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Why does Disney give more attention to DL than WDW?
- Thread starter jjharvpro
- Start date
menamechris
Well-Known Member
Sometimes I wonder if it just seems that way, because their budget can go so much further at DL than at the massive WDW. Think of the additional parks, hotels, entertainment, etc. that WDW has. It sure does seem like WDW will need some additional attention and money soon though....
Mickey_777
Well-Known Member
My two cents/reasons...
1. It's smaller thus making it easier to "sweat the details"
2. Most visitors live around the corner and visit very often. They need to do more to keep things fresh. WDW "regulars" still don't visit nearly as often so the theory is that updates don't need to be done as often.
1. It's smaller thus making it easier to "sweat the details"
2. Most visitors live around the corner and visit very often. They need to do more to keep things fresh. WDW "regulars" still don't visit nearly as often so the theory is that updates don't need to be done as often.
I think one reason may be that WDW is more of a world wide tourist destination. People get there one time a year. It is difficult to find the time to close down popular attractions or areas of the parks for an extended period of time.
Plus WDW is so large, small projects may get overlooked where at DL a small project can shut down major areas and be more known.
Personally, I do think much of WDW is in need of a bit of TLC. Give us new paint and a bit of general maintenance please.
Plus WDW is so large, small projects may get overlooked where at DL a small project can shut down major areas and be more known.
Personally, I do think much of WDW is in need of a bit of TLC. Give us new paint and a bit of general maintenance please.
Mansion Butler
Active Member
The Magic Kingdom happens to get enough attention to be the No. 1 most visited theme park in the world. Do with that what you will.
CP_alum08
Well-Known Member
Like the 2 others above me said; DL has a huge population of locals and WDW gets more international tourists.
Plus imagine if the budget is equal! Imagine how much further 100 million would go at DL than WDW. I have no clue what the budget is for either, that was a wild guess.
Plus imagine if the budget is equal! Imagine how much further 100 million would go at DL than WDW. I have no clue what the budget is for either, that was a wild guess.
Pioneer Hall
Well-Known Member
Disneyland has over 1 million (yes that's right) annual passholders. A lot of these people look at Disneyland as their park and treat it as such. They notice when light bulbs are out, when attractions aren't operating properly, and when things are worn down. Disneyland needs to be extra vigilant in order to appease their largest source of income on that coast, and because of that they spend a good amount on maintenance.
On the other hand, Disney World caters to tourists. While there are plenty of annual passholder and DVC members, they still don't make even close to the largest of their audience. Casual tourists don't notice the small stuff, they notice the big picture. When they ride Mission:Space for the first time, they don't notice that the joystick isn't working, they don't notice a yeti with a stobe light, and they surely don't pay attention to little bits of scratched paint on a pillar somewhere. So Disney World does what it feels it needs to do to keep this audience happy, invest in "experiences" that make tourists want to come back more often. Is this the right perspective for them to take...I think not. It would be great if they could find a better balance and really spend on maintenance every now and again. I will say that I am encouraged though by the very high levels of theming we have seen recently in Fantasyland and such. Hopefully it is a sign of good things to come in the future.
On the other hand, Disney World caters to tourists. While there are plenty of annual passholder and DVC members, they still don't make even close to the largest of their audience. Casual tourists don't notice the small stuff, they notice the big picture. When they ride Mission:Space for the first time, they don't notice that the joystick isn't working, they don't notice a yeti with a stobe light, and they surely don't pay attention to little bits of scratched paint on a pillar somewhere. So Disney World does what it feels it needs to do to keep this audience happy, invest in "experiences" that make tourists want to come back more often. Is this the right perspective for them to take...I think not. It would be great if they could find a better balance and really spend on maintenance every now and again. I will say that I am encouraged though by the very high levels of theming we have seen recently in Fantasyland and such. Hopefully it is a sign of good things to come in the future.
That's very true. Tom Staggs? Is he in Florida or Cali?
Zummi Gummi
Pioneering the Universe Within!
Couldn't have said it better myself.
MickeyMind
Active Member
The parks are the most visited parks on the planet, I dont know why they arent better taken care of.
MK should have more rides than dl, it should be everything dl is and more.
There is no excuse for the other parks not having more rides either.
Ak shouldnt be a half day park. Neither should dhs. With attendance the way it is, These parks should be packed to the brim with attractions. There should be new e-tickets every year/2 years.
At the same time I can understand why they feel they dont have to invest, because as it stands, wdw is the most visited theme parks around, so why add more? The problem is, if you have yearly visitors, and they keep coming back year after year and they dont see new big ticket attractions, they're eventually going to go somewhere else because theres nothing new and big to draw them back. Nostalgia will only take you so far, but if you dont add to that and keep raising the prices then it doesnt make sense for families to keep spending so much at wdw.
MK should have more rides than dl, it should be everything dl is and more.
There is no excuse for the other parks not having more rides either.
Ak shouldnt be a half day park. Neither should dhs. With attendance the way it is, These parks should be packed to the brim with attractions. There should be new e-tickets every year/2 years.
At the same time I can understand why they feel they dont have to invest, because as it stands, wdw is the most visited theme parks around, so why add more? The problem is, if you have yearly visitors, and they keep coming back year after year and they dont see new big ticket attractions, they're eventually going to go somewhere else because theres nothing new and big to draw them back. Nostalgia will only take you so far, but if you dont add to that and keep raising the prices then it doesnt make sense for families to keep spending so much at wdw.
Rufus T Firefly
Well-Known Member
Disneyland is Walt Disney's original Magic Kingdom. It would be disrespectful to Uncle Walt's memory and legacy to allow it to fall into disrepair. John Lassiter, who once was a CM at the park, realizes the importance of this. There is a story that Lassiter once publicly reprimanded Michael Eisner while on Tom Sawyer Island. Lassiter was visibly upset with Eisner because of the shabby condition the island had fallen into. Lassiter reportedly said: "Walt would never let this happen."
Eisner left Disney shortly after. And luckily, John Lassiter is now one of the men in charge.
Eisner left Disney shortly after. And luckily, John Lassiter is now one of the men in charge.
Clever Name
Well-Known Member
Walt used both Disneyland and the 1964 World’s Fair to test new attractions. Disneyland is very much like a show running Off-Broadway. It’s a venue in which new shows and ideas can be tested and refined before they are brought to prime time in the crown jewel at WDW. Disneyland has always served a very useful function as scale model to help work out bugs.
wolf359
Well-Known Member
I think the answer is "it depends..."
In the 70s WDW got pretty much all of the attention. While Disneyland got three clones from the Magic Kingdom (Country Bears, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain) and one original attraction, America Sings, but it gave up Carousel of Progress in the process.
The 80s weren't much better. Rebuilt Fantasyland at the beginning of the decade, and Star Tours, Captain EO, and Splash Mountain at the end.
While in the same period of time WDW got EPCOT Center, Disney-MGM Studios, Pleasure Island, and Typhoon Lagoon, in addition to quite a few new resort hotels.
The 90s were again a bit of a mixed bag. Walt Disney World continued its unprecedented growth, including yet another entire theme park, while Disneyland got Toontown, which was a big plus, but also saw Tomorrowland almost completely destroyed, which is a huge minus.
So really, in my mind, it's only been since the mid 2000s that we've really seen the focus shift back towards Disneyland, and because of even greater need, California Adventure.
Which makes sense. Disney poured so much time, money, and company brainpower into building up Walt Disney World there really was little left that needed to be done, yet DL had been living mostly on cloned attractions or simply shutting things down without replacement for 30 years.
So while it might seem like Disneyland gets more attention, I don't think that's entirely accurate because that hasn't always been the case, and sometimes that "attention" has been to the detriment of the park.
dweezil78
Well-Known Member
darthspielberg
Well-Known Member
To be fair, DCA really really needed what it's getting right now. Seriously. That park was pretty bad, and it needed a kick in the pants to get people to show up. World of Color is already doing that, and when Little Mermaid opens, they'll get more. And that's not even thinking about what Carsland will do for them.
(Why, yes, I pay close attention to a theme park I've never been to. What of it?
)
(Why, yes, I pay close attention to a theme park I've never been to. What of it?
)
trr1
Well-Known Member
dont you think Animal Kingdom and DHS really need help also?To be fair, DCA really really needed what it's getting right now. Seriously. That park was pretty bad, and it needed a kick in the pants to get people to show up. World of Color is already doing that, and when Little Mermaid opens, they'll get more. And that's not even thinking about what Carsland will do for them.
(Why, yes, I pay close attention to a theme park I've never been to. What of it?
In my opinion, the short answer to the OP's question is that the average guest at WDW tolerates more failures of maintenance than the average guest at DLR and therefore, they get more of it. The slightly longer answer is that California used to be worse off than Florida until a large group of California APers got together and went on a crusade to embarrass TDA. And once TDA was sufficiently embarrassed, they rectified the situation.