Thoughts on my trip so far in DLR

[flynnibus]

Oh.. and the god aweful platforms they were forced to add to Alice are deplorable.

Not only are the added tarps pathetic, worn out and tattered... they are ugly.

And the platform itself looks as temporary as it is from up on the ride. You totally lose the concept of riding on the pedals.

aweful aweful aweful.

And I don't know why they had to add railings to one of the bridges on story book canal.. but not the other?

 

[Californian Elitist]

The tarps should be leaving soon.

 

[devoy1701]

Some more thoughts...

Disney must be thrilled with dca v2. It was full of people the entire time we were here.. Virtually all segments of the park, early AND late in the day. The days of ghosts and tumbleweed seem long gone.

The frequency of live entertainment in dca is surprisingly high. I mean, you basically can't walk from the pier to Hollywood without running into one of the live acts. IMO this is significantly different than Florida.

Photo pass photographers in dlr really suck at encouraging guests to get their pictures taken. They will happily just stand there quietly and never solicit people walking by.

The number of photo pass cms is way up since my last visit. A good thing was stationing multiple ones at popular places like the Christmas trees.

They don't do a good job of pitching the pp+ option in the rides.

We found ourselves spending a lot more time in dca than I expected.

Dlr has far more age 12 to 25 people than wdw wandering around. I can't say I felt swarmed by people acting as obnoxious 'locals' or people acting entitled. In fact I was surprised by the demographics that appeared like way more out of towners.... But the number of teens and young adults is very noticeable. I would say it looks like many people 'out grow' wdw and its not cool to go... While dlr bucks that for so many.

The amount of dlr merchandise people wear is actually mind boggling. You kind of feel like odd man out if you aren't wearing Mickey ears. The amount of dlr sweatshirts, jackets, shirts... It stands out. It's a merchandising juggernaut. In wdw, you see what I would say what looks much more like the 'tourist' outfit or 'concert tshirt'. At dlr, it felt like their normal outfits they might wear to school or at the mall.

The difference in crowd control stands out compared to wdw. Mostly in how frequently it is used and in so many areas. They are used to enforcing it before its a problem... So the high problem areas were pretty tolerable.

Now there were plenty of times I swore the next person who walked in front of me and then stopped was gonna get donkey punched... Or those who park their group right in the center of a walkway deserved to be steamrolled... But when it came to managing the paths and where people walk... They did a good job for me this trip. But I did stay away from nos during f!

Guest assistance cards needs to be addressed. It's not so much because of the overwhelming load I saw on this trip.. But because of the absurdity of the people using them.

I struggled this trip due to my first Disney trip after nearly two years of intense back issues including two surgeries. Add to that I could barely climb stairs due to my knee which got torqued. Yet I didn't get a gac and just sucked it up... With my main complaint being lack of areas where someone like me could find a place to sit to rest.... Especially places inside. But the number of families, teen couples, etc using gac... It's bad. I couldn't work at Disney because I could never face these people without calling them out.

That goes for line jumpers too. Not nearly as bad as last time, but still an issue at times.

Just some thoughts I wanted to pick up on. In general, we felt that the crowds at Disneyland and DCA were much more tolerable and behaved than any crowd we had been in at WDW. People just seem more courteous. My favorite example was being able to sit down indian style on the curb in DCA while waiting for MSEP to start, then being able to watch the entire parade sitting down without ever having someone try to trample/encroach on our space. And even while walking the pathways...people seemed to pay more attention to where they were going, not having their heads buried so much in their maps or what have you. Maybe it has to do with being more familiar with the parks? We'll be there again in about 60 days so we'll see if Disneyland and the crowds still hold up to our first impression of the resort.

You're definitely right about crowd control. When it comes down to fireworks, parades, night time shows, Disneyland has one-way (enforced) walkways, designated standing areas on the street instead of the sidewalks (i never understood why MK always insisted on trying to keep the CENTER of Main Street clear for foot traffic before fireworks when that is EXACTLY where everyone wants to be!!).

Our first trip to Disneyland Resort had us in the parks for 5 days. We evenly split those days between Disneyland and DCA, and I would even go as far as to say we spent slightly more time in DCA...and this was BEFORE the refurb. To us, we always thought it was a great park, can't wait to see the improvements!

 

[Cosmic Commando]

You're definitely right about crowd control. When it comes down to fireworks, parades, night time shows, Disneyland has one-way (enforced) walkways, designated standing areas on the street instead of the sidewalks (i never understood why MK always insisted on trying to keep the CENTER of Main Street clear for foot traffic before fireworks when that is EXACTLY where everyone wants to be!!).

And it's not just fireworks; it's parades, too. I remember at MK they start yelling at everyone to get off the street seriously like 5-10 minutes before the parade hits the area. At DL, they had the street clear maybe about a minute before the parade arrived... no one got run over by a float!

 

[devoy1701]

@flynnibus was it windy when you guys watched the fireworks? I know that Disneyland has to cut out quite a bit of fireworks depending on the wind due to the close proximity to neighborhoods and businesses. Having said that, my wife and I remember nothing of the holiday fireworks that we saw at Disneyland back in 2009!

 

[devoy1701]

And it's not just fireworks; it's parades, too. I remember at MK they start yelling at everyone to get off the street seriously like 5-10 minutes before the parade hits the area. At DL, they had the street clear maybe about a minute before the parade arrived... no one got run over by a float!

right. I really think that TDO and TDA should do a onsite manager swap and learn the best of both resorts when it comes to standard operating procedures. I remember visiting MK a few days after our Disneyland trip and making a comment to a front line manager before the parade about how Disneyland manages the crowd because were of course failing miserably trying to keep people off the road on the bridge going from Main Street to the Hub before Holiday Wishes and his reply was "Disneyland doesn't have the crowds we do." whatever dude!

 

[flynnibus]

@flynnibus was it windy when you guys watched the fireworks? I know that Disneyland has to cut out quite a bit of fireworks depending on the wind due to the close proximity to neighborhoods and businesses. Having said that, my wife and I remember nothing of the holiday fireworks that we saw at Disneyland back in 2009!

We sat for Fireworks on the first night (Jan 1) and they were canceled due to wind. Ironically, the next two days it was more windy at what we could feel, and the fireworks went on the other 3 nights. I know the reasons why - but it was a downer to have them canceled after waiting for them. Wind however did not impact us for later shows.

 

[TP2000]

I remember at MK they start yelling at everyone to get off the street seriously like 5-10 minutes before the parade hits the area. At DL, they had the street clear maybe about a minute before the parade arrived... no one got run over by a float!

No one ever does. When the floats show up, people get out of the way. It's human nature. Not sure why that doesn't work in Florida.

 

[flynnibus]

No one ever does. When the floats show up, people get out of the way. It's human nature. Not sure why that doesn't work in Florida.

They get out of the way due to the group of CMs hussling them out of there.

I saw a woman with a stroller almost get run over by the Main Street horse drawn trolly because while she was in the street.. she ignored the bell.. and then once she realized it.. couldn't get her stroller up over the curb. The CMs on the trolly reacted accordingly - but my point being is the lack of awareness is universal. The difference is in the implementation of staff.

 

[Mickey_777]

Great "trip report" Flynnibus. I really like your fair assesment of both DL and WDW when comparing them back and forth. I think it's important that the fan community take a second to try and see the parks thru the eyes of the casual visitor ie. your spouse. My wife is the same way. She enjoys the parks but not on the same level that I do and she does her best to "get into it" while we are there. This last trip I was the most quiet I've ever been in terms of sounding too much like a Disney Park historian in her ear. She probably enjoyed herself the most of all our our trips to either WDW/DLR. But like I said, she's not a super fan. She experiences the park like the overwhelming majority of folks who visit. I think we all might benefit from taking someone like that with us when we can. Not so we can start justifying what's done wrong but rather to keep a level head. From my humble perspective, the differences between DLR and WDW aren't like night and day.

In the end and after her 3rd visit to DLR, when I ask her which she prefers, she still answers Disney World. Though for dining options, she really prefers DLR for it's massive amount of choices in close proximity. I truly enjoy both resorts equally. So much so that once I'm booked to WDW I start wishing I had booked to DLR and vice versa. But all in all I make the effort to stay fair while not going out of my way to find things aren't up to snuff. It seems that's what you did here as well. So glad you guys had a fantastic time as a couple. That's the most important thing after all.