A Spirited Valentine ...

[cjkeating]

Favorite planning resources for DLP? They are not set up to make it easy for Americans to visit.

www.dlrpguide.com has just about everything you could want to know.

Feel free to DM me any specific questions if you wish.

 

[cjkeating]

I saw that @WDWFigment dropped by with his perspective on DLP's 25th and since operations issues were his biggest complaint (mine too!) I think that's the next logical topic.

Simply put, they are a disaster. And not in the way I typically read on Disney forums. The ones that talk about lousy, lazy, non-English-speaking French CMs as the problem.

No, they were pretty much wonderful. The CMs now are much better than even a decade ago. And in parts of four days at the resort, we never encountered someone who couldn't communicate or understand us in English. I would venture to say that at least 75% of those we encountered were completely fluent in English, maybe with an accent but so what? I don't know how many times I've dealt with WDW CMs who had little or no English comprehension. Service is different there. They aren't going to keep telling you to "Have a MAGICal Day!" They aren't going to rush out into MSUSA to dance with your little princess. But that isn't what they're supposed to do.

Unfortunately, the biggest issue with DLP right now is it simply doesn't have enough of them. The resort is woefully understaffed in a manner that can be jarring when coming from the USA, which doesn't compete with staffing at the China parks or can even compete with Tokyo's.

Crowd control during the parades seemed generally fine. Even saw CMs go out and grab people who attempted to take pics in the middle of MSUSA as the floats were winding their way down.

But during Illuminations it was another matter. Indeed, two of the three times we saw the show, we didn't notice ANY crowd control CMs or organisation at all. The final night AFTER the show we saw two in the Hub near Discoveryland. If you don't think this is importance, why don't you ask yourself what a crowd like would do if it thought it heard a gunshot (like a balloon bursting). People also climb up into planters and other places they don't belong. One would think Disney, about to be the owner of the place, might realise the legal implications of this. Not yet.

Now, I never felt unsafe. But it also wasn't exactly a hugely busy period. A month from now will be a different tale.

Not having enough staffing pops up in other ways. On a bright, sunny, warm day, imagine kids pulling at the door to the Gibson Girl Ice Cream shop only to find it isn't open yet (was close to noon). Imagine wanting something from the Bakery at 7 p.m. (when the park is open until 11) and finding out that it was closed an hour earlier? Imagine looking for food because a fair number of QSRs are closed or on very limited operating hours.

This is the big issue. Money and people are the solution.

Even when there is staffing, it doesn't always seem organised for efficiency. Gibson Girl, for example, closed at 9:30 every night we were there. One night we walked in at 9:15. One CM was taking the orders and ringing up the Guests. One. There was another but she was busy cleaning the coffee machines for the night. So, imagine having a small line of 10 people (and twice two groups of two left and walked out). Approaching 9:30, I finally ordered and looked behind when I heard noise. People were trying to get into the now locked facility and FOUR CMs were standing around the entrance to tell them it was closed. That just should never happen. Will someone in Burbank or Georgie K please forward this to CEO HotAussieCathy? You don't screw with ice cream ... especially very good Ben and Jerry's instead of the boring crap they serve in the swamps.

Operations deficiencies move into the attractions area as well. Every day we were there the Railroad had waits of between 25-60 minutes (yes, you read that right). Being that I haven't ridden the rails since at least 2012 (maybe longer) I wanted to see how all the work on Frontierland looked from the train ... and ... like Old Dead Guy Walt ... I love the trains too. But we never rode. Why? Two lovely French CMs broke out into ABBA's "Money, Money, Money..." when we inquired. You see DLP has four trains just like WDW and DL do. But they only run one every day, regardless of crowds. At least, they say the others are being maintained and not left to rot like the Mark Twain. But they should have had 2-3 operating.

Same thing with Star Tours. You have six sims, but are running two?

Those two attractions were by far the worst examples. Everything else was better, but c'mon ...

I'm not quite sure of the exact dates of your visit but I was there 4th-7th May and I saw 2 trains running on the Railroad - could have been 3 but I only saw 2 - and they were running all six simulators in Star Tours. All of the coasters were on their full complement of trains and even Casey Junior had two trains running which a few years ago I never saw.

Restaurant availability can seem random as they can rotate the opening of restaurants during the week (offering more choice) however there are always places open until late, for example on this evenings 2300 close Casey's Corner, Cookie Kitchen, Market House Deli, Plaza Gardens Restaurant, Walt's, Silver Spur Steakhouse, Lucky Nugget Saloon, Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost, Restaurant Hakuna Matata and Cafe Hyperion all close between 2200-2330! (I have surprised myself as to how many places are open late!) The Ice Cream Parlour closes at 2130 but I am quite sure it will be cold by that time.

I've been visiting DLP a couple of times a year for the past five years and I've never seen the place functioning better on every regard. I admit there is still a lot to do, but things are going forward in all directions.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I saw that @WDWFigment You see DLP has four trains just like WDW and DL do.

DL has 4 trains but 5 steam locomotives ( EP Ripley, CK Holiday, I think that's how you spell it, Fred Gurley, Ernest S Marsh and Ward Kimball). WDW has 4 trains and 4 steam locomotives (Walter E Disney, Lilly Belle, Roger E Broggie and Roy O Disney). Walter E Disney is in refurbishment for 2 ish more years (with started in December) and Lilly Belle just got back in December from a 6 year refurb. They seem good at running 2-3 locos every time I go to MK (I visit MK 2 times a month on avg).

Edit: yes DLRP has 4 locos (Eureka, G Washington, the something Cody, and the C K Holiday, I think that's how you spell it).

 

[britain]

But what is likely is Disney resurrecting a name from the past, using a concept from another park in the past that was never built, and updating it with new tech and some old friends.

'Old friends' sounds like reusing UoE dinos.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Did @GiveMeTheMusic really start another Marvel thread? Probably wears Baby Groot underwear too!

Do you have cameras in my house?

 

[Haymarket2008]

Thanks. And you should have a great time. Just pay attention to my comments (going to post now) on operations at DLP.

As to Dinoland or more apt, Dinorama and the space available around it, nothing has been firmly approved ... BUT ... providing Pandora does the trick and actually turns DAK into the 'full day park' that it really has been all the time, except for people who want to ride Space Mountain 13 times in a day, it is very likely. As to what will happen, plans can (and do) change. But what is likely is Disney resurrecting a name from the past, using a concept from another park in the past that was never built, and updating it with new tech and some old friends.

Jungle Book? Indy?

 

[pwnbeaver]

Anyway, I only saw maybe 1-2 wheelchairs and a handful of strollers.

I live in China right now (Chongqing) and I can tell you that wheelchairs and strollers are almost nonexistent in this country. The elderly are all relatively fit and active, and if they aren't they're usually dead. Kids are carried around in baskets when they're too small to walk, then expected to walk once they can. It's kind of refreshing.

Also, Star Wars, and Disney in general really, is nothing more than an image to the Chinese. They plaster the logos on their shirts and bags but they have no attachment to it. Most people have never seen a Mickey cartoon or a Star Wars movie but they own something with a character on it. Disney is working really hard to force its image into the country (I watched RoTJ in Mandarin on TV a month ago, government mandated elementary school milk has Minnie Mouse on it) but it's only working on a shallow level. These people are the biggest capitalist consumers I've ever seen, and they'll toss it all out as soon as the next big trendy thing is pushed on them.

Marvel they actually love with passion, especially Iron Man. Try telling a teenager here that Captain America had the right idea in Civil War. However, they also have deep love for Fast and the Furious and Transformers, so taste in Western media is not something to be expected from them. At the same time, I see people claim that pandering to China or having diverse movies makes them popular here. That is wrong. The Chinese love white people. They absolutely adore white people. They think we're all attractive. It's so weird to see, but they would rather have that than a Chinese star in most cases. People like Tom Cruise, Keira Knightley, RDJ, any of the various "Chris" stars, Emma Watson, etc, are Gods here.

I am fully convinced they only love Western movies if they're big, loud, and colourful with as little dialogue as possible. The subtitles move much too fast for them to really understand a movie with a deeper plot or even just a narrative you have to pay a little attention to. My friend fell asleep during Pirates because the 3D made her unable to read the subs. All those scenes in Force Awakens like at that cantina thing with the alien whose name I can't remember completely turn people off of the movie, and a small contained and emotional laser sword fight as the action climax doesn't interest them since they're so used to big action set pieces where they can't even see everything happening. The first hour of Rogue One would kill any interest in the film over here.

The thing is, you can't get mad at them like I can get mad at a Canadian for going to see Transformers 12. In the West we know it's the same damn thing over and over again with a fresh set of paint. In China, movies like this are the only entertainment present in some of these people's lives. They enjoy the escapism of a fantastical movie in a language they can't understand. They love Bollywood and anime films too. It's something different for them, and tickets are only like $5 so it's actually affordable to bring the family or go on a date.

So, don't expect any Star Wars to be plopped into Shanghai anytime soon. It just doesn't make sense. The real draws Disney has in China are Pirates, Marvel, and Frozen. Once they eventually start pumping out action only Star Wars movies then you can expect that to start gaining ground here.

 

[peter11435]

1. "Hard Ticket" Events- Admissions for Mickey's Halloween and Christmas parties at the MK and the new Halloween party at DL are counted as first clicks. Doesn't matter if you've been at the MK all day, a MNSHP or MVMCP is a new admission. Taking this into consideration, the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland's attendance figures are lower.

MK parties are considered sold out at around 25k. There are 53 party nights this year. Assuming every night is sold out (it won't be) total party attendance would be 1,325,000. So removing those would still have MK above Disneyland.

 

[Donald Razorduck]

Remember when Disney poop canned their IT folks for cheap foreign workers on H1B visa?

DHS does:

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/06/02/disney-investigation-h-1b-abuse-say-feds/

Might put a crimp on The Weatherman's POTUS aspirations.

 

[seascape]

Remember when Disney poop canned their IT folks for cheap foreign workers on H1B visa?

DHS does:

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/06/02/disney-investigation-h-1b-abuse-say-feds/

Might put a crimp on The Weatherman's POTUS aspirations.

I can see it now. Trump goes after Disney for Iger dropping off committees. I hope they get Disney and every other company that fires US workers and replaces them with H1B visa workers. Boycott GE and all products made in China.

 

[clemmo]

Anybody hear anything about what's going on out at DL in terms of Frozen or Fanatasyland expansion over at Toontown?

 

[JBIRDTO]

Just a reminder - there is a political forum for those who just can't seem to help breaking the no politics rule. I know it's hard when Disney execs start crossing the line, but please try. Thank you.

That feels like a political statement for sure!

 

[HMF]

Thanks. And you should have a great time. Just pay attention to my comments (going to post now) on operations at DLP.

As to Dinoland or more apt, Dinorama and the space available around it, nothing has been firmly approved ... BUT ... providing Pandora does the trick and actually turns DAK into the 'full day park' that it really has been all the time, except for people who want to ride Space Mountain 13 times in a day, it is very likely. As to what will happen, plans can (and do) change. But what is likely is Disney resurrecting a name from the past, using a concept from another park in the past that was never built, and updating it with new tech and some old friends.

Please be Countdown to Extinction which should never have been changed to begin with.

 

[FigmentJedi]

But what is likely is Disney resurrecting a name from the past, using a concept from another park in the past that was never built, and updating it with new tech and some old friends.

The Lost River Rapids ride initially developed for Disneyland's Discovery Bay, but utilizing the Universe of Energy dinosaurs the way that ride was initially going to relocate the Magic Skyway ones?

 

[RSoxNo1]

The crowds for Pandora were no where near that for Potter, so it wouldn't even be possible for Disney to try to make that comparison even by tricky crowd manipulation.

Sean Spicer could probably make the argument on Disney's behalf.

 

[RSoxNo1]

BTW, anyone at all want to comment on how Tom Staggs and Meg Crofton were whitewashed from the Pandora opening completely? You wanna argue that Disney isn't an ugly, cutthroat operation? C'mon, there has to be someone ...

I don't know what you're talking about. They were never involved with the project, just check out the photo of the groundbreaking in Satu'li Canteen, also Bruce Vaughn.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Hahaha! And you didn't know this? You somehow missed that your podcasting pal gets invites to things precisely because he never says a truly bad thing about either company anymore? That he is a de facto social media rep for BOTH companies. ... See, I don't believe people with ethics play Disney's game. Or UNI's. They go on their own dime when they can get in, just like the peons. And they offer an honest opinion based on everything, including cost.

I'm curious though, you went to this event, right? Is there anything about Pandora you're critical of? Or are you not allowed to say.

Jim was actually one of the more critical people about Pandora.

 

[RSoxNo1]

2016 TEA Annual Report is out.
http://www.teaconnect.org/images/files/TEA_235_103719_170601.pdf
Interesting observation by Jason Garcia

The numbers I have show Universal doing similarly well back in 2004.

 

[RSoxNo1]

OK, it's that day ... not quite as big a deal as when the Oscars, Emmys or Tonys are given out. But everyone is fixated on numbers and winners and losers.

I'll keep it short and sweet and leave it yourselves to pick the winners and losers. Most of the numbers are close. But some just make no sense and it's the same deal annually.

I can finally concede that maybe the MK was the most-visited park because it always is so crazy busy, quality be damned. But DCA's numbers are simply way too low year after year. And EPCOT and DHS's are too high. ... And Ocean Park outdraws HKDL (not by very much, but enough) and the SAR has pressured OP to lower its numbers (this I know for a fact, btw, friends and others).

I have no idea why the numbers are always a little screwy for some (for others they are 100% accurate), but they are. The one thing they show, though, is the theme park business is a very good one to be in. Despite what Wall Street often says.

The "first click" argument hurts DCA. Disneyland typically opens an hour earlier, but to many people the two parks are treated as one extremely large park.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Thanks. And you should have a great time. Just pay attention to my comments (going to post now) on operations at DLP.

As to Dinoland or more apt, Dinorama and the space available around it, nothing has been firmly approved ... BUT ... providing Pandora does the trick and actually turns DAK into the 'full day park' that it really has been all the time, except for people who want to ride Space Mountain 13 times in a day, it is very likely. As to what will happen, plans can (and do) change. But what is likely is Disney resurrecting a name from the past, using a concept from another park in the past that was never built, and updating it with new tech and some old friends.

That tells me Coundown to Extinction is returning as a name. As for a concept for another park that would fit in the Dinoland area, I'm mystified and intrigued.