News Disney's own survey is a list of Walt Disney World's 50-anniversary shortcomings

Which reasons best describe why you felt the 50th anniversary was below your expectations?

  • The celebration didn't celebrate "classic Disney" and lacked nostalgia

    Votes: 356 81.1%

  • Crowds made it difficult to enjoy the celebration

    Votes: 153 34.9%

  • The décor was limited

    Votes: 167 38.0%

  • Commemorative entertainment for the celebration was limited (stage shows, parades, etc.)

    Votes: 259 59.0%

  • It was not special enough for a 50th-anniversary celebration

    Votes: 349 79.5%

  • The 50th-anniversary merchandise I wanted was unavailable

    Votes: 89 20.3%

  • The fireworks shows/nighttime spectaculars were not as good as previous shows

    Votes: 323 73.6%

  • The fireworks shows/nighttime spectaculars didn't celebrate the 50th

    Votes: 293 66.7%

  • It was difficult to find the special food and beverage offerings

    Votes: 46 10.5%

  • It was not as good as other Disney celebrations

    Votes: 272 62.0%
  • Total voters
    439
rle4lunch

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
We were down there from May 2-8. First time seeing Harmonious (meh, WoC at DCA is much better), first time seeing the new MK nighttime fireworks (meh, not alot of ooh or ahh at all). Both shows were "fine", but lacking. They felt mediocre compared to older offerings. I was hoping for something awe inspiring out of the tech on Harmonious, but it was just as boring as the last 20 years of Epcot nighttime shows. Riding Remy was okay (screenz!), but it's just not that great.

My kids liked the pop up parades when they saw them, but the whole trip felt meh. Over crowded (how is this possible with the supposed attendance reservations/restrictions? ), and some CMs seemed flustered and not engaged. But I did score a free mickey bar, so there's that. We missed dvc previews of GotG by a day, which sucks, but even with that and Tron opening, we're not planning another dvc trip for about 2 years.
 
GhostHost1000

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
rle4lunch said:
We were down there from May 2-8. First time seeing Harmonious (meh, WoC at DCA is much better), first time seeing the new MK nighttime fireworks (meh, not alot of ooh or ahh at all). Both shows were "fine", but lacking. They felt mediocre compared to older offerings. I was hoping for something awe inspiring out of the tech on Harmonious, but it was just as boring as the last 20 years of Epcot nighttime shows. Riding Remy was okay (screenz!), but it's just not that great.

My kids liked the pop up parades when they saw them, but the whole trip felt meh. Over crowded (how is this possible with the supposed attendance reservations/restrictions? ), and some CMs seemed flustered and not engaged. But I did score a free mickey bar, so there's that. We missed dvc previews of GotG by a day, which sucks, but even with that and Tron opening, we're not planning another dvc trip for about 2 years.
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That’s what I’m afraid of. I haven’t been in 3 year (thanks Covid) and will be here June 1-12 with low expectations now.

Just got notice park hours changed then as well. Opening earlier now. Not sure that’s a good sign with the crowds unless this is to try to help some with the genie+ fiasco
 
Lil Copter Cap

Lil Copter Cap

Well-Known Member
On top of all of the above, they've completely changed how one navigates a WDW vacation: Magical Express, FastPass+, Park Reservations, Advanced Dining Reservations & Disney Dining Plan, and more have all be eliminated or altered. Disney is not only dealing with a poorly constructed celebration, but a complete shakeup of the WDW vacation for most guests.

Interested to see how, if anything, changes for future celebrations.
 
SplashJacket

SplashJacket

Well-Known Member
To make me happy, they only needed to update classic rides like Peter Pan, Big Thunder, People Mover, Spaceship Earth, Space Mountain, the Land, and Everest.

How difficult would it have been to add projections to Big Thunder, a couple show scenes to People Mover, reinstate the descending scenes of Spaceship Earth, fix the Yeti, and update the Land’s show scenes.

Just provide the fan-service the fans long for. That’s what a 50th anniversary should be about.
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Pretty much yes to all of those. I wish they would ask me to take the survey.

For me the biggest thing is the lack of any legitimate attempt to celebrate the past and legacy of WDW. Almost everything about it is just character/IP stuff in place of anything of substance to WDW specifically. This was THE time to open up that World ShowPLACE tent or something and bring out a bunch of items and artifacts from the WDW archives. Each park could have had an exhibit showcasing its history as well.

There's NO excuse that Magic Kingdom's nighttime show wasn't a 50th celebration show of some sort, not to mention that it's a worse show than what it replaced and serves the same basic function as Harmonious. Epcot Forever should have been held off until the 50th celebration as well.

The merchandise is almost entirely tacky and terrible with characters lazily slapped on almost all of it. I have not seen a single thing I actually want because it's all so lazy and soulless.

There are literally only two positives, and they are things that should stay: SSE's new lightning (although I think they should dim it a little), and the lights underneath the monorail trains.

Basically the whole thing reeks of Chapek & Co.'s "just slap characters on everything, they'll eat it up either way so it doesn't matter" attitude that is destroying everything that made the parks special in the first place.
 
rle4lunch

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
GhostHost1000 said:
That’s what I’m afraid of. I haven’t been in 3 year (thanks Covid) and will be here June 1-12 with low expectations now.

Just got notice park hours changed then as well. Opening earlier now. Not sure that’s a good sign with the crowds unless this is to try to help some with the genie+ fiasco
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So, just saying, genie + is a must and will help out enormously. We're used to Max pass at DL, so navigating an incorporating it into our vacation wasn't hard. It beats the crap out of the 3 FP per park thing. But yes, it does suck paying for it.

The one HUGE problem with all the changes that wdw has made is that it's straight up short changing first time visitors and nearly ripping them off. The new systems are built for the lifetime Disney goer, which is fine for DL, but not Wdw. Wdw has so many first time (and maybe ONLY time) park goers that I really feel they're getting the shaft (without knowing it).
 
B

BrowncatP

Member
I was there on October 1. The day stunk! The new fireworks show should of started on October 2. A special just tonight(Oct 1) show should of been done. There was NO special ceremony. The guide map had just a 50 on the front, but on the inside there was nothing extra. Go on E-Bay and what WDW had for the 40 was SO much better. Only extra thing was a poster upon leaving.
 

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