The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[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.

 

[NobodyElse]

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this idea out loud, but I think they should consider something like this:
Year 1 - Run IASW Holiday and Jingle Cruise. Leave Haunted Mansion alone.
Year 2 - Run HMH and IASW Holiday. Leave Jungle Cruise alone.
Year 3 - Run Jingle Cruise and HMH. Leave IASW alone.
Rinse, Repeat.

 

[Touchdown]

Iasw holiday should never take a year off, that ride never has a line longer then 30 min the rest of the year (and never at night) but swells to 45-60 min everyday (at night) in Nov and December, given that rides amazing capacity I think it seriously cuts down on waits for other rides.

 

[TP2000]

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

Well said! Most of us here know SoCal, but just in case there's anyone who wonders... the LA County fires are nowhere near Disneyland. Here's a shot of the Mattercam just now, showing a normally operating Orange County with smoky haze in the air from the fires 30 miles away.

But now here's my annual plug for being a responsible and prepared American, especially the Californians in earthquake territory....

Have a plan! Have two weeks of non-perishable food and water for each member of your family. (If that seems excessive, it's not, but you should have AT MINIMUM five days of food/water for each family member). Have a way to defend yourself, and have ammo and basic safety knowledge to use it. Have 30 days of any medication needed. Have warm clothes and a few tarps and blankets, a roll of bungee cords, and comfy sturdy shoes or boots. Have a basic set of tools, including a good hunting knife and safety matches. And have all of these supplies secured in your home and ready to load into the trunk of a car in less than 10 minutes. And always have one car in the family fleet with no less than 3/4 tank of gas.

As thousands of residents of Los Angeles city and county have now been reminded today, your local government will not be ready and they will not be equipped to save you and your family. YOU have to do it yourself, YOU have to be responsible to keep your family safe, and YOU have to be ready to go in 10 minutes or less.

And an earthquake hits without any sort of warning, unlike a fire or storm. It could happen this afternoon. And now, back to the Disneyland discussion...

 

[Phroobar]

At home, Edison has kept the electricity off all day due to risk of fire in my neighborhood. Sounds like it will stay off tonight and most of tomorrow because of high winds. I'm camped out at my Batcave for the day.

Everyone stay safe from the fires and high winds

 

[TP2000]

At home, Edison has kept the electricity off all day due to risk of fire in my neighborhood. Sounds like it will stay off tonight and most of tomorrow because of high winds. I'm camped out at my Batcave for the day.

Everyone stay safe from the fires and high winds

I have one of these, after being sung their praises by my new neighbors after I first moved in here. It's too late for this round of Santa Ana's in SoCal and the mysteries of how the State of California mandates Southern California Edison manage their lines, but have you thought of installing one of these? I have this exact 26kw model from Generac.

If you have natural gas appliances and a gas hookup already, it's basically an endless source of electricity until Edison restores their service. It keeps the house AC, the furnace, the big fridge, all the lights and appliances, etc. going as if nothing happened:

Generac Guardian EGD-7291-KIT ® 26kW Standby Generator System 200A Service Disc. + AC Shedding w/ Wi-Fi + 3-Inch GenPad™ Pad + Battery

Buy Generac Guardian EGD-7291-KIT Direct. Free Shipping. Check the Generac Guardian® 26kW Standby Generator System (200A Service Disc. + AC Shedding) w/ Wi-Fi + 3-Inch GenPad™ Pad + Battery ratings before checking out.

www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com

 

[Disney Analyst]

The lack of exceptions for AP's with reservations today, but cannot make it due to being impacted by the fires is just despicable. Shame on Disneyland.

Let people cancel if they need to cancel day of in cases of emergency.

ETA: never mind. It appears they are now making exceptions today.

 

[Parteecia]

From the NY Times

Jan. 8, 2025, 11:57 p.m. ET
2 hours ago
Conor Dougherty
The hotels around Disneyland, about an hour south of Los Angeles in Anaheim, are filling up with people evacuating the fires. At the Hilton Garden Inn across the street from the park, the check-in desk had lines of people toting children, folders of documents and cats.

 

[TP2000]

From the NY Times

Jan. 8, 2025, 11:57 p.m. ET
2 hours ago
Conor Dougherty
The hotels around Disneyland, about an hour south of Los Angeles in Anaheim, are filling up with people evacuating the fires. At the Hilton Garden Inn across the street from the park, the check-in desk had lines of people toting children, folders of documents and cats.

The news coming out of LA is incredible. Thousands of homes and businesses destroyed in mostly affluent hillside and oceanside neighborhoods, hundreds of thousands of people in affluent hillside and middle class lowland areas alike under evacuation orders, etc.

I'm reminded of the thousands of homes lost in the great San Diego fire of '03, over 20 years ago. But the burn areas in LA are more densely packed with houses than the San Diego canyons, so I imagine the toll of burned LA homes will grow higher.

Just incredible. This one's gonna leave a mark, I'm afraid.

 

[Consumer]

I'm reminded of the thousands of homes lost in the great San Diego fire of '03, over 20 years ago.

I remember that fire. I was in kindergarten. We lived in Escondido at the time. I remember them canceling the Halloween party at school because of the smoke. I also remember having stuff packed and ready by the door just in case we got the call to evacuate.

 

[TP2000]

I know that we all know that a donation, by those who can manage it, to the American Red Cross would be welcome now.

I support the American Red Cross

Support the American Red Cross today. Please visit our website to donate now. Financial donations of any size help fund our mission.

www.redcross.org

But I also just made a donation to the Pasadena Humane Society who is unexpectedly caring for hundreds of lost dogs and cats today, and their numbers are growing by the hour. Anything you can send them is appreciated for their temporary care, and longer term work of reuniting those pets with their masters and families. And if you're near Pasadena, they desperately need pet food, crates, leashes and blankets today.

Eaton Fire Emergency

give.pasadenahumane.org