The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[PiratesMansion]

Here at DLR for Halloween for only the second time ever (previous time was Sept 2014 the weekend after Labor Day). Holy cow is this place crowded! I'm enjoying myself, but my eyes have been opened a bit. No evidence whatsoever on a day like today that Disney would be pricing anyone out.

-I got into the park a little after noon and HMH was already at 11:15 PM.
-First thing after getting into the park? Plaza Inn. I don't think it's EVER tasted better than it did today. Wow.
-The first sets of attractions were all low impact things I didn't get to over the summer (Lincoln, SBC walkthrough) and the Columbia, which I don't think I've done for around a decade. The below deck experience? Holy low ceilings, Batman! I probably would have preferred if this was operated apparently the way it used to, at least according to Mouse Tales: the below decks open when the ship wasn't actually running and then closed when the ship was running. Perhaps this was a product of a shortened river, but I didn't feel like I really had time to enjoy the sites along the river AND the exhibits. The cannon was the highlight, naturally. So doing the Columbia was cool, BUT the the Below Decks experience is better experienced elsewhere IMO (TDS, DLP, and SDL basically have very similar walkthroughs/exhibits, but since they're not part of a ride and they were built for taller people, they're more enjoyable versions of the below decks experience for me.
-Magic Happens-the final float apparently got stuck and had to get towed down the rest of the route. Oops!
-I don't totally hate SFS based on the limited amount of it I saw today? Leaning towards a lateral move.
-There are entirely too many people waiting around for the Cars Land lighting moment (now extended and drawn out for Halloween!). This was cute and special when it was a bit of a secret: now that everyone knows, it completely halts foot traffic in the land because everyone wants to camp out and capture it for Instagram. I don't want Disney to retire it, but it definitely needs at least some crowd control at this point.
-I made myself abstain from Paradise Garden Grill because it seemed irresponsible to have two slices of cake on the same day. So I went to Lucky Fortune Cookery instead...where I got fried chicken for the second time today. So much for a balanced diet.
-Speaking of LFC and food: the Chicken Karage sandwich and Baymax macaron: this was the best new DL entree and dessert combo I've had in ages. Highly recommended!
-Cars land lighting? Cool! BVS lighting? More limited than I was expecting, though Carthay looks great and the Headless Horseman statue was cool.
-I've never seen DCA more crowded than a few hours ago today. I never thought I'd see a day where DCA crowds were just as bad or worse than DL crowds. I experienced a new feeling crossing into DL that I had never experienced from a crowding perspective-relief. Kinda makes me happy I didn't get OBB tickets.

Currently sitting and waiting for Halloween Screams.

 

[mickEblu]

Here at DLR for Halloween for only the second time ever (previous time was Sept 2014 the weekend after Labor Day). Holy cow is this place crowded! I'm enjoying myself, but my eyes have been opened a bit. No evidence whatsoever on a day like today that Disney would be pricing anyone out.

-I got into the park a little after noon and HMH was already at 11:15 PM.
-First thing after getting into the park? Plaza Inn. I don't think it's EVER tasted better than it did today. Wow.
-The first sets of attractions were all low impact things I didn't get to over the summer (Lincoln, SBC walkthrough) and the Columbia, which I don't think I've done for around a decade. The below deck experience? Holy low ceilings, Batman! I probably would have preferred if this was operated apparently the way it used to, at least according to Mouse Tales: the below decks open when the ship wasn't actually running and then closed when the ship was running. Perhaps this was a product of a shortened river, but I didn't feel like I really had time to enjoy the sites along the river AND the exhibits. The cannon was the highlight, naturally. So doing the Columbia was cool, BUT the the Below Decks experience is better experienced elsewhere IMO (TDS, DLP, and SDL basically have very similar walkthroughs/exhibits, but since they're not part of a ride and they were built for taller people, they're more enjoyable versions of the below decks experience for me.
-Magic Happens-the final float apparently got stuck and had to get towed down the rest of the route. Oops!
-I don't totally hate SFS based on the limited amount of it I saw today? Leaning towards a lateral move.
-There are entirely too many people waiting around for the Cars Land lighting moment (now extended and drawn out for Halloween!). This was cute and special when it was a bit of a secret: now that everyone knows, it completely halts foot traffic in the land because everyone wants to camp out and capture it for Instagram. I don't want Disney to retire it, but it definitely needs at least some crowd control at this point.
-I made myself abstain from Paradise Garden Grill because it seemed irresponsible to have two slices of cake on the same day. So I went to Lucky Fortune Cookery instead...where I got fried chicken for the second time today. So much for a balanced diet.
-Speaking of LFC and food: the Chicken Karage sandwich and Baymax macaron: this was the best new DL entree and dessert combo I've had in ages. Highly recommended!
-Cars land lighting? Cool! BVS lighting? More limited than I was expecting, though Carthay looks great and the Headless Horseman statue was cool.
-I've never seen DCA more crowded than a few hours ago today. I never thought if see a day where DCA crowds were just as bad or worse than DL crowds. I experienced a new feeling crossing into DL that I had never experienced from a crowding perspective-relief. Kinda makes me happy I didn't get OBB tickets.

Currently sitting and waiting for Halloween Screams.

Yeah one of the worst days in recent memory was a Saturday in October. Halloween has been consistently busier than Christmas the last few years. Hopefully you ended up switching next Saturday to this Tuesday.

I agree on Plaza. The last time I had it in August it was as good or better than it’s ever been.

 

[mickEblu]

Almost went to Knotts today. Weather was nice. Saw that they were closing at 5pm for Scary Farm so I figured wait times would be low and they were but then I checked wait times again at about 11am and they had spiked up considerably. To the point that it wouldn’t be worth it the hassle of getting out there. I guess this isn’t like DL where people aren’t going to spend $$$ to go on a day where the park closes Super early. You have a bunch of locals who paid $100 for a season pass who have no problem driving 15 minutes to spend a few hours at the park.

I also want to give the park a fair shot. Saturday is still Saturday. I figured if we had a bad time today there is a good chance we wouldn’t go back at all. So next time I go will probably be early on a weekday.

 

[TP2000]

Well guys, tomorrow will be the Eve of The Walt Disney Company turning 100 years old. To commemorate this, ABC will be airing a special episode of "The Wonderful World of Disney" called "Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration" at 8:00 PM EST which not only includes an airing of Enctano. But will feature the first public airing of the "Once Upon A Studio" short film (outside of D23 members) and a special sneak peek of "Wish" and other upcoming projects.

Watch "Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration" TONIGHT 8/7c | ABC Updates

"The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration!" is coming your way TONIGHT!

abc.com

Who else will be tuning in tomorrow evening?

I had no idea! Thank you for this post.

Is anyone talking about this? I haven't heard a peep out of anyone I know, and I just had dinner with a few old friends who used to have Disneyland AP's for years when they lived in SoCal. No one mentioned this. I bet they're like me, and they didn't even know.

This whole Disney 100 thing seems to be a real bust. It's perhaps the most non-event event that Disney has ever done.

And we used to be told constantly that Disney was tops at Synergy and brand messaging. Apparently that's no longer the case. But I thank you @brb1006, I will plan to tune in tomorrow evening. If only to relive the Sunday nights decades ago when our family all used to watch the Wonderful World of Color together.

 

[mickEblu]

I had no idea! Thank you for this post.

Is anyone talking about this? I haven't heard a peep out of anyone I know, and I just had dinner with a few old friends who used to have Disneyland AP's for years when they lived in SoCal. No one mentioned this. I bet they're like me, and they didn't even know.

This whole Disney 100 thing seems to be a real bust. It's perhaps the most non-event event that Disney has ever done.

And we used to be told constantly that Disney was tops at Synergy and brand messaging. Apparently that's no longer the case. But I thank you @brb1006, I will plan to tune in tomorrow evening. If only to relive the Sunday nights decades ago when our family all used to watch the Wonderful World of Color together.

I had no idea. I’m definitely going to maybe tune in.

 

[brb1006]

I had no idea. I’m definitely going to maybe tune in.

Here for the Once Upon A Studio premiere and the Wish sneak peek.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I really liked Halloween Screams, but it could probably stand to be updated with projections at this point. I know not everyone here loves projections in general, but I feel like we're in a place where that's just what people expect now (although seeing the current show makes me wonder what the heck they do on Mon-Thurs without Fireworks for this show). It also felt as though it was about three minutes too short. I thought Zero was impressive, and there were some nice pyro bursts throughout. Not as good as Wondrous Journeys, but I'm happy I got to see it. I love that I've only seen two fireworks shows at Disneyland more than once!

I was hoping to catch HMH at the end of the night, but it was still advertised as a 75 minute wait! I figured it was an exaggeration, since it was about 20 minutes to park close at that point, only to walk over to Mansion and...well, find a hoarde of people still in line, including what appeared to be a completely full queue. Crazy crowds indeed!

Ah well, I got to ride Big Thunder (got to finish it this time, lol) and MMRR instead. Did NOT get to ride Matterhorn-it looked like one side was down most or all of the day, so LLs ran out quickly and the wait time was regularly over two hours. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little better. Glad to see that Indy still seemed to be in good shape.

 

[mickEblu]

Just watched a ride through of the new Wandering Oakens roller coaster at Hong Kong Disneyland. Man, that was disappointing. What I expected was a Frozen version of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. What it is? A very dressed up and deceiving Gadgets Go Coaster. The land is still gorgeous and is a nice addition to HKDL. The boat ride looks a little more polished than its EPCOT counterpart.

 

[brb1006]

Tonight is the Eve of Disney officially turning 100 year old. Two hours from now, ABC will be airing a special episode of "The Wonderful World of Disney" called "Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration" to commemorate the occasion very soon. Looking forward to finally seeing "Once Upon A Studio" and a preview of Wish on my HD TV.

 

[Parteecia]

Tonight is the Eve of Disney officially turning 100 year old. Two hours from now, ABC will be airing a special episode of "The Wonderful World of Disney" called "Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration" to commemorate the occasion very soon. Looking forward to finally seeing "Once Upon A Studio" and a preview of Wish on my HD TV.

That didn't make me tear up at all ... (sniff)

Will rewind and do a lot of freeze framing.

ETA Spoiler Alert! Why oh why would they have Goofy take the picture??

 

[PiratesMansion]

The counter service food has continued to blow me away this trip. Silver Dollar City is the only park I can think of with an overall counter service food lineup that may equal or beat the two DLR parks for variety and quality (perhaps the Busch Gardens parks in better days would be there too)-nothing else has come close. The Spiced Shaak entree from Docking Bay 7 (new restaurant credit) was the hit of the day, and the dessert was similarly excellent. As a budding cake enthusiast, the cake at Paradise Garden Grill > the cake at Plaza Inn, though the cake slices across the board seemed skimpier than they were in the past. I'm pleased to report that even though the Cookie Num Num is now $8, it's still a good cookie.

Didn't make it to closing today, but I've done everything I consider to be a major attraction that's open at least once over the last few days. So despite the crowds, I feel like I'm being pretty efficient.

Haunted Mansion Holiday: I still think the regular Mansion should be around for Halloween, but I have to say, I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to. Time and distance probably plays a role-the last time I did this was almost 10 years ago-but it was nice to do something different. I was pleased to see that someone at WDI must have agreed with me that the 'Ho Ho Ho' signs that used to be over the busts were tacky, because they were gone! Hopefully that's permanent and not just a temporary maintenance removal. But honestly, if this was only a November-December attraction, AND they took better care of OG Mansion, I wouldn't have any issues with this overlay.

Monsters After Dark: Fun and happy to say I did it, but I remember when this first came out that at least a few people were saying this was better than MB, to which I say: how? Not that MAD (ha) is bad; far from it. It actually reminds me in a way of a more competently realized spin on the Ghost Galaxy concept. That said, if I don't get to ride it again before I leave, I won't be too bummed about it. Fun concept and execution though.

Plaza de la Familia: Really nice area and activities, I thought. The storyteller and dancers were also very good.

Galaxy's Edge is great from like 8:30-10 PM when the rest of the park is gridlock.

People still haven't gotten used to actually using Genie+, perhaps in part because I imagine it is disproportionately tourists using it. There's pretty much always a backup.

Waiting for rope drop now for Day 3. I'm hoping I'll be able to make my last DL day tomorrow, but after weeks and weeks of improving, the ankle is struggling a little bit with Disneyland and would definitely benefit from a rest day. So whether my last day is today or Saturday will probably be determined by how I'm feeling at the end of the day today.

 

[Californian Elitist]

$8 for a single cookie hurts. But that cookie sure is tasty.

 

[brb1006]

Disneyland Paris just had a special opening ceremony this morning which featured 100 Disney Characters in honor of the company's 100th Anniversary today.

 

[Consumer]

Just watched a ride through of the new Wandering Oakens roller coaster at Hong Kong Disneyland. Man, that was disappointing. What I expected was a Frozen version of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. What it is? A very dressed up and deceiving Gadgets Go Coaster. The land is still gorgeous and is a nice addition to HKDL. The boat ride looks a little more polished than its EPCOT counterpart.

That was shockingly underwhelming. They couldn't even give Olaf a moving mouth? Also, why is it the ride themed to Oaken and not Kristoff, who actually owns a sled? Weird ride but further proof WDI has lost its touch. Hope it doesn't come to Disneyland.

I'll give a big props to Frozen Ever After for having real animatronic faces. Makes a huge difference.

 

[mickEblu]

That was shockingly underwhelming. They couldn't even give Olaf a moving mouth? Also, why is it the ride themed to Oaken and not Kristoff, who actually owns a sled? Weird ride but further proof WDI has lost its touch. Hope it doesn't come to Disneyland.

I'll give a big props to Frozen Ever After for having real animatronic faces. Makes a huge difference.

Yeah some questionable choices for sure. If this had been what I thought it was - a Frozen version of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train the land would have been a home run.

I don’t think it has a shot of coming to Disneyland. Why spend the money to do that when they can just retheme the Matterhorn? I joke. They’re not that stupid right?

Yes the AAs look much better in the Hong Kong version. I’m pretty sure a Frozen ride at DL would get the HK AA’s. With that said, even though it’s a good fit, another boat ride at Disneyland proper seems a bit redundant to me and not the best choice considering land is at a premium. Something like an innovative Mary Poppins ride would be a much better use of space. Not to mention Fantasyland at Disneyland would be the only shot in hell of DLR getting a Mary Poppins ride. It’s not getting its own land in any of the expansion areas obviously. Frozen could easily be its own land in any of the DL Forward areas. Fantasyland expansion space should be reserved for IP that would/ could not get its own land anywhere else. Pretty much any European fairytale IP could fit seamlessly there. Why waste it on any IP that you can just throw into DL Forward?

I think the next 3-5 big attractions at DLR have to go to DCA. Leave Disneyland alone for a while. DCA is begging for a long boat ride. Disneyland has plenty.

 

[mickEblu]

If they put a Frozen land in Fantasyland/ DL proper that tells me they’re not serious about DL Forward, it’s a VERY long ways off or they re just bad planners.

 

[Disney Irish]

If they put a Frozen land in Fantasyland/ DL proper that tells me they’re not serious about DL Forward, it’s a VERY long ways off or they re just bad planners.

Well if you remember the old rumor from like 7 years ago, Frozen was talked about planning on replace the theater area with a mini Arendale land. But I think that ship sailed and DL Forward is now the expansion for anything further regarding that IP.

Overall though, I still think TL itself will get a redo and maybe the motorboat area will get something eventually.

 

[mickEblu]

Remember the Toontown Brawl? Meet the Fantasyland Fiasco at DL today…

You good @PiratesMansion ?

Fight in Fantasyland at Disneyland Park Caught on Camera [Update]

A fight involving multiple guests in Fantasyland at Disneyland Park was caught on camera and posted on TikTok.

orlandothemeparkzone.com

 

[Consumer]

Remember the Toontown Brawl? Meet the Fantasyland Fiasco at DL today…

You good @PiratesMansion ?

Reddit - Dive into anything

reddit.com

Fight in Fantasyland at Disneyland Park Caught on Camera [Update]

A fight involving multiple guests in Fantasyland at Disneyland Park was caught on camera and posted on TikTok.

orlandothemeparkzone.com

I'm sure alcohol won't effect the parks.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I'm sure alcohol won't affect the parks.

Proof that they were drunk? And even if they were drunk, one incident doesn’t mean the whole park will be affected.