What needs to be done to improve WDW?

[WDW95]

Clearly everyone on these boards has an affinity toward WDW or else we wouldn't be here. We all have our reasons for loving the place and for wanting to know everything about it. There really is no other place like WDW on the planet.

Regardless though, like everything, there is always room for improvement at WDW. What are some things you would like to see to improved at WDW? What type of new additions are necessary in your opinion? Any refurbishments needed? Updates? New dining? A complete closure of something? Cleanliness? Efficiency? Which attraction, restaurant, hotel, transportation, etc. could be made better? Anything from the minute details to overall at the resort. What needs to be done to improve a guests experience, in your opinion, at WDW?

*Please Note: This thread was not meant to discuss how WDW needs things such as a Star Wars Land or a "Potter Swatter" and is completely irrelevant to any discussion about Universal Orlando Resort, Disneyland, Tokyo Disney, etc. In addition, please no bashing of TDO. Just express what you would like to see done.

 

[unkadug]

Clean house at TDO and get people that know what the parks should be.

 

[EOD K9]

I think they need to do more preventative maintenance.

 

[copcarguyp71]

Less timeshare...more theme park is #1 IMO

-OR-

Start using more of the upfront money from the hocking of timeshares to improve guest experience for everyone. Empty buildings, non-functioning features and "defurbs" are just not acceptable for the prices being paid both for the parks and for accommodations. I am really, really, really hoping to be wowed on our trip in two weeks so I can come home with a renewed sense of wonderment. The time there is usually great as it is time with family but after the trip I get introspective and think about value for the dollar and it has seemed off. Just because we have money for a Disney vacation does not mean we HAVE to spend it on a Disney vacation and the caribbean has been sounding more appealing after our last two trips.

 

[IWantMyMagicBand]

Staff who actually want to work with each other. I don't care if you can't stand your co-worker - just don't let on to me about it. I witnessed a horrible exchange in the Emporium between and older CM and a CM who didn't speak much English and was still in training (at least I hope she was, else she was incompetent). The older CM was so rude to her saying "Sorry, I can't understand you". I felt so sorry for her, and would have complained had I not been rushing to catch the bus back to OKW to get the ME home.
Also saw it on Imagination, a CM making a remark to another about having to do all the work.
And I didn't have nearly as many "Have a nice day!"'s as we had in our 1980/90's trips.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Sigh

 

[luv]

Running water in the Ladies Room sinks, please.
Clean the parks. No trash in the queues.
Spiff things up. Nice paint jobs, sparkling clean buildings.
More topiaries and landscaping.
More street entertainment.
Update rides. Get rid of the decades-old EO, for example.
Open the buildings that sit empty...WoL, for instance.

With new stuff - make it unique, interesting and fun.

Hire more staff. Train them to be nice. There will be people to help us and they won't be as mad at the world.

Enough with the pre-school stuff!
Enough with the princesses!

 

[IWantMyMagicBand]

And still drinks for the resort refillables (may have changed since we last went last year) but my kids don't like fizzy drinks, nor iced tea. How about some Still Tango or Apple Juice. And refillable WITHIN the parks too please!

 

[TP2000]

Build more rides. They need to get the four WDW parks up to the levels of amount of rides in the Anaheim and Tokyo parks. These are theme parks, and theme parks need RIDES. (Call it an "attraction" or "adventure" or whatever, but they need to involve getting into a vehicle of some sort and travelling a measured distance in said vehicle)

To get the four WDW parks up to the same levels as Anaheim and Tokyo, they need to get this many rides into these parks ASAP:

Magic Kingdom Park - 12 New Rides, 2 of which are E Tickets
EPCOT - 8 New Rides, 3 of which are E Tickets
DHS - 15 New Rides, 3 of which are E Tickets
DAK - 12 New Rides, 3 of which are E Tickets

This should have been happening 20 years ago, but it didn't, so they have a lot of work to do. But it's simply what needs to happen.

 

[JenniferS]

TP2000 said it perfectly, so I will say it more succinctly:

MORE RIDES!!

 

[unkadug]

Build more rides. They need to get the four WDW parks up to the levels of amount of rides in the Anaheim and Tokyo parks. These are theme parks, and theme parks need RIDES. (Call it an "attraction" or "adventure" or whatever, but they need to involve getting into a vehicle of some sort and travelling a measured distance in said vehicle)

To get the four WDW parks up to the same levels as Anaheim and Tokyo, they need to get this many rides into these parks ASAP:

Magic Kingdom Park - 12 New Rides, 2 of which are E Tickets
EPCOT - 8 New Rides, 3 of which are E Tickets
DHS - 15 New Rides, 3 of which are E Tickets
DAK - 12 New Rides, 3 of which are E Tickets

This should have been happening 20 years ago, but it didn't, so they have a lot of work to do. But it's simply what needs to happen.

I'm just curious how you came up with these numbers as there is no direct comparison for 2 of the 4 parks listed.

 

[TP2000]

I'm just curious how you came up with these numbers as there is no direct comparison for 2 of the 4 parks listed.

Just a personal amateur hunch after a few decades of visiting Disney theme parks around the world.

DAK gets a bit of a pass and only needs a dozen more rides because of the animals.
DHS gets a similar pass because it has several big quality theater shows, or shows that at least used to be quality in the 1990's and could be plussed up or replaced with new quality shows for the 2010's and 2020's.

Magic Kingdom Park needs a dozen more rides just to get it closer to a Disneyland-level ride count. There's at least a dozen rides missing from Magic Kingdom when compared to Disneyland. If not 15 missing rides. Disneyland has four extra E Tickets over Magic Kingdom, plus ten extra C Tickets that have either been closed at Magic Kingdom with no replacement or never existed in the first place in Magic Kingdom. That's not okay.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Epcot, it's special. But it still needs something new and some real expansion.

 

[Graham9]

I would agree with most of the above. However, my 'wish list' to the 'World would be firmer discipline on those who are intent on spoiling other people's enjoyment. A bit of zero-tolerance on unruly behaviour.

 

[afar28]

Expansion to AK and DHS
Preferably a Star Wars Land and expanded Pixar Place in DHS, with new stage shows replacing BatB and VotLM.
AK could use a fixed yeti, beastly kingdom, and Chesters and Hester's being replaced with the excavator coaster that was originally meant for the park.
Epcot- an extra country or two, with WoL being demolished and replaced with something new. Also a replacement for EO and a major figment overhaul to restore that ride to its former glory. Also another ride or two in WS.
MK with an updated Tomorrowland, removing MILF and Stitch. MILF could be moved to Pixar place over at DHS.

 

[IWantMyMagicBand]

Something on the WDW website to say when large "tour-groups" could be present?
More shady areas to queue, even if sail-like structures.
A stricter GAC policy.
A dedicated area on WDW transportation buses for ECVs. Have nearly lost my lower legs many times due to ECVs being driven too fast into the buses.
A PhotoPass photographer at MCO to get you as you get on to the Magical Express.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

- Stop or minimize giving incentives based on quarterly performance
- Hire the best people for the job, not the cheapest (across all levels of profession)
- Control back end and development costs so they don't balloon into abdsurd amounts for even the simplest of projects
- Reinvest into the parks, in ways that actually stimulate guest interest (ie new rides)
- Require mid-level managers to actually walk through the parks and hotels to get an idea of what the guest experience is like
- Stop reshuffling the same staff and/or managers to different departments. Bring in fresh new talent (with relevant hospitality experience) once and awhile.
- Stop selling and running the place like a tourist trap. Build a product that can stand on its own and be worth the asking price. Not just when 30% off + free dining is given.

 

[Fairybuzz]

MK:
Removal of Stitch because it scares fans of the movie and mocks non fans
Speedway update the cars are looking a bit shabby

Epcot: Oh let me count the ways
-Removal or major rehaul of seas with nemo. That ride is boring and makes absolutely no sense and adds nothing to the table. If it was up to me they'd smash that ride to itty bitty pieces lol and use the omnimover to tell a story of the sea itself and our future with it. (the only part i like is turtle talk and the little seagulls at the front. The ride just is plottless effectless and airheaded).
-Wonders of life: Restore it, Remodel it, or retheme it but Don't use it as a pathetic tent. I've had some ideas about a computer themed pavilion with a tron ride, and a huge interactive exhibit of the latest microsoft tech (I think they're still sponsors) mobile devices, and an animatronic show about well robots!
-Universe of Energy: If ever there was a place for a thrill ride I'd have thought It'd be in here since well its full of energy. kinetic energy! but they have to do something with it its really old and 90s.
-Update mission space so its not so short and predestined. How about alternate stories? if you mess up you have a different path, you can get it perfect or someone has to "step in" or maybe randomly calculated problems can show up like in a high tech trainer (like in star trek) where sometimes its the asteroid storm sometimes you land but its a terrible martian dust storm, or maybe the ground isn't as nice as it was before etc. it just seems kinda hum dum la la as it is.
-Imagination, Bring back dreamfinder, reopen imageworks, wash the pyramid glass so its shiney again, dump eo and replace with something totally new (maybe figment related, heck i'd take phinneas and ferb in there at this point, but Eo is behind the times by far as much as I like it. HISTA is a definate no) Dump the Imagination "institute" bit. Possibly have a food court in there too, I always thought It'd be nice to eat over the loading area (in the original layout) watching the cars go by. Open it up again to light none of this dark Gym roof stuff or science lab. Make it bright and beautiful again. (see my many suggestions in every imagination thread ever lol)
-Figure out why there are mayan temples at the begining of Fiesta. They now have no purpose in the plot. Its just random for no reason. Just like seabase alpha's technological appearance with little nemos painted on as a half butted attempt to update it.
-Move the festivals to the millenium village tent. Obvious enough.
-Turn the waterfalls back on in norway. It ruins the effect of feeling like you're gonna fall back too far.

DHS:
-Remove the hat!!!!!!
-Replace the old crumbling Beauty and the Beast show with something newer.
-Add more Pixar to Pixar place than just toy story. It seems a bit rushed otherwise. Like why not just name it toy story studios?
-Star Wars land sounds good if they can do it right. Make you feel like you're in a galaxy far far away, and not a movie set that's falling down.
-get rid of motors it takes up too much space and really has nothing to do with disney's studios. it just seems like a universal wannabe thing.(this isnt as important though)

AK: Rename it countdown to extinction Dinosaur is a stupid name! They didn't rename it's tough to be a bug to A bugs life. May as well just name rides MR. Toad Peter Pan The pooh ride and the ride with the mine train.

More rides! there aren't enough

Excavator! that was promised to me back in 99 but they had to it

A dark ride. Every park has one but AK (not counting Dinosaur cuz its not what I meant I mean like TSM Imagination Buzz Peter Pan kind of non thrill ride things. GMR counts too) Try Lion King It could work.

In general: Stop making rides that are based on pretending to go on adventures. Mission space? Your training to go on a training mission essentially. You're training for a mission you dont get to go on. The Magic Carpet ride in Disney studios paris makes it obvious your not really doing it its being filmed (ik different people shush) Test track is only a test, Imagination is only a lab, etc. its like everything is now behind the scenes and lifting the backdrop and it seems more everyday mundane.

Also STOP FOCUSING ON BUSES AND STUFF! I understand convenience issues but It seems like every time they do any construction its to but in a new bus station at resort X or this and that

 

[MerMom1981]

Stop relying on nostalgia to full the parks & start trying to win our hearts again. Start innovating again! Too many attractions have become stale & irrelevant and will not hold a place in the hearts of this generation of kids.

Personally, I could do with fewer character M&G's and boat-ride-through-a-warehouse "attractions" and more rides.

I would love to feel more magic in the rest of the "world". The parks & resorts are mostly great on their own. But they are just that. On their own. Alone. Everything in between is just overgrown and neglected-looking. It really broke the spell for me.

Also, the staff in general could use an attitude adjustment. I did find a few friendly and helpful CM's, but that should not be exceptional. It should be the standard. Too many were too eager to exercise their sliver of authority in their given corner of the world. "You can't usethat door. No exceptions." . Maybe they're just following their training, but it's not creating a very magical experience for me.

Hey, maybe that's what at the heart of the issue. "They" have forgotten that it's supposed to be about the guest. The individual, not the herd.

 

[WDW95]

I would say to put less emphasis on DisneyParks® and instead focus on Walt Disney World. Wouldn't it be much nicer if the parks could have napkins, cups, bags, etc. that said Walt Disney World on them instead of DisneyParks®? Even better would be park-specific napkins, cups, bags, etc. Crazy would be location-specific stuff.

Also, demolish the Stitch Stage in Tomorrowland and get rid of all the "dance parties" that seem to be invading the parks. People don't go to WDW to listen to Ke$ha and dance in the heat. Guests are supposed to escape reality.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Change the business model. They need to drop the mall-based model introduced in the 1990s that measures profitability on the square foot level and return to looking at the Resort as a whole as had been done since the opening of Disneyland.