Disney's HUGE mistakes

[overdisney]

I'll say cutting back on in-park entertainment. Used to be that WDW was an all-immersive experience, and this was highlighted by things like the Streetsmosphere actors at the Studios, roaming bands at AK (and Devine- is she still around?), afternoon parades, opening shows outside the park (Awakening at AK was AMAZING), pre-show entertainment (remember 4 for a Dollar before B&TB, jugglers to keep you entertained while waiting for Fantasmic to start), MK afternoon parade with scheduled stops so they could pull kids from the crowd to be in the parade (dancing with dwarfs, helping set the table at Be Our Guest), etc. The early 2000s were a pretty amazing time at Disney. WDW has gotten away from so much... starting to feel like just another amusement park- an OVERPRICED amusement park.

Everything you stated was a big part of the Disney magic that made WDW special. Slowly but surely in the name of profits these things have been eliminated and there went the magic and put WDW on the road to mediocrity. Major reason I am finished with WDW along with the ridiculous prices

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

It's sad that people see Disney as a lame duck I've always found it magical, but then again I haven't been in a while and only know that the prices have sky-rocketed.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

I really miss the backlot tour, the original one that was a tram ride past the houses (for Golden Girls and Ernest these two come to mind) and a ride through area where costumes were made and sets were built. The second show with the oil rig that blew up was pretty good too. I was very disappointed with the replacement of both of these by the Lights, Camera, Action Stunt Show. That was a waste of space and money IMHO. To me HS is now just a 1/2 day park and it seems to be next to impossible to get on Stars Wars: Rise of the Resistance and some of the rides in Toy Story Land. The area is too small and too crowded.

Another mistake IMHO is what they did to the original Imagination ride. They took a really cool ride and made it mediocre.

 

[LuvOrlando]

The bottlenecking entrances in Animal Kingdom, just how did this look like a good idea? When it first opened we used Hoppers to try to get in and walked right back out again for maybe 3 years before actually visiting / seeing the park because we couldn't tolerate the lines to just get into the place. It's still a bad design but we only go on quiet days.

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Using vendors for Mousekeeping and such instead of Disney trained workers who used to be very upbeat and on par with the CM's I'd meet when walking into the parks. Somewhere along the line they let the reigns slip & the "everything on property is magical, we are a snowglobe" vibe from the 90's just vanished. For our more recent visits it was often a mix of apathy and a haughty sort of vibe coming off the staff & policies, so I stopped pushing so hard to get there every year. Thing is, the original recipe was mostly socially driven and captured the "IT factor" that sparked the growth, it was absolutely addicting to be at WDW in the 90's & even early 2000's. The social side of the experience is just differently managed now with different priorities.

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Making California Adventure a separate park with it's own admission fee instead of a new land at Disneyland. It opened in 2001 and in 2007 it was clear Disney knew they blew it, because they launched a $1 billion remodel. Yup, only six years after it opened.

Now I enjoy CA as a stand alone park. Back then it wasn’t worth it. Indeed it was barely larger than a “land.” I heard that a few of the shows that premiered with the park were so lame they were discontinued within six months. And many complained about the gussied-up off-the-shelf rides in the Paradise Pier area. Strangely enough I actually enjoyed how they did that part.

Many didn’t understand the overall California theme. I think our first visit was in 2005 with a two day park hopper for about five hours.

Of course, there were a few “Disney can do no wrong” fanboys who praised it.

I have been trying to get to here for a DL & NAPA trip for a while and everytime I look the whole CA park idea is just so off, not interested. Thing is we go to EPCOT and it's all about other places, so that's fun. Why on earth anyone would want to visit an imitation of a place you are already visiting is just so weird, like just go out into California, it's right there as soon as you leave the park... this is the antithesis of EPCOT. It's like they weren't looking in their own recipe box.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

The Disney Institute. Who wants to go on vacation to school? Turns out, nobody.

 

[MillauFr]

Of course, there were a few “Disney can do no wrong” fanboys who praised it.

I don't think anyone was praising Superstar Limo....

 

[MillauFr]

Just the layout in Florida is big disaster. Requires buses, monorails to get anywhere. As opposed to California where you can even walk to the front gate in 10 minutes from the offsite hotels.

 

[Planogirl]

Destroying most of the Norway pavilion in favor of an animated movie and princesses.

I could mention many other things but that one pushed me over the edge so I will stop there.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Getting rid of the original Figment ride.