The World Report - Jan 4, 2002

The World Report
Page 2 of 4

5. And We Are Staying Where Tonight? In response to very low hotel occupancy, Disney began closing entire wings, then buildings at several resort hotels at the end of the summer. Then September 11 came and cancellations caused Disney to shut more buildings and finally the entire Port Orleans French Quarter. The problem is that someone forgot to tell many of the guests. Many showed up to find that they had been moved to another resort. I have heard from guests staying at Port Orleans Riverside in January that they can't get a straight answer about their accommodations at this time. Add to that the stories of some guests being upgraded to deluxe resorts at no extra charge while at the same time others were moved to resorts that they did not wish to stay in, and you have a real mess at expensive prices.

4. Honey, I Guess We Can Sleep In Today - Early Mornings Cancelled: One of the selling points of staying on property at a WDW Resort. This perk got you into a different park each day earlier than day guests. This perk was also cancelled without any warning to guests. A source in Guest Relations said that they have received more guest complaints over this decision than any other in recent memory.

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Pop Century Resort

3. WOW, Could It Be ANY Uglier? - POP Century Resort: The Value resorts at WDW have always done a great business. But with the All Star Resorts maxed out Disney decided to build a fourth value resort on property. The question on everyone’s mind who has seen the POP Century Resort from the road is "What Were They Thinking?" A truly hideous resort from the outside, it only shows that Disney can have a miss once in a while in it’s resort division. The only saving grace is that it is on permanent hold until business picks up at WDW.

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Sorcerer's Hat

2. Didn’t There Used To Be A Icon There? - Sorcerer’s Hat: So you don’t like the Studios Icon of the Chinese Theater? Hakuna Matata. We will just hide it behind a large Sorcerer’s Hat that is nothing more than a glorified gift shop. This has raised the question of the future of the Great Movie Ride in some peoples minds. Either way, it was first advertised as a temporary structure, but no one refers to it that way anymore, so looks like it is here to stay.

1. Guess There Will Be No More Beautiful Tomorrow’s - Closing of the Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress: Let’s celebrated Walt’s 100 Birthday and WDW’s 30th anniversary by closing a classic attraction. The Carousel of Progress has had more performances than any other stage show having started at the 1964 World‘s Fair and then Disneyland before coming to the Magic Kingdom. In a year when we are celebrating the founder of the company, why would you shut down an attraction that he had personally oversaw? True it is opened for Christmas but is scheduled to be shut again at the beginning of the new year. It’s especially sad when there seems to be nothing planned for the Carousel theater that requires that the show be closed. Honorable Mention: TimeKeeper closed. Someone out there in management must hate the Tomorrowland’s on both coasts.

Honorable Mention

  • The Rivers Of America: WDW has a dearth of watercraft on the River now that the Keel Boats and the Canoes remain retired.
  • Main Street USA Shopping Mall: What ever happened to the variety of shops on Main Street? I miss the Magic Shop, the Penny Arcade and why did they put a shop in the Fire House?
  • No Money: All future capital projects are cancelled. That means that Mission:Space could be the last new attraction for a while.
  • Disney Has to Give Access (thanks to Wedway100 for this one): It seems that a company is developing property next to Disney near the Caribbean Resort. Only problem with that is the only way to access the property will be thru Disney Property. A defeat for the Mouse.
  • Nahtazu- Want to get people into the Animal Kingdom? This was Nahta-ad to do that with!
  • Powered Soap Disappears: Another Disney Classic takes a powder.