Okay – the direct answer.
The positive sign I’m waiting for – and haven’t even seen hinted at yet – is for Disney to treat WDW like a business again.
That means decisions are made on what’s best for WDW’s continued growth, what’s best for WDW’s customer base, and what’s best for WDW’s employees. In other words, to do what’s right to make WDW a stable and profitable operation.
That isn’t happening now. On the creative side, WDW is treated as just another distribution channel through which “corporate franchises” can be pushed. The parks aren’t viewed as businesses or shows in their own right, but only in how they can serve to “extend the brand” created elsewhere.
The Mexico pavilion is not made better by putting in a cartoon duck. Normal adults do not need the have dinner with princesses five times in a week. People live full and diverse lives – and I think that’s what they want to experience on vacation as well. ‘The Haunted Mansion’ is a popular ride despite not having a plush tie-in; ‘Stitch’s Great Escape’ is unbearable even with it shop.
It’s time for Disney to rediscover that theme parks are a
creative outlet, that it’s possible to make new, fresh, interesting, exciting, awe-inspiring, and world renowned attractions without waiting for a movie first. Disney needs to let its imagination try for something again – try for something that get people talking like ‘Pirates’ did in ’67. People want new and original, not a commercial.
Second, on the business side, the financial demands that Corporate has placed on the park are forcing decisions to be made that are harmful to the long term growth and success of the company. WDW has become Disney’s ATM machine, the fountain that spews out cash to fund corporate mistakes like ABC, GO.com and now this iPenguin insanity.
Everyone has seen the prices soar while the quality plummet at WDW. “Fine Dining” is nothing but a brand now – even the owners of this site are calling some the restaurant’s offering “swill” and “garbage”. The quality of the merchandise is beyond “discount” and the variety…really folks – how many stores now have
exactly the same t-shirts. And it’s not just the purists who think there’s something unDisney by selling princess dresses in Fronteirland.
Disney needs to set WDW’s operations back to normal. Let the resort operate at a realistic margin, let the park invest in the correct level of capital to keep the place appealing to guests, and to provide enough “new” so that a repeat visit is worthwhile.
There is nothing written in stone saying that WDW will always be successful and will always be popular. If there’s one thing that Disney should have learned from that festering money pit in
Disneyland’s parking lot is that people
will reject Disney’s offering and won’t even give it a second chance.
So that’s what I’m waiting for. I’m waiting for WDW to become Disney again, not the local Orlando outlet for WalMouse.
P.S. As for what's keeping me interested now (besides blind hope) - try as hard as they can, Eisner and Iger haven't been able to destroy all that was built before them. They're trying real hard, but there is still some quality left from Disney if you know where to look for it.
