A Spirited Dirty Dozen ...

FigmentJedi

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
Roaring Rapids is apparently finally starting CM previews over in Shanghai. However, all the worklights are still on inside and Q'araq isn't just non-functional, he's still being worked on, neck skin open and part of the interior skeleton exposed and all. What was it Disney said about this park again? "Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese". Because not giving a crap about bad show certainly fits into the latter.

 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
yeti said:
We were all struck by how much smaller it felt. The bar is definitely cut down by a half....the rest of it, well they did away with tables and chairs and went for the lounge look, which means people who would normally be at the bar occupy a whole three person sofa to themselves. All I know is, we waited twenty minutes to be buzzed in, we muscled our way in...and there was nothing. It felt tiny and cramped, so we left. I'm sure the newness, popularity, and, ahem, particular clientele all factored into this...but even then, it just felt so much less substantial than the Disneyland one, which we regularly walked into with no wait. Could be the new layout - the seating is all in front of the bar, instead of around it. I don't know.
Click to expand...

I haven't gotten to the one in WDW yet, but I made it a point to visit DL's during a recent trip there. I was pretty surprised at how small it was. I felt like you couldn't really move around much.

Again, haven't been there, but the photos of WDW's version make it look more open. The bar is obviously much smaller and thus less seating there, but it seems to have a number more tables available and more wide open "floor space" to just move around. I'd be curious as to the specific square footage of each.

Obviously, WDW has the outside patio as well, so if your goal is simply to get the drinks or food, it has an advantage there is terms of capacity. But that seems to miss out on the ambiance that is kinda the point.
 
NormC

NormC

Well-Known Member
Ron Swanson said:
No I remember it was back when your avatar was a picture of you and a camera or something around your neck. The funny thing about respect is it's earned and given the way you disregard it for others I don't think you deserve any from me. Simple as pie archer wannabe.
Click to expand...
Respect is not earned, keeping it is. Respect is granted to all, even those you haven't met. It can however be lost when others actions dictate a change of status.
 
Last edited:
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
I haven't gotten to the one in WDW yet, but I made it a point to visit DL's during a recent trip there. I was pretty surprised at how small it was. I felt like you couldn't really move around much.

Again, haven't been there, but the photos of WDW's version make it look more open. The bar is obviously much smaller and thus less seating there, but it seems to have a number more tables available and more wide open "floor space" to just move around. I'd be curious as to the specific square footage of each.

Obviously, WDW has the outside patio as well, so if your goal is simply to get the drinks or food, it has an advantage there is terms of capacity. But that seems to miss out on the ambiance that is kinda the point.
Click to expand...
I have spent mamy evenings at the WDW Trader Sams, and a few very recently...I think the WDW version just sort of fails to bring home the same feeling the Anaheim version does effortlessly.... Shrinking the bar down to a single row of seats makes it less interesting...In Anaheim, the bartenders lead the show... by putting them in the center of the room helps make that all work...when you compress the bartenders onto one end of the room, they cannot keep the party going... They have never established the same jokes and gags that Disneyland has...aside from "Two Shots Of Rum" no one ever seems to play along... The seating options are just strange...and the patio is completely disconnected...I dont think the patio even has the same menu as there is no way to get to the patio without walking back out the front door, down the hall and out another door and around the side of the building... It might have made sense to have actually connected a portion of the patio to the bar...and added great theming outside to make if feel like the interior...but that is not the case... People love the idea of Trader Sam's , i just wish they had done a little better job in their execution...It could and should have been so much better.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
Tahu said:
Roaring Rapids is apparently finally starting CM previews over in Shanghai. However, all the worklights are still on inside and Q'araq isn't just non-functional, he's still being worked on, neck skin open and part of the interior skeleton exposed and all. What was it Disney said about this park again? "Authentically Disney, Distinctly Chinese". Because not giving a crap about bad show certainly fits into the latter.

Click to expand...

How laughably sad that this is the first impression of the ride that Disney is allowing guests to ride even if it's only trial operations.
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Bocabear said:
I have spent mamy evenings at the WDW Trader Sams, and a few very recently...I think the WDW version just sort of fails to bring home the same feeling the Anaheim version does effortlessly.... Shrinking the bar down to a single row of seats makes it less interesting...In Anaheim, the bartenders lead the show... by putting them in the center of the room helps make that all work...when you compress the bartenders onto one end of the room, they cannot keep the party going... They have never established the same jokes and gags that Disneyland has...aside from "Two Shots Of Rum" no one ever seems to play along... The seating options are just strange...and the patio is completely disconnected...I dont think the patio even has the same menu as there is no way to get to the patio without walking back out the front door, down the hall and out another door and around the side of the building... It might have made sense to have actually connected a portion of the patio to the bar...and added great theming outside to make if feel like the interior...but that is not the case... People love the idea of Trader Sam's , i just wish they had done a little better job in their execution...It could and should have been so much better.
Click to expand...

OK, I can see that. In Anaheim, I felt like the bar just took up so much of the space and even the tables were all practically right up against it. I wanted to just walk around and look at stuff on the walls but felt like I'm impinging on other customers by doing so since there wasn't a lot of room.

But what are saying makes sense if the "goal" is to have the bartenders be the show and have everyone have a good view and be close to the action. The setup in WDW looks better for being able to relax at a table with your group, but not to interact with the bartenders. It does seem like you'd have a better view all around in Orlando though just because the bar isn't right in the middle blocking some of the sightlines around.
 
truecoat

truecoat

Well-Known Member
mickEblu said:
Wow. I've never parked there. I had no idea it was that big.
Click to expand...

Here is the area of the Toy Story lot as compared to DCA. Plenty of land and they might own more but this is what I know of.

Disney lot.jpg
 
truecoat

truecoat

Well-Known Member
Here is the map of current DL hotels and the area of the proposed new "Luxury" hotel.

Green is the DL hotel area, Blue is the Paradise Pier area, Purple is Grand Cali and Yellow is where the new one will go.

Hotels.jpg
 
71jason

71jason

Well-Known Member
PhotoDave219 said:
I need to try Disneyland's.

WDW's Trade Sams is a solid "swing-and-a-miss" because of the staff. People don't get it and the fantastic staff that opened the place moved on.

Plus, Frank complained. Dammit Frank.
Click to expand...

TBH, I think WDW "feels" bigger. It's definitely a lounge, not a bar tho.

Met up with a former bartender (drinking, not working) in Nomad's who uh-huhed my theory: putting in only 6 barstools means quality bartenders are never going to stay long. Honestly, the bar should have stretched to the surfboard table.

I also agree most new hires since the awesome opening crew just don't get it.

I think it's telling you could walk in Saturday (Gay Days) night and the place was half empty. Tambu and Mizners are always packed that night.
 
Rodan75

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
71jason said:
TBH, I think WDW "feels" bigger. It's definitely a lounge, not a bar tho.

Met up with a former bartender (drinking, not working) in Nomad's who uh-huhed my theory: putting in only 6 barstools means quality bartenders are never going to stay long. Honestly, the bar should have stretched to the surfboard table.

I also agree most new hires since the awesome opening crew just don't get it.

I think it's telling you could walk in Saturday (Gay Days) night and the place was half empty. Tambu and Mizners are always packed that night.
Click to expand...

We avoided Trader Sam's on Saturday because we assumed it would be packed for Gay Days, and did Top of the World instead. I think a lot of people that would normally be at the bars on Sat night were seeing Kesha at DHS. We were there on Mem Day Monday and Thursday and it was pretty busy, but on Thursday we were there between two big crowds. So we got to spend about 30 minutes with just us in the bar and the bartenders/servers. We asked if it had been busy and they indicated that they are seeing a steady crowd of customers most nights. They were also trying out a couple of new schticks with us for the drinks...which was hilarious and hilariously bad in some instances.

Across both nights there was only 1 server who wasn't really getting the crowd into it, and it was bad and uncomfortable proving how quickly this concept can go off the rails. Everyone else had crowd doing the responses, swimming, chanting to the tiki gods.

I did notice something across both nights is that the drink menu may be a bit 'exotic' for some folks and they may want to adopt a couple of 'schtick drinks' that are more cruise ship basic to warm folks up.

Overall I'm glad we have TS: Grog Grotto and I'm hoping the magic themed bar over at Boardwalk continues the trend of fun adult spaces at WDW.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
71jason said:
TBH, I think WDW "feels" bigger. It's definitely a lounge, not a bar tho.

Met up with a former bartender (drinking, not working) in Nomad's who uh-huhed my theory: putting in only 6 barstools means quality bartenders are never going to stay long. Honestly, the bar should have stretched to the surfboard table.

I also agree most new hires since the awesome opening crew just don't get it.

I think it's telling you could walk in Saturday (Gay Days) night and the place was half empty. Tambu and Mizners are always packed that night.
Click to expand...

Seems to reinforce the glaring differences between a park that is predominantly locals (DL) and an international tourist destination (WDW).
 
baymenxpac

baymenxpac

Well-Known Member
hopemax

hopemax

Well-Known Member
The food options, in our opinion, were also better at DL's Trader Sams. We went for lunch and my husband had a burger, and I had fish tacos. We're not really drinkers, I actually was feeling overheated already when we went, so I got a non-alcoholic drink. I could easily see going to DL's version and having a great time, without consuming a drop of alcohol. The first time we went to the WDW version, there were three of us. We ordered three appetizers and drinks, including taking home the rum flight glasses. It was $115 and we still ended up needing to stop at Hungry Howie's to pick up a pizza because we were hungry.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom