Originally Posted By DLFAN1979 ""And only at WDW does Disney get away with that. Go to Anaheim or Paris or Tokyo if you really believe Orlando's ML offers the same quality."" Well they DID try it Anaheim when He-Who-Must -Not-Be-Named first started. Remember when he turned the Emporioum into one gigantic Disney Store and sales PLUMMETED like Bushs approval ratings? Not to mention they also tried 10 and under style Ent which also bombed. Yes, the APs and the fans smacked them into reality and showed TDA what we really want from a MK park. And Ouimet and to lesser extent Cynthia, had no choice but to give it. WDW faces no fan pressure except for some vocal critics here.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^True. And the few critics here get abused and ignored ... except in the exec suites ;-)
Originally Posted By Kimrue I totally understand being annoyed about all the plush and "garbage" plastic doo dads. I'm a little sick of it too...for example POtC used to have these awesome little purse/handbags that were embroidered and were really cool, I got one every visit. Now they are gone. It stinks but I feel there must be a reason. Like someone else said, I don't want to quote 'cause I'm not sure exactly who but...There are people who enjoy to spend money on nice things but not many of us. I think in general vacation souvenirs are becoming more along the lines of scrapbooks and the like. People take tons of photo's of their kids (dressed up like princesses and pirates, etc.) and then make scrapbooks and lots of them. Which would explain an entire store dedicated to scrapbooking stuff on WDW property, not to mention most shops have at least one or two small sections with some sort of scrapbooking stuff. I guess my point is, things are changing...15 years ago, I didn't even know what a "scrapbook" was. Now it's all the rage. When beanie babies were the hot thing, you could find every Disney character known to man in beanie form. I think what is starting to happen with the character meals out the wazoo is just this: Every parent wants their little girl to have a meal with Cinderella, well, people are on two phones speed dialing 3 months before their visit, for hours on end to be told "sorry, we're booked!" SO, voila, the once upon a princess breakfast pops up in NOrway (or whatever the breakfast is called)Well, little "emma" wants to have breakfast IN THE CASTLE with Cinderella, darn it...well, now every meal in the castle features, you guessed it, Cinderella and her crew...now little "aidan" wants to see pooh and friends, well if emma got to eat lunch with cinderella it's only fair that blah blah blah....When I was a kid, if we couldn't get into a character meal, my parents would say, "sorry honey, maybe next time" Parents don't take "no" for an answer these days...Obviously, among a certain group these ridiculous amounts of character breakfasts are hitting the mark. Their is obviously a demand for them so there you go. YOu know why it's so hard for you to figure out who wants them, certainly not any of us, why? Because they are catering to the "benny's", the people who visit WDW with a wad of hundred dollar bills, and come back maybe once every decade. Not the "fan's" the people who grew up with Disney, the people who truly LOVE WDW. I know alot of mom's that are taking their children to WDW, when they come back, I always ask how they enjoyed their trip, they ALWAYS say, "it was nice, but I think we're Disney'd out for awhile" WHAT?! They all do the same thing, Go to ridiculous amounts of character meals, take lots of photos and scrapbook stuff, and spend a majority of the time (believe it or not...) at the resort POOL. When we go to WDW I don't even tell my children the resort has a pool. We didn't come all the way out to go swimming for 7 days. I truly believe that WDW is going in the direction "they" are being lead to. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I still enjoy it and find some good in the new changes, that may benefit my family to an extent. About the plush garbage everywhere, I think those are like the candy bars by the super market check out counter...for the impulse buyers...they had such a fun time on POTC they just need a mickey pirate for $18.00 so there you go. And just so you know, I'm not going "off" in my previous posts, I'm just in a good natured manor going on a fakey tirade, I guess to be a little silly about the whole thing...it's so hard to determine tone in a typed out message.
