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LPnerd
09-28-2002, 09:54 PM
ok guys, here it is.was there 9/17-9/22. got many emails asking me to tell all when I got home .
First, in comparingdisneyland to magic kingdom I hate to say this but really not much to compare.WDW is soooooo much better it is really a shame. We were all VERY dissipointed with Disnyland. Having said that , there are many positives too. For instance, inoventions is wonderful.WDW has disneyquest but it is not in the park and costs extra. Loved inoventions!!!! your autopia is much better than the crappy little roadway at MK.I think matterhorn is probly great but it was closed as I knew it would be . So was haunted mansion,and several others that were not on the schedule to be closed. Jungle cruise was lame , The crowd control, and service were cut back to the point of being dangerous, ( esp. at nite) the park was way to dark at nite to be safe or friendly. Saw 2 fights breck out in the dark and no security was around. I reported one of them to a clerk who could of cared less. Staff VERY stressed and unfriendly both nites we were at the park. One guy even told me look ,they cut the staff Sept 1st and they don't care so why the heck should I?I'm not about to get beat up again this year , talk to management . I asked where to find somone and he said, " Good luck" "They know it's bad and they hide too."
Raiders of the lost ark was Great!!!!!!!Your thundermt. is different , but just as good. Pirates was good but way to slow.
I wouldn't think of spending my hard earned money here again.
Now ... we all LOVED C.A. I was so surprised after all the bad comments I have heard. Sure ...it needs a few more rides,a couple more places of interest, but it's on the right track.Soaring was without a doubt the best ride I have ever been on bar none.My son loved the wildernss trail and we all liked the Grizzley rapids.I didn't like paying 4 bucks at the Mcdonalds for a lrg fry, so I didn't. we grabed a drink and a churo and waited till we got back to DTD or the DLH for real food. I refuse to pay those ridiculous park prices for food at either park.LOL we get Churos, icecream and water or a soda in the parks and thats about it.
I am sure I made alot of you unhappy , and please ...these are just my opinon's yours could be totally different from mine and just as valid.
Oh yes ...Fantasmic...except for the prirate ship, MGM wins that hands down. If for no other reason than you can actually sit down and watch the show , in seats, with a great view, and not have to pay 45 more dollars to do it. That was the single most offesive thing I ran into. Please all of you DL fans don't start yelling and screaming at me because I didn't love it there. We had plenty of highlights ( my husband and son were in the parade and had a blast)
If you live closer to DL than WDW it is still a MUST SEE, just if you have a choice, or have to pick between the 2. WDW is so much better.
Live long and prosper,
LPnerd

Nigel2
09-28-2002, 10:29 PM
Oh well that is too bad that you had some bad experiences.

One of the reasons a lot of it was closed at the same time was mailiny poor planning/ end of the summer closures. If you could have moved it back a couple of weeks you could have been here for Haunted Mansion Holiday.

I am glad you enjoyed the "Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye":D

Brat
09-28-2002, 11:20 PM
It is good to hear varying opinions. I myself have never been to WDW, so I cannot make any comparisons. We hope to get there sometime in the next couple of years tho. However, I can tell you that your trip would have been MUCH better if so many things weren't down right now. My family loves DCA, so you are not alone there. I haven't been able to ride anything of the "big" rides there xcept for "Soarin", I am looking forward to it in December (ok, maybe not Grizzly, that will have to wait for next summer!). I'm sure tomorrow morning will bring on many more varied opinions of your review.
Wish you could have had a better experience!

cstephens
09-29-2002, 08:23 AM
Originally posted by LPnerd
Oh yes ...Fantasmic...except for the prirate ship, MGM wins that hands down.

I know of one other person who has this opinion, and for the life of me, I really don't understand it. I suppose it's possible that I have this viewpoint because I know DL's "Fantasmic" so well and have only seen MK's "Fantasmic" once, but in a heartbeat, I'd give up the stadium seating, the feeling of watching a show in MK, to instead have the feeling of being in a show, the way it is at DL. The only thing I prefer at MK is that Sorceror Mickey is on a mountain rather than a shed, but that's it. I've seen "Fantasmic" quite a bit at DL. I wouldn't expect to see it that often at MK.


Originally posted by LPnerd
If you live closer to DL than WDW it is still a MUST SEE, just if you have a choice, or have to pick between the 2. WDW is so much better.

I suppose I can understand why people constantly feel the need to compare DL and WDW, but it's a completely unfair comparison. Up until February of last year, DL was just one park with two hotels. Even now, the DLR is two parks with three hotels and DTD. WDW has four parks, some number of water parks, a huge number of hotel resorts, and DTD. It makes more sense to me to compare park vs. park, but the resorts in California and Florida are totally different.

socabch
09-29-2002, 08:48 AM
First, in comparingdisneyland to magic kingdom I hate to say this but really not much to compare.WDW is soooooo much better it is really a shame. We were all VERY dissipointed with Disnyland

That's too bad. I wish everything was nicer for you. In DLR's defense, it used to be a lot better than it is now. I wish you could have visited when the suits actually cared more about the place. Good example is: who got the fancier celebration for Walt's 100th? WDW, of course. It seem more energy has been going into WDW than DLR from what I have been reading. So your review doesn't surprise me. I have never been to WDW and I don't know if I'll ever make it there. So I can't compare the two on first hand experience. But I love DLR even with all it's problems because of the feeling I get when I walk thru those gates.

p.s I do agree about the park needs more lighting in some areas. It seems that it's gotten darker over the years. But then we had a horrible energy crisis in California. So maybe that's why.

HBTiggerFan
09-29-2002, 09:05 AM
Originally posted by socabch
p.s I do agree about the park needs more lighting in some areas. It seems that it's gotten darker over the years. But then we had a horrible energy crisis in California. So maybe that's why.

Anaheim has their own energy and was uneffected by the energy crisis.

Cadaverous Pallor
09-29-2002, 09:28 AM
DL is dark because it was designed a long time ago. I like it dark and it should stay that way. At DCA it seems like the sun never sets!


Originally posted by LPnerd
First, in comparingdisneyland to magic kingdom I hate to say this but really not much to compare.WDW is soooooo much better it is really a shame. Look, in many ways you're probably right, but that is because your park and your coast are favored by the company. We have been getting the short end of the stick for years. I have been very hurt by the money they channel over there, which, I'm sure, partially comes from our park! So this makes any comparison unfair, and for us DL locals, especially frustrating. Please don't come here to tell us that WDW is better - we are sick of hearing it and it makes us sad. :( :( :(

I think it's interesting that you loved Innoventions. After your Fantasmic comments, this leads me to believe that what you are looking for in an attraction is air conditioning. May I ask what you liked in Innoventions? The fact that you could play on a computer? Or have your kid play a video game? I don't get this at all. Plus, I have not been to WDW, but the thought of taking our grand-scale Fantasmic and shoehorning it into a theater makes me never want to see it there. Sure, it isn't the most convenient viewing spot, but it's so awesome and huge! Don't tell me your kid wasn't awed by seeing tons of Disney characters on the Mark Twain!

You probably had a bad skipper on the Jungle Cruise. Do you mean that the one the Florida is better? How?

Pirates is slow? Slow?? Does the one in WDW go a lot faster? Man, I am NEVER traveling to Florida.

Let me say again, we know that in many ways, WDW has it over us, but there are good reasons for that. You should not have expected it to be better than the MK in Florida. I don't want to jump all over you, but please don't come here and push it in our faces, especially when they have half the park closed for refurbishment!

Matterhorn Fan
09-29-2002, 11:13 AM
Originally posted by LPnerd
Please all of you DL fans don't start yelling and screaming at me because I didn't love it there. We had plenty of highlights ( my husband and son were in the parade and had a blast)I'm not going to yell and scream, because, simply, it's not worth the energy (plus, it would be rude, and I don't want to be rude). DL wasn't your piece of cake, and that's fine by me. I'm sorry you didn't have a nicer trip, and for the most part, I agree with the previous responses to your post.

However, I wonder why you post this kind of trip report here, since you do so with the expectation that people are going to be angry with you. In an effort to prevent this type of reaction (which, thankfully, hasn't occurred), you state that there were plenty of highlights to your trip. I, for one, would like to know what they were. Many trip reports present the highlights with a disclaimer that there were unpleasant experiences (and then someone often comes along and asks what those were), but I can only infer from the way you wrote your post (emphasizing the bad over the good), that what you saw as the negative aspects of the DLR outweighed the positive ones.

Call me Pollyanna, but if it were me, I'd like to focus on the good stuff rather than dwell on the bad stuff. Tell us more about the good stuff, please! :)

I'm also interested in your fascination with Innoventions. You liken it to a "free" DisneyQuest, which is an interesting comparison. I would have expected it to be compared (since you're comparing anyways) to Innoventions at EPCOT Center instead. Is the emphasis at the different incarnations of Innoventions really this different?

Sheila
09-29-2002, 11:54 AM
Originally posted by Matterhorn Fan
I'm also interested in your fascination with Innoventions. You liken it to a "free" DisneyQuest, which is an interesting comparison. I would have expected it to be compared (since you're comparing anyways) to Innoventions at EPCOT Center instead. Is the emphasis at the different incarnations of Innoventions really this different?

Personally, I thought Epcot's Innoventions had the edge over DLR's simply because they've got an Innoventions East *and* West (basically doubling the acreage).

Because of the expanded size, more games, exhibits and movies can be installed there. Other than that, I think they compare somewhat evenly (as far as technology goes) with the slight edge to Epcot's because more exhibits and interactive stuff are there.

I've only gone into Innoventions in Epcot since exploring it once to say hello to a friend of mine that works there....

Be that as it may, comparing Disneyland to attractions at MK, MGM, DisneyQuest and Epcot is somewhat unfair. It really should just be DL vs. MK for a true comparison.

Sheila
Plus the Fantasmic at MGM isn't very good, imho. So there. :p ;) :D

stitcher
09-29-2002, 12:12 PM
I've heard that there is a plethora of villains shown in MGM Fantasmic's "victory" scene. If this is true then that is definitely one thing I would dislike because it favirs theatrics over storyline(after dozens of villains I'd be saying "Ok, waht was this about?")

thekirk
09-29-2002, 12:26 PM
I must agree with some of the other people who posted. You chose an extremly bad time to visit Disneyland. They are in the process of getting ready for the christmas season, and many of the rides are down. I suggest you try going towards the end of the summer. When people are getting ready for a new school year, but Disney hasn't started shutting down the rides. Disneyland is also the original, you can feel Walt in the place, it's magical.

Pixie Glitter
09-29-2002, 12:52 PM
Cadaverous Pallor,

It sounds from your post like you really have an inaccurate idea of MGM's Fantasmic. It is HUGE, and by no means does it seem like it's "shoehorned into a theatre". The setup there is an enormous outdoor amphitheatre style seating area (accomodates an audience of 10,000) facing a very large lagoon with a big island in the middle of it. And what on earth does Fantasmic have to do with air conditioning? If you're going to criticize someone else's OPINION, at least get your facts straight first, please.

Alex S.
09-29-2002, 01:00 PM
My theory on Fantasmic is that you are most likely going to prefer the one you see first. Both are great shows, but the second one you see is going to seem off somehow. You will be taken out of the show because you'll constantly be saying to yourself "well, that is different, where's Malificent?, will these pre-show comedians ever shut up?, etc."

BuenaVista
09-29-2002, 01:58 PM
Pixie is correct. That gigantic amphitheater at MGM (NOT Magic Kingdom as was written previously) was designed and built SPECIFICALLY to present Fantasmic and it's a wonderful venue. That "shoehorned" comment from someone who hasn't even seen the place was not a very fair thing to say, besides being totally wrong. If anything, Fantasmic is shoehorned into the Rivers of America in Anaheim, considering how disruptive the whole thing is to the general flow of the park every night it's shown (and by the way, it's shown daily in Florida unlike Cali which is only on your occasional Saturday and maybe more in the busier seasons).

Also, rather than fighting crowds to get a glimpse of the show, thousands of guests can see the show from a comfortable vantage point, with food, beer, and souveniers easily accessible. Plus half the park doesn't get jammed up for an entire evening just to present a show. All in all, a much better situation.

Also, there is a huge steamboat with all the characters in Florida as well...that's in both shows. And I agree with the original poster, besides the cool pirate ship and the great Peter Pan fight scene on it (which I loved by the way) which is unique to Cali there isn't much else that is so incredibly different about these shows. MGM's is a little more updated, with some of the newer Disney classics better represented, but I bet your average guest would say they were exactly the same.

Durliin
09-29-2002, 02:52 PM
I just dont get the Jungle Cruise Comment I went to WDW and rode the jungle Cruise 5 times and all the skippers didnt really tell any Jokes seemed nervous and didnt care for there Job...... oh well Guess I will always be a DL Jungle Fan being a skipper and all

LPnerd
09-29-2002, 02:53 PM
OK I think I addressed every single c/o you folks made. I was only doing what I had about 20 pm,s asking me to do. PLUS I didn't compare WDW to DL, only magic kingdom to dl.You people are WAY to defensive. And I was at DL about 16 yr. ago and it was magic then! It's not now. And all of you who refuse to face the fact that it is going down the tubes are the reason it is . OPEN your mouths and complain to where it will do some good. Say it everywhere you can think of, say it with your wallets. Get a paper on your side. All this stuff works folks. We do it in Fl.all the time. Look at some of the WDW news postings to see what I mean. I think you folks in CA. are so used to paying extra for things,you just take it for granted now. IT doesn't have to be that way. The consumers will be listened to.
As far as being , "part of the show" you're part of a cattle herd
being pushed, shoved, and prodded, and they are so good at it, they've convinced you that you should like it.WAKE UP!!
I wasn't going to do this on here. I loved the old DL. I wanted to share that ombiance with my family. I was heart broken .But the responce from this no harm no foul letter that was asked for, shows me how it has happened.You folks need to wake up and smell the fairy dust.Open your mouths and raise hell. Shame on your status qou thinking and your going along with the more and more cuts program.
Somtimes I think you can get to close to somthing to get a good look at the big picture. I think that has to be what has happened here. You folks are wasting your time complaining to me about my little opiions or what I saw with my own eyes. You have bigger fish to fry. Now make something constructive out of this or not. But I didn't make it so, just reported PER REQUEST what I saw.
Thank-you, and goodnite

Cadaverous Pallor
09-29-2002, 03:59 PM
Originally posted by Pixie Glitter
It sounds from your post like you really have an inaccurate idea of MGM's Fantasmic. It is HUGE, and by no means does it seem like it's "shoehorned into a theatre". The setup there is an enormous outdoor amphitheatre style seating area (accomodates an audience of 10,000) facing a very large lagoon with a big island in the middle of it. And what on earth does Fantasmic have to do with air conditioning? If you're going to criticize someone else's OPINION, at least get your facts straight first, please. Ok, I was once told that Fantasmic in Florida was indoors in a theater. I was obviously misinformed, and I apologize. I had no idea that it was an outdoor lagoon show there too with a 10,000 seating capacity. I retract my previous Fantasmic statements.


I was only doing what I had about 20 pm,s asking me to do.Ok, I don't understand why 20 people on MousePad would beg an LP fan to post their trip report here.....that's just me wondering out loud.


You people are WAY to defensive.Look, all we're really saying is that you a)expect an ignored park to be as good as one with a huge bias on its side and b)you went at the wrong time of year. How is this being defensive?


OPEN your mouths and complain to where it will do some good. Say it everywhere you can think of, say it with your wallets. Get a paper on your side. All this stuff works folks. We do it in Fl.all the time. Hmmm....I wonder what you mean by doing it in FL.....do you mean giving them money because they're doing the right thing? Because it's not like there's been anything to protest out there. Why don't you let us know how you guys have changed things for the better out there. Looks like we really need a lesson in this. :rolleyes: Are you saying that as soon as they start neglecting something about WDW, you and all the millions of tourists start withholding your cash? Riiiiight. I'm sure that family from Germany that's been planning their trip for 6 months finds out that they haven't painted the castle in a while and decides not to go. :rolleyes: Look, everyone knows that Florida is a cash cow, where people come from all over the world, so the money goes there, and there ISN'T any neglect to even protest. C'mon, give me one thing you have fixed by writing letters and not spending cash on the park.

By the way, let me give you a tip: Coming to a board and saying that the very subject of the board has lost it's magic and making unfair comparisons with a place that has caused much ire among the board, saying it "is soooooo much better", isn't exactly "no harm no foul". You might want to remember that. :rolleyes:

Laffite
09-29-2002, 04:10 PM
Originally posted by Cadaverous Pallor


Hmmm....I wonder what you mean by doing it in FL.....do you mean giving them money because they're doing the right thing? Because it's not like there's been anything to protest out there. Why don't you let us know how you guys have changed things for the better out there. Looks like we really need a lesson in this. :rolleyes: Are you saying that as soon as they start neglecting something about WDW, you and all the millions of tourists start withholding your cash? Riiiiight. I'm sure that family from Germany that's been planning their trip for 6 months finds out that they haven't painted the castle in a while and decides not to go. :rolleyes: Look, everyone knows that Florida is a cash cow, where people come from all over the world, so the money goes there, and there ISN'T any neglect to even protest. C'mon, give me one thing you have fixed by writing letters and not spending cash on the park.

By the way, let me give you a tip: Coming to a board and saying that the very subject of the board has lost it's magic and making unfair comparisons with a place that has caused much ire among the board, saying it "is soooooo much better", isn't exactly "no harm no foul". You might want to remember that. :rolleyes:

**applauds** :)

This will be my only contribution to this thread. Good night guys.

Morrigoon
09-29-2002, 04:27 PM
LP: Sorry to hear you had a less-than-stellar trip. I still stand by my opinion that Walt's park is the better park, but I must concede that it's a little injured at the moment. What I found interesting was your selection of "highlights". Perhaps the difference of opinion on the parks stems from the difference of opinion in what interests us. On the whole, we west-coasters have generally expressed opinions about Innoventions ranging from mild boredom to outright animosity, whereas you find value in it. Likewise, we prefer events to happen seemingly spontaneously in an area, whereas you prefer the organization and comfort of a theater. (For proof of this, look at the posts about Candlelight and see how unhappy we were when it moved into a theater). You see, our historical experiences with Disneyland supported the idea that, at Disneyland, anything could happen at any moment. Thus, a walkway is suddenly transformed into a theater, a railroad station suddenly becomes a stage, etc. So our approach to things are different, thus, we appreciate different aspects of the park.

I'm not going to say your opinion is wrong, just that my opinion disagrees wholeheartedly :) Glad you like Florida, but come see us after Eisner's been gone 5 years. Cynthia w/out Eisner could very well be AWESOME.

socabch
09-29-2002, 07:28 PM
Anaheim has their own energy and was uneffected by the energy crisis

DUH!! (Smacks self in forehead) I forgot about that and I should know since I was there the year all the power went out across the state and DL or our Hotel was uneffected by the whole thing. But didn't they used to have more of the white X-mas lights in the trees. Maybe my night vision is just getting worse.:eek:

LPnerd
09-29-2002, 08:08 PM
thank some of you for your well informed responce's.
as to what we have done in Fl. Please go to that board and look around for the articles. And yes, in the 2 main off seasons, the locals keeping the wallets in pocket has been a huge help.
Ca. weather wise, and beach wise is a much better destination than Fl. in the summer. S. CA. gets plenty of vacation dollars.But this is not a econ class and I won't go there.
I do see the point about spontinaity( sp) but what happens to the rest of the park when that show is on is dark and dangerous.
Come to Fl,see for yourself, then argue with me. ok?
also...what the heck is a LPfan? I am a nurse. LOL

I didn't think anything I said was that bad. Just what I saw, and our experiences. If that was offensive, I apologise.and since I have no further buisness in here. see ya on WDW board.

MouseWife
09-29-2002, 08:15 PM
I have to step in and say that while I felt a little ouch at your post, that was your opinion.

I haven't been there late at night in a long time, so I don't know how dark it gets but I have been at Sea World here and the darkness is dangerous!!

Morrigoon
09-29-2002, 09:00 PM
LP: I've been to FL. Too Big. Too far to walk. Too humid. But thanks for the invite.

(try Paris some time though - WOW!)

Ace
09-29-2002, 09:04 PM
Disneyland at night on a non-Fantasmic! day is really cool since it's not that crowded and it's dark and.... ok. It's cool, though.

cstephens
09-29-2002, 10:09 PM
Originally posted by Pixie Glitter
MGM's Fantasmic. It is HUGE, and by no means does it seem like it's "shoehorned into a theatre". The setup there is an enormous outdoor amphitheatre style seating area (accomodates an audience of 10,000) facing a very large lagoon with a big island in the middle of it.

I agree that the ampitheatre is huge, but I don't think the show itself is huge. Maybe part of what bothers me is that since it's an amphitheatre, the spectator looks down at much of the action, actually dwarfing the action, whereas at DL, much of the show towers over you. I like having that feeling.


Originally posted by BuenaVista
Also, there is a huge steamboat with all the characters in Florida as well...that's in both shows.

I would have to seriously disagree there. As much as I like Steamboat Willie's boat, it's a tiny thing compared to our Mark Twain.


Originally posted by LPnerd
As far as being , "part of the show" you're part of a cattle herd
being pushed, shoved, and prodded, and they are so good at it, they've convinced you that you should like it.WAKE UP!!


You know, I disagreed with you, but I presented how I felt without attacking your opinion. I really don't appreciate that you've decided to attack me by painting me as a mindless automaton because I happened to have expressed my opinion. It always seems to come down for so many people to that if someone else disagrees with you, you must be right and they must be terribly stupid or ignorant. What a shame to go through life that way.