DancingBear
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2001
The continued abandonment of facilities and venues sends an equally unmistakable message to the masses, and it's not one Walt would be proud of. It bespeaks of a willingness to accept "just good enough" rather than perfection.
Keeping River Country's water system completely separate from Bay Lake is not an insurmountable problem. There was a barrier separating River Country's water system from Bay Lake under the footbridge. Putting in a more substantial barrier, along with state-of-the-art water treatment, would not have been beyond Disney's capabilities or resources.Kinda missed on the reasons for River Country though. Part of the reason it closed was because of heath issues in using water directly from Bay Lake.
It is a shame that it does qualify an entire abandoned park.
Then why hasn't River Country been removed?
I think that as the article states, Disney World is so large that it is easy to overlook these minor details. However, the details are (IMO) what makes Disney World great. I do hope they allocate additional funds to fix/remove the issues mentioned in the article.
Overlook these minor details?????
Stay in the Pop Century resort and see if you can "overlook" the massive bombed out hulks of the unfinished buildings right across the lake (they have a bridge open that lends to no where - overlooked?). It does add a historical perspective however - it reminds me of starring over the wall and looking at the horrors of East Berlin at the height of the Cold War.
How do you overlook the huge empty theater sitting RIGHT NEXT to the hub at Disney/MGM studios? It's fight there in the center of the park.
How do you causally not notice the huge and rotten Advertureland Veranda restuarant at the Magic Kingdom? It's the first thing you see when enter the land?
How do you mentally ignore those two giant empty buildings right in the middle of Epcot's Future World? Sure, you can run through Innovientions in ten mintues - but what about all those giant rooms behind the curtains? I guess you ignore the giant - "We're closed, go way. You're not worth the expense" sign nailed to the ground infront of 'Wonders of Life' as well.
Or is this simply a case of rose colored blinders...
And that's exactly the second half of my post -the "why are they doing this". There is a deliberate effort on Disney's part to offer less for the same amount of money. There is a deliberate effort to force higher utilization (and less service) to squeeze more margin out of the parks. That is the real problem here, empty and rotting buildings are just a symptom.You make it sound like Disney has closed half of its attractions and never opens new ones.
And that's exactly the second half of my post -the "why are they doing this". There is a deliberate effort on Disney's part to offer less for the same amount of money. There is a deliberate effort to force higher utilization (and less service) to squeeze more margin out of the parks. That is the real problem here, empty and rotting buildings are just a symptom.
There has been a tremendous shift in the way Disney thinks over the years. Its come in drips and daps; most people dont even notice it over time. But this new thinking runs counter to everything that made the company successful in the first and threatens the future health and existence of the parks.
Foolish, you say?
Who could have imagined twenty-five years ago that Disney Feature Animation would have produced such a string of flops that Disney would close the unit down. Who would have thought Disney would have to pay more than the value of WDW to buy a competing animation studio just to keep up with the rest of Hollywood?
Who would have thought Disney could open a theme park less than a hundred yards from Disneyland and not be successful? Paris and Hong Kong came with risks but a second gate at Disneyland a flop? Who would have thought youd have the head of Resorts saying Disney has to sell off WDW property to another hotel chain because Disney cant provide high quality service? I thought the Four Seasons used to send its staff to WDW to learn about customer service, now Disney is forced to out source housekeeping to get good workers?
There are those of us old enough to remember the Real Disney and the real golden years. We know those are gone forever. But now were seeing even the sad little company that we have continuing to slide at an even faster rate. It didnt take too many years to go from The Lion King to closing the door after Brother Bear. It may not take too many more years before the resorts are run by Marriott, the parks by Coca-Cola and the stores by Wal Mart.
But now were seeing even the sad little company that we have continuing to slide at an even faster rate. It didnt take too many years to go from The Lion King to closing the door after Brother Bear. It may not take too many more years before the resorts are run by Marriott, the parks by Coca-Cola and the stores by Wal Mart.