Walt Disney World is starting a new development cycle, investing $17 billion of spending on new lands, rides and more between now and 2035. We’re going to get a lot of new attractions and entertainment in the next 5 years. Given that, it should be an exciting time to be a WDW fan. And in part, it is!
Between what’s on the horizon in 2025 and beyond, and changes this year to finally roll-back reopening policies and improve the guest experience, things have gotten better in important and noticeable ways. Crowds are down! Discounts are up! Universal is opening a new park in 2025, and fans–regardless of whether they’ll visit–are beneficiaries of increased competition! There are reasons for optimism.
So why does it feel like a case of “two steps forward, one step backwards” (feel free to swap those numbers) with just about every decision Walt Disney World makes? If there’s been a theme to this year’s biggest news, it’s that every announcement that should have us excited comes with a catch. There have been some truly terrible decisions, some of which will irrevocably alter the character, charm, and personality of Walt Disney World. That’s why the flagship Festivus 2024 post “Airing our Grievances” focuses not on these truly terrible decisions made in the last year (or so) by Walt Disney World and corporate leadership…
This is a companion piece, of sorts, to our Top 10 Guest Complaints About Walt Disney World. That’s been updated for Festivus 2024 with a few changes as your grievances about certain problems have been resolved or heightened, as the case may be. For this list, we wanted a bunch of fresh problems–instead of just rehashing complaints about Disney’s Magical Express or paid FastPass for the thousandth time.
The good (?) news is that Walt Disney World gifted us with plenty to talk about, as there have been no shortage of misguided decisions recently. As with the rest of the Festivus “Airing of Grievances” posts, I feel compelled to preface this with a warning that this isn’t pertinent to planning, helpful, or uplifting. All of that should be obvious from the title, but the point is that you shouldn’t read this if you’re looking for feel good stories and uplifting news this holiday season. I can certainly respect that, and we have hundreds of other posts like that.
This one is for the inner Frank Costanza that resides in us all (probably) and takes issue with some of the dubious decisions Walt Disney World has made lately. But enough with the yada yada yada..ing–let’s dig into the list!
Replacing Rivers of America
No one goes to Tom Sawyer Island and few fans regularly ride the Liberty Square Riverboat. Let’s just stipulate that up front, as some defenders of this decision use that as a “gotcha” for justifying the awful idea. So what?! Should Walt Disney World convert the trails at Animal Kingdom to stroller parking? Perhaps it’s time to get rid of every World Showcase pavilion, replacing them with roller coasters. Cinderella Castle is kinda pointless–more people would go to a Spirit Jersey shop.
This is obvious absurd, and should be rightly pointed out as such. But it’s precisely this line of thinking that justifies removing the Rivers of America as “underutilized” capacity or space. What ever happened to the Blessing of Size? That’s the whole reason why Walt Disney bought so much land for his Florida Project. To provide beauty and breathing room and fix the faults with Disneyland, which is a lovely little park, but lacks that key asset of Walt Disney World.
As discussed at length in the commentary to our post about Cars Land Replacing Rivers of America, this waterway in is part of the heart of Magic Kingdom and not just for the guests who actively utilize these attractions. The Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island offer serenity and delightful atmosphere even to guests who simply walk along the waterfront promenade, stopping for a moment to catch their breath and take in the view.
Theme parks are not just the sum of their ride rosters, to be raced around and checked off one by one. They are as much defined by the spaces in between; by the absence of attractions, too. Sometimes Disney’s decision-makers view the parks as figures on a spreadsheet, and from that perspective, it’s easy to overlook “underutilized” things like the Rivers of America that are incredibly important to the Walt Disney World experience from a holistic perspective.
We only wish they realized this before it’s too late because circa-2024 managers didn’t create this asset or its hard-earned goodwill from the last 50-plus years. They certainly don’t know better than Walt Disney and those who did build the Vacation Kingdom.
Dinosaurs Going Extinct
Walt Disney World fans will debate the demise of Dinoland and Dino-Rama for decades to come. Fans are already upset about losing DINOSAUR, which I actually think is the one part of this decision that actually will age well given the superiority of Indiana Jones Adventure. I also suspect that, over time, fondness will form around Dinoland as a whole–fans will miss the extinct area even more when looking back through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia.
The thing is…these folks are sorta right! Scientifically speaking, dinosaurs are the awesomest animal of all-time, edging out hammerhead sharks and the T-800. There are dozens of slam dunk ideas involving dinosaurs in theme parks that would’ve been wondrous to behold. None of them have happened or will happen, which is truly a shame.
With that said, Dino-Rama, as it actually existed, sucked. There’s no two ways about it. Dino-Rama was awful, and not up to Disney’s high standards. This will undoubtedly be a massive upgrade as compared to what was there before. As a lover of dinosaurs, I would’ve loved to have a ride and land with the quality of Indiana Jones Adventure and what Tropical Americas appears to be. But that’s not what we got, and as such, Dinoland and Dino-Rama are ripe for replacement.
I will shed no tears over these lands closing, but I will about dinosaurs (lower case “d”) losing their lone land at Walt Disney World. I hope sometime down the road, Disney gives Imagineering the budget and freedom to create a dinosaur land that really wows. Jurassic Park and Universal don’t have a monopoly on the concept. Imagineers could create an original theme park IP with dinosaurs that knocks our collective socks off.
Ending MuppetVision 3D
The last in what I’d call a trifecta of dubious decisions that took a jam-packed slate of D23 Expo announcements and soured sentiment pretty quickly. Prior to that big event, fans were skeptical of news after being burned one too many times about announcements not coming to fruition. Ironically enough, many of us are now hoping against hope that history will repeat itself, and Disney will cancel its plans–or outside forces will intervene.
After months of waiting and speculating, Walt Disney World finally announced that MuppetVision 3D is closing to make way for the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster and Monstropolis. As an olive branch to fans, the company also announced that the Muppets are taking over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and replacing Aerosmith.
For many Muppets and Walt Disney World enthusiasts, this wasn’t enough. MuppetVision 3D is essentially the last legacy of Jim Henson, and when people (like me) say it’s culturally significant and should be treated as such, we aren’t kidding. MuppetVision 3D is a prime example of theme parks as art and national heritage. Equally as important, MuppetVision 3D still holds up to this day, much like Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean. I’d argue that it’s aged better than the much newer Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.
What makes this decision all the more terrible is that it didn’t have to happen. Not because Walt Disney World should build Monstropolis in Animation Courtyard, as I do think the unannounced future plans for that parcel might be worth the wait. But because Monstropolis is going to have a “Monstro Theater” in the same space as MuppetVision.
Disney is no stranger to framing devices to skirt thematic inconsistencies (Laugh Floor uses one!), and it’d be so easy to make up some stupid backstory to justify the “Monsters inviting the Muppets into their world to get laughs and generate power” or some nonsense. Whatever this new Monsters, Inc. show will be, it’s hard to imagine it lives up to MuppetVision.
“Blessing of Size” Blasphemy
This ties into the previous several entries, but is its own distinct terrible decision or direction. The biggest issue at the core of the above is that management has chosen redevelopment instead of actual expansion. Walt Disney World has the “Blessing of Size,” but despite that, the company seems dead-set on redeveloping a limited area of land that’s mostly inside the existing footprints of the parks. (Seriously, does Burbank leadership think they’re making these decisions for Disneyland? That would explain a lot!)
Admittedly, there are some scenarios where this approach makes sense. And I certainly understand and appreciate the practical realities of infrastructure and staffing costs, and how Disney can stretch budgets further if it redevelops areas instead of engages in nothing but expansion. After all, this has been a core thesis behind our long-time assertion that a 5th Theme Park Will NOT Be Built at Walt Disney World in the Next Decade. (It should now be painfully obvious to everyone why we’re right about this.)
This is evident not just in the upcoming attractions and lands, but also in resort development. Now that it’s done, can anyone in the “wait and see” camp honestly argue that the Island Tower at the Polynesian fits the Seven Seas Lagoon skyline? Do we really think Reflections Lakeshore Lodge is going to look okay next to Fort Wilderness? (I was just there–it already doesn’t, and it’s only a couple stories tall!) These resorts are or will be perfectly lovely on the inside, but that’s not all that counts. Why not put them on their own larger parcels elsewhere on Walt Disney World’s expansive property?!
The bottom line is that there’s a healthy middle ground between over-expansion into a fifth gate and doing nothing but reimaginings and redevelopments. Walt Disney World’s approach is way too conservative and strikes us as myopic and short-sighted, and a mistake in light of what’s sure to be increased competition from Universal Orlando. And not just with Epic Universe, but as Comcast turns its attentions towards the legacy gates and making Universal a bona-fide multi-day destination that draws more tourists to the Sunshine State.
Nothing at Night in Animal Kingdom
Speaking of Universal, we’ve repeatedly said that Animal Kingdom is going to be hit hardest when Epic Universe opens. The park is in urgent need for additions (and has been for the last few years), and there’s a good chance that the other parks start cannibalizing Animal Kingdom attendance until that happens.
This is precisely why Tropical Americas is coming to Animal Kingdom, and is the first big project of the next development cycle. That’ll give DAK a shot in the arm, and help revitalize the flailing park. But it won’t open until 2027. In the meantime, Animal Kingdom needs something to draw guests to the park–and keep them there in afternoons and evenings.
With nighttime entertainment “fixed” at the other parks, this year should’ve been the year that Animal Kingdom finally got a (much-belated) Rivers of Light replacement. It did not, and the park continues to close before nighttime most of the year. Our hope is that this finally changes in 2025–a drone show at Animal Kingdom would solve a lot of problems. It could be the ace up Disney’s sleeve that gives them majorly marketable entertainment for 2025.
Weaker Seasonal Events
This isn’t exclusively a terrible decision that was made this year. It’s been a series of decisions set in motion over a decade ago. Would anyone really claim with a straight face that Walt Disney World’s seasonal events have gotten better during that stretch? The list of things that have gone missing is long, and the only real counterpoint is the exceptional EPCOT Festival of the Arts.
Each existing seasonal event has gotten worse during that timeframe. Christmas is a prime example, with the obvious losses of things like the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights and the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights (and before that, the Lights of Winter). But it’s not just big things that are missing. Decorations used to be more abundant in the parks, restaurants used to have their own overlays, and more.
What really sealed this entry’s inclusion, though, is the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. This year should’ve been the park’s coming out party, with walls finally coming down, CommuniCore Hall opening, and–presumably–elements of that festival that have been missing since 2019 finally returning. Not only did that not happen, but we got re-microwaved leftovers for the limited slate of decorations, which have been the same for the last 5 years. Well, not completely. Now there’s fewer of them!
DAS Drama
Let’s be clear: DAS needed to be overhauled. It was being misused and abused, with an unsustainably high percentage of park guests using it. That made the guest experience worse for everyone else, and that includes disabled guests who legitimately need Disability Access Service or other accommodations.
Walt Disney World has publicly stated that DAS usage has tripled since 2019. Independent of that, we received credible reports pre-policy changes that the majority of Lightning Lane usage was not paid, but rather, Disability Access Services. This comes as the prevalence of diagnosed disabilities, especially among children, has increased dramatically in the last several years. The changes to the program have had positive cascading effects on standby lines and Lightning Lanes that we’re still monitoring some 6 months later.
With all of that said, the way Disney went about the DAS changes leaves a bad taste in my mouth. According to Walt Disney World, “DAS is intended to accommodate a small percentage of guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.” This line (or a variation thereof) can be found repeatedly throughout Walt Disney World’s new DAS resources.
Even so, many guests who should qualify for DAS have been denied accommodations. Others have reported inappropriate questioning or being treated inhumanely. There have been countless stories of DAS denials that have gone viral on social media, racking up millions of views in the process. And for good reason, as they’re heartbreaking and at-odds with what you’d expect given Disney’s once-sterling reputation for guest service and accommodations. It seems like Disney’s starting point was dramatically reducing DAS issuances, and by whatever means necessary to hit that target.
Honestly, I don’t know what the answer is. I do know that DAS was abused before and the status quo was unsustainable. Something had to give. But it sure feels like the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, with the outcome being distinctly un-Disney and untenable. That’s why this decision, at least in execution, was a terrible one.
Lightning Lane Rollout
For three years, Genie+ was one of the top complaints from Walt Disney World fans. Make no mistake, eliminating free FastPass and replacing it with a paid option was always going to be controversial. It just didn’t have to be this bad. Sort of like ending Disney’s Magical Express was worse than charging for the same service would’ve been.
One thing that this year underscored was just how badly Disney bungled the initial rollout of Genie+ back in 2021. This is because, by contrast, the launch of Lightning Lane Multi-Pass was smooth sailing. That’s probably partly due to fans already getting the outrage out of their systems over the prior few years. That isn’t it entirely, though. Lightning Lane Multi-Pass offers a much better user experience and was not glitchy when it debuted. It just works.
It also closely replicates what FastPass+ offered much more closely than Genie+ did. That continuity alone would’ve assuaged some concerns. I’m not naive enough to think the fan response would’ve been positive had Lightning Lane Multi-Pass launched back in 2021, but it definitely would’ve been better. A big issue, and one that kept fan frustrations fresh in mind, was that Genie+ was constantly changing for its first ~18 months since the half-baked product was rushed to market.
Of course, most of that’s in the past…and 2024 was simply a reminder of Disney’s terrible decision with the Genie+ rollout. But there was arguably a similar mistake in launching Lightning Lane Premier Pass months after Multi-Pass. This led to confusion and undue outrage, much of which could’ve been avoided by unveiling both at the same time and fully communicating to guests what Premier Pass is and isn’t.
CommuniCore Hall
I hated CommuniCore Hall before it was cool. From the moment it was announced, this looked uninspired and felt to me like a shortsighted mistake not to build the original multi-story festival center. That space had plenty of room for activities, not to mention special events, dessert parties, and private parties. It could’ve been upcharge central, paying for itself in no time at all. Critically from the average guest’s perspective, it looked a heckuva lot nicer than what got built.
As always, I was open to be proven wrong and pleasantly surprised. Sadly, I was not. CommuniCore Hall is sad and about as inspired as a student union, regional airport, or mid-sized city convention space. There’s nothing about it that’s even “Imagineered” and it’s hard to believe anyone at Disney thought this was up to standards. I had nothing to do with it, but I’m embarrassed for them.
Worse yet, it seems like every time the space is put to new use, someone at Disney says, “hold my beer” by trying to find new and innovative ways to put the space to even more pathetic uses. And they’re succeeding! Glittering Grove is laughable, like a closest of Christmas trees, only half of which even work.
The terrible decision here was not just building CommuniCore Hall in the first place (although that was one–albeit a few years ago); it was squandering even the limited potential of the cut-rate festival center. I’m hoping the 2025 EPCOT festivals turn this around…but am not holding my breath.
No Response to Epic Universe
Walt Disney World won’t have any official answer to Epic Universe. You’ve probably heard the proffered reasons for this by now. CEO Bob Iger claims that Epic Universe is really Universal’s answer to Disney, playing catch-up on a decade of nonstop development at Walt Disney World and that the company doesn’t have anxiety about Universal’s third theme park.
During the company’s latest earnings call CFO Hugh Johnston stated that Epic Universe is “Actually Positive” for Walt Disney World Attendance in 2025. That the company has modeled Epic Universe into its projections for Walt Disney World, and based on past precedent and booking projections, Epic Universe will be “beneficial” for Walt Disney World.
Some fans have been really upset about this decision, claiming Universal is going to dethrone Disney. That’s ludicrous, but it doesn’t make Disney’s approach any less of a mistake. The real range of possibilities is a slight decrease to a slight increase in attendance–Walt Disney World is not going to be a huge spike or catastrophic drop. However, not all parks will benefit or be hurt in equal measure. Magic Kingdom is more likely to win, as is Disney’s Hollywood Studios. EPCOT will probably drop, and Animal Kingdom will get hit hard.
Regardless, let’s assume Disney’s theory that a “rising tide lifts all ships” is correct, and Epic Universe will draw more tourists to Orlando, some of whom will also visit Walt Disney World. Why not try to better capitalize on that opportunity? Why not have a marquee entertainment offering in every park, similar to Disney Starlight Night Parade at Magic Kingdom? Why not pull out all the stops for a big event, pulling a page from Summer Nightastic or Year of a Million Dreams? Why not roll out more reimagined rides? Etc. etc.
Walt Disney World will be just fine in the long-term. And as soon as 2027, when the 5-year plan starts bearing fruit in the form of new attractions and lands. But in the meantime, this feels like a misstep–as if they’re being caught flatfooted by a park they’ve known was coming for a long time. Either they’re right about a “rising tide” and they’re failing to take full advantage, or they’re wrong and attendance and occupancy will be hit harder than projected. Neither of those outcomes seems ideal, and neither is inevitable. They could’ve done something, anything.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think are the most dubious decisions made by Walt Disney World in the last year or so? Or do you think corporate leadership is playing 4D chess, and fans simply don’t “get” the decisions, are blinded by nostalgia and rose-colored glasses, etc? Anything else that qualifies as “truly terrible” for you? Feel free to vent in the comments. You won’t change the course of construction and the trajectory of Walt Disney World…but at least it’s therapeutic! Happy Festivus!
