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!!!
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!!!