning of EPCOT Center's founding principles and more specifically, the cartooning of the park. If I had to narrow it down to a single action (symbolic of the entire problem) it would be the name change in 1994 from EPCOT Center to Epcot '94; that was the first clue to the public that management didn't have any idea what it was doing regarding that park. 20 years later, it's been a steady drumbeat of bad decision after bad decision.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Ok, after much thought - Epcot.

-Horizons and World of Motion - first on my list and on the list of many posters for this thread - I don't even need to explain these two stupid mind-boggling, head-smacking, decisions that still have repercussions today - But I can't help myself! They both would have made a dying FW today, well, a little less dead. Two strong, unique anchors for FW. GONE! Would have totally helped now that Imagination was swiss-cheesed, as was, SE, and MS is showing its age. WOL was sacked (one pavilion down) TT is ok and the Land too (but this is up for debate if you see others' views.)

Basically, two icons were put down for no reason, or maybe there were but in comparison to what happened to FW later, I don't think so.

I can only guess what the plug-pullers were thinking…. Ok, there was a lull when the call of more up-to-date rides were more enticing, and the foresight to envision H and WOM as timeless, unique, and classic was either ignored or never thought of. They never realized the lull would pass and they both were as timeless as POTC, HM, SM, COP, etc.

The above: Epcot as Epcot Center I preferred. Why change?

The above from my statement: The pulling apart of Imagination and SE, to only go through time, money, energy, planning, and to edit and make it less of what it was. Head-scratcher….

WOL - Sorry, but even as a KID when it opened, I had a feeling it wouldn't last. I was not impressed and remember the day I first walked in. It was good. They had a lot going on, even besides BW. It is nostalgic to me too, but not as lasting as other WDW attractions. I have to say they have nerve. They had to know the clock was ticking on this one the day it was finished. It was nothing like the other FW pavilions. I thought it was a sub-par half-***ed attempt, and I was like under 12. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing. I am leaning toward not so good. Well, here we are…it did close. Because when BW was outdated. There was nothing left to hold that gold building together for a FULL pavilion experience. But I don't want to upset any WOL lovers, and there are many. I know it holds a special place for you, honestly. I wish I could feel the same way, but I don't.

MS and TT. Respectively, I have gone on once in life and the latter twice. If the line is long. I don't bother. I'm not missing much. I did both on my honeymoon because my DH never went on them. Besides this, I won't lose sleep if I never go on them again truly.

WS:

El Rio Del Tiempo - I honestly mourn you.

Maelstrom - Future possible mistake - Please, don't go nowhere. (Flinching as I think of the "Frozen" thread.)

And that is it. Er, because there are no other rides in Epcot…

Future concerns for WS food:

1. That all the kiosks never overshadow the dining TS experiences.

2. That too many restaurant openings/kiosks/"food fests" (F&W, for example) never bloat WS, or are so lucrative/easy to do, that the thought of adding new countries/or even attractions and the sprucing up of the existent ones, makes the "movers and shakers" complacent and lax to develop WS more.

DD/Pl is next….a bunch of concerns here too.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Buying the Muppets. Second biggest mistake: putting Robert Iger in charge . Third mistake: letting him buy up other old has-been rag-tag properties, and fourth mistake: going along with his lame idea to put Avatar in DAK.

 

[FettFan]

THE worst decision.....building freaking Avatar instead of Beastly Kingdom.

I hope it fails.

 

[Figments Friend]

-

For me, i see one of the biggest mistakes being the shift in focus at WDW, and what seems to be the Company attitude towards the property as a whole.

Things are a lot different now...and the attitudes in upper management within the Company as a whole in some divisions are not the creatively-driven lofty goals they once seemed to be.
The shift in focus has negatively impacted many aspects of the WDW experience, in my opinion.
I would say it is at the heart of all the recent *bad decisions*....decisions being made for the *wrong* reasons in some views.



For me personally, closing and gutting the Original *Journey Into Imagination* attraction and completely re-theming the entire Pavilion was a HUGE mistake.
But that is a personal old wound that will never heal.
I am just glad that the voice was heard loud and clear back then when it happened that yes, it WAS indeed a major mistake and it was acknowledged.
I am glad others have noted the desecration of the original creative presentation as a true low point in WDWs colorful history.
It was quickly addressed, but sadly we still have a inferior attraction housed there where once a unique glory reigned supreme.

It would be nice to have something truly imaginative there, once again.

I have the patience of a rock.
It will happen .....one of these days....

 

[rct247]

• Horizons Closing
  
• Stitch's Great Escape Existing
  
• Avatarland Announced
  
• Florida Animation Studios Gone
• Building Disney's Hollywood Studios/MGM Studios backed up against the highway leaving limited expansion space.
• Letting SpectroMagic rot away
• Getting rid of Block Party Bash
• 25th Anniversary Birthday Cake
• 100 Years of Magic Sorcerer's Hat
• Closing Pleasure Island
• Renaming Downtown Disney to Disney Springs
• Not Building Beastly Kingdom
• Allowing GAC Card abuse to get out of hand in the first place.
• Only playing Fantasmic on few nights a week for a few years.
• Only building 2 Soarin' theaters

 

[Funmeister's Delight]

Everything from 1996 through now.

 

[harlock2977]

Well, it all started with the indefinite refurb of 20, 000 leagues. We all know the rest from there.

 

[rocknroller81]

Putting MSEP in place of Spectromagic

The god awful audio track on TTA

Adventure Club (wanted to go in)

Closing Fuego's (and soon the cigar shop!)

The graveyard queue in Haunted Mansion

Not enough theaters for Soarin'

Space Mountain refurb (unnecessary)

Test Track refurb (also unnecessary!)

Switching out Kim Possible for Agent P (don't really hate it, just preferred KP)

Getting rid of the poachers and Wilson in Kilimanjaro Safaris (could've at kept Wilson!)

 

[Funmeister's Delight]

Putting MSEP in place of Spectromagic

The god awful audio track on TTA

Adventure Club (wanted to go in)

Closing Fuego's (and soon the cigar shop!)

The graveyard queue in Haunted Mansion

Not enough theaters for Soarin'

Space Mountain refurb (unnecessary)

Test Track refurb (also unnecessary!)

Switching out Kim Possible for Agent P (don't really hate it, just preferred KP)

Getting rid of the poachers and Wilson in Kilimanjaro Safaris (could've at kept Wilson!)

You obviously missed the good days...

 

[harlock2977]

Ok, after much thought - Epcot.

-Horizons and World of Motinon - first on my list and on the list of many posters for this thread - I don't even need to explain these two stupid mind-boggling, head-smacking, decisions that still have repercussions today - But I can't help myself! They both would have made a dying FW today, well, a little less dead. Two strong, unique anchors for FW. GONE! Would have totally helped now that Imagination was swiss-cheesed, as was, SE, and MS is showing its age. WOL was sacked (one pavilion down) TT is ok and the Land too (but this is up for debate if you see others' views.)

Basically, two icons were put down for no reason, or maybe there were but in comparison to what happened to FW later, I don't think so.

I can only guess what the plug-pullers were thinking…. Ok, there was a lull when the call of more up-to-date rides were more enticing, and the foresight to envision H and WOM as timeless, unique, and classic was either ignored or never thought of. They never realized the lull would pass and they both were as timeless as POTC, HM, SM, COP, etc.

The above: Epcot as Epcot Center I preferred. Why change?

The above from my statement: The pulling apart of Imagination and SE, to only go through time, money, energy, planning, and to edit and make it less of what it was. Head-scratcher….

WOL - Sorry, but even as a KID when it opened, I had a feeling it wouldn't last. I was not impressed and remember the day I first walked in. It was good. They had a lot going on, even besides BW. It is nostalgic to me too, but not as lasting as other WDW attractions. I have to say they have nerve. They had to know the clock was ticking on this one the day it was finished. It was nothing like the other FW pavilions. I thought it was a sub-par half-***ed attempt, and I was like under 12. That can be a good thing, or a bad thing. I am leaning toward not so good. Well, here we are…it did close. Because when BW was outdated. There was nothing left to hold that gold building together for a FULL pavilion experience. But I don't want to upset any WOL lovers, and there are many. I know it holds a special place for you, honestly. I wish I could feel the same way, but I don't.

MS and TT. Respectively, I have gone on once in life and the latter twice. If the line is long. I don't bother. I'm not missing much. I did both on my honeymoon because my DH never went on them. Besides this, I won't lose sleep if I never go on them again truly.

WS:

El Rio Del Tiempo - I honestly mourn you.

Maelstrom - Future possible mistake - Please, don't go nowhere. (Flinching as I think of the "Frozen" thread.)

And that is it. Er, because there are no other rides in Epcot…

Future concerns for WS food:

1. That all the kiosks never overshadow the dining TS experiences.

2. That too many restaurant openings/kiosks/"food fests" (F&W, for example) never bloat WS, or are so lucrative/easy to do, that the thought of adding new countries/or even attractions and the sprucing up of the existent ones, makes the "movers and shakers" complacent and lax to develop WS more.

DD/Pl is next….a bunch of concerns here too.

I feel you are right on the money with many of your assertations. While I liked Body Wars, everything else in there seemed sort of dated already. That being said..I would rather see it opened as a functioning pavillion than over priced picnic tables.

 

[WDW Vaden]

As a fan since the seventies, I think the worst decision at WDW was to build additional gates. In my opinion, there should be one park with very large lands where guests would spend a day exploring a single land. For example, Future World and Tomorrowland could have been combined. Imagine a first time visitor seeing Space Mountain with Spaceship Earth in its immediate background. Everest, Safari and Dinosaurs could have been placed in Adventureland. Fantasyland could have had a movie section. As guests entered the park, they could have experienced "magic" as they board a steam train and go to Adventureland/Frontierland or board a people mover and go to Tomorrowland/Future World. Yet everyone would still be able to go see the castle.

 

[Marijil]

I hope you didn't put that hotel on because the lease. The fact is Disney had no chose in terms of the lease of the Swan and Dolphin. The Tishman Group group claimed the claimed that the Epcot deal gave them exclusive rights to operate convention hotels on the Disney property.

Disney needed a convention hotel at the time because WDW needed more hotels to built at the time since Disney was losing business to area hotels that catered to conventions and large meetings. The other thing is what should Disney use the Swan and Dolphin space for if it wasn't for a hotel?

The fact is Epcot was big enough the way it was without expanding it to where Swan and Dolphin is in terms of World Showcase. Disney didn't get anymore countries after Norway for World showcase for one reason or another. That means Epcot Would have had wasted space.

I am sure Disney didn't want DHS closer to Epcotby adding more land to DHS.

That means Disney was in a no win position based on what Disney had to do the Swan and Dolphin.

It's not the lease...i am aware of the history and we can debate the wisdom and/or necessity of giving Tischman the rights...but my understanding is that Disney would have creative control and my own opinion is that they are eyesores that don't fit thematically, obstruct the skyline and basically stick out like sore thumbs...i don't think Walt would've appreciate the way they obstruct the skyline and backdrop to the park (whether Walt would've approved of EPCOT is another thread entirely) but nonetheless...ive always heard and read that there was a specific reason that the Polynesian was "behind" Adventureland and the Contemporary was behind Tomorrowland...those design principals were clearly not utilized when it came to Swan and Dolphin

 

[copcarguyp71]

I already listed my #1 as Disney choosing to rely on corporate sponsorship for their business model of Epcot but since others have listed their other thoughts I'll throw mine in the ring too,

DVC - yes, sorry folks. It seems that the decline in the parks IMO has gone hand in hand with the inception of hocking pieces of Walt's dream with the promise of making memories for generations to come. Meanwhile resources are squandered and attractions left to flounder like a fish gasping for air in a sun baked puddle at 4:00 on a July afternoon. It could have been done differently, but it was not. A healthy portion of the up front monies could have been re-invested in dream building instead of the juggernaut like outbuild of one DVC property after another. Even when viewing the DVC as a separate entity (which I do not) with it's own sovereign monies TDO should have planned improvement expenditures within the parks to coincide with DVC. I really think we are at the beginning of the monster getting too big and in the next 10 years the wheels may come off the proverbial train if they do not change their ways. Packing the parks is great for the bottom line but at some point lack of re-investment will begin to snowball. I am not talking about re-investments like FLE or Avatarland...they are new and pretty but will fall prey to the same poor decisions in the long run as the rest of the attractions in the parks with defurbs, outsourced cleaning crews (who do a bad job) and empty spaces. Without fixing those things I see new areas as deflection rather than a "plused" experience for the guest. A house of cards is being built and quite frankly Iger is coming to the end of his tenure so I doubt very much if he cares one lick as long as stockholder dividends hold their own and his bonuses hold out until his departure.