Arguably, since 2000 the present age has been quite bleak for the Walt Disney World Resort. With Frank Wells dead, Michael Eisner micro-managing spiraled out of control. The "if you build it, they will come" school of thought no longer existed in management. Maintenance declined, costs were cut, and additions were not as plentiful as they were before. When Eisner left, the parks still declined and were used as cash cows for the rest of the company.
But have things changed? The potential for positive change in management is not impossible. The Disneyland Resort received a complete turn-around, from the neglect of Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harris from the '90s to '00s, until Matt Ouimet changed things up. Now, with George Kalogridis as president, park expansions and improvements are just around the corner, and the park has not looked better. I am confident that with intervention, WDW can operate at the level that TDA is operating the parks out in Anaheim. It's rumored that John Lassetter is coming to WDW after he finishes work over at Disney California Adventure.
EPCOT's Dan Cockerell and MGM Studios' Rilous Carter have shown dedication to their parks, as both parks have been constantly improving over the past few years. New attractions haven't been added reportedly due to TDO cancelling them, but they work well with what they can (at least from this Guest's perspective). The Animal Kingdom is a mess at this point, purely to do mis-management. With no nighttime entertainment, Guests have no reason to stay (or spend) past midday. Despite numerous opportunities to improve the park with new attractions to help relieve pressure on the existing rides, nothing has been done at this point. With its existence (and attendance) based purely on its signature E-tickets (Dinosaur, Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris), taking rides down for much-needed refurbishments is impractical (and very costly). The park has dug itself a nice hole, and unless projects are greenlit soon, the park will be stuck in a perpetual state of decline. The Magic Kingdom, despite some increased upkeep, is just as stale as it was before. The expansion of Fantasyland should prove to be a boon, but in the meantime, it doesn't seem like anything new is coming. Refurbishments were cut thanks to Phil Holmes, and other attempts to improve the parks are further cut (i.e. Space Mountain's refurbishment).
One thing about the Parks that really drives this point in is the marketing department. Look around the ticket gates and read the promotional literature. They're advertising for projects that were completed years ago. I've said this a few times before, but the Walt Disney World I visited in 2008 is essentially the same place I visited a few weeks ago. Nothing's changed. Marketing virtually has nothing new to work and are really just trading on the resort's legacy and name to get people to come...not enticing them with new and exciting things, but rather with increased ticket prices at increased discount rates.
Not all is bad, thankfully. There has been a push to refurbish Main Street in time for its 40th. The new restaurants at EPCOT look great. The folks behind the Fantasyland Expansion gave us a new attraction to replace an elaborate meet and greet chateau. Plans are waiting to be implemented to improve the parks further (when, or if, they will be given the greenlight is up for speculation). But at the end of the day, is this enough to keep guests returning? When are they going to realize the parks are stale, food and merchandise dumbed down, and to use Spirit of 74's phrase, "Wal-marted"?
To clear things up, I'm neither a doom and gloomer or an apologist. My family and I visit Walt Disney World as often as our budget affords it, and will continue to do so despite all of its problems. Thoughts?
But have things changed? The potential for positive change in management is not impossible. The Disneyland Resort received a complete turn-around, from the neglect of Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harris from the '90s to '00s, until Matt Ouimet changed things up. Now, with George Kalogridis as president, park expansions and improvements are just around the corner, and the park has not looked better. I am confident that with intervention, WDW can operate at the level that TDA is operating the parks out in Anaheim. It's rumored that John Lassetter is coming to WDW after he finishes work over at Disney California Adventure.
EPCOT's Dan Cockerell and MGM Studios' Rilous Carter have shown dedication to their parks, as both parks have been constantly improving over the past few years. New attractions haven't been added reportedly due to TDO cancelling them, but they work well with what they can (at least from this Guest's perspective). The Animal Kingdom is a mess at this point, purely to do mis-management. With no nighttime entertainment, Guests have no reason to stay (or spend) past midday. Despite numerous opportunities to improve the park with new attractions to help relieve pressure on the existing rides, nothing has been done at this point. With its existence (and attendance) based purely on its signature E-tickets (Dinosaur, Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris), taking rides down for much-needed refurbishments is impractical (and very costly). The park has dug itself a nice hole, and unless projects are greenlit soon, the park will be stuck in a perpetual state of decline. The Magic Kingdom, despite some increased upkeep, is just as stale as it was before. The expansion of Fantasyland should prove to be a boon, but in the meantime, it doesn't seem like anything new is coming. Refurbishments were cut thanks to Phil Holmes, and other attempts to improve the parks are further cut (i.e. Space Mountain's refurbishment).
One thing about the Parks that really drives this point in is the marketing department. Look around the ticket gates and read the promotional literature. They're advertising for projects that were completed years ago. I've said this a few times before, but the Walt Disney World I visited in 2008 is essentially the same place I visited a few weeks ago. Nothing's changed. Marketing virtually has nothing new to work and are really just trading on the resort's legacy and name to get people to come...not enticing them with new and exciting things, but rather with increased ticket prices at increased discount rates.
Not all is bad, thankfully. There has been a push to refurbish Main Street in time for its 40th. The new restaurants at EPCOT look great. The folks behind the Fantasyland Expansion gave us a new attraction to replace an elaborate meet and greet chateau. Plans are waiting to be implemented to improve the parks further (when, or if, they will be given the greenlight is up for speculation). But at the end of the day, is this enough to keep guests returning? When are they going to realize the parks are stale, food and merchandise dumbed down, and to use Spirit of 74's phrase, "Wal-marted"?
To clear things up, I'm neither a doom and gloomer or an apologist. My family and I visit Walt Disney World as often as our budget affords it, and will continue to do so despite all of its problems. Thoughts?
