If Walt Were Alive Today: How would WDW be Different?

[k5thbeatle]

Wow, what a question! So many good points but I could still write pages. I think it hard to answer this without talking a little about what has happened with Disney beyond the parks. To keep it short though, many have mentioned keeping costs down. Could even the great W. Disney have defeated inflation and achieved this goal? Well I don't know but I do believe the way movies are handled now would be different and I'm not sure they would own ABC which obviously has had an effect on operating costs not to mention the financial fiasco of Euro-Disney. Even still I think costs would be close to where they are.

From reading everything I could about him it is true that he was a perfectionist. I agree that the parks would be cleaner and rides like Stich would not even have probably been presented to Walt knowing how he was and Epcot would totally be different and maybe not even what we now call a theme park.

One thing that nobody has said (at least not outright) but I believe is unspoken in many posts is would WDW be better? I think the answer is a definite...YES!!!

Walt Disney was a one in a million personality, an innovative and pioneering type of person that only comes around once every few hundred years and someone who can never be duplicated. Whatever WDW would now be like (and Disneyland) it would be a direct reflection of the creative genius that was Walt Disney!

Although I still love it, the entire Disney company would be entirely different and I believe what we have now is but a shadow of what it would be like if he were alive.

 

[Acklander]

Interesting responses, but thinking of monorails everywhere and the poly at a cost just over the price of a motor lodge I'd guess that if Walt was alive today, he'd be sitting in bankruptcy court.

 

[JRawkSteady]

1. Walt would also not allow the Mickey Earfultower to be formed.

4. Walt would not have constructed any "Character Greetings." I believe he wanted to keep the characters actively moving throughout the parks, as they used to.

Why wouldn't he want the earful tower? I'm confused...

I COMPLETELY agree about the "character greetings." when I was a kid, there were NO lines for characters. Just a little minor chaos...I miss the old days when meeting characters were just happenstance!