WDW vs. Disneyland

I don't know how many of you read the miceage website, but there was an article there today that really got me steamed. In this article, Al Lutz badmouths his entire WDW experience, while bolstering his love for Disneyland. Most notably he states the WDW has refused to upgrade it's older attractions?!? i cant see how this could be when WDW just spent 4 months refurbishing Pirates of the Carribean, 1 full year refurbishing its a small world, and continually over the last 12 years has updated Spaceship Earth. Sure Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, and Jungle Cruise have been neglected, but it's kind of hard to refurb rides when millions and millions of guests from all corners of the globe, rather than a bunch of annual passholders who can show up multiple times a year from nearby, are booking a once in a lifetime vacation. A rushed refurbishment of these rides would only cause a mile long line at guest relations. Another thing is the big story right now, the country bear christmas. This does leave a bitter taste in my mouth, but the saved budget will give a full refurbishment of the attraction in the spring. I, myself realize that cleaning crews at WDW have diminished, but Disneyland is no better, it is a company wide epidemic. I myself visited Disneyland in March 2005, and it made me realize that WDW was the flagship of the Disney company. The cast members at DL are inexperienced and usually unfriendly. Very few have been there before 2005. I love the fact that someone that has seen the problems at DL would dare compare it to WDW. Running Space Mountain, the Enchanted Tiki Room, and the submarine voyage into the ground is not something to brag about. Nevermind developing a new attraction that was never created correctly, was forced to be closed, and was nothing more than a very sad attempt to counteract the genius of Test Track. If DL did not celebrate it's 50th anniversary, the resort would still be in shambles. Nevermind a entire second themepark that is nothing more than a waste of a day and a perfectly good parking lot. At least at WDW, the monorails weren't shooting out their brakes and breaking down daily. I'm not saying WDW is perfect, but Disneyland is much farther away. I think Epcot's theme is fine compared to the giant postcard that is DCA. By the way WDW had a bigger percentage increase in attendace during the HCOE, much higher than the numbers that every californian will brag to you about. I do not hate disneyland, i thought it was cool to know you were walking in Walt's footsteps. Anyway, remember one thing, WDW was built because Walt was unhappy with DL. By the way, i love Al Lutz's work on Miceage.com, however he seemed to overlook a couple of things. Plus HM,JC and SM will recieve refurbishments in 08'.

I just visited DLR in Sept and was disapointed by some of the castmembers as well. I enjoyed DL but was very dispointed in DCA except for The block bash party and the monsters ride. I think Cally folks are kinda weird about DL. Can't we all just get along?

I am a DL CM, but I love WDW! Al is a blow hard that is out trying to get people talking about him again. Everyone loves to jump on Jim Hill for any word but seems to praise Al.....now can you see why that might not be the best idea. I was in WDW in the start of Oct and loved it, I had problems here and there but I would never get close to all the hot air Al was spouting off.

WDW is not DL, it never can be and it never will be. WDW is a AMAZING place where you can get lost in the magic for days or even weeks. DL is a 1 1/2 day park and DCA is a half day park at the most. The DLH is lots of fun but does not rank close to the Contemp. PPH is not even a Disney built hotel, but it has had Disney shoe-horned into it. GCH is a POOR mans version of a bad mix of WL and AKL. But that is because that is what they have to work with. They do with what they can.

Al seemed to love to talk about how the upkeep is bad on like 5 attractions, well DUH!!!! We have been saying that for months on here, of course he is also the person that goes from loving DL to hating it in about 3.5 secounds. DL has problems that stand out a lot more then WDW when they pop up, but if it were not for Matt (ex DL pres) our park would be a worse shape then any one attraction at WDW. WDW got all the polish for years then DL gets it for about 2 years and all the sudden it is the perfect park....BS!!!

I love DL nothing will ever come close to DL just for the simple fact that it is magic! Walt had his hand in DL from ground break to opening and then for 10 years after. If Walt had lived I am sure MK, heck all of WDW would have been very different but he didn't and it is what it is. A great place!

I hate Al

J

The only thing I can say is.... what else is new?

That's Al Lutz for you. All of his articles he seems to throw in numerous jabs at WDW. I really think that he comes off as a jealous little kid who is angry that the little brother gets things. Look at his update about the Nemo Submarine Voyage... he takes cheap shots at Nemo's Undersea Adventure being so inferior, when the intentions of both attractions are so vastly different. Kevin Yee, their resident WDW expert/journalist isn't all that innocent of it either, but at least once in a while he gives credit where credit is due.

I really don't know anything about Al's biases. I will say that I've been to WDW probably 15 times in my life and DL twice. I went to DL in March 2006 and I thought it was absolutely fabulous. Alot of Al's criticism of WDW rings true to me. Space Mountain at MK is an embarassment to Space Mountain at DL. Upkeep is better at DL but I figure alot of that was the huge money spent on DLR related to the HCOE.

This kind of stuff really doesn't bother me because I believe that WDW *does* need an increased upkeep budget and refurb schedule so it doesn't upset me when somebody publicly points that out.

Right now DL is a superior park to MK but obviously WDW is a superior vacation to DLR. MGM is really hurting right now though I think Epcot is back headed in the right direction. I've always been an AK fan as that is probably the best themed park of the 6 domestic parks.

Snapper Bean

Dont be so quick to bite the messanger alot of his complaints were quite valid and they need to be said. I agree that as an overall experience that we are quite superior to Disneyland, but just honestly upkeep is getting worse and worse. Its really really sad.

It's easy to be spoiled by Matt Ouimet......

I should have clarified in my post above that I hadn't read his recent article, but was commenting on his past ones.

However, I must admit that there are many things that I agree with him on (especially the reduction of entree items at sit down restaurants). There are things around here that just seem like they have been... overlooked. Like the audio at Country Bear Jamboree last July... the entire ending was silent for quite a while. Things like that can be remedied by one single observant someone to get the ball rolling... of course, the powers that be have to listen.

That being said, the problem that I have with Al is that if this was an article on the state of the resort, he can't overlook things that are big successes. When he does recognize those things, he's quick to throw in some smack talk about it. Take for example Reflections of Earth... it's been rated one of the best nighttime spectaculars in the world, yet ALL he can say about it is that it's too short and a speaker didn't sound as good as it should (which I haven't even noticed and I have seen the show more times than I would care to mention). Plus I think that about 13 minutes is just fine for a show of that quality.

He wants improvements to be made, but when the castle is being painted all he can say is that "A construction crane remained deployed over the castle during most of our day, spoiling any shots we wanted to take of it."

I also think that it's funny that he briefly (at the end of a paragraph) mentions "At least all the exteriors throughout the park are now kept in check and look to be regularly kept up, you don't see the peeling paint and burned out light bulbs that were common in the Pressler era." That's a bold statement and a real testament to the things that are done right.If he spent a quarter of as much time elaborating on that single statement that he did complaining about upkeep, maybe it wouldn't paint the picture of a run-down county fair rather than a world-class theme park.

I don't know, I could go on and on... maybe I just don't like his sneaky style of writing or the way he comes off. (...or maybe it's his minions that follow him loyally- just read some of the comments after the article)

Disneyland=Local theme park for the townies

Disneyworld=Vacation Destination for the World

Just kidding, though it is odd to have breakfast at IHOP and be across the street from a theme park.

Yeah, I do agree with some of his points. But for the most part, he is just nit picking. It is far harder to upkeep WDW than DLR. I'd post my disagreement on his site, but I'm afraid to get eaten out by some of those jealous Californians. But to be fair, as a Floridian, I'd take their state over mine...just not their Disney parks. C'mon...Epcot the most inelegant? How about California Adventure...

Al Lutz is jerk is all.
Disneyland and WDW are not in competition. I personally believe that Disneyland itself is slightly superior to The Magic Kingdom for a variety of reasons. But overall, the two resorts are so incredibly different that its stupid to compare them. DLR will never have the luxury of space that WDW has, and never could include its vast array of vacation destinations. But focusing on just Disneyland itself (not DCA, its hotels or its DTD), DL is an amazing theme park, where you can really feel the hand of Walt himself.

Buford said:

It's easy to be spoiled by Matt Ouimet......

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Very true that. WDW seriously needs the love and care that DL is getting.

Al Lutz is a groutch, although I think his heart is in the right place. Kevin Yee is a twerp who probably got beat up in high school...a lot!! In fact, he probably got beat up by the people who got beat up in high school. To get some insight on what a looser Mr. Yee is, read about his Disney Cruise experience. I couldn't stop laughing!!!!

I think there are three types of Disney fans. There's the majority of us, who love the movies and the parks and the experience, but we keep it at a healthy level. Then there are the people who maybe love it too much. They split into two groups: those who love it no matter what, buy anything they can, and it's their only vacation ever. The other group consists of people like Mr. Lutz. Their expectations of Disney are so high that they can never, ever be met. And what's the fun in that?

I grew up with Disneyland, and it happens to be my favorite resort. I won't go into the reasons, but it has nothing to do with the attractions or the location or the entertainment. Rather, it has everything to do with how I feel about the place. And I think that's true for most people. That said, I think there are wonderful things to embrace about each of the resorts around the world, and things that I wish were different. I wish Disney could flatten Anaheim, and make it more like Disney World to start. Anaheim sucks!!

But what's cooler than sailing up to the Magic Kingdom in FL? Riding through an attraction that Walt himself designed in Disneyland? Confronting that dragon in the castle dungeon in Paris? Or journeying to the center of the Earth in Tokyo? Instead of hating, let's celebrate what's great about our favorite parks instead.

:kiss:

Al has a large bias towards DL and I'm often annoyed with his articles but I can't find any fault with this one. Everything he said in that article has been written by many of us on this board 1000 times. It's only because it's AL saying it that has you upset. This time he speaks the truth and there's not one point that he makes that I can't argue.

WDW is still a wonderful place, but it has some major problems that really hold it back from being amazing and Al did a very good job this time of hilighting them. I went into his article with a bias myself, looking for something to get mad about and to let him have it over. I just couldn't find it this time because every word he said is true.

CoffeeJedi said:

I personally believe that Disneyland itself is slightly superior to The Magic Kingdom for a variety of reasons.

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I agree with you there.

Isn't this website WDWmagic, not DLRmagic?:hammer: :lol:

I have to agree with the majority of what Al says. Painful, but true. The technical side of WDW has major shortfalls now, and it`s starting to show. If things don`t change soon the majority of the WDW parks could begin to ecperince a DLC of the late 90`s. Al should know; he witnessed them first hand. He also points out (rightly so, IMHO) more serious, broader issues at MGM an DAK. I wouldn`t get so worked up about food choice however.

The only thing I disagreed with him on was his description of illuminations. I should have mentioned that. I just had to go, when I read that part. But the rest was correct and true.

Okay, I just read Al's latest column. If he really hates it that much he should start hanging out at Universal. Or better yet, Knott's Berry Farm!

There is a lot of truth to the fact that DL absolutely has to appeal to its local audience, which is why the small details and so-called "new magic" are much more important there. WDW doesn't have nearly the visitor base that comes once a month or more. Plus, they have four theme parks, two water parks, and I don't know how many hotels, and they don't sell their vacation packages for that much more than DL does, so DL naturally has an easier time of its budget. ARGH!!!

Al Lutz needs to shut his pie hole.

MainSt1993 said:

Al Lutz is a groutch, although I think his heart is in the right place. Kevin Yee is a twerp who probably got beat up in high school...a lot!! In fact, he probably got beat up by the people who got beat up in high school. To get some insight on what a looser Mr. Yee is, read about his Disney Cruise experience. I couldn't stop laughing!!!!

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in the words of JACK SPARROW....

"....that's not very nice...."

let's be polite.... Kevin Yee is a very intelligent man (and I'm not necessarily even referring to the website), so please don't judge him personally until meeting him.... thanks :wave: