WDW Halloween vs. DL Halloween

ClemsonTigger

Naturally Grumpy
okay I was the first to post on this and might be the last. All I wanted was to get some sort of simple answer. I'm not complaining at all but I am just saying this website is called wdwmagic This is supposed to be for WDW fans, not people who diss it and go with DL. I love both parks, but this site is for the wonderful magic of Walt Disney World. Thank you TP for all the wonderful pictures


Well....not quite...

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tirian

Well-Known Member
okay I was the first to post on this and might be the last. All I wanted was to get some sort of simple answer. I'm not complaining at all but I am just saying this website is called wdwmagic This is supposed to be for WDW fans, not people who diss it and go with DL. I love both parks, but this site is for the wonderful magic of Walt Disney World. Thank you TP for all the wonderful pictures


There's nothing wrong with acknowledging what needs to be improved. If you love something, you want it to be its best, not just blindly accept whatever crap it dishes out. :wave:
 

enoe01

Member
Ok I am sorry but I am a bit confused. I read the title of this thread and it had to do with the difference between WDW and DL during Halloween, not XMAS. A bit of a thread hijack happened i do believe.:shrug:
 
Well....

This year Walt Disney World is going to blow you away in some exciting NEW Christmas Decorations.

We can't wait for you to see it.


Plus, the MK tree will be alot cooler.
 

Buried20KLeague

Well-Known Member
Ok I am sorry but I am a bit confused. I read the title of this thread and it had to do with the difference between WDW and DL during Halloween, not XMAS. A bit of a thread hijack happened i do believe.:shrug:


I guess that's the first time a thread has drifted here on WDWMAGIC. :rolleyes:
 

jvalencia

New Member
I just finished watching videos on the Disney Parks YouTube channel. Videos of the Halloween season in both Walt Disney World and Disneyland were shown. In my opinion, Disneyland seems to have much more umph to it! For example, Haunted Mansion themed with Nightmare Before Christmas. Also, Space Mountain a spooky ghost theme. The fireworks show has more Halloween to offer, I think. Now, don't get me wrong, WDW is my place to be! But I want some other opinions from Disney fans!


Yes! The Space Mountain re-theming is cool, and they can keep the Haunted Mansion Holiday until Christmas, since the movie is themed after two holidays!:D
 

fosse76

Well-Known Member
Yes! The Space Mountain re-theming is cool, and they can keep the Haunted Mansion Holiday until Christmas, since the movie is themed after two holidays!:D

As has been mentioned, both properties appeal to different audiences. I think one reason WDW doesn't like overlays or overly thematic holiday decorations overing every square inch is that it a tourist destination. And even if a good portion of guests visit more than once, it isn't with any frequency once evry year or every couple of years. Look at this thread and a few posters complaining about how the HM overlay at DL, in their opinion, ruins the attraction for them. Visitors to WDW may only have this once chance to visit this attraction, which is dressed up differently for the holidays. DL, on the otherhand, serves mostly locals, and the tourists who visit aren't nearly as invested, since Disneyland is generally just a stopover and the whole vacation.

So, I think, WDW doesn't have any need to re-decorate. DL needs to offer reasons for the locals to visit. Why do you think regional parks like Cedar Point and Six Flags add new rides every year or two? Their attendance drops when they don't have anything new to offer.
 

imagineer boy

Well-Known Member
As has been mentioned, both properties appeal to different audiences. I think one reason WDW doesn't like overlays or overly thematic holiday decorations overing every square inch is that it a tourist destination. And even if a good portion of guests visit more than once, it isn't with any frequency once evry year or every couple of years. Look at this thread and a few posters complaining about how the HM overlay at DL, in their opinion, ruins the attraction for them. Visitors to WDW may only have this once chance to visit this attraction, which is dressed up differently for the holidays. DL, on the otherhand, serves mostly locals, and the tourists who visit aren't nearly as invested, since Disneyland is generally just a stopover and the whole vacation.

So, I think, WDW doesn't have any need to re-decorate. DL needs to offer reasons for the locals to visit. Why do you think regional parks like Cedar Point and Six Flags add new rides every year or two? Their attendance drops when they don't have anything new to offer.

Still when most people travel during the holidays, they will come to expect holiday overlays wherever they go.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
As has been mentioned, both properties appeal to different audiences. I think one reason WDW doesn't like overlays or overly thematic holiday decorations overing every square inch is that it a tourist destination. And even if a good portion of guests visit more than once, it isn't with any frequency once evry year or every couple of years. Look at this thread and a few posters complaining about how the HM overlay at DL, in their opinion, ruins the attraction for them. Visitors to WDW may only have this once chance to visit this attraction, which is dressed up differently for the holidays. DL, on the otherhand, serves mostly locals, and the tourists who visit aren't nearly as invested, since Disneyland is generally just a stopover and the whole vacation.


I find that argument to be overly simplistic. Not that it doesn't have some merit when it comes to demographics on a Sunday afternoon when the AP's arrive en masse. But it way oversimplifies the issue, completely ignores the reality of who exactly does visit Disneyland, and only seems to excuse WDW management for lowering their standards or not raising them to the levels of other Disney properties around the world.

I find that many folks back East who have never visited Disneyland have this quick n' easy idea that it's filled to the brim of local OC suburbanites dropping in for a few hours after work or on their way home from church on Sunday. While there is certainly that demographic at Disneyland, especially on Sunday afternoons, they are the minority overall.

The majority of Disneyland visitors walking the park and waiting in line with you for Haunted Mansion Holiday are tourists from Seattle and Salt Lake and Sydney and Seoul. While we will never get Disney to release detailed statistics on who their customers are at their parks, as they don't even offer total attendance figures let alone break them down into smaller demographics, we can use the statistics for the two tourism-dependent states.

Using 2008 as that was the most recent year easily researched from the two states' tourism departments;

2008 California Visitor Totals
138 Million Domestic Tourists (Americans visiting from other states for Leisure)
13.4 Million Foreign Tourists
- 6.7 Million Mexicans, 1.2 Million Canadians, 5.5 Million Other (Top 7 Countries: UK, Japan, Australia, South Korea, France, China, Taiwain)


2008 Florida Visitor Totals
76 Million Domestic Tourists (Americans visiting from other states for Leisure)
9.1 Million Foreign Tourists
- 2.9 Million Canadians, 5.2 Million Other (Top 5 Countries: UK, South America, Germany, France, Japan)


I think it's safe to say that some of those 150 Million domestic and foreign tourists to California are spending a day or two at Disneyland. And their vacation apparently wasn't ruined by the holiday overlays at Space Mountain, Small World or Haunted Mansion, because domestic and foreign tourism to California has only increased in the past 10 years along with annual Disneyland attendance since the overlays and upgraded holiday offerings appeared in the late 1990's through the mid 2000's.

The argument that Disneyland gets fancy decorations and better maintenance and swanky seasonal offerings because it's a "Locals Only Park" is way, way oversimplified. And judging by the tourism statistics for both states, it's not at all accurate. :eek:

Judging by all the foreign languages (Japanese, Korean, and Chinese) and all the funny accents (Australian, New Zealand, British Columbia) and the painful sunburns on folks from the Pacific Northwest I notice on trips to Disneyland, I'd say Disneyland does quite a good job in pulling in their share of the larger numbers of tourists that visit California than visit Florida.

And Disneyland is also a great place for locals to visit, too! :D
 

SeaCastle

Well-Known Member
The argument that Disneyland gets fancy decorations and better maintenance and swanky seasonal offerings because it's a "Locals Only Park" is way, way oversimplified. And judging by the tourism statistics for both states, it's not at all accurate. :eek:

I believe the statistic was that 60% of Disneyland visitors live within a 100 mile radius of the park, at least according to Jim Hill.

I do think that the tourism statistics for Florida and California are a bit misconstrued. I believe it's fair to say that most people who go to Florida go for the theme parks, as besides beaches there isn't a whole lot to do. California is not only larger in area, but you have places like San Francisco, San Diego, Napa Valley (and a whole bunch of other places in the Soarin' film) that are vacations in of themselves. How many of those 150 million people that visit Disneyland during their California vacations will never be known, but WDW still manages to pull higher attendance numbers spread out over four parks, while maintaining a good amount of domestic, international, and local visitors. (Plus, I'd like to speculate that WDW pulls a much greater proportion of the 76 million Florida visitors than Disneyland pulls out of the 150 million California visitors.)
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I believe the statistic was that 60% of Disneyland visitors live within a 100 mile radius of the park, at least according to Jim Hill.

I do think that the tourism statistics for Florida and California are a bit misconstrued. I believe it's fair to say that most people who go to Florida go for the theme parks, as besides beaches there isn't a whole lot to do. California is not only larger in area, but you have places like San Francisco, San Diego, Napa Valley (and a whole bunch of other places in the Soarin' film) that are vacations in of themselves.

Jim Hill? Did he get that statistic while researching his Night Kingdom scoops? :cool:

The point is valid that California has a tourism industry that is far more diverse and vibrant than Florida's "Beach N' Amusement Park" core experience.

In fact, I had a hard time finding the 138 Million domestic tourist figure, as California primarily breaks it down into visits per locale within California. And that statistic was huge at 340 Million visits in 2008! Meaning that if a tourist came to California and went to San Francisco or the Napa Valley, and then travelled down to SoCal to visit Disneyland or San Diego, that visit actually counts as two visits for California. And that's how they get the huge 340 Million annual visitors tally they like to use.

I had to dig through some obscure reports to find the real number of 138 Million domestic visitors for '08, regardless of how many regions in California they visited on their trip. Florida was more up front in just stating that 76 Million domestic tourists visited the Sunshine State in '08.

But the excuse that Disneyland is a "Locals Only Park" is not only wildly inaccurate, but also does nothing but give WDW management a free pass to continue with a noticeably lesser park experience for those who do visit there.

The locals excuse just doesn't fly when you dig a bit. And besides, locals spend less per day than domestic and international tourists anyway, so you would think it would only create the exact opposite, with WDW getting all the money and attention and Disneyland coasting on fumes. It's truly bizarre how the locals excuse could be used as a valid argument. :confused:
 

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