My Lord, Stitch's Great Escape ride stinks!

[sbp59]

Very bad. Did it once...thankfully didn't wait in any line...and feel no need to do it ever again! There are lots of other great rides to keep us coming back for more...altho lots of breakdowns this weekend - including PC, Philmor Magic and Snow White....I heard "technical difficulties" an awful lot - I hope they get things fixed before the Christmas crowds!

 

[DisneyFan1980]

We just returned from WDW Dec 10th. We did the MVMCP on the 9th and one of the attractions we did was Stitch. What a waste of our time. And stink. It took me hours to get rid of that smell! No matter what food place we walked by later, that is all I could smell. I enjoyed AE very much, but this was a waste of our time. We could have done another ride instead.

I also agree with another poster on Journey Into Imagination. Where in this attraction is it explained what Figment is? In the original his creator told what animals make up Figment. I enjoy the ride, only because I love Figment, but I am disappointed in what they did with it. I'm also disappointed in the refurbished Tiki Room.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Why do you say this? What is supposed to happen after 2006?

Don't know what's happening in 2006, but on the rumors board it's said they are closing Stitch in January of 2005 and giving it a COMPLETE overhaul. Changing the rooms, changing the darkness, no loud sounds, chili dog smell will be changed, etc. We'll see what happens, but if I was going to Disney in 2005 and this change wasn't happening, I WOULD NOT be doing Stitch in May. We are visiting in 2006, so we'll see how it looks then...maybe! I hated AE, the seat was uncomfortable and the loud noise really killed my ears. So if they don't totally revamp it from that ride, I won't be doing it in 2006.

 

[Euphscott]

In 2006 Michael Ei$ner will be out as CEO.
However, the evil we have now could be replaced by an even greater unknown evil in the future.

So, the actions of the BOD are very important. And frankly I have no faith they'll get it right and bring someone in that sees the Disney Magic and willing to work in that direction...

 

[Leota]

robdam, I say that because Michael Eisner steps down (Thanks God & Hallelujah) in 2006. I expect a shakeup in management for the better. There are alot of good, creative people who won't work with Eisner because of his micro-manageing & interference.
My hope is that they will bring in someone who shares more of Disney's original philosophy & vision & we'll see a return to originality & cutting edge entertainment in the Parks, movies & merchandising that has taken a back seat to the all-mighty dollar over the past several years.

 

[Synonymous]

My hope is that they will bring in someone who shares more of Disney's original philosophy & vision & we'll see a return to originality & cutting edge entertainment in the Parks, movies & merchandising that has taken a back seat to the all-mighty dollar over the past several years.

Fat chance. The same people who have been kissing Eisner's ring for years will be picking his replacement, in close consultation, of course, with Eisner himself. What we'll get is somebody who's just as much, or more, of a bean counter.

 

[Leota]

Ah, come on, let a girl dream, will ya? I have to be optimistic - I have to believe the company is strong enough to withstand the Ei$ner Years & come around.....

I mean, even Eisner did some really positive things in the beginning before being totally corrupted..............

 

[civileng68]

Well the big thing that will be remembered from Eisner's tenure is that he let Disney animation become a thing of the past and created "cookie-cutter" attractions that can easily be found (in forms) in regular parks across the country. It comes to money.

Now, the following is my PERSONAL opinion.

Eisner, as any CEO cares about stocks and the value of them. Eisner just, in my opinion took the safe road on making profits, which is not a formula that I feel is safe to keep the Disney aura. Eisner simply decided, you cut costs, which will increase profits. He feels that you cut costs and scheme ways to do so but yet keep the public energized about coming. Therefore, he changed rides such as AE to SGE but yet, it's really the same ride, when talking financials of the change. Eisner has done alot of good, Mission Space, and Expedition Everest and AK as a whole. he wasn't helped by the 9-11 trajedy.

Eisner cannot be fully to blame for everything but now that the economy is improving he is showing his flaws even more. He put a hiring freeze on all employees temporarily and now it seems it will be pretty much part timers only. Two years ago, he drastically cut operating hours in the Magic Kingdom, to even 8:00 pm on PEAK nights just before Easter.

Eisner basically just sees it as "cutting costs increases profits". but, eventually smart consumers, and consumers as demanding as Disney consumers are, will not put up with that forever, as was seen at the shareholder's convention.

Disney needs a CEO who still cares for the stock (you want even as a consumer for your CEO to care about stock) to be more risk minded and innovative minded. Disney is all about innovation. We need to see Disney discovering things that other parks mold after instead of Disney molding themselves into the present. If Disney lives in the present, then it's not doing it's job.

 

[Scottish-Helen]

I went on Stitch last week, only because there was only a 5 minute wait. I was absolutely terrrified of Alien Encounter and had read the terrible reviews for this replacement but I thought it was good fun. I held my nose for the burp mind you. I would go on it again but would not wait in a line to see it.

 

[babieemelly]

If Disney lives in the present, then it's not doing it's job.

You're absolutely right. Disney was always one step ahead of the game. Disney World was the most innovative, creative, original and groundbreaking theme park in the world. Now, there are many amusement parks who are willing to go the extra mile and are taking Disney's plac. I know Universal is creating more groundbreaking and technologically advanced rides and attractions than Disney has in a long time. Hopefully in 2006 there will be big changes made!

 

[bexareaglecheryl]

And stink. It took me hours to get rid of that smell! No matter what food place we walked by later, that is all I could smell.

When I saw the title of this post I took it to mean 'stinks' - literally! That chili cheese dog (or whatever it is) smell is awful. I know I'm exagerating, but it seems like that smell stuck to me like glue for hours. It haunted my nostrils all day! Yucky!

Things I liked about Stitch: The large Stitch that comes out in the cylinder is impressive. It's better than the character itself signing autographs out front. That thing is huge. It's the only thing truly impressive about the show.

A trick that I did on AE and on Stitch is this. When you pull the thing over your head, don't pull it as far down as you can (lean up if you need to). Also, when it starts to adjust in the beginning, going down toward your shoulders, put your hands inside about 4-6 inches above your shoulders (palms down) and push upwards on it firmly as it's coming down (make it think you're taller and bigger!) so that it's not resting directly on your shoulders and it won't hurt when Stitch is 'jumping' on you. This worked for me! You do miss some of the more subtle effect but you don't walk out with sore shoulders, right?

I think that Stitch is such a great fun character that 'it' deserves a great attraction!

 

[HollyJoy]

I didn't care for it that much either... it was OKAY at best. My girls liked it though!

Oh, and Sheri, I wore that SAME SHIRT at LTT on 12/7! LOL

 

[Carrieberry]

Oh no! My son is totally looking forward to Stitch at the end of January! He is a Stitch FREAK! Even if the ride is lame he will love it! I will be bummed if they close it down before we get there!

 

[memymomonica]

I don't see them shutting down. It is a hit with the kids. My daughter loved it! I thought it was cute.

 

[allicat]

We just got back last night and agree this ride is just terrible. Pointless-it just seemed like confusion in the dark and no storyline! DD age 9, didnt care for it either.I agree when those harnesses smash down on your shoulders, it hurts! I tried raising the harness a few times.
DH said he wouldnt go on it again if there was no line!

 

[Darwineffect]

I thought it was an ok ride. The stitch animatronic was cute and the ride wasn't that bad. The smell is nothing worse than what you get on ITTBAB or JIYI so I don't know what all the whinning is about. As far as kids go we went on it a few times on the 12/10 MVMCP and no one cried we were also in the gift shop there quite often and didn't see one upset child. Maybe those that like it are not the minority they are just the SILENT majority.

 

[dceremuga]

According to the attendant, the employee's at WDW are getting an earful from people who don't like the ride. What is wrong with having 1 adult ride like Alien Encounter. It was awesome. It had a great storyline and you could follow the timeline of the attraction. The stitch Attraction was like something a 5 year old kid made up, with the spitting and burping and no meaningful story.

The Stitch Cartoon on Disney is much better and deserves better representation! I finally wrote to the complaints at Disney about this attraction. The pollsters are also getting an earful.

 

[llij]

We went on Stitch and no one in my family really cared for it. Mind you, both my dd's love Lilo and Stitch so I was surprised that they didn't like the show. I think what basically bothered them was that the seats were uncomfortable and the harnesses hurt especially when Stitch jumps on you. Their discomfort detracted from the show overall.

We won't be going on Stitch again which is too bad, but we certainly WILL go back to Disney!

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I didn't care for it that much either... it was OKAY at best. My girls liked it though!

Oh, and Sheri, I wore that SAME SHIRT at LTT on 12/7! LOL

LOL! Great minds...

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I liked AE much better and probably won't ever go on this again (thought it was gross...really can't stand burping, etc.) but it certainly didn't ruin my day.

I just returned from WDW after the first week of December, and my time in the World was perfect.... I'm glad I don't pay too much attention to alot of these threads where all people seem to do is complain. I just didn't notice any of things people talk about....like attractions breaking down, disgruntled riders, etc.

All my trip problems were saved for Universal, where it seemed that every complaint people frequently have about WDW, I had there: (1) Terrible room at the Hard Rock with at least one bed that couldn't have possibly been changed by Housekeeping (unless they just happened not to notice about six crumbled Oreos magically appear in the sheets and just made the bed up over them) (2) slow service where it took over an hour for anyone to do anything about it (3) injury on a park ride as my neck snapped back on the big hill at Ripsaw Falls and I strained it trying lift my head up (4) broken down ride in the Mummy, which breaks down frequently as most new attractions do (5) crappy food and restaurant service where they couldn't even get DH's order right. All in the one day and night we stayed there. Yuck. I'll take Disney's "problems" any day of the week.