Disney World Continues to Evolve

Walt Disney said of Disneyland "It's something that will never be finished. Something that I can keep developing...and adding to" That philosophy continues in all of the Disney theme parks including and especially Walt Disney World.

Attractions are constantly updated, refurbished, or replaced. It keeps the experience fresh and exciting no matter how many times you've been to a Disney theme park.

Disney doesn't skimp on attractions anymore. For a period of time during Eisner's rein as CEO it was obvious that corners were being cut in some places. This lead to failures in such attractions as the "Rocket Rods" in Disneyland. For that attraction they simply reused the People Mover track and slapped some high speed sleds on the track and called it good. The problem was it never did work right. The ride was fine. I loved it. But it was always down for maintenance and finally closed.

There is no bigger canvas for the theme park Imagineers to paint on than Walt Disney World. With over 27,000 acres of space there is plenty of room to add new theme parks let alone new attractions. Already the resort has four theme parks, two water parks, and a shopping area.

Each theme park in the Walt Disney World resort has its own schedule of updating, retiring, and adding attractions. The Disney World of yesterday is no longer the Disney World of today.

Some of the past attractions that are now only part of history are: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Skyway to Tomorrow land, Alien Encounter, If You Had Wings and Dreamflight, Flight to the Moon, and World of Motion.

Fairly recent attractions include Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom which is a roller coaster ride like no other and Mission Space in EPCOT. Disney keeps testing and improving in order to bring new things to its guests. Sometimes they spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a concept that is not proven. Mission Space is one of those "best guess" efforts that produced a very expensive but mediocre ride.

They don't always get it right, but when they do, it's magic. The new Soarin in EPCOT is a winner. It's a ride first found as "Soarin over California" in Disney's California Adventure theme park next to Disneyland. The guests sit suspended in front of an IMAX type screen while soaring over various scenes and landscapes of California. The feeling is so real that you'd swear your going to get your feet wet as you skim over the water.

What can you look forward to in the future? Who knows. There are rumors that Spaceship Earth in EPCOT will be redone by Siemans. More rumors hint that DisneyQuest, a large gaming area for kids and adults, will close. Perhaps in the future Disney will choose to copy the Indian Jones ride from Disneyland and bring it to Florida.

Whenever you travel to Disney World, be assured there will be something new for you to enjoy and perhaps some old things for you to reminisce about.