Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney "After EE there is nothing new coming to WDW for several years." I find this very, very sad. They have four theme parks in Orlando and the three oldest ones really need some freshening, the MK especially. When will the next E-Ticket be built? 2012?
Originally Posted By pitapan16 I'm sure they close early due to the animals right? Or is it because the attendence is so low right now they don't feel it would be cost effective to stay open so late? -The amount(or should I say lack of) attractions at AK warrent the early closing time. And since some attractions are live animal based, those may need to close early unlike a ride like EE or Dinosaur or KaliRiverRapids.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney DAK's original hours were 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. They have cut them back steadily, so that 9-5 is the accepted regular hours. And it has nothing to do with the animals.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I find this very, very sad. They have four theme parks in Orlando and the three oldest ones really need some freshening, the MK especially.>> I think it's easy to forget how much has been added to WDW in the last 10 years. Go look at a timeline, and you'll be surprised at how much freshening and new stuff y'all got in Florida. Off the top of my head, an entire new theme park was added (never mind it's getting the new EE), Mission:Space blasted off, Rock 'n'Roller Coaster kicked into gear, Soarin' took flight, not to mention "lesser" arrivals like Pooh, PhilharMagic, and Buzz. That's just the theme parks.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney ^^Trekkeruss, that is all true. But there is such a thing as too much. Diminishing returns. Quality suffers across the board because you've grown too fast and unwieldly. And for the griping folks in Anaheim do when an attraction disappears, do you know how many attractions (as well as shops, restaurants, entertainment etc) have gone away at the same time as the above were 'added.' For every addition, I can find another subtraction.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss So... now you've got me confused. You think WDW has grown too much and has become unwieldy, yet you are asking for more attactions and freshening, without taking any of the old, possibly out-of-date attractions away? Are you saying it would have been better to freshen MK, Epcot, and MGM, and not have AK at all?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Well, most people won't live for 550 years, so I can understand why they would want something sooner than later!
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I just think back to the day when everything was JUST the Magic Kingdom. It makes me really enjoy everything that is there now. Every now and then, I like to go to WDW when there are NO cranes in the sky.
Originally Posted By pitapan16 DAK's original hours were 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. They have cut them back steadily, so that 9-5 is the accepted regular hours. And it has nothing to do with the animals. -Wow that's interesting because I always thought there was an animal factor and that because there are not enough rides to ride when the animal attractions close down, they just shut down the park early.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney "So... now you've got me confused. You think WDW has grown too much and has become unwieldy, yet you are asking for more attactions and freshening, without taking any of the old, possibly out-of-date attractions away? Are you saying it would have been better to freshen MK, Epcot, and MGM, and not have AK at all?" No contradiction meant. Sorry for the confusion. But yes, what I am saying is that WDW got way too big, way too fast. Quality went down the drain across the board under the 'bigger is better' philosophy. I love DAK so much. The landscaping and design is breathtakingly spectacularly terrifically fantastic! But ---- would I rather it have not been built while the other parks decayed ---- sadly, yes. And I absolutely don't think attractions must be left forever, outdated and untouched. But almost every attraction that's been replaced by another over the past decade hasn't equaled (let alone surpassed) the original. You take out Alien Encounter and replace it with Stitch's Escape. You take out 20,000 Leagues and 11 years later you get a toddler play, pee and pooh ground. You take out the Diamond Horsehoe and replace it with a character photo location. At Epcot, you gut the Imagination pavillion ---- not once, but twice ---- are left with something not as good as the 1982 original. At MGM, you have things like the Monster Sound Show replaced by the Drew Carey Synergy Show (only it isn't 1998 and no one cares). I could go on and on. There are plenty more examples of attractions that simply disappeared with no replacements. For some reason, the DL-crowd ---- who always have had a size issue with Florida ---- mostly fail to recognize all that we have lost
Originally Posted By basas <<DAK's original hours were 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. They have cut them back steadily, so that 9-5 is the accepted regular hours.>> If i remember correctly...AK opened at 7am every day for its first few years, no? Kind of shows you how things have changed...(but as long as we don't get the "DCA opening at 10am everyday, even holidays", 9 or 8 isn't too bad)
Originally Posted By SJHYM AK had some problems with the safari when it opened. For the several months before opening the animals had been conditioned to return to their pens around 5pm each day. So when we began cycling safari vehicles before the park opened after 5pm or so you would see the animals lined up at the gates to the back areas. Kinda funny looking in a Noah Ark kind of way. This was a problem because the park was supposed to be open later than 5. The keeper tried to recondition the animals to stay out on the savannah later and tried to use some audio cues to recondition them. Didnt work very well. The animals wanted dinner. So even after we opened it wasnt unusual to see herds of animals by the back gates of the safari. Then of course AK had that unusual guest flow of being packed in the morning and dead as a door nail in the afternoons. At that point Disney threw up its hands and started closing the park early. Though Disney has done night testing over the past couple of years to see if night safaris would be viable. The safari vehicles were equipped with flood lights for night.
Originally Posted By basas If they had enough other attractions and shows to keep guests occupied, I don’t see why the Safari could close early, and the rest of the park remain open later.
Originally Posted By SJHYM the answer is money. AK does not see enough people after 3pm to make it worth Disney's while. Disney looked for night time things to keep guests at AK but are pretty hands tied because of the animals. Like no fireworks
Originally Posted By basas You know what also strikes me as being kind of strange- the fact that they show Jammin' Jungle Parade at 4 most days. Now, since the park really starts to empty out in the afternoon, wouldn't it make more sense to show the parade at 12:30 or 1? (where more guests are in the park).
Originally Posted By pheneix >>>AK but are pretty hands tied because of the animals. Like no fireworks<<< But Busch Gardens Tampa has fireworks all the time in the summer....
Originally Posted By SJHYM Yes, but Disney's animal keepers convinced Disney that it would not be healthy to the animals, especially not being able to control where shells fall. Also, Disney used animal safety as a way to get the AK to be a no fly zone (before 9/11) with the FAA.
