Originally Posted By sjhym333 Many of you know that I live in the Orlando area but not near the Disney resort. I also worked for Disney for many years, so I am always interested when I overhear other people discussing the theme parks in our area. The past couple of days I overheard two conversations and participated in one that gave me pause to think about the theme park experience in my area. The first conversation was one I overheard while having breakfast. One person was relating to another person that they had just had a week off from work and had family in town which meant that they did the theme parks with their kids and the visitors. They had gone to both Disney and Universal and the gist of their conversation was that they loved Universal and thought that Disney was tired. They commented on Universals XPress pass, which they had bought and basically said that since they had purchased their Universal ticket and it cost so much, it seemed silly not to spend the extra money to get onto the attractions quicker. In fact, they said that the idea of waiting for 90 mins for a ride was stupid and that it was a waste of valuable vacation time. When the other person mentioned Disny's FP, the man replied that they had used it a couple of times on their Disney day (I couldn't tell you which park or parks they went to) but felt that at the end of the day it didn't save that much time and Universals system was better. The second conversation I overheard was at the bank. A customer was telling the teller that they had gone out to EPCOT over the weekend. They hadn't been there in awhile and that they found the place boring. They said it hadn't changed much since the last time they were there. The liked the hang gliding ride and Test Track but found a lot of the other rides boring. They said the food was expensive and said that they had a couple of drinks but they were expensive too. They ended with the fact they wouldn't be going back anytime soon. Last conversation was one I had with a friend who was visiting who has always been a big fan of Disney. They had visited three of the parks (skipped AK) this trip and said the place was clean and not too crowded but they were disappointed that there was very little to do. They rode Little Mermaid and while they liked it they said (and I love this)that Little Mermaid was a perfect opportunity to take the traditional dark ride to a whole new level but Disney wimped out. With all the new technology out there why did they choose to go the route that they went. The had also visited Universal and said that the difference between the two was Universal seemed to be pushing the boundries (Harry Potter is now their favorite ride) while Disney wasn't doing much of anything. It was an interesting observation from a fan I thought. I was out at the parks this past weekend and I saw a lot of happy guests out there and we had a great visit. We had decided to spend the day there and we rode attractions that we normally would have bypassed on a shorter visit. I understand why people still consider Disney to be the best. But I also see why people are loving Universal at the moment. Twice today I read that Disney's new business model at WDW is the idea that attendance at WDW is pretty maxed out in terms of new visitors, so Disney is now trying to figure out how to get more money out of existing guests. Kevin Yee talks about the idea that Disney now takes for granted that people will book a visit, so the problem is not getting them there but how to upsell them when they are here. It made me wonder if Disney will continue to be interested in building new attractions.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: You really need to come visit us in Morva, sjhym33, duckling. You haven't lived until you've been there.
Originally Posted By planodisney Wow!! It sounds like all of the conversations you overheard had somehow attained Disney fan site talking points. Tourists seem extremely happy with WDW, it's the uber fans who are so disappointed with the fact that there aren't 5 new e-tickets in every park. We know enhancement are on the way including new lands and new rides. I happen to think that AK should be receiving most of the budgets, but DHS does need help. I just think that AK could reach TDS quality and status with the amount they are going to invest in DHS. I would love to see that park reach the potential it has always had.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I don't think it's that strange that civilians came to that conclusion. I visited WDW in January with a friend who had never been before (though she'd had a DL AP for several years). While she enjoyed her visit, she couldn't help but notice how tired certain areas of the resort felt, despite having never seen them before. Epcot was probably at the top of that list, despite having almost entirely unique attractions compared to DLR. While I haven't been to Universal in nearly a decade, I would imagine that going to Universal and WDW in the same week would make those sorts of issues even more prevalent
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Laughable statement indeed, but quite true and telling when applied to Tokyo Disney Resort= one of the only 2 Disney resorts worth visiting, the other one being DLR in Anaheim.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "I don't think it's that strange that civilians came to that conclusion. I visited WDW in January with a friend who had never been before (though she'd had a DL AP for several years). While she enjoyed her visit, she couldn't help but notice how tired certain areas of the resort felt, despite having never seen them before." Most WDW guests don't start with the DL standard.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I found it interesting because I know that I am very focused on the parks as a big fan and it is interesting to me to hear how people that I would consider the average guest feel. I agree that most guests walk away happy with the Disney experience. They do it once every so often and it is a great vacation. I think Universal has done a great job of becoming a better theme park experience and that people are noticing that. I also found the Universal XPress pass discussion interesting because of how we discuss FP here.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Most WDW guests don't start with the DL standard.<< That's true, but whent they have Universal fresh in their memory, it's hard to not compare. Heck, even most regional parks have more new attractions than Epcot. And when people who don't visit often know that things are out of date, it's gotten pretty bad. But hey, NextGen will save the day, right?
Originally Posted By disneymusic >>But hey, NextGen will save the day, right?<< I know this is sarcasm, but it seriously scares me that this is what the parks are relying on. The problem is within management (the parks have lost the charm that they held 10 or so years ago). Yet as great as Universal may be, guest still don't walk away from it at the end of a vacation with the "magical twinkle" in their eye that they would normally feel at WDW. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like the atmosphere is getting better at WDW slowly but surely. I think it will take time for management to wake up and realize that something isn't right.
Originally Posted By kennect WDW is in sad shape. With four parks there should always be something new happening to keep the overall resort fresh. The FLE was a nice addition but big deal. Nothing that special or new. Epoct is just a shadow of the original park when it opened. It will be interesting to see the day when Disney wakes up and sees the problem.
Originally Posted By Blufusion12 The big mistake at WDW was in 1997. AK and the money spent on it should have been taken and put into what they already had. New Monorails adding to Epcot besides Soaring. At least if your going to do soaring actually make a film of all the United States and not just California. I don't know Joe Rhode and I don't know how he got them to do AK. But in my opinion it was a vanity or his legacy project . And didn't he do Aulani as well. I got to say Aulani as a resort is great. But the land must have cost a fortune and getting materials shipped must have cost a fortune as feel and the pool area when I was there was was actually smaller than River Country was. And there are strick land laws there and they were adding an addition to the recreational area 2 yrs after it opened. But I'm not a imagineer. But Im knew WDW wa shaving problems when i stayed 10 days at FW camping out and was riding my bike on the back roads of the area and came upon a garbage disposal area for the RV's and there was graffitti all over it. In the yrs before that would have been taken care of quickly. I know probably it the last on the list of the things to do. But the last day there I went back after 10 days and it was not taken care of.
Originally Posted By Brad Paragraphs are your friend. When I see a large block of text like that it just hurts my brain and I don't bother reading it. Just a friendly hint.
Originally Posted By 9oldmen WDW is having "shaving problems"? Don't they have a working barber shop on Main St.? Or they used to.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I know the AK is not everyone's' cup of tea, but in many ways I think it is WDW's most well-executed park. It is still a little light on attractions, but I think that will change over time. Without the AK, the MK would suffer even more from over-crowding than it currently does... kind of like the DCA improvements have helped reduce crowding at DL.
Originally Posted By dagobert We loved the Animal Kingdom. It's such a beautiful themepark and the best looking park at WDW.
Originally Posted By Blufusion12 Sorry about the non paragraph thing .But when I wrote this and posted. It had been 10 days with 4 hrs sleep a night. Now for all you grammar Nazi out there this will be my last post on this site.The reason why. You people have no lives and have not gotten passed the WDW is the greatest thing. Get a clue guys theres more to life than living and dreaming about Walt Dated World. Thanks Doobie. But I see now why after watching this board over 6 yrs why a lot of other people have left.I have found other sites that are more friendlier and more accepting of my stories and don't have people that are on here 24/7/365 days a year and blast out on people about there spelling and sentence structure.. Like TDL fan does and Road Trip has about how they live WDW and how much better they are because of this and that. Thanks Guys. You just showed me your true selfs. I now have more time to do other things than whine about than you too. Now Go and and be a fanboy and spend money on your Credit Cards and try and keep up with the neighbors . Have a Magical Day!!!
Originally Posted By RoadTrip How the hell did I get brought into this? I have never criticized any of your posts. Good riddance as far as I'm concerned.
