So I was at the dentist today for a cleaning, and the dental hygienist saw my Disneyland shirt which sparked a long conversation.
Their family and her went on their very first WDW trip sometime in late 2022 and she said that MK was her least favorite park they visited. Reasoning being that there were many "old" rides.
I was kinda perplexed what she meant by this. She said the boats on Small World and Pirates were dirty. You can see mold and icky stuff on the rides. Then came Splash Mountain. She said and I quote, "it looked like it was falling apart". The animatronics were broken everywhere and the boats were in very rough shape as bits and pieces were coming off. She then said that she was glad it closed so they could finally "fix it".
I was very surprised by this viewpoint, especially coming from a first time visitor. I guess this just goes to show how maintenance is important and how it can skew guest's viewpoints and opinions on rides. That even a masterpiece of a ride Splash was can really damper guest's views when not properly maintained.
The other thing was that they were somewhat
regular Disneyland park-goers, but after their first WDW visit, they prefer and love World more. They like the many parks to see/visit and how it feels like an enclosed-city, especially if you stay at the on-site resorts. Their favorites were Animal Kingdom (Avatar) and Hollywood Studios (Star Wars). They want to go back sometime soon also.
Anyways, it was nice talking to someone who isn't always "in the know". But it did give me a fresh viewpoint on the parks that I often don't see or hear.
Edit: just realized that this may be off-topic for this thread, so it can be deleted if deemed so.