Holy cow, WDW's Magic Kingdom is Horrible! (Compared to Disneyland Park)

[captsmith84]

Ah yes, I just got back from Disneyland Park. That park has changed completely since Matt took over. It has been five years since I've been, and I'd forgotten how amazing the place is. Or maybe it's just more amazing now since they cleaned up everything for the 50th. Disneyland Park puts the Magic Kingdom Park to shame. In comparison, the only things better in WDW's Magic Kingdom are:

-The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
-Mickey's PhilharMagic (It's not in Disneyland)
-TTA (It's not in Disneyland)
-The Timekeeper (It's not in Disneyland)
-Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress (It's not in Disneyland anymore)
-Stitch's Great Escape... (only because it's not present in DL)
-Splash Mountain (tie)
-Big Thunder Mountain (tie)
-Castle

Everything else is better in Disneyland...

The sooner Matt gets to WDW, the better. Matt needs to work his magic over here ASAP.

[AliKzam]

No! You can't have him! He's ours! We need him so much more than you. Ten crappy, humiliating years of Pressler/Harris kicked our butts, and the worst thing Florida could complain about was their castle turning into an inflatable cake. We had deaths, man! Deaths that weren't the guests' fault. One of our mountains just fell apart, one day, and had to stay closed for three years. Three years. You have four successful parks, we have one and a half.
He stays.

[figment1986]

No! You can't have him! He's ours! We need him so much more than you. Ten crappy, humiliating years of Pressler/Harris kicked our butts, and the worst thing Florida could complain about was their castle turning into an inflatable cake. We had deaths, man! Deaths that weren't the guests' fault. One of our mountains just fell apart, one day, and had to stay closed for three years. Three years. You have four successful parks, we have one and a half.
He stays.

you get the second in command, and WDW gets matt... thats not bad...



and yes, DL is mostly better,

[MickeyMania]

Oh boy, I can tell where this thread is going, and it's not going to make me very optimistic about my trip and all that it's costing me. *veers way*

DL has it's own share of problems. I wonder whether some opinions are really a matter of comparing the devil you know to a devil you don't. I can't possibly imagine WDW being so bad.

[AliKzam]

All I'm saying is, Europe's rennaissance lasted 200 years. At least let ours last longer than one. Please.

[MickeyMania]

Not only does nobody here have any say in what happens in that regard, but now we're placing bets on unconfirmed internet gossip again.

Regardless of what happens, the bar has been raised for DL again, and the numbers are so positive that I don't think anyone who steps in next will ignore the lessons and forget that things require paint.

[AliKzam]

I have no money. When were bets being placed? I didn't realize I'd wandered into the gambling forum. (Backs away, nervously smiling.)

[WDW1974]

Interesting Bill. I have been posting the same thing -- first at another place where I was run off by an egomanical ruler -- then here for years now.

DL, in truth, hasn't really always been better than the MK (even though some would argue it), but DL has added new things while improving upkeeep. The MK, indeed most of WDW, has headed in the other direction for well over the past decade.

I don't see anything to change my belief that DL will continue to improve, while the MK will continue to deteriorate in the years ahead.

WDW guests are a different breed, a less discerning (overall) clientele that allows the product to be diluted and dumbed down under the guise of 'bigger is better.'

There's a whole lot more real magic in Anaheim these days.

Glad you enjoyed your visit.

[Disney Analyst]

Matt has said he will not be leaving any time soon... So you may have to wait a while, he's barely even started with DCA..

[SummerInFL]

WDW has been my home all my life. I've never been to DL, although I want to but I just can't justify 1,000 bucks for airline tickets that my family could use for a room upgrade at WDW.

That being said I think Magic Kingdom is just fine, sure they could do some renovating but considering how many people visit it each year I think they do a damn good job of keeping it up.

I think it all comes down to perception. I still feel the magic when I walk in there and when my children's face lights up when they meet any Disney character or when they see the castle and ask to speak to Cinderella.

As long as it still holds that magic I will continue to go, while MK might be horrible compared to DL I can't say but it makes me happy and that really is what counts in the end isn't it?

[devkxl]

WDW is so much better

[orlandorealtor]

Agreed. Having lived near both parks (Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park), there is no contest...Disneyland takes it.

[danyoung]

While I'll agree that DL park is in much better shape these days as a result of the purse strings opening up in preparation for the 50th, I just don't buy that the MK is in any way rundown or lame or shabby. I was just there a couple weeks ago, and I enjoyed my time wandering around, riding rides, seeing a great 3D movie, eating a terrific lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. I wasn't specifically looking for bad paint or trash or broken stuff, and I didn't find any of that. Those who go there daily or weekly might have a different standard. But for me, the biannual visitor, the MK is still in great shape.

[KevinYee]

I'm beginning the believe it has something to do with your first point of fixation. I have a someday-article on this topic, but in brief:

- If you grow up going to Disneyland a lot (more than 12 visits a year), you will find the flaws there hard to overlook.
- If you grow up going to MK a lot (more than 12 visits a year), you will find the flaws in this park hard to overlook.

If you then travel to the "other" park, no matter which one is the "other" for you, then you will find the flaws easier to overlook.

I worked at Disneyland for ten years and then spent five years prominently pointing out the upkeep problems online. I think I can safely say that I spot peeling paint and so on pretty well.

Yet, at WDW, it's harder for me to spot the moments of neglect, and when I do spot them, it's easier to forgive them. They don't blemish the way they did at Disneyland. I visit twice a week now, and have done so for two years, so it can't be that I'm still new to the park.

Conclusion: I think it must have to do with your "home" park.

Needless to say, tourists forgive a lot of things. I learned back in the 80s that what seemed pristine as a tourist was often dirty, peeling paint... even in those days of the pre-Pressler regime. So that whole element has to be added in here too.

[MickeyMania]

Kevin, you pretty much nailed it down.

I don't go to any Disney parks regularly, and went during the 35th and 40th anniversaries, and I'm sure there was stuff peeling and rotting but I didn't notice it. During the 70s, when the park was falling into disrepair, I noticed it because it felt like half the lights were burnt out and I went there a fair amount and saw the same lights burnt out time and time again. In the late 80s and early 90s, things had improved but my senses to disrepair had been shot over time.

I last went during Pressler's regime and while I mostly forgave the peeling paint I could find because it wasn't as bad as internet reports led to believe, there were some things that even as an irregular visitor I couldn't overlook. A door on the Cartoon Spin dark ride failed to open and my vehicle had to push it open by ramming into it.

If the MK is so badly kept that my car is slamming into doors to get through, then yes I'll notice it. Otherwise, I probably won't.