Originally Posted By MPierce >> I've never seen hoppin' Brer Rabbit inoperable, nor have I ever seen the angler fish in Nemo broken. << You would be extremely lucky. I would venture a guess that you have spent far more time at WDW than I have, and I've seen both broken.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 >> Just reading some of these threads it appears some of you visit WDW frequently or even work there. You get to see some of these problems on a daily basis. If you only had a chance to visit every few years would you be a little more forgiving? << <<Bad show, bad food, cheap generic merchandise, diminishing street performers, broken attractions, dirty Parks, and price points that are starting to make even the very wealthy question their value, and affordability, are the same whether you go once a day or once every 10 years. So my answer is NO. >> My answer is even a more resounding NO ... and an added ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! I know the line of thinking that goes into a response like the above. One that familiarity breeds contempt. I prefer to look at it as more like ignorance/less familiarity can often (but by no means always) be bliss. If something is wrong, then it is wrong whether or not YOU notice it or not. If effects are inoperable, parks dirty, merchandise crappy, CMs slovenly/moody/uncaring, food overpriced and lousy etc ... then all of those things exist whether you notice them, don't notice them, or simply allow the pixie dust/Disney marketing hype to take over and convince you things aren't quite so bad. I was already a veteran of hundreds of WDW visits before I ever went to DL ... to DLP ... to HKDL. Still, I noticed the good and bad and ugly at all of them (DLP was falling apart in places and the fact I was thrilled to be there didn't allow me to shut my mind off ... others seem very able to do so). Whenever you simply give management a pass for allowing WDW to grow stale and decay in front of you, you do a great disservice to the Disney Legacy that created the place, the state of business in the USA today (that will push the boundries of what it can get away with it to the limit and then some) and, honestly, your fellow man because we are all in this together. And some of us really don't want to live in a Walmart world.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I know...the point that I am so strongly not getting across is that I go to WDW often and at the time everyone was talking about how much better maintained DL was as compared to WDW. What I was attempting to get across is the variance in individual perception as to what is bad and what is good. In my mind, at the time, Disneyland, a park that was having a major promotion that year was far more in need of TLC then WDW.>> That's your perception, but I wouldn't call it reality. I spent MANY days at DL in 2005 (including most of the 50th B-Day week) and plenty of time at WDW as well. In no way, would I ever say DL was in worse shape during that year. Sure, it wasn't pristine. But it was a helluva lot closer than WDW. Frankly, perhaps other than DL in the 2002-2004 timeframe when things were falling apart, I can't think of ANY time when WDW was in better shape than MK. <<The few things I see out of line at WDW I can easily blame on the sheer size of WDW and how much of a job it must be to keep up with that much stuff. No excuse...I suppose that is true but reality seems to be in play there.>> But ... that is exactly that: an excuse. You get larger, then you staff and budget to keep up with the growth. Just like if you decide to have six kids when you have the resources to care for only two ... it's on you to deal. <<DL is a small, intimate park and there is absolutely no excuse for it being run down. It just not all that big.>> No, but even with WDW castoff George K running the place it is far, far better off than any of the WDW parks. Being too big to be kept up rings as absurd to me as the 'too big too fail' label we've placed on banks the government and OUR TAX $$$s have bailed out. <<Now maintenance may be segregated by park but the tour I took to the maintenance building reinforced the idea, in my mind, that they are a shared asset. It would be too expensive to maintain individual departments for the entire property. I suspect that at times they are spread pretty thin.>> If you are speaking of WDW, then they are spread too thin because they have cut back over the past 15 years in levels of staffing and what is acceptable to 'just let it go'. That's a business decision. Plain and simple.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 >> I've never seen hoppin' Brer Rabbit inoperable, nor have I ever seen the angler fish in Nemo broken. << <<You would be extremely lucky. I would venture a guess that you have spent far more time at WDW than I have, and I've seen both broken.>> They are usually both inop when I visit, although fish was working on my last trip and I didn't ride Splash.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>That's your perception, but I wouldn't call it reality. I spent MANY days at DL in 2005 (including most of the 50th B-Day week) and plenty of time at WDW as well. In no way, would I ever say DL was in worse shape during that year.<<< That's your perception, but I wouldn't call your take reality either. Unless you can confidently say that I didn't see what I saw and that my judgment is so inoperative that I am unable to tell good from bad, then I must say bull to your response. I was there and I saw what I saw. I have been to WDW and I have seen what I see. I am perfectly capable of comparing the two. I also remember in the early 90's when MK in WDW was god awful. It smelled bad, the food was bad, the service was horrendous and almost nothing was working. I can tell the difference sir!
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>>ORDDU: Not going to a Disney theme park very often is like not visiting certain relatives very often. You're less likely to see their faults or even know that they have any if you only see them once a decade. Therefore it's much easier to overlook what's wrong with them and then come to the conclusion that they're just fine the way they are. You're less likely to discover that your cousin's husband is a wife beater that way--or less likely to realize that there really is an animatronic figure of Br'er Rabbit that's supposed to hop inside Splash Mountain. (His hopping is rather irregular at best.)<<< Well said, Madame Witch! >>>> ^^I must be one lucky son of a gun. I've never seen hoppin' Brer Rabbit inoperable, nor have I ever seen the angler fish in Nemo broken.<<< It's been better in recent years, for the Rabbit. Nemo, I wouldn't know. But it was broken in 2007 and in Aug 2008.
Originally Posted By magnet He was hopping when I rode it on Saturday. I find in my own experience that it is hit and miss to see that effect working, though I find it works more often than it's broken. It is one of the effects that people look for while on the ride, so there does seem to be a modest effort to get it fixed when it breaks. It is very disappointing for me when it is not operating.
Originally Posted By MagentaPanther I first visited WDW when I was 12. When I returned 6 years ago, I was appalled by how shabby the Haunted Mansion was. It looked faded and beat-up, and the sound in my Doom Buggy didn't work. All I heard was static. Thankfully, when I returned to WDW the following year, the refurb had taken place and there was new life (so to speak) in the old place. But that refurb was long overdue, from what I understand. Stuff like that is the reason I'm so grateful that Universal's Potter ride is so awesome. Maybe the current Disney management will sit up and take notice that they don't rule the roost anymore when it comes to immersive theme park experiences. I'm already hearing rumors that they're rethinking the Fantasyland expansion. God I hope that's true...
Originally Posted By MagentaPanther Oh, and I have ridden Splash Mountain 3 times, and none of those times did I see Brer Rabbit hopping beside the boats. Bummer. BTW, THAT ride could use a major refurb. The AAs look so crude.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer It received one this past year, and honestly does look a ton better than it did a year ago.
Originally Posted By MagentaPanther Wow, thanks Explorer! Next time I go to WDW (hopefully this October) I'll check Splash out!
Originally Posted By magnet Splash DID have some troubles when I rode this weekend: Lighting and music was off after the lift hill and before Slippin' Falls. No singing of "How do 'ya do" by the AAs after Slippin' Falls. The jumping water effects and the AAs in the laughing place cave were not working. I rarely see the critters in there working ever. The only one that is reliable is the little guy who sneezes and drops down from above. The ride LOOKS good, meaning it doesn't look shabby, but all the broken effects really degrade the experience. Splash is some awesome fun when everything is working, but for some reason the ride is maintained as if people are just riding for the thrill of the last drop. Having so many things not working in those scenes destroys the immersion in the story that Splash otherwise does so well.
Originally Posted By magnet oh, actually -- all of the dialogue by Brer Rabbit's good siblings who stayed home and are doing their chores was missing too!
Originally Posted By magnet remembered another: Brer Bear is supposed to go up and down when he is caught in the rope trap where Brer rabbit comes hopping along, right? That wasn't working either.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer Magenta- no problem...It really looked nice, and worked nice. Magnet...Really? In June all the effects were in good order. The best I had seen the, in a long while. Maybe it was a bad day for it?
Originally Posted By magnet EE - I know, right? I can't believe it myself as I'm thinking back. I think some of the effects just must have been off. I can't believe they all were really broken. However, that's the ride I had, as I remember it.
Originally Posted By magnet However, I know from experience that things go on and off on that ride sometimes in the course of a day.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>>EE - I know, right? I can't believe it myself as I'm thinking back. I think some of the effects just must have been off. I can't believe they all were really broken. However, that's the ride I had, as I remember it. However, I know from experience that things go on and off on that ride sometimes in the course of a day.<<<< Very true. Probably a bad day. It's temperamental, no?
