Disney World Magic Kingdom Overcrowded Nightmare, Dangerous to bring small children...go figure! Orlando Florida

The following is an email I have written to Disney with no response as of yet...

<<<[ I recently had an unpleasant experience at Disney World Magic Kingdom, on Monday, March 24th 2008.

To begin with, this was my fifth time at disney theme parks and i was expecting some improvements on the classic rides, but instead i was in fact, very disappointed.

The Pirates of the Carribean ride used to be a fav, but on this visit, it was very dark, some of the portions of the ride were not lit at all and the supposed upgrades were merely the addition of Jack Sparrow shown speaking in three places, none of which could be understood audibly. As well, i also remember the ride being a lil longer. it seemed very short, probably mostly due to the darkened portions. This was verified by my wife, who grew up outside of Orlando and has been to Disney about 20 times. I mean ......come on.... this is DISNEY we are talkin about, you can and have done much much better.

The second low blow came with the trip through the Haunted Mansion. Once again, way darker than i remember, some parts were not lit at all, but the scenes i am used to seeing from previous visits were merely non-moving character shadows. The supposed "enhancements" here were a very cheap neon paint job applied to a few characters and left me wondering, "what gives?".....once again.....YOU ARE DISNEY!!!!......COME ON!!!

As we proceeded on, it only got worse. My wife and i brought our four month old daughter, watched by grandma and grandpa while we rode the rides. It was nice that there was a baby station located in the park but each time we had to make a stop to feed her, we found ourselves traveling across the entire park to locate the station again. It would have been just a lil more convenient to have one at each end of the park.

Another irritation, which grows with each trip: I have been to disney five times in my life and have yet to ride Space Mountain. the wait times just seem to get longer and longer and i wind up missing it every time because i want to see so much more of the park in "80 minutes" rather than wait on ONE ride! And, judging by what i've seen this time, i really don't want to get my expectations built up for so long only to be disappointed by cheap design, once again. At this point, i'm not so sure that i have missed anything at all.

Now, onto the worst part of all.
Leaving the park turned out to be a nightmare on this "fascade of a million dreams". As we began to make our way out of tomorrowland, at 8:45pm, we were increasingly blocked in by the growing crowds awaiting the nightly parades. we tried to go around the traffic jams and searched for other exit routes but were only left confused and more frustrated by the park employees, who instructed us toward an unmarked exit. Once we found this exit, along with a large group of lost people, led by an employee, we thought we were home free. Shortly we found ourselves directed right back into the park and back into the crowds that "BLOCKED" the exits.
Now, to add to this, there were actually people who were still coming in to the park at, by this time 10pm. This was very absurd and should really be changed to allow only the people already in the park to stay so late. Keeping ticket lines open past 8pm, especially when the parades start at 9pm, is the creative idea of a mad man.
There was now 3 different flows of traffic surrounding the exit. 1) the people who wanted to leave 2) the people who wanted to get in and 3) the people who didn't care who they were blocking just so they could see the parade. It was very frustrating and a lil scary trying to push our baby in a stroller through that crowd. People were pushing us out of the way, bumping and moving our sleeping baby, frightening her and enraging me. I had finally had enough of standing still and getting shoved out of the way with a baby stroller in my hands, and took it upon myself to be a well needed voice of direction. With a parental courage i shouted at the crowds to move forward if they wished to watch the parade and to move to the back if they wished to get in, thereby opening a passage for all weary parents who wished to get their children out of the park safely. The praise i got from the surprised yet thankful parents, was enough to suppress the rage that had grown inside me while thinking about the safety of my lil girl. When you have that many people, in tight spaces, trying to go 3 different directions, it is a breeding ground for violent behaviour, especially among tired parents with screaming kids and something really should be done before a catastrophe breaks out.

I'm sure it would not be at all profitable as well as scary, to see Disney World on, "When Crowds Go Wild #10". You would really be in deep trouble if i had been a theme park critic or a secret shopper. Thankfully, none of us were harmed but the fact that my 4 month old daughter very well could have been, is a very unsettling feeling and has left a bad taste in my mouth for Disney's Magic Kingdom.

I feel that we were robbed of what could have a been a magical experience and justifiably feel that I should be compensated for all of our troubles. Your attention to this matter in a prompt and professional manner would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely ]>>>

If anyone reading this post happened to be there at time and date, please contact me and let me know if you have had any luck getting a response on this issue. Disney World is supposed to be for kids of ALL ages, EVEN BIG KIDS. It didnt use to be this way and should never have been let go so bad. Walt Disney would be turning in his grave if he could see what's become of his dream.
It saddens and angers me to have to say this about Disneyworld, but "IF YOU HAVE SMALL KIDS, OR ARE A BIG KID HOPING TO EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC OF DISNEY, DO NOT GO TO MAGIC KINGDOM!" Save your money for something better.

Dan
Roanoke, Virginia