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NYC
12-10-2005, 08:37 AM
DH, two of our DDs and I visited DLR. These are our experiences:

The Good:

(1) DL park is truly adorable. The theming in FL/TT/NOS brought smiles to my face. Our highlights were IJ, Pirates and the Parade. The fascade of iasw is stunning. For a 50 year old park, it doesn't show its age. My compliments to the maintenance folks.

(2) We enjoyed DCA very much. Liked the feel of the park with its wider walkways. Soarin was our fav attraction at DLR. TOT,GRR,ITTBAB were fun, Aladdin was wonderful, and the ferris wheel brought back memories of our younger days at Coney Island.

(3) The CMs were helpful and accommodating.

(4) Although trees and buildings obstructed my view, I loved Tink's flight. She's my fav character and I was thrilled to see her fly.

(5) Met many wonderful APers the day I was touring the park alone. Guess I looked like a "lost" tourist w/camera slung over shoulder while intensely studying park map. They took me "under their wings" and provided valued touring tips.

(6) Blue Bayou gets an 'A' for atmosphere, but a low grade for food. The Monte Cristos were terribly greasy and DHs meal was just OK.

(7) Napa Rose was our fav restaurant at DLR. We are sort of food and wine snobs, and good food and wine is important to us. We all had the prix fix 4-course meal w/wine pairings. The sommeliers matched the wines perfectly with the delicious courses. As the premier rest at DLR, though, we were expecting the atmosphere to be a bit more upscale, but we still had a very enjoyable evening. Great reataurant.

The Not So Good:

(1) The size of DL park lends itself well to its "cuteness", but its size also lends itself to what I disliked the most about the park, its overcrowding conditions. IOHO, the size of the park couldn't comfortably handle the crowds. DH described the situation as "suffocating".

(2) The matterhorn was a bit too bumpy for us.

(3) The Haunted Mansion was disappointing. As touists, we were looking forward to the original. Didn't care for the holiday version.

(4) The Fantasmic Fiasco - Got there 1 hour before show. Right before the show a family pushes themselves directly in front of us and hoists their son on shoulders. We politely asked them to move over a bit since we had been waiting for an hour and they were totally blocking our view. He proceeded to tell us that he was an APer and did this all the time. He then had some "choice words" to say about us tourists. I thought that DH was going to go for his juggler, and DDs and I were shocked, since we have never been repeatedly cursed at before in a theme park. Bottom line, although they moved, we still had difficulty seeing the show between a sea of heads, mickey hats, etc. We were looking forward to this show, but with tons of heads in front of us, and being packed in like sardines, we just couldn't get into the flow of the show. Found the whole experience chaotic.

(5) Leaving the show was an even bigger nightmare. We were constantly pushed, shoved, hit by strollers, run over by strollers, hit by backpacks and hit in the head by the feet of kids on parents shoulders. It was a horrible mob scene.

(6) The reason I met a lot of nice APers while touring alone in the park is because DH and DDs refused to go back to DL with me for the second day. I was totally surprised that my "theme park junkies" didn't want to go back due to the overcrowding conditions. As a result, I had great difficulty leaving after the fireworks because I didn't have anyone to run interference for me. I'm quite petite, and I was pushed and shoved all over the place. I was hit so hard that I was bleeding. Some APers saw what happened and offered to take me to First Aid. I must say that DLR APers take great pride in the park and are like Walt's "guardian angels" looking over visitors to his park. I appreciated their concern for my well-being.

(7) Disappointed that the Nighttime Spectaculars weren't shown every night. Felt like something was missing at the end of the day. No "Good Night Kiss".

(8) On many rides, there were groups who were very loudly carrying on and fooling around with their friends throughout the entire ride. This scenario was repeated on various rides. Based on their conversations I got the impression that some use DLR as sort of a "hangout". I'm certainly not against anyone enjoying the park, but I wish they had a bit more consideration for guests who never experienced the rides before. It was quite distracting and we couldn't fully enjoy some of the rides.

(9) GCH. Although the public areas of the hotel ar nice, the rooms were extremely small for a Disney Deluxe hotel.

We were surprised to find how much DLR reminded us of Universal Florida, since they both have two theme parks, 3 resort hotels and an entertainment district all within walking distance.

In closing, I was happy to have experienced the DLR. The one thing that left the most lasting impression of DLR was not their parks, but the loyalty and pride of their APers. Although I had a bad experience with one APer, all the APers I met the day I was touring alone were wonderful. They came up to me to offer assistance when I looked "lost", they talked to me while waiting in lines, and they genuinely wanted to share their DLR knowledge with me. The APers who helped me after the fireworks seemed quite upset about what happened to me and wanted to help me in anyway the could. I am a WDW APer, and I must say that I've never reached out to other guests at WDW the way the DLR APers reached out to me.

If any of the APers I met are reading this and remember the kindness they extended to a "40-something, blond, 5 foot, 98 lbs tourist wearing a NY Yankees ballcap".....thanks for the wonderful memories!!!

CrazyTrain
12-10-2005, 11:16 AM
I'm glad that you didn't let one bad expirience with am APers color your view of the rest of us! :D ;)

Hopefully you guys will be able to come back sometime during the "off season" when it's not quite so crowded!

NYC
12-11-2005, 06:45 AM
Crazy Train, we actually thought we went to DLR during a non-peak time. We went the early part of November. We thought that it would be a good time to go because it is before the Thanksgiving and Christmas rush. Turns out we made a bad decision. Should have asked for some help on these boards before we made our plans.

Can anyone tell me when DLR is the least busy. I will never get my family to go back if we will experience the same crowd levels as we did during our first visit.

I have only two requirements (besides comfortable crowd levels)......is there a good time to visit when the daytime high temps are at least in the 70's, preferably much higher, and the Nighttime Spectaculars are running. A Disney vacation just isn't complete to us without the nighttime shows.

Thanks for your help.

bassett1976
12-11-2005, 07:56 AM
The key to a trip where you can see the fireworks and still have small crowds is to watch the scheduling of fireworks on the weekends during off season. My wife and I have gone to DLR the week after schools go back into session during January and found the park to be very empty compaired to most weekends. The longest lines were 20 minutes for standby. This year seems to have brought in the crowds at unusual times since the 50th celebration is taking place and so much care has been given to the park over the last few years that people are finally returning.

anniedg
12-11-2005, 08:01 AM
NYC -- I would have thought this would have been a good time too. Early December is always suggested. From what people are saying here I think this year is atypical... not much help to you!
We usually go in early to mid June and the crowds aren't bad at all, shows are generally up and running more than just weekend nights and most things are open. The weather is pretty good, it can get chilly though. I sometimes need to wear a sweater in the early am and at night.
We haven't been at all this year, it seems the 50th celebration combined with the CM shortages are really causing crowd problems.

GrumpyUTboi
12-11-2005, 08:17 AM
We always go at Halloween time. It is a wonder to go to DL on Halloween and see all the wonderful decorations and then turn around the next day and see all the decorations that are put up in a 10 hour period.

With a nickname of NYC I'd expect the East Coast attitude to show their colors especially when the guy in front of you put his kid on his shoulder. Personally I would have made a big scene and embarass the man in front of his kids. I to am a short person 5'4" with a Napoleon attitude.

Please come back in September of October. The days are nice and warm and the nights are wonderful. It is a shame that you weren't there about a week and a half ago when the days were in the 80's.

I'd love to bump into some of the MPer's while were are there to show our family of 6 where those secret restrooms are located.

PragmaticIdealist
12-11-2005, 08:26 AM
NYC -- I would have thought this would have been a good time too. Early December is always suggested. From what people are saying here I think this year is atypical... not much help to you!
We usually go in early to mid June and the crowds aren't bad at all, shows are generally up and running more than just weekend nights and most things are open. The weather is pretty good, it can get chilly though. I sometimes need to wear a sweater in the early am and at night.
We haven't been at all this year, it seems the 50th celebration combined with the CM shortages are really causing crowd problems.

You're right. This year is definitely atypical. Usually people are so consumed with getting ready to celebrate the end-of-the-year holidays that the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is nice and peaceful. To answer your question, though, the week before Christmas is, historically, the least busy of the year while the following week is the most busy.

The Golden Anniversary celebration is mostly responsible for these anomalies, definitely.

TowerofTerror
12-11-2005, 09:08 AM
Wow nice trip report sorry about the bad time you had with the show fantasmic.

ssturgeo
12-12-2005, 11:33 AM
We went Nov 12-20...of course the weekends were busy...but the 14th-18th were great...we walked right on most rides. Park hours were only 10-8, Mon-Thurs, but did not need the extra hours with no lines. My brother goes every year during this week, and always experiences low crowds. I thought it was interesting that the first-10 of Nov. they extended park hours...they opened at 9:00. Hope I can meet him there this same week next year!