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[nathalie]

I can't say anything about the hotels, as I have never slept or been in an actual Disney hotels.

Some people are unfortunetly nit-picks, and I'm admitting I am one.
Everybody's own opinion, I think we are allowed to that  

And no, I can't see any difference from 2004/2006 till now for the better, at least, not much.
Everything looked so much brighter back then, and the plants were all so much nicer.
I have however seen that they refurbished the pirate boat, and it did look amazing last month, comparing to 2 years ago when I was there, so yes, I do also notice the things that have been done.

[captain rocket]

I think that some of us are more tolerant than others over the state of the park, if you are an infrequent visitor you may not notice, or even be concerned over the things that us regulars get annoyed about. The facts, however, are that the maintenance of Disneyland Park is poor and the attitude always seems to be let it degenerate until it is in danger of it falling apart and then rebuild it!
It seems to me a ridiculous way to behave, if you carry out regular maintenance, things will last longer and not cost so much to put right. I wonder where the top management actually work and how often they visit the park, surely if they paid regular visits they would notice when things are falling into decline and then order that something is done about it?

[ed-uk]

I would consider myself to be a fairly regular visitor to the parks, once or twice a year I go, but i don't go as often as some of you guys. I do care as much about DLP as the next fan, and I do notice when something has been fixed.
I don't  agree that things are falling into decline, or that the rot really has set in as one poster put it,  especially with all the refurbishments that have been carried out over the last year and so quickly forgotten.  Then DLP came up with Disney Dreams,  probably  the best show  ever produced in a Disney theme park, or any theme park,  it must have cost a fortune. As I said in a previous post when we consider that EuroDisney lost 100,0000 Euros last year, I think they do a good job, how does a company maintain standards when they lose that amount of money,  management costs have been tight. Now that WDC have refinanced EuroDisney's debts, and EuroDisney no longer has to seek appovale from 65 banks before they can do anything, I have more hope for the future regarding maintenance and new rides and attractions, which are equally important to me.
Okay  the park doesn't look brand new anymore like it did when it first opened, and maintenance has proved a challenge at times, but is it reasonable for us to expect that nothing should ever go wrong and break down, and not need time to fix?
However I've  no problem with people pointing out maintenance  issues,  they've  been doing exactly that for as long as I've been visiting Disney forums  for over ten years now, but I come at it from a different angle.

[Josh]

Yeah, I agree with you on that. And by this time next year, we should probably see a difference in how EDSCA deal with service at the parks in general, thanks to the extra cash. (Unless it's only going to be spent on their expansion plan for the WDSP, which is what worries me.)

Josh, the mark Twain is still hidden under that tent so its impossible to tell how far advanced the refurb is.

I was just asking if it was still being refurbed; not how far it is in its refurbishment.

I don't agree with your comment that they understand  the importance of good maintenance, they obviously don't if my photos are any evidence. What they seem to understand is letting things fall apart and then rebuilding them! Look at the Pirate ship if you need a good example of their policies.

Well not the higher-ups. The executives aren't giving maintenance enough of a budget. However, there are a lot of people in the company fighting for refurbs to happen each day. Most guests are first time visitors (or people that haven't visited in over 10 years), so there's no incentive for executives to improve conditions for regular visitors that notice more things.

[Epcot_Boy]

Thorpe Park, you're not seriously suggesting  that Thorpe Park provides better maintenance and themeing  than DLP?
You'll never fined a show as amazing as Dreams  at Thorpe Park.

 :roll: Of course i wasn't  I was being sarcastic.............good grief :shock:  I would never place Thorpe Park above DLP, quite frankly thats a ridiculous suggestion :lol:  
I was making the point, and anybody who has read my posts over the years would know how much I love DLP, that things at DLP regarding maintainance are so bad now that for some one like me to consider not visiting then things must be very sad indeed
Thorpe park superior to DLP, heaven help me :roll:

[lorrig]

The day we watched the tree lighting ceremony last week, the star on the top of the tree failed to light up - it really took the magic out of the whole thing. I know it's only a little thing but as we know it's the little things that create the magic.

[ilovedisneylandparis]

Those photos of the bulbs made me sad I've seen people chatting about Fantillusion before and saying that there was an odd light bulb here or there missing, and I thought that it was sad but perhaps just one of those things, as it must be hard to keep on top of them all. But to have SO many bulbs not working at the entrance to the park is really...shoddy?

I don't see how all of those bulbs can be out so obviously and yet no care has been put into replacing them, it looks as if DLP isn't treasured, and it detracts from the magic and from the feeling you get when you see that sign. I am always so quick to defend DLP and it is my favourite place in the world, but when I see things like that it does make my heart hurt a little bit  :cry:

[captain rocket]

I know what you mean Geekyjo, This was my fourth visit this year , so you can see I am a real fan and I hate the fact that my park is not treasured by those who are the current custodians! My main concern is not how I feel about this situation, but how new visitors feel about this poor approach to maintenance and apparent could'nt care less as we already have your money approach!
Shame on you Disney management!
What's happened to the MAGIC?

[ilovedisneylandparis]

I know what you mean Geekyjo, This was my fourth visit this year , so you can see I am a real fan and I hate the fact that my park is not treasured by those who are the current custodians! My main concern is not how I feel about this situation, but how new visitors feel about this poor approach to maintenance and apparent could'nt care less as we already have your money approach!
Shame on you Disney management!
What's happened to the MAGIC?

So true! I suppose we are all fans already, and I will try to go back every year for as long as I can afford it - but the general public's opinions of DLP already seem to be often negative or indifferent. I sometimes try to convince people that if they actually took the time to visit, they would love it, and that it's not just WDW that is worthy of their time. But if they went for the first time and were greeted by the sight of those missing light bulbs I know they'd have a hard time seeing what I mean

[DutchBrit]

While I agree that so many blown bulbs like that in a very prominent place give a bad impression, I think people have to accept that maintenance budgets are always going to be limited, and especially in a company that are not actually making a lot of profit. Priority 1 will be keeping the rides actually working and the money and resources will be allocated in a pecking order after that. Because having rides non-operational will keep people away, but having bulbs on a sign not working won't. And putting what money you have into new attractions IS a better business decision than putting it into the maintenance budget, because again, new attractions will bring in more people and be a better advertising subject than a "All lights working! New paint in the toilets!" campaign.....

[captain rocket]

I had a friend who worked in line maintenance for a major US airline. If a plane landed at Gatwick with a blocked fuel valve and one of the seat back videos broken, the order of priority in the repair was the video and then the fuel valve. The on board computer would direct the fuel around the valve, but the passengers would know that the video was broken and this would reflect badly on the airline.
It's the same in this case,
I did'nt mean to start a whole discussion about maintenance, I only wanted to point out that I believe priorities are wrong in this case. Whatever we say, there IS a maintenance budget and this looks dreadful to first time visitors and this item should be fixed! The number of bulbs gone is so bad that it would seem probable that they have failed over a length of time and this is poor!
My instant solution in this case would be to turn these lights off until replacements were installed, then first time visitors would not see this poor example of maintenance.

[ilovedisneylandparis]

DutchBrit I do see what you mean completely I'm not aware of the different budgets and so on so apologies if I'm way off  :oops: I think what confuses me is that in my eyes simple maintenance such as replacing light bulbs and keeping toilets clean and freshly painted should be a given, rather than an 'either-or' situation.

I am trying to think of an example...say if all the available Magicforum members go to see a show in London (a show with a lot of seats, haha). We have paid a lot for the tickets and we're really excited because we've never been before!

The show's great but some of the seats are dirty and ripped, the lights in the foyer don't seem to work properly and they flicker on and off. The sign outside advertising the show is all cracked and one of the illuminated letters is broken. We wonder why the theatre is in disrepair in parts, so we ask around and someone tells us that money is tight so most of the budget goes on paying the actors etc, and generally the quality of the show itself, and any maintenance work has to come second.

I think we would see what they mean, and we did really enjoy the show, but that wouldn't stop us from feeling a little disappointed about the state of the theatre, and some of us might not return, or might speak negatively about that particular theatre to other people...? Probably a silly example but I'm not sure.

And captain rocket I agree about just switching the lights off - I think because they're in such an obvious place keeping them switched on just screams "NEGLECT"/"WE DON'T CARE" to any new visitors. You know that phrase about how the first step to gaining respect is respecting yourself, or something like that? That is what this reminds me of...like why would people want to spend their money visiting a resort that (on first glance) looks like it isn't taken care of?

That being said I adore DLP and know that it does 'care', and I usually will not hear a bad word against it. I just think that if I went for the first time and wasn't quite as obsessed with Disney as I am, I might be a bit put off by the sight of those missing bulbs.

[DutchBrit]

I had a friend who worked in line maintenance for a major US airline. If a plane landed at Gatwick with a blocked fuel valve and one of the seat back videos broken, the order of priority in the repair was the video and then the fuel valve. The on board computer would direct the fuel around the valve, but the passengers would know that the video was broken and this would reflect badly on the airline.
It's the same in this case.

Actually in this case, the keeping the rides working equates to the mending of the video and not mending the valve is the bulbs. On a long flight the lack of video would cause a lot of complaints, just as non-working rides cause complaint at Disneyland, but bulbs not working would be the same as a non-working valve - most people would never notice.

I did'nt mean to start a whole discussion about maintenance, I only wanted to point out that I believe priorities are wrong in this case. Whatever we say, there IS a maintenance budget and this looks dreadful to first time visitors and this item should be fixed!

I don't think you can say this unless you know what the priorities are.  And I'd still say that there are quite a lot of things I'd put above broken bulbs if I was in charge of the maintenance schedule. We don't know what else was on the list on the day you saw this problem. Nor can we be sure how long the bulbs were broken: it may be that they were fixed the very next day. There are probably maintenance windows for this sort of thing, say, has to be fixed in 3 days or something like that, maybe, depending on the agreed service levels and available resources. No company these days has the money or staff to respond to every problem at the very moment it happens!

[ilovedisneylandparis]

There are probably maintenance windows for this sort of thing, say, has to be fixed in 3 days or something like that, maybe, depending on the agreed service levels and available resources. No company these days has the money or staff to respond to every problem at the very moment it happens!

I agree, but what shocked me was the fact that there were so many bulbs missing (e.g. 129 missing on picture 2 I think?) and I doubt that would have happened over the space of a day or two, it looks like it has happened over the space of weeks or months and has been neglected.

[DutchBrit]

I agree, but what shocked me was the fact that there were so many bulbs missing (e.g. 129 missing on picture 2 I think?) and I doubt that would have happened over the space of a day or two, it looks like it has happened over the space of weeks or months and has been neglected.

OK, I'm not an electrician, but I can imagine that there can be faults that cause bulbs to blow and that fixing those faults is more complicated than putting in a new bulb. In these cases we can't tell how long there has been a problem or what that problem is or what needs to be done to fix it.

We know Disneyland is struggling with budgets. This means some things won't get fixed very quickly, and those things that don't impact safety or attractions will be the last things they'll get round to. It's sad but I can't see it as a surprise, and without seeing what their maintence schedule is and what resources they have, I don't think we can say if they are doing things wrong or not.