Is the magic gone?

[Travisma 1,317]

My wife and I are both 63.  We like going to Disney, but for the bigger faster rides, we don't particularily care about going on them any more.  I like them, and will go on them if my daughters get us a fast pass, but when we go on our own, we just enjoy walking around and going to the different shows and just taking our time and relaxing

I wish Disney would bring back some sort of admission only AP( at a greatly reduced price), and maybe a 2 or 3 ride additional ticket just like the old days.  I know it'll never happen but it would be nice. 

[geoffdaddy 33]

On 6/10/2017 at 8:02 AM, ImDownWithDisney said:

I agree 100%. As kid I loved future world. I could not wait to check things out. I wish my kids could experience those things.

I as a kid also enjoyed the heck out of Future World. And, they did a darn good job of disguising how educational it was in the process. The World Showcase on the other hand was a huge bore as I recall, minus the troll ride (RIP) and the mexican ride.

I'm still miffed that they so royally screwed up Imagination. But all that aside, I think the main thing thats really missing from EPCOT is the Future bit. Their exhibits are largely lacking in the excitement of the future aspect. Quite frankly, I don't get this, as there's plenty of material to work with. As an example, when we went to Disneyland about three years ago, you could see a little show at their Innoventions featuring an actual Honda Asimo robot! I was incredible, and I doubt most folks have seen one. How about a self-driving car exhibit? How are those not the perfect addition to EPCOT? (As a side note, quite frankly my impression after our trip to DL a couple years ago was that whoever is in charge of Disneyland is doing a lot of things right and the Disney Parks company would do well to put them in charge of WDW). Anyways, the World Showcase has lost a bit of its original charter too...a lot of the stuff in shops simply wasn't available pre-freer trade in the 80's. I do fondly remember trying Gummibars from the Germany pavilion and my moms reaction to seeing them, "Oh! I haven't seen these since your dad was stationed in Germany!" Granted this was early-mid 80s.

[geoffdaddy 33]

....I say all that though and I still enjoy Epcot for what it's become... well most everything except Imagination. I'll never forgive them for that!

[caveat lector 181]

Long live the story of Captain EO 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

5 hours ago, geoffdaddy said:

 . . . I think the main thing thats really missing from EPCOT is the Future bit. Their exhibits are largely lacking in the excitement of the future aspect. Quite frankly, I don't get this, as there's plenty of material to work with. As an example, when we went to Disneyland about three years ago, you could see a little show at their Innoventions featuring an actual Honda Asimo robot! I was incredible, and I doubt most folks have seen one. How about a self-driving car exhibit? How are those not the perfect addition to EPCOT? (As a side note, quite frankly my impression after our trip to DL a couple years ago was that whoever is in charge of Disneyland is doing a lot of things right and the Disney Parks company would do well to put them in charge of WDW).

Great post.

Clearly, someone made a decision a few years ago to simply stop investing in Future World.  And, now both of the Innnoventions buildings sit practically empty.

It wasn't even that long ago when there was lots of cool stuff to do in Innoventions-  When my kids, now in their early 20's, were young, we would spend hours in there visiting all of the exhibits. In the early days of computers, there was a huge display where you could take photos and email them home.  They had a big display of the robot dogs that never became a thing, but they were still cool.  The paper making activity was low tech, but still very interesting.  You could ride a Segway, and there were all kinds of other interactive things for the kids to do.  Most recently, that Sum of All Thrills attraction was a real fun and interesting thing to do.

It's just a matter of those in charge choosing to be cheap.  Epcot was great back when they had the Millennium Village operating, and the daily parade around the World Showcase.  Now, that building sits empty and there hasn't been a parade in Epcot in years.  All of this wasn't that long ago.  But, it has steadily deteriorated since.

I visited Innoventions at Disneyland a couple of years ago, and I agree with you- there was stuff they had there that would be great to use in Epcot.  But, I think the Disneyland Innoventions has closed too.  I'm sure those in charge justified that decision by pointing out how expensive and impractical it is to try to have updated displays about the future, because the speed at which technology progresses is much faster now than it used to be.  So, the easiest (and cheapest) thing to do is just not try.  That's not how Disney used to be.

TCD

[djsamuel 322]

Years ago when there was Communicore East and West instead of Innoventions, you could go in and pick up free copies of magazines like Discovery.  You could also have the cast there do some research for you.  We would take our daughter there when she was 7 or 8 and pick up the latest Discover magazines and they would help her with school projects.  That is the type of stuff that is missing, along with the science/tech related exhibits and the optimistic looks towards the future.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

13 minutes ago, djsamuel said:

Years ago when there was Communicore East and West instead of Innoventions, you could go in and pick up free copies of magazines like Discovery.  You could also have the cast there do some research for you.  We would take our daughter there when she was 7 or 8 and pick up the latest Discover magazines and they would help her with school projects.  That is the type of stuff that is missing, along with the science/tech related exhibits and the optimistic looks towards the future.

Sadly, since we started visiting Epcot with our kids less than 10 years ago, I think their only real memories of Future World are Damn Judi Dench and conning someone into trying Beverly.  

[WrigleysWagon 32]

On 6/21/2017 at 10:14 PM, Travisma said:

Disneyland/MK were designed as family destinations.

I wish more people realized this!

[weekender 5]

On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 4:52 PM, DaveInTN said:

Sadly, since we started visiting Epcot with our kids less than 10 years ago, I think their only real memories of Future World are Damn Judi Dench and conning someone into trying Beverly.  

I had to laugh when you said trying Beverly.  We did this on our trip last week.  That drink is absolutely horrible and It leaves the worst bitter after taste. 

[WrigleysWagon 32]

On 6/22/2017 at 4:52 PM, DaveInTN said:

Sadly, since we started visiting Epcot with our kids less than 10 years ago, I think their only real memories of Future World are Damn Judi Dench and conning someone into trying Beverly.  

I'm not sure if you meant Dame Judi Dench, or if you just really don't like her!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

3 hours ago, WrigleysWagon said:

I'm not sure if you meant Dame Judi Dench, or if you just really don't like her!

He said it on purpose :)

[Travisma 1,317]

This will probably get a lot of people upset, but here goes.

 

Yes the Magic is gone!  

What killed it?

Friggen CELL PHONES!

It's bad enough that teens and adults are walking around the parks with their noses stuck in their phones and not watching where they are walking.

But it absolutely sickens me to see kids in strollers or being carried playing games on phones while missing the wonders of everything Disney.  Same with kids walking while on phones and missing what's going on around them.

I guess those parents have more $$$ than brains and let the cell phone/tablet be a baby sitter and the kids miss all the sights.  What a waste of $.  Should've just left the kid at home.

We have become so attached to these electronic leashes that we can't go a day without them. 

And Disney encourages their use with MDE, Disney shopping, trying to get dinner reservations etc.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

40 minutes ago, Travisma said:

This will probably get a lot of people upset, but here goes.

 

Yes the Magic is gone!  

What killed it?

Friggen CELL PHONES!

It's bad enough that teens and adults are walking around the parks with their noses stuck in their phones and not watching where they are walking.

But it absolutely sickens me to see kids in strollers or being carried playing games on phones while missing the wonders of everything Disney.  Same with kids walking while on phones and missing what's going on around them.

I guess those parents have more $$$ than brains and let the cell phone/tablet be a baby sitter and the kids miss all the sights.  What a waste of $.  Should've just left the kid at home.

We have become so attached to these electronic leashes that we can't go a day without them. 

And Disney encourages their use with MDE, Disney shopping, trying to get dinner reservations etc.

I absolutely agree.

Great post.

But, this phenomenon isn't just happening at Disney.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

4 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

I absolutely agree.

Great post.

But, this phenomenon isn't just happening at Disney.

TCD

I agree.

I meant to add Busch, SeaWorld, etc,  but I was in a hurry to post.

Having to dodge jerks with their noses stuck in their phones while walking at any public place is bad enough, but to see little kids too engrossed in an electronic leash to be missing everything around them in a theme park setting is just sickening.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

When visiting the parks I always left my cell phone either back in the camper, or if we needed to be accessible once the older girls started roaming on their own, stuffed in our bag.  I use an old fashioned camera, I print out my FP itinerary and any dining reservations, and for the most part if we were splitting up, we did what our parents used to do....make a plan to meet up at a certain time in front of a designated location.  I'm not anti-technology (heck, I'm posting online right now), but there is a time and place, and I agree with Travisma....it's a leash.  Some day, probably soon, when a major cyber-attack takes out the entire internet, people are going to be standing around like lost sheep, drooling and unable to make a decision without social media and the constant feedback loop validating their every thought.  

Sorry, I didn't get my oatmeal this morning.  Kind of grouchy I guess.  

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Agreed. I do keep my phone in my pocket, and put alarm reminders for FP and dining reservations, BUT I don't change my FP on the fly at the parks, don't look for show schedules, etc. or "check-in" anywhere. I enjoy unplugging and just enjoying the parks. I don't get to do that often.

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

As I've said before we agree about the unplugging at Disney.  We used to leave our phones in the room and not worry about them the whole trip, definitely didn't bring them in the parks but now with MDE we have to bring at least one.

This past trip CP left her's in the room and I carried mine for MDE only.  I didn't look at anything other than MDE and it was great!  There were a few times we wanted to use phones to find each other when we had to split up but we just arranged a meeting place and had no issues.  

I love unplugging and I'm leaning towards more trips where I can do so easier, like a cruise.

WBI

[Seals 111]

My kids are older teens now so we were slightly on the backside of the cell phone thing when they were in elementary school and we were going to WDW every year. Plus I was mean -- no phones until 13 and no real smart phones until 16. They did have Ipods but I didn't allow them to use them much outside of the car and house. Some of our best conversations were when we were waiting in lines for rides.  I remember one Spring Break  pretty much finding out everything that had happened to them at school over the past couple of months. All sorts of funny stories. We'd also people watch and talk about what we'd done.  I miss those days. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

24 minutes ago, WannaBeImagineer said:

 

I love unplugging and I'm leaning towards more trips where I can do so easier, like a cruise.

WBI

wifi is creeping onto the cruise ships.  it's diabolical.  

[Travisma 1,317]

29 minutes ago, WannaBeImagineer said:

As I've said before we agree about the unplugging at Disney.  We used to leave our phones in the room and not worry about them the whole trip, definitely didn't bring them in the parks but now with MDE we have to bring at least one.

This past trip CP left her's in the room and I carried mine for MDE only.  I didn't look at anything other than MDE and it was great!  There were a few times we wanted to use phones to find each other when we had to split up but we just arranged a meeting place and had no issues.  

I love unplugging and I'm leaning towards more trips where I can do so easier, like a cruise.

WBI

I find taking a screenshot of the FP's is the best thing, saves battery without constantly having to check MDE

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

11 minutes ago, Travisma said:

I find taking a screenshot of the FP's is the best thing, saves battery without constantly having to check MDE

I put mine in my Outlook calendar as a meeting notice with a reminder. I have a unique sound for meetings, so I know only to look at the phone for that particular beep. I don't ever turn on MDE in the parks.

 

[slices 16]

14 minutes ago, Travisma said:

I find taking a screenshot of the FP's is the best thing, saves battery without constantly having to check MDE

I tend to use  the touring plans app, less intensive on the battery.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

No the magic is not gone.   

Magic is in your heart and in your imagination  

Maybe you have grown cynical and let the magic die.  Or you've lost that inner child that doesn't see the man behind the curtain. 

Many of us on here and other Disney forums have visited WDW dozens of times over several decades and watched attractions, restaurants, etc. come and go and be changed.  And most of the time it seems like we don't like the changes. But we keep going back. 

Why?

Because we like standing in line for hours, or eating $14 hamburgers ?

No, because it is a magical place were we can spend time with friends and family and escape our every day lives.

Rock and Roll didn't ruin the kids growing up in the 50's & 60's. 

Television didn't fry the minds of kids growing up in the 70's & 80's 

and cell phones have not ruining this generation.   They are a tool. That helps us in our every day lives. It's up to the parents to control how, and how much their children use or abuse the technology. 

So if you think the magic is gone maybe you could try to put on blinders or look at WDW through the eyes of a child.  And hopefully you will find the magic you've lost. 

[keith_h 420]

I do take my phone but it is just a step up from Lou's. It is one of those $10/mo for unlimited calls and text and pay extra if you want data. I've never felt I need to be connected 24/7 so never have bothered buying a data plan. In fact I used to upset my managers before I retired as I never gave them the number and told them I wasn't available when I was on vacation and they would have to wait until I returned. We take the phone to the parks for a couple of reasons. The first deals with my mother who is 88 years old. If there is an emergency she or my sister can reach us. The other is it has a decent camera and is smaller than our camera so is convenient to take to places like WDW where you need to take it in and out a lot.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

6 minutes ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

 

Maybe you have grown cynical and let the magic die.  Or you've lost that inner child that doesn't see the man behind the curtain. 

 

Ray, I don't know how to tell you this...but your inner child is not so inner.