Article and photos by Lilly
Words cannot describe the passion I feel about how important the upkeep of all Disney Parks is to me. I write specifically about Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Then
When I was young I used to walk around the Disney parks in complete amazement at how incredibly spotless the parks always were. No chipping paint, no gum on the ground, not even a candy wrapper could remain on the ground for more than a few seconds before it was whisked away by a smiling custodian.
When I went to high school my friends used to challenge me on this. They didnʼt believe the parks were as spick-and-span as I made them out to be. Finally, Disneyʼs Magic Music Days allowed me the chance to prove all of my friends wrong. I invited them to find chipping paint or trash anywhere. To their astonishment, I was right and I gloated about it the rest of the trip. I felt such a sense of pride, as if the parks were kind of mine
in way.
The most impressive instance I experienced was at Disneyland over the millennium. I remember looking around the parks on New Years Eve in astonishment and horror. The park was at capacity, tens of thousands of people were crammed into every corner of the park and they had trashed the place. After the countdown and fireworks, I saw that in order to get a closer spot to see the fireworks, the crowds had trampled every flower bed in the hub area. Garbage was everywhere: party hats, confetti, popcorn. Not only were the queues destroyed, but the rides themselves had trash and crap thrown everywhere. The mummy chamber in the Temple of the Forbidden Eye had confetti all over, I remember someone had thrown a box of popcorn all over a scene in one of the dark rides. Not only was the park trashed, but it was open until 3am that morning, leaving cast members a mere 6 hours to attempt to get that park looking half way decent before the park reopened at 9:00am the next morning.
I was one of the first to enter the park that day, January 1, 2000. Bright and early at 9:00am, cast members walked us to our favorite attractions. I was overwhelmed when I realized the park not only looked decent, it was sparkling as if the millennium had never happened. The floors were swept and mopped, the flower beds had been completely replanted, and not a kernel of popcorn or spec of confetti could be found anywhere. I
was literally in awe.
That was the last time I had that experience.
Now
Here are a few shots of what the parks look like now. These shots are from Disneyland, but I can assure you I have plenty from Walt Disney World as well.
You may wonder, what happened? How could a company go from being completely meticulous to seemingly careless? Well, the problem really isnʼt a terrible secret. The fact is, it all comes down to money, management and a change of culture.
Money
A well-tenured cast member once told me that they used to completely renovate each park every few years. The last time they did this several years ago, it costed them upwards of 5 million dollars to renovate the Magic Kingdom alone to the extent they had in previous years. Simply put, people high up in the ranks decided it was no longer cost effective to put that much money into the upkeep of the parks.
Management
This is a big one for me. The complete lack of a competent management staff has lead to more problems than just the lack of upkeep. I cannot count the amount of times I have seen cast members assigned to cleaning or maintenance lounging around, taking ridiculously long breaks, or even sleeping on the clock. Not only does management not seem to understand or teach structure and work ethic, but they lack positive reinforcement and encouragement as well. This can easily be seen in the faces of todays cast members.
Change of Culture
More than lack of management or the desire to fund renovation, the lack of culture is what truly prevails as the leading cause of this problem in my mind. I remember speaking with a maintenance cast member I held in high regard one day while walking around the parks before hours. He had been working for Disney 20 plus years and was heavily involved in several park openings around the world. He now worked Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. I had gotten comfortable enough with him that I felt I could truly share my disappointments along with my passion and drive to want to change things. He loved my passion about the parks and the company and had spent many hours explaining to me what features and abilities the attractions used to have
versus what they have now, how things worked, and what maintenance was required for all the attractions he worked on.
On this particular day I was feeling gutsy. I told him I had noticed that he and his coworkers spent so much time taking long brakes and slowly tinkering with things when they knew very well that the park wasnʼt running even close to the maintenance level it should be and I wondered what it would take to get this group of cast members to care again. His answer saddened me deeply. He told me there was a time when he felt as
passionately about the subject as I did. He said he used to come to work with excitement, joy and enthusiasm to work on these amazing attractions. He felt respected and knew how important his job was. However, the past few years had changed him. He told me there are only so many times you can turn to your superiors and tell them what needs to happen and where money needs to go before you realize your thoughts, opinions and years of experience are falling on deaf ears. Itʼs hard to care about something your superiors couldnʼt care less about. It hurt to care and after a while he couldnʼt care anymore. Few of his coworkers had worked there as long as he and the new ones picked up on the apathy quickly. So, it continues downward without anyone to stop this dismal cycle or the deterioration of my beloved parks.
Lilly 
