Am I the only one who would go to WDW IN SPITE of uniqueness?

[Disneylandfan85]

It seems like the only way anyone will go to Walt Disney World is when they are different/unique/etc. at all costs. Am I the only one who will actually go to WDW without worrying about uniqueness and just have fun?

[disneytom]

WDW can be fun for the novice, yes.

It's also great for someone with very low expectations and an untrained eye - the "roll with the flow fellow" with an unlimited spending budget.

If, however, Disney attempts to elicit love from their "loyal fan base" they are going to need to ratchet their game up quite a bit because they've been riding on their own success for too long.

As Dorothy says, "...we're not in Kansas anymore." Universal is beating them at their game - WDW has become like their neighbor Tiger Woods - an also ran that doesn't realize he should toss in the towel and quit or else focus, very, very hard on winning again.

It's all about hard ticket events, Pirate make-up, cost savings on food and merchandise they offer - this is not the Disney I grew up with. Do I have fun there, yes. Do I think they could do better, heck yes.

[Pizzapants]

WDW can be fun for the novice, yes.

It's also great for someone with very low expectations and an untrained eye - the "roll with the flow fellow" with an unlimited spending budget.

If, however, Disney attempts to elicit love from their "loyal fan base" they are going to need to ratchet their game up quite a bit because they've been riding on their own success for too long.

As Dorothy says, "...we're not in Kansas anymore." Universal is beating them at their game - WDW has become like their neighbor Tiger Woods - an also ran that doesn't realize he should toss in the towel and quit or else focus, very, very hard on winning again.

It's all about hard ticket events, Pirate make-up, cost savings on food and merchandise they offer - this is not the Disney I grew up with. Do I have fun there, yes. Do I think they could do better, heck yes.

Nailed it. It's just hard to go back when prices have gone up and quality has gone down. Eventually I will go back, and I will have fun while I'm there. But right now my money gets better quality at Disneyland.

[jcruise86]

(Warning to voracious readers:
I wrote part of this on another thread on the D land section.)

The next big thing I'm most looking forward to is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Hollywood. I hope Universal does make it different than the one on Orlando and that they try to outdo themselves.

Since WDW thinks they can take me for granted
and not keep of the pace of the parade of wonders they created in the 70s, 80s, and 90s,
we'll probably visit exciting great natural parks & exciting cities instead of WDW.

It seemed to me in the 70s that WDW was capitalism at its best. A mostly green dream factory born in a country where even an artist could use capitalism for grand projects. But it now seems to me that we've been in a period that began in the Pressler/Eisner area when WDW has been capitalism at its near worst. Near the end of his decades-long run, Disney led the way in overpaying American CEO, and Eisner's sycophantic board of directors served foremost to enrich Michael Eisner.

How about John Lasseter as CEO & Tony Baxter as head of Disney's Parks? Former CFO Thomas Staggs can by the money person as Roy Sr. & Frank Wells were. Or he can work for the Gap.

[SLUSHIE]

I think Disney misses the mark when they clone the major attractions. What really sets the parks apart nowadays are just the smaller one of-a-kind rides that are either a pass or a one time thing. People don't go to Disney World or Disneyland for things like Stich's Great Escape or Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, they go for Expedition Everest and Radiator Springs Racers.

People always say normal people go to one Resort or the other, so who cares. I don't see it like that though. This definitely isn't the case for the middle of the country, and as far as the coasts go, if a family went to Disneyland and had a great time, maybe they would be more inclined to go to Disney World on their next vacation (or the other way around) if there was enough different major attractions. The way it is at the moment though, people might leave a longer period of time between their Disney Vacations. No doubt Car's Land pulled in people from all over the country, including Florida, was a huge success and made record numbers. Sure Putting it in Florida will pull in some more people, but not nearly as much as doing what they did with Car's Land with a different new attraction. I certainly wouldn't see that warranting another visit to Disney World, and I'm a huge Disney fan. My last visit was in 2010.

Universal is pretty guilty of this too. I've been to Universal in Florida like 3 times since having gone to Universal Hollywood, and I used to live 35mins from it.

[jcruise86]

I think Disney misses the mark when they clone the major attractions. What really sets the parks apart nowadays are just the smaller one of-a-kind rides that are either a pass or a one time thing. People don't go to Disney World or Disneyland for things like Stich's Great Escape or Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, they go for Expedition Everest and Radiator Springs Racers.

People always say normal people go to one Resort or the other, so who cares. I don't see it like that though. This definitely isn't the case for the middle of the country, and as far as the coasts go, if a family went to Disneyland and had a great time, maybe they would be more inclined to go to Disney World on their next vacation (or the other way around) if there was enough different major attractions. The way it is at the moment though, people might leave a longer period of time between their Disney Vacations. No doubt Car's Land pulled in people from all over the country, including Florida, was a huge success and made record numbers. Sure Putting it in Florida will pull in some more people, but not nearly as much as doing what they did with Car's Land with a different new attraction. I certainly wouldn't see that warranting another visit to Disney World, and I'm a huge Disney fan. . .

Excellent post, Slushie! Please post more often.

[Micoofy Duck]

It seems like the only way anyone will go to Walt Disney World is when they are different/unique/etc. at all costs. Am I the only one who will actually go to WDW without worrying about uniqueness and just have fun?

it seems to be you're actually not talking about "anyone" but more so a select group of people here at MiceChat. Let's be honest.

[DisneySam]

What do you mean by unique and different? If you are referring to its competitors in Orlando then I think it is unique. There are things to do there that no one else has. If you are comparing WDW to DL, then there again I think it is unique. Certainly WDW can be considered different on many levels when compared to DL.

For those that go to WDW frequently then uniqueness is most likely defined by what is different now than during their last visit and certainly not much has changed depending on the frequency of the visits. To those folks it is about whether or not they can still enjoy something they have already experienced. I, for one, have fun just about everytime I go to WDW.

[ttintagel]

While I greatly enjoy and appreciate the things that are different between WDW and DL, the things that are the same don't detract from my enjoyment. My last DL visit was four years ago, and I'm not likely to have the money to go again soon.

[Dapper Dan]

Except for a couple of newer attractions, even the ones that are the same have some pretty big differences.

[Disneylandfan85]

it seems to be you're actually not talking about "anyone" but more so a select group of people here at MiceChat. Let's be honest.

I put it up here to get my feelings about this out in the open.