Has Disney lost its Magic?

[Marshal Dan Troop 70448]

Surprise! A survey taken among parents in our subdivision HOA for its annual trip to Orlando and Disney World. Seems parents and kids would rather take in Univeral Studio rather then Disney this year.

[Alpo]

I've been to Disneyland twice, and Disney World three times.

 

I enjoyed my first three trips - possibly because I was young - but I believe it was because of the tickets. You had A tickets and B tickets and C tickets and D tickets and E tickets. And different rides took different tickets, and you had to decide what you wanted to see. 1972, and Disney World had just opened. And they still had tickets. One of the neat exhibits was the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, where you gave them your ticket and you walked up in the treehouse, and you can walk in and out of the different rooms, and you can spend as much time as you wanted to in that tree house. When we took the kids there in 89 there were no tickets. Pay one price, ride anything you want. The treehouse had barricades across all the rooms, so you could not go in. You walked in one door and you walked out the other door and the whole thing took about 5 minutes.

 

At the end of the day the kids were waiting in line to ride the flying elephants. Because everybody got to ride whatever they wanted to, and the length of the ride was solely dependent upon the operator, and daylight was quickly going, they would fill up the elephants and start the ride. It took about one circuit to get the elephants all up in the air. Then they would make one more circuit. Then they would start down. The entire ride took about 30 seconds. They would not have done that if you had paid $5 to ride, but since all the rides were free ----

 

One of my favorite rides had always been the jungle cruise. I don't know if they still even have that, because I recall some cartoonish African natives, that would certainly be considered racist today. At the point in the ride where the boat makes its U-turn and goes back, it gets attacked by hippopotamus, and the guide pulls his pistol and saves everybody by shooting the hippo. When I took my girlfriend on that ride in 97, the guy got up on the gunwhale, and holding on to the uprights that supported the Bimini top, and leaning out towards the water, he yelled to all of us to lean to the left. The boat did actually, very slightly, tilt, and he thanked us for our help because leaning the boat saved us from the hippo. The gun was still up there by the wheel, but he didn't shoot the hippo with it because guns are bad. I don't know if this was a Disney idea, or whether this was an idea of that particular ride operator, but it sorta sucked.

 

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom. They had a safari ride, were they stuck you in a bus and you go out and see the wild animals in their natural habitat. And from the recorded speech coming out over the loudspeakers, you were supposed to be all alone - just this one bus of people - out in the jungle. And 50 yards ahead of you there's another bus and you can see another bus in front of them.

 

Has Disney lost its magic? Disney lost it when it did away with the tickets. And unfortunately, they can't go back.

[Cypress Sun]

For me, Disney lost its "magic" back in the early 80's. Prior to that, I'd been there about 10 times. Haven't been back since. It's nothing but a tourist trap...a REAL EXPENSIVE tourist trap. To get to any on any ride, you have to go through a "gift" shop on the way in and out.

 

I personally wouldn't mind if Disney did leave Florida. Their social and political stances of late have turned me anti-Disney. At least if they left Florida, one could travel I-4 without stop and go traffic on the interstate.

 

Disney = Antigun, anti Christian values, pro gay/trans/whatever the hell they call themselves. 

 

Disney can go &#@% themselves.

 

 

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

7 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

Disney = Antigun, anti Christian values, pro gay/trans/whatever the hell they call themselves. 

 

Disney can go &#@% themselves.

Their "woke" attitude is why Disney is going to crap. This attitude has pretty much killed Star Wars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The "Lightyear" movie, and just about everything else they touch.

[Rye Miles #13621]

8 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

Their "woke" attitude is why Disney is going to crap. This attitude has pretty much killed Star Wars, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The "Lightyear" movie, and just about everything else they touch.

+10000

Go woke, go broke!

[Dantankerous]

21 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

Disney = Antigun, anti Christian values, pro gay/trans/whatever the hell they call themselves. 

 

Disney can go &#@% themselves.

 

 

Pretty much sums it up. Perfectly.

 

[Utah Bob #35998]

Been to Disney World, Epcot, and Universal a few times when I lived in Florida.I don’t care about their corporate policies one way or the other.  But I would much rather spend a day in the woods over either one. Much rather! Not fond of crowds. Might be a reason I’ve never been to EOT.

[Pat Riot]

1 minute ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Go woke, go broke!

I like that slogan. 

 

 

I wouldn’t give Disney a dime of my money. 
 

Years ago we would take my daughter and her friends to Disneyland. I think the last time we went was in the early ‘00’s.  I recall paying $136 per ticket. Definitely a lot of money to spend to stand in lines all day for a couple of minutes of excitement. 
At the time I was already soured on their PC BS. 
Now, (without going on a rant) I will not give them any of my money. 

 

My daughter and son-in-law take my grandson and his friends to Universal and they used to frequent Disney, but Universal is a lot more fun and has a lot more to do, according to them. 
I have not been to Universal. 

[Rip Snorter]

Actually, I went to both Disney and Universal on a big corporate do - must have been 20 0dd years ago.  Disney had forgot Walt's Rule "All the horses jump, and no chipped paint." A bit shabby.  Universal was better even then, politics of today aside.

[Dantankerous]

13 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Been to Disney World, Epcot, and Universal a few times when I lived in Florida.I don’t care about their corporate policies one way or the other.  But I would much rather spend a day in the woods over either one. Much rather! Not fond of crowds. Might be a reason I’ve never been to EOT.

 

Agree 100% about the woods. Or mountains, or desert. 

 

I don't much like crowds either but EoT is my kind of people so I'm totally good there.

[Rye Miles #13621]

I took my kids to DisneyWorld in 1978. I wasn't impressed and my sons were not really that much into anything Disney.

 

We went to Universal Studios in 1992, they weren't kids anymore, they were in their 20's. Universal Studios was a blast!

[bgavin]

My first trip to Disneyland was in 1955 or therabouts.
My parents took me.
I remember being a little kid hanging on the chain at the opening bell.
They dropped the chain and all the kids ran down Main Street.

A few years back, my Navy daughter took us to Disney World in Orlando.
It sucked.
It was dirty and smelled of arm pits.
Every ride emptied out through a gift shop.

I much prefer Anaheim, but no longer patronize Disney.
The costs are horrendous, and unless you pay the premium (VIP, FastPass or Tour) you wait for endless hours in the lines.
Add to this the sexual grooming Disney is doing to children today, and I give 'em my middle finger.

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

Disney's woke agenda and finding and arresting pedefiles in their staff has caused their share value to drop 40%

[Calamity Kris]

I had been a Disney fan most of my life.  I grew up not far from Disneyland.  It was a special treat to go.  When we lived in Cali, Uno would take me for my birthday every year because I enjoyed it that much.  I even commented I wanted to be like Tigger when I grew up.  I even have a gift card for Disney worth almost $1,000 that we had planned to use on a Disney cruise. 

 

No More!!!

 

Their woke agenda and politics have ruined it for me.  I'm trying to find a way to sell it to someone.

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

My cousins (late 50s in age) are Disney junkies. Annual trips for the last twenty years. A few years ago they invited me and I thought it’d be fun.

 

I looked into the costs and decided I could see the real Neuschwanstein for what a few days of Mickey Mouse would cost.

 

But to each their own. We’ve all earned our money honestly and are free to do as we wish with it.

[Rye Miles #13621]

1 hour ago, Calamity Kris said:

I had been a Disney fan most of my life.  I grew up not far from Disneyland.  It was a special treat to go.  When we lived in Cali, Uno would take me for my birthday every year because I enjoyed it that much.  I even commented I wanted to be like Tigger when I grew up.  I even have a gift card for Disney worth almost $1,000 that we had planned to use on a Disney cruise. 

 

No More!!!

 

Their woke agenda and politics have ruined it for me.  I'm trying to find a way to sell it to someone.

EBay??

[J.D. Daily]

Except for the one time I & my wife did Disney World & Epcot my visits to Disneyland have been with kids & the last time daughter & her boys.  The last time was about 15 years ago way before Disney went woke.  My last trip was the most enjoyable because my daughter's 1st boyfriend lives in LA area and is disabled.  This allowed everyone in his party to go in the disabled line which is much much shorter than the normal line.  The longest wait was 15 minutes for Space Mountain.  I doubt I will ever visit a Disney park ever again unless to enjoying the shared experience of great grand kids.  That will be meany years away since my 1st will be born in December.  The best experience for kids is when they are 7 & older.

P.S.  The term, E ticket ride, has lost favor as the population ages.  The last time I used it was in 1992 on a flight from Atlanta to Denver.  The last hour of the flight was rough with the approach very rough.  The landing was exciting.  The yaw was very noticeable so after the bounce the nose jerked hard until the plane was heading straight down the runway.  The boarding passes my coworkers had "E" printed on them so I made a wise crack "I didn't realize the the "E" on our tickets also indicated that we were in for a rough flight."

[Waxahachie Kid #17017 L]

Several years ago, my son and his wife went to disney-world. 

The non-English speaking person that took their reservations, mis-spelled their last name, and my son could never get them to correct it. 

It was expensive, and they said they wished they had gone to the other large theme park there in Florida. 

Yeah, it has lost a lot of its magic, especially this year. 

We flat refused to take our grandson to the latest disney movie, about Buzz Lightyear. 

It won't make any difference to them, but I won't support them anymore, unless they change their agenda.

Walt Disney would be so upset, were he here, and alive today...and rightfully so. 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I’ve been to the Disney parks more than that and to the other Disney parks in the world too.

[Sedalia Dave]

Disney DID NOT loose their magic.

 

 

 

They intentionally and knowingly crapped all over their magic, trampled it into the mud and tore it to shreds before burying it in a compost pile..

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

We lived about thirty miles from Disneyland and the last time I was on their property was when they had the Marine Corps Band and the Black Watch Band put on the most inspiring musical show I've ever seen.  That was about 1980 IIRC.

 

There is nothing there worth the prices, the crowds, and the restrictions.  We stopped going to Knott's Berry Farm when they decided to sell it to Disney.