I`ve had a lot of requests to finish my recent trip report with my thoughts about Disneyland and to make fair comparissons to Orlando. Most of you know me as a WDW veteran, but I was a well educated first timer to the Anaheim resort. I`ll concentrate on Magic Kingdoms, then other parks, then the resort as a whole, as seen through the eyes of a knowledgable but also a newbie first timer. Edit: considering how much I`ve typed and havn`t got to DCA yet, I`ll call this thread "You Asked for it, You got it!"
I was ready for a small, cramped park but found the opposite. It was smaller sure, but never felt too small or cramped. I wouldn`t go so far as to say intimate either. It still felt big. Perhaps this was due to the numerous winding paths and hidden areas as opposed to Orlandos more straight line walkways. Main St actually felt wider than Orlando, perhaps this was the reduced height of the buildings fooling me. The castle... the big joke... sure it`s small. A little too small when seen from Town Sq. But in the hub it looks right. Quaint. Magical. And it has a nice diversionary walk through. Not to say the park didn`t have its problems with size; the area around the Tea Cups can be and was most of the time a traffic nightmare. Same for Adventureland. It`s too narrow. Very much like the area around Aladdins spinner in WDW. Busy, messy and not somewhere to linger. Whilst talking about the park in general, I will say the upkeep was fantastic. I know it wasn`t like this a decade ago, but the place is a joy to look at from any angle. Clean, bright, polished. I can`t wait to see WDWs MK when the facade project is complete having seen DL. Also, we were warned about West Coast Cast Members. Not so much warned, but told to expect them to be not as magical, and on a whole that`s what we found. Don`t get me wrong, they were pleasant, profesional and polite, but the overall feel was of people doing their job day in day out. I felt I had to engage with them first. During 11 days we saw only 3 CMs in complete character - 2 at PotC load, and a Bellhop at ToT. I`m not putting DL CMs down, far from it, but there was a definate differant vibe.
Okay, onto the details. The attractions were amazing. Familiar, but different. Very much like we felt on our first DLP trip. Details, effects, smartness - all of such a high standard. I`ll try to go in some sort of order.
Main Street was a joy. Real stores. One block of Emporium. A Magic Shop that is really a Magic Shop! Nooks and Crannies. Candy store. A Cinema that is just a Cinema, not a facade selling items found elsewhere. Space not used for selling. Wow. The hub was similarly intimate, with wonderful landscapes and little paths here and there. Pixie Hollow being hidden until you stumble on it - how can a hub that is supposed to be small hide this? Shame about the AP processing center though. A waste of a nice building. Even the empty patio was screaming to be put to better use.
Into Adventureland, and right into The Tiki Room. So strange having it virtually in Main St. The size and space issue I guess but it was too close to the hub. There was no gradual theme change; Victorian and then BANG! Tropical. A cramped preshow holding area - something WDW changed for the better. The attraction was great. I was in awe, like so many times, just thinking this was the real deal. I also noted the little sub paths around the rear of the hub from Adland to Frontierland - hidden, secret paths (not really) that added to the charm. Something WDW added not that long ago as a hub bridge.
Before moving on, I`ll note something I saw everywhere in the park - there was always something to see, something to take in. The smaller size may be partly the reason, or the attraction count, but there was hardly any dead space. An attraction. A real building to enter. A store. Somewhere to eat. Everywhere you looked was eye candy. I came to call the south and west side attraction alley - from the hub there was the Tiki Room, next to Jungle Cruise, next to Indy, next to the Treehouse, next to PotC, next to the railroad, next to the HM, next to Splash, followed by Pooh. All close neighbours with no great lengths of bare wall or planting between. Amazing. This really added to the feeling there was so much to do and see, and didn`t once feel they were too close to eachother. So much so, that the path by Big Thunder Ranch and the wide walkway between Matterhorn and Alice came as a welcome relief that there was some space in the park to stretch out and slow down.
Meanwhile, back to Adland. The Jungle Cruise facade was both different and fitting. The upstairs queue area was nice to see for a change even if it wasn`t used, but there were times when the line snaked onto the outside path, something WDW wouldn`t let happen with its extended entry path. The ride was superb, the Animatronics on the whole looked less plastic and more real than what I`m used to, and the Pirranahs were a great addition. As was the Gorrila (?) crossfire and dynamite explosion. The latter was a surprise, and great plussing. I did miss the temple though; on my first ride I was surprised when the ride finished without going inside. Somethings I`d researched and forgotten about, this was an example.
Next up was Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. What a mouthful. I`ll just call it Indy. I was expecting this to be a highlight and I wasn`t dissappointed. I was surprised however at how the trees cleared to reveal a path, the FP/SB entrance and a little sign hanging on a post. So understated. Maybe it dosn`t need a large banner. Maybe anything more would intrude on the theme of the land. But it was almost like stumbling onto the attraction by mistake. Into the line, and the detail was stunning. The exterior temple, the camp, even the smallest details like the mine cars with a track that leads across the exit path and to a dock at the Jungle Cruise. So much story. So much detail. So much to see. Inside was as long a walk as I expected, but it didn`t feel like it; the different themes and chambers acted as one weenie after another, always calling you forward. Cramped caves, open walkways, large halls, the preshow projection room - all offered a different feel and kept the line feeling new and refreshing instead of mundane and more of the same. I was surprised at how the line was allowed to move through the safety video as capacity allowed. More than once we moved through the whole room without seeing the whole spiel.
Load was smaller than I expected, until I looked up. My god, the place looked so tall! So well themed. The EMVs were rougher than I expected, but the ride was stunning. There were a few dead dark areas I thought could do with some dressing or similar, but these were far fewer in number than the set pieces. The different doorway was novel, if a bit cheesy once you`d ridden a number of times, but still added variety. Effects worked so well, and constantly seemed to be plussed and tweaked; one day the first Indy AA had no smoke coming through the doors he was trying to keep shut. The following day there was smoke a plenty (our friends now call this "Holding back the World of Color"!) and the whole attraction just screamed money and massive. The fact there arn`t walls blocking your view; you can see rooms ahead where you will end up going, other EMVs, pillars instead of walls. There were a few little items I felt could be better; the smoke screen projection looked just that for example, and the rolling ball wasn`t lit aside from strobe lights and the whole effect was a bit of an anticlimax because of this. I don`t know if that`s normal, a new thing or a fault but I`ve seen it better on the web. Final thoughts? As much as I like Dinosaur it`ll never be the same again. I`m an Indy convert.
Moving on, Tarzans Treehouse was a nice diversion. Again, it was in your face - no walk up to it, the attraction was right there. Nice details and a pleasent half hour. I didn`t miss the Swiss Family theme I was used to. The attraction also helps the transition to New Orleans Square. There was more of a feel of a slow move through to different themes rather than the sudden jolt of the Hub to Adland. NOS itself was a revelation. The waterside area just felt so huge (partly for F! I know) but the scale certainly didn`t feel like being in a small park. A wonderful backdrop of the Island with multiple watercraft passing by was just sensory overload. The Twain. The Columbia (beautiful) and the Canoes. Keel Boats would make it look like an Interstate! Back into NOS, and the streets and buildings were more eye candy gone mad. So much to see. Real little stores. So many places to eat. So much to explore, to find, to stumble across. A small facade - Blue Bayou. A single door - Club 33. A small alley and a doorway - a ride exit. A small opening - the famous staircase for taking pictures on, with a beautiful "hidden" courtyard. Just an example of how much there is to see if you look for it. The only place I`ve really felt this in WDWs MK is in and around Caribbean Plaza. Except this was more. Add the best theming and detail of World Showcase (Moroccos market springs to mind, or the smaller areas of France) and you`re halfway there.
So it`s NOS. Okay... Pirates. I can`t imagine the attraction not having the bridge infront of it. It would have been so bland, so open, so bare. As it was the walkway to the door went a little way to highten the excitement of what lay ahead, but walking inside to be confronted by the flume and a row of boats was just how I thought it to be. They certainly improved this in Orlando and more so in Paris. It works to a degree, the boats act as Weenies, but knowing how the queue is elsewhere gave the feel of a prototype as opposed to the real thing. The ride however was totally different.
Walking into load, seeing Lafitte's Landing, the Bayou, the restaurant... what a vista. It works so well. Boats sailing off into the distance. Details in the darkness that pop out as you stare. Trees. Shoreline. Boats. Waves. Stunning. Onto the ride we go, and the sense of scale is apparent as you float past the Blue Bayou on the right, with the Horizon, trees and sky to the left. If this is just the scene setter the rest should be good. It just felt so big, so open. One bad comment; as you leave the Bayou, passing the Old Man (Joe?) there is a clatter of plates from the kitchen bridge above, and doors banging. When this happened it was just so bad show. But moving on, and seeing the Jolly Roger on a brick wall was surprising. Shouldn`t it be on a delicatly themed backdrop? Part of me felt it looked wrong, part of me kept saying this was the real deal, the original. Still, the pitch black drop soon moved things on. And a drop where you can get wet too! More like Paris than WDW. Speaking of versions, knwoing the WDW version and scene layout intimately and also knowing Paris very well, Anaheim Pirates was certainly a strange feeling of deja-vu. Things are different again, and all the more exciting because of it. Each version has certain scenes in very different places (or actually has the scenes) and as such they all feel very much like variations of the others as opposed to clones.
As the ride progressed, the quality of the visuals, effects, lighting and audio was amazing. TDO certainly need a kick. The smallest details were a welcome return to show quality. Canon splashes all the time. Smoke on the water. Canon wind. Gunfire smoke from pistols. Animatronics that had full motion. This isn`t meant to be a knock of Orlando, but show quality in this attraction and most of the rest of the park was top notch. Moving on, the length of ride was more and more amazing. Despite knowing the layout, experiencing it first hand for the first time was wonderful. Rounding a bend, expecting to see the exit ramp I kept finding a showscene. And another. And another. Point in case, the Grotto - it just kept going on and on and on. Leaving the burning city I didn`t expect the burning timbers before the Arsenal. The ride just kept going and going. I was both humbled and amazed, and felt it was everything I`d heard about and expected ti to be and more. A true top of the drawer E Ticket.
Phew! I hope you`re not bored yet. This is turning into a book! Let me (and you) take a break and then I`ll carry on.
I was ready for a small, cramped park but found the opposite. It was smaller sure, but never felt too small or cramped. I wouldn`t go so far as to say intimate either. It still felt big. Perhaps this was due to the numerous winding paths and hidden areas as opposed to Orlandos more straight line walkways. Main St actually felt wider than Orlando, perhaps this was the reduced height of the buildings fooling me. The castle... the big joke... sure it`s small. A little too small when seen from Town Sq. But in the hub it looks right. Quaint. Magical. And it has a nice diversionary walk through. Not to say the park didn`t have its problems with size; the area around the Tea Cups can be and was most of the time a traffic nightmare. Same for Adventureland. It`s too narrow. Very much like the area around Aladdins spinner in WDW. Busy, messy and not somewhere to linger. Whilst talking about the park in general, I will say the upkeep was fantastic. I know it wasn`t like this a decade ago, but the place is a joy to look at from any angle. Clean, bright, polished. I can`t wait to see WDWs MK when the facade project is complete having seen DL. Also, we were warned about West Coast Cast Members. Not so much warned, but told to expect them to be not as magical, and on a whole that`s what we found. Don`t get me wrong, they were pleasant, profesional and polite, but the overall feel was of people doing their job day in day out. I felt I had to engage with them first. During 11 days we saw only 3 CMs in complete character - 2 at PotC load, and a Bellhop at ToT. I`m not putting DL CMs down, far from it, but there was a definate differant vibe.
Okay, onto the details. The attractions were amazing. Familiar, but different. Very much like we felt on our first DLP trip. Details, effects, smartness - all of such a high standard. I`ll try to go in some sort of order.
Main Street was a joy. Real stores. One block of Emporium. A Magic Shop that is really a Magic Shop! Nooks and Crannies. Candy store. A Cinema that is just a Cinema, not a facade selling items found elsewhere. Space not used for selling. Wow. The hub was similarly intimate, with wonderful landscapes and little paths here and there. Pixie Hollow being hidden until you stumble on it - how can a hub that is supposed to be small hide this? Shame about the AP processing center though. A waste of a nice building. Even the empty patio was screaming to be put to better use.
Into Adventureland, and right into The Tiki Room. So strange having it virtually in Main St. The size and space issue I guess but it was too close to the hub. There was no gradual theme change; Victorian and then BANG! Tropical. A cramped preshow holding area - something WDW changed for the better. The attraction was great. I was in awe, like so many times, just thinking this was the real deal. I also noted the little sub paths around the rear of the hub from Adland to Frontierland - hidden, secret paths (not really) that added to the charm. Something WDW added not that long ago as a hub bridge.
Before moving on, I`ll note something I saw everywhere in the park - there was always something to see, something to take in. The smaller size may be partly the reason, or the attraction count, but there was hardly any dead space. An attraction. A real building to enter. A store. Somewhere to eat. Everywhere you looked was eye candy. I came to call the south and west side attraction alley - from the hub there was the Tiki Room, next to Jungle Cruise, next to Indy, next to the Treehouse, next to PotC, next to the railroad, next to the HM, next to Splash, followed by Pooh. All close neighbours with no great lengths of bare wall or planting between. Amazing. This really added to the feeling there was so much to do and see, and didn`t once feel they were too close to eachother. So much so, that the path by Big Thunder Ranch and the wide walkway between Matterhorn and Alice came as a welcome relief that there was some space in the park to stretch out and slow down.
Meanwhile, back to Adland. The Jungle Cruise facade was both different and fitting. The upstairs queue area was nice to see for a change even if it wasn`t used, but there were times when the line snaked onto the outside path, something WDW wouldn`t let happen with its extended entry path. The ride was superb, the Animatronics on the whole looked less plastic and more real than what I`m used to, and the Pirranahs were a great addition. As was the Gorrila (?) crossfire and dynamite explosion. The latter was a surprise, and great plussing. I did miss the temple though; on my first ride I was surprised when the ride finished without going inside. Somethings I`d researched and forgotten about, this was an example.
Next up was Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. What a mouthful. I`ll just call it Indy. I was expecting this to be a highlight and I wasn`t dissappointed. I was surprised however at how the trees cleared to reveal a path, the FP/SB entrance and a little sign hanging on a post. So understated. Maybe it dosn`t need a large banner. Maybe anything more would intrude on the theme of the land. But it was almost like stumbling onto the attraction by mistake. Into the line, and the detail was stunning. The exterior temple, the camp, even the smallest details like the mine cars with a track that leads across the exit path and to a dock at the Jungle Cruise. So much story. So much detail. So much to see. Inside was as long a walk as I expected, but it didn`t feel like it; the different themes and chambers acted as one weenie after another, always calling you forward. Cramped caves, open walkways, large halls, the preshow projection room - all offered a different feel and kept the line feeling new and refreshing instead of mundane and more of the same. I was surprised at how the line was allowed to move through the safety video as capacity allowed. More than once we moved through the whole room without seeing the whole spiel.
Load was smaller than I expected, until I looked up. My god, the place looked so tall! So well themed. The EMVs were rougher than I expected, but the ride was stunning. There were a few dead dark areas I thought could do with some dressing or similar, but these were far fewer in number than the set pieces. The different doorway was novel, if a bit cheesy once you`d ridden a number of times, but still added variety. Effects worked so well, and constantly seemed to be plussed and tweaked; one day the first Indy AA had no smoke coming through the doors he was trying to keep shut. The following day there was smoke a plenty (our friends now call this "Holding back the World of Color"!) and the whole attraction just screamed money and massive. The fact there arn`t walls blocking your view; you can see rooms ahead where you will end up going, other EMVs, pillars instead of walls. There were a few little items I felt could be better; the smoke screen projection looked just that for example, and the rolling ball wasn`t lit aside from strobe lights and the whole effect was a bit of an anticlimax because of this. I don`t know if that`s normal, a new thing or a fault but I`ve seen it better on the web. Final thoughts? As much as I like Dinosaur it`ll never be the same again. I`m an Indy convert.
Moving on, Tarzans Treehouse was a nice diversion. Again, it was in your face - no walk up to it, the attraction was right there. Nice details and a pleasent half hour. I didn`t miss the Swiss Family theme I was used to. The attraction also helps the transition to New Orleans Square. There was more of a feel of a slow move through to different themes rather than the sudden jolt of the Hub to Adland. NOS itself was a revelation. The waterside area just felt so huge (partly for F! I know) but the scale certainly didn`t feel like being in a small park. A wonderful backdrop of the Island with multiple watercraft passing by was just sensory overload. The Twain. The Columbia (beautiful) and the Canoes. Keel Boats would make it look like an Interstate! Back into NOS, and the streets and buildings were more eye candy gone mad. So much to see. Real little stores. So many places to eat. So much to explore, to find, to stumble across. A small facade - Blue Bayou. A single door - Club 33. A small alley and a doorway - a ride exit. A small opening - the famous staircase for taking pictures on, with a beautiful "hidden" courtyard. Just an example of how much there is to see if you look for it. The only place I`ve really felt this in WDWs MK is in and around Caribbean Plaza. Except this was more. Add the best theming and detail of World Showcase (Moroccos market springs to mind, or the smaller areas of France) and you`re halfway there.
So it`s NOS. Okay... Pirates. I can`t imagine the attraction not having the bridge infront of it. It would have been so bland, so open, so bare. As it was the walkway to the door went a little way to highten the excitement of what lay ahead, but walking inside to be confronted by the flume and a row of boats was just how I thought it to be. They certainly improved this in Orlando and more so in Paris. It works to a degree, the boats act as Weenies, but knowing how the queue is elsewhere gave the feel of a prototype as opposed to the real thing. The ride however was totally different.
Walking into load, seeing Lafitte's Landing, the Bayou, the restaurant... what a vista. It works so well. Boats sailing off into the distance. Details in the darkness that pop out as you stare. Trees. Shoreline. Boats. Waves. Stunning. Onto the ride we go, and the sense of scale is apparent as you float past the Blue Bayou on the right, with the Horizon, trees and sky to the left. If this is just the scene setter the rest should be good. It just felt so big, so open. One bad comment; as you leave the Bayou, passing the Old Man (Joe?) there is a clatter of plates from the kitchen bridge above, and doors banging. When this happened it was just so bad show. But moving on, and seeing the Jolly Roger on a brick wall was surprising. Shouldn`t it be on a delicatly themed backdrop? Part of me felt it looked wrong, part of me kept saying this was the real deal, the original. Still, the pitch black drop soon moved things on. And a drop where you can get wet too! More like Paris than WDW. Speaking of versions, knwoing the WDW version and scene layout intimately and also knowing Paris very well, Anaheim Pirates was certainly a strange feeling of deja-vu. Things are different again, and all the more exciting because of it. Each version has certain scenes in very different places (or actually has the scenes) and as such they all feel very much like variations of the others as opposed to clones.
As the ride progressed, the quality of the visuals, effects, lighting and audio was amazing. TDO certainly need a kick. The smallest details were a welcome return to show quality. Canon splashes all the time. Smoke on the water. Canon wind. Gunfire smoke from pistols. Animatronics that had full motion. This isn`t meant to be a knock of Orlando, but show quality in this attraction and most of the rest of the park was top notch. Moving on, the length of ride was more and more amazing. Despite knowing the layout, experiencing it first hand for the first time was wonderful. Rounding a bend, expecting to see the exit ramp I kept finding a showscene. And another. And another. Point in case, the Grotto - it just kept going on and on and on. Leaving the burning city I didn`t expect the burning timbers before the Arsenal. The ride just kept going and going. I was both humbled and amazed, and felt it was everything I`d heard about and expected ti to be and more. A true top of the drawer E Ticket.
Phew! I hope you`re not bored yet. This is turning into a book! Let me (and you) take a break and then I`ll carry on.
but as it stands this is on a par, if not worse than, Epcots Wonders pavilion or Imageworks.
