When has the pendulum swung in a positive direction since, say, 1998? Where are the major improvements that offset what has been lost? Off the top of my head… Pandora is better then Camp Minnie Mickey (but not, perhaps, better then Beastly Kingdom) and Everest is great. I think Dwarves and Pooh are nice and Mermaid is unfairly underrated, but it’s a lateral move from Toad, Snow White, and 20,000. I really love MMRR, but it should coexist with GMR. RotR is very good, if overpraised.
But…
The overall experience has declined to a degree unimaginable in the 90s. Capacity has deteriorated to a point that makes the parks, especially MK, a miserable slog. Reservations of all sorts rob any joyful spontaneity from the resort. Menus have shrunk, but that’s less of an issue since most restaurants need to be booked months in advance. EPCOT is a cruel shambles that is worse then it was 30 years ago in every significant respect. The MGM makeover was a cost-cut disappointment and TSL is garbage. Prices are larcenous. Hotels are significantly worse across the board. Service has declined. Entertainment has been slashed everywhere, and much of what remains hasn’t been updated since before Clinton was inaugurated. Festivals are lackluster non-events. There is no indication that Disney intends to fix any of this.
It’s not a pendulum if it only ever swings one way. What, precisely, is the source of optimism for the future? The parks have been broken at a deeply fundamental level for over a decade and a half - what actual evidence indicates that has changed?