Genie of the Lamp
Well-Known Member
TEA and AECOM to publish 2012 themed index report on June 4th, showing increased attendance at parks worldwide:
http://www.teaconnect.org/tea-blog
http://www.teaconnect.org/tea-blog
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Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres
- Thread starter WDW1974
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ThemeParks4Life
Well-Known Member
BOG was my favorite restaurant in MK, but now that the steak sandwich is gone, that title has gone back to Columbia Harbor House. BOG's atmosphere is nice, but it feels too cafiteria-ish.
devoy1701
Well-Known Member
On our first visit to Disneyland, we thought we were waiting in line for the Tiki Room, only to realize that the 40 person deep line was for Aloha Isle...for Dole Whips! (their Aloha Isle is right infront of the Tiki Room and can be access from the Tiki Room's courtyard). It happens!
tissandtully
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I try not to wait in a line without knowing what it's for, that seems to happen a lot. People will just get in a line and not even know why!
devoy1701
Well-Known Member
I usually don't wade through literally dozens of pages when E. F. Hutton - whoops! - I mean @WDW1974 puts up a thread like this just because it's always spiraled out of control by the time I visit the site, and I don't have the patience to catch up. But I wanted to make one comment on the cruise thing:
For the life of me, I don't understand why ANYONE would pay the prices that DCL charges. If the WDW parks and resorts are overpriced, the DCL is that times TWO.
In March, we spent a week on the Oasis of the Seas with Royal Caribbean. We got two rooms (which gave the wife and I some privacy from the kiddies, and let us stay out late too!). One was a balcony, the other was an interior across the hall. It's was a Spring Break cruise, and the two rooms together totaled $5700. That felt high, but it was Spring Break, so I understood. When we were deciding what to do, I called DCL to price it out. Their option was a 5 person room (which would have meant we were stuffed all in one space), at a cost of close to $9,000. That's a difference, for the same cruise with similar ports, and a single, smaller stateroom, of $3,300 or over 30%!!! To get two separate rooms in the same config as I could get on Royal would have been even MORE.
Are you kidding me?
We've been on a number of cruises, DCL included, and our trip on Oasis was FAR AND AWAY the best cruise we have ever been on. From service, to kids clubs, to activities, to the INCREDIBLE food, to shows... Simply amazing. Jaw-dropping, at times. So much so that we booked another while we were on the ship.
I'm sure some of the DCL passengers cruise using DVC, and my guess is our fine Spirit did not pay "full boat" (ha) to take this cruise (does he ever??)... But outside of those kinds of folks, I just can't understand how anyone would pay that much of a premium for - at best - an equal experience if they just did their homework. And you can't use the characters against me in an argument for DCL... The Oasis was a Dreamworks cruise, and there were characters a-plenty. My 4 year old daugter was crazy about the Penguins from Madagascar and anything from How to Train Your Dragon.
As long as the Oasis is on the seas, along with her sister ship the Allure, you won't find the Buried's on a DCL ship.
Regardless of the price difference, you're getting an insanely different experience between RCI and DCL...especially if your sailing on the Oasis (which I would argue isn't a cruise ship experience at all...I mean if you really need all of those amenities, why go on a cruise?)
The only problem I have is saying during off season instead of over the summer. With my wife being a teacher, I haven't yet been willing to fork out the summer prices when we could sail during early May for half of that price!
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
You HAVE to school me on how you get all these deals. I mean, I'm a nice guy. People know me. And I'M not getting these kinds of deals!!!!
Not to derail, but...
You made a point that I had forgotten we discussed while on the cruise... That on the Oasis, you sometimes had to LOOK to find the ocean. It wasn't a big deal for us, because we spent most of our time on the top decks and had a balcony. But I could have easily been frustrated if I would have had an inside cabin and didn't spend much time on the top decks. The size for us was great. And I tend to not sit still, so surfing and rock climbing, etc, was perfect.
Now back to your thread.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
So I can wake up every morning at a different island and spend the day there. Tough to do without being on a ship.
But when we have a family of 5 with kids ranged 4 to 16 and a dad who almost literally doesn't like to sit still (me), an immense ship with more to do than humanly possible for all age ranges in a week long cruise (trust me, I tried) was just what the Dr. ordered.
But honestly, I'm not sure I agree with your point that they're different experiences. We've been on every major cruise line, DCL included, and they've all felt similar. The variables were ship size, routes, and available amenities. To us, Oasis was just the same experience on steroids, and swapping foam heads from Mickey to Shrek. We thought the shows were better than DCL even, and the staff just as friendly.
Next Big Thing
Well-Known Member
How am I making excuses? I said I saw a lack of maintenance during the 24 hour event (and in most recent visits) and I also said that they should know what their staffing levels should be. I work for Universal and they do an excellent job at this, Disney could learn a thing or two. But BGT is a completely different story. A friend of mine who works at BGT and gets attendance numbers on a daily basis has told me They only get 7,000 TOTAL Monday-Friday. Around 15-18,000 on the weekend total. So comparing the two is ridiculously lopsided.
That's still not me saying MK does a great job. They don't. Both Universal parks are exponentially better and the TM's actually care. Maybe next time you'll actually read my comment instead of pushing an agenda.
WildcatDen
Well-Known Member
I remember when KI was more of a THEME Park. Even the Beast had a theme to it, somewhat. . .
Bryner84
Well-Known Member
Maybe it's a controversial choice, but Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch, not the family style dinner) is my favorite MK meal by far.
Alektronic
Well-Known Member
They don't need more custodial, but they need to be better trained. Everytime I go into a breakroom there is at least four Haitian custodial women hiding in the corner just chatting or sleeping.
Clever Name
Well-Known Member
If you are standing in any line you can be sure that you are not waiting for the Tiki Room or CBJ.
Calvin Coolidge
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I think it's pretty safe to assume that there's never a line for CBJ at DL
Clever Name
Well-Known Member
That's why they took it out in 2001.
Lee
Adventurer
Seems a little on the low side...
They pull about 4.3-4.5 million annually, I think.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Maybe they're too busy drawing on the sidewalks because that's more Magical than clean sidewalks?
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Thank you Genie! I had been wondering when those would come out this year. This 2012 report will be especially interesting to pour through.
I'm marking my calendar to remind myself, although I'm sure the boards will erupt that day. At least the Disneyland boards will erupt to see what impact Cars Land had on half the calendar year for the Anaheim parks. The WDW numbers might be "steady as she goes".
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