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Thread: 60th Celebration, July 14-18

  1. #1

    60th Celebration, July 14-18

    First off, for this visit my family and I chose a house rental a few blocks away from the resort. Idea being, if we were going to stay, all seven of us (my sister-in-law's side too) would want a more quiet place were we didn't have to deal with noisy basketball teams in some upstairs hotel room, constantly making noise at all hours, not understanding that other real people might want to sleep below. The house was a nice little place over on Flippen Drive off Katella. Nice little pool, very friendly owners, and the quiet was welcome.

    Over the course of the visit, we had a generally good time and enjoyed warm but not hot weather. A welcome change for us, as we typically get stuck with 90+ degree trips. Because the weather was a little more cooperative, it helped offset what would otherwise be a couple of disappointments I had overall, more on that later.

    Overall, the crowds were pretty high. Since we visited on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week, the AP blockout dates didn't apply to local guests, and as the Anniversary approached, many, like us, were taking advantage of good weather and unique merchandise opportunities. Everyone seemed in very good spirits, and there were very few crying children all around. Even the normal logjams around several attractions weren't as clogged with guests stopping and looking around. Everyone seemed to have a good idea of what they wanted, and were very kind to others when accidentally bumped or run into. The pace seemed slower to me too, almost as if no one was really digging for cue lines.

    We ate at Goofy's Kitchen on Monday night before using our first PH on Tuesday. This was a very good idea. Monday, a travel day, was spent flying into LAX, seeing Griffith Park (observatory was closed), and driving down to the resort area. We stuffed our faces with food, took it easy in DD, and did some shopping at the various stores. The Lego store had the Batman Tumbler on display and for sale for $200. Totally awesome kit, but the front wheels don't steer so I couldn't see a good way to modify it for a remote controlled vehicle.

    Tuesday morning we went to the Plaza Inn for character breakfast and got bombarded with characters. Very few people eating that early, so we had plenty of time for the kids to visit with characters. Captain Hook and Tigger got into a air sword battle...

    We spent all day Wednesday in DCA and soaked up the new WOC show. This show, unfortunately hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, is absolutely wonderful. A much better narrative and purpose to the show. Sure, they show shorter clips of several movie scenes, with the obligatory "Frozen" overabundance, but also include many clips regarding Disneyland's history, as well as a generous helping of Walt himself. The show really ties together the technology of WOC with the storytelling Walt was famous for. We ate at WCT, so we got front rail viewing in the wet zone, and boy howdy, did we get wet. Just enough southerly breeze to send those tall fountain columns are way.

    Thursday, it was a mix of DCA and DL, with a little more DCA than I would have wanted. DCA is great, but you can do it all in 1-1/2 days if you move. We rode Toy Story over and over during WOC both Thursday and Friday Nights.

    The 60th Anniversary presentation was pretty dry. Even though Michael Colglazier was on hand to give the presentation, as he introduced members of the Disney family, Legends, and Imagineers, he named no names. I would have been okay with a longer presentation if he went down a list of names. Pretty cheap, if you ask me. The best part of the presentation was the performance of "Tuppence a bag" by Richard Sherman. He spoke, and played the piano for the song, which was very cool. After the ceremony, several executives and dignitaries stayed for photo ops and met with guests, which was a nice touch. From where we were standing, over by the entrance to TL, I noticed one Disney manager or exec walking around with a trash pick up stick and yelled "selfie stick!" which was picked up by a couple other park execs. After laughing at that comment, they called me over and asked me to repeat what I said. Turns out that "Jim" (the one with the trash pick up stick) was the park exec/manager that instituted the selfie stick ban. We shook hands and had a laugh. I really enjoyed how the Park's managers and execs were out with the guests, talking, interacting, and helping keep the place clean. The line of managers on Main Street that morning was cool too. I high-fived all of them on my way in with my daughter in her stroller.

    Our last day (Saturday) was spent mostly in DL during the mid morning and late night times. We stayed until park closing, and got to see and do several attractions at night, which hadn't happened before with my kids. They were real troopers, and could easily have melted down, but stayed with it long enough keep enjoying. Splash at night was the big hit, as was TMR.

    A couple of overall thoughts:

    First, I've never seen the Resort in such tired shape. On several occasions, the attractions had missing or chipped paint, loose parts, defective apparatus, or broken or incomplete features...

    • Haunted Mansion - several popup ghosts had missing costume parts, exposing the mechanicals
    • Ursela from Ariel's had ripped black fabric
    • Ride vehicles on Buzz Lightyear had badly worn edges, loose grommets, defective guns
    • Toy Story ride had a dark practice screen, and one very blurry in-game screen


    The Hatbox Ghost, although cool and all, looked too new, and wasn't properly aged looking to fit into the rest of the scenes in HM. The technology was a little distracting from the other ghostly offerings, although I'm happy it's back.

    Additionally, the Parks were never filthier than I noticed this trip. I saw far fewer sanitation and maintenance cast members for these 5 days than I'd ever seen. A lot of trash, bottles and paper in cue lines, on paths, and in rides. Small World had a several visible signs of waste scattered around on the floor. Part of this is due to lazy guest slobs, but another seems to be the effort put in by the cast members. I watched one sanitation cast member walk right by some trash on the ground, even though his collector was still mostly empty. He moved very slowly, seemingly disinterested in his job.

    We had a run of bad luck too. Seems like several attractions broke down while we were there. Screamin' broke down twice while I was close by, stranding riders on trains at the top of the big drop, and right after launch. Goofy's Sky School got stuck too, leaving it closed a couple times. In fact, we were joking that wherever I went on Thursday, the rides would stop working.

    Another gripe: Merchandise. The resort ran out of the navy blue Disneyland 60th Anniversary t-shirts in my size. They had size S, and XL and above, but nothing I could wear. Not a big deal, as I bought the black D60 shirt, but even that was a little disappointment. Overall, the 60th merchandise was, IMO, cheaply made. Light printing on the shirts, some bad stitching, etc. I was going to pick up a Starbucks "60th" mug, but the printing was a thin, cheap halftone that would have washed away very quickly. We did buy some 60th stuff, and I hope it holds up.

    The rain we had on Saturday helped thin the crowds a little, but coming from Seattle, that didn't deter us. We headed back to the rental house for lunch and returned to the Park at 5pm until close. The rain had largely stopped by then, save for a shower or three. Parkas were everywhere, which ended up not being needed.

    Overall, it was fun, but it could have been better. I wasn't expecting a ton of ceremonial stuff on the 17th, but we visited during this time because, along with my niece sharing DL's birthday, we wanted to be there, ya know?

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  3. #2
    Fun is wherever you find it... olegc's Avatar
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    thanks for the report. I was wondering if you noticed that the 60th merchandise was actually on sale July 16th (Thursday) and Friday. World of Disney included. Its a moot point now but you may had been able to find your size. I did notice on Friday that by 1pm several sizes were sold out (I heard one guest tell another through a text from a family member at Emporium). Its also tough to hunt for items with little ones in tow, so I can understand that. Maybe next time check in with the cast if you will be there for several days before or during an event period. They may give you hints or a heads up for early release.

    "[Disneyland] has that thing - the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid." - Walt Disney

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by olegc View Post
    thanks for the report. I was wondering if you noticed that the 60th merchandise was actually on sale July 16th (Thursday) and Friday. World of Disney included. Its a moot point now but you may had been able to find your size. I did notice on Friday that by 1pm several sizes were sold out (I heard one guest tell another through a text from a family member at Emporium). Its also tough to hunt for items with little ones in tow, so I can understand that. Maybe next time check in with the cast if you will be there for several days before or during an event period. They may give you hints or a heads up for early release.
    I noticed that the navy blue t-shirt I wanted was being sold and worn on Thursday. Didn't bother to buy it early, since I thought merchandising would anticipate things a little better. My fault I guess.

    But the other issue is the printing quality. Very light printing on the black D60, with the fabric threads showing through. My general t-shirts (2012, 2013, etc) have been printed in a much heavier, often embossed or foil printing method. Not these. Noticed the black D60 shirt tag washing instructions call for cold, gentle, flipped inside out. I guess they mean it!

  5. #4

    In case you still want one, the navy blue 60th shirts are still for sale online at Disneystore.com. You should be able to find your size there.


  6. #5

  7. #6

    That one isn't limited, so Merchandising Guest Services should be able to help you. You can order it with them and they will ship it to you.


  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by tea4two View Post
    That one isn't limited, so Merchandising Guest Services should be able to help you. You can order it with them and they will ship it to you.
    Well, when I talked to cast members at both WoD and Emporium, they both said that they were out of stock in my size. My assumption was, based on what I saw others wear, that it was a limited edition shirt.

    I want to add that I was very impressed with both the Paint the Night Parade and the Forever Fireworks. I know that, as an overall nighttime entertainment package, the Fireworks, Parade, and WoC are all "must see" shows. The fireworks and WoC were both well written and choreographed, telling a good story about the history of the park and its founder. If this is the direction Disney is now taking, weaving better storytelling into their shows, then I'm sure we'll have a lot to look forward to in the future. The technology is there, it's almost like it just needed a writer to go along with it.

  9. #8

    We bought that same shirt for my nephew in early June, so it has been available for a while. The various stores have been running out and restocking things regularly, but don't seem to communicate with each other about who has what where. I imagine that there weren't many sizes because of the crowds for the 17th and all the shopping frenzy that went with it. And maybe the parks were waiting for a new shipment. Give Merchanding Guest Services a call -- it can't hurt.


  10. #9

    Thanks for sharing the good and the bad with us. I enjoyed it.
    Ellen


  11. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by EJ4Disney View Post
    Thanks for sharing the good and the bad with us. I enjoyed it.
    Ellen
    You're very welcome. I left out a lot of details which get lost in the mix, but now that we've been home a while, I did want to mention a couple more things... Pardon the piling on...

    Don't know what's caused it, but the fog projection in POTC loops only Davy Jones now. Haven't seen Blackbeard (personal issues?) in the fog on this trip. Speaking of Pirates, it looks like Cap'n Jack's exit scene needs a little work. Jack appears a little too glossy to me, which has changed over the last couple of years.

    I also wanted to share that the previously noted backstage parade bypass looks too "temporary" to me. I don't know if DL plans to shut it down and rebuild a more permanent bypass in the future, but the construction wall/screen/curtain look is a little weird and low class for Disney standards. Just conjecture here, but maybe this area will get some attention in the forthcoming $1 billion park project. I'd sure like to see a more permanent bypass, maybe elevated and shielded off? However, I wouldn't want a path leading directly into AdventureLand. I'd want the hub to still be the only way like Walt wanted.

  12. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by goalieump413 View Post
    First off, for this visit my family and I chose a house rental a few blocks away from the resort. Idea being, if we were going to stay, all seven of us (my sister-in-law's side too) would want a more quiet place were we didn't have to deal with noisy basketball teams in some upstairs hotel room, constantly making noise at all hours, not understanding that other real people might want to sleep below. The house was a nice little place over on Flippen Drive off Katella. Nice little pool, very friendly owners, and the quiet was welcome.
    Could you tell me what rental house you had? I am planning a trip for my 50th birthday next year and want to ask some of my friends to join me if they want to be there as well, and a house would probably work better than a hotel room. Also, how many people did you have in it?

    Thanks in advance.
    Shelley
    DLR '80, '05, '06, '07(x2), '09, '14, '15, '16; WDW '97, '10, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16; DCL '13, '16


  13. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by yellowrosedtxn View Post
    Could you tell me what rental house you had? I am planning a trip for my 50th birthday next year and want to ask some of my friends to join me if they want to be there as well, and a house would probably work better than a hotel room. Also, how many people did you have in it?

    Thanks in advance.
    The house sits on Flippen Way just south of Katella... Pic, map, and link to the vrbo below.

    We had a total of 7, but 3 of them were kids.

    There are three bedrooms of which one is a master with a small 3/4 bath that sleeps 1-2. Then there's 2 other bedrooms, each with bunkbeads (twin size on top, full size below), totaling 5 beds. The livingroom has a sofa sleeper couch that could sleep another 1-2 people. The total of 2 baths each have only showers, no tubs. The house has AC, which works pretty well, but is a little noisy. I kinda liked the noise, sort of a white noise, that helped me go to sleep. The house is themed in Disney colors and "Fathead" style wall appliques. The kitchen is a galley style and reasonably equipped. Laundry can be done in a room with a pocket door that the owner requests stays closed at all times after going in and out. The tv in the livingroom is big and they have some dvds there to watch. Some of the lights are on dimmers so late night coffee or wine can be enjoyed without disturbing those who want some earlier sleep.

    The owners live in a converted attached garage and are the nicest people you could ever meet. We met with Jose upon arrival and he was very nice and his tour of the house was easy to understand.

    The pool in the back is small but still very nice to take a mid day break in. There are plenty of lounge chairs to sit in as well as a covered patio area in case it rains. I enjoyed sitting under the cover during a rainy day on our trip. Warm rain is nice.

    The cost was also reasonable. We paid somewhere around $295/night.

    I would definitely stay there again. I'm not a rental house expert, but the owners have done a good job keeping the house clean and up to date in most areas. The neighborhood has several houses that look alike, and it's a quiet, peaceful street.

    A very short drive to Toy Story lot too, or Mickey and Friends if you want the garage.

    VRBO url

    flippen map view.jpgflippen street view.jpg

  14. #13
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    They removed Blackbeard in the last refurb. I don't know that we got a reason, they just did.


  15. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by goalieump413 View Post
    Thanks for the information!
    Shelley
    DLR '80, '05, '06, '07(x2), '09, '14, '15, '16; WDW '97, '10, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16; DCL '13, '16


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