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The 60th Anniversary of Disneyland: The Reality of it All
- Thread starter Californian Elitist
- Start date
ForeverAnna
Well-Known Member
Oh they announced the end date awhile ago but I can't remember what it was exactly. Next September I think.
NobodyElse
Well-Known Member
Stevek
Well-Known Member
So we made are first trip to Disneyland since Jan this year after letting our passes expire and I'm more convinced than ever that I have very little desire to a) become an AP again or b) visit anytime soon.
Day started off fine, first 90 min we rode Buzz, Star Tours, Space, Matterhorn and Autopia. Then the crowds really picked up. In the 4 decades I've been visiting, I have never seen a mid week in October this busy...even during the 50th. It used to be where we could visit on pretty much any non-summer, non Christmas Tuesday-Thursday, ride with limited waits and find a nice spot for the parade and/or fireworks 30 min (maybe 60) before they started. I can't tell you how many times I'd show up the first couple weeks of December and walk up to find a prime viewing spot for BIHM 15 min before the show. 90 min prior to the parade start, just about every spot along the parade route taken, 3-4 deep in locations that allowed for that many folks. We luckily found a spot with a poor viewing angle near the Corn Dog cart.
As for the 60th offerings, Paint the Night is beautiful but just doesn't have the same heart as MSEP. Don't get me wrong, I still really liked it.
Disneyland Forever, hmm...the fireworks are up there with the best they've every done. My problems are twofold: 1) other than some narration and using DL structures as a canvas, it really has nothing to do with Disneyland, 2) there is just too much going on and it's next to impossible to soak it all in. Found myself wanting to watch the projections at times but missed the fireworks and vice-versa. Again, it's all done very well but just doesn't do it for me the way that Remember did.
So, I bid Disneyland a fond farewell for the foreseeable future and really hope Disney finds a way to get the AP population under control. They've created a situation where even I, as someone who would likely visit 1-2 times a year moving forward, no longer feels it's worth the hassle. I'll spend my money on different entertainment options for the time being.
Day started off fine, first 90 min we rode Buzz, Star Tours, Space, Matterhorn and Autopia. Then the crowds really picked up. In the 4 decades I've been visiting, I have never seen a mid week in October this busy...even during the 50th. It used to be where we could visit on pretty much any non-summer, non Christmas Tuesday-Thursday, ride with limited waits and find a nice spot for the parade and/or fireworks 30 min (maybe 60) before they started. I can't tell you how many times I'd show up the first couple weeks of December and walk up to find a prime viewing spot for BIHM 15 min before the show. 90 min prior to the parade start, just about every spot along the parade route taken, 3-4 deep in locations that allowed for that many folks. We luckily found a spot with a poor viewing angle near the Corn Dog cart.
As for the 60th offerings, Paint the Night is beautiful but just doesn't have the same heart as MSEP. Don't get me wrong, I still really liked it.
Disneyland Forever, hmm...the fireworks are up there with the best they've every done. My problems are twofold: 1) other than some narration and using DL structures as a canvas, it really has nothing to do with Disneyland, 2) there is just too much going on and it's next to impossible to soak it all in. Found myself wanting to watch the projections at times but missed the fireworks and vice-versa. Again, it's all done very well but just doesn't do it for me the way that Remember did.
So, I bid Disneyland a fond farewell for the foreseeable future and really hope Disney finds a way to get the AP population under control. They've created a situation where even I, as someone who would likely visit 1-2 times a year moving forward, no longer feels it's worth the hassle. I'll spend my money on different entertainment options for the time being.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
About what time did the park start to get crowed for you? If you got into the park at opening it was 8am and then 90 minutes later it got crowed. That would make it 9:30am. Why do you think that most of the people there were AP holders during a work day in the morning? I can see this after about 4pm but not that early in the morning.
I think we blame AP holders unfairly for crowds. Could it be that Disneyland is just really popular with tourists and other people that paid full price to get in for the day? My guess is that the park is made up entirely of ticket holders until about 4pm-9pm. After the fireworks, everyone ditches and you are left with ticket holders again. Granted I have no numbers on ticket vs AP entries per hour during the day but I really don't think its all AP holders ditching work for the day, every day, all year long.
Stevek
Well-Known Member
Parked opened at 10 AM, started crowding around noon and grew through the day into the night. Park closed at 9pm. Could very well be much more popular with tourists but it seems to be fairly well documented that AP population and attendance has grown significantly as have crowds. I didn't exactly blame AP's...maybe implied it. At the end of the day, I still stand by my opinion that the introduction of the monthly payment plan has increased the AP population and made the parks far more challenging to navigate or enjoy (at least for us).
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
I totally agree with you about the monthly payment plan. Without it, a lot of people would be priced out but when its $40 a month to a credit card no one thinks about $700 that is ready being spent. The population would decrease if monthly payments were removed except for those couples without children and/or lots of disposable income. Even charging interest wouldn't slow down growth.
However, I don't really believe that it is fairly well documented that AP population contributes to crowds all day at the park. Now after work between 4-9 that is a different story. I also don't believe that AP holders spend very little in the parks. I know I spend money on dinner and typically have to pick up stuff for people that can't go to Disneyland. I believe it is more internet myth than an actual fact spread by certain web sites to demonize the entire program. Now I can't prove that but I believe no one outside Disney can prove ticket vs AP entries either. (Except Constance with her numbers)
We sometimes forget that we have have been complaining about park crowds since the late 90's and try to blame the AP program for it. I believe Disneyland is just really popular due to the spread of the internet and social media. It's ok now to love Disney and it's parks. People don't question it when you say your going to Disneyland after work when you don't have children. It's just a different world and the old days minimum crowds will never happen again.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
Trip report: Sunday, 11/1/2015.
I was shocked to see that the garish Halloween decor hadn't been instantly replaced with garish Christmas decor. Still a silly giant Mickey pumpkin instead of a silly giant fake tree that blocks the view of the Castle. Anyway, the park was busy, but didn't become crowded until the nighttime entertainment.
So I had a bad experience at the Harbor Galley near Haunted Mansion. This is the place famous for baked potatoes. Well, they no longer have baked potatoes. I asked if you could still get them anywhere in the park and the girl said that they are apparently now sold near the Fantasyland theater, but that the place was closed. Well, that didn't help us at all. This was all very awkward because of how the windows are where you order. You have to crouch down quite low and I felt like a moron. Probably looked like one too, bent over sticking my head in a window yelling, "Where the potatoes??"
So, we ordered the tuna sandwich. I saw people in front of us order it and I was enticed. Looks to be a decent sandwich with delicious chips. Nice looking portion. Those chips, my God. I could eat this. I just couldn't wait to munch on those chips. I paid and was handed a plate that certainly didn't look like the ones the guests in front of us received. There were no chips! The girl told me they were out of chips. As far as I'm concerned, that's 50% of the meal. In the place of the chips were apple slices. Not the same. Not acceptable. I was annoyed. I kept my cool, though. Well, I tried to.
There's no seating here except for in the area immediately in front of the awkward ordering/serving area with the very low windows. There is a wonderful walkway that takes you to the other side of the bridge in front of Splash Mountain with additional seating, but it had this ridiculous giant wooden wall blocking it. Like, something straight out of King Kong. So, you have to sadly take your wrong meal lacking chips somewhere else.
We went to the Hungry Bear and not just because it's close by. The seating in the very back upstairs is one of those places in Disneyland that will instantly make me happy. It's rarely crowded, it's just serene and magical, with the train passing by right next to you, a view of Tom Sawyer's Island with people just stoked about seeing that graveyard behind the fort and the Mark Twain churning up the muddy river every now and again. There are pine cones all over the place and it's like you're in a Bob Ross painting. Did I mention the train literally passes by right next to you? So I ate my disappointing Subway tuna sandwich and lamented the loss of the chips. I felt gypped. The Harbor Galley has historically been one of the great hole in the wall eateries in Disneyland. Now, they have no baked potatoes and apparently run out of food and serve you gross-tasting apple slices instead of chips after you've already paid for your meal.
Look, I realize this ain't Eleven Madison Park, these cast members aren't making much money and stuff just goes wrong. But I would have appreciated being told that, "Hey. We screwed up. We don't have everything to complete your order here. You already paid, so is there anything else on the menu we could give you to make you happy? Or...like, do you still want this?" This story brought to you by a baked potato/Disney chip fan.
I was shocked to see that the garish Halloween decor hadn't been instantly replaced with garish Christmas decor. Still a silly giant Mickey pumpkin instead of a silly giant fake tree that blocks the view of the Castle. Anyway, the park was busy, but didn't become crowded until the nighttime entertainment.
So I had a bad experience at the Harbor Galley near Haunted Mansion. This is the place famous for baked potatoes. Well, they no longer have baked potatoes. I asked if you could still get them anywhere in the park and the girl said that they are apparently now sold near the Fantasyland theater, but that the place was closed. Well, that didn't help us at all. This was all very awkward because of how the windows are where you order. You have to crouch down quite low and I felt like a moron. Probably looked like one too, bent over sticking my head in a window yelling, "Where the potatoes??"
So, we ordered the tuna sandwich. I saw people in front of us order it and I was enticed. Looks to be a decent sandwich with delicious chips. Nice looking portion. Those chips, my God. I could eat this. I just couldn't wait to munch on those chips. I paid and was handed a plate that certainly didn't look like the ones the guests in front of us received. There were no chips! The girl told me they were out of chips. As far as I'm concerned, that's 50% of the meal. In the place of the chips were apple slices. Not the same. Not acceptable. I was annoyed. I kept my cool, though. Well, I tried to.
There's no seating here except for in the area immediately in front of the awkward ordering/serving area with the very low windows. There is a wonderful walkway that takes you to the other side of the bridge in front of Splash Mountain with additional seating, but it had this ridiculous giant wooden wall blocking it. Like, something straight out of King Kong. So, you have to sadly take your wrong meal lacking chips somewhere else.
We went to the Hungry Bear and not just because it's close by. The seating in the very back upstairs is one of those places in Disneyland that will instantly make me happy. It's rarely crowded, it's just serene and magical, with the train passing by right next to you, a view of Tom Sawyer's Island with people just stoked about seeing that graveyard behind the fort and the Mark Twain churning up the muddy river every now and again. There are pine cones all over the place and it's like you're in a Bob Ross painting. Did I mention the train literally passes by right next to you? So I ate my disappointing Subway tuna sandwich and lamented the loss of the chips. I felt gypped. The Harbor Galley has historically been one of the great hole in the wall eateries in Disneyland. Now, they have no baked potatoes and apparently run out of food and serve you gross-tasting apple slices instead of chips after you've already paid for your meal.
Look, I realize this ain't Eleven Madison Park, these cast members aren't making much money and stuff just goes wrong. But I would have appreciated being told that, "Hey. We screwed up. We don't have everything to complete your order here. You already paid, so is there anything else on the menu we could give you to make you happy? Or...like, do you still want this?" This story brought to you by a baked potato/Disney chip fan.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
I really love that area. That is the only reason I can think of to eat at the Hungry Bear. The far end lower level is also pretty cool for duck feeding. I hope it doesn't get too destroyed by SWL.
Sorry about the sandwich.
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
Agree with you here.
I commented my own thoughts elsewhere, but i also found the new fireworlks presentation lacking.
The pyro used in spectacular at times, but i'm not a fan of the context of the overall Show presentation and 'story'.
It's basically a 'Disney's Greatest Hits' album show with quick edited video clips projected on the buildings which i find more distracting then enhancing.
There is also no emotional connection made, at least i did'nt feel it.
It felt shallow, if anything. Corporate...not 'magical'.
The Show started off so promising in the beginning with the opening introduction referring to Walt and the 'orange groves', etc, but from that point on it quickly turned into yet another mish mash of various tunes that had more to do with Disney films then Disney Theme Parks.
'Remember' is a tough act to follow...and my #1 favorite fireworks presentation next to Epcot's 'Illuminations'.
Also agree with you regarding 'Paint The Night'.
Beautiful to see in person...the music is great, but it lacks a soul and for me it features far too much Pixar for my tastes.
I don't see Pixar as 'Disney'..regardless of the buy out.
I still enjoyed seeing it however, and would make a effort to see it again when i next visit the Park, but MSEP is tops for me.
Despite it's age, the original incarnation of that Parade is still a classic.
All the high tech and new lighting effects can't substitute it, but PTN is pretty to look at.
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George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
My issue with Paint the Night is that they run it every night. I'd like for them to switch to weekends only.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
That will likely happen once the 60th is over and Fantasmic is back online - so maybe fall 2017.
JediMasterMatt
Well-Known Member
It was discussed; but, ultimately - the risk (and I'm sure the expense) of doing it where there is going to be major earth moving going on would be a danger to everyone involved.
ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
I agree with you about Forever. After watching Remember it had so much Disneyland in it and forever doesn't. I disagree about paint the night I think it has a great connection with its ties to Main Street electrical parade in the song and a nice blend of Disney and Pixar.
I am going again after Christmas and I am really disappointed that they won't be showing the Christmas fireworks at all and only showing Forever.
ForeverAnna
Well-Known Member
I don't see how that could work. They'd have to cut all the barges, the Columbia, and the Mark Twain. All that would be left would be the action on the island and the water screens.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
When it would make sense to be in a parade.