Christmas decorations getting lousy??

[DisneyKidds]

I can confirm that the Main Street swags were up, and taken down (temporarily I assume) for the taping of the Christmas parade. I believe I also read that the MK tree was going to be moved to it's traditional location after the taping. Not sure if that was true.

Having been to WDW the week after Thanksgiving the past 5 years, I wouldn't say we noticed a big reduction in decorations throughout the parks, but we did notice that some things weren't decorated as in the past throughout some of the resorts.

 

[dbm20th]

So you have noticed the cuts, just that they haven't reached any of your tolerance levels yet?

No, not at all. Just the opposite. If something has been cut, it hasn't hit my radar.

Give it time...that what's a lot of people have been saying around here for years: "it's just a little trimming back, I don't mind".

Years? I guess in that time they haven't cut much then. I mean if it's been going on for years yoi'd think it'd be more noticable by now

But given enough trims, adjustments, tweaks, shaves, and "no one will notices" - it all adds up to something that people do care about. Just like all the other posters on this thread.

That's been WDW's problem for 7 years now - the cuts have added up to where even the most diehard DVC owner takes notice.

Funny, but I am one of those folks, and I haven't noticed it. Also, I HAVE been there during the holidays each of the last 3 years, and 5 of the last 8. Like I said, if people are dissappointed that's a shame. But I have not been.

 

[Another Voice]

I mean if it's been going on for years yoi'd think it'd be more noticable by now.

Ah – isn’t that the entire point of the thread. That A LOT of people are noticing, including several here that aren’t even bothering to visit because of the cuts. Seems to me your radar is on a different setting than most other people. Everyone has a different threashold. You have to figure the one around here is far, far higher than it is for normal people across the country.

The dirty secret about entertainment – it doesn’t matter squat what you think; the only thing that’s important is what the people buying the tickets think.

People notice, people act. When the cuts have gone so far that people on a fan site complain and say they’re not going – Disney has a big problem. Sure, the company can hire marketing types say the opposite, but people aren’t that easily fooled.

 

[DisOrBust]

At AKL they usually had a chocolate African village outside of Boma's. It is shown on the TC special. It's gone. I asked one of the "chefs" at Boma what happened and was told they didn't have enough pastry chefs to make it this year! Huh??

It would also explain why the food quality was down at Boma's as well.

I believe 2 yrs ago they changed the GF tree. There were MANY complaints that it was much shorter and less decorated.

I personally noticed much fewer poinsettas (sp). At least by 20% from 2004. You can see the differnce in my pictures from 2004 to 2006.

 

[Mickmse2002]

Ah – isn’t that the entire point of the thread. That A LOT of people are noticing, including several here that aren’t even bothering to visit because of the cuts. Seems to me your radar is on a different setting than most other people. Everyone has a different threashold. You have to figure the one around here is far, far higher than it is for normal people across the country.

The dirty secret about entertainment – it doesn’t matter squat what you think; the only thing that’s important is what the people buying the tickets think.

People notice, people act. When the cuts have gone so far that people on a fan site complain and say they’re not going – Disney has a big problem. Sure, the company can hire marketing types say the opposite, but people aren’t that easily fooled.

Perhaps those people are just perceiving a reduction given their radar is tuned just a little too fine and it is biasing their recollection from previous years. Where is the empirical evidence to support the rampant reduction theory?

 

[MJMcBride]

Far be it for me to agree with AV. Very far be it. I just watched the WDW Holiday special on the Travel Channel which showed at the Boardwalk a beautiful, entire edible theme park. I stayed at the boardwalk and they had a lovely gingerbread house but it was not on the same scale as what I saw on that special.

Having said that. The decor was not completed when on left (11/19). And they were far from "lousy".

 

[Geubux]

Or do they change some of the decorations and put up different displays? Except for the "professional decorator", this sounds like a bunch of people who read something and say, yeah, there WAS less. Was it less or different? If they don't change, people complain. If they change, people complain. So what you need to do is to go to WDW management and complain. Tell them you don't like the changes. Tell them there are too many changes. That way, they'll know what to do, or not to do. We'll show them. We're not fickle, I think.

 

[DisOrBust]

Sorry but its pure objective data in my case. Chocolate village present 2004' GONE in 2006! Unless you consider disappearing a good "change".

 

[manning]

Changing for the better is one thing, changing by reduction is another.

Notice the bears wheren't decked out in their christmas splender this year.

Boma display gone.

Vastly reduced displays at BW, YC,

Heard BC and WL has been reduced.

 

[doombuggy]

I think someone posted on another thread they took a back stage tour of somekind and saw large amounts of christmas decorations in storage. I guess they don't have the personnel to put them up.

You can tour the facility where they store the holiday decorations; 1000th happy haunt has done that (she's here now so she can't comment at the moment). However, you don't tour thru the place when it's empty....


I'm with you, mjmcbride......just because everyone doesn't agree withsome one's opinion doesn't mean that his opinion is the only one that is correct. Each person's opinion is just that....their opinion. His opinion isn't mine....I can form my own opinions, thanks.

 

[hopemax]

I believe the Polynesian also lost its gingerbread house this year.

I have pictures from 1998 when there were gingerbread houses at the Wilderness Lodge and Coronado Springs. There were the metal trees around the concourse at the Contemporary and the toy soldier display. A tree in front of Canada, more decorations in Mickey's House. And the lovely train setup that used to be in front of the Chinese Theater at the Studios. They moved the tree out front, but the train went poof. I know that the GF had two gingerbread houses for awhile, the full size one and a smaller one near the door to the monorail.

And from what I've heard things are taking a lot longer to put up this year. An example of this would be the ornaments that sit on the tees at the entrance to the golf courses. My Dad commented that they were missing, and then said that he finally saw one of the ornaments at the entrance to Magnolia/Palms. I don't know if they finished with those and if the other courses got their ornaments yet.

 

[raidermatt]

I'm with you, mjmcbride......just because everyone doesn't agree withsome one's opinion doesn't mean that his opinion is the only one that is correct. Each person's opinion is just that....their opinion. His opinion isn't mine....I can form my own opinions, thanks.

True.

It all depends on what you want to know.

Do you want to know if YOU see any difference? If so, then there's no point to even opening the thread. Your entire opinon will be based on what you see or don't see in the areas you visit.

Do you want to know if there actually has been a change, regardless of whether you noticed it? If so, then the opinions of others are an important data point.

 

[Tinklvr]

This was our first year going during the holidays, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I a tad disappointed. We stayed at the Polynesian and the only signs of Christmas very some poinsettias in the GCH. We were there from Nov 15-19, so it was early in the season, but the other resorts we visitied, (GF,BC,YC) had their trees and other decoratons up.

 

[disnefile]

There are less decorations and that is due I am sure to cut backs. If people do not see this they are either blind or just not paying attention.

My wife and I both noticed this and we overheard several people comment on this during our visit. If people make comments that they saw no change then Disney has accomplished what it set out to do, cut back and they will not complain.

 

[Luv2Roam]

We have not been to all the WDW resorts this holiday season. But we have been to enough of them to realize what we expected to see just is not there.
Except for a large tree, some lobby areas looked pretty barren of holiday decor. Normally the holiday decor would slap you in the face when you walked in the door. Now I find myself looking around for it to see what is changed from the remainder of the year.

And yes, MK has it's over the street hanging swags and large tree in the center now.

 

[1000th happy haunt]

I can already tell you that there is no edible decoration at either Animal Kingdom Lodge or the Poly. The CMs I spoke with at AKL had no knowledge why their decoration didn't appear this year (down near Boma/Jiko). However I learned that the Poly lost their pastry chef, which accounts for why there's no gingerbread display there this year.

 

[disneynutz]

We have not been to all the WDW resorts this holiday season. But we have been to enough of them to realize what we expected to see just is not there.
Except for a large tree, some lobby areas looked pretty barren of holiday decor. Normally the holiday decor would slap you in the face when you walked in the door. Now I find myself looking around for it to see what is changed from the remainder of the year.

And yes, MK has it's over the street hanging swags and large tree in the center now.

The MK tree was installed back by the castle for the Regis & Kelly parade taping. We were told by a CM that the Main Street swags were removed in preparation for moving the tree back to its normal location at the beginning of Main Street. We were also told that back in the day of real trees, Disney would sacrifice two or three trees to get enough branches to fill in one tree.

 

[Colson39]

While there were things missing that I liked seeing before (the gingerbread houses for one), there were also other things decorated that I had not seen decorated before.

Just because something is missing doesn't mean that something else didn't take it's place elsewhere.

I for one was totally put into the Christmas spirit when we were there during Thanksgiving, nothing beats getting ready for that big month long build up to Christmas like a trip to Disney!!

 

[phlufster]

Did anyone see the HORRIBLE holiday "wreaths" that they had displayed at the resorts?? I saw them at Poly and GF. They were wooden painted large wreaths on a stand in front of the trees. They had a piece of quilt filling around the base of them to look like fake snow. It was the WORST decoration I have ever seen at Disney. It truly looked like someone just threw the stand up and then took the piece of batting and threw it on the floor underneath it. Not up to Disney standards at all!!

 

[mitros]

Has anyone seen, during their visit to the Osbourne lights, that the red light "canopy" on the street that goes up the to the fake San Fransisco back round, that the first section, of about 50 rows of the lights were not working? We went on 2 seperate days, and they were out both times! I recall the very first year of the Osbourne lights, that this same red canopy had problems in the first 50 rows. And, in consecutive years, the canopy always seemed to be having problems. I asked a CM on our latest trip and got a great big, huh, duh, I don't know!
I'm just wondering it is is a problem they can't seem to resolve.