Being a former Florida resident and frequent visitor to theme parks, I was quite excited to pound the park pavement with a few green friends on their first trip to the Orlando area. There’s an undeniable wonder that comes over people who witness Walt Disney World's sheer size and magic for the first time. One of our first attractions was Pirates of the Caribbean, and from departure of our boat I noticed that the projection of Davy Jones on the waterfall was missing, and during the auction scene one of the bidder’s voices was significantly muffled. These could be considered minor complaints that wouldn't be noticed unless you've gone on the ride as many times as I have.
A few attractions later, and we had made our way over to The Carousel of Progress, one of my personal favorites. During the last scene, as we see America’s family in the house of the future, our main actor’s voice track was so much lower than every other animatronic that my friends were leaning over to me to ask what he was saying. Again, it didn't completely ruin the fun of the experience, but it's something that was discussed later and took away a little something from what's usually one of my most satisfying Disney experiences.
A day or so later we went to see The Voyage of the Little Mermaid at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and the sound was significantly lower for our main character's mic. As Ariel sung "Part of Your World," her voice was completely enveloped by the backing orchestral track. Upon exiting the show, my friends once more expressed their inability to hear certain parts of the show. I am an audio engineer at a club by profession, so I am trained to noticed discrepancies in sound, but these things were brought up without my having to say a word. There were other little nitpicks here and there of the same nature, but I decided to not put too much thought into it. It was a light time of year for attendance and refurbishments were surely in store for the upcoming holiday season.
Apparently not. A last minute trip to see family during the holidays enabled me to sneak a couple days in the parks during the busiest time of year. My nature put me on alert during the attractions that were lacking in sound presentation the previous trip. While the projection of Davey Jones was back in place, all of the previous audio issues I noticed from each attraction were still there. Perhaps none of these were called to management’s attention, but that possibility seems hard to swallow for me. I am thinking that it was seen to be a negligible issue in all cases, and just overlooked.
Most people might not even notice these problems or will write them off as insignificant, and my guess is that’s what the parks are banking on. Their day would be just as great with or without these small quibbles fixed. I myself still had a fantastic time, as I always do, but I would say that the audio is something that needs more attention for these reasons. Disney is a loud place. Its always going to be. It’s impossible to believe that everyone’s child or friends will be quiet when they are supposed to be, whether it be in the middle of an attraction or during pre-shows. I know I've been in The Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror many a time when guests were shooshing the people next to them so they could hear the pre-show better, and more times than not the sound on pre-shows gets completely lost on busy days.
Some may ask, “If the ride is still fun, so what?” Well, sound is also very closely related to memory, and a lot of people are audible learners. I have friends that still say lines from Walter Cronkite's narration of Spaceship Earth, and could sing the old theme "Tomorrow's Child" line for line without hearing it in the past 20 years. Certain sounds and songs will stay with you throughout your days, just ask a musical therapist. They get to see people who show no signs of coherence suddenly come back to life, sometimes quite emotionally, upon hearing a song from their youth. Disney and theme parks in general are magical places, and evoke that same sort of emotion in people of all ages, and should look to have the same effect on future generations.
So how does it all get fixed? The use of an SPL meter on their rides/shows to balance out their sound levels from attraction to attraction would be ideal, but the more obvious repairs to any broken speakers they have would be a big step in the right direction. Finding a way to make things sound the same decibel level depending on where you sit or stand can be a tedious job, but can definitely be done or at least upgraded with the right acoustical treatment or sound systems in place. You can't expect the crowds to always be quiet when they are supposed to be, but you should expect the audio from your favorite attractions to always be present, exciting, and most importantly, working.
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Now hopefully the big fish Jaws makes a comeback somewhere. The Studios could use a water ride or I would be happy if he attacked the Resort boats from the hotels.
The people who built Disney's good reputation are long gone. Walt's spirit has been replaced by the spirit of greedy Wall Street pigs. The Imagineers would love to do more, but the bean counters won't let them.
Record profits and somehow Disney can't find the resources to maintain minimum standards of quality. Disgraceful.
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