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lisap
10-14-2002, 03:09 PM
A couple of firsts today. First time at the resort on Columbus Day, first time my mother had been to DCA, and first time we made it all the way into Flick's Fun Fair with my two girls (five and eight).

Large crowds at DCA--back past the California letters to enter the park, and a large crowd entering FFF. We loved the theming and all the beautiful palms and foliage.

Headed over to the Chew Chew train to try it. Forty minutes later we were there on the loading platform. I'd read it was a short ride, but had no idea they were sooo accurate! My mom and I were laughing bitterly when we rounded the curve and saw the loading platform again. Little C declared "I want to ride AGAIN!" and was quickly hushed up. No way we are riding that again unless it's a walk-up. In fact, we were so discouraged that we sat on a bench at the puddle park and let little C get herself completely soaked from head to toe--just didn't have the strength to stop her ;) (I brought extra clothes). We decided to come back when the novelty of a new land wears off to explore the other rides.

On the way out we caught the "Ugly Bug Ball." The girls enjoyed it. Mom and I enjoyed leaning against a pole and resting our eyes. CMs were holding a huge line waiting to get into FFF. When we saw that, we were tempted to stay in a bit longer just 'cause we could, but our Soarin' fastpasses were ready.

Anyway, just a little half day report.


P.S. Walked right into HMH first thing at nine am and rode twice in a row. Yeah, the old music was and is better--you're right. ;)

mad4mky
10-14-2002, 03:14 PM
Reading this...makes me kinda glad my girls are too old to want to go into FFF. I mean, I want to see it...the themeing and all...But, my little one commented the other day, "Mom, I don't even want to go into DCA when we are there this weekend"...

Fine with me #3 daughter...fine with me!

Lisap...did your mom have a good time? I know she hadn't been to Disneyland in a while...did she enjoy the day? :)

Traci
10-14-2002, 03:24 PM
I hear you. I'm glad I was able to see it during the CM preview days, cause it was sad. The kids will love it, but lines like that for little one's are hard.

lisap
10-14-2002, 03:31 PM
:) I talked my mom into the socal pass, so I didn't feel like I needed to rush her around to see everything. We were rather slowly-paced. Mom rode Big Thunder and HMH with little E while I stayed with the baby, so that was great. She also went on Soarin' for the first time and loved it, of course!

We had a nice relaxing lunch at Storytellers, made a side trip to Marcellines, stopped at WOD for pins for the girls (and I actually found a pin I wanted for myself :eek:), and went home. Nice easy day.
:)

adriennek
10-14-2002, 03:31 PM
FORTY MINUTES for Chew Chew Train? Oh, Lisa, I'm so sorry!

Yeah, definitely not worth the wait.

Did you go on the world's slowest bumper cars?

Adrienne K

lisap
10-14-2002, 03:36 PM
Originally posted by adriennek


Did you go on the world's slowest bumper cars?

Adrienne K

No, the Chew Chew train pretty much finished us off. I didn't have the stamina or the patience to wait in another nightmare line. I'll take them another time to do the rest of the rides.

MammaSilva
10-14-2002, 03:37 PM
I'm curious how wheelchair/SAP friendly the new land is...any input?

lisap
10-14-2002, 03:43 PM
Hmmm.....
I'm sure others would be able to answer this a lot more intelligently, but I didn't see the clog of strollers like I thought there would be. Not that there weren't strollers, mind you, but they were kind of lined up all over the place and not blocking paths as much as I thought. So it seems a wheelchair would be able to maneuver through the area pretty well. The Chew Chew Train line was very wide with gentle curves, so it seemed fairly accessible.

RStar
10-14-2002, 04:21 PM
We were there Sat. with dopeylover in the wheelchair. It was pretty easy for the most part. We sidesteped the line getting into FFF, and only waited 10-15 min. for each ride. (LISA- You realize you waited 2 minutes for each second of ride for Chew Chew!?:( )

The ground is smooth enough (I hate Frontierland!!:eek: ) and the ride transfer seemed fine as well. We didn't find any clogs in the walkways either.

AVP
10-14-2002, 05:46 PM
Originally posted by mammasilva
I'm curious how wheelchair/SAP friendly the new land is...any input?

I'm actually planning to post photos soon, but it's VERY friendly - all of the queues are wide enough, and many of the vehicles have transfer-aids.

AVP

MammaSilva
10-14-2002, 06:08 PM
that's awesome, my best buds youngest is getting to heavy for us to just lift/transfer so transfer aides will be VERY welcome to see

stinkerbell
10-26-2002, 11:55 AM
Okay, I didn't read any reviews of FFF, and wanted to experience it without a negative perspective going into it.

Big mistake.

The Chew Chew thing lasted 30 seconds, at most. Cassidy was too short to ride the world's slowest bumper cars, our Francis car was hideously bumpy and that ride was waaaaay too short and not enough cars on it to handle the long line, and the garbage box Dumbo-like ride thing didn't allow enough people on it to make the line move.

Overall, a waste of two + hours of my precious DLR time.

The show was okay, but the kids had to wait 20 minutes for autographs afterward. The characters went backstage and no one else was ready to come out to take their place. We ended up leaving without seeing Flik, which was traumatic.

The best thing about the whole Bug's area? Still "It's Tough to be a Bug" which was already there. We loved that again!!!

We got stopped to give feedback and I did not mince words. I was upset, but didn't want to put on anything but a nice face for Cassidy. She was bored by it all. But loved ITTBAB.

---------------------------------

DCA as a whole, with a four year old only, was horrible. We rode the Sun Wheel and Soarin', saw no characters. Lilo "was at school" and Stitch was "being incorrigible." We waited 45 minutes for him to show and he never did. We waited 20 minutes for Minnie to show up at her plane. She was at least 20 minutes late. We left. Cassidy was too short for GRR.

Won't go back there again without Courtney, except to run in and watch the Electrical Parade and ride Soarin'. Otherwise, it's a total waste of my time! :mad: I don't use the :mad: face ever, but that's how I felt. We enjoyed our two visits there last year, but that was with Courtney, who was tall enough to ride everything but the Maliboomer. Cassidy was bored then, at 36 inches tall. Now she's 40 and 1/2 half inches and expected to ride more, even though I had already told her she couldn't. Ugh. Just won't go back. Not worth the aggravation.

I made my thoughts known to some uppity ups who came from backstage with suits and clipboards. They stopped in to see Lilo and Stitch and had the nerve to ask ME where they were. I gave them a piece of my mind and we left the area, along with the other people who stood there for 45 minutes, waiting. Kids were crying, parents were explaining to them that Stitch was acting up, and most said LOUDLY, "Let's go back to Disneyland" and we all did, in one big line. :) I watched the uppity ups writing on their clipboards, typing on their laptops, and on their PDA's. Maybe they **heard** us, maybe not. But we definitely sent a message.

Morrigoon
10-26-2002, 12:15 PM
Good for you! Let the suits know! The costumed CMs really can't affect anything, so don't waste your time traumatizing them - but let those suits know!

TP2000
10-27-2002, 12:39 AM
stinkerbell, have you thought of firing off a 5 or 6 sentence email to Disneyland from their handy email page on the official disneyland.com website? That way, your voice will most definitely get heard.

The "uppity-ups" may not have heard you, or cared much even if they did hear you. They may just be managers in charge of Stich's show times, or the types of flowers in the planters, or the decibel level of the background music playing on the speakers.

Just because they had Dockers on and were carrying clipboards, doesn't mean that your stage-whisper announcement that you would be returning to Disneyland would be officially logged and immediately sent on to Eisner as "Guests are unhappy with Park Product. We must build two new major E Ticket attractions immediately. And don't forget to contact the Sherman Brothers for the soundtrack."

No one will ever know you had less than a happy time until you formally tell them so. And that email page on Disneyland.com is very easy. It would only take you 3 or 4 minutes to send off a quick email outlining your basic thoughts about DCA.

Just a suggestion. When we complain to other guests and/or write a critical trip report on an Internet message board, no one really hears us except ourselves.

stinkerbell
10-27-2002, 06:49 PM
Originally posted by TP2000
stinkerbell, have you thought of firing off a 5 or 6 sentence email to Disneyland from their handy email page on the official disneyland.com website? That way, your voice will most definitely get heard.

The "uppity-ups" may not have heard you, or cared much even if they did hear you. They may just be managers in charge of Stich's show times, or the types of flowers in the planters, or the decibel level of the background music playing on the speakers.

Just because they had Dockers on and were carrying clipboards, doesn't mean that your stage-whisper announcement that you would be returning to Disneyland would be officially logged and immediately sent on to Eisner as "Guests are unhappy with Park Product. We must build two new major E Ticket attractions immediately. And don't forget to contact the Sherman Brothers for the soundtrack."

No one will ever know you had less than a happy time until you formally tell them so. And that email page on Disneyland.com is very easy. It would only take you 3 or 4 minutes to send off a quick email outlining your basic thoughts about DCA.

Just a suggestion. When we complain to other guests and/or write a critical trip report on an Internet message board, no one really hears us except ourselves.

I'm going to respond to this, as it seems aimed at me.....

First of all, I didn't start this thread. I replied to it with my thoughts, and gave an account of events that happened during my visit. My post was in no way aimed to make a difference to the Disney Co. It was more an informational thing for those making decisions about how to plan their time at the DLR.

I responded to their (Disney's) survey. I assume they do surveys for a reason, and I DO NOT, of course, assume the results go to Eisner. Don't belittle me. I don't know what it was about my earlier post that rubbed you the wrong way, but please don't belittle me. I won't belittle you or anyone else here on the boards.

I've posted more informational things re: DCA in the past, and as I posted above I ENJOYED MY TIME THERE BEFORE, with my older daughter.

As I've enjoyed my time at DCA in the past, I don't want to write an email to disneyland.com or anything else. In fact, I didn't even complain to a CM, because I didn't have to. There was a line of folks ahead of me with plenty of complaints.

Have you ever written an email to Disneyland.com? I have. No use in it, really. Especially since what's done is done and I'm back home here in Oregon. It didn't even feel better to get it off my chest and I'm sure the CM who received it was just riveted by my thoughts........ :rolleyes:

BUT it was very empowering for the managerial types to see what a bummer it was for all these tiny kiddos waiting to see Lilo, who it was announced wouldn't even be there (although she's on the schedule!), then Stitch was 45+ minutes late. That's like a lifetime to a 2, 3, or 4 year old. I'd estimate that four people stayed to watch the "luau" show, because the lead singer came out and announced that Stitch wouldn't be there until after they were done. That would have made the wait more than an hour for Stitch. Four people stayed out of maybe 25. We ALL left the area. The managerial types noticed. Parents complained loudly. We all left DCA. And went to Disneyland.

ONe of the guys even approached me with mouth open, like he wanted to say something. If I wasn't so irritated, I might have given him the opportunity. But I was tired, my daughter was upset. It was the umpteenth disappointment of the day at DCA and I just wanted out of there.

And as I posted before, I won't go back to DCA except to watch the Electrical Parade or ride Soarin' when I'm with my younger daughter. I will return and fully enjoy DCA with my 7 year old. She doesn't care about the lack of characters. She just likes the rides and that's great by me! Because that's all I care about there too. :)

Upanova
10-28-2002, 09:19 AM
"Hello everybody, my name is Heimlich! I'm so hungry! Everybody aboard the cute little CHEW-CHEW-TRAIN! Goodbye everybody, I am still hungry, I need to go back around for seconds! BURP!!!"

I had a drink squirting outta my nose when I came up to the loading area and heard that speil! Could someone get me an MP3 recording of that speil! I was dying when I heard it!

Upanova

stinkerbell
10-28-2002, 12:54 PM
Hee hee! You're right, that is cute! Heimlich happens to be one of my favorite Pixar characters. :)

Unfortunately, that spiel's about as long as the ride. :(

innerSpaceman
10-28-2002, 02:02 PM
My favorite part of the Heimlich dialogue is his version of the Spanish language safety spiel in his patented German accent. It's a riot! And yes, his dialogue is the best part of this so-called attraction (though I also like the smell of the animal crackers) which you can find better versions of in any two-bit traveling carnival.

We were at FFF last night to get a look at it after dark, and bizarrely the Chew-Chew Train had the only line in the place (over 30 minutes for the 30 seconds of fun!). The remaining three attractions were pleasantly walk-on, and they are almost enjoyable with absolutely no wait. The Tuck-and-Roll bumper cars have indeed been sped up - all the way to point-six miles per hour! Flik's Flyers was breezy fun for a whole half-dozen revolutions. And we got to try the Lady Bug Boogie for the first time, which is easily my fave attraction in the new landlette. Zapppop, Flubber and I actually mastered the body-weight-shifting spin control, but since we were all doing different wierd gyrations of our torsos, we are not sure which action caused the cool spin - maybe it was a combination of all three!

My opinion of the place hasn't changed. It looks prettier at night, but the themeing really isn't up to the already established excellence of the very similarly themed Honey I Shrunk the Kids land at WDW. The rides are strictly for the tiny tots, and it's only under absolutely-no-wait, walk-on conditions that they can be enjoyable for anyone over 4.

Laffite
10-28-2002, 04:11 PM
The only thing I really have fun at FFF is the "bumper cars" (they hardly bump :rolleyes: ). I spin in a circle in the middle the ring and block the traffic. (the traffic on that ride is like the 405 in the morning :rolleyes: )

cstephens
10-28-2002, 04:27 PM
Originally posted by Laffite
The only thing I really have fun at FFF is the "bumper cars" (they hardly bump :rolleyes: ). I spin in a circle in the middle the ring and block the traffic. (the traffic on that ride is like the 405 in the morning :rolleyes: )

That can't be any fun for the other people. Don't know why you'd want to do that.

innerSpaceman
10-28-2002, 04:56 PM
Believe it or not, the traffic jams are the fun part of that ride.

cstephens
10-28-2002, 05:22 PM
Originally posted by innerSpaceman
Believe it or not, the traffic jams are the fun part of that ride.

For you perhaps. I disagree. I rather enjoyed my ride, driving around and bumping into others. I've been in traffic jams on bumper car rides, and I didn't much enjoy just sitting there.

Sheila
10-28-2002, 05:24 PM
Originally posted by cstephens
For you perhaps. I disagree. I rather enjoyed my ride, driving around and bumping into others. I've been in traffic jams on bumper car rides, and I didn't much enjoy just sitting there.

If the ride were longer, then it wouldn't be so bad to jam things up. Unfortunately, the ride is so dang short, by the time you get untangled, it's over! :D

Sheila

JeffG
10-28-2002, 05:40 PM
Originally posted by innerSpaceman
My favorite part of the Heimlich dialogue is his version of the Spanish language safety spiel in his patented German accent. It's a riot! And yes, his dialogue is the best part of this so-called attraction (though I also like the smell of the animal crackers) which you can find better versions of in any two-bit traveling carnival.


I guess I'll go against the flow here a bit and state that I really liked "Heimlich's Chew, Chew Train".

Yes, it is short and probably should have been longer, but I found what was there to be very clever, entertaining, and nicely themed. The narration, in particular, is extremely well done and I was very pleased that they went the extra mile of including multiple versions of it in order to provide some variation from ride to ride. The piped-in smells and some cute sight gags also add to the experience.

Despite fairly lengthy waits, our group (which was all adults, by the way) went on this ride twice and we all had a great time through both rides.

-Jeff

Laffite
10-28-2002, 06:28 PM
Originally posted by cstephens
That can't be any fun for the other people. Don't know why you'd want to do that.

Since I'm in the middle people drive in and bump me, and people enjoy bumping. It's like a big pinball machine.

And they have so many cars in there it's just called for a traffic jam. You can't escape it anyway



:rolleyes: