Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 With all the HUGE Harry Potter news, Star Wars weekends and ... well, I had to drive through the place on the way home from Tallahassee (not in FLA no matter what Gov Charlie sez!), I figured I might as well use it as an excuse to spend some time at the Mouse and check up on some developments in the hasn't-been-this-exciting since the 90s theme park business. So here are some things, and frankly they aren't very positive, that I experienced. The MK ... well, I had a good lunch there ... and got to feed a mother duck and her eight babies followed by a whole flock, so all wasn't lost. But ... man. You just can't visit DL, DLP and the MK in the same month and not get the feeling you've been to Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue followed by WalMart. Really. Main Street. Same as always. Although they did have staff for the bakery. Finally caught the Family Fun Day Parade. Not as bad as catching TB from some selfisf dude flying with you, but painful nonetheless. If I wanted to see some fat tourists prance around Town Square waving American flags I suppose I could have stayed in Seminole Country and at least been around friendly folks. Got to wait almost 30 minutes to ride Mansion on its last day before its three-month 'oymyyyygooood you can't close the Mansion, it will ruin my vacation! NOOOOOOOOO' rehab. Before anyone gets excited. This is largely simple TLC. Sound will get modernized, scrims will be replaced, lighting will be tweaked. The only differnces showwise will be familiar to DL fans. The attic, which has always been the weakest part IMHO, will be redone to reflect the bride who axed seven men to marry her. And Leota will float ... at least until three weeks go by, she stops and everyone ignores it (like the turntable on Great Movie Ride or the ice cave effects on Everest) thereafter. Just to make sure no one forgets how bad Mansion truly is, my ride experience was as bad as could be. Sound faded in and out constantly ... stretch room clearly shows seperation where you can see the painting winding down like a roll of paper towels. And outside? Well, let's just say Phil Holmes and Co. decided that Walt's old 'We'll keep up the outside and let the ghosts take care of the inside' way of keeping up the appearance could be thrown out ... the front lawn was mixture of weeds, dead grass, grass that hadn't been moved etc ... in other words, they likely stopped maintaining it months ago in prep for this rehab. Splash Mountain was a bit more positive experience. If you can get by the fact that the logs have padding and handles that are growing with mold colonies (hey Phil, you might want Legal to see just what the health ramifications are, so someone doesn't sue you when little Amber scrapes some off and then smells, ingests it), the attraction looks 3/4ers great. The January paint job (haven't been on since 2006) is very nicely done ... but just don't look too closely and notice that they only pained 75% of the rockwork, so a quarter is still old and faded. Also, I didn't notice any glaring examples of effects not working ... even Brer Rabbit hopped ...most of the AAs appeared in synch with audio. Heck, there wasn't even much gum on the mountain. Only had time for one other E-Ticket ... that was PoC. At least this time, unlike my last visit, the Davy Jones projection was working. And the lighting looked good. But the sound is awful because you simply can't add 2006 audio in a few parts and leave the rest in 1973 technology. The sound doesn't synch up ... it sounds very soft in areas and under water in others. Loud and clear when Barbossa and Cap'n Jack are talking. Also, a few AA's notably the dangling dude and his bird pal were moving, but nothing was coming out of their mouth and beak, respectively. Monorails have been a nightmare. I finally experienced what TDLFAN is constantly pointing out. Long, long waits for 'traffic clearance' ... in dirty ... no, filthy ... disgusting, warm trains. Who are the people staying in the monorail resorts for top dollar that get into the monorails and don't notice there are subways in much better shape? I could complain about the fact more mature trees have disappeared. Check out Fantasyland near Dumbo ...apparently the goal is to make the park as barren and naked as possible ... the missing trees completely screw with the sightlines but that's ok ... Pavement is a mess in places ... with potholes that remind me of DLP's biggest maintainance issue (but at least they have snow there as a partial excuse). Didn't see one custodial CM in two seperate, albeit short visits, at MK. Did see trash blowing by ... under benches and in the water ... Also noticed this at Epcot much more. Pavement is filthy in many locations (hey Jim, I know you're settling in and all, but maybe you can take a load off and sit on one of those benches near the entrance to World Showcase and look down ... might help entice you to find money to pressure clean pavement nightly.) Like I said, not a lot of great or even good observations ... let's spend some time at Universal and see how things compare ... shall we?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 One last thought ... Epcot did look beautiful as many of the vestiges of the Flower and Garden Fest, which wrapped last weekend, remain. The MK Hub area also was quite beautiful as far as flowers, but since the trees are missing, it's hard for me to give horticulture the big thumbs up. I know this is stupid and probably just me, but I kinda like shade in Central Florida ... not concrete and pavement.
Originally Posted By mousermerf '74, you didn't mention that they're repaving most of the walkways in MK. Brand new shiny red concretey-stuff is showing up everywhere in the park. The area between the turnstiles and the tunnels is pretty much complete and much of Mainstreet has been redone. From there it seems to be branching out slowly, you can see new areas of pathway in Frontierland for certain.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 I would think the HM should have weeds, dead grass, it's abandoned by humans. I always liked the dead roses on the fence. Atmosphere.
Originally Posted By jmuboy Are town square and central plaza still free of all trees? And the DL/DLP/MK = Niemens/Saks/Wal-Mart comparison COULD NOT BE MORE ACCURATE!
Originally Posted By twirlnhurl What do you mean by "ice cave effects on Everest"? I went on the ride in previews and many times after, and if you're not referring to the projection of the yeti breaking the track, I don't know what you're talking about. If you are talking about that, I've never seen that effect not work. It seems that the projection stuff at WDW is usually pretty reliable (to a guest who goes every other week... maybe I just miss it?). The only time I've ever noticed any projector effect amiss was last ride on Spaceship Earth a week before Monday on one of the warning screens at the beginning of the ride and the "TV News" at the beginning of the descent had text about the projectors lights reaching the end of their usable life.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<'74, you didn't mention that they're repaving most of the walkways in MK. Brand new shiny red concretey-stuff is showing up everywhere in the park. The area between the turnstiles and the tunnels is pretty much complete and much of Mainstreet has been redone. From there it seems to be branching out slowly, you can see new areas of pathway in Frontierland for certain. >> I did notice that paving project and was aware of it. But, honestly, I don't want to say anything that can remotely come off as praise for the management of that park. I want them gone. And while it's nice that, after many, many years, some new pavement is going in, I'll also point out that it's the same basic crap that's been there since '71 ... no pavers, bricks or special surfaces like at say DL or DLP or DAK ... But, yes, MK is slowly getting new pavement.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I would think the HM should have weeds, dead grass, it's abandoned by humans. I always liked the dead roses on the fence. Atmosphere.>> No. It shouldn't. It's always been maintained and manicured. It's not supposed to look rundown ... just imposing.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Are town square and central plaza still free of all trees?>> For all practical purposes, yes. They have saplings that were put in as sticks in the past 2-4 years ... maybe in a decade they'll look great and provide shade, but not now. Also, I've noticed some tree removal/replacement in Epcot too, which is worrisome ... the huge trees in front of Germany have been replaced with much smaller versions of the same. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not, though) but Disney does have a huge TREE FARM. If trees need replacing why can't Disney put in some mostly grown or partially grown replacements instead of sticks that you'll see at the latest strip center to pop up in O-Town?
Originally Posted By Skellington88 Meg Crofton or however you spell her name will score alot of browny points with me if she fires Phil Holmes for poorly managing and operating the magic kingdom.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<What do you mean by "ice cave effects on Everest"? I went on the ride in previews and many times after, and if you're not referring to the projection of the yeti breaking the track, I don't know what you're talking about. If you are talking about that, I've never seen that effect not work.>> Orginally, Everest was supposed to have FREEZING caves with mist/fog blowing on you ... but due to budget cuts at last minute instead of using chemicals that disipated easily but needed $500 nozzels to release, Disney went for H2O and 25 cents nozzels. Well, the water resulted in pools near the evacuation route (only inches deep but legal couldn't have that),so the effects disappeared. We've also lost the steam on the trains as well as the imfamous birdie on a stick (also originally supposed to itself be an AA). I won't even tell you where they accountaineered another Yeti AA right out of the ride late in the game, either. But I have been told that Mansion may be getting a few new kewl bits not at DL ... if the money isn't cut, you may want to make sure you're paying attention as soon as the Doombuggy leaves the entrance.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Meg Crofton or however you spell her name>> I spell it INOVERHERHEADMEG. <<will score alot of browny points with me if she fires Phil Holmes for poorly managing and operating the magic kingdom. >> No one gets fired, at the exec level from Disney, no one. Even when their management directly leads to the death of guests (see DL). When Phil leaves it will be to spend more time with his family or because he can go sell timeshares for a major company etc ... this is how it has always been done with Disney. You just don't get fired. Absurd, I know.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Spirit... The pavement is a special color developed in coordination with Kodak to make your pictures come out nicer. Not to mention DL's pavers are ugly. DL's Haunted Mansion was designe dto have a eprfect exterior with ghostly interior - WDW's was not. It has always been overgrown and such.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Spirit... The pavement is a special color developed in coordination with Kodak to make your pictures come out nicer. Not to mention DL's pavers are ugly. >> I'm just going to say I disagree. IMHO, pavers look a whole lot nicer than red pavement. <<DL's Haunted Mansion was designe dto have a eprfect exterior with ghostly interior - WDW's was not. It has always been overgrown and such.>> Not since I've been going. At least, not in the front ... perhaps, in the graveyard and on the sides, but the main lawn has always looked like a caretaker was keeping it looking perfect.
Originally Posted By Mr X Gotta ask the million dollar question here. If you are so very dissatisfied with the place, why continue going back at all? I have had 2 opportunities to go to WDW in the last couple of years. The first time I opted for Disneyland/Vegas, and the second time I chose a cruise. There are so many things in the world to do, why do something that disappoints and annoys? p.s. I won't be returning to HKDL anytime soon either, even if I find myself in Hong Kong!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Gotta ask the million dollar question here.>> Normally, I wouldn't even answer this yet again, but since I do respect your posts, Mr. X, I will. Besides, someone had nice things to say about you a few days ago! <<If you are so very dissatisfied with the place, why continue going back at all?>> I'm not dissatisfied with WDW as a whole but with parts. I still greatly enjoy much of WDW ...especially Epcot, DAK, the resorts etc ... And even things I am VERY disappointed in, like the MK, I can still enjoy ...especially with family and friends (as I have this week). But even if all was bleak at the MK, and it seems headed that way, I would still go and I would still bitch here because I love the place. It was my first Disney park. The one I've spent the most time in ... the one with the most happy memories for me. I won't simply give it up and say 'those idiots in management ruined the place ... better go somewhere else.' Nope. I'll still go and try and enjoy the good, while complaining and drawing attention to the bad. The MK is an amazing place. It's going to be around decades after the current execs are wearing adult diapers and drooling on themselves. I won't let morons prevent me from trying to enjoy one of my fave places. <<I have had 2 opportunities to go to WDW in the last couple of years. The first time I opted for Disneyland/Vegas, and the second time I chose a cruise. There are so many things in the world to do, why do something that disappoints and annoys? p.s. I won't be returning to HKDL anytime soon either, even if I find myself in Hong Kong!>> Did my explanation help at all? And I WILL be going to HKDL in the near future and will hopefully enjoy it on some level(s).
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Orginally, Everest was supposed to have FREEZING caves with mist/fog blowing on you ... but due to budget cuts at last minute instead of using chemicals that disipated easily but needed $500 nozzels to release, Disney went for H2O and 25 cents nozzels. < like the effect on test track ?
Originally Posted By Mr X >>Did my explanation help at all?<< Sort of, sure. But still, since you seem well travelled I would think you would plan your vacations leaning towards the other Disney destinations that you think are more satisfactory...with an eye on returning when things improve (they sure turned around Disneyland quick for the 50th, so it's not a lost cause by any means). But yeah, I kind of understand (don't really recall reading that particular explaination before though, must have missed it). Like I said though, DisneyWorld is no really big draw for me at this time. If I'm in Florida, I'm sure I'll stop by (though I was in Miami last year and could have extended my stay for a day or two) but it's not any place I'm dying to head to soon. Cali and Paris, on the other hand, are very much on my radar and a LOT of that has to do with the improved Anaheim park (I was disappointed in the state of things a few years back, and didn't really think about returning at all for a while). On the other hand, I live in Urayasu and have never had an annual pass even once in 8 years! Sure, I go to Disney quite a bit (twice in the last month, actually), but it's not some huge draw for me like it is to some others. Maybe in the past. I'm dedicated enough to hop over to Hong Kong though, even though I knew the park was bare bones. >>And I WILL be going to HKDL in the near future and will hopefully enjoy it on some level(s).<< Hope you have fun.
Originally Posted By Mr X **Besides, someone had nice things to say about you a few days ago!** Of course.
Originally Posted By twirlnhurl "We've also lost the steam on the trains as well as the imfamous birdie on a stick (also originally supposed to itself be an AA)." I feel like I've seen both of these effects about half the times I go on the ride. However, I haven't been in the past month or two, so maybe they are more then just inconsistent. Animal Kingdom is by far the park I spent the least amount of time in.
