The things that The Disney Parks do for us to make our visit
enjoyable, sometimes lead us to expect too much, too fast.
We tend to expect a
much higher standard from Disney and their cast members than we do anywhere
else we ever go. It also leads us to expect every ride that the Imaginears come
up with to be completely mind blowing and most of them are with rare
exceptions.
We all know changes are inevitable and I do love the new
parades and fireworks that Disney puts in place of the older ones. I must, however, say that I miss all of the parades
that I have seen over the years and, believe me, there have been many. My wife and
I have been to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, more than 60 times, Disneyland
in Anaheim, California four times and Disneyland Paris twice. We still dream of going to all of the other
Disney Parks as well. There are some
things that Disney aficionados, better known as Disney nerds, just can’t
tolerate. We don’t mind change but just try and take away our Haunted Mansion
or our Pirates of the Caribbean and I’m afraid that the Disney nerds will make
the Pirates, who sail the Caribbean in days of yore, look like girl
scouts.
The changes that the Walt Disney Company has made in the
last few years have been taxing on our nerves but there have been a few good
changes. Not all of them have been to my liking for one reason or another, but
there have been Disney changes. Take, for
instance, the closing of the Snow White’s Scary Adventure ride to make the Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride, I hated the fact that they closed the
original ride, but I don’t think that the new ride is bad at all, it’s just
different and I do like it, I just wish we had both. Adding an animatronic Captain Jack (aka
Johnny Depp) to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride made much more of a
connection to a newer generation of Disney fans. I understand that and I like
it very much that they do now feature Captain Jack in the Pirates of the
Caribbean ride. The Hatbox Ghost was
something that I had heard the rumors about ever since the opening of the
Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and I had never seen any evidence until recently
when his introduction to the ride made a phenomenally good addition. They not
only added the Hatbox Ghost but they also enhanced the queue where we wait in
line with magnificent curiosities for us to play with while we wait to get on
the ride. Who doesn’t like all of the updating that they have done to the
Haunted Mansion? I, for one, love it and the Haunted Mansion is my absolute favorite
ride at the Disney Parks.
Motion at Epcot Center was a magnificent dark ride that had
touches from almost every Imaginear that had ever worked on designing the park
rides. Motion was, for some reason,
eventually replaced by Test Track. I was never a fan of Test Track because, to
me, it had ruined a perfectly good ride.
With the more recent updates to Test Track, I am a little more pleased with
its latest transformation than I was originally, even though I personally think
they should have gone a little bit further and made it look much more like Tron
and even rename the ride. My personal taste for both Imagination, which still
exists with changes since the original, and Horizons which no longer exists, were
my favorite Epcot rides at that time. I am extremely disappointed at how they
were changed. Imagination originally had an animatronic Dream Finder and
Figment which were much more interesting than the flat boards painted with
pictures that I still saw on my last visit. I hope they are using their
imagination to redo this ride. Replacing the lovely Bonnie Appetite at the
Kitchen Kabaret in The Land Pavilion was a great loss. She was replaced along with some of the audio
animatronics with Food Rocks which was basically cardboard cutouts that were
very disappointing. When they added Soarin’ in its place, I must admit I was
overjoyed.
I have come to the point now that I realize that Disney has a
vision in mind, even if I’m not happy with that vision, it eventually turns out
to be pretty good. I think some things
change in stages and they can figure out when they missed the boat and make
even more changes to make the park better for us. I hate to see the entire park become roller
coasters and if I look at it from a distance of the age that I am now I see all
of the favorite things that I loved to do at Disneyland and Walt Disney World
being replaced or having the editions of roller coasters takeover and people my
age and the age of my young grandchildren are unable to ride those rides. I seem to remember a very wise man once
saying that the Parks were meant to be enjoyed by children of all ages. th birthday; that’s right it began on a Sunday July 17, 1955
and
Walt Disney did say that Disneyland would be in a constant state of change,
even the flowers and trees would get better as time went on. I have heard people ask the question would
Walt be pleased with what his Parks have become, and I must say that he, being
a perfectionist, and the inspiration for his Imaginears would be extremely
pleased with what he sees but he would say why didn’t or why couldn’t we have
done it this way. Walt Disney was a
visionary so I don’t think he would be shocked at the increase of technology or
the magnificent special effects that have revolutionized how good his Parks
have become. He would have never wanted
his Imaginears to stop moving forward and progressing and taking entertainment
to new heights and levels of technology.He also would have been the type of man that would have said step back from the computers, shut the laptops, turn off the cell phones and just walks through the tunnels at Disneyland and relive the past as well as the future. Keep in mind that they always make the Parks beautiful with flowers and trees and topiaries for us to stop and enjoy a drink or lunch and enjoy the gardens. They put so much hard work into the Parks for us to enjoy.
I also hear many people saying bad things about amusement
park food and I agree with them, but I do not believe that I have ever had a
meal that was not edible at Disneyland in Anaheim, Walt Disney World in Florida
or Disneyland Paris. As a matter of fact, I have been extremely pleased with
every meal I’ve ever had in the Parks at Disneyland, Walt Disney World are
Disneyland Paris. One of the best meals
I ever had was at a restaurant in the Magic Kingdom that I have heard so many
people say such terrible things about. It
was at Tony’s in Town Square and it was as good a meal as I had ever had. My wife and I have traveled extensively and
we haven’t eaten at some of the top restaurants in the world and I am telling
you that the food at Disney’s Parks are comparable in quality and taste. As far
as the service is concerned, I honestly think that sometimes people are
overwhelmed with the quality of the service at the Disney Parks restaurants.
Most restaurants anywhere in the world would be overwhelmed with the amount of people that can be served in a day at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris. We forget how many people are being served at any given restaurant at any given day at the Parks. No, I am not saying that we should forgive bad service are the lack thereof when it happens, but you must take into consideration that no one trained by Disney or its licensees would ever on purpose try to make you experience at their Parks anything but first class and we are all just human beings trying to do our best to juggle as many things as we possibly can to make everyone feel satisfied.
Most restaurants anywhere in the world would be overwhelmed with the amount of people that can be served in a day at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris. We forget how many people are being served at any given restaurant at any given day at the Parks. No, I am not saying that we should forgive bad service are the lack thereof when it happens, but you must take into consideration that no one trained by Disney or its licensees would ever on purpose try to make you experience at their Parks anything but first class and we are all just human beings trying to do our best to juggle as many things as we possibly can to make everyone feel satisfied.
I for one would like to take this opportunity to thank those
of you that work at the Parks and read these posts and try to make my stay
there the best it can be. For me, the Disney Parks are not only the happiest
places on earth, they are the greatest places on earth. They are my eternal
laughing place.
No comments:
Post a Comment