Reply to Disney primarily for the wealthy? NYT Article

Forum Index » Travel Discussion

Reply to "Disney primarily for the wealthy? NYT Article"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm always a little perplexed by these posters that are like "Disney was so much better when I was a kid!  I don't want to wait in these long lines!"  But you can still go on the SAME rides you went on as a kid with basically no lines.  No one is waiting in long lines for Carousel of Progress or Figment Journey into Imagination.  Even Dumbo has pretty short lines.  There are a few exceptions -- Peter Pan because it's a terribly designed loading process; Space Mountain for reasons not known to man.  But generally, the older rides have basically no wait times so you can still go and have that same 1980s experience!  [/quote]

Nope.  I went in the 80s with my parents and again in the 00s with my kids, the experience was very different.

In the 80s, the focus was on theming.  There was so much imagination and detailed charm that it dazzled.  In the 00s, the focus was more on thrills, with a sprinkling of theming on top.  I was so excited that they had returned to the Figment theme for the Imagination Pavilion that I hyped it up and dragged my kids there.  They had significantly shortened the ride and greatly reduced the details, with an overemphasis on black lights and glow in the dark paint.  It felt more like a cheesy funhouse fair ride than a magical Disney experience.  The ImageWorks was just an empty room that had been closed off.  When we left the pavilion, I was depressed and my family was confused why I’d made them waste their time.  Meanwhile they’d added roller coasters and other thrill based rides, but if that’s what I wanted I could get them from any local amusement park with cheaper admission tickets, shorter lines, and without having to travel and stay in a hotel.

Also, when we went in the 80s, it was utterly pristine.  Surely any place that had that many visitors daily must be magical for there to be not a stray piece of litter, not a speck of gum, not a trace of dust anywhere.  Fastforward to the 2000s, and not only was there the expected detritus of a crowd, but the rides themselves showed a lack of care.  There was dust on the animatronic figures costumes and a lot of the older rides just seemed run-down.

Now, in addition to hiking up the basic admission prices, unless you are willing to pay extra for lightning passes, you are basically a second-class visitor, whose line waits are prolonged because you have to make way for the elites who won’t wait their turns.

Basically, people are paying more for less.  With Disney becoming more like a standard theme park than a magical world, it’s a lot less appealing to pay more, wait in longer lines, and be reminded that your wait is lengthened because you’re a second class visitor.   The feeling is less that the park is there to give you joy than that you’re there to give it profit.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics