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Lost Boy
08-03-2001, 09:41 PM
My computer has been down for two weeks. It went down Monday July 23rd, two weeks ago, and I was just getting ready to post this report of my trip on Sunday to Disneyland. So everything is back up, I now have Windows 2000, a CD burner and DSL working again.
Here is my report:

A REPORT FROM DISNEYLAND 7/22/01

I made a trip to the Park yesterday and found all to be well. The Park was not crowded to excess in the morning and DCA looked to have a good number of Guests going in all day as did Disneyland. Contrary to certain Web Site reports, the Park looked clean, and well maintained. You really have to look close and study everything before some of the chipping painr, and such can be seen. I paid close attention and never noticed anything out of the ordinary. I arrived at about 9am and went straight to the new Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I found the whole presentation from beginning to end to be so awesome that by the time I was exiting the theater after Mr. Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, I was reduced to a blubbering idiot. I had the entire presentation to myself. Arriving as early as I did I saw the first show of the day, an audience of one. The new sound is very interesting and I don't think it will be any less so on subsequent visits. The new figrue of Mr. Lincoln and the new stage set is most impressive and Mr. Lincoln moves and speaks with a realism that is beyond anything we have had there before. Much praise is due to the people responsible for this increcible make-over. I much as I loved the old show, this one is more personal, emotional and patriotic than ever. By putting you in the shoes of a young Union Soldier the show is a much more personal look at a time in our history that is sad, unique and when this country was in the hands of possiibly the greatest leader of all time. I found the show wonderful and will see it again and again each time I go. I also wandered back into Toontown and checked out the repainted Toontown Mountains behind Mickey's house to be completely finihed and looking wonderful. I also rode Roger Rabbit since it was open again and the line was very short. What a fun ride, and the new additions to the car did not detract at all. I found the taxi to be more "Complete" now with the addition of the door and higher back. The ride performed flawlessly and everything worked as it should. I wandered around the rest of the Park, looking for pins and other goodies. I found all the pins I wanted, but had no knowledge that a new pin had been released the day before. It is a pin of Max, Goofy's son who is one of my favorite new characters. By the time, later in the day, that I found out about it, they were all gone. So I missed a new pin of a character I like just because I did not know.
I left Disneyland at around 11:30 to head off to the NFCC Convention and used the Orange Country Bus system for the 5 block ride. Cost a buck, but it saved my poor feet from any further hurt. The convention sale and trade show was fun, and I finally got my paws on a CD from Tokyo of the Fantalusion Soundtrack and found a CD from Paris of 4 songs from Peter Pan, all in French. What fun. I bought some other pins here, but no one had any Max pins left here either. One lady at a table thought she had one, but then found out she had left in at home in anther bag because she didn't think anyone would be interested in it. What rotten luck on this one stupid pin. I saw Tony Baxter and went over to talk to him. He is going to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award next week from the Amusement Park Industry. Only 5 people have ever received this award. Disney will look pretty stupid if they keep him holed up. We also talked about Country Bears. He said there are three possabilites at this point. One, if the new movie looks to be a smash hit (and by Labor Day, those involved in the decision making will have seen a rough cut of the movie), then the bears will stay and have a make-over. Two, the movie looks to be a hit, but not a smash, then the Bears could be moved over to Grizzly Peak in DCA. Three, the movie looks bad, then it's Bye-Bye Bears. So all of us Bear Lovers, keep your fingers crossed that the movie is a smash hit, or even a good hit, then the bears get to stay around, either at Disneyland or over in DCA. He also said that DCA is the perfect example of a Theme Park built by Management and that the new Disney Seas in Tokyo is a Theme Park built by Imagination in the old Walt Disney way and that it is going to blow everything else out of the water. Hopefully the public will speak volumes on this. I managed to find a brand new guidebook to the newly renamed Tokyo Disneyland Resort which has a small drawing of both Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Seas showing there relationship to each other, which has been kind of hard to figure out just from the photos I have seen of the construction posted on the web. According to the map, the Parks are right next to each other with a wide band of land seperating the two, and they are placed Head to Foot so to speak. The only way I can describe it is when you look at the map assume North is up. Then the Entrance to Tokyo Disneyland is at the North and the Entrance to Disney Seas is at the South. The new Resort Monorail will circcle both Parks with a station at each entrance. And the new Park looks incredble just from this little picture about 6 inches square. It is in color and incredibly detailed for such a small map. Probably taken from a much larger picture and then reduced for the Guidebook.
Well that's about it. I was glad to find the CD on Fantalusion because now I will have the CD sountrack from all three of the Tokyo Disneyland Parades. I have the original MSEP, now I have Fantalluison and the new MSEP Dreamflight CD is on its way as we speak. And I know I will be able to get the two CD's that will be released 13 days after Disney Seas opens, either by an Internet Connection I already have, or from a friend who will be there when it opens and for several months after. So our Park here in Anaheim is looking well and healthy, DCA seems to be pulling in more visitors now, Downtown Disney was all abustle all day long and a new store will open in November of this year that I know I am going to spend a lot of money in. Build-A-Bear will open a new flagship store next to Dept 56 and allow you to choose a bear, or rabbit, or whatever, sew it, stuff it, costume it, name it and take it home. I can hardly wait. I have seen there website and is very cute. I have already picked out the big floppy eared rabbit that I want, so come November I will definatly be making another trip. Sooner for another DCA trip to finish up on Volume Two of my Disneyland/DCA tape for all of you who got the first volume. There will be a Volume two sent to you as soon as I finish it. Somtime right after Summer I hope.
Go to the Park and see Mr. Lincoln. It is worth it.

So there it is. Any Comments?

Hades
08-05-2001, 09:51 PM
Good to hear that Build a Bear is coming to DTD! I went to the one in Fashion Island for a look around and was totally enamored at the imagination and fun of it all! I couldn't find anyone in the place, both shopper or store personel, that didn't have a genuine smile on their face!:) This will make a perfect addition to DTD.

80S ERA
08-06-2001, 07:38 AM
Originally posted by Lost Boy
I saw Tony Baxter and went over to talk to him. He is going to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award next week from the Amusement Park Industry. Only 5 people have ever received this award. Disney will look pretty stupid if they keep him holed up...........He also said that DCA is the perfect example of a Theme Park built by Management and that the new Disney Seas in Tokyo is a Theme Park built by Imagination in the old Walt Disney way and that it is going to blow everything else out of the water. .. ..........

It's interesting how Paul Pressler responded in his interview with laughingplace when asked if Tokyo Disney will raise the "bar" when it come to designing theme parks. He refered to Japan as a different market due to its customers tendancies to spend more money in its retail shops, thus giving them more freedom to spend at will.

On the contrary, I think Baxter was right on the mark when he said to you that Tokyo Disneyland is following the "old Disney way" when designing their parks. I think the main difference between the operating mentaility over here compared to Japan is that one is committed to satisfying the customer and give its visitors a unique experience while the other is only concerned with driving its stock price up in the short run.

Thanks for sharing this with us, Lost Boy.