Just got back from Disneyland

[180º]

Whoops! I thought it was solid cement around Cinderella's Castle. At DL, one of my favorite hangouts is on the bridges watching the ducks and turtles.

Ah, that is lovely.

And a lot of that charm comes from the water level being just a foot or two below the terrain, whereas at the Magic Kingdom the hub water is about a whole "floor" down. Makes it harder to enjoy the duck friends. The best spots to enjoy the MK moat are on the walkway from Adventureland to Crystal Palace, and the Liberty Square and Tomorrowland bridges, but you're still farther from the water.

 

[Stevek]

We visited for the first time in about 6 months last Monday.

General observations:
Trying to take the monorail into the park at 10am sucks. Was going to be a 45 minute wait at a min aka 1 monorail running. So off to the main gate we went.
Security was a mess, backed up well beyond the fountain to around the front door of World of Disney.
For a Monday, in early December, park felt very crowded. Long lines for food i.e. Jolly Holiday but to be fair, it was around lunch time and the parade was going to start...but still took well over 30 min to order and get food.
Still love A Christmas Fantasy and Believe in Holiday Magic though the latter had to be restarted due to some technical difficulty
Frozen at the Hyperion was ok. Great staging but I personally enjoyed Aladdin far more. I won't be rushing to see it again.
Soarin over the World, again just OK. The CG really bothered me for some reason. Prefer original.
The Festival of Holiday's was nicely done. Pretty nice offerings throughout and will be nice to experience the DCA food and wine festival next year.
A drink or two at the Cove Bar always makes things better.

So all in all, some good, some meh. Enjoyed our time for the most part but still no rush to visit again anytime soon primarily due to the crowds. The lack of an offseason per se really has made the park far less enjoyable for us.

 

[SteveAZee]

Speaking of the monorail... I was surprised (compared to the WDW monorail) at how much 'backstage' was visible en route... that was also a bit disappointing.

 

[Phroobar]

Speaking of the monorail... I was surprised (compared to the WDW monorail) at how much 'backstage' was visible en route... that was also a bit disappointing.

That is the best part of the monorail.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Speaking of the monorail... I was surprised (compared to the WDW monorail) at how much 'backstage' was visible en route... that was also a bit disappointing.

Heck, the original route spent a large portion over the Disneyland Parking Lot (where DCA is now, and by the way, in the exact same location as decades ago, they built DCA and the GCH around the Monorail (The route from when the Disneyland Hotel station was added. (And the DLH shrunk as part of the Resort conversion, the Rainforest Cafe is in the area where there were shops and support for the DLH).

There was one more reroute for the Indy Show building, but that is it. There might be a minor change due to the Eastern Gateway project and new bridge, but nothing official has been announced about the re-routing.

 

[SteveAZee]

That is the best part of the monorail.

LOL, I suppose. I guess the 'magic' of seeing A/C units and the back of a lot of buildings has some appeal. Then again, when there was a skyway (at least at WDW) there were similar visuals, so...

 

[Phroobar]

LOL, I suppose. I guess the 'magic' of seeing A/C units and the back of a lot of buildings has some appeal. Then again, when there was a skyway (at least at WDW) there were similar visuals, so...

Its more about what is sitting outside being repaired or preped to go on stage soon. Maybe catch a glimpse of Mickey without his head. Geeky stuff like that.

 

[SteveAZee]

Heck, the original route spent a large portion over the Disneyland Parking Lot (where DCA is now, and by the way, in the exact same location as decades ago, they built DCA and the GCH around the Monorail (The route from when the Disneyland Hotel station was added. (And the DLH shrunk as part of the Resort conversion, the Rainforest Cafe is in the area where there were shops and support for the DLH).

There was one more reroute for the Indy Show building, but that is it. There might be a minor change due to the Eastern Gateway project and new bridge, but nothing official has been announced about the re-routing.

I guess I think of the parking lot as on stage. Do you know why they didn't add a stop at the Grand Californian... that would have been a nice perk when I was staying there.

 

[SteveAZee]

Its more about what is sitting outside being repaired or preped to go on stage soon. Maybe catch a glimpse of Mickey without his head. Geeky stuff like that.

LOL... think of the children, though.

 

[Californian Elitist]

@Stevek Trust me, you're not the only one bothered by the CGI in Soarin' Over the World. I very much dislike it. Soarin' Over California's footage was real, and I appreciate that a lot more. The new version of Soarin' just doesn't compare and I hope they change it back at some point.

 

[Darkbeer1]

I guess I think of the parking lot as on stage. Do you know why they didn't add a stop at the Grand Californian... that would have been a nice perk when I was staying there.

A few reasons, one is money, the second, logistics, each station adds minutes in the time it takes to load/unload, plus back then, Disney execs thought that DCA was such a hit, they would sell so many DCA only tickets, so you have the logistics of having to check ticket media whenever someone got off the Monorail, to make sure they were allowed in THAT park. And the system has a maximum capacity of 4 Monorails (storage barn), and since one is always under repairs and maintenance, any additional station makes the system have less capacity per hour.

And of course,when Disney went from the Mark VII trains in 2008, they only had three built, so that is one of the issues today, many days just one is working, and on busy days, 2. While the system can handle all three, you never see it in operation....

 

[SteveAZee]

A few reasons, one is money, the second, logistics, each station adds minutes in the time it takes to load/unload, plus back then, Disney execs thought that DCA was such a hit, they would sell so many DCA only tickets, so you have the logistics of having to check ticket media whenever someone got off the Monorail, to make sure they were allowed in THAT park. And the system has a maximum capacity of 4 Monorails (storage barn), and since one is always under repairs and maintenance, any additional station makes the system have less capacity per hour.

And of course,when Disney went from the Mark VII trains in 2008, they only had three built, so that is one of the issues today, many days just one is working, and on busy days, 2. While the system can handle all three, you never see it in operation....

There's the back door access from DGC to DCA which is nice, I suppose. The monorail used to connect point-to-point to the Disneyland Hotel, right?

I guess as part of the theme of this thread, it seems like the DLR monorail (aside from the nice twists and turns done within Tomorrowland) isn't as 'magical' as those at WDW, in my opinion.

 

[Darkbeer1]

There's the back door access from DGC to DCA which is nice, I suppose. The monorail used to connect point-to-point to the Disneyland Hotel, right?

.

Yes, the Disneyland Hotel used to go to about where Tortilla Jo's was, but ion the 1990's and 2000, Disney moved West Street west and renamed it Disneyland Drive, including tunneling the roadway to build the bridge used as part of DtD. The area removed was the Front Lobby (moved to one of the Towers), the Valet entrance and some parking. And as part of those buildings, there was the Monorail Station. All that part of the DLR was removed, and replaced with the ESPN Zone and Rainforest Cafe. The station has never moved since it opened in 1961, just remodeled and renamed the DtD station.

 

[jocarol]

Isn't the new hotel supposed to be by the monorail station? Will the monorail have enough capacity?

 

[Darkbeer1]

Isn't the new hotel supposed to be by the monorail station? Will the monorail have enough capacity?

Too early to tell,one rumor has the ESPN Zone and Rainforest Cafe being torn down and replaced by part of the Hotel,which would give it better access to DtD,and they would rename the current DtD station as the 4th Hotel "Insert name here" station.

As for capacity, there is no plans to increase capacity. So that might mean that the Monorail becomes either a round trip from Tomorrowland, or a one way trip for the 4th Hotel guests only.

Too early to know for sure.

 

[brb1006]

If you guys complain about how Disney cast members act, you really need to go to a Six Flags park for a reality check. Even the worst Disney cast member is far beyond a Magic Mountain employee. I once say two MM employees try to clean up a "protein spill" on a pathway. They had all of these cleaning supplies but it took them a half hour to do it. A Disney janitor cast member could get it done in less than three minutes. There is nothing better than a Disney Cast Member.

Most Six Flags employees I seen looked so bored.

 

[brb1006]

I think it's also about the park you visited first. I think that WDW is a cheap copy of DL. The castle may be bigger at WDW, but you can't use the mote as an entrance to Fantasyland.

I also think that the management at DL is a lot more guest-centric than at WDW. After all, WDW is all about squeezing every last nickle out of their guests. I don't feel like a "mark" at DL.

WDW wasn't always viewed as cheap as it did back in the 80's and 90's.

 

[brb1006]

@mickEblu and @Bandini, there is a moat. The bridge over the moat is behind the castle forecourt stage. It's a shorter bridge than Sleeping Beauty Castle's, and there is no drawbridge, but it does cross over water. The waterway extends around to Tomorrowland and Liberty Square, and all the way into Adventureland, looping around Swiss Family Treehouse. The waterway completely encircled the hub before the recent overhaul that filled in the stretch just along the front of Main Street USA. At one time, "Plaza Swan Boats" navigated this waterway, including crossing under the bridge to Cinderella Castle.

Because it is farther down in elevation from the walkways, it's not as noticeable from certain angles, like right in front of the Castle forecourt. But from other angles it's very impressive.

And as for accessing the bridge over the moat, like Bandini said, it's sadly blocked for long stretches during the day for the castle shows.

Remember the Plaza Swan Boats?

 

[brb1006]

I've tried to be as 'self aware' about which park I experienced first in comparing the two, and I've certainly had my share of negative feelings about the Magic Kingdom over the last 40 years of going. My trip in May to Disneyland was a solo trip with the purpose of absorbing all the wonder of Disneyland without the distractions... to walk it, do a few rides, observe the people, see the details... many of the things that make a Disney park special. I did find some great things about Disneyland, and while I may still be biased by my history with WDW, I still stand by my impressions of the trip.

I agree that WDW is more geared to be a people-eating (and money-eating) machine.

For a better perspective of WDW check out the RetroWDW podcasts hosted by longer time WDW visitors dating back to the 70's.

 

[SteveAZee]

For a better perspective of WDW check out the RetroWDW podcasts hosted by longer time WDW visitors dating back to the 70's.

Thanks.