Project Stardust - How the "Cleanup" campaign will affect Disneyland - OCR/SCNG

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Poor @Darkbeer1, he just wanted to talk about Stardust :/

I have no problems with the shift of the topic...

But I wonder what our favorite shill would have to say about my impromptu 5 minute meeting with the Mayor of Anaheim and the Disneyland Resort President.

What type of false rumors could I spread.

Heck, I also worked with the DLR director of Accessibility yesterday, and the plans to convert every Disneyland attraction and queue line to full accessibility.

You should see the new Davy Crockett Canoes they came up with...
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I have no problems with the shift of the topic...

But I wonder what our favorite shill would have to say about my impromptu 5 minute meeting with the Mayor of Anaheim and the Disneyland Resort President.

What type of false rumors could I spread.

Heck, I also worked with the DLR director of Accessibility yesterday, and the plans to convert every Disneyland attraction and queue line to full accessibility.

You should see the new Davy Crockett Canoes they came up with...

Very interesting. And yet I can't help but think all this stuff rolled out in a silly PR campaign about "Project Stardust" is just a collection of deferred maintenance and park updates that should have been done over the past decade. Ever since the 50th Anniversary, Disneyland has been an overcrowded mess with crowd control kids bellowing "STAY TO YOUR RIGHT!" and Fastpass lines that are now routinely 30+ minutes long.

On another website I read through the list of stuff they've done for Project Stardust the last year, and what they still have to hurry and do in the next 120 days, and it reads like a list of deferred maintenance and upgrades that got cut from capital expenditure budgets year after year by the ever-revolving door of the TDA executive suites. Project Stardust changes are needed, but they were needed 10 years ago and unrelated to Star Wars.

Star Wars is at least forcing them to spend the money on this stuff, and yet it kind of makes me worried for them. It's becoming increasingly apparent they don't have any idea what is in store a few months from now when Star Wars opens and an extra 20,000 people per day show up. Will the extra two feet of stroller parking along the Haunted Mansion, the removal of some planters in Fantasyland, and reopening an old patio from 1962 just for Dole Whip junkies really help that much? I'm not convinced it will, even with a cutesy name like Stardust. :cool:
 
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mickEblu

Well-Known Member
Very interesting. And yet I can't help but think all this stuff rolled out in a PR campaign about "Project Stardust" is just a collection of deferred maintenance and park updates that should have been done over the past decade. Ever since the 50th Anniversary, Disneyland has been an overcrowded mess with crowd control kids bellowing "STAY TO YOUR RIGHT!" and Fastpass lines that are now routinely 30+ minutes long.

I read through the list of stuff they've done for Project Stardust the last year, and what they still have to hurry and do in the next 120 days, and it reads like a list of deferred maintenance and upgrades that got cut from capital expenditure budgets by the ever-revolving door of the TDA executive suites. Project Stardust changes are needed, but they were needed 10 years ago.

Star Wars is at least forcing them to spend the money on this stuff, and yet it kind of makes me worried for them. It's becoming increasingly apparent they don't have any idea what is in store a few months from now when Star Wars opens and an extra 20,000 people per day show up. Will the extra two feet of stroller parking along the Haunted Mansion, the removal of some planters in Fantasyland, and a reopened patio set aside just for Dole Whip junkies really help that much? I'm not convinced it will, even with a cutesy name like Stardust. :cool:

Exactly. And then the thing that would have an actual impact, like removing the Astro Orbiter to make way for the upset guests storming TL to ride Star Tours or Hyperspace Mountain because they can’t get into SWL they don’t do.
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member

If only Thanos could really use his snap for good.

Screen Shot 2019-01-27 at 5.27.24 PM.png
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Look, I am actually going to stick up for President Josh. He was handed a bunch of messes, the key one was relationships with the city. That is still a work in progress, but improving.

Project Stardust was a bunch of other things that ended up on Josh's desk. His team decided to turn it into one big project than a bunch of little ones. That is his management style.

As for removing a ride, that is a totally different thing that requires approval from Josh's bosses. It might happen, but I think they will wait to see how the lower costs items improve things first.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Look, I am actually going to stick up for President Josh. He was handed a bunch of messes, the key one was relationships with the city. That is still a work in progress, but improving.

Project Stardust was a bunch of other things that ended up on Josh's desk. His team decided to turn it into one big project than a bunch of little ones. That is his management style.

As for removing a ride, that is a totally different thing that requires approval from Josh's bosses. It might happen, but I think they will wait to see how the lower costs items improve things first.

If Mr. Damaro finally dusted off all these unfunded improvements and rolled them into one big budgeted Project Stardust, complete with a schmoozy press event touting it all for online fans like us, then bully for Mr. Damaro. A shame that these ideas sat uncared for by Mr. Colglazier, Mr. Kalogridis and whoever was in that office before Kalogridis whose name now escapes me.

The park has needed this stuff done and old facilities reopened for over a decade. Since long before Disney even bought LucasFilm and started thinking about a Star Wars Land.

I just hope they don't think Project Stardust is going to fix all the problems the park faces, and solve the crowding problems headed Anaheim's way just over 120 days from now. The tone and quotes from the Times article made it seem like the Disneyland execs were very confident it would. :oops:

 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
  • President, Disneyland Resort – Michael Colglazier (2013–2018)
  • President, Disneyland Resort – George Kalogridis (2009–2013)
  • President, Disneyland Resort – Ed Grier (2006–2009)
  • President, Disneyland Resort – Matt Ouimet (2003–2006)
  • President, Disneyland Resort – Cynthia Harriss (1999–2003)
  • President, Disneyland Resort – Paul Pressler (1994–1999; Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, 1999–2002)
  • President, Disneyland Resort – Jack Lindquist (1990–1994)
    • Former Senior Vice President, Operations – Greg Emmer
    • Former Vice President, Downtown Disney and Disneyland Resort Hotels 1998–2012 - Tony Bruno
  • Former Executive Vice President – Dick Nunis (1972–1980)
 

mickEblu

Well-Known Member
I'm curious, will this involve making the queues for the Fantasyland Dark lines wider? One thing that I find odd about Disneyland compared to Magic Kingdom is that those rides have really tight queues. Obviously this is due to the park being built in the 1950s, but nowadays people are generally larger. It would be a shame to lose that charm but it's something that probably needs to be addressed at some point.

While I'm on the topic of Fantasyland queues, I was wondering why they have turnstiles in them? Is it to count how many people visit the ride each day?

I immediately thought the same thing. I can’t see what can be done that is better than the current process of having folks with access issues go through the exit for the Fantasyland dark rides. There really isn’t any room to make the switchbacks wider without having more people spill out into the Fantasyland courtyard which is the exact the opposite of what they re trying to do with Project Stardust. Maybe with Pan if they use the old heraldry shop for extra Q space something be done? Not sure what can be done with Alice, Toad, Pinocchio or Snow White.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OK, every attraction has some sort of "counting mechanism", so reports can be made about how many people per hour have visited the attraction. That is an industry standard.

It started with old school turnstiles, then moved to electric eyes in posts for ADA reasons (most of DCA uses them, either at the entrance or exit. (Soarin' opted for the exit). They went to an advance one for Pirates, once again, at the exit

So if you see an old school turnstile at an attraction, then there is an alternative ADA entrance.

Due to the need to run electrical systems for the advance counting system, Disney opts to leave the manual ones in place. One upgrade was from manual counting dials, was to an electrical digital display that is battery operated. The old school displays were prone to breaking down and undercounting.

If you use a transit system turnstyle, you will notice they switched from solid bars to moving gates for ADA reasons.

As for the Fantasyland, and other grandfathered queues. Due to the very tight spaces available for queue, Disney opts to leave them as is, and use the exit for ADA access, and then virtual queueing those guests. CM's will click a counter, or manually count those using the exit.

And it isn't just attractions, but restaurants, shops, restrooms, pathways, curbs, show and parades. And not just physical accessibility, but also hearing and vision needs.

Everyone is different, I use a variety of mobility aids, including leg braces, wheelchairs, ECV's, canes and walkers (I have 3 different versions,)

I have had to take my braces off to ride some roller coasters. The kiddie Coast Rider at Knott's is one due to the restraints. (Won't close due to the fact they are solid and maker my legs a bit larger than normal.)
 

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