I find this very sad...and hopefully just a residue of the old Einser ways.miceage.com wrote: WDW Upgrades
Just in the last few weeks Anaheim has seen a dizzying array of executives from both Burbank and Orlando arrive for tours and overviews of the property, and their interest in Anaheim was mostly due to the successes Matt Ouimet and his team have achieved there in the last three years.
In late August a small group of senior managers from Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom park arrived to tour Disneyland and its E-Ticket attractions which have seen a renaissance in technology and TLC in the last few years. While Southern Californians have grown accustomed to constant changes and upgrades to all sorts of Disneyland attractions, from small dark rides like Peter Pan's Flight to mega-attractions like Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean, that level of investment hasn't materialized for the Magic Kingdom park out in Florida. In Florida most of the attractions have been allowed to stagnate with the same 1970's technology they've always had while only receiving the occasional but very short refurbishment to dust off the circa 1975 attractions. Occasionally a new attraction would open in the Magic Kingdom, but the rides that remained never got much TLC or investment in new technology. But now it seems that Ouimet's push in the last few years to plus and upgrade all manner of Disneyland attractions has finally caught the attention of the Magic Kingdom management out in Florida.
The group of touring Florida suits had a specific itinerary, visiting Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear and Pirates of the Caribbean, which just happen to all be attractions that are noticeably better in California. And in the case of the older E-Tickets, they are all rides that have received constant upgrades and heavy reinvestment in the last five years at Disneyland while the Florida versions creak along with 30 year old technology and effects that no longer impress today's audience.
The power of Depp.
Even though Summer is over the lines remained long this past Sunday morning at Pirates
For instance, when the Florida group rode Pirates of the Caribbean, their mouths were wide open through almost the entire ride. The Floridians were amazed not because Disneyland is blessed with an additional 8 minutes of ride time with many show scenes missing from Florida, as they were already well aware of the physical difference between the two pirate rides. The Floridians were so impressed because Disneyland received a much more thorough makeover this last winter when both rides were closed for their Johnny Depp installations. In Florida, the rehab was cut into two separate sections to allow the ride to open for the busy Easter Vacation period. (With fewer attractions overall in the Magic Kingdom compared to Disneyland, the operations folks insisted they get the ride capacity back for Easter much to the annoyance of the Imagineers).
But at Disneyland during the Pirates rehab they replaced every single speaker in the entire ride, rewired all of the electrical to support new lighting and digital data infrastructure, and gave every single animatronic a tune-up. Plus there was much repainting, reworking existing show scenes, and lots of extra props and eye candy brought directly from the movie production. But in the Florida version of Pirates during this last rehab they purposely took a much more limited approach to reworking the attraction and its infrastructure.
Take Disneyland's dazzling new audio system for instance that replaced every single speaker in the facility; but in Florida they only installed new speakers where a new Johnny Depp figure appeared, or where new dialogue or sound effects were added. There are still long sections of the Florida ride that are using old 1970's-era speakers and lighting technology. The end result in Florida is a muddled mix of 1973 speakers broadcasting next to 2006 speakers, and lighting and digital effects that clearly got the short end of the stick compared to the lush Disneyland treatment.
No more "one of a kind" items, just lotsa junk.
Work continues on the former One of a Kind/Bat en Rouge shop in New Orleans Square.
Needless to say the small group of Florida managers were blown away, and exited Disneyland's 16 minute long version of Pirates convinced they had made a big mistake by not budgeting as much money as Anaheim had. While the tough local crowd here in Southern California can easily critique anything new added to Disneyland, yours truly included, the news of this Florida contingent visiting Disneyland to see what they've been missing is a good reminder that our local executives have been doing many things right in the last few years. And when it comes to overall showmanship and reinvestment in older attractions, Disneyland has clearly been doing a better job compared to its Magic Kingdom cousin out in Florida.
While Pirates of the Caribbean was only one stop on the tour, it was one of the best examples of the differences between Anaheim and Orlando. Lucky for the Floridians they will have a second chance at getting a Pirates rehab right when both attractions close again in 2007 to get ready for the third installment in the wildly successful movie franchise. The third movie premiere has already been slotted for Disneyland around the middle of May, and this time the refurbishment will add Kiera Knightly and Orlando Bloom animatronic figures (despite what some in Imagineering are saying otherwise).
The Disneyland project managers and Imagineers have been trying to figure out the schedule, and it looks now like the Disneyland attraction should be closed for three and a half months from roughly early February to around May 19th. The Floridians had been thinking of only a six or seven week rehab from just after Easter until the third installment of the movie opens May 25th. But the recent visit to Disneyland has them rethinking those plans, and they may try to go for the more ambitious Disneyland-style full rehab of their 34 year old attraction.
I know there are differences between the DL pirates and the MK one, and have heard it do to the water tables, thus the lack of a second drop, etc, and I can accept that. The original pirates in DL is one main reason for me to visit DL one day. Not all the rides have to be identical.
But what is unacceptable is the 1/2 assed rehabs they appear to be doing in WDW. For the amount of revenue WDW generates there should be no issue with budgets. And if you are going to shut down a ride, why not do it right the first time?? I have noticed that rides have remained the same at WDW, worse just closed without replacement. It just seems with the amount of revenue that WDW generates there should not be any issue in rehabbing/replacing attractions. Maybe it's just a case of poor management...either way its sad.
Rich
