Should Walt Disney World Upgrade?

All this talk makes me wonder how tired I'm going to be after my first trip in May which will be 3 full days. ;)

I have to agree with the general sentiment about how much time a park is worth here, we are going June 27th-July 3rd this year and heres what we plan on doing, but we will be taking a mid day nap pretty much everyday but the last (we have to stay inside the MK so we can see the 4th of July fireworks:)

June 27th: 4:00-1:00 MGM (Evening EMH)
June 28th: 9:00-12:00 Blizzard Beach
June 28th: 1:00-12:00 Epcot (Evening EMH)
June 29th: 9:00-2:00 MK (Evening EMH)
June 30th: 8:00-12:00 AK (Morning EMH)
June 30th: 12:00-10:00 MGM
July 1st: 9:00-3:00 AK
July 1st: 3:00-7:00 Typhoon Lagoon
July 1st: 9:00-3:00 MK (Evening EMH)
July 2nd: 9:00-9:00 Epcot
July 3rd: 8:00-1:00 MK

Its the most we will have ever spent at AK but with EE (marathoning that one during EMH 30th) and the new Nemo show we figure why not, so long as we recover from the late night at the MK ;). That time kind of got taken away from Epcot this trip (we usually are there two whole days) but we figure that its a net push since we will be spening an EMH night in Epcot.

Getting back on topic, I dont think Disney has to do much with the MK (just please refub the rides that are showing their age like the HM to restore them to their former glory) or Epcot (for a while, since Future World is now modernized except for UOE and WOL.) Allthough I would love to see a brand new E-ticket dark ride at the MK, maybe that long rumored Villian dark ride (with either a Indy/Dinosaur ride vechicle or a Spiderman set up.) But the fact of the matter is why should they put in any new rides when the resort is just raking in the dough lately (last year was a new attendance high for the property.) Its really hard to hold Disney to normal theme park standards though, the parks are so unique and culutal landmarks that you cant compare them to anything else. *** Edited 1/25/2007 3:22:09 AM UTC by Touchdown***

One of the contributors at MiceAge has been writing about the declining state of the WDW resort. I agree with most of what he said, although I still go at least once a year and always have a great time.

Many things do need severe attention but it's still not a bad place to go, anyway you look at it.

I am heading to WDW for the first time in 20 years this March and I hope I can cover some of the parks in the 3 days I have scheduled there. I am spending the other 2 days at Universal.

The thing is, I think only the true Disney-philes notice the "declining state". While I love Disney as a company, I'm not particularly familiar with the fine details of the park. However, I like to think that I'm fairly observant and last year, we went through each of the 4 WDW parks and there was nothing that jumped out at me as being shabby, run down, or in disrepair. My wife's boss is a bit more Disney-fied than we are, visiting every year, yet he doesnt complain, rather he praises the park year after year.

I didn't really see the decline of WDW until this past year. Got into DL/DCA during Solace trip, then came back home and went to Orlando for the first time in awhile, since *everyone* was here for Con/Yeti.

The FL parks *other than AK* certainly could use some work. Just the attention to detail stuff...paint, burned-out lights, etc. I'm not even talking about the attractiuons themselves...

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Kick The Sky said:

As for Wonders of Life, it is gone. They opened it for awhile during the holidays to help ease the crowds but popular scuttlebutt is that it is never going to open again.

As for spending 2 days at Epcot, it is easy, especially when you do rerides on Test Track, Mission Space, and especially soarin (although Cali's queue theming is better ;) )

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No, Wonders of Life is still there. It is only open during high peak times.

^I must have been someplace else recently. There's been multiple comments here about chipped paint, etc, and there's a crabby contention that WDW is "not as good as" Disneyland. I just got back from WDW - I was there for 8 days, and it looked GREAT. And believe me, I am VERY critical. I had VERY LITTLE to complain about. You cannot directly compare Disneyland and WDW - two different experiences. I visited Disneyland 2 years ago and found it to be crowded and dirty. I'm sure it was just the day I was there. But doing a mental survey of my visits to both parks, I would definitely say that both are upkept very very well which is the hallmark of a Disney park.

As for Carousel of Progress, it is a classic; and, it was operating when the park was at its' lowest attendance of the year, so whoever's contention it was that the ride "ought to go" was wrong there. There were only 20 or so other people in the theater besides me. It is charming, entertaining, and one of the few original rides Disney himself had a hand in creating.

...HERE COMES THE RANT.

I am a "Disney-phile" and I don't notice any "declining state." I wonder what people are smoking here - more than one person has commented about how things are sorely in neglect. Acoustic Velocity, are you SERIOUSLY worried about the 'STATE OF DISREPAIR' on your upcoming visit to WDW? That's absolutely crazy. Maybe you shouldn't go. That way you won't have to lose any sleep over it!

Trust me people, ALL the parks look GREAT. *** Edited 1/25/2007 5:05:32 PM UTC by ophthodoc***

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2Hostyl said:
The thing is, I think only the true Disney-philes notice the "declining state"

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That's usually the case but in the past few years, certain areas have really needed work. Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom is probably the worst offender- some parts look absolutely horrible. I know that Disney-philes can be pretty crazy but when people that don't normally pay attention to the details end up paying attention to the details, it might be time for something to be done.

They really need to change Tomorrowland. First thing is to get High School Musical out of there. It doesn't fit in at all and it gets annoying that you can't go on the People Mover while the show is going on unless you want the ride ruined with all the noise from the singing in the show.

As for WDW needing some repair work, I didn't really notice it in any other area besides Wonders of Life for the reasons I mentioned in an above post. I understand why it's in the condition it is in but it doesn't seem like Disney to open it up in that condition. Looking at pictures of it before I went and while in the pavillion I was thinking it looked like a Six Flags attraction more than something at Disney.

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First thing is to get High School Musical out of there.

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Dude, you are like so behind the times. Already done. Yesterday's news. (Well, technically the 22nd's news, but still.)

We're flying down Saturday for 4 days at WDW, and the last thing I'm going to do is seach for problems in the parks. It's a much-needed vacation at one of the best destinations in the world with the people I care for most, not a nit-picker's fest.

We've been down every year for the last six and I just don't see this great declining condition everyone's talking about. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

And, for the record, I love Carousel of Progress.

(Did that sound like a rant?)

I don't see it eather.

I have gone the last 5 years in a row, and have not noticed any decline. As a matter of fact, it's getting better every trip.

We like to stay at a differant Disney hotel every time we go, and that really makes every trip differant. We are going again in the spring, and we are going to stay at the carribean(sp) beach hotel.

The Carousel of Progress has not been seasonal since 2003. It went full time when ALien Encounter went down.

It was planned to go back Seasonal but never did.

It has gone under some refurb recently. Including new seats and carpet. Also the outside has been repainted.

I hope COP is never replaced, its one of the rides I remember fondly from my first trip (when I was 5) its an entertaining show, an AC break and has that catchy tune.

I believe the one at Disneyland was replaced for Innoventions. Of course, EPCOT has Innoventions. Yeah, I did notice the new seats in the Carousel. I hope they don't take it out for a long time, but it doesn't seem like the people want to wait for it. The day I was there, the place (MK) was jammed pack, and the Carousel didn't have a line.

There were maybe 15 people in one part of the theater (There are 4 or 5, I think). It seemed like a senior citizen crowd to me. That's sad.

I guess I'm just saying about rides that don't seem to get a line. Technically, you never need to get rid of them. They just won't be open, or get the waits they have.

It's like Cedar Point having a 3 minute line for Dragster all the time. This was a packed time I went. I have been on Star Tours before (many times), and it's the same way. Does it need to go? No. I like it. I don't think people are agreeing with me though.

When Tower is 40 minutes, and Rockin is 50, what about Star Tours basically being a walk-on without the video at the beginning? I'm talking about stuff like that. This is that people must be bored with going on from years to years. I don't know?? The Drew Carrey show at MGM is abandoned, by the way. That's actually gone, and they didn't anything with it.

Going a little off topic, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has sayings on each of the engine cars: I.B. Hearty, U.R. Courageous, U.R. Daring, U.R. Bold, I.M. Brave, I.M. Fearless
I thought I just mention that. I didn't notice this until last time I was there. I just never looked. So, look for it next time you go on it (if you want to).

Hey now, dont remove Sounds Dangerous! "Optional Audio" + long periods of complete darkness = perfect midday pick me up nap location ;)

I have also visited all the parks at Walt DIsney World for the last 3 years and other than the fact that Splash Mountain kept stopping on us when we rode it, I did not notice anything wrong at all. I did not see chipped paint or lights that were out. Everything looked great to me!

I believe the COP was removed from Disneyland long before Innoventions claimed its building. I love the one at WDW- we ride it every time. There's never a line but that's fine with me.

"There's a great big beautiful tomorrow..." Gotta love that song!

^^ I noticed the same thing with Splash Mountain. I was stuck for close to 15 minutes at the base of the lift before the big drop. 2 days later, I had just gotten off the ride and noticed the ride had stopped again with no water running down the drops.

what you must understand is that COP has a HUGE capacity. Every 5 min you can load 200 (i want to say 230)people into a theatre.

TTA also has a very large capacity...there is never a line for that so would you want it to be removed? I think the capacity was something like 1975 for TTA.

Those two were my favorite to work...Buzz gets annoying...Stitch lets not go there.