Disneyland Park Returns to Glory in Summer 2005

eclipseSD

eclipseSD

Member
Original Poster
After 10 years of mismanagement, disturbingly little upkeep, and an all around pessimistic attitude from Paul Pressler and Cynthia Harris, it looks like happy days may soon be here again.

3/26 MiceAge Article

Matt Ouimet (with Jay Rasulo's help) has 1.5 years to fix 10 years of poor maintenace, and he looks to be off to a stellar start. Fresh paint everywhere, new rehab walls up everyday, increased lanscaping care, and all the other signs of repair and refurbishment are up all over Disneyland, with more to come as the anniversary draws closer.

Finally, people will be able to walk into a park that is in the same condition as when Walt walked through it 50 years ago. No more peeling paint, graffiti, or signs of wasteful spending will soon be found at Disneyland.

With rumours of a stunning nighttime tribute to Walt Disney being planned, and assuredly other fresh ideas being considered in a land dank with 10 years of rotten ones; it appears DL is once again headed towards greatness.

Note I say DL, not DLR, as DCA still needs several more C, D, and E tickets to be considered a full or multi-day park.

Sure, Disneyland will still be nowhere near as extravagent as WDW or TDR; but for 2005-2006 at least, it may be able to draw some possible WDW visitors to So. Cal because of how royal a makeover it is receiving and how stunning a tribute to Walt is being planned. I, for one, am traveling to DLR during its 50th Anniversary, but do not have another WDW trip planned until 2007.

It appears, that even during a time when people like Michael Eisner and Al Weiss seem bent on cutting costs and corners at the expense of everything but their wallets; there is a glimmer of hope for Disney in the form of Matt Ouimet and Jay Rasulo.
 
JackSkellington

JackSkellington

Active Member
OOOOO. Uncut grass. Dude DL has a lot of problems worse than that such as graffiti. The stuff takes forever to come off. I'm not trying to be rude or anything but DL really needs this makeover.
 
David

David

Active Member
We're planning a trip to WDW in October, then to DL in June of 2005. That will be our first trip there, and I'm looking forward to visiting the park for the first time!
 
JackSkellington

JackSkellington

Active Member
A word of warning do not compare DL to WDW. Its like apples and oranges, each has its own uniqueness. So DL is different, just enjoy it. And ride the IJA, Matterhorn, and Rodger RabbitCarToon Spin. A lotta fun on those rides.
 
eclipseSD

eclipseSD

Member
Original Poster
WDW is going to get millions of people every year no matter what, because its internationally known as one of the THE tourist destinations in the world. Brazilian tourist groups aren't going to care about park upkeep when deciding where to go. WDW doesn't need local Floridians/AP holders to come to park. Sure they help, but they are not the lifeline.

Disneyland, however, relies heavily on Southern Californian residents to continue buying APs, visitng the parks and DtD, and spending money as many weekends as they can. Sure, many many tourists from all over do come to DL every year and fill up the hotels, but for a place like DLR, the locals matter much more. If the rides aren't maintained, the service isn't superb, or anything about DLR seems to be below satisfactory, the locals will simply take their business elsewhere. From Knots Berry Farm to Las Vegas, SoCal locals have many other places to turn to.

These high priority locals are one of the reasons why the new DLR management is putting maintenance and upkeep above all else. For 2005-2006, they want a significant increase in APs among the locals, as well as huge numbers of out-of-towers coming for the 50th, liking the new DL experience, and deciding to visit more regularly,

Al Weiss is in a much better position that Matt Ouimet. He doesn't have to do anything to draw in the huge crowds at WDW. His recent ignorant statements on maintenace there just show his ignorance about the whole matter.

That is the problem with all of Disney nowadays. They feel they don't have to put any extra effort into their product to draw the crowds because "it's Disney" and the people will come because of it. Recent movies and the WDS Paris fiasco show that when you only give a mediocre or poor effort, the crowds and money trickling in will be mediocre or poor.

This is why the new DLR management is so refreshing. Instead of continuing the Harris nightmare, they are eliminating her pet projects or making them better. No longer just keeping the status quo at DL, they are looking to upgrade it. The construction walls, fresh paint, and other sign of extra effort today will turn into increased crowds and profits in 2005.

If only Eisner had understood this 10 years ago; we would have had a vastly improved company in all aspects. DAK would be a full or multi-day park. DCA would be Disney's America and a multi-day park. DLP would be a vastly better experience and WDS would be more than a 1/4 day park. Please don't give me DisneySea as an example of Eisner's greatness. If OLC didn't control that place, it would be another half-day park. Hong Kong Disneyland looks to continue the new Eisner tradition of building less and less, charging more and more, and turning a blind eye to public outcry. I can only pray for those who live in Shanghai.
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
I'm even more excited than before to be returning to the Happiest Place on Earth for the 50th Anniversary! August 3-11, 2005, baby!:D
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
new entertainment property-wide, a new Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, new firework show at Disneyland park, hopefully a new parade at both DL and DCA (def. at DL, dunno about DCA), overall sprucing up of the parks that has already begun
 
P

paulcmartens

Account Suspended
paint looks good...

I personally like the up keep of the park...Main Street is lookin fine (now if they only changed the colored lights on space to just pure white!)

lol
 

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