I think he would be upset that quality has given way to quantity when it comes to the guest experience. There is a famous story of him getting angry that the Jungle Cruise boats were going through the attraction so fast that guests couldn’t identify the animals. He wanted the guests to have the best experience possible. He ordered everyone working the attraction to be retrained, and came back a while later and instead of riding through once to check that the changes were in place, he rode every boat on the attraction to make sure the quality was there. He was always checking to make sure his park was top notch. I think he would be less concerned about gate price than whether the guest was getting what they paid for and then some. He believed in plussing the park and attractions, not cheapening them.
I think the technology available today would fascinate him, and I think he would be pushing the boundaries of what that technology can do, not only for attractions but in the resorts and transportation property wide. I think he would have more futuristic transportation company wide so that roads would be reduced and in some areas eliminated. His plans for EPCOT were key in this respect because he made the roads the least prominent part of the overall design.
He might be disappointed at the amount of alcohol consumed in the parks. I know it’s been said that he commented he didn’t want alcohol in
Disneyland because that brought in a carnival element that he didn’t want in his theme park. Carnivals at that time had bad reputations for rowdy and often unsafe conditions, and he wanted to set his product apart from that. Things have changed a lot since that time though. He had definite ideas about how clean and safe he wanted his park, so even though he liked a drink himself, I don’t believe he would have wanted to compromise his vision too much in that direction. I don’t think he would have had an issue with alcohol sales at the resorts or shopping districts, but the parks may still have been more limited if he were in charge.
Overall, I think he would be pleased with the big picture, but would have issues with a lot of details that erode the guest experience, and be on someone to fix them ASAP.