The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[SuddenStorm]

Going back into hibernation. If I do return before TRON or PATF opens feel free to gimmie a big slap lol. Nothing interesting or noteworthy enough otherwise. I miss when Disney discussion was fun and full of attraction rumors. Those days are long gone.

You know, I kinda miss the pre covid era Disneyland discussion as well. It seems like a lot of our insiders have stopped sharing inside info- and it's a shame.

It doesn't help that Disney seems hell bent on sucking out every last bit of soul Disneyland has.

This place is one of my 'go to' sites for when work is slow, and I still enjoy the discussion more often than not- but it seems like the overall tone has changed for sure.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Walt's first and last name should not be attached to the abomination that the company is today.

I hope they remove his stuff, it's like a posthumous endorsement of over merchandising, greed, bad quality, and China pandering.

Take the Disney family name out of the company, no one in the family even runs it ever since Roy was kicked out.

While I agree in regards to the animation studio- which pales in comparison to what Disney put out in Walt's time and the renaissance- I still firmly believe the Partners Statue has a place in the hub at Disneyland.

Main Street and the hub are among the last elements of Disneyland that seem like Disneyland- and are still amazingly close in visual appearance to what was there in the 60's (Yes, I know basically everything has changed but if you look at the hub in 1960 and 2022 you'd quickly be able to tell it's Disneyland- which is more than most of the park can say). Having the Partner's statue there really helps solidify the significance of Disneyland- even if TDA seems to have forgotten.

 

[CaptinEO]

While I agree in regards to the animation studio- which pales in comparison to what Disney put out in Walt's time and the renaissance- I still firmly believe the Partners Statue has a place in the hub at Disneyland.

Main Street and the hub are among the last elements of Disneyland that seem like Disneyland- and are still amazingly close in visual appearance to what was there in the 60's (Yes, I know basically everything has changed but if you look at the hub in 1960 and 2022 you'd quickly be able to tell it's Disneyland- which is more than most of the park can say). Having the Partner's statue there really helps solidify the significance of Disneyland- even if TDA seems to have forgotten.

I don't know about this. The parks operations and policies are so anti Walt I kind of wish his statue and name were out of there. And like Raven said Walt didn't want to have references to himself within Disneyland in the first place.

Reservations, Mobile Orders, paid upcharges to be able to see a parade and fireworks, paid line skip passes, purposeful understaffing, monthly cutbacks, tons of generic made in China merchandise, cast members who aren't valued by the company, guests who aren't valued by the company, rides only greenlit to promote movies/toys, Chinese slave labor and IT outsourced to India, poor maintenance which has at times resulted in death.

I don't see why Walt or the Disney family would even want their name attached to this anyways.

The further Disneyland drifts away from Walt's Disneyland the more the statue seems like an involuntary endorsement from a dead man of practices he would find absolutely unacceptable.

 

[Rich T]

You know, I kinda miss the pre covid era Disneyland discussion as well. It seems like a lot of our insiders have stopped sharing inside info- and it's a shame.
It doesn't help that Disney seems hell bent on sucking out every last bit of soul Disneyland has.

This place is one of my 'go to' sites for when work is slow, and I still enjoy the discussion more often than not- but it seems like the overall tone has changed for sure.

Disney has changed, and DL will most likely never again be the creative, inspiring, affordable hub of family trips that earned generations of fans.

Ten years ago, I never would have imagined that I’d move to Florida and have no interest at all in WDW. Yet here I am, buying an annual pass to Universal after falling in love with Islands of Adventure, the parks’ still-existing, no-reservations, no-mobile-phones required ease of dropping in anytime, and the astonishing affordability of the resort hotels. Universal ain’t perfect—no company or creation is—but I find Disney’s present day corporate “leadership” absolutely repugnant, gut-twistingly hypocritical and completely soulless. I’ve got my memories of what Disney used to be, and that’ll do. My entertainment dollars go elsewhere now.

 

[Brer Panther]

Chapekland doesn't have the same ring to it.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Getting rid of the 60+ year alcohol prohibition was one of the single most anti-Walt things the parks have ever done. I was surprised I didn’t see more parks fans angry about that.

Arguably changing the cast member appearance guidelines too.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Granted, I'm not a local, but other than the customer service issues I experienced, I really don't think the decline is as precipitous as many on here are saying.

I saw some maintenance issues, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that staffing is at least somewhat to blame. There WERE areas that were clearly in the process of receiving work and fresh paint, and a number of the issues I had read on here not that long ago had been fixed. Not all, of course, but many were. Heck, many of us assumed the subs were as good as gone forever and they just reopened them-everything looks great! I was disappointed that the fireworks directly above Sorcerer Mickey didn't launch during Fantasmic and figured it was a budget cut. They were back the next day as I walked by the show. I actually thought Splash Mountain was in better shape than I've seen it in a LONG time when I rode it. And the state of Disneyland in July 2022 was still a night and day positive difference from what I saw at Magic Kingdom in October of last year.

I enjoyed a glass of wine with my meal at Blue Bayou, and I've decided I'm fine with the level of alcohol availability at Disneyland at the moment. It's not like they've set up booze carts every 50 feet like Universal Orlando during Horror Nights. And need I remind people that the monorail stop at the Disneyland Hotel used to drop people off immediately at a bar? People could easily get drunk and take a monorail ride into the park moments later. There were probably plenty who did that. People lived then, and they'll live now.

If you're bothered by visible tattoos, piercings, or hair colors, that's on you. None of those things appeared to stop any of those cast members from doing their jobs effectively and professionally. It's not like you weren't seeing that reflected in many of the guests there anyway. They could have paid their cast members more, they chose to change grooming guidelines instead as a concession. The world didn't end.

I remember a lot of complaints regarding project sparkle and the various changes and to be honest I didn't notice a single one of them (except the rockwork gone at the entrance of Tomorrowland). If you weren't intimately familiar with the park of the past, you would never have noticed a difference. I'm not a local, but I'd like to believe I'm at least somewhat discerning. I noticed nothing.

The modern WDC is pretty inept, but I really do think that for the most part you all still have an outstanding park in your backyard. Most of the issues are the result of bad policies that could change overnight. Their staffing woes clearly aren't over and that's taking a toll. There are clearly people there who still care even if not everything turns out the way you want it every single time, which is more than can be said for, say, WDW. Disneyland as it stands today may not be perfect, but from where I'm standing its death has been greatly exaggerated.

 

[No Name]

Walt is dead. He doesn’t want or not want anything. I’d surmise that his opinion about representation in the park may have very well changed after spending 55+ years in the dirt, but then again, that’s a dumb hypothetical, because he’s dead.

I can’t be bothered that a statue of Walt is still in the park that he named after himself.

 

[mickEblu]

Granted, I'm not a local, but other than the customer service issues I experienced, I really don't think the decline is as precipitous as many on here are saying.

I saw some maintenance issues, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that staffing is at least somewhat to blame. There WERE areas that were clearly in the process of receiving work and fresh paint, and a number of the issues I had read on here not that long ago had been fixed. Not all, of course, but many were. Heck, many of us assumed the subs were as good as gone forever and they just reopened them-everything looks great! I was disappointed that the fireworks directly above Sorcerer Mickey didn't launch during Fantasmic and figured it was a budget cut. They were back the next day as I walked by the show. I actually thought Splash Mountain was in better shape than I've seen it in a LONG time when I rode it. And the state of Disneyland in July 2022 was still a night and day positive difference from what I saw at Magic Kingdom in October of last year.

I enjoyed a glass of wine with my meal at Blue Bayou, and I've decided I'm fine with the level of alcohol availability at Disneyland at the moment. It's not like they've set up booze carts every 50 feet like Universal Orlando during Horror Nights. And need I remind people that the monorail stop at the Disneyland Hotel used to drop people off immediately at a bar? People could easily get drunk and take a monorail ride into the park moments later. There were probably plenty who did that. People lived then, and they'll live now.

If you're bothered by visible tattoos, piercings, or hair colors, that's on you. None of those things appeared to stop any of those cast members from doing their jobs effectively and professionally. It's not like you weren't seeing that reflected in many of the guests there anyway. They could have paid their cast members more, they chose to change grooming guidelines instead as a concession. The world didn't end.

I remember a lot of complaints regarding project sparkle and the various changes and to be honest I didn't notice a single one of them (except the rockwork gone at the entrance of Tomorrowland). If you weren't intimately familiar with the park of the past, you would never have noticed a difference. I'm not a local, but I'd like to believe I'm at least somewhat discerning. I noticed nothing.

The modern WDC is pretty inept, but I really do think that for the most part you all still have an outstanding park in your backyard. Most of the issues are the result of bad policies that could change overnight. Their staffing woes clearly aren't over and that's taking a toll. There are clearly people there who still care even if not everything turns out the way you want it every single time, which is more than can be said for, say, WDW. Disneyland as it stands today may not be perfect, but from where I'm standing its death has been greatly exaggerated.

I agree with most of this with one exception being the dress code. Not that I've noticed anything too unprofessional or noteworthy. There was the one time the male server at Carthay had his finger nails painted so that was a bit of wholesome Disney/ 1920's vibe breaker but I also recall him providing excellent service and being the best CM by far on that trip.

I have a lot of complaints about the company and some of the decisions they are making but they rarely ever impact my time at the park. Now some of that is because as a vet I have work arounds for many things that would be issues for the average guest. The politically correct motivated changes that irk me on a Disney Parks blog don't really bother me when I'm at the park as I'm there with my family to have a good time. The biggest factor however is that Disneyland is still arguably the best theme park in the world no matter how hard they try to mess that up. POTC chicken auction and all .

 

[Disney Analyst]

This is making the rounds. Picking up a similar narrative to the Sesame Place incident:

 

[Phroobar]

Maybe they shouldn't have jumped to the exit and tried to be annoying? The characters are on a set schedule and need to keep going. This is just entitlement on full display.

 

[Californian Elitist]

It’s the little girl calling out Rapunzel’s name and yelling “wait, what about us” as she continues to ignore them and walk away for me. THEN decides to interact with other children. Poor call on both her end and the handler’s end.

To be honest, the actress’ energy was off in general.

 

[drizgirl]

This is making the rounds. Picking up a similar narrative to the Sesame Place incident:

That's how these pop up random characters work. We've been walked away from many times. I hate the format. But this happens constantly with that or they would never move on like they have to. I greatly prefer a structured line, but DL has been trying to inject this type of appearance for years.

 

[Californian Elitist]

This is making the rounds. Picking up a similar narrative to the Sesame Place incident:

She could have at least turned around and acknowledged the children calling out to her. Or offered to have them walk with her to wherever she was going. Damn.

 

[Disney Analyst]

She could have at least turned around and acknowledged the children calling out to her. Or offered to have them walk with her to wherever she was going. Damn.

I will say, I have seen this happen with a lot of kids and families with these roaming characters. Peter Pan runs around and ignores left and right.

I fear this may be the start or the end of roaming characters…

 

[Californian Elitist]

I will say, I have seen this happen with a lot of kids and families with these roaming characters. Peter Pan runs around and ignores left and right.

I fear this may be the start or the end of roaming characters…

True, Pan sometimes runs around and skips through the park, but the difference there is he’s already passing everyone. No one gets the chance to speak to him. Meanwhile, this Rapunzel actress was in one spot taking photos and signing autographs, saw the children come to greet her, and walked away without an explanation. She failed to acknowledge the kids at all, despite them calling out to her, and proceeded to greet other families and children on her way back to wherever she was going. At the very least, she could have turned around and at least said hello to the children. She didn’t even spiel when she started walking away. Of course, face characters need their breaks, but there’s a way to walk away from your post and still acknowledge the guests. We see her do it with other children as she’s walking back.

This could have been handled better. What’s even more weird is the guardian asked the handler if there was a line and he told her no. If Rapunzel was leaving, the handler should have warned the mother that they were leaving, or asked Rapunzel to stop for one more greeting/autograph/photo with the two children whose guardian JUST asked if the “line” was closed.

I won’t call this racism, but it does look funny. Both CMs should be re-trained.

 

[drizgirl]

True, Pan sometimes runs around and skips through the park, but the difference there is he’s already passing everyone. No one gets the chance to speak to him. Meanwhile, this Rapunzel actress was in one spot taking photos and signing autographs, saw the children come to greet her, and walked away without an explanation. She failed to acknowledge the kids at all, despite them calling out to her, and proceeded to greet other families and children on her way back to wherever she was going. At the very least, she could have turned around and at least said hello to the children. She didn’t even spiel when she started walking away. Of course, face characters need their breaks, but there’s a way to walk away from your post and still acknowledge the guests. We see her do it with other children as she’s walking back.

This could have been handled better. What’s even more weird is the guardian asked the handler if there was a line and he told her no. If Rapunzel was leaving, the handler should have warned the mother that they were leaving, or asked Rapunzel to stop for one more greeting/autograph/photo with the two children whose guardian JUST asked if the “line” was closed.

I won’t call this racism, but it does look funny. Both CMs should be re-trained.

And then when the next child walked up and called her name? It's a terribly awkward format for all of these reasons. And I wish Disney would stop trying to use it. Schedule Rapunzel somewhere, set up a line and have a CM telling people when the line cosed.

 

[Californian Elitist]

And then when the next child walked up and called her name? It's a terribly awkward format for all of these reasons. And I wish Disney would stop trying to use it. Schedule Rapunzel somewhere, set up a line and have a CM telling people when the line cosed.

Acknowledge them too as you walk to your post. Simple. She acknowledged two or three other families. She can clearly do it. I’ve also seen with my own eyes face characters look back or over to the people yelling their names and wave.

I don’t think it’s awkward at all, with proper training.

 

[drizgirl]

Acknowledge them too as you walk to your post. Simple. She acknowledged two or three other families. She can clearly do it. I’ve also seen with my own eyes face characters look back or over to the people yelling their names and wave.

I don’t think it’s awkward at all, with proper training.

I just think that given the crowds, there will always be one more to acknowledge. They've been at this for a while. I recall it as far back as our 2015 trip, maybe even earlier. I recall when they brought Gaston and the Beast out to roam Fantasyland in 17 or 18, people were calling after them from all over the place. As I said, awkward. At least to me.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I just think that given the crowds, there will always be one more to acknowledge. They've been at this for a while. I recall it as far back as our 2015 trip, maybe even earlier. I recall when they brought Gaston and the Beast out to roam Fantasyland in 17 or 18, people were calling after them from all over the place. As I said, awkward. At least to me.

Characters have been walking around the park for many years now.

Yes, people will want to be acknowledged. This is the same for scheduled meet and greets. All the characters have to do is at least wave. A simple acknowledgement. This face character didn’t even bother to do that, despite seeing that they had walked up to her meeting area before she officially ended her time. There are at least several ways that this could have been handled better. Instead, she ignored them and walked with her handler, then said hi to other families and even stopped for another group of children and allowed for their guardian to take photos. Unacceptable.

I hope the woman in the video went to City Hall.