WDW is way better now than it was at the beginning of the decade.

[Yert3]

I see a lot of people on these boards talk about how the Disney today is a shadow of its former self. Which is true. I started going to Disney in the mid 90’s. 1996 to be exact, and although I was a kid, I still remember all the trips we made and how the quality and feel of the parks is nothing how it is today. However, I feel like we have to give credit where credit is due. At the beginning of the decade, I feel as though the parks had county fair level of management and upkeep. Anybody remember how bad Splash Mountain got? Here’s a video I took at the time just in case you forgot.



The finale scene of this video is still cringy for me to watch even to this day.

It was bad, really bad. And not only was it Splash Mountain, but it seems on every single attraction, there were more broken effects and animatronics than ones that were working, burnt out lightbulbs everywhere, etc. Even Mickey’s Philharmagic went down in the middle of a show. I haven’t seen that before or since.

Here’s my post talking about that, when that happened.

What's the most surprising thing you've seen at Disney

It could be something good that surprised you, or it could be something that shocked you because it was bad. But it must be something that before you headed into the park you had no idea it was going to happen that day. For me apart from seeing a dwarf being led on a leash by a woman in high...

forums.wdwmagic.com

But I feel that now a days that things have really improved. Yeah, see you a nonfunctional effect here and there, but for the most part, it’s pretty good now a-days. At least compared to how things were 2010-2013

 

[bUU]

And compared to the late 1980s, the parks today are far better. Yes, the mid-to-late 1990s were especially good, but we're not so far away from there now. I believe a lot of people don't want to admit it because of the most significant relevant difference between then and now (the prices). They want to retain their "complain-cred".

 

[JIMINYCR]

I agree Disneys a much better place than it used to be in many ways. I think Disney was going through a period where they were just coasting along, not worried about competition and had no reason to try hard. There was also the turmoil they were going through with people in positions who were also just coasting by. Disney has gotten better in many ways. There have been parks opened, attractions added, better transportation, more resorts added and other things improved on. But there has also been the loss of some quality rides, decrease in food quality in areas, added pressure in planning, higher costs, and the #1 complaint I have is the crowds that continue building that Disney doesnt seem concerned about that affects the pleasurability of a trip. Despite the negatives it still holds on as our favorite place to vacation and has many more good qualities than bad. Hopefully they will start working on the areas they are failing in and we can say everything is as good as we want.

 

[hsisthebest]

I agree that much has improved this decade- however I think overall the resort is so big, it is too hard to maintain the high quality levels of the past. Think of how a bad a park can get while waiting for a new ride/land to open. We were at the world 2 weeks b4 Toy Story Land opened and HS was hardly a half-day park. Think how run-down Epcot has gotten while waiting for some love. It seems that there is always 1+ park that has major neglect while waiting for other parks to finish a big project.

 

[General Mayhem]

Lets see since 2010:
+Magic Kingdom has improved somewhat
-Epcot is worse, like way worse
-DHS is a mess in my opinion (and still will be after Star Wars)
+Animal Kingdom is undoubtedly better

So I kind of agree, but this decade has been a mixed bag for WDW. By comparison DLR had some extremely strong years from 2010-2013, and then from 2014 onward it feels like the cars were ripped off the tracks, and won't be coming back for a while.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I see a lot of people on these boards talk about how the Disney today is a shadow of its former self. Which is true. I started going to Disney in the mid 90’s. 1996 to be exact, and although I was a kid, I still remember all the trips we made and how the quality and feel of the parks is nothing how it is today. However, I feel like we have to give credit where credit is due. At the beginning of the decade, I feel as though the parks had county fair level of management and upkeep. Anybody remember how bad Splash Mountain got? Here’s a video I took at the time just in case you forgot



It was bad, really bad. And not only was it Splash Mountain, but it seems on every single attraction, there were more broken effects and animatronics than ones that were working, burnt out lightbulbs everywhere, etc. Even Mickey’s Philharmagic went down in the middle of a show. I haven’t seen that before or since.



But I feel that now a days that things have really improved. Yeah, see you a nonfunctional effect here and there, but for the most part, it’s pretty good now a-days. At least compared to how things were 2010-2013

From a ride perspective I kind of agree with you.

But - factoring in the overall mindset of other things like quality in food and beverage, excessive increases in every area (not just parking fees and park tickets) - those have gotten worse.

 

[Yert3]

From a ride perspective I kind of agree with you.

But - factoring in the overall mindset of other things like quality in food and beverage, excessive increases in every area (not just parking fees and park tickets) - those have gotten worse.

Yeah, I’m talking strictly from a maintenance and upkeep perspective. Like I mentioned earlier in my post, the parks are nothing how they were like in the mid 90s early 2000’s. I wanna say about around 2005-2006 is when we lost that “magic” feeling and I can’t even really pin-point exactly what it is. I think it’s the “little things.” They don’t seem to exist anymore.

Also (and this is a big one for me), Disney seems to put efficiency before show. This would be fine and all, they have a lot of people to get through the attractions. But they still tell guests every day on the keys to the Kingdom tour that Disney will always put show before efficiency, and that’s just lying.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I don't know, are we at that level where 2010-'13 is considered "back then"? Okay, I'll go back to my first trip in 1991 because that is as far back as I can go.

In 1991 we just visited the Magic Kingdom. There was no Animal Kingdom yet. No Blizzard Beach. Typhoon Lagoon and the Boardwalk had just opened recently. DHS had just opened and was still new. River Country was still there.

In the Magic Kingdom not there yet was: Splash Mountain, Fantasyland Expansion, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, Jack Sparrow on Pirates, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear, Philharmagic.

Still there was: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, 20,000k under the Sea, Skyliner, Snow White, Mickey's Toontown (I think it was called Mickey's Starland then) and I believe the Walt Disney story was still on Main Street.

So that's 28 years ago. Is it better today? Yes and no I think. More yes though. But not by much. Obviously Splash is the biggest addition and while Fantasyland's expansion was great, I still liked Toontown as well for what it was. Snow White and Mr. Toad are gone, which is a negative.

The crowds are bigger too. In 1972 Magic Kingdom had 10.7 million people. 1991 around 11-12 million. 2018 was around 20 million. Right there is the big problem. The crowds have gotten bigger and there isn't the same amount of stuff added to compensate.

The quality? I don't know, I never even thought about dust on Captain Hook until I joined this board. Nothing against quality and cleanliness as Walt had it that way too, but I don't remember it messy then either.

 

[Yert3]

I don't know, are we at that level where 2010-'13 is considered "back then"?

Well, we’re in the final months of the decade and 2010 was 9 years ago. Considering I was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school then, and now I’m 25, it definitely feels “back then”, to me at least.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Well, we’re in the final months of the decade and 2010 was 9 years ago. Considering I was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school then, and now I’m 25, it definitely feels “back then”, to me at least.

I suppose I am just old now..............