Theme parks are unique compared to most other mediums. When something is changed or remade, the original version is usually gone for good. Therefore, theme park fans tend to react much more harshly when changes are applied and seem to go wrong. As the Disney Theme Parks fandom is far and away the largest of its kind, there are hundreds of examples of complaints about change in the parks' 65-plus-year history. These are just a few:
- Journey into Imagination's disastrous first revamp at Epcot had fans seething at its complete change of direction in both tone and ambition (and at least some of the creatives seem to agree with them, given how the second version plays!)
- Just about every addition and/or change that Disney has ever made to the parks involving contemporary IPs (even if it's one of their own), especially from the Turn of the Millennium onward, has provoked accusations of this from hardcore old-school fans, feel as if the company is doing away with classic attractions to accommodate more recent movies and TV shows.
- Stitch's Great Escape! got a lot of flack for not being the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, not helped by the fact that the Audience Shift was misguided (at least the old show wasn't pitched to little kids).
- The 1998 "Under New Management" version of The Enchanted Tiki Room, which featured an abrasive Iago and Zazu. When a fire in 2011 damaged the Iago animatronic beyond repair and caused Disney to revert to the original version, gleeful fans joked that Walt Disney's angry ghost had started the fire.
- Davy Jones and Captain Jack Sparrow's inclusion in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, as well as the gradual elimination of the pirates' capturing and auctioning off the women. The new animatronics are often seen as clashing with the look of the original ride.
- Disney announced at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con that they were planning to turn California Adventure's The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror into a Guardians of the Galaxy-themed ride, later titled Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, which prompted an online petition to keep it as it is. (The ride itself... as opposed to the theme... was also revised slightly, but the general consensus is that the changes to the mechanics of the ride proper were an improvement.)
- Adding Disney/Pixar characters to Disneyland's It's a Small World.
- The Fantasy Faire at Disneyland received some derision due to it replacing the Carnation Plaza Gardens, though others think a Tangled-inspired village sounds like a promising use of an under-utilized piece of land. But Disney eventually made good on its promise to retain the nighttime entertainment and activities, like Saturday night swing dancing.
- A very vocal group of Disneyland's fandom was upset that, to provide more room for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the Disneyland Railroad track was rerouted and the length of the Rivers of America (one of the few areas of the park to have been virtually untouched since its opening in 1955) was shortened by about 30%, eliminating much of the river's original backwoods section. This was abated somewhat by a piece of concept art
◊ revealing that a good chunk of the river's original scenery would be preserved despite the shorter length. - The "One Park" advertising campaign of the Turn of the Millennium abandons the idea of making individual advertising and merchandise for Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Instead, commercials feature clips from around the world, and merchandise says "Disney Parks" instead of the name of which park you bought The Merch in. The public seems to interpret this as Disney stripping their parks of their unique, individual qualities in the name of brand homogenization. One illustration comes in the apparent fact that products bearing the logo of either Disneyland or Walt Disney World outsell those with the "Disney Parks" logo. By The New '20s, this was largely discontinued.
- Particularly prevalent in Epcot. Among other things (including the Journey into Imagination situation mentioned above), the revamps of both Spaceship Earth and The Living Seas has received a great deal of criticism, as did shutting down the entire Wonders of Life pavilion, World of Motion, and Horizons. Even the park's name change from EPCOT Center to what it is now has been a common target of criticism, with fans believing it gives evidence that the current management doesn't understand the meaning and message behind the park. Needless to say, the growing incorporation of other IP into the park from Frozen Ever After onward in attractions that, unlike Mission: Space or The Seas with Nemo and Friends, don't even try to incorporate Edutainment has been regarded as From Bad to Worse by these fans.
- The initial implementation of the FastPass system got this criticism in 1999. Then, when it seemed like everyone had gotten onboard with the idea, Disney changed it up again and completely overhauled it into the online-based reservation system FastPass+ (Walt Disney World) / MaxPass (Disneyland) leading to even more complaining. The 2021 announcement that those would be replaced with the Genie+/Individual Attraction Selection system, which unlike the previous versions charges extra for access, many longtime fans seeing it as a greedy step too far for the Walt Disney Company.
- The conversion of Pleasure Island from a set of themed, adult-only nightclubs into an extension of Downtown Disney/Disney Springs (with said clubs all getting overhauled into stores) was a controversial decision, to say the least.
- The addition of Mickey's arm waving a wand over Spaceship Earth at Epcot, which was initially put up for the Millennium Celebration for the year 2000 (with the number appearing over it, later replaced with the word "Epcot" in 2001). It was thankfully removed in 2007.
- Like the above, the Sorcerer's Hat in Disney's Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios), put up for the celebration of what would have been Walt Disney's 100th birthday in 2001. It even dethroned the Earful Tower (the water tower with Mickey ears on top) as the main landmark for the park, and was a glorified Disney pin trading station blocking the view of the classic recreation of the Chinese Theatre (which houses The Great Movie Ride). It was up for nearly twice as long as Mickey's wand over Spaceship Earth before it was finally removed in January 2015. By that point, many younger fans who grew up with it were sad to see it go.
- During the renovations to Space Mountain, Disney deliberately attempted to downplay this, going so far as to assure fans that they were keeping the popular queue music.
- Disneyland Paris's version of Space Mountain was originally called Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune, based on the Jules Verne novel From the Earth to the Moon, and was considered refreshingly different from other versions of the ride with its steampunk-esque aesthetic. Fans were very displeased when it was renamed Space Mountain: Mission 2 in 2005 and stripped of most of the Jules Verne references, and again in 2017 when it was rethemed as Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain (seemingly permanently rather than as a seasonal overlay like at Disneyland).
- The overhaul Cinderella Castle got for Walt Disney World’s 25th anniversary, while always intended to be temporary, received a good deal of backlash at the time due to the overhaul transforming one of the most iconic and elegant symbols in the park, to a bright pink and rather goofy looking birthday cake◊ that stood out like a sore thumb against the rest of the area. It didn’t help that many who never have been to the park prior to the 25th anniversary celebration, expecting to see the iconic castle in all its glory, ended up getting the cake overhaul instead, disappointing them in the process. According to Unofficial Guide writer Len Testa, brides coming to the park for weddings and/or honeymoons were particularly upset that they couldn't get their photos taken in front of the traditional castle. 25 years on it’s still not at all well-regarded and is largely seen as a major mistake on Disney’s part. It’s likely due to this backlash that Disney stuck with simply decorating the castle instead of outright changing its appearance for anniversaries after the 25th.
- To some, when the sun on California Adventure's Ferris wheel was painted over with a Mickey Mouse head, and the Mickey Mouse head on the roller coaster was painted over with a sun. Defenders counteract by pointing out that the current emblems have more old-fashioned charm than the old ones.
- Mattel's sponsorship of It's a Small World saw the facade of the Disneyland version recolored in pastel shades. This makeover apparently seemed so unnecessary that a few years after Mattel's deal ended the building changed back to its original white and gold design.
- There are those who are not too crazy about Paradise Pier being re-themed into "Pixar Pier", with many feeling the Pixar theme to be poorly thought out and out of place compared to the previous Classic Disney Shorts theme.
- The rebranding of Disneyland Resort to be more corporate in the early 2000s was not well received, as many hated that the park's iconic logo was swapped out to what was seen as far more corporate and bland by comparisonnote . The rebrand only lasted a few years as Disney would quickly retire it in 2005 in favor of using the traditional Disneyland logo instead. Similarly, many also feel this way about the partial retirement of the old Walt Disney World logo used in the 70s-early 90s in favor of the current and more corporate logo starting in 1996note .
- The decision to change Splash Mountain to Tiana's Bayou Adventure was not taken well by a vocal minority of Disney fans even before the Florida attraction closed and construction work began, even resulting in racist comments. This is despite the fact that most Disney fans, while sad of the closure and noting the ride's nostalgic value, admitted that it was in desperate need of refurbishment, especially given the highly controversial reputation of Splash Mountain's source material.
