Originally Posted By -em ~Oh let's see if we can get someone from the fan sites to take pics of UoE's new paint job!~\ Well if you insist.. I am working Flower n Garden today and can swing by -em
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<WDW's new motto, "Why try harder".>> I think you mean, "Why try".
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<Why try at all? (was that too cynical?)>> Oh Deb you bet me to it!
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I heard that in lew of building actual attractions, they are just going to put over-the-shoulder restraints on all the chairs in The Bay Lake Tower. Wheeee!!!!!! << I would settle for that if they started selling curry popcorn like they do at TDR.
Originally Posted By MPierce >><<I don't know how you consider things slow at WDW. They raise the prices on food, and beverages almost weekly now.>><< >> You sound like a bleeding heart liberal. << Edward Asner, Carroll O'Connor and Ed Begley Jr. are my heros! >> They're a business and have every right to charge whatever the market will bear. << After all, unrestained capitalism is the American way, let the poor eat cake. >> Are you a Commie? << No commrade, but I know one! >> Yeah. Just what I thought. You just want them to spend, spend, spend. It almost makes me want to turn on Glen Beck and cry too because ... (starting to whimper ... ooh ... there's a sob coming ... there it is!) I just love my country so much. And that Obama is going to turn us into a SOCIALIST state. Spend, spend, spend is piped in subliminaly with the back ground music at the parks at WDW. I tried to watch Glenn Beck once, but I lasted longer watching Stacey do the top 7 at WDW. NO WAY will Obama turn us into a socialist nation. We barely own 80% of the banks, and less than 75% of the car companies so far. >><<My feeling is we will have a long wait for better times.<<>> >> ~Me too ... pass the vodka!~ << Only if it's Stolichnaya!
Originally Posted By MPierce >> ~Oh let's see if we can get someone from the fan sites to take pics of UoE's new paint job!~\ Well if you insist.. I am working Flower n Garden today and can swing by -em << -em would you please do me a favor next time you are at Epcot? Would you check the Electric Umbrella, and see if they brought back the talking trash can, and restored the full condiment bar?
Originally Posted By sjhym33 On a completely unrelated topic. I have been listening to Walt Disney and the 1964 Worlds Fair cd collection and it is wonderful. It contains 4 cd's plus a bonus cd. The cd's cover Small World, Great Moments with Mr Lincoln, Carousel of Progress and Magic Skyway. It contains the full shows plus lots of extras. The bonus cd is a different version of the Carousel of Progress that is very different from the show that ended up being used. It is a must for any Disney theme park fan. It gives you chance to see where the origins of some of our favorite attractions. It comes in a great cd binder with booklet that talks about each attraction and each track with lots of pictures. It is also a great reminder of when Disney built great attractions.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper Ahhh...a topic I can put myself into. Personally what bothers me more than the lack of new attractions, is the horrid state of the MK. Pirates breaks down almost once a day. Jungle Cruise's effects are in terrible shape. Peter Pan looks like my room during finals week(not pretty), and the rest of Fantasyland doesn't look much better. Buzz looks like it hasn't gotten a coat of paint in years. If Disney doesn't want to build new attractions because of the economy, fine. But they should at least take some time to fix the flagship.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Wont happen. A good dose of J. Lass spending less time hanging out in DL and pretending it's his personal train set while staying the dream suite with him family and perhaps getting his butt on a plane to Orlando might help. But it wont until someone tells him the suite over pirates was built for guests, not his personal play thing.
Originally Posted By mousermerf And a note.. for everyone who is like "Disney is doing amazing attendance right now because they're doing the -right- thing in the management of their parks.." Similar crowds are at Busch Gardens, Sea World, and Universal. It's a general tourism surge, not a Disney-created phenom.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I don't personally see a decline, overall, in maintenance of the attractions. What I do see, at least within myself, is that after seeing it about a zillion times, it's all getting old. The magic of the first view has gone away and the luster, in my mind, has faded. I made a real effort on my trip last month to look for signs of total neglect and couldn't find anything that looked that way to me. I found the service, especially from the CM's to be top notch and the surroundings clean and neat. What I didn't see anymore was value. My brain finally processed the idea that I am paying more and getting less. There was construction and rehab everywhere. Certainly not a sign of lack of investment. Everything that wasn't closed for rehab was operating smoothly with no unnecessary delays. This large crowd is more a sign of future declining attendance than a sign that anyone is doing well. At least for a few months people are carrying through on plans made before the downturn in the economy and those that want to get in some fun before the bottom falls out completely. As a business man, I can understand that thinking ahead and pulling in expenses is a wise fiscal move at this point. Disney is a luxury and luxury during recession is a target for money saving. Had GM or some of the financial institutions in this country exercised a little restraint we might not be having this discussion. So, could things be better? Certainly! Is spending money that won't improve the bottom line a way to keep our favorite places operating? I don't think so. Can we wait it out until times improve? I think it is a small price to pay for the ability to visit a great place somewhere down the road. Remember, even Disney isn't a bottomless pit. Some of the major corporations that are now sucking seaweed, were and are way bigger than Disney. They are not recession proof. Since it is a company that provides amusement, I wouldn't be looking for any bailout anytime soon either. Those of us that go there at the drop of a hat, are moaning that there is nothing new there. To those that have never been, everything is new. It's a matter of majority and perspective. As long as they keep showing up, the guys at the top are absolutely right. There is no need to spend money. Eventually that will decline also and eventually money will loosen up again, and investment in future growth will start again. Simple economics. Large crowds do no necessarily translate into huge profits.This is true especially in light of the huge discounts that Disney has had to give to get those large crowds.
Originally Posted By MousDad The philosophy of "efficiency first, even at the expense of guest experience" is, in my book, the chief contributor to WDW's deficiencies. For a company that built its entire legacy on guest experience trumps all, this is a risky path to take. Like others have said, eventually it will catch up to them. It has to. It's great for keeping the stock price propped up, but is it the Disney way?
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost It is now...Walt's been dead for 43 years. It's all about dollars now and will be until someone with the same instinct and drive comes along. We can only speculate about how Walt's ideas and methods would play today. I think he did his thing when the country was in a mode that made that work. Now, not so much!
Originally Posted By mousermerf Sorry, during my stint as a CM specific actions were taken by the WDW as a whole which degraded the guest experience. There is a decline in maintenance. Rides used to have books called "OG's" or Operational Guidelines. Those guidelines state exactly which show components need to go out in order for the ride to be called 101 - something that CM's of the attraction did. Now those guidelines are gone or ignored and the management of an area is the one who calls an attraction 101. Major show elements that in the OG would require a manual E-stop and shut down now have an attraction still operating as normal while maintenance attempts to fix it - often unable to do so until the ride is shut down for the night. I saw this happen - you cannot tell me that as a guest you just didn't notice anything. I saw show elements break and never get fixed, I still see it happen today when I visit. The morning checklists of show elements are merely crossed out each morning as part remain unfixed. Before, the ride would not open, but now it will because the management says so. Right now on other forums people are working themselves up over the addition of more blue triangle to spaceship earth. That has not happened. It has not happened in over half a year. People will not listen. Just as much as you are choosing not to listen that upkeep is down and effect are broken. They are. You may not notice them, but they are. I can understand that people may not have the experience or knowledge to see exactly what is wrong but please don't give Disney a pass on this one. If you don't see anything wrong it is because you are choosing not to.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost There you see...I am a regular visitor, I have no inside information, in fact, for the most part, that entire message (#36) might as well have been in Greek. What's a blue triangle? What's a 101? Does it really matter to a casual guest? If they don't notice and I don't notice (and I have been often) then it is a mountain made from a mole hill. I have seen broken ride elements but only once, the next time they were working. I don't expect nor do I want them to shut a ride down for some insignificant little problem. Light bulbs burn out, mechanical things break. If they never get fixed, that's a problem. If they need to be prioritized, I live in the real world and understand that completely. Put the same expectations on Disney that you do on yourselves. It has to be that way because it is people, just like you, that do the fixing, do the cleaning, do the magic making and you know as well as I that you cannot be everywhere at once. That doesn't mean that the whole place is going to hell in a hand basket. Instant gratification is not always possible. It's good to have high standards but lets make them attainable.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom I think people get concerned that when it comes to the WDW Magic Kingdom repairs are treated and viewed more as triage. Where do you start first. And there are ride elements to WDW that have never worked properly from the get go, the Yeti for one, the Angler fish on Nemo is another.
Originally Posted By mousermerf So Goofyernmost - you admit you don't understand what's going on but feel you are qualified to pass judgment on the manner in which it is being operated? That is illogical and contradictory.
