Hi to all.. I have been away from the boards for 2 weeks now. Spent 1 week in Escondido and go to visit several parks. I have been giving a lot of thought as to what to say especially with all the rumors and hand-wringing going on about WDW and cutbacks. For those who don't know me, I am a car#1 person (still) and while some think I wear rose-colored glasses I just take the long view (glass half full) rather than the short view (glass half empty). So now my viewpoints.
Spent 11/3 to 11/11 on West Coast; visited San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios, DisneyLand and Disney California Adventures. This is not a trip report just my observations and comparisons.
San Diego Zoo/Wild Animal Kingdom: Nice place to visit but even with the open spaces of Wild Animal Kingdom it does not compare to Animal Kingdom. Built for different audiences. Cost is almost the same based on 1-day passes. Lots and lots of walking to get from exhibit to exhibit. Has the look and feel of an open-air zoo. Even in Wild Animal Kingdom which is built to emulate natural habitats of the various species, it still is more like Busch Gardens at Tampa. If out on West Coast again will probably bypass both parks.
Universal Studios: Too sterile. Its back-lot tour is a real tour of the working studios. It incorporates 3 of the individual rides of USF into the tour so USH actually has less rides than USF and there is no equivalent of IOA.
DisneyLand: Walked under the railroad and stared up Main Street. I am home but where is my castle. Sleeping Beauty's is so much smaller than Cinderella's. However, Pirates at DL is better than Pirates at WDW and so is It's a Small World. The outside of IT's is something to see especially when the clock chimes. Splash Mountain has minimal themeing compared to WDW version and I like the 2 across seating better than the log flume type. Crowds were non-existent on a Monday. The park was open from 10 to 8, I got there at 11 and saw everything but Autopia and Toontown. Loved the parade and fireworks, especially the soap-bubble snow flakes. Haunted Mansion all dressed up for Halloween/Christmas and looked great. 1-day pass was $43 dollars and I thought it was well worth it. I missed Fantasmic but everything does eventually need rehab. Maintenance and cleanliness was very up to Disney Standards, even increased security was done Disney fashion (extra Keystone Kops). I will visit again but still love WDW more.
DCA: What is all the fuss about. I went 11/12(Friday) got there about 10:30, park hours were from 10 to 8. It was a lovely place. Each areas theme made its point. Paradise Pier reminded me of my youth at Coney Island with the dirt and carny barkers. The theme was PERFECT. The games were not intrusive as at 6flags nor were any of the Cast Members running them pushing people to play. This area is just what Walt would have wanted for a Carny Area. Clean, bright, friendly without the hustling. Here is where I saw the best that Disney can be. Donald Duck, Goofy & Pluto coming down the street towards the entrance for their appearance. They picked up people along the way almost like a parade. Donald and Goofy put their arms around some guests and walked to the viewing spot ARM-IN-ARM with them. How beautiful. Also, good to see Donald get some play. Later on Donald directs Goofy, his son Max and Mickey & Minnie in a beach movie. Children are given a special area upfront and encourage to dance and sing-along with the characters. Disney does this better than anyone. The Light Parade while smaller was still breath-taking and the new Luminia show was just marvelous. It opened that night. During the day children can stop at a show store front to draw holiday greetings. These are scanned into a computer and become part of the Lum show. The fireworks portion was great especially the finale. I don't know how Another Voice could be negative about this show, especially so soon after it opened when the audience was applauding afterward. The crowds were somewhat heavy (probably because of Friday and the new show) but I saw everything with little or no wait. My family (including 78 yo mother-in-law) liked DCA and would not hesitate going back. If one does not rush and just expect rides this can be a full day park (just as animal kingdom can be a full day if one takes the time to soak in the atmosphere instead of rushing from ride to ride).
Now for the soapbox portion of my show. Anyone not wishing to read further is excused at this time.
I acknowledge (like someone else did) that Disney did the WORST public relations job EVER in handling its changes before and after Sept 11th. But so what. Tell me what other company has plans to place to handle publicity and changes in face of what happened Sept 11th. Get over it, please. The real substance is what could Disney have done instead of what they did. In light of the dramatic drop in crowds (if WDW experienced the type/lack of crowds I did in DL/DCA then it was dramatic), should Disney closed 1 park per day (rotating among the 4). That would have been worse. Instead, they eliminate EE, so its a perk for staying onsite. Big deal, think of it as able to get another hour's sleep and being more refreshed for hitting the parks. Gee, they closed Carosuel of Progress, who was going on it anyway? Yes lets keep it but maybe do what? to cover costs of running. As for laying off Cast Members, every industry has been doing the same thing since Sept 11th. How come noone here is crying about the thousands in the airline industry or that several shows closed on Broadway. I think Disney's solution of cutting back hours is better than cutting people. Reducing number of shows is better than eliminating them completely. Lets see Broadway has reduced some tickets for some shows for a limited time to attract people back. So for a 3 hour showing of Phantom, I can pay $45 for an Orchestra seat. For approximately $50, I get from 9 hours to 12 hours (depending on the park) with more than 1 show (plus a parade) and many rides. Yet some want Disney to cut prices claiming that their admission price has lost value. WHAT LOSE. Come on entertainment dollar for entertainment dollar Disney still wins hands-down.
Am I happy with everything going on at WDW right now, NO but given all the circumstances I am willing to cut slack and look to the future. I will revisit this theme when I go to WDW at the end of June/2002 and update my thoughts & feelings then.
End of soapbox.. back to your regularily scheduled rumor mill.
Spent 11/3 to 11/11 on West Coast; visited San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios, DisneyLand and Disney California Adventures. This is not a trip report just my observations and comparisons.
San Diego Zoo/Wild Animal Kingdom: Nice place to visit but even with the open spaces of Wild Animal Kingdom it does not compare to Animal Kingdom. Built for different audiences. Cost is almost the same based on 1-day passes. Lots and lots of walking to get from exhibit to exhibit. Has the look and feel of an open-air zoo. Even in Wild Animal Kingdom which is built to emulate natural habitats of the various species, it still is more like Busch Gardens at Tampa. If out on West Coast again will probably bypass both parks.
Universal Studios: Too sterile. Its back-lot tour is a real tour of the working studios. It incorporates 3 of the individual rides of USF into the tour so USH actually has less rides than USF and there is no equivalent of IOA.
DisneyLand: Walked under the railroad and stared up Main Street. I am home but where is my castle. Sleeping Beauty's is so much smaller than Cinderella's. However, Pirates at DL is better than Pirates at WDW and so is It's a Small World. The outside of IT's is something to see especially when the clock chimes. Splash Mountain has minimal themeing compared to WDW version and I like the 2 across seating better than the log flume type. Crowds were non-existent on a Monday. The park was open from 10 to 8, I got there at 11 and saw everything but Autopia and Toontown. Loved the parade and fireworks, especially the soap-bubble snow flakes. Haunted Mansion all dressed up for Halloween/Christmas and looked great. 1-day pass was $43 dollars and I thought it was well worth it. I missed Fantasmic but everything does eventually need rehab. Maintenance and cleanliness was very up to Disney Standards, even increased security was done Disney fashion (extra Keystone Kops). I will visit again but still love WDW more.
DCA: What is all the fuss about. I went 11/12(Friday) got there about 10:30, park hours were from 10 to 8. It was a lovely place. Each areas theme made its point. Paradise Pier reminded me of my youth at Coney Island with the dirt and carny barkers. The theme was PERFECT. The games were not intrusive as at 6flags nor were any of the Cast Members running them pushing people to play. This area is just what Walt would have wanted for a Carny Area. Clean, bright, friendly without the hustling. Here is where I saw the best that Disney can be. Donald Duck, Goofy & Pluto coming down the street towards the entrance for their appearance. They picked up people along the way almost like a parade. Donald and Goofy put their arms around some guests and walked to the viewing spot ARM-IN-ARM with them. How beautiful. Also, good to see Donald get some play. Later on Donald directs Goofy, his son Max and Mickey & Minnie in a beach movie. Children are given a special area upfront and encourage to dance and sing-along with the characters. Disney does this better than anyone. The Light Parade while smaller was still breath-taking and the new Luminia show was just marvelous. It opened that night. During the day children can stop at a show store front to draw holiday greetings. These are scanned into a computer and become part of the Lum show. The fireworks portion was great especially the finale. I don't know how Another Voice could be negative about this show, especially so soon after it opened when the audience was applauding afterward. The crowds were somewhat heavy (probably because of Friday and the new show) but I saw everything with little or no wait. My family (including 78 yo mother-in-law) liked DCA and would not hesitate going back. If one does not rush and just expect rides this can be a full day park (just as animal kingdom can be a full day if one takes the time to soak in the atmosphere instead of rushing from ride to ride).
Now for the soapbox portion of my show. Anyone not wishing to read further is excused at this time.
I acknowledge (like someone else did) that Disney did the WORST public relations job EVER in handling its changes before and after Sept 11th. But so what. Tell me what other company has plans to place to handle publicity and changes in face of what happened Sept 11th. Get over it, please. The real substance is what could Disney have done instead of what they did. In light of the dramatic drop in crowds (if WDW experienced the type/lack of crowds I did in DL/DCA then it was dramatic), should Disney closed 1 park per day (rotating among the 4). That would have been worse. Instead, they eliminate EE, so its a perk for staying onsite. Big deal, think of it as able to get another hour's sleep and being more refreshed for hitting the parks. Gee, they closed Carosuel of Progress, who was going on it anyway? Yes lets keep it but maybe do what? to cover costs of running. As for laying off Cast Members, every industry has been doing the same thing since Sept 11th. How come noone here is crying about the thousands in the airline industry or that several shows closed on Broadway. I think Disney's solution of cutting back hours is better than cutting people. Reducing number of shows is better than eliminating them completely. Lets see Broadway has reduced some tickets for some shows for a limited time to attract people back. So for a 3 hour showing of Phantom, I can pay $45 for an Orchestra seat. For approximately $50, I get from 9 hours to 12 hours (depending on the park) with more than 1 show (plus a parade) and many rides. Yet some want Disney to cut prices claiming that their admission price has lost value. WHAT LOSE. Come on entertainment dollar for entertainment dollar Disney still wins hands-down.
Am I happy with everything going on at WDW right now, NO but given all the circumstances I am willing to cut slack and look to the future. I will revisit this theme when I go to WDW at the end of June/2002 and update my thoughts & feelings then.
End of soapbox.. back to your regularily scheduled rumor mill.
