Disney has been a major hit over the years by making parks, movies and entertainment but do you think they will keep up their reputation for much longer in the future?

simple answer: yes

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ThrillNetwork Moderator
The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

I'd say so. They will only get bigger and better of the years.

Not only are they building new parks 100 million dollar attractions but their even constructing a 3rd ship for the cruise line.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
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#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

The parks will always be a hit, its the one place I think most people say they would like to visit. I know my 1st visit to a Disney park was fantastic.

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Yes, though I imagine it will be a different company 50 years from now just as it is different now from what it was 50 years ago.

Of course, IMO the "golden days" of Disney are long gone, but the company will continue to grow and prosper at what it does.

Disney's not going anywhere in any of our lifetimes i can bet. Disney is one of the biggest if not the biggest company in the world. I though i heard somewhere that they were a multi trillion dollar company.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
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#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

Disney will always be here that all I have to say.

For theme parks, yes.

For animation, I don' know. Their movies have just fallen in quality so much over the past 10 years.

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Well, even their theme parks are losing the steam and impact they once had. From what I hear, attendance has been down lately. Perhaps people are sick of tired old out of date rides and want something new. Or, they are sick of Disney's lame movies that seem to lower in quality a little more each year, all while Disney markets the hell out of them and still creates some attraction based on them at the parks, sometimes while taking out a classic attraction to do so.

They're not going anywhere, but the parks need a little work... the movies need a lot.

It's funny that I say this and I am going to work at WDW in January.

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Disney movies- going down
Disney parks- going down as a whole with non-thrilling, well-themed rides (and terrible safety records-they are not the manufacturer for their rides, whether they think so or not (see California Screamin)). EE looks to be thrilling and well-themed though.

I never really have liked Disney, but what can you say, they are massive in the amusement industry.

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Tests revealed that among different photographs of cultural pop icons in history shown to children in the age group of I believe was 3-6 (including Jesus, Santa Claus, Ronald McDonald, Michael Jackson, George W. Bush), Mickey Mouse and its affiliation to the Disney brand was ranked one of the top 3 most familiar with children.

Yeah.

Disney ain't goin' [i]nowhere[/i].

[quote=willski2002]Disney parks- going down as a whole with non-thrilling, well-themed rides [/quote]

Disney's whole perspective is not to build thrilling rides for all ages like you probably want. Disney is a family company, meaning they will mostly build rides that can be enjoyed as a family, and an occasional thrill ride here and there. So basically, Disney's main objective isn't to please coaster lovers, they want to please the average family out there, keeping kids in mind.

They might seem like they are going down to you because of the lack of thrill rides, but its not like people have stopped coming to Disney. It was swamped this weekend when I went, in the offseason. Sure they are having some problems with Hong Kong, and some bad ones at that, but just give it some time.

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Disneyland is seeing record-breaking attendance right now. Even now (off-season) they're having to close the park because they're at capacity.

As for the parks themselves, there seem to be two different schools of thought within Disney. What's dominated the parks the last few years is the theory that the Disney name alone will sell the parks, so they could skimp on the rides and themeing (save a ton of money), and really move merchandise. The established parks have made more money in the short-term, but the new parks (DCA and DAK) have suffered from severe budget cuts. Now they're playing catch-up to get those parks up to the original estimated attendance levels.

However, Disneyland has abandoned this theory and has gone back to Disneyland's roots, which is centered around the attractions. The current management of the Disneyland Resort know that what makes the Disney name, and what brings people to the parks, is the experience, the rides. Yes, they're spending A LOT of money, but look at how it has paid off, astronomical attendence for what is usually a very slow time of year, and bringing in a proportional revenue.

Hopefully, the new changes within the top levels of Disney (Iger, and the new parks comittee) will recognize this and remember why the Diusney name is so recognized in the first place.

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How's this for school? Walt Disney World. Yep, you read that right. I'm here from 8/23/04 to 1/03/05 working in Fantasyland, and sometimes Tommorowland.

Of course, Disneyland's Golden Anniversary and all the hype and marketing surrounding it may have something to do with those huge numbers as well..

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2008 - Tennessee Tornado Crew

Happy 10th Anniversary to the coaster that started it all- Tennessee Tornado!

It's funny, only three parks in Southern California have had to deal with ridiculous crowds - one of which is Disneyland ([URL="http://www.rollercoasterpro.com/updates/dlr11.14.05/IMG_1300.jpg"]11/14/2005[/URL]), the second, the obvious Disney's California Adventure ([URL="http://www.rollercoasterpro.com/updates/dlr11.14.05/IMG_1304.shtml"]11/14/2005[/URL]) and Six Flags Magic Mountain ([URL="http://www.themeparkreview.com/sfmmnew06/sfmm11_12_5.jpg"]11/12/2005[/URL]). Knott's, Universal Studios have been "meh." I suppose Knott's lower-volume crowds are attributed to that practically everybody and their mom in California went to the park for the Halloween Haunt event, thus, nobody feels a return trip so quickly is warranted.

Park wise, I think Disney is going to maintain its reputation. The theme parks have, overall, only gotten better since 1955 and I see no reason to suspect they're going down. With Disney's aggressive growth plan in the Far East, I think the company's parks will be around a while.
In terms of the movies, I think they'll stick around too. I am pretty peeved at Disney for giving up on cel animation when the problem wasn't the animation technique, but the stories. However, the film business is a little more difficult to predict, but I don't see any reason why Disney won't be around in another 50 years. Yes, Disney's golden age of cel animation is gone, but who knows, they might foster the golden age of CG animation. It's hard to tell.

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[QUOTE=CoasterJunkie]Disneyland is seeing record-breaking attendance right now. Even now (off-season) they're having to close the park because they're at capacity.
[/QUOTE]

Thank you for pointing that out. I'm trying to figure out where those that said they're having decling attendance are getting that info from when they've been setting records on attendance all accross the board. Even DCA, contrary to what that aged mice guys says, has been having higher attendance (and what other park wouldn't kill for DCA's attendance numbers anyways?)

Sure, some if it might be marketing hype, but that's exactly what the marketing is for. And under Matt Ouimet (sorry, don't remember how to spell his name) Disneyland is being brought back to it's former glory- and very nicely I might add. Add in the other attractions...

Over the long run, yes Disney is going to continue to do well with it's parks. And to set the standards that all other parks are compared to- just as they are now.

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[QUOTE=Aaron]Park wise, I think Disney is going to maintain its reputation. The theme parks have, overall, only gotten better since 1955 and I see no reason to suspect they're going down.[/QUOTE]

Kind of interesting, I've been visiting WDW for nearly 20 years, I'd say that the place has gone down hill over time.

Sure, it's 10X larger, but IMO customer service is no where near as good as it use to be, and that goes for the general upkeep of the parks as well. It's still steps above the average theme park though...

The last new Disney rides that truly felt like Disney rides (with the "Disney magic" or whatever you want to call it) for me were Splash Mountain and the Tower of Terror. Not that Test Track, Rockin' Roller Coaster, Mission Space, etc aren't great, but they just seem to lack the spirit that the older rides have.

I feel that Universal has what Disney lost around 10 years ago as far as new attractions go.

Anyway, like I said earlier, I'm sure Disney will remain king in the world of theme parks indefinitely.

It was reported a few days ago in the Orlando Sentinel that profits are down 24%. I don't remember if it was for this whole year, or quarter.

Dukeis#1, I agree with you on the trend WDW is seeing right now. They're still operating under the "make money NOW" philosophy. It's especially noticable in how much space is now dedicated to merchandise, which is generaly going up.

DisneyLAND, on the other hand, is doing the opposite right now. They're spending like crazy to get the park looking great, to bring in a new parade and fireworks show, to make the parks look brand new, to bring in new rides and to bring back rides (Submarine Voyage for sure, Peoplemover is rumored to be next) that were closed because, "they cost too much to run." Disneyland has also taken space AWAY from merchandise, as with their new Buzz Lightyear Astro-Blasters attraction.

Disneyland is also making comebacks in the Guest Service area too. They're throwing out the lack of rules, regulations, and lack of enforcement from the last 10 years, and now they're hurting because what CM's used to be able to get away with, now get them fired. In the last few months, Disneyland has terminated a ton of CM's (not sure of exact numbers). Unfortunatly, they can't attract people to fill those spots because the potential CM's could make more money working at a fast food joint, than at Disneyland.

Sir Willow, you did spell his name right! :) And yes, DCA isn't as bad off as a lot of people say, but they're definetly NOT in a good position, especially in Disney-terms. You know a park is not doing well when the largest crowd that park has ever seen was the line for it's sister park.

On July 17, 2005 (Disneyland's 50th birthday), DCA saw 20,000 people in it's gates, the largest crowd EVER for DCA. Unfortunatly, that was at 6:00am, before DCA opened, and was the line to get into Disneyland for the 50th birthday. If DCA wasn't a Disney park, then it would be looking like it's doing a lot better. However, as theis thread shows, DIsney parks are held to a higher standard, which DCA does not meet currently meet. I have no doubt that, under the current management at the Disneyland Resort, that DCA could be brought up to those Disney-standards.

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How's this for school? Walt Disney World. Yep, you read that right. I'm here from 8/23/04 to 1/03/05 working in Fantasyland, and sometimes Tommorowland.

T think Disney is slowly drifting away from Walt Disney's original idea of fantasy and fun for everyone.

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[QUOTE=sfmmLOVER]T think Disney is slowly drifting away from Walt Disney's original idea of fantasy and fun for everyone.[/QUOTE]
Um, how so?
All of the Disney parks still put you into a fantasy type of world when you're there just by the whole atmosphere around. And last time I checked parents still take their younge ones there and on the rides, so it looks like it's still fun for everyone.
I dont Dinsey ever putting in huge extreme rides, they've been doind just fine without them.

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ThrillNetwork Moderator
The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

Walt also said the parks would never be finished and constantly changing. Yeah there are more thrill rides which split up families, but at the same time, the families don't have to goto four different places for 4 different family members.

Let's also remember that Walt didn't just want someplace for familys to have fun together. He also wanted a safe, clean atmosphere and a competent and courteous staff, which was missing at the time. Disney still excels in those areas, but has declined some, and is now starting to come back in those areas.

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How's this for school? Walt Disney World. Yep, you read that right. I'm here from 8/23/04 to 1/03/05 working in Fantasyland, and sometimes Tommorowland.