When I first visited WDW, Carousel of Progress was one of my very fave attractions, along with Country Bears. But now, it looks quaint, and not in the same way Peter Pan's Flight looks quaint. I'd hate to see it go, as I would with Bears (also quaint), but it's hard to see how it could stay...unless Tomorrowland were completely updated in a playful "The Future That Never Was" kind of way, with steampunk and everything. Or something. Tomorrowland is indeed problematic. The future is changing so rapidly; how could any futuristic attraction NOT seem quaint in a few years' time?
The loss of CoP would not just be tragic, it would almost be criminal. There is so little left to link us to the original Disney concepts and everyone seems to want it gone. If they took it out would I lose any sleep? Not a wink, but, it would be sad that we, as a society can never seem to see the positive of maintaining some of our history.
Doesn't help its case when CoP is one of the worst maintained attractions on property. It's decline over recent years has been appalling for me to witness.
For consideration... what we have here is an over 50 year old attraction that has been shown in the New York Worlds Fair, Disneyland and Walt Disney World to thousands and possibly millions of people. It was created by Walt and his "Boys" and it has been going around in circles, show after show, almost everyday for all those years and yet we seem to be able to claim that it isn't maintained. I wish I could let my car go like that without maintenance and still have it working as well as that one does after over 50 years. Believe me, it has been maintained. Maybe it hasn't had new carpeting on a regular basis or have new seats, but, I have yet to see any damaged ones and it is far from necessary to the show. Maybe it's time to lose that "no maintenance" argument.
Of course they aren't.
The point is, you rarely see "everymen" coming back from WDW and extolling what they used to go on and on about regarding the quality and the exceptional service. One of the key things that kept people coming back, along with the head and shoulders newest/best attractions in existence that they also used to be known for.
They may not be "privy" to this, but it's impact is there nonetheless.in their decision to return, which is having a domino effect on each successive generation. The kids going to WDW today are going to see Universal's parks as an equivalent experience, which is really jarring when you think how quickly things have really changed.
I think that depends on which park that they saw first. I've been going to Universal semi-regularly since they opened up in Florida. I have always thought of Uni as a fairly equivalent experience, just not able to compete in size or diversity to WDW. It still doesn't, but, that is probably because WDW was the first place I ever went. I cannot go to Uni 4 days in a row and see a new place each time. I still can't, but, I still feel that attraction for attraction they are equal or better then WDW. One thing I never ran into in WDW is an attraction that I couldn't fit on. I have always been a big person, but, I was always able to experience everything I wanted to at WDW. Not so at Uni. The Mummy had that embarrassing measuring seat out in front of the ride where everyone could watch you not fit. Then when Potter opened, there it was again and I missed out by probably not more then perhaps a quarter inch of girth, but, miss out I did.
What that means is no matter what Uni does, I will always consider my home base to be WDW. They never made the decision that some people should be excluded if they didn't reach the standard of reasonable size that they imposed. I was always big, but, I was never grossly large. I could and did keep up with everyone in the park, I was just big. I have lost a lot of weight over the last few years and have easily conformed to their standard of excellence.The problem is, I no longer care. The damage was done and it isn't healing. The exposed coasters, etc. never bothered me because my standards for a Uni theme park were different then my standards for Disney. It is easy to tell that to many here, that situation still exists. The lack of the heart stopping thrill rides is one huge deciding factor, but, do we really want to see WDW with skeletal structures piercing the skyline? That seems to be being called for on occasion, but, that wouldn't be what Disneyland or Disney World were built on and I hope it never is. There are just so many things that fit into elaborate theming and when that happens the "thrill" factor is reduced considerably. Tell me the truth, has there ever been anything uglier created then that Rocket thing at Universal towering above and woven through existing places within the theme park?
The Everyman will make judgements the same way that we did, based on what appeals to them. Without the past history or in some cases, even with it, they are not comparing Disney now to a real or imagined Disney then. They are comparing product to product and the shear volume of WDW will impress much more then the details of any specific attraction. If anyone, first time visitor or long time repeat visitor cannot find enough enjoyable things to do at WDW then it is because they didn't really try. Universal is still a two day park for me and unless they add another park, it will remain that way. I don't do coasters and I don't do water parks and "downtown" entertainment venues are not a draw for me. I don't think that I am the only one. Nostalgia is the main reason people kept coming back. After about the second visit, people already knew the script and recited it word for word to the point of total obnoxiousness as loudly as they could. They were not interested in anything new and if you can't tell by the reaction that happens whenever something has been changed or replaced, it is obvious that they were not interested in the new part. Very little in the line of high quality has been created for many years now, the Guests have bypassed quality for nostalgia for a couple of decades now. And still Universal has not been able to equal the numbers of visitors of WDW.
