What would you do to make WDW back to where it once was?

[ddbowdoin]

*Limiting Discounts
*Not making a 5th park
*Expansion to all 4 parks
*Increase General Maintenance and plussing of existing attractions
*Going back to better food choices, killing DDP and 180 day reservations for restaurants
*Having unique QUALITY merchandise at all locations, and save the princess/pirate/teen idol crap of the year at Downtown Disney or just a few shops in the parks.

I agree... I am 25, I was so excited after saving all year for my trip (May, 2010) to buy myself a little something special and I was really disappointed! There seemed to be way to much glitz... I wanted something (like a simple tee shirt) that wasn't all busy and stuff... ugh, rant over

 

[Future Guy]

• Install me a Supreme Lord and Dictator of Walt Disney World and require everyone to kneel before me.
• Call in the Imagineers and get their ideas for completing Animal Kingdom, fixing the Imagination, Energy, and Innoventions pavilions at EPCOT, and making the Studios more cohesive.
• Give them the budget they need to implement their ideas and get the heck out of the way.
• Remove the bag checks, since they provide no real security. Anyone who complained about this would be slapped upside the head and told what an idiot they are.
• Fix the transportation system. How, I don't know. Maybe a light rail system throughout the property, maybe a pod car system. I'd get the best options and then pick one.
• All the table service restaurants must offer sweet tea, except in the World Showcase where it may disrupt the authenticity of the menus. WDW is in the South, and in the South you have sweet tea. I would insist upon this.
• Give me my own, specially decorated monorail and designate it the FutureGuyorail. I would always ride in the front.
• Feed anyone who tries to thwart me to the sharks in The Living Seas while I watch from the VIP lounge, which would be converted into my evil lair.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Bring back quailty.

Thread over.

I think Computer Magic pretty much summed it up. Disney used to be synonymous with "quality". I think we can sit here and run lists of where quality has fallen off in the past several years...from the details in the parks to merchandising...it's all fallen. Those of us old enough to remember the days when anything labeled with Disney meant it was better than the rest will totally get the enormity of such a simple statement as "Bring back quality". With the current overall representation of things branded with 'Disney', our children will likely not have this same thought process. They'll think "discount" or "good enough" not "excellence beyond all others". It's time to bring back uncompromising quality.

 

[surfsupdon]

Resort specific merchandise. Area specific merchandise. Store specific merchandise.


I'm not a shopper, but the stores used to be so unique. It's a shame how generic they feel now.

 

[DisneyFamilyDad]

Quality.
Maintenance.
No expansion unless as soon as the expansion opens up they shut down another section or attraction for a major overhaul. They should do this at AK. Put in another Mountain. Not one that needs another land either. They could do Mt. Kilimanjaro something something with lava in Africa. Open it, close Expedition Everest and give us our moving Yeti. No more expansion just to keep up with the Joneses.
Specific merchandise at specific venues. Keep all the Disneyland/Disney World generic stuff at DTD.

 

[TimNRA757]

Make all the executives in TDO go through One Man's Dream and drive home the point...

 

[epcotfan]

I'd get rid of the bland, dumbed down food that is now everywhere at WDW. In the 80s-late 90s the food was good. Since then it has gone downhill.

Stop making CGI, motion simulator rides. With the exception of Soarin' I don't want anymore simulators. Bring back the famous Disney animatronic dark rides!

Bring back some of the unique merchandise that was at the parks. Like the Silversmith shop in Liberty Square that had all kinds of silver. The Frontierland shops had Western wear and accessories. Centorium at Epcot had Space Age gadgets. It really added to the theming of each individual area. I'm sad that pin carts and Vinylmation have taken over every retail space. The majority of the stores now have the same merchandise over and over. It really gets boring after awhile.

 

[docandsix]

Bring back some of the unique merchandise that was at the parks... I'm sad that pin carts and Vinylmation have taken over every retail space. The majority of the stores now have the same merchandise over and over. It really gets boring after awhile.

It's funny how often this and similar sentiments are being mentioned in this thread. I agree, of course. What a simple but effective effort this would represent, restoring a sense of theme and authenticity to the parks while costing Disney essentially ZERO (except, perhaps, a small margin of future profit--though I can say for a fact that my expenditures on souvenirs would increase dramatically).

For example, the post-ride shop at Dinosaur and Chester and Hester's should be the best dinosaur toy and paraphernalia stores on the planet instead of cheap Disney Store outlets. I have no doubt that the dollars spent there would go up if management fixed this sort of homogenization.

 

[Tom]

Synergy. :lookaroun

 

[trr1]

Synergy. :lookaroun

how is Jem's holographic computer going to help?

 

[dixiegirl]

Two words: Castle Cake

AHHH LOVED IT!!!! I am very serious, not to many people liked it. Maybe because to me it was our honeymoon so anything to do with Disney's 25th anniversary is sort of significant to me! But I loved it! When I look at pics at how Dead the Magic Kingdom was back then in September....No free dining(yes I hate it , sorry but I do) You could go up to a place and usually get a ressie that day! Sorry could go on and on....And another......SKYWAY....Oh i miss it!~ But yes Loved the castle cake! And Loved the Magical Moments parade......................."Its time to remember the Magic"!

 

[dixiegirl]

I agree... I am 25, I was so excited after saving all year for my trip (May, 2010) to buy myself a little something special and I was really disappointed! There seemed to be way to much glitz... I wanted something (like a simple tee shirt) that wasn't all busy and stuff... ugh, rant over

Don't know if you find it but the quality is also more cheaply made..I don't mind paying if the shirts were'nt so paper thin...I have shirts from 10yrs ago that have worn great (ok maybe a hole here or there, but its a Disney shirt, I can't get rid of it) And then I get shirts for my girls just a year ago and have either shrunk or have holes already....My oldest has a plush mickey that we bought on her first trip to disney in 2001...So soft has worn great , lets say he's been through alot .....The newer ones the fabric is so cheap and we do compare every time we go , to see if they have brought back the better quality....nope ....So when I hear about the quality, price of certain Disney products...Yeah I get it.....

 

[Motorpro]

I have been going to Disney for about 30 years. The biggest negative change I have seen in that time has not come from Disney. It has been from the people who go there. In the early years I was always impressed by the attitude of people who happily waited in line, they were on vacation at the happiest place on earth. Now many people seem to be in a big rush,it has been more important to keep to their touring plan then to relax and enjoy being in Disney. Maybe it's due to fast passes or maybe ADR's made 6 months before or maybe it's a change in human nature. I even find my self doing it a little ,planning a lot more things in advance but usually by my second day there I remember where I am and just relax.Remember it's not about how many rides you ride or how many t- shirts you buy,Just enjoy being out of the real world and in Disney World.

 

[flavious27]

What would you do to make WDW back to where it once was?
Is it lowering prices?
Making a 5th park?
Expansion to all 4 parks?
Or increase in General maintenance?

No, that will destabilize the company and the state of florida.

yes, but it needs to be themed, designed and planned correctly. I think the best theme that can take advantage of current IP and future with licensed IP is based on animation. Each land would be based on different franchises. Also, this will allow a place for attractions that do not fit into the theme of the other parks.

All the parks need to have additions made to them to increase their appeal. FF is a start for MK; an expansion of Frontierland is needed along with a new direction for Tomorrowland. EPCOT needs another 2 pavilions with rides added, along with the life building reopened. There needs to be something done with the theater Sounds Dangerous is located. AK: add another continent and get the damn yeti fixed.

Maintenance needs to be returned to its previous greatness. First and foremost, no maintenance projects can be performed while the park is open; so this means no painting, plant trimming or grass cutting.

 

[TheBeatles]

Maintenance and show quality is where change needs to start.

Less DVC and more long term planning of land usage.

Better quality merchandise.

 

[Alektronic]

Change Management's attitude! They are only worried about saving money and looking for tax write offs and trying to outsource everything.

 

[trylon57]

ChrisFL is correct. DDP and 180 day ADR are terrible. We used to enjoy going to the parks and maybe going to a restaurant, but now that option doesn't exist. Being forced to decide what you are going to eat 6 months in advance is ludicrous!

 

[Tom]

What would you do to make WDW back to where it once was?
1) Is it lowering prices?
2) Making a 5th park?
3) Expansion to all 4 parks?
4) Or increase in General maintenance?

1) Lower? No. Plateau for a while? Yes

2) Absolutely no 5th gate! Adding another park will just further water down WDW.

3) I wouldn't say that park expansions would take it back to the way it used to be...since parks were never larger in the past than they are now. However, yes, I'd love to see DHS and AK expanded. MK will be fine after FLE, and all I'd care to see them to in Epcot is utilize WoL for something, and maybe add a country. I like Epcot.

4) Absolutely! Scrape and re-paint main street once a month. Change burnt out light bulbs on a nightly basis. Actually power wash the gum off the sidewalks. Take care of the parks like they used to.

 

[flavious27]

1) Lower? No. Plateau for a while? Yes

2) Absolutely no 5th gate! Adding another park will just further water down WDW.

3) I wouldn't say that park expansions would take it back to the way it used to be...since parks were never larger in the past than they are now. However, yes, I'd love to see DHS and AK expanded. MK will be fine after FLE, and all I'd care to see them to in Epcot is utilize WoL for something, and maybe add a country. I like Epcot.

4) Absolutely! Scrape and re-paint main street once a month. Change burnt out light bulbs on a nightly basis. Actually power wash the gum off the sidewalks. Take care of the parks like they used to.

I don't know how enhancing the experience at WDW by adding a new gate will water down wdw. The amount of attractions and accommodations makes wdw what it is. I think that what waters down disney is non disney buildings on disney property.

 

[flavious27]

ChrisFL is correct. DDP and 180 day ADR are terrible. We used to enjoy going to the parks and maybe going to a restaurant, but now that option doesn't exist. Being forced to decide what you are going to eat 6 months in advance is ludicrous!

It would be nice to make reservations a month before your trip, but the restaurants can not accommodate their popularity. Disney could enlarge the most popular restaurants but Le Cellier can not be a 500 person cafeteria.