Changes I’d Like to See at Disney World

Each year, The Walt Disney Company does an exceptional job of perfecting its theme parks.

Recently, we’ve witnessed improved seating, new additions like CommuniCore Hall & Plaza, and updates for older attractions.

Still, there are still some updates I hope the company makes.

Here are some changes I’d like to see at Disney.

Better Seating and Shade

We’re witnessing some of this change right now at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Disney has upgraded the shade and seating at its wildly popular restaurant, Woody’s Lunch Box.

This move corrects a past sin at the park. During Bob Chapek’s tenure as Chairman of Disney’s parks division, he cut corners.

With Hollywood Studios constructing two themed lands simultaneously, Chapek chopped the budget at Toy Story Land.

The outcome of that decision was that the new area lacked shade when it opened, causing numerous complaints.

That’s an ongoing issue across Disney theme parks. The past three years have been historically hot.

So, guests have noticed the lack of shade more than usual.

Simultaneously, longtime Disney guests have altered their park behavior a bit.

Many would prefer to sit down and soak up the atmosphere rather than rush to the next experience.

While Disney has accommodated these guests with rest spots like the new area at World Celebration Gardens, more are needed.

While Disney’s progress in adding more seating and shade is commendable, it’s not quite enough yet.

Every park could use more of these areas where guests can sit down and savor their Disney visit.

More Indoor Experiences

Why do the parks need more shade? Well, the reality is that the world’s gotten hotter lately.

Maybe this is just bad luck, but meteorologists have recorded the hottest day on record multiple times over the past two years.

Unrelenting heat waves have become more of a thing in the 2020s.

When Florida and California suffer through these temperature surges, tourists flock indoors.

This behavior causes bottlenecks in and around popular indoor attractions.

What’s the solution to spreading traffic more evenly? Disney needs to create more indoor experiences.

Importantly, these offerings don’t need to be exclusively Disney rides and shows, which can be expensive to create.

Character greetings and interactive offerings like games are just as useful in appealing to tourists.

To its credit, Disney appears aware of the need. Several recently announced projects will take place indoors.

The Coco boat ride, Monstropolis roller coaster, and Stark Flight Lab at Avengers Campus are all indoor attractions.

In combination with more indoor character greetings and options like pop-up shops and food booths, that’s the right approach.

Expanding the Disney Skyliner

When the Disney Skyliner debuted in 2019, analysts were all over the place with their evaluations.

Some swore that the transportation system was a terrible idea.

Others indicated that the crash during the Skyliner’s opening week was the first of many to come.

Still more believed that the gondola system had revolutionized Disney transportation. They wanted and expected more.

Even before the Skyliner debuted, plans leaked online of the planned expansion routes.

Yes, six years ago, Disney had already come up with a plan to blanket the Disney World campus with sky-bound gondolas.

Alas, less than six months later, the pandemic occurred, with Disney entering its worst five-year period ever.

Disney vastly reduced its capital expenditures at the parks. All potential Skyliner projects entered a state of purgatory.

In late 2023, Disney officials filed the paperwork for theme park expansion, committing $60 billion to improvements.

Since then, park officials have indicated that part of that $60 billion will go toward infrastructure and logistics, as it should.

Now seems like the perfect opportunity to expand the Disney Skyliner to include places like Disney Springs and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Destination D23, Walt Disney World’s major D23 event, will take place in late August.

This event strikes me as the perfect opportunity to announce and commit to full-throated Disney Skyliner expansion.

While I love the monorails the way that only a small child should, the fading global popularity of this system makes it a bad bet.

No, monorails aren’t going anywhere, but unless Disney wants to buy a manufacturing facility, which I doubt, they’re not feasible for expansion.

Disney’s transportation future resides in the skies above Orlando.

Bring Back Stitch!

Here’s an idea I never expected to mention, but timing is everything in theme park design.

In early 2018, Magic Kingdom quietly closed Stitch’s Great Escape!, which frankly seemed like a mercy killing.

Generally, whenever something closes at a Disney theme park, an outcry occurs as saddened fans express their grief.

Stitch’s Great Escape! didn’t receive much of that behavior because even diehard fans of the character knew the truth.

The attraction simply wasn’t good enough. Disney had replaced the brilliant ExtraTERRORestrial Encounter with an inferior copy.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Disney insiders awaited the announcement of the replacement.

At the time, it was an open secret that an augmented reality attraction based on Wreck-It Ralph would take over the space.

Once again, the pandemic wrecked those plans, though, which is supposed to be Ralph’s job. So, we never got the replacement.

Now, Disney has prepared a Lilo & Stitch live-action remake, which is showing signs of being a mega-blockbuster movie.

Fans still love Stitch and would HAPPILY visit a Stitch attraction at Magic Kingdom. And the building remains empty.

So, Disney should go back to the drawing board and figure out a superior Stitch experience for this same space.

Frankly, the lack of a Stitch attraction is one of the biggest oversights at Disney’s American theme parks.

Let’s fix that, Disney! The timing is ideal for the return of Stitch to the former Stitch’s Great Escape building.

Fix Figment

I’m going to keep banging on this drum until Disney officials get tinnitus.

During every EPCOT festival, Disney fans loudly and lucratively display their love of all things Figment.

Give us a Figment Lug bag or spirit jersey or popcorn bucket. We will do ANYTHING to own it.

Seriously, have you ever heard of anything like people waiting seven or eight hours for a popcorn bucket? Who does that?!

The answer is Figment fans, as that’s how much we love the character.

Despite this fact, Disney continues to operate a subpar Figment attraction at the Imagination! pavilion. I’ll never understand it.

Now that I think about it, this situation is analogous to Stitch’s Great Escape! in that Stitch merchandise flies off the shelves.

Why, then, did the ride fail? Everyone knew it wasn’t very good.

Similarly, why aren’t there longer lines for the ride starring EPCOT’s most beloved character?

Everyone knows the ride isn’t very good. With a simple reboot of Journey into Imagination, Disney could fundamentally alter the park.

Remember how I just requested more indoor experiences? Another situation is to improve the weak ones we have.

Disney recently adopted this approach with Country Bear Musical Jamboree, reinvigorating the space, and will soon do the same at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.

Imagine how much different EPCOT park behavior would be if more people wanted to go to the Imagination! pavilion!

That’s reason enough to try to fix Figment. It’d give tourists another high-quality indoor ride option at EPCOT.

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