PDA

View Full Version : June 24 DCA Trip Report



jtracy
06-25-2001, 08:51 AM
On Sunday, June 24, my wife and I took our 15 year old niece to DCA. One of the main reasons we chose DCA was because of the new Southern California resident discount. We would have likely gone to Knotts Berry Farm otherwise.

I've been to DCA on four occasions. Sunday it was crowded. Waits for Grizzly River Run were 90 minutes and longer. Waits for Soarin' Over California were also 90 minutes and longer. Even Mulholland Madness had waits of 70 minutes or longer.

We never made it on Soarin' Over California because the Fast Pass sytem was broke (and not repaired) for the entire day and the wait of 90 minutes or longer (mostly in the hot sun) was not desirable.

California Screamin' was running most of the day until early evening when all the cars came to a sudden stop (most drastic for those who had just entered launch mode and were halted halfway up the first hill climb). We did see paramedics headed to the coaster, which could simply be standard procedure when people have to be evacuated while on the coaster tracks.

The Mission Tortilla Factory is getting skimpy. Whereas they use to give visitors a whole tortilla, they now slice each one in half and only give visitors half of one tortilla (is this only on busy days or all days?). Even when business was slow, they continued to only allow guests to have one-half of one tortilla (although they didn't complain about multiple passes through the exhibit).

One of the biggest problems we had was Zephyr. We waited 20 minutes in line and as soon as we were at the loading platform, they closed the ride due to "wind". They said the ride could be closed anywhere from 15 minutes to all day. Well the latter was more like it as it only temporarily reopened in the evening. These are very light winds were talking about too. Why in the world would a ride be built outdoors that is closed whenever the slightest wind picks up? This is beyond us.

Prior to leaving Disney's Website said DCA would be open only until 9PM. However, upon arriving at the parking gates the lighted signs on all the booths proclaimed that Disneyland was open until midnight and DCA would be open until 10PM. This was a pleasant surprise for us... that is until the park was closed at 9PM even with several thousand people still in the park and long lines on several of the attractions.

On the tram ride out, some people visiting out of state were complaining about the day (they paid $43 per ticket) and were visibly upset that for the same price and fewer attractions they were forced out of the park three hours earlier than Disneyland guests and that's without a fireworks show and Fantasmic!

If Disney is going to charge the same price to out of towners then it must deliver a similar experience. Otherwise there will be continued disappointment.

Final Thoughts
- The park was packed and lines were long so Disney's newest promotions seem to be working. We saw a considerable number of children present than we did on prior visits.

- With the exception of two cast members, we found all the employees to be very courteous and helpful. We were shocked at the vast difference in attitude amongst the Cast Members handling the California Screamin' attraction. We had a party of 3 that liked to ride in the first and second rows. Half of the Cast Members assigning rows were not sympathetic to this request and demanded that our group be split into separate cars because the line for row #1 was longer than the line for row #2. However, the other half always went out of their way to stand us to the side for a few moments in order to accommodate our request. If I was a participant in the WWWD pin program, we would have awarded these half with pins as they were always friendly and helpful versus the other half which could be very rude about trying to accommodate our request.

- When we asked our niece if she wanted to view California Dreams she said absolutely not because she was on summer vacation and was therefore not interested in a history lesson. Theme parks are a place to escape reality and enter a new world.

- Some Cast Members are very good at asking visitors to move in a manner that is very respectful and even impressive. We had sat on the concrete (in some shade) to watch the parade as we were eating. When the parade was done and everyone left we were still eating. A Cast Member approached as said, "good afternoon, there's some benches over there in the shade that you might find more comfortable." We saw this as a very professional and polite way of asking us to move and we were more than happy to do so.

While our visit was decent (mostly thanks to the FastPass system and our six rides on California Screamin' before it broke down), it still lacked the "Disney Magic" and waits in long lines were very boring because there was no theming of the que lines. Next time our niece wants to try Knotts Berry Farm.

Sincerely,


Joe Tracy
Digital Media FX - The Power of Imagination
http://www.digitalmediafx.com

splbound
06-25-2001, 09:27 AM
I experienced pretty much the same experience as you did yesterday...(I did a thread titled Screamin' Stop that detailed the evac of the coaster), I do tend to disagree with you on a couple of points:

I didn't see a significant increase of people over the last few weekends....We were at the park all day as well, and although I don't doubt your account we never saw the wait lines exceed 50 minutes for any attraction.

We found a way around the tortilla issue. I had my 4 year old recite a line from the old musical "Oliver", when she gets 1/2 a tortilla she looks up with pathetic puppy dog eyes and says "Pardon me, sir, may I have another?" This always gets the croud laughing and embarasses the CM. Immediately our family receives whole tortillas. I recommend it.

Zephyr needs to go. I agree with you. What's next, a water ride that closes when wet.....no wait...they have one of those.....

blusilva
06-25-2001, 10:00 AM
Originally posted by jtracy

One of the biggest problems we had was Zephyr. <snip> Why in the world would a ride be built outdoors that is closed whenever the slightest wind picks up? [/url]

Isn't it ironic that the word zephyr means a gentle breeze (usually from the west)?

blusilva