Floridians: Go see DL, Boycott WDW

[Mansion Butler]

Let me preface my post by saying I am new to this site but find the site very interesting.

I live in Canada so have no built in preference to either park and have visted each one once.

I liked both parks and found them enjoyable for different reasons. Disneyland is smaller and of course it is easier to navigate and I found some of the rides a little better.

Disney World was bigger and harder to navigate but there was just so much to do in the area that I choose to go to Florida instead. Keep in mind that I live in Edmonton, Alberta and Anaheim is obviously much closer for me.

To me it comes down to preference and many of you have been so many times that perhaps Disney has lost some of it's wonders and you are a little jaded.

Perhaps some of you have been to Edmonton and seen West Edmonton Mall. It's a great attraction for tourists but because I have lived here all my life the weaknesses and problems stand out.

Enjoy the parks and many of you that live close close to both parks should feel fortunate but I understand it is human nature to become critical of something you have seen many times.

As a newbie I am going to enjoy the wonder again for a second time in March and I am really looking forward to it.:sohappy:

New poster, long-time reader (and guest, and new cast member, and fiance of a third generation cast member, and. . .). And now that I'm making my way through this frustrating thread, I find this to be the most intelligent post of the entire thing. I just wanted to say that.

 

[davewasbaloo]

New poster, long-time reader (and guest, and new cast member, and fiance of a third generation cast member, and. . .). And now that I'm making my way through this frustrating thread, I find this to be the most intelligent post of the entire thing. I just wanted to say that.

It may be a frustrating thread, but have you been to both?

 

[Mansion Butler]

And yet the fact that they didn't need elevators for the Haunted Mansion stretch rooms meant that they weren't even operating that first scene for paying customers on my last visit to Walt Disney World. They just had both doors open on each side of the stretch room and the line just snaked right through there and straight on to the loading area, which was in full view just as soon as you entered the house.

I was amazed that they would stoop so low! It got worse when I returned to the Magic Kingdom Park two days later and they were still doing the exact same thing, so it obviously wasn't just a temporary one day only thing.

If both of the stretch rooms don't work, or you don't want to spend the labor to run them and staff the extra CM's, then just shut the ride down. It was a really tacky stunt in my opinion and cemented in my mind the fact that WDW and Disneyland have very different priorities when it comes to operating their signature E Ticket attractions.

It didn't help that once I went on WDW's Haunted Mansion it was in the most pathetic shape I've ever seen a Haunted Mansion be in. Tokyo has an exact duplicate of the WDW version and theirs was stunningly maintained and looked like it had just opened the week before, even though it is a 24 year old ride.

I've never heard of such a thing.

The answer is Omnimover. The ride system that runs the HM is one of the most efficient 'people-eaters' on WDW property. It basically loads guests as quickly as you can get guests to them. By having guests tied up in the pre-show rooms, chairs can roll by empty, but by constantly loading and unloading Riders Per Hour go up through the roof. Disneyland would have done it this way too if they didn't have the railroad boundary in their way, so the preshow rooms were built to get Guests under the tunnels and then into the Omnimover.

I'm not sure what time of year you went, but if you went in one of the busiest, most crowded times, it would explain why they turned off the pre-show, to maximize Omnimover's efficiency.

As for why there's no elevator and why there's only one drop in Pirates it's because the utilidoors system underneath means they can't tunnel into the ground. You're slowly walking uphill in Pirates so you can splash back down to "ground level" and go through the buildings, then unload before the boat is pulled back up to the station.

That's not it. The stretch rooms are not deactivated on busy days. On a busy day the load hall is going to be so full that the time between stretch rooms opening is not enough for it to empty. The imagineers knew what they were doing when they designed this stuff. On slow days there will be long pauses between stretch rooms opening and guests boarding, but that doesn't make a difference.

And the utilidor is not under the Mansion. Because of the water table, attractions cannot go underground. Think of the Magic Kingdom as the second story, and the utilidor as the first story. The Mansion is actually outside of the area the utilidor covers, and you board on the second story. Parts of it (music room, graveyard, crypt) are on the first story. The same level as the utilidor, but quite a ways away from it.

 

[Mansion Butler]

It may be a frustrating thread, but have you been to both?

Yes. On multiple occasions.

 

[davewasbaloo]

Yes. On multiple occasions.

Ok, cool. I look forward to reading the rest of your thoughts.

 

[Mansion Butler]

Ok, cool. I look forward to reading the rest of your thoughts.

I don't have many. I read this thread, but I hate this debate. I love both parks, and they're very close. I used to hate DL, but with some of the work they've put into it I love it nearly as much as the very park I work in.


I don't think either park is better, I think they're different. I don't love Disney for the rides, I love it for the feeling I get when I'm there, and those feelings are intensified more at the Kingdom than at Land. I feel happier strolling down Main Street and crossing the bridge into a roomy Adventureland in Florida than I do in California. I prefer the ride experience of Land, but the Kingdom I prefer the over all immersion.

Again, I don't think either is better, it's just what you prefer or what you grew up with. And they're both pretty close for me. If I go down a check list of who's better on paper, DL probably wins (maybe in a land slide), but like a sporting event, nothing is won on paper. It all comes down to how I personally feel in the park and I prefer my feelings in the Magic Kingdom. These are two of my favorite places in the world, though. It's very, very close.


As far as resort, that's not close, I do prefer Disney World and I do think it's better, but that is for obvious reasons. And I actually do like DCA, for the record. But when it comes to just Disneyland vs. the Magic Kingdom, it's a close match, I love them both, and I don't think there is any real argument for which is better. Only which you prefer, and you shouldn't have to argue about it.

 

[davewasbaloo]

Very smart words indeed. It doesn't matter what other people think of your fav park, but how you feel. I think there is a lot to do with which one you grew up with, that makes a huge difference. For me I like the tight weave of DL's adventureland or the Storybook village of DL's Fantasyland, plus the awesomeness that is NOS. Probably because that is the one I grew up with.

For the record, I think WDW has a FAR superior Tomorrowland!

But a lot depends on the group you are with too. When it was just my wife and I as two adults, WDW may have seemed the better resort (though we hate the Fla - weather - always wet - either humidity and sweat or rain), when travelling with older people or toddlers and babies, I find the compactness of DL or DLP much more family friendly.

 

[Mansion Butler]

Very smart words indeed. It doesn't matter what other people think of your fav park, but how you feel. I think there is a lot to do with which one you grew up with, that makes a huge difference. For me I like the tight weave of DL's adventureland or the Storybook village of DL's Fantasyland, plus the awesomeness that is NOS. Probably because that is the one I grew up with.

For the record, I think WDW has a FAR superior Tomorrowland!

But a lot depends on the group you are with too. When it was just my wife and I as two adults, WDW may have seemed the better resort (though we hate the Fla - weather - always wet - either humidity and sweat or rain), when travelling with older people or toddlers and babies, I find the compactness of DL or DLP much more family friendly.

And I prefer your Toontown (and Fantasyland, though I don't care much about Fantasyland).

Okay, let's say this. . .

Magic Kingdom's horticulture and space. Paris's castle and attention to detail. Tokyo's charm, upkeep and layout. Disneyland's flow of realms and originality.

We'll have MK's Tomorrowland. DL's Toontown and Fantasyland. We'll have both New Orleans AND Liberty Square (I love both equally for different reasons). We'll have MK's frontierland with DL's frontier shops. And then we'll have DL's Adventureland, but a little more spacious.

Swiss Family Treehouse, original Tiki Room, Indy, DL's Pirates and the new Jungle Cruise. MK's Thunder Mountain, DL's Fantasmic!, but a seperate theater so we don't screw up Tom Sawyer's Island. MK's Mansion exterior with DL's interior. Mr. Toad, MK's Pooh, the Matterhorn and a refurbished 20,000 Leagues (I miss that lagoon). A combination of the DL Space Mountain new track and the MK layout and interior. Oh, and DL's restored peoplemover. And Autopia.


Hell, while we're at it, shove in Everest, Tower (okay, Tower doesn't fit), Grizzly River Run, Soarin' (again. . . maybe not), and El Rio del Tiempo (no such thing as a perfect park, right?).

Man, I'd be an AP if that park were in Timbuktu!

 

[davewasbaloo]

Now we're talking. Personally I wouldgo for:

WDW - Lagoon, Monorail and Train Station
DLP/DL hybrid Main Street and DLP's Castle - with Liberty Square and International street as off shoots (as once planned by Walt)
A hybrid of DL/DLP's Adventureland inc Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
DLP's Frontierland with NOS and Critter Country inc Splash Mountain (from WDW)
DL's Fantasyland with DLP's IASW and WDW's Philharmagic
DL's Toontown
A mix of Discoveryland and WDW's tomorrowland - bring Time Keeper back, bring AE back, make sure COP is there, and put 20K in there along with Journey to the Centre of the Earth

I would put the tokyo levels of cleanliness and maintenance in there. DL's performers - a mix of DLP and WDW restaurants - though the Napa Rose would be the signature restaurant. Have California's weather. And there is the utopian MK park IMHO.

 

[flagen]

Even if the MK is inferior to DL proper, the WDW resort as a whole provides an array of attractions that are superior to that at DL resort. Particularly when you include rides that WDW has that DL has nothing similar to compare to, such as Rockn' Roller Coaster, Great Movie Ride, FInding Nemo the Musical, Test Track, Mission:Space, Kilamanjaro safaris, etc., etc., and better versions of some similar rides such as TOT, and obviously Everest vs the Matterhorn.

Ok i can see you have never been to DL....we had the chance to goto WDW/DL/WDW this year....

[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica][FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]California Screamin' [/FONT][/FONT]Very much like Rock and roll except for being outdoor and ALOT of fun.

[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica][FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Hyperion Theater Aladdin ....Best Show of any Disney park hands down...(and yes ive seen Nemo)

Everest and Matterhorn....2006 ride Vs a 30+ year old ride...sigh

To us and we are eastcoasters also DL Parks was great...A bigger castle does not make WDW parks a more magical place:hammer:
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[Hakunamatata]

...A bigger castle does not make WDW parks a more magical place:hammer:
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Nope, you are correct. But a huge geodesic sphere, tree the size of an oil platform, and an oversized scorcerer Mickeys hat kinda does. :lol:

 

[disneyphilip]

Welcome to the forum, Mansion Butler.

It's a breath of fresh air to have another member on here that makes sense for a change and doesn't moan and groan about what Disney is doing wrong every single second--something that has become way too common on Disney message boards these days, which is a crying shame.

I love both DL and WDW equally as well. They all have different things that I like about them. If they were both exact copies of each other, things would be rather dull and boring.

I'm sick and tired of these kinds of debates and I still hope that this thread gets locked sooner than later.

Paging the Admins, paging the Admins...

 

[Hakunamatata]

I'm sick and tired of these kinds of debates and I still hope that this thread gets locked sooner than later.

What, you would rather them be argumentative and flame wars? This one has been rather cordial and, for the most part, been nothing but individuals relating why they like one park over the other.

 

[MaXXimus]

I think intead of sprucing up SM they should find another site and build a better more modern version all while keeping the original open, then once the new is built rebuild something else in its current place.

however nice a SM sprucing-up would be, the time it spends down is time that thousands of guests will be disappointed that they won't be able to ride it, especially people for whom a trip to WDW is a once-in-alifetime thing, and not a regular destination.

 

[disneyphilip]

What, you would rather them be argumentative and flame wars?

Of course not! I never said that.

Please don't put words into my mouth.

 

[Hakunamatata]

What, you would rather them be argumentative and flame wars?

Of course not! I never said that.

Please don't put words into my mouth.

Actually, my post was more of a question. Had I been trying to put words in your mouth, I would have written it more as a statement than a question.

 

[DisneyYorkian74]

[FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica][FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]A bigger castle does not make WDW parks a more magical place:hammer:[/FONT]
[/FONT]

It's not that Cinderella Castle is bigger than the one at Disneyland's; it's better looking than Sleeping Beauty's castle too.

Cinderella Castle is one of the most recognizable and photographed icons/symbols in the world. When people see Cinderella Castle, they think of Disney and Disney's theme parks.

Now when it comes to Disneyland's castle, you're lucky if the person even know where it comes from (that's why people don't understand why the "castle changed" at the end of the film in Soarin')

I also have a STRONG emotional attatchment to Cinderella Castle; and that's mostly thanks to the Walt Disney Co. itself. It's the Castle that I saw on TV all the time while I was growing up. It's the Castle I saw in magazines and billboards and even in McDonald's.

Whenever I look at Cinderella Castle all those childhood memories come rushing back; just wanting to go to Walt Disney World in real life so I could tell everyone that I saw that castle in real life.

All I get when I look at Disneyland's castle are thoughts of "How small and plain it is."

 

[MickeyJman06]

I've decided. I'm boycotting WDW until they put money into the parks - enough so that the WDW parks are caught up with DL.

This is coming from a Floridian, who has traditionally visited WDW almost every year. Why am I boycotting WDW? Answer: I've seen what WDW is desperately missing. I've seen the details and the amount of care put into our West Coast sibling, and I am shocked that the WDC has not kept WDW as modern, up-to-date, and as-well up-kept as DL!

Why the sudden rebellion? Well, a couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to visit DL while on a trip to Southern California. I am still in awe as far as my impression of that park. Almost every ride: Space Mountain, Pirates, Its a Small World (always skipped the WDW version in recent years, but I actually enjoyed the DL version), Buzz Lightyear, Haunted Mansion, Pooh... all far more superior than their WDW counterparts.

Not a litttle, but a lot. Space Mountain, for example, rides on new smooth tracks (that are invisible to its riders) and rocks with a killer sound track. Florida's old rickety Space Mountain needs to be rebuilt desperately. Buzz Lightyear and Pooh are not placeholder attractions to fill in space of former attractions that got gutted (namely Take Flight and Mr. Toad) as is the case in Florida, but these attractions at DL were built on new ride systems designed for those rides, not built over the ride systems of closed rides.

Haunted Mansion and Pirates may have a better outside and que area at WDW, but are completely better at DL! Haunted Mansion at DL has effects that just work better and seem to be more up-to-date. For instance, the singing ghosts faces are perfectly in sync to the vocal tracks of 'grimm grinning ghosts'. The dog being walked actually moves, compared to the WDW version that is not animated. Pirates is much longer and gets updated every few years, compared to WDW's version that finally got its first update since it opened in 1973!

I have no desire to ever go back to WDW until management gives those parks the care and attention DL gets. I do plan on going to CA more often and will visit DL each time. To those who have been to WDW so many times and never DL, I seriously suggest that you visit DL. After you see what I am talking about, please join me in boycotting WDW!

HEY!
WDW is a really famous place. If WDW was boycotted Florida will be a boring place

 

[Emerald Rose]

I've visited both DW and DL and to me there is no comparison--DW is my preference. For many reasons. That being said, you have to do what works best for you and vacation where it brings you the most happiness.

 

[mitchjs]

I got my DL tix in the mail, this is the 1st time i purchased DL/WDW tix via disney's web site... they are made of paper... are these the real DL tix? or do i have to exchange em for plastic ones? or at DL do they not use plastic? or is the paper = plastic

thanks
mitch

-DL trip feb2-5 2007
(inspired by this thread)