Festival of Lion King Goes Down AGAIN

[3DisneyFanz]

I think you've pretty much proven my point here. The more often you went, the more warts you saw. Not necessarily because there were more there, but because you were looking closer, at smaller details.

Or they're not doing maintenance the way they used to. You don't have to look at small details anymore. Have you ridden Buzz at MK lately? When those cars hit the black lights it's just obvious they don't clean or repair things. How long as the paperboy in Spaceship Earth been selling papers to a dark empty alley?

 

[HM]

Or they're not doing maintenance the way they used to. You don't have to look at small details anymore. Have you ridden Buzz at MK lately? When those cars hit the black lights it's just obvious they don't clean or repair things. How long as the paperboy in Spaceship Earth been selling papers to a dark empty alley?

And how about the load area for Great Movie Ride? Dust Dust Dust. Hollywood looks like a volcano spewed ash on it.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Or they're not doing maintenance the way they used to. You don't have to look at small details anymore. Have you ridden Buzz at MK lately? When those cars hit the black lights it's just obvious they don't clean or repair things. How long as the paperboy in Spaceship Earth been selling papers to a dark empty alley?

At best, if the tromp-d'oeil effect works for you, he's selling newspapers to an empty alley. If it doesn't work for you, he's selling newspapers to a painted screen.

IMHO nothing else says so clearly, "We don't give a dang about ride upgrades/maintanence any more, unless it's a serious safety issue, then we'll wait a year or so and see how it goes."

I would be disappointed if Lion King was down when I visited AK. To me it's a highly repeatable, must-see show whereas Finding Nemo although nice, was a one-and-done.

 

[rteetz]

I would be disappointed if Lion King was down when I visited AK. To me it's a highly repeatable, must-see show whereas Finding Nemo although nice, was a one-and-done.

I agree it's my only must see show in WDW.

 

[peg110]

I have to say that I have seen the show twice. Once with my DD (and several other HS kids) as I was a chaperone for her HS Band Trip (they got to play and march in a Disney parade down Main St USA) and once the following November as our family went on a vacation to Disney. Both times the show was outstanding with no apparent issues. I have to say that I do like that show and it would be very depressing if we went and it was not running. (Especially for these "Technical" reasons.)

 

[Magic Fanatic]

I cannot believe that this would be the reason for NOT doing a refurb. People will complain if it's down for safety reasons. People will complain if it's down for a refurb. People will complain if it runs slow. People will complain if they are fixing that ride over this ride. People will complain if a drop of rain comes down. The theme here is that people will complain if things aren't 100% what THEY want not considering that what they want is different from what the other person wants. Then that person will complain.

Point is, is that Disney is probably used to "Complaints". I suspect the repair/refurb schedule considers many other things. First is Safety followed by "Profits" (which probably has a small consideration of the complaints), then other factors such as a larger plan to replace something, budgets, etc...

So while complaints are going to happen I suspect it's only small factor. The budget/profit is probably a bigger one which is evident in that they are using a "Used" sound system.

Totally agree. Sometimes I read through these topics and see the same 10 or 12 people posting over and over again portraying themselves as the experts in accounting, engineering.(...the list goes on and on) and criticizing everything. At the end of the day you have to remember there are millions of people that enter the parks each day and the vast majority have a great time. The "experts" on this and other boards are a extremely small percentage overall.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Totally agree. Sometimes I read through these topics and see the same 10 or 12 people posting over and over again portraying themselves as the experts in accounting, engineering.(...the list goes on and on) and criticizing everything. At the end of the day you have to remember there are millions of people that enter the parks each day and the vast majority have a great time. The "experts" on this and other boards are a extremely small percentage overall.

I may be wrong but I don't think the PP was implying people won't and aren't complaining. They were saying that guest complaints aren't driving decisions as much as budgets and desire to not spend money on maintainence are.

 

[cel_disney]

We have several photo albums of pictures from our trips in the 80s. You cannot convince me that the current state of the bathrooms, trash receptacles, and animatronics was the same then as it is now but I just had on rose colored glasses then...just no way....things have changed...

Couple that with the turnaround time to build Epcot 79-82!) compared to more recent Disney areas (new FL, avatar, rivers of light, anything DHs ...) and there are just huge differences between Disney of yesteryear and now...

Ryan/Rteetz age really should not matter at all here....

 

[Jing]

I experienced WDW as an 80s child, but I am sure there are folks who know more about the state of affairs at the time than I do there because they study the history, whereas I was just a kid on vacation.

Cleanliness and upkeep of attractions has declined. I will hypothesize that the attention to detail has fallen off in direct relation to the falling off of attention span for the general population. While we may have a shorter attention span than goldfish now, we do have a memory. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/05/14/attention-span-human-worst-than-goldfish/27293073/

 

[Planogirl]

I see that people are being criticized for being complainers here. I never understand that. This is a discussion forum where people can discuss both the good and the bad as they see it. If talking about the bad upsets people then maybe they should consider not reading the thread.

Age has nothing to do with it either. One can observe and find fault here and there at any age. One can also wear rose colored glasses at any age.

I do go to and love Universal. That won't stop me from discussing WDW.

 

[mom2rtk]

I agree it's my only must see show in WDW.

I agree it's a "must see" show. Too bad I currently don't have AK on my "must visit" park list.

 

[rteetz]

I agree it's a "must see" show. Too bad I currently don't have AK on my "must visit" park list.

I do. AK is much better than DHS right now. I've actually never skipped a Disney park but if I chose to right now it would be DHS. The details and attractions in AK are some of my favorite.

 

[mom2rtk]

I do. AK is much better than DHS right now. I've actually never skipped a Disney park but if I chose to right now it would be DHS. The details and attractions in AK are some of my favorite.

I can understand that. If we were doing a week long trip and I could visit AK for the $10 a day it can get down to on a multi-day ticket, I would go.

But now that we have swapped to mostly DLR, our visits to WDW are very short so we're paying full price for a single day ticket. I'll spend $105 for the MK. But I won't spend $100 for a single day ticket to any of the other 3 parks right now.

 

[Planogirl]

We spent way too much on passes during our last trip. We decided to only go to MK and AK but then someone talked me into adding hoppers so went to Epcot after AK. After all of that I might just plan only for MK the next time but I do like AK. It just needs something....

 

[mom2rtk]

We spent way too much on passes during our last trip. We decided to only go to MK and AK but then someone talked me into adding hoppers so went to Epcot after AK. After all of that I might just plan only for MK the next time but I do like AK. It just needs something....

Our trips are usually 1 day or 10 days. We're not much for in-between. The cost structure has something to do with that.

It will be interesting to see if Avatar will be the "something" AK needs.

Don't get me wrong. We like the other parks. Just not enough to justify the price.

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

I think that one thing that is missing from the discussion is acknowledging the age of the rides about which we are talking. Is it that they aren't doing upkeep or that these rides have aged and need more upkeep?

I didn't encounter any filthy bathrooms on my trip two years ago but I will keep an eye out for it. I did however, see people painting at the resort at 5 am using floodlights. I thought that was a pretty impressive example of upkeep.

Also agree that is disparaging at best to bring a poster's age to dismiss their posts.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I think that one thing that is missing from the discussion is acknowledging the age of the rides about which we are talking. Is it that they aren't doing upkeep or that these rides have aged and need more upkeep?

All of the above.

When you look at the sum total of repairs and additions at WDW, what it says to me is that they have become extremely allergic to laying out capital and taking on any ongoing expense (like a new ride) that does not in itself enhance cash flow. Or in fixing or replacing anything that hasn't demonstrably started to cause trip cancellations and demands for refunds.

It shows in the ----exxxxxtreeeeeeemmmmeeeeeeelllllyyyy----- slow development of Avatar Land, the blatant neglect of repairs and maintenance (Lion King audio, Pirate boats, newspaper boy), and the bibbidy-bobbidy makeover approach to Frozen.

It's like Ebenezer Scrooge armed with capital depreciation spreadsheets. It shows a total lack of faith in the American public's ability and willingness to discriminate between quality product that has been generously and lavishly prepared for them, and half-hearted cosmetic "experiences" based on the transfer of glamour from cartoons and movies. In other words ... we provide the sing-along, gift shop and 30-year-old rides ... you provide the enthusiasm and excitement.

 

[ParrotBill]

The sound system that runs this show can't be very sophisticated - there are only a few microphones, a queue of pre-recorded sound bites, and a music soundtrack. I could run if off my high school's Behringer X32 sound board ($3,000) if it's not a timed show. Add sophisticated cue management from a PC for $500. At the high end it could be done with a Meyer Matrix 3 show package at $50,000. A new system could be programmed ahead of time, tested alongside the new system, and then replaced overnight.

The wiring should be new, I doubt that would be reused, and the speakers don't seem to be an issue so just the brains of it I would think.

The only other issue I can think of would be wireless interference that they are having trouble solving. But they aren't that far from the original venue and so I doubt that changed with the new location. And that can usually be found and solved in a few days' time.

None of this should be beyond Disney's capability to solve... financially or technically!

 

[bellyrunnersix]

I see that people are being criticized for being complainers here. I never understand that. This is a discussion forum where people can discuss both the good and the bad as they see it. If talking about the bad upsets people then maybe they should consider not reading the thread.

"Yes, Planogirl, but let me explain. When we complain, we post on Disboards to express our unhappiness, and other users come into the topic and complain about the complainers. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life."

But seriously, I see the same users complaining about people being negative on a consistent basis. It's mighty hard to have a positive discussion on why it's so great that Avatarland is taking forever to be built or that FotLK has a shoddy, broken sound system.

In other words ... we provide the sing-along, gift shop and 30-year-old rides ... you provide the enthusiasm and excitement.

So is this the same philosophy guiding the average CM interaction these days? I swear MK is completely staffed with grumpy, angry people. I love WDW partly because the CMs are usually so nice, but I've had, more and more, nasty experiences with CMs particularly in the MK. Enough that I've considered saying something and that requires some concentrated jerk behavior.

 

[peg110]

Enough that I've considered saying something and that requires some concentrated jerk behavior.

Not "Concentrated jerk behavior!"

Just kidding.

I have to say, while my experience at WDW are not as extensive as others, (I think I am up to 5 trips and NONE of them during my childhood) I have to say that for the most part the CM's have all been pleasant and nice. I have had some experiences with "Younger" CM's that gave me answers to questions that I knew to be wrong, but I just chalked it up to their probable lack of experience.

I am sorry if you got all the grumpy ones. Maybe you got all of them and saved the happy ones for me. (okay, just kidding again)