The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[PiratesMansion]

Now that the Holiday season is officially over, a few thoughts on my trip over Christmas:
I really, REALLY loved IASW Holiday, and dare I say that compared to HMH it might even be underappreciated by the general public at this point. So many changes of costumes, scenery, no one told me there were scents, I couldn't stop taking pictures of the facade at night-I could go on and on. It was marvelous.

And while the actual festival food was hit or miss, I loved the Festival of the Holidays entertainment at DCA. With different, high quality entertainment rotating in and out by the day, the place felt like Silver Dollar City, which from me is high praise. DCA was actually a place I enjoyed visiting as a result, something that hasn't otherwise been true in some time.

Adventureland Treehouse is a home run. There were certainly plenty of people willing to ride TBA on chilly December days, but I was not one of them.

On a more negative note, while I'm sure this isn't helped by the time of year, I noticed lots of places that needed a little refurb and refresh help. Some areas that needed a good power-washing/scrub down (Space Mountain station, looking at you), a number of scuffs here and there on buildings and walls, Tiki Room in particular needs some love ("Wait, wait! We forgot to wake up the Glee Club!" **cue a loud mechanical WHIRRRRR reminiscent of an electric train set that didn't abate the rest of the show and was louder than any of the show audio, in addition to the usual clicking and clacking that could always be better**). As much as they've done a lot of good work in the last year, frankly, they need to do more, much more, if the place is to be in good shape for the 70th.

 

[waltography]

Now that the Holiday season is officially over, a few thoughts on my trip over Christmas:
I really, REALLY loved IASW Holiday, and dare I say that compared to HMH it might even be underappreciated by the general public at this point. So many changes of costumes, scenery, no one told me there were scents, I couldn't stop taking pictures of the facade at night-I could go on and on. It was marvelous.

And while the actual festival food was hit or miss, I loved the Festival of the Holidays entertainment at DCA. With different, high quality entertainment rotating in and out by the day, the place felt like Silver Dollar City, which from me is high praise. DCA was actually a place I enjoyed visiting as a result, something that hasn't otherwise been true in some time.

Small World Holiday is one of two overlays I think are actually superior to the original rides (the other is Monsters After Dark haha). Small World Holiday in general also gets a lot of extra love over the years (a majority of the scents were only recently added in 2019 so they never got the full appreciation online with COVID right after I feel). I just adore it; the natural conclusion to Small World's thesis is harmony and peace on earth, and there's no time it feels more possible than during the holidays.

I also really appreciated the expanded entertainment this year from the festival; as someone who goes frequently, it's nice to see several cultural performance groups rather than the same 3-5 over the 2 month stretch.

 

[Touchdown]

Iasw is a once a trip ride for me, iasw holiday is a must ride at least once per day, if not multiple times. The extra stuff to look at, the variety of the soundtrack (Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls) and the Christmas outfits are just far superior not to mention riding at night the outdoor portion and queue is just stunning. It’s by far the best overlay.

 

[mickEblu]

Now that the Holiday season is officially over, a few thoughts on my trip over Christmas:
I really, REALLY loved IASW Holiday, and dare I say that compared to HMH it might even be underappreciated by the general public at this point. So many changes of costumes, scenery, no one told me there were scents, I couldn't stop taking pictures of the facade at night-I could go on and on. It was marvelous.

And while the actual festival food was hit or miss, I loved the Festival of the Holidays entertainment at DCA. With different, high quality entertainment rotating in and out by the day, the place felt like Silver Dollar City, which from me is high praise. DCA was actually a place I enjoyed visiting as a result, something that hasn't otherwise been true in some time.

Adventureland Treehouse is a home run. There were certainly plenty of people willing to ride TBA on chilly December days, but I was not one of them.

On a more negative note, while I'm sure this isn't helped by the time of year, I noticed lots of places that needed a little refurb and refresh help. Some areas that needed a good power-washing/scrub down (Space Mountain station, looking at you), a number of scuffs here and there on buildings and walls, Tiki Room in particular needs some love ("Wait, wait! We forgot to wake up the Glee Club!" **cue a loud mechanical WHIRRRRR reminiscent of an electric train set that didn't abate the rest of the show and was louder than any of the show audio, in addition to the usual clicking and clacking that could always be better**). As much as they've done a lot of good work in the last year, frankly, they need to do more, much more, if the place is to be in good shape for the 70th.

IASW Holiday is awesome. Ive long championed it and said its easily the best Disney attraction overlay.

Tell me TBA is a failure without telling me it's a failure. You're telling me that after staying away from ride through videos for the last 6 months, reviews are so poor and the hype is low that you weren't even curious enough as a once a year or so visitor to ride it on a 70 degree Southern California day with a change of clothes waiting for you in a hotel room down the street. Thats even if you need the change of clothes. I rode it in the back half of the log twice and barely got wet. WDI- please shut this thing down for a few months and get this attraction up to par. This is embarrassing.

 

[mickEblu]

Small World Holiday is one of two overlays I think are actually superior to the original rides (the other is Monsters After Dark haha). Small World Holiday in general also gets a lot of extra love over the years (a majority of the scents were only recently added in 2019 so they never got the full appreciation online with COVID right after I feel). I just adore it; the natural conclusion to Small World's thesis is harmony and peace on earth, and there's no time it feels more possible than during the holidays.

I also really appreciated the expanded entertainment this year from the festival; as someone who goes frequently, it's nice to see several cultural performance groups rather than the same 3-5 over the 2 month stretch.

Agreed. Those are the only two overlays that are superior to the original rides. I think 2019 was peak IASW Holiday for me. Oddly enough a large part of that was because we stood in that one hour + line soaking up all that atmosphere and positive energy. It kind of added to the experience. Not to mention experiencing the scents and other additions like the new archways for the first time.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

I always liked Jingle Cruise...

 

[Too Many Hats]

Stay safe out there, fellow Angelenos. Download the Watch Duty app if you’re anywhere near the evacuating areas.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Tell me TBA is a failure without telling me it's a failure. You're telling me that after staying away from ride through videos for the last 6 months, reviews are so poor and the hype is low that you weren't even curious enough as a once a year or so visitor to ride it on a 70 degree Southern California day with a change of clothes waiting for you in a hotel room down the street. Thats even if you need the change of clothes. I rode it in the back half of the log twice and barely got wet. WDI- please shut this thing down for a few months and get this attraction up to par. This is embarrassing.

I did say before this trip that I wasn't much concerned on riding TBA on this visit, knowing that I already had tickets to come back to the resort twice more in 2025. TBA will be there on those other visits and the Holiday stuff will not, hence they were my priority in the face of elevated crowd levels. This may well end up being my only visit to the resort for Christmas ever.

And it was chilly enough (never got above low 60s at any point of my trip) that I wasn't getting on ANY water ride, even if Splash was still there, especially if by the vast majority of rider accounts, you get just as wet as you would have before on Splash, which I have made clear many times I was not a fan of.

 

[mickEblu]

Ok fair enough but you don’t think you would have rode it if they knocked it out of the park or it had good/great reviews?

 

[PiratesMansion]

Ok fair enough but you don’t think you would have rode it if they knocked it out of the park or it had good/great reviews?

Honestly, no. I didn't even ride the flume at Knott's when I went to Merry Farm and I LOVE that ride.

 

[mickEblu]

Honestly, no. I didn't even ride the flume at Knott's when I went to Merry Farm and I LOVE that ride.

It is a great ride. Speaking of, my Knotts pass expired on 12/31. I pretty much got what I wanted out of it except I would have liked to have seen the park once during Merry Farm but by the time the craziness of Christmas and December all died down it was 12/27 and I wasn’t trying to deal with those crowds. Knotts didn’t really work for us. It’s too long of a drive for what you get- at least for our family at this time. If we were Super local at those cheap prices it would be a no brainer as you could get there early and actually enjoy the park without having to buy $100 fast lanes per person to enjoy the park.

With all of that said, definitely have a new found appreciation for Ghost Town and the Knotts Marketplace which is just so wonderfully retro for me. Has a quaint, small town non corporate feel. Its what I remember going to stores feeling like in the 80s as a young kid. Hasn’t been modernized like DTD or most of the rest of Southern California.