Before his untimely death in 1966, Walt Disney had put into place the framework to construct a new theme park in Florida. Ultimately, it was Walt’s brother Roy who would change its name to Walt Disney World—so that no one would ever forget whose dream it was.
“What would Walt do?” was the question asked countless times during the design, construction and, ultimately, the operation of Disney World. It was generally assumed that Walt would always make the right decision, opting toward the path that would produce the results he wanted without settling for something that only came close. Through this process, even after his death, he was able to guide the decisions that shaped the World we visit today.
We can argue until the bovines return to the domicile and not reach agreement on whether or not Disney management still adheres to those ideals. I’d like to think they do but evidence in many circumstances points in a different direction. While some things seems to adhere to the values Walt used to guide his decisions (Expedition Everest comes to mind), there are others that I believe he would have crushed before they reached the drawing board (Dino-Rama anyone?).
My approach here will be a slight change to the question and will ask “What would Steve do?” I’m not comparing myself in any fashion to my Uncle Walt but thought it might be fun to think about the changes I’d make if I had the run of the place. So, if I were in charge of Walt Disney World, what changes would I make? What areas would I absolutely not touch? It’s going to be fun having all this power, if only hypothetically. Feel free to play along as the follow on question is, obviously, “What would you do?”
Where to begin? Let’s start with the parks. Epcot is first up and I have some changes in mind here. During my first visit in 1984, what stayed with me most was the number of continuously loading dark rides in Future World. I can recall touring the park, in a counter-clockwise fashion, while seemingly boarding one continuously moving vehicle after another—each of them taking me through a place that assaulted my senses. The rides took me back in time and into a magnificent future. I could fly over Manhattan or cruise under the seas. Spaceship Earth is still essentially intact but there have been significant changes to the ride in the Journey to Imagination pavilion as well as The Living Seas. I want to bring the Image Works back to the Imagination pavilion. That type of tour-at-your-own-speed interactive exhibit is what Epcot was and should be about. I sort of like most of the changes in the new The Seas With Nemo and Friends pavilion so we’ll leave that alone (the Hydrolaters were cute once but quickly lost their appeal to me). We’ve also completely lost the World of Motion and, most regrettably, Horizons. Let’s bring them back. I have nothing against Test Track or Mission: Space but I miss what they replaced and I’m bringing them back. And let us not forget that those continuously loading rides did wonders for keeping the queue lengths down.
Next, we’re going to reopen the Wonders of Life pavilion. It saddens me whenever I walk past and can no longer journey into the mind of a teenage boy with Buzzy; or join Tim Matheson and Elisabeth Shue for a trip through inner space. I also enjoyed the science experiments in the building as well as its food court. We’re bringing it all back, with updated films of course. And while we’re at it, a new digital 3D film will be made to replace Honey, I Shrunk the Audience in the Imagination Institute and… I’m bringing back True Colors for the pre-show!
What about World Showcase? I like it just as it is, offering a great mix of entertainment, dining and shopping, with glimpses into foreign cultures we may never be able to experience first hand. But that doesn’t mean that some changes aren’t in order. First, we’re bringing back Imaginuum (the Living Statues). How management ever let them go is beyond me. Second, we need a parade. I loved both Tapestry of Nations and, its successor, Tapestry of Dreams. I know many folks didn’t care for Dreams but, for me, it still had that great music, complete with the “Hey-lahs”, and I’m fine with it. I also understand that one of the chief reasons for Tapestry’s demise was the number of injuries suffered by the cast members performing as puppeteers—those large puppets were a bit unwieldy, especially in windy conditions. But don’t we have Imagineers at our disposal? These are the folks that have us landing on Mars, hang gliding over an aircraft carrier, coming face to face with a yeti and blowing up the Death Star! Surely they can design something that will allow crowd interaction without blowing out a lumbar disc.
I’ll leave the Magic Kingdom essentially untouched. There’s a lot there I wouldn’t mess with mainly because it was created by Walt himself. I do think that we could plus Space Mountain a bit by incorporating that ‘rocket to the moon’ outside-the-building start that exists in Disneyland Paris. And as long as we’re borrowing from other parks, I want the outside boarding and double drops of the west coast’s version of Pirates of the Caribbean. I’ve heard all about the space limitations and water table issues. We’ll solve them.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios needs two things to happen quickly: first, it needs to become a working studio again, and; second, I want to see real animators working on real drawings for a real feature film… again. I’d also see about updating the Great Movie Ride with some more Disney films. We’d get new films for Star Tours and Muppetvision 3D. The Backlot Tour needs to be changed and updated significantly. I know it lost some real estate with the addition of Lights, Motors, Action: Extreme Stunt Show but I’m pretty sure we can work around it—particularly if we’re a working studio—we’ll have much more to tour.
It’s probably time to upgrade the Beauty and the Beast show but, I’m not sure what we’d put there. We now have Broadway shows featuring the Lion King, Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins—we could use one of them. Heck, I’m in charge. We’ll rotate all of them on a regular basis. Maybe bring in the new Toy Story musical as well. I know that makes the Voyage of the Little Mermaid attraction redundant but, don’t worry. I’ve always felt the Studios needed a dark ride so we’ll drop one in there. Maybe themed to one of the Pixar films.
Should we change Animal Kingdom? I enjoy it very much as it is but, there’s always room for improvement. I might start by bulldozing that little carnival area by Dinoland. Yeah, I get the back story and understand the kitsch. I’d much rather have animal-themed interactive exhibits there—something for the under 12 age group. We’ll work something out. Other than some No-Doze for the lions, tigers and cheetahs, that’s about it.
One last thing on the theme parks: I’m going to use up some of that vacant land we have in the one gazillion square miles that is Walt Disney World. Only I’m not building a Beastly Kingdom, Villains’ Park or a Nightly Kingdom (or whatever other rumors are out and about these days). I’m building Tokyo Disney Seas and you’re gonna love it—trust me. We’ll call it something different, of course.
From a transportation view, I understand that extending the monorail would be terribly expensive so we’re going with a light rail system. There will be stops at each resort, theme park and Downtown Disney as well as a number of transfer points around property. We’ll easily triple the throughput of the current bus systems while shortening the elapsed time of any trip on property. Those delays loading strollers, wheelchairs and ECVs will be a thing of the past.
Dining? My inclination is to kill the Disney Dining Plan but I’d probably put some smart people to work on it. I think it can be improved without too much alteration. Dining reservations may be made no more than sixty days in advance and will be tied to your resort reservation. If you make multiple reservations for the same meal, we’ll know and one will be canceled. If you’re staying off-site, sorry, but I’ll need a credit card that will be charged if you don’t show up or cancel. We’ll have a percentage of all table service reservations that will remain available until the day of dining. You can make a same-day reservation or, possibly (gasp) get seated as a walkup.
I would also institute a Frequent Stay Program for all Disney resorts. Something along the lines of points for each night you stay. After 7 nights, you earn a free night in the same class resort (Value, Moderate, Deluxe or Villa). If you’d like, you can use your free nights for a class upgrade for a few additional dollars. I want you to try out the other resorts. This may also extend to a Frequent Dining Program as well. I need to work out the details but, essentially, the more you spend in Disney World restaurants, the more you’ll receive in future vouchers.
One more thing about the hotel rooms: they’re too darned expensive. A room, not a suite, at a monorail resort could easily run more than $400 per night, depending on the season and day of the week. You’ll be able to take advantage of more discounts (Annual Pass, Frequent Visitor, etc.) to make these resorts, and others, more affordable. Heck, I want you staying in the deluxe resorts. You’ll spend more on meals and amenities and, I’m betting, it’s likely you’ll return—again and again.
The last area I’m touching is cast member training and compensation. Full Traditions training is back for everyone and I’ll mandate a refresher every two years. Cast member salaries will be going up across the board as well. How will I pay for that? Increased attendance will cover most but, if I have to, your admission is going up a buck or two… a small price to pay for the increased level of service you’ll get.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I do have some more ideas about what to do with all these non-Disney hotels and developments that are cropping up but, I’ll save those for next time. I’d love to hear your ideas on the changes you’d make so…
That’s my opinion. What’s yours?
A sad note… On April 28, Bob Varley, a longtime member of the Dis Unplugged podcast, passed away unexpectedly. The loss of a member of this online community of ours saddens us all. Please keep Bob’s wife Diana, his son Brian and the rest of Bob’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.
