Mackenzie Click-Mickelson
Chugging along the path of life
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2015
Not to be contrarian here but really you're still coming at it from being quite a fan here, well if I remove quite a fan I'll put frequent visitor. I'm far from the only one who thinks this way, there's been a lot of posters over the time I've been here who talk about how people they know do a one and done Disney trip out of pure obligation because it's Disney. They don't go because the love Disney, they don't go because Disney to them is filled with magic and whatever. They go because it's seen as the thing to do with kids. It's hard I think for people to look on the other side but really a lot of people just aren't enamored with Disney and certainly would never dream of going yearly like you have. Even for me normally it's about every 6 years to WDW and most of that is a fluke.Even if you don`t count us uber fans, I don`t think that most people see Disney as just another theme park. I think the immense popularity of Disney parks, which has constantly defied rising prices, shows that most see Disney as the best -- at least for families. Some see Universal as a worthy rival in terms of quality, but Universal never had the same heavy attendance. Except on weekends, that was always clear to me from the 10-15 wait times for most rides at UOR. Meanwhile, even with their high capaity -- four parks and two water parks and many other things to do at WDW -- Disney is usually slammed.
At least under Iger, I really believe that Disney delivered when it came to the quality of the parks. We started going every year from 2007-2019 and I saw a steady improvement in the attractions. New attractions benefited from high budgets, and leveraged impressive new tech. The addition of several new lands kept us coming back. The only drawback, to me, was that Disney became victims of their own success, with packed parks all year long. That was great for Disney`s bottom line, but, for us frequent visitors, it became a challenge to beat the crowds. Hell, a lot of us made a game of ``beat the crowds``.
Disney has been the industry leader for many years. Regional parks like Six Flags are hilariously cheaper to visit (I pay a comparative pittance for a season pass with meal plan at my local Six Flags park) but Disney still has much higher attendance (yes, Six Flags run amusement parks, not theme parks, but I doubt that most visitors draw such a clear distinction).
My point is that Disney is far more expensive than other park operators, yet still draws by far the biggest crowds. Those are not the results of a company whose parks are seen as just another theme park, in terms of both quality and nostalgia value. Parks all over North America have the same flat rides and hire the same companies to build their coasters. Disney builds unique themed lands and heavily themed rides with elaborate sets and multi-million dollar animatronics. There are few points of comparison.
Don't get me wrong I enjoy Disney so does my husband but the truth really is for many people Disney is not some glorious place. It's just a theme park. I understand your points of comparison but you're still coming at it from a viewpoint of enjoying going back frequently. If you talk to people who don't hold a high interest in going most are going to shrug and be like "well yeah it's Disney but it's just a theme park". They don't hold it to some high esteem or standard like others. On the point of Disney building all these rides, you might notice a complaint arising that Disney is just replicating rides from other parks or not being inventive enough anymore (boat ride after boat ride, Tron, Rat, Railway being the same thing but different theme as Great Movie Ride, etc). FWIW I love them boat rides lol.
It's always going to be hard to compare attendance. US has 2 Disney parks destinations and countless other amusement parks. By design amusement parks like Six Flags, ones owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment, etc are spread out as they are regional destinations largely. Of course each park is going to have less attendance overall even if you try and compare all the other things. If you spread out Disney to be more regional (well if that had been done decades and decades ago) you'd likely see the same. DLR and WDW would not have the attendance if there were say 2,3,4 more of them scattered throughout the U.S. Wouldn't have much to do with what is at each park and more to do with proximity to get one's fix.
I think I've just spent more time around people who don't go all the time to Disney that I'm presented with a different viewpoint. That said it's something other shares as well. Disney has crafted the art of guilting people into this nostalgic thing. I mean a childhood isn't a childhood unless you've visited a Disney park right? It's okay though honestly. I don't I guess take that to heart. I love Disney but I understand my love for it isn't something shared by everyone.