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WDW Now Stale And Uninteresting?
- Thread starter disappointed
- Start date
EpcotServo
Well-Known Member
Walt Disney World has heard your comments, and thanks you for your time. We are prepared to offer a blood sacrifice to the gods of old to bring back the freshness to our forsaken village, all hail the pagan god zanthor and may the blessings of Xantax be upon you.
Disney's got a weird scene going on right now...
Disney's got a weird scene going on right now...
While I too am concerned about the decline in maintenance and upkeep, I can't agree that WDW is becoming stale. Every time I am there I manage to find something new, some little touch or detail, that only Disney can bring to life. To me, any time I can visit one place so many time and still be impressed and amazed, it's truly magical and never stale....
Mr Wizard
Active Member
I don't know if I would use the term stale. But if you can stand back and look at things over many years I believe they really aren't as far ahead of the technological curve as they used to be. Now possibly it's nostalga talking but I think the wow and amazement factor was much larger in the 70's. Where else could you see ( sorta ) lifelike robots and ride a monorail! And todays mind blowing offerings are images projected on water screens ( that they have used almost everywhere ) and generic store bought rides with Disney theming stapeled on to it. I love the place and will allways continue to come back, but I have to admit I would like to see the technology become more advanced and daring as it seemed before.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
Ah ... what a fun little thread I just stumbled upon ... this is the type of things that could spew holiday magic ... and dare I say, Spirit ... for many, many, many posts.
Unfortunately (poor me, poor me) I am headed to WDW myself for an extended stay so I can take all the staleness in. ... In all of its many forms and faces.
I often think a post like yours is engendered to provoke a lot of nastiness because this is a nest of Disney-loving, pixie dust snorting, character groping (maybe not that), fanbois who think WDW is a great place.
And they're correct. It largely is.
But your post is also correct. It's just as a newbie, folks feel (wrongly) that someone can't come in and $*&# all over the Mouse.
WDW has become stale due in part to rabid fans who will apologize for every cutback, every loss, every drop in quality. They'll tell you that you should focus on the positives, and you should. Anyone who goes on a trip/vacation to 'look' for problems has some issues as life is way too short and the world is way too screwed up to waste energies on theme parks.
That said, the folks who blindly choose to simply focus on the positives and pretend/ignore the realities are simply opting to be ignorant. In this case, ignorant Mouse consumers/vacationers. One might say that's why we, as a society, have become so troubled. So many far more crucial aspects of life in these United States are blown off because people feel they'd rather watch mindless reality TV, play video games or watch Tiger Woods' destroy his image (he'll do just fine as billionaire golfer, no matter how much this costs him) than get off their arses, complain and try to bring about positive change. The easiest way is to simply ignore problems exist ... downplay them ... or talk about the good things.
Unfortunately, that just perpetuates a spiral of dumbing down ... of Walmarting ... of being less as a people and a nation.
So, back to WDW.
I have used the word 'stale' many times (which if you are a troll, you'd know) to describe the place. That's partially hyperbole, but many aspects of WDW are indeed stale to me.
And anyone who has visited enough to not simply be wowed by a fiberglass castle or a teenager in a foamhead costume or an audio animatronic, anyone who has been a loyal WDW guest for decades, anyone who has visited Disney's other resorts across the world, anyone who has traveled extensively to other destinations ... well, they'll likely offer similar responses.
Nice place. But not nearly what it once was or what it could yet be.
Now ... enjoy the thread ... I must make reservations for a character breakfast ...what do you mean!???!! Chef Mickey's is BOOKED for the next MONTH!?!??!? Dammit, I want my $30 wattery scrambled eggs with screaming kids chasing a mouse!!!!
Unfortunately (poor me, poor me) I am headed to WDW myself for an extended stay so I can take all the staleness in. ... In all of its many forms and faces.
I often think a post like yours is engendered to provoke a lot of nastiness because this is a nest of Disney-loving, pixie dust snorting, character groping (maybe not that), fanbois who think WDW is a great place.
And they're correct. It largely is.
But your post is also correct. It's just as a newbie, folks feel (wrongly) that someone can't come in and $*&# all over the Mouse.
WDW has become stale due in part to rabid fans who will apologize for every cutback, every loss, every drop in quality. They'll tell you that you should focus on the positives, and you should. Anyone who goes on a trip/vacation to 'look' for problems has some issues as life is way too short and the world is way too screwed up to waste energies on theme parks.
That said, the folks who blindly choose to simply focus on the positives and pretend/ignore the realities are simply opting to be ignorant. In this case, ignorant Mouse consumers/vacationers. One might say that's why we, as a society, have become so troubled. So many far more crucial aspects of life in these United States are blown off because people feel they'd rather watch mindless reality TV, play video games or watch Tiger Woods' destroy his image (he'll do just fine as billionaire golfer, no matter how much this costs him) than get off their arses, complain and try to bring about positive change. The easiest way is to simply ignore problems exist ... downplay them ... or talk about the good things.
Unfortunately, that just perpetuates a spiral of dumbing down ... of Walmarting ... of being less as a people and a nation.
So, back to WDW.
I have used the word 'stale' many times (which if you are a troll, you'd know) to describe the place. That's partially hyperbole, but many aspects of WDW are indeed stale to me.
And anyone who has visited enough to not simply be wowed by a fiberglass castle or a teenager in a foamhead costume or an audio animatronic, anyone who has been a loyal WDW guest for decades, anyone who has visited Disney's other resorts across the world, anyone who has traveled extensively to other destinations ... well, they'll likely offer similar responses.
Nice place. But not nearly what it once was or what it could yet be.
Now ... enjoy the thread ... I must make reservations for a character breakfast ...what do you mean!???!! Chef Mickey's is BOOKED for the next MONTH!?!??!? Dammit, I want my $30 wattery scrambled eggs with screaming kids chasing a mouse!!!!
love disney
Active Member
Are there things about WDW that could be better? Of course there are.
Does this make WDW stale or disappointing? In my opinion no.
There is something magical about Disney World, perhaps this is the reason I will be heading out for my 6th trip in just over a year on the 15th (lucky me!!!). Every time I go I find something new to enjoy or something new or something that I never noticed before that makes me remember just how special WDW is. My friend and I were eating lunch today and talking about how we can't wait to leave for our next trip, both of us with huge smiles on our faces.
There are some things that I would like to see changed, added, or improved, but for the most part I personally love Disney World!
Does this make WDW stale or disappointing? In my opinion no.
There is something magical about Disney World, perhaps this is the reason I will be heading out for my 6th trip in just over a year on the 15th (lucky me!!!). Every time I go I find something new to enjoy or something new or something that I never noticed before that makes me remember just how special WDW is. My friend and I were eating lunch today and talking about how we can't wait to leave for our next trip, both of us with huge smiles on our faces.
There are some things that I would like to see changed, added, or improved, but for the most part I personally love Disney World!
imagineer boy
Well-Known Member
Don't you just love the Conondrum hysteria every time a new member posts somthing like this? :lol:
mousefanwhat?
Member
wow.
While it is true cutbacks and less than fabulous quality have become obvious at the World...I'm not sure I'd go as far as stale and uninteresting.
Everytime my family and I go, we thoroughly enjoy ourselves, including my husband who is not a disney fanatic by any stretch. He will be the first to gripe about the mouse pickpocketing him to an early grave and how the attractions are the same everytime...and yet, once we get there he enjoys himself. We enjoy the family time and indeed find the "magic", as cheesy as it sounds...Maybe it's all what you make of it. If you focus on the cost and the imperfections I suppose it could seem stale and uninteresting. I just don't see the point of making it a glass half empty.
If you don't like it, don't go, don't spend the money, go to Hawaii. Seems like if you're that "disappointed" you might as well move on to find a new vacation spot. Everyone is certainly entitled to an opinion, but come on...you're going to come to a Disney forum and go down this road?:shrug:
While it is true cutbacks and less than fabulous quality have become obvious at the World...I'm not sure I'd go as far as stale and uninteresting.
Everytime my family and I go, we thoroughly enjoy ourselves, including my husband who is not a disney fanatic by any stretch. He will be the first to gripe about the mouse pickpocketing him to an early grave and how the attractions are the same everytime...and yet, once we get there he enjoys himself. We enjoy the family time and indeed find the "magic", as cheesy as it sounds...Maybe it's all what you make of it. If you focus on the cost and the imperfections I suppose it could seem stale and uninteresting. I just don't see the point of making it a glass half empty.
If you don't like it, don't go, don't spend the money, go to Hawaii. Seems like if you're that "disappointed" you might as well move on to find a new vacation spot. Everyone is certainly entitled to an opinion, but come on...you're going to come to a Disney forum and go down this road?:shrug:
zjer
Active Member
Well I have been going to WDW since '00. So I can't compare it to anything before that but I must say that my last trip in November was probably the best one to date. The surprise of being able to ride Space Mountain, the beautiful weather, the condition of the attractions, it was all spectacular. Of course there were some small disappointments (ex, no large bags of chips, beer by the bottle with no six pack discount ($36 for a six pack :veryconfu), not much snack food in the food court, etc) but overall the trip was fantastic. Every time I have gone I can always pick out a couple things that could be better, I always reminisce about past attractions, but the overall experience for me hasn't declined. I honestly feel bad for the people who live too close to WDW. For many it just affords the time to nitpick every little detail and just ruins the overall experience. I actually compare it to my tattoos (as odd as that sounds). I have a sleeve on my right arm that I look at every day. The more I look at it, the more I notice every little imperfection in the art. When my friends see it, they comment on how good it looks and how colorful it is. When I look at it, I only notice all the places the artist should have done a better job. :shrug:
guyincognito
New Member
Interesting that you bring this up... I had similar thoughts on my return from Disney World two weeks ago. The last time I had been was almost 10 years ago and I always had a sense of wonderment and amazement about the logistics and engineering behind Disney World that I just didn't feel this last time. Maybe it's because I'm getting older and there isn't so much mystery to all this, but I think it's partially because Disney World just isn't as unique as it once was.
As an engineer I've always felt that Disney was on the cutting edge of technology and producing things that no one else could produce. I really enjoy learning about the technology behind their attractions and the meticulous system engineering and operations practices that make the seemingly impossible possible. My favorite park is EPCOT, and on this past trip I felt that it may have strayed a little from its original vision. Future World had lost its future focus - it was mostly "Cool Technology Today" world. The World Showcase just did not have the appeal for me that it once did. I looked at the Italian and French pavilions and thought "Las Vegas does it bigger and better". I couldn't get a British ale in the British pavilion. Many of the pavilions just seemed a bit dated and not well kept.
This was my first trip to Animal Kingdom, and aside from EE, which I thought was excellent on almost all levels, the park was a disappointment. The Safari was almost at a cheesy level and very un-Disney (like when the guide explained how the elephants had knocked the branches off the trees when they clearly had been cut with a chain-saw). They had a great opportunity to actually educate using real animals, and they had to guss it up with cheap showiness. MK and HS were fun as always.
Disney is still king when it comes to theming and the logistics of handling thousands of guests and keeping them happy. I hope they will be able to consistently reintroduce that wow factor back into their attractions that you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else.
As an engineer I've always felt that Disney was on the cutting edge of technology and producing things that no one else could produce. I really enjoy learning about the technology behind their attractions and the meticulous system engineering and operations practices that make the seemingly impossible possible. My favorite park is EPCOT, and on this past trip I felt that it may have strayed a little from its original vision. Future World had lost its future focus - it was mostly "Cool Technology Today" world. The World Showcase just did not have the appeal for me that it once did. I looked at the Italian and French pavilions and thought "Las Vegas does it bigger and better". I couldn't get a British ale in the British pavilion. Many of the pavilions just seemed a bit dated and not well kept.
This was my first trip to Animal Kingdom, and aside from EE, which I thought was excellent on almost all levels, the park was a disappointment. The Safari was almost at a cheesy level and very un-Disney (like when the guide explained how the elephants had knocked the branches off the trees when they clearly had been cut with a chain-saw). They had a great opportunity to actually educate using real animals, and they had to guss it up with cheap showiness. MK and HS were fun as always.
Disney is still king when it comes to theming and the logistics of handling thousands of guests and keeping them happy. I hope they will be able to consistently reintroduce that wow factor back into their attractions that you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else.
harveyt0206
Well-Known Member
ho hum.....Disney was so stale and boring during my last trip in September that I immediately came home to book another trip for March just so I could verify that all the stale boringness was as bad as I thought.
Excuse me, but I am having Pixie dust withdrawals. Gotta go to another thread and snort some more. Have fun debating the misery that is Disney. :wave::ROFLOL::wave:
Excuse me, but I am having Pixie dust withdrawals. Gotta go to another thread and snort some more. Have fun debating the misery that is Disney. :wave::ROFLOL::wave:
dvcnut39
Well-Known Member
GenerationX
Well-Known Member
First off, I am not planning to dispute the sincerity of the OP's intentions through use of sarcasm. The OP is truly interested in knowing whether or not he is the "only one" with his controversial opinion. An opinion that he genuinely hopes people won't get amped up over. The OP is certain the WDWMagic community has never heard of anyone labeling WDS stale, much less had lengthy, nasty threads around the subject. He's just innocently lobbed the question out there. Gosh, I sincerely hope this thread doesn't get locked.
Stratofarius
New Member
For me, Disney had something that the other theme parks didn't. Originality.
But I think they lost it. The new rides at WDW are either refurbs (or shall I say, horrible makeovers), the same thing and nothign new. Toy Story Mania is awesome, yes. But why shall I keep going on Journey into Imagination with Figment if its just a bunch of video screens and 2 animatronics?
Where's the originality, Disney? Flushed down the toilet? I liked you guys because you could create awesome rides from nothing. BUT EVERYTHING new that you guys create is based on a Disney character.
Yes, theyre fun and nice, but please, Disney, give me back El Rio de Tiempo. It was fun. Now its just Disney merchandising like the new it's a small world on Disneyland.
But I think they lost it. The new rides at WDW are either refurbs (or shall I say, horrible makeovers), the same thing and nothign new. Toy Story Mania is awesome, yes. But why shall I keep going on Journey into Imagination with Figment if its just a bunch of video screens and 2 animatronics?
Where's the originality, Disney? Flushed down the toilet? I liked you guys because you could create awesome rides from nothing. BUT EVERYTHING new that you guys create is based on a Disney character.
Yes, theyre fun and nice, but please, Disney, give me back El Rio de Tiempo. It was fun. Now its just Disney merchandising like the new it's a small world on Disneyland.
Figment632
New Member
I love WDW I have been 4 times this year with 1 trip to DL this Past May. I am going again for New Tears and I am just as excited as ever.
However Disney is in a wierd period right now and it's not just WDW. DL was amazing that park is supierior to MK in almost every way. However DCA was a thematic nightmare. I know they are fixing it but half the park was like a Six Flags park. And how can you get rid of the people mover?
With that said IMO WDW still has the best theme park on Earth Epcot! They need to do a few things to make WDW perfect IMO.
1. Do a better job keeping the rides up.
2. Reopen WOL redo UOE and finish SSE.
3. Redo TL and add Indy to AL.
4. Finish Pixar Place and slowly add Marvel in their own section in DHS.
5. DAK is still a half day park for me, it needs 3-4 d-ticket dark rides.
6. Keep Merchandise unique.
With all that said even though EC has been invaded by Nemo WDW is still great!
However Disney is in a wierd period right now and it's not just WDW. DL was amazing that park is supierior to MK in almost every way. However DCA was a thematic nightmare. I know they are fixing it but half the park was like a Six Flags park. And how can you get rid of the people mover?
With that said IMO WDW still has the best theme park on Earth Epcot! They need to do a few things to make WDW perfect IMO.
1. Do a better job keeping the rides up.
2. Reopen WOL redo UOE and finish SSE.
3. Redo TL and add Indy to AL.
4. Finish Pixar Place and slowly add Marvel in their own section in DHS.
5. DAK is still a half day park for me, it needs 3-4 d-ticket dark rides.
6. Keep Merchandise unique.
With all that said even though EC has been invaded by Nemo WDW is still great!
DisneyMusician2
Well-Known Member
I actually think that the maintenance and upkeep has been getting better over the past year, not worse.
But with the way people complain when they stop doing things that are familiar, it is no wonder others think it stale!
BigThunderMatt
Well-Known Member
The best way I like to look at it is the comparison between Disneyland and Walt Disney World. A lot of people like to throw Tokyo into the mix but that's not really fair because they're owned and operated by a different company.
Disneyland was Walt's park. The original. Even going through it you can feel a sense of intimacy that's lacking at Magic Kingdom, and I'm not talking about how the paths at Disneyland are so narrow that even on the slowest of days it seems crowded.
It also seems like it gets much more love, and its resort as a whole, compared to WDW. This has a lot to do with the demographic they serve. Now, I used to work at DLR in summer of 08. Being able to go on my days off gave me a real sense of appreciation for it, especially since I had never been prior to working there. I would GLADLY take a vacation there from here on the east side of the country and if down the road I became a DVC member my first choice for my home resort would be the Grand Californian.
However, I'm in a minority in that regard. It's not very common to see people trekking across the country to go to Disneyland. It's still very much a local park, with a large base of Annual Passholders. Because repeat locals make up the bulk of Disneyland's attendance, they hold the parks to a higher standard. I wouldn't go so far to say they demand perfection, but it's not far off. Part of the reason was the Harris/Pressler years where things got really bad. Now the guests never want to see something like that happen again so they're constantly on their guard, and it seems like corporate wants to do everything in their power to please them.
On the other hand, I think corporate looks at WDW as nothing more than a cash cow. WDW is something people from around the world come to visit. When people talk about a Disney vacation, this is what they talk about. But despite that, there is an expense in travelling here that doesn't exist at DLR. Even if it's not AS expensive as it used to be, it's still enough to warrant a visit only once a year, sometimes more. Some Disney-savvy guests and DVC members are able to split it up and go more often. But the fact is that even though return visitors make up the bulk of WDW attendance, it may very well have been 10 years since the last time those return visitors were there.
These people miss a lot of things. They're so overwhelmed by the nostalgia and memories flowing back that they tend to view WDW through rose-colored lenses. Disney knows this. The minority of guests that visit enough to notice how things have slowly been changing for the worse in Orlando are small and despite being vocal, their dissatisfaction doesn't represent much of a threat to Disney because in most cases those same guests will ultimately still go and simply tolerate the things that need to be fixed.
The problem I have with this attitude is that while I understand that Disney is obviously a company looking to make a profit, and we are in an economic recession right now, some of these problems have been going on for years. There are effects on attractions that haven't worked in forever. There were exclusive menu items you can no longer find in the parks. The merchandise has become so standardized there's no point to stay in the parks and browse around at the end of your day. You can just as easily find it at your resort or DTD.
New, original attractions are few and far between. The focus has become less on new, innovative attractions and instead how they can get the most bang for their buck. Characters are all the rage getting multiple dedicated queues and Disney's always looking to tie-in their latest film or franchise to some elaborately themed meet and greet (Pixie Hollow anyone?). They were pushing the whole Pirate/Princess theme for song long I wanted to puke. Princesses are fine, they're what half the Disney film library is built upon. But come on. I know that when I was a kid I NEVER pretended I was a pirate. I had no desire to be a pirate. I was much more into the whole swords and sorcery thing. Grant it, Pirates of the Caribbean as a franchise never existed like it does now but at the age they're targeting this whole pirate frenzy to (I'm assuming about 4-7) I know my parents wouldn't have even let me near those films.
To sum it all up, Disney needs to get back to its roots with WDW. It needs to be held to the same standards as DLR. The adage is true that you have to spend money to make money. I think they really believe now that people come for the characters and the shopping. They don't. At least not me. I could go a whole day without meeting a single character and be perfectly fine. They come for the attractions, and Disney needs to keep investing in expanding into attractions that are new and innovative as well as continually upgrading and upkeeping what they have. Things should never sit there to rot until it's so blatantly obvious that they have to fix it. And then when they do fix it, they just do the bare minimum.
It may seem like a large capital investment for them, but the positive reaction it would generate, not to mention all the new marketing angles they could take with new additions, would probably generate a much bigger return than they're currently making. Right now all the advertising is just like "Hey. Come to Disney World. You pretty much have to. It's here and it's world known. Where have you been the last 39 years?" Nothing new to entice people, just the sense that WDW is a place you're going to have to eventually go at some point and as such you might as well go now. I remember the old advertising campaigns for the opening of Animal Kingdom. THOSE got me excited to go.
To close this I'll list just a few of the things I think could be done to improve the experience and remember this is just my own personal opinion:
-Space Mountain refurb resulting in a Disneyland-style experience
-Spaceship Earth returned to 1994 narration/ending finished
-JII refurb resulting in a replica of the original attraction albeit with upgraded technology/return of the original ImageWorks
-Full refurb of EE to get everything running properly again and to ensure what happened to the yeti will never happen again.
-More additions to DAK and DHS, preferrably attractions for the latter; new zones AND attractions for the former
-Current Fantasyland facades in Fantasyland west (Peter Pan, Philharmagic, Small World) getting updated to newer, better styles to complement the upgraded facades for current attractions that will be in the new sections.
-Big Thunder...fix everything. There's so many things not working on this ride.
-Completion of Pop Century. The unfinished buildings are depressing and very bad show.
-More varied park-specific/attraction-specific merchandise. Make certain items unavailable outside specific areas. You shouldn't be able to get a Splash Mountain t-shirt at the Emporium. You DEFINITELY shouldn't be able to get your hands on one if you're in DTD and don't even plan on going to MK. This is like two steps away from park merchandise being sold in the tacky off-property gift shops that are every 5 feet on 192 and 535.
-Removal of the Sorcerer's Hat at DHS.
-Return of Fantasmic to nightly shows, with upgraded effects including the new dragon from DLR.
-Anybody seen Tinker Bell fly at DLR? They need to do something like this for MK. I understand it's a different animal altogether because Cinderella Castle is considerably larger but isn't Disney supposed to be known for thinking outside the box on things like this?
Those are just some of my ideas and opinions. I doubt many of them will ever come to fruition, especially if WDW maintains the status quo.
Disneyland was Walt's park. The original. Even going through it you can feel a sense of intimacy that's lacking at Magic Kingdom, and I'm not talking about how the paths at Disneyland are so narrow that even on the slowest of days it seems crowded.
It also seems like it gets much more love, and its resort as a whole, compared to WDW. This has a lot to do with the demographic they serve. Now, I used to work at DLR in summer of 08. Being able to go on my days off gave me a real sense of appreciation for it, especially since I had never been prior to working there. I would GLADLY take a vacation there from here on the east side of the country and if down the road I became a DVC member my first choice for my home resort would be the Grand Californian.
However, I'm in a minority in that regard. It's not very common to see people trekking across the country to go to Disneyland. It's still very much a local park, with a large base of Annual Passholders. Because repeat locals make up the bulk of Disneyland's attendance, they hold the parks to a higher standard. I wouldn't go so far to say they demand perfection, but it's not far off. Part of the reason was the Harris/Pressler years where things got really bad. Now the guests never want to see something like that happen again so they're constantly on their guard, and it seems like corporate wants to do everything in their power to please them.
On the other hand, I think corporate looks at WDW as nothing more than a cash cow. WDW is something people from around the world come to visit. When people talk about a Disney vacation, this is what they talk about. But despite that, there is an expense in travelling here that doesn't exist at DLR. Even if it's not AS expensive as it used to be, it's still enough to warrant a visit only once a year, sometimes more. Some Disney-savvy guests and DVC members are able to split it up and go more often. But the fact is that even though return visitors make up the bulk of WDW attendance, it may very well have been 10 years since the last time those return visitors were there.
These people miss a lot of things. They're so overwhelmed by the nostalgia and memories flowing back that they tend to view WDW through rose-colored lenses. Disney knows this. The minority of guests that visit enough to notice how things have slowly been changing for the worse in Orlando are small and despite being vocal, their dissatisfaction doesn't represent much of a threat to Disney because in most cases those same guests will ultimately still go and simply tolerate the things that need to be fixed.
The problem I have with this attitude is that while I understand that Disney is obviously a company looking to make a profit, and we are in an economic recession right now, some of these problems have been going on for years. There are effects on attractions that haven't worked in forever. There were exclusive menu items you can no longer find in the parks. The merchandise has become so standardized there's no point to stay in the parks and browse around at the end of your day. You can just as easily find it at your resort or DTD.
New, original attractions are few and far between. The focus has become less on new, innovative attractions and instead how they can get the most bang for their buck. Characters are all the rage getting multiple dedicated queues and Disney's always looking to tie-in their latest film or franchise to some elaborately themed meet and greet (Pixie Hollow anyone?). They were pushing the whole Pirate/Princess theme for song long I wanted to puke. Princesses are fine, they're what half the Disney film library is built upon. But come on. I know that when I was a kid I NEVER pretended I was a pirate. I had no desire to be a pirate. I was much more into the whole swords and sorcery thing. Grant it, Pirates of the Caribbean as a franchise never existed like it does now but at the age they're targeting this whole pirate frenzy to (I'm assuming about 4-7) I know my parents wouldn't have even let me near those films.
To sum it all up, Disney needs to get back to its roots with WDW. It needs to be held to the same standards as DLR. The adage is true that you have to spend money to make money. I think they really believe now that people come for the characters and the shopping. They don't. At least not me. I could go a whole day without meeting a single character and be perfectly fine. They come for the attractions, and Disney needs to keep investing in expanding into attractions that are new and innovative as well as continually upgrading and upkeeping what they have. Things should never sit there to rot until it's so blatantly obvious that they have to fix it. And then when they do fix it, they just do the bare minimum.
It may seem like a large capital investment for them, but the positive reaction it would generate, not to mention all the new marketing angles they could take with new additions, would probably generate a much bigger return than they're currently making. Right now all the advertising is just like "Hey. Come to Disney World. You pretty much have to. It's here and it's world known. Where have you been the last 39 years?" Nothing new to entice people, just the sense that WDW is a place you're going to have to eventually go at some point and as such you might as well go now. I remember the old advertising campaigns for the opening of Animal Kingdom. THOSE got me excited to go.
To close this I'll list just a few of the things I think could be done to improve the experience and remember this is just my own personal opinion:
-Space Mountain refurb resulting in a Disneyland-style experience
-Spaceship Earth returned to 1994 narration/ending finished
-JII refurb resulting in a replica of the original attraction albeit with upgraded technology/return of the original ImageWorks
-Full refurb of EE to get everything running properly again and to ensure what happened to the yeti will never happen again.
-More additions to DAK and DHS, preferrably attractions for the latter; new zones AND attractions for the former
-Current Fantasyland facades in Fantasyland west (Peter Pan, Philharmagic, Small World) getting updated to newer, better styles to complement the upgraded facades for current attractions that will be in the new sections.
-Big Thunder...fix everything. There's so many things not working on this ride.
-Completion of Pop Century. The unfinished buildings are depressing and very bad show.
-More varied park-specific/attraction-specific merchandise. Make certain items unavailable outside specific areas. You shouldn't be able to get a Splash Mountain t-shirt at the Emporium. You DEFINITELY shouldn't be able to get your hands on one if you're in DTD and don't even plan on going to MK. This is like two steps away from park merchandise being sold in the tacky off-property gift shops that are every 5 feet on 192 and 535.
-Removal of the Sorcerer's Hat at DHS.
-Return of Fantasmic to nightly shows, with upgraded effects including the new dragon from DLR.
-Anybody seen Tinker Bell fly at DLR? They need to do something like this for MK. I understand it's a different animal altogether because Cinderella Castle is considerably larger but isn't Disney supposed to be known for thinking outside the box on things like this?
Those are just some of my ideas and opinions. I doubt many of them will ever come to fruition, especially if WDW maintains the status quo.
Susan Savia
Well-Known Member
Well ya know..........if your so disgruntled about it as a whole you can stay home and save your money! Me, I dont care if the paint might be peeling on a certain ride or I got to stand in line 5 minutes longer or they aren't bringing some lights to Epcot this year. I go because as a whole, it makes me happy and my family and together we experience all it has to offer. We don't go to the parks looking for the tiniest problem or the meanest visitor. 
DisneyNut2007
Active Member
BigThunderMatt
Well-Known Member
Well ya know..........if your so disgruntled about it as a whole you can stay home and save your money! Me, I dont care if the paint might be peeling on a certain ride or I got to stand in line 5 minutes longer or they aren't bringing some lights to Epcot this year. I go because as a whole, it makes me happy and my family and together we experience all it has to offer. We don't go to the parks looking for the tiniest problem or the meanest visitor.
This right here is what the typical WDW visitor is. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, this SHOULD be the norm considering WDW's demographic. But at the same time it seems like they're using the fact that many people aren't coming on a monthly basis (or possibly even weekly) as an excuse to not keep the aesthetics as well-maintained as they could. And it's a shame. Just because these people don't come every other week doesn't mean that they should be exposed to peeling paint, inoperative animatronics and effects, and a myriad of other problems simply by virtue of the fact that they're not as likely to notice it. These things should be the exception rather than the rule ESPECIALLY with Disney who has built their reputation on such ideals but lately doesn't seem to be practicing what they preach.