CURRENT STATE OF THE WORLD: Important Walt Disney World Poll!

[General Grizz]

Answer honestly and consider all options carefully.

And feel free to discuss...

[Elliot]

I hope I'm not out of place being new, but I voted that WDW looks fantastic, even though I saw the results first and knew I would be in the absolute minority. I have had the privledge of going to WDW 5 times, usually spread out by a couple years. One thing I've noticed about this site...most of you are BRUTAL!! No disrespect intended. I mean it in a good way. Many of you are fortunate enough to go more often than me, so the "changes" are more obvious. I do believe your observations. The critisism is a good thing. It's you guys (the majority) that have the voice to hopefully ruffle some feathers and get things back to the way they were. However, I voted on my experience. We got back from our last trip in October of last year. It was myself, the wife, the 3 kids, the mom-in-law, and my parents. We had the best time ever. It was my impression the parks were clean. The CM's were all polite and helpful, the Mickey bars never tasted better, there were a couple technical difficulties on some rides, but I guess I expected that so it wasn't a downer. Of course it was expensive, but I expected that too. None of us will ever forget it. I guess my only point is that I would be concerned if people that have never been (or it's been a while) see some of the posts, they'd think it was a run-down dump. And I understand, if you've had a bad experience, that's all you can vote on. But WDW definitely has potential to be that magic place to a newbie as it was to us our first times with nothing to compare to. But by all means, keep piling on. In the big scheme of things, we all want the best Disney experience possible. Or it's possible I'm clueless!

[BigDaddyKyle]

i voted

[Taggart]

I voted as well. I think the main thing that needs to be worked on is the food department in the MK. I felt like a prisoner last time I ate there.

[tloolgb]

I voted that is is looking great. Yes it is not up to where it was during the 25th, however looking at the state it got to during Pressler's crap for the Millenium Celebration, it is so great to see it coming back up. I went at the beginning of June, I was so pleased. The hours were long, the shows were doubled. Splash Mtn and the safari had effects working that have been off for years. They had plenty of CMs working, the CMs seemed to be happy and have good moral. They were also training lots of new CMs and they seemed to be going one on one with allot of them. They just opened two great things (Soarin and LMAX) and overall everything was just .

[MickeyJCA]

Originally Posted by General Grizz

Answer honestly and consider all options carefully.

I can't vote because I haven't been to WDW since 1990.

But I was just wondering, why the urgency on the poll? Why is this information so important? Why are honest answers required? Why the plea for careful consideration?

I'm not trying to be mean or difficult, I just thought it was odd that this poll is 'important'.

[General Grizz]

Originally Posted by MickeyJCA

I can't vote because I haven't been to WDW since 1990.

But I was just wondering, why the urgency on the poll? Why is this information so important? Why are honest answers required? Why the plea for careful consideration?

I'm not trying to be mean or difficult, I just thought it was odd that this poll is 'important'.

Important because I would like to see what the general MiceAge community honestly thinks of the resort as a community that is generally more Disneyland-based. Nothing urgent per se.

[JiminyCricketFan]

I love WDW and Disneyland. My last WDW trip was December, so I am 6 months out of date. I choose then not to vote. By and large, I think that the parks are going fine. I do have some concerns. First, Stitch was a disappointment to me. I loved AE! As an adult, Stitch did nothing for me and I plan on skipping him the next time I am there. I have not seen Cinderellabration, but that just looks stupid from the pictures. I guess it is for 9 year old girls.

As to the Stunt and Jump show at DMGM. I have not seen it but am looking forward to it. (I plan on taking a WDW trip again this December!) There is Everest Opening too next year.

I do have a concern. Not too much is one the drawing board for next year. There is one major new attraction opening next year, but the others that debuted this year are knock offs. There does not seem to be much creativity in the pipeline. It feels like a management is going for attraction quickies. Major new attractions take time to design and build. They should always be looking 5 years out. For as many parks that WDW has, there should be more attractions in the design and construction phases. (They certainly are not wasting any time building new hotel rooms. They have not missed a beat with those!)

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by JiminyCricketFan

I love WDW and Disneyland. My last WDW trip was December, so I am 6 months out of date. I choose then not to vote. By and large, I think that the parks are going fine

Going fine?!?! That's bad! There was a time when WDW was going EXCELLENT in every respect. I pray that management is not lurking these boards or else, with ratings as "fine" they will continue to do away with what little pixie dust is left at WDW, further downgrading the experience and adding cost to the price of admission. At $60+ a day at the MK..."fine" doesn't cut it. Remember that the next time you see trash sitting on the floor for more that an hour... keeping in mind there was a time when trash was picked up a mere minute after it hit the floor. That is not the case anymore.

[Manganese Nodule]

I think it's all a matter of how long you've been visiting WDW (and, of course, your Disney fanboy quotient). If you've watched the decline over the past 20 years or so, it's terribly frustrating to see others talk about how great it is, with no real frame of reference.

I think those of us who are quite harsh are not saying that WDW is not an amazing place right now, just that it used to be out of this world. When you start from mind-blowing, you can get a lot worse and still be more entertaining than the average entertainment product.

I suppose it has a lot to do with the audience of this forum, but I'm still pleased to see people finally taking a more critical look at WDW. A few years ago, I used to make a lot of the complaints that are now common here to various people, and I was mostly dismissed as a crank. I guess things have finally deteriorated to the point that non-zealots are picking up on them.

Maybe if we go another decade of plummeting quality, Elliot will be right there with us bitching about the latest gaffes!

It could happen.

[Mr. Eggz]

It seems to me that the rabid fans serve as a sort of leading edge indicator.

Yes, it’s true the dedicated fans notice things that more infrequent guests don’t, but a big part of what makes Disney parks special are those little details that most don’t notice. Part of the magic is that great moment when you do notice something new on an attraction you’ve been on dozens of times. Those details are slipping away. Every year the parks are less clean, the Cast is less friendly, more attractions close without replacement, and the new attractions fail to live up to the Disney legacy. If the rabid fans notice this year, the more casual fans will notice in a few years.

I am the one person (so far) who has voted for “WDW is still magical but it is headed down a dangerous path.”

I did not vote for a change in management, because, as many mistakes as he has made, Al Weiss is not the real problem. The real problem is the dispassionate Jay Rasulo (who will leave the company for other opportunities in the next 18 months, mark my words) and a corporate team (Iger & Staggs) who do not think theme parks are a good investment; they will continue to invest in new businesses like “Disney Mobile” and the businesses that Iger is familiar with like ABC and ESPN.

Al Weiss has made many mistakes (like promoting Brad Rex and Phil Holms) and he has failed to fight for WDW in order to stay in Staggs' good graces, but replacing him will do nothing. The problem is at corporate.

Expect things to get a lot worse before they get better.

[BigPigletFan]

Give me a couple of months before I can honestly vote in this poll. Last time I was there was oct of 2003. I hope it is okay...

[WDW1974]

Obviously, I feel WDW still has lots of magic, but is heading down a VERY, VERY, VERY dangerous path. Corporate management, especially in Orlando but Burbank as well, want to make it into SuperWaltMart/the Timeshare Kingdom of the World.

As far as I'm concerned Al Weiss needs to go, like yesterday. He is a kiss-*** weasel who understands what made WDW special but will destroy it in order to keep his rank and stock options. He has delusions of grandeur about replacing Rasulo, but take it to the bank, it will never happen. Al's decade plus of 'leadership' has been an unmitigated disaster in just about every area except the bottom line. Worse, he's stacked TDO with minion execs who are almost souless and certainly lack any backbone to stand up against cuts in quality.

WDW is a very nice place now. A decade ago it was a very special place. Two decades ago it was pure magic.

Al must go!

(a P.S. footnote, I spent parts of two days this holiday weekend at DL and the higher quality in everything from show to CMs -- no 400-pounders, yeah a cheap shot but true -- to cleanliness to entertainment offerings was VASTLY superior to WDW!)

[Mr. Eggz]

Originally Posted by WDW1974

Obviously, I feel WDW still has lots of magic, but is heading down a VERY, VERY, VERY dangerous path. Corporate management, especially in Orlando but Burbank as well, want to make it into SuperWaltMart/the Timeshare Kingdom of the World.

As far as I'm concerned Al Weiss needs to go, like yesterday. He is a kiss-*** weasel who understands what made WDW special but will destroy it in order to keep his rank and stock options. He has delusions of grandeur about replacing Rasulo, but take it to the bank, it will never happen. Al's decade plus of 'leadership' has been an unmitigated disaster in just about every area except the bottom line. Worse, he's stacked TDO with minion execs who are almost souless and certainly lack any backbone to stand up against cuts in quality.

WDW is a very nice place now. A decade ago it was a very special place. Two decades ago it was pure magic.

Al must go!

(a P.S. footnote, I spent parts of two days this holiday weekend at DL and the higher quality in everything from show to CMs -- no 400-pounders, yeah a cheap shot but true -- to cleanliness to entertainment offerings was VASTLY superior to WDW!)

As far as I can tell, WDW1974 and I agree 99% of the time. Al Weiss seems to be the one issue we are split on (and even that is a disagreement over degrees). I agree, he is a kiss-*** weasel. But, because I feel the real problem is in Burbank, I believe if he were repaced by current corporate management, his replacement could actually be worse.

Tom Staggs must go!

[Manganese Nodule]

I agree that Weiss is useless, if only because he hasn't done what was necessary to keep WDW in an appropriate condition. He works at Disney for Pete's sake, he needs to be able to think outside the box. If the higher-ups are worried about cashflow, he should have made moves to show how preserving the Disney name is ultimately better for the company.

I was watching a show about Walt with a friend of mine where an Imagineer said something along the lines of "everyone trusts Mickey Mouse", which elicited derisive chuckling from my friend. To him, Mickey represents everything wrong with soulless corporations and the dumbing down of America. He hates Mickey Mouse the way an enviromentalist hates Exxon.

I had to show him the scripts to the (original) Hall of Presidents and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, just to prove to him that Disney hasn't always been pure evil.

Disney needs another mad genius to run the company. The weasels can hang around and figure out how to fund the madman's ideas, but without a freethinker at the helm, Disney is doomed.

I'm not really sure who a decent nut is these days. Maybe Arthur C. Clarke or Ray Bradbury would have been good a while ago. If Henry Rollins weren't quite so angry, I think he would be an interesting choice. Even someone liks Steve Jobs could be a step in the right direction...

...I don't know how any of those guys would do, but certainly they couldn't have done worse than Eisner.