The "Legoland" Effect

[TP2000]

Uh...Local is anyone who is within distance to drive up/down for the day and go home that evening if they wish...and people in California have traffic jams that make even a few miles a two hour drive at times...so I dunno how that works for your analysis.

I'm a native SoCal'er who has also lived in a dozen other states in my adult life. The "traffic" and "crazy freeways" in SoCal are fun for Johnny Carson punchlines, but they aren't stopping the free flow of commerce and industry here. People drive from Santa Barbara and Tijuana (2 hours or less drive time) for the day at Disneyland, and I didn't even include those regions in the 21 Million population of the six SoCal counties.

The massive SoCal freeway system doesn't hinder Disneyland attendance. Now if you are a total noob and you try to drive west out of downtown LA on the Santa Monica Freeway at 5:30PM, yeah, you are going to hit heavy traffic. You deserve that traffic though, just for being stupid. But I've found the freeways especially here in OC to be some of the best in the country to deal with. Interstate 5 as it passes the Disneyland Resort is 14 glorious lanes wide. I occasionally see tourists on the Harbor Blvd. overpass near Disneyland taking pictures of the speeding traffic below, since it's likely triple the width of the 4 or 6 lane wimpy-freeways they have back home. :lol:

My commute in Boston was horrific, by comparison to SoCal. The worst traffic I've dealt with in the last decade? Seattle. HORRIBLE, MADDENING GRIDLOCK IN SEATTLE!

The fact remains, Legoland has had very, very minimal effect on Disneyland attendance and visitation patterns. I doubt you could even quantify any effect whatsover Legoland California has had on Disneyland in the 10 years of its existence. You sure don't hear much talk of Legoland in SoCal, or on Disneyland discussion boards, that's for sure. I imagine it will do the exact same thing in Central Florida.

Cypress Gardens went out of business for a reason, didn't it?

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

The initials of my name, combined with my favorite NFC team. I've had that "handle," if you will, for years and just use it out of ease (or laziness) more than anything else. I suppose I should come up with something more proper to the board, but I figure the avatar is good enough for the time being.

Ah, cool.


Yes, the Avatar helps. I know you as "Germany". :lol:

 

[_Scar]

WDW Magic YOUTH Duckberg

We all have to learn at one time or another

SoCal Theme Parks
Six Flags Magic Mountain
Universal Studios Hollywood
Knott's Berry Farm
Disneyland
Disney's California Adventure
Legoland California
Sea World
San Diego Zoo/Wild Animal Park

Central Florida Theme Parks
Universal Studios Florida
Islands of Adventure
Sea World
Magic Kingdom
Epcot Center
Animal Kingdom
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Legoland Florida

Is the San Diego Zoo really a theme park? And why aren't the water parks on CF's list along with BGT and AI? :lookaroun

 

[Laura]

We all have to learn at one time or another




Is the San Diego Zoo really a theme park? And why aren't the water parks on CF's list along with BGT and AI? :lookaroun

It takes more time to see San Diego Zoo than it does to see Disney's California Adventure. I would certainly count the combination of both the Zoo & Wild Animal Park as theme parks. They have rides, shows, playgrounds, exhibits, and the WAP has a Journey Into Africa ride that blows Kilimanjaro Safaris out of the water. They are considered just as big an attraction (if not bigger) than Sea World around here and are included on the SoCal City Pass. Personally, I'd consider them to be TWO attractions, as they are both ginormous and located quite a ways away from each other.

If you wanna list Central Florida's waterparks, then you'd also have to add the 20-30 waterparks in SoCal to the opposing list. :lol:

 

[_Scar]

Ooooo

Should I make it a point to stop there if I go to Cali for maybe a week besides DLR?

I looked up the Journey into Africa and it lacks lions, elephants, cheetahs... the 3 cool animals

 

[Laura]

Ooooo

Should I make it a point to stop there if I go to Cali for maybe a week besides DLR?

I looked up the Journey into Africa and it lacks lions, elephants, cheetahs... the 3 cool animals

I greatly prefer the Wild Animal Park to the zoo...but I do not recommend the Wild Animal Park during the summer (it's about 120 degrees out there in the summer). Any other time of the year...heck yeah!

You are right that there are no elephants on the ride (they are a short walk up the trail from it), but there ARE cheetahs and lions.

I took the pictures below on the tour just a few days ago.

There's also lots and lots of cute widdle baby giraffes (MY favorite)

It's an incredible place to visit.

 

[_Scar]

Wow, great pics!

Unfortunately I will be going during August :/ but I am a Floridian so I'm used to scalding temps

Would you mind if in the future I could ask you about SoCal offerings? Planning a 2 week trip from Florida in '11 and have no clear idea of what to avoid wasting time on ):

 

[Laura]

Wow, great pics!

Unfortunately I will be going during August :/ but I am a Floridian so I'm used to scalding temps

Would you mind if in the future I could ask you about SoCal offerings? Planning a 2 week trip from Florida in '11 and have no clear idea of what to avoid wasting time on ):

Sure. Send a pm anytime!

 

[TP2000]

It takes more time to see San Diego Zoo than it does to see Disney's California Adventure. I would certainly count the combination of both the Zoo & Wild Animal Park as theme parks. Personally, I'd consider them to be TWO attractions, as they are both ginormous and located quite a ways away from each other.

I agree with you. I only counted them as one park because this is primarily an East Coast/Midwest board and most folks here have never visited the San Diego Zoo, and the separate and even grander San Diego Wild Animal Park.

I just figured people would look at the inclusion of the San Diego Zoo as a cop out, and think "Hey, we got us a zoo here in town too, that's nothin' special." :lol:

But I agree that the San Diego Zoo is a bigger day than California Adventure or Knott's Berry Farm or Disney's Hollywood Studios. Heck, the San Diego Zoo is so cool it still has a skyride, the fabulously named Skyfari gliding over the animal exhibits and canyons of beautiful Balboa Park! Disneyland has plenty of competition for the locals leisure dollar.

 

[_Scar]

Cool pics

The last pic reminds me of Carthay lol!

 

[Duckberg]

DISNEY Strawmen

GEE I'm scared of Legoland Duckberg :snore::snore::snore::snore::snore:

1st it was Potter now its Lego

 

[lebeau]

I just saw some of the pics of Potter. Wow, looks great!

I think the Disney faithful are really underestimating how big Potter will be. Over at Entertainment Weekly.com, they posted some of the construction pictures. And people were going ga-ga. There are lots of posts about how "I would never go to Orlando, but now I'm booking a trip."

There's a lot of people who think Disney is cheesy (sometimes unfairly) who will absolutely book a vacation just to see Potter. And Disney won't get a dime from a lot of these vacationers.

 

[wm49rs]

I just saw some of the pics of Potter. Wow, looks great!

I think the Disney faithful are really underestimating how big Potter will be. Over at Entertainment Weekly.com, they posted some of the construction pictures. And people were going ga-ga. There are lots of posts about how "I would never go to Orlando, but now I'm booking a trip."

There's a lot of people who think Disney is cheesy (sometimes unfairly) who will absolutely book a vacation just to see Potter. And Disney won't get a dime from a lot of these vacationers.

As much of a WDW fan as I am, when the HP area finally opens up I think I'll make my first trip over to Universal. I've never read any of the books (although I have seen a couple of the movies), but I'm very interested to see the quality of the design and theming.....

 

[DisneyJoe]

There are lots of posts about how "I would never go to Orlando, but now I'm booking a trip."

There's a lot of people who think Disney is cheesy (sometimes unfairly) who will absolutely book a vacation just to see Potter. And Disney won't get a dime from a lot of these vacationers.

From your description, Disney wouldn't get a dime from these vacationers anyways....

 

[RSoxNo1]

We all have to learn at one time or another




Is the San Diego Zoo really a theme park? And why aren't the water parks on CF's list along with BGT and AI? :lookaroun

I think it's easy to lump together theme parks/entertainment venues, and the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park are both large enough in scope to qualify on that list. It's very easy to spend a full day in both of these locations, and the cost is on par with Six Flags.

 

[jt04]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/bu...-merlin-entertainments-chief-nick-varney.html

And another potential draw for the Orlando area. Madame Tussauds.

But where would it be located? Hmmmm.

 

[wm49rs]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/bu...-merlin-entertainments-chief-nick-varney.html

And another potential draw for the Orlando area. Madame Tussauds.

But where would it be located? Hmmmm.

Yes, I can see the commericals now: "Peyton Manning/Drew Brees, you've just won the Super Bowl! What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to Madame Tussauds!"


Why couldn't it have gone someplace else, like South of the Border? :hammer:

 

[jt04]

Yes, I can see the commericals now: "Peyton Manning/Drew Brees, you've just won the Super Bowl! What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to Madame Tussauds!"


Why couldn't it have gone someplace else, like South of the Border? :hammer:

I hope Disney is not underestimating the competition as some of it's apologists are doing here at this forum. There is a tipping point if they do.

 

[wm49rs]

I hope Disney is not underestimating the competition as some of it's apologists are doing here at this forum. There is a tipping point if they do.

I'm not underestimating, I'm mocking the fact it's a bloody wax museum....

And I hope Disney is paying attention and responds to the competition. But they're not going to fear a Madam Tussauds....

 

[Figment632]

I hope Disney is not underestimating the competition as some of it's apologists are doing here at this forum. There is a tipping point if they do.

And you think this helps DIsney?