Big tarp on Main Street - Is it still there?

[KellyNY]

So now, we are "silly fools", if we expect Disney's standards to remain high? After all, they did set them... We have visited WDW on a regular basis... I used to live in Orlando and still average 1-3 visits per year. I also know, one or two folks, who are in the industry.....30+ years. Make no mistake, the current team's primary purpose in life... is the bottom line. It's more about $$$$ and advertising gimmicks, not magical experiences.

So why do you go in 4 months if it is so bad? Do something, show with your money that you disappointed. I said it on "downhill" thread and I will say it again, talking changes nothing, actions do. Being upset and still taking 1-3 trips a year only supports what you call a bottom line.

 

[mom2rtk]

So why do you go in 4 months if it is so bad? Do something, show with your money that you disappointed. I said it on "downhill" thread and I will say it again, talking changes nothing, actions do. Being upset and still taking 1-3 trips a year only supports what you call a bottom line.

It IS possible for someone to not like the direction a company is going, but continue to patronize them in hopes that things might change. I think there are a fair number of people sort of unhappy with the way things are going, nearing their "jumping off" point, but just aren't there yet.

Continuing to go to Disney does not mean you have to pledge your undying support for everything they do.

 

[minnie mum]

I have to agree completely with Goofyernmost. Everyone (OK, a lot of people) had their knickers in a twist about the big box on Main Street. Eleven pages later we see that it was all a tempest in a teapot, and the new scrim is in place. Necessary maintenance and/or upgrades are being done. Photos of Main Street can again be taken. You can all take a deep breath. And those of you who say its all going to H... in a handbasket must now come up with some other compelling example. Moving on.....

 

[KellyNY]

It IS possible for someone to not like the direction a company is going, but continue to patronize them in hopes that things might change. I think there are a fair number of people sort of unhappy with the way things are going, nearing their "jumping off" point, but just aren't there yet.

Continuing to go to Disney does not mean you have to pledge your undying support for everything they do.

You pledge your support with your money, hopes mean nothing, just like talking.

 

[TLSnell1981]

So why do you go in 4 months if it is so bad? Do something, show with your money that you disappointed. I said it on "downhill" thread and I will say it again, talking changes nothing, actions do. Being upset and still taking 1-3 trips a year only supports what you call a bottom line.

We travel several times a year. We have cutback on Disney travel and spent our vacation $$$$$ elsewhere... only visited once last year. Our cruise has been booked for a year, otherwise, we wouldn't go this year. We've also cut spending in restaurants and shops (at WDW) We're DVC, so use points for our stays. We're also spending time at Universal this year. No trips planned in the future...tired of walls, tarps, mediocre food and endless/mulitple rehabs/closures. Oh, and we're not renewing our APs. Guess, Igor and Co. have cooked my last grit.

The decline is noticeable in several areas... I don't only voice my "disappointment", but back it up financially. You see, I don't hate Disney, but have higher expectations, due to years of the Magical experience. I speak up because I want to see the excellence and tradition continue. We've created many wonderful memories with our children and grandchildren. The Iger years haven't been so great. IMHO

Sorry, I went a bit off topic, but the tarps are only part of the, uh.."disappointment".

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

If I had to guess, I would say this was only a temporary thing until a more permanent tarp could be erected. Don't know what the tarp is hiding though.

I found this image on another site, not sure what it actually looks like down in disney right now though.

 

[KellyNY]

We travel several times a year. We have cutback on Disney travel and spent our vacation $$$$$ elsewhere... only visited once last year. Our cruise has been booked for a year, otherwise, we wouldn't go this year. We've also cut spending in restaurants and shops (at WDW) We're DVC, so use points for our stays. We're also spending time at Universal this year. No trips planned in the future...tired of walls, tarps, mediocre food and endless/mulitple rehabs/closures. Oh, and we're not renewing our APs. Guess, Igor and Co. have cooked my last grit.

The decline is noticeable in several areas... I don't only voice my "disappointment", but back it up financially. You see, I don't hate Disney, but have higher expectations, due to years of the Magical experience. I speak up because I want to see the excellence and tradition continue. We've created many wonderful memories with our children and grandchildren. The Iger years haven't been so great. IMHO

Sorry, I went a bit off topic, but the tarps are only part of the, uh.."disappointment".

Hope you will have fun at Universal. I do not believe in partial support, if things are bad I do not go less, I go somewhere else.

However I think that walls, tarps and closures are examples of the right direction.

You do not want to sit on rides for hours because they were not maintained.

You do want something new, cannot happen without walls.

You do not want buildings to look tired and pieces dropping on your head, so tarps are needed to maintain all what you like.

So, what you use as examples of poor management are actually examples of good management and I do not know why you put it in category of disapointments, nor why improvement associates with problems at all.

 

[sdzta]

Hope you will have fun at Universal. I do not believe in partial support, if things are bad I do not go less, I go somewhere else.

However I think that walls, tarps and closures are examples of the right direction.

You do not want to sit on rides for hours because they were not maintained.

You do want something new, cannot happen without walls.

You do not want buildings to look tired and pieces dropping on your head, so tarps are needed to maintain all what you like.

So, what you use as examples of poor management are actually examples of good management and I do not know why you put it in category of disapointments, nor why improvement associates with problems at all.[/QUOTE

Good points!!

 

[Colleen27]

I also don't get the whole, "Disney is being cheap" argument when they are spending 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS on re-imagineering a park and the Fantasyland expansion.

I will agree that some things aren't getting cleaned as often as they should, like the white facade to "It's A Small World". You can see the dust piling up on it. Otherwise, with the amount of people that are in the parks daily I think they do a heck of a job keeping up with maintenance.

I think Disney is emerging from the "cheaping out" phase when it comes to the Florida parks, and that's why we're seeing "tarp street" and other big rejuvenation projects.

The trip where I noticed the most "deferred maintenance" type issues (peeling/flaking paint, obvious dirt accumulation, burned out lights not replaced all week, etc) was in '09; while none of it was major there were a number of little things, including peeling paint on Main Street, that stood out as not quite up to Disney standards. On our trip earlier this year a lot of things were looking noticably fresher, and while some of the common DIS complaints stand they are those that require major construction to repair (like the Yeti on Everest and the monorail's reliability). Had they not gone through a phase of cost-cutting to the point of mild neglect the work currently being done would likely be less major and less obtrusive, and I think for that reason it is going to take time for regular visitors to "forgive" the lower standards of the recent past.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I think Disney is emerging from the "cheaping out" phase when it comes to the Florida parks, and that's why we're seeing "tarp street" and other big rejuvenation projects.

The trip where I noticed the most "deferred maintenance" type issues (peeling/flaking paint, obvious dirt accumulation, burned out lights not replaced all week, etc) was in '09; while none of it was major there were a number of little things, including peeling paint on Main Street, that stood out as not quite up to Disney standards. On our trip earlier this year a lot of things were looking noticably fresher, and while some of the common DIS complaints stand they are those that require major construction to repair (like the Yeti on Everest and the monorail's reliability). Had they not gone through a phase of cost-cutting to the point of mild neglect the work currently being done would likely be less major and less obtrusive, and I think for that reason it is going to take time for regular visitors to "forgive" the lower standards of the recent past.

Yes, Disney earned some of the criticism about upkeep that folks make in recent years. I too am glad that the trend seems to be shifting a bit.

 

[KellyNY]

I think Disney is emerging from the "cheaping out" phase when it comes to the Florida parks, and that's why we're seeing "tarp street" and other big rejuvenation projects.

The trip where I noticed the most "deferred maintenance" type issues (peeling/flaking paint, obvious dirt accumulation, burned out lights not replaced all week, etc) was in '09; while none of it was major there were a number of little things, including peeling paint on Main Street, that stood out as not quite up to Disney standards. On our trip earlier this year a lot of things were looking noticably fresher, and while some of the common DIS complaints stand they are those that require major construction to repair (like the Yeti on Everest and the monorail's reliability). Had they not gone through a phase of cost-cutting to the point of mild neglect the work currently being done would likely be less major and less obtrusive, and I think for that reason it is going to take time for regular visitors to "forgive" the lower standards of the recent past.

I do not think they were cheaping out. As far as I know they were always

renowating here and there. They were also adding not only rides, including FL expansion and Avatar, but rooms,

fridges, queen beds, TVs, CBRs pool, only few that come to my mind. None of

it was really broken but they renovated and added anyway, how is this

cheap?

Place is much older then it was 10 years ago and this is why more

maintenance, not because it was not done before but because more things

get old.

 

[captinhookedondisney]

If I had to guess, I would say this was only a temporary thing until a more permanent tarp could be erected. Don't know what the tarp is hiding though.

I found this image on another site, not sure what it actually looks like down in disney right now though.

yay! TOLD YA. Sorry about that but we kinda go through this with every tarp.

Also With Disney Fantasyland expansion which is published to be over 1.5 Billion that is almost the total profit from ALL Disney Parks in 2010.

 

[goofyernmost]

So now, we are "silly fools", if we expect Disney's standards to remain high? After all, they did set them... We have visited WDW on a regular basis... I used to live in Orlando and still average 1-3 visits per year. I also know, one or two folks, who are in the industry.....30+ years. Make no mistake, the current team's primary purpose in life... is the bottom line. It's more about $$$$ and advertising gimmicks, not magical experiences.

Yup! I suppose if you want to take everything I said out of context and intent than I called everyone a "silly fool" for overreacting to this one thing. It was said, partially in jest and partially as a bit of a wake up for those that always see the worst in everything and do not wait long enough to actually know what is going on before they pass judgment. I don't know you TLSnell, so this isn't a personal attack on you specifically...it's a highlighting of how some shared train of thought can be way off track. At least in this instance!

I also am at a loss to understand how people can lose sight of the fact that the bottom line is magic to some people and I am referring to the stock holders that demand profit because they are the ones, outside of ticket buyers that are paying the bills. They are the ones that are putting their money into something without the benefit of riding the Pirates of the Caribbean. When profits start to drop due to being to frugal with the cash expenditures, as I think is happening now, then money is reinvested and profits are made smaller temporarily until the spending is returned and the profits are up. That's is a FACT of corporate life. Like it or not Disney is a publicly held company. No one individual has supreme power to change things and not have to answer to others. Walt, for the most part of his life, only had to answer to himself, it was his money he was risking. That made him more likely, because of his personality, to do things his way and the heck with what others thought. Reality is that this isn't going to happen anymore.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Also With Disney Fantasyland expansion which is published to be over 1.5 Billion that is almost the total profit from ALL Disney Parks in 2010.

For realz? Disney is spending $1.5 billion on FLE? They must be including a super secret underground land that is yet to be revealed.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

For realz? Disney is spending $1.5 billion on FLE? They must be including a super secret underground land that is yet to be revealed.

Yep, not quite
. . . $425 million for FLE
. . . $1 billion for Next Generation (not Fantasyland related)

 

[MickeysBFF]

A picture from that original thread:

This pretty much goes against the detailing that WDW used to pride themselves on.....

This picture just burned my eyesAnyone know how long this is supposed to be up? Hope it's not on our next trip

 

[SaraJayne]

yay! TOLD YA. Sorry about that but we kinda go through this with every tarp.

Also With Disney Fantasyland expansion which is published to be over 1.5 Billion that is almost the total profit from ALL Disney Parks in 2010.

This picture is off on a side street...not the eyesore in front of the bakery.

 

[goofyernmost]

OK...let's try again!

Check this site out and I think you will get your answer!

http://likeabolt.tumblr.com/

 

[TLSnell1981]

Hope you will have fun at Universal. I do not believe in partial support, if things are bad I do not go less, I go somewhere else.

However I think that walls, tarps and closures are examples of the right direction.

You do not want to sit on rides for hours because they were not maintained.

You do want something new, cannot happen without walls.

You do not want buildings to look tired and pieces dropping on your head, so tarps are needed to maintain all what you like.

So, what you use as examples of poor management are actually examples of good management and I do not know why you put it in category of disapointments, nor why improvement associates with problems at all.

So, I should just cancel my current trip, that I booked a year ago, and lose a hefty deposit? Hmmm..

Disney has performed maintenance for many years, without the number of tarps, closures, etc. How much of MK is currently operating? Personally, I think, it's a big mess. I stated earlier, it's a only part of a larger picture. Some of us, are aware of the changes in management and the current business model. It really makes me appreciate Walt and those who are responsible for giving us the Magic. This regime can't even maintain it, much less create it.

The Fantasyland expansion, hopefully will be a good thing. Avatarland...not so much. This is Disney's response to Harry Potter? I would think, the POC series would have been a better choice. It's been wildly popular, and this could have been a nice balance to the Princesses. Not that my sons minded, but this seems to be the arguement for Cindy losing her Carousel, etc. IMO BTW, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter IS AMAZING!!

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

OK...let's try again!

Check this site out and I think you will get your answer!

http://likeabolt.tumblr.com/

sorry but i just don't see where you answer why the tarp is up and for how long, all i see are photos from your time at the park.