A few years ago I went to Disneyland and I was saddened by the state of things. This was back when Michael Eisner was still head honcho, and he had started cutting corners in the park and it showed.
One of Walt's visions when creating Disneyland was the exact opposite of all the other amusement parks he had attended with his children. They were usually run down, sad places. He hated the midway and he hated the general lack of cleanliness.
Eisner built the California Adventure and put in a Midway, he also cut the budget for Upkeep and Cleaning of the park. I saw amounts of trash that I never would have seen before, I saw places where the construction of the attractions needed repair, I saw animatronics that were in need of cleaning and repair, I saw attractions that were not in use, that were not kept clean and an eye sore.
Eisner was run out of the company on a rail due to his poor treatment of the Disney Legacy, and Roy (Walt's Nephew that wanted the former glory of the company to return) came back as a member of the Board.
Roy left the world a few months ago, but the Legacy of the Disney Company and the Quality that the Disney Name should always stand for has returned to the park. The Crass commercialism that Eisner's cronies introduced was gone and the Fun was back.
Friday, I found that there was no longer trash around the park. The Chicken Wire foundation of the Matterhorn was no longer showing through making it look like a mountain (instead of a paper-maché approximation), all the animatronics in Splash Mountain were working and clean, Mr. Lincoln shared the great words he used to inspire all people—regardless of nationality, attractions not in use were hidden from sight or in good repair and pleasing to the eye.
No longer were all the stores the same vanilla Disney Store meets the Gap flavor, and there was once more that feeling that the stores in Adventure Land were different from those found in Tomorrow Land.
I think Walt would be happy with the way the park is being run now.
I don't notice those things until you bring it up, but I agree.
ReplyDeleteFriday was fun!