Happy 40th EPCOT

[Wayne]

40 years ago on October 1, 1982, I was present on opening day of EPCOT Center. 40 years later, no one at Disney seems to care... unless lame merchandise is considered caring. I guess in this age of Bob Paycheck that's all that we can expect.

I know that Intercot 25 is coming up, but I expected that Intercot would have at least acknowledged the 40th of EPCOT Center. I guess the nails are now being set in the coffin of what I once considered to be THE site for Disney information.

Sad.

[John]

Wayne - we did on social and unfortunately - that's the way things are going. Makes me sad but people don't use websites or discussion boards for connecting anymore - though I really wish they did.

Now a day's we're competing with people that live there and can go to the parks every single day and report that a new trash can has shown up or a light bulb is out. We were never built that way.

All that being said - we're still here. If we hadn't just been though a week of worrying about whether the hurricane might destroy my and my family houses - then there would have been more here - but real life takes precedence. I was there opening year, though not opening day and it was the most exciting thing I had ever seen. Nothing will ever match the original EPCOT.

So, 25 years later, we're still kicking and will be celebrating 11 days from now.

If you want to call us dead, so be it - but we're still here doing the best we can. I mean Wayne - you've been coming here 20 years - you have to understand that stuff changes whether we like it or not...

Thanks for your loyalty all these years. It's greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
John

[1DisneyNut]

I believe there are a few dynamics at play. As John mentioned, people use social media a lot now rather than discussion boards. I don't particularly care for the social media platforms for information because it is hard to dig through to find specific information. Pages and pages of people going on about a picture of a drip of paint that was not cleaned up just isn't my cup of tea.

In my opinion, one of the major reasons we have seen traffic on not just this particular site but pretty much all of the long time Disney discussion boards in general is due to all the changes that have been made over the past several years. Disney has managed to turn off long time visitors so there just isn't that buzz or interest in the parks like there used to be. If you did a survey, I will guarantee you, you will find that long time, regular and frequent visitors to the parks have cut back significantly on their visits. We went from annual pass multiple time visitors, to once a year, to visiting while there for a convention or special event to now we don't even have any plans to visit in the next year or two at all.

It is sad. I hate it. I hate that we don't have all the interesting new great things being introduced at the parks that we are all excited to discuss and go see or experience. That is what drives these discussion boards. The fan base has to be energized and excited to talk about what is new and fun to do. We just don't have that excitement about what is going on with the parks right now. Hopefully, that will change.

[Wayne]

John,
I appreciate all that you have done to provide a place for information on the Disney experience. I've made connections with folks here through the years that have made my visits to Walt Disney World an even better experience for me and my family. And we've had spirited conversations through the years about how Disney has or has not made the guest experience better.

I guess I should not have been surprised that Disney didn't celebrate the 40th of EPCOT since they offered such a dismal recognition of the 50th for the Magic Kingdom and the whole of WDW. I am disappointed in the loss of traffic on the message boards here. And I should have recognized the concerns in the face of Ian... hurricane Ian, not the other Ian ;)

I took out my disappointment on Intercot and I should not have done so. But I do most sorely miss the camaraderie that we had in the heyday of Intercot. Thanks for all that y'all continue to do to keep us informed as you can.

Wayne

[Wayne]

1DisneyNut,
You are right. The changes that have come from the current management team have turned us off. My first visit to Walt Disney World occurred in 1977 when I was in a managerial position at another theme park. Disney set the bar. For the next 15 years, WDW was an at-least yearly vacation site for me since I couldn't go elsewhere and not point out operational failings which would lessen my vacation experiences.

When I first visited Walt Disney World, they were included in the book "In Search of Excellence" that discussed how Disney was (at that time) one of the bet run companies of the era. The respect for the cast members and the emphasis on the guest experience were lifted up as examples of how a well run company should operate. Boy, has that changed. Disney no longer lifts up the cast members and is a company to emulate. They have become an example of exploiting the cast members as they have moved from being an example of how to treat employees as partners in providing an exemplary guest experience to being an example of how to shaft employees in order to drive a bottom line profit for shareholders.

Things have changed drastically since I first started coming here 20 years ago. And the changes have not been for the better.

[John]

Wayne - I know what you're feeling as we're feeling it too here.

Just trying to find a way to stay in the game and relevant. If anyone has idea's, I'm certainly open to it. 25 years is a super long time in the lifecycle of a website, and we do what we can to get the information out - even if it's not in the ways we did it in the past.

[John]

I believe there are a few dynamics at play. As John mentioned, people use social media a lot now rather than discussion boards. I don't particularly care for the social media platforms for information because it is hard to dig through to find specific information. Pages and pages of people going on about a picture of a drip of paint that was not cleaned up just isn't my cup of tea.

My point exactly - that's what's covered and we don't have the staff to do that. Folks associated with INTERCOT have always been volunteers. Other sites have paid staff they can send to the park daily or write content. We've always done this for the love of the parks and Disney - and that used to be the way things were done. Now, sites like AllEars (not run by Deb anymore) post 10x a day. I and the folks associated with ICOT just don't have the bandwidth to do that. We have real life jobs that take precedence.

Anyway - we'll celebrate being here for 25 years soon and hopefully hang around to celebrate again in 5 years - or at least have a "class reunion" ;)