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Monte Cristo
06-14-2006, 05:44 PM
I notice a lot of folks get very up in arms if Disneyland changes anything in the parks, whether a small detail or something large like Pirates. Some of it is based on simple preference, and I can appreciate that. I think, however, a lot of it has to do with people wanting to preserve DL as they remember it. This is why I think the best approach to DL is to assume each trip will be different from the last, each experience its own.

I remember when I first went to DL it was so magical and amazing I couldn't wait to get back. I made myself a promise though: I knew nothing would ever match my first trip. Impossible. So I decided that I wouldn't ever walk through the gate expecting my first experience. I would allow each trip to be whatever it was going to be. I have yet to be disappointed with any trip to DL as a result, whether it includes rides being down, a favorite food not being available, or the inability to do something that has become somewhat of a tradition. If anything, I've enjoyed creating new traditions each time I go.

Opus1guy
06-14-2006, 07:04 PM
Wish they would preserve the old price on your namesake. I'm gonna miss those Monte Cristos.

DianeM
06-14-2006, 07:15 PM
I'm in between. I want to experience DL in different ways, but I love the nostalgia. I'm not normally a very nostalgic person, but DL was always a special place for me as a child. In fact, I can't think of any other part of my childhood that makes me feel as special and can be replicated. I want to share that with my husband and with my nephews. I don't expect everything to be the same - but I definitely expect the general feel of the park to be the same and at least some of the rides/shows to be the same, or to have the same feel. Why not? What's wrong with nostalgia? I walk through the gates and I'm a kid again. That's not easy to come by when you're over 40. I get "new and different" all the time. I'm sick of newer, faster, more intense, things. Going to DL is like putting on my most comfortable outfit and sitting and re-reading a book that I love. It's personal and special. I don't want that to change.


I have yet to be disappointed with any trip to DL as a result, whether it includes rides being down, a favorite food not being available, or the inability to do something that has become somewhat of a tradition. If anything, I've enjoyed creating new traditions each time I go.

pisces
06-14-2006, 09:22 PM
I have no problem letting go if I'm given fair warning.

If they want to makeover the whole park, then fine; but, at least give me a couple of weeks/months?, to say proper goodbyes.

It seems like, more and more, they are just springing changes on the Park with absolutely no notice given.

Example: Aladdin !

I've really only seen Aladdin once, and that was on the balcony. I didn't make time to see it last time, primarily because I figured it wasn't going anywhere and would be around for at least a year or more.

Now I find out it's going, quick, and will be gone by the time I get there in December.

Would have liked the chance to have one final viewing, at least.

gchcm
06-14-2006, 09:31 PM
It seems like, more and more, they are just springing changes on the Park with absolutely no notice given.

Example: Aladdin !

I've really only seen Aladdin once, and that was on the balcony. I didn't make time to see it last time, primarily because I figured it wasn't going anywhere and would be around for at least a year or more.

Now I find out it's going, quick, and will be gone by the time I get there in December.

Would have liked the chance to have one final viewing, at least.

Several months is not considered to be "no notice given" in my opinion...

pisces
06-14-2006, 09:33 PM
It is when you are visiting only once a year.

stan4d_steph
06-15-2006, 05:59 AM
It is when you are visiting only once a year.Your location indicates you're located in SoCal, so just take a weekend day (or other day off of work) and go.

oregontraveler
06-15-2006, 06:45 AM
I have no problem letting go if I'm given fair warning.

Example: Aladdin !
Now I find out it's going, quick, and will be gone by the time I get there in December.

Would have liked the chance to have one final viewing, at least.

This is the first I've heard of Aladdin going away ! what's up with that

Anyway, I'm resigned to the fact that most of my favorite attractions are gone due to low attendance/slow loaders etc. ie: CircleVision and Peoplemover. I'm hoping that Tomorrowland will get more attention after Finding Nemo opens next year. I agre with DianeM about the nostalgia aspect. It's not so much about the rides anymore for me but an overall happy feeling about being in the park. :)

ralfrick
06-15-2006, 07:30 AM
I think, however, a lot of it has to do with people wanting to preserve DL as they remember it.
Yup!

Cheers.

cstephens
06-15-2006, 08:05 AM
Aladdin's been there for a couple years now, so it's not like there hasn't been plenty of opportunity for someone to see it multiple times if they really wanted to.

Monte Cristo
06-15-2006, 08:13 AM
I'm in between. I want to experience DL in different ways, but I love the nostalgia. I'm not normally a very nostalgic person, but DL was always a special place for me as a child. In fact, I can't think of any other part of my childhood that makes me feel as special and can be replicated. I want to share that with my husband and with my nephews. I don't expect everything to be the same - but I definitely expect the general feel of the park to be the same and at least some of the rides/shows to be the same, or to have the same feel. Why not? What's wrong with nostalgia? I walk through the gates and I'm a kid again. That's not easy to come by when you're over 40. I get "new and different" all the time. I'm sick of newer, faster, more intense, things. Going to DL is like putting on my most comfortable outfit and sitting and re-reading a book that I love. It's personal and special. I don't want that to change.

I fully appreciate your sentiment. I think if the current management stick to what has made the park so special all these years, you'll always have that feeling whether the rides are new or have been there since DL's opening.

Incidentally, I'm not advocating that full scale change is fine. When I go to DL, of course I want Pirates to be there, and Matterhorn, and Indy, etc. I mean, there are some things that mark the experience as specific to Disneyland. I don't think I'm talking about physical attractions when I talk about letting go of certain experiences as I am specific trips that people want to recreate over and over again.

crazi4dlr
06-15-2006, 08:48 AM
I agree with the nostolgia aspect of DL. I love to go there and feel again what I felt as a kid some 40 years ago. I miss some of the attractions and the details that I can remember. But there is still the overall feeling that THIS is Disneyland. Like the music when you walk into the bus drop off from Harbor Blvd. That is DL to me. Like the feeling as you walk through the turnstile into the park, that is DL to me.

I do miss some of the shows, like the Kids of the Kingdom (remember them). The dancing at the Carnation Plaza, the Dapper Dans and others who have been put away as the generations pass. And I miss the uniqueness of the shops, I must admit that I hate coming out of the rides into a "gift" shop that sells the same cheap junk as the next place. The commercialism gets to me, darn those licensing and marketing depts. ;)

But overall, Disneyland is the best place for me to bring back those memories and I even love DCA and Downtown Disney because they are all part of the experience.

Monte Cristo
06-15-2006, 09:13 AM
The commercialism gets to me, darn those licensing and marketing depts. ;)


You know, and I wholly admit this is bizarre, but I actually like the amount of commercialism around DL. I don't know why but I find it comforting to be surrounded by DL tchochkes. I agree with your point about the repitition of what's offered. Would it kill them to mix up the merchandise a bit?

cstephens
06-15-2006, 09:50 AM
I do miss some of the shows, like the Kids of the Kingdom (remember them). The dancing at the Carnation Plaza, the Dapper Dans and others who have been put away as the generations pass.

The Dapper Dans as an entertainment group are still there, though slightly changed...

pisces
06-16-2006, 11:51 AM
Aladdin's been there for a couple years now, so it's not like there hasn't been plenty of opportunity for someone to see it multiple times if they really wanted to.

I'm thinking, they billed it like a Broadway show. And, with most Broadway shows you know exactly how long they run for.

And if nothing is stated, you usually assume indefinitely.

Sometimes, shows close down abruptly, for whatever reason.

It's disappointing.

cstephens
06-16-2006, 12:01 PM
I'm thinking, they billed it like a Broadway show. And, with most Broadway shows you know exactly how long they run for.

You mean like "The Woman in White"? Or "Lestat"?


And if nothing is stated, you usually assume indefinitely.

Then that's a poor assumption to make. It seems to me that indefinite runs on Broadway are more the exception than the norm. I would think that would be an even weirder thing to assume about a show at a theme park.

And on Broadway, it seems they don't give much notice. You get maybe a week or two? Definitely not several months.

TikiGeek
06-16-2006, 01:19 PM
The Dapper Dans as an entertainment group are still there, though slightly changed...Oh come on! They're more than slightly changed. ;)

pisces
06-16-2006, 02:39 PM
You mean like "The Woman in White"? Or "Lestat"?



Then that's a poor assumption to make. It seems to me that indefinite runs on Broadway are more the exception than the norm. I would think that would be an even weirder thing to assume about a show at a theme park.

And on Broadway, it seems they don't give much notice. You get maybe a week or two? Definitely not several months.

Maybe off Broadway, or off off off Broadway, then.

You usually have a general idea how long the tour is going to be based on when they stop selling tickets.

And, things are held over by popular demand all the time.

Nothing ever gets held over at Disneyland it seems.

azmcox
06-16-2006, 02:53 PM
I walk through the gates and I'm a kid again. That's not easy to come by when you're over 40. …… Going to DL is like putting on my most comfortable outfit and sitting and re-reading a book that I love. It's personal and special.

My sentiments exactly!!! Now to convince my DH…… :D

cookie7762
06-16-2006, 08:57 PM
The park will have to continue to evolve to maintain the attention of younger generations. Good parents will of course keep their children highly exposed to the clasics, but as new movies come out, so do new rides. For example, the submarine ride... mosr of us were all so sad to see it go and always hoped to see it return, and it finally is, but not as the old sub ride we were accustomed to, rather as finding nemo. Without the new twist, we might have never seen the ride return at all. It is in those instances that I welcome the changes. Swiss family robinson becoming tarzan... not a fan, but the young one's now can relate to it. From that perspective, I agree, we do need to let go of some of our excessive nostalgia. If disneyland were the same for me as a child as it was for my parents, I wouldn't have been as entertained. Also, remember, Indiana was new at one point, and is now considered a classic. New additions give reasons to return, aside from the ambiance of course. We all love that childlike feeling we get when we attend, but if we want our children to grow up with the same love we have, then we can't preserve the park as it is in our memories from our childhood.
From the opposite perspective, I am a firm believer in the idea that if its not broke, then don't fix it. Pirates captured our hearts with or without a movie attachment, and I feel it still has the same affect today. Same with the haunted mansion, etc. So bring us new rides as disney releases new films and technology advances, but don't mess with and old favorite if its not necessary.

crazi4dlr
06-16-2006, 09:51 PM
The Dapper Dans as an entertainment group are still there, though slightly changed...

Really....? I thought they were gone? what does it mean that they are "slightly changed"? I haven't been in a year now so what am I missing?

Opus1guy
06-16-2006, 10:51 PM
Really....? I thought they were gone? what does it mean that they are "slightly changed"? I haven't been in a year now so what am I missing?

Same group. Different faces. Read all about it:

http://disney.go.com/inside/issues/stories/v060613.html

:)

potzbie
06-17-2006, 02:46 AM
... most of my favorite attractions are gone due to low attendance/slow loaders etc. ie: CircleVision and Peoplemover.

Late bulletin!
Disney annouces that the parking lot of Disneyland will be turned into its own theme park, called "Disney's California Adventure."
.
.
.
My!
This IS a (very very) late bulletin!
:) ;)

eightperf
06-17-2006, 03:28 AM
Maybe off Broadway, or off off off Broadway, then.

You usually have a general idea how long the tour is going to be based on when they stop selling tickets.

And, things are held over by popular demand all the time.

Nothing ever gets held over at Disneyland it seems.

Well, I can remember seeing the "final night performance" of the Main Street Electrical Parade" at DL several times. I don't know how many times we returned to the Park to be there for the last night as it continued to be "held over" or simply returned for a limited time...

potzbie
06-17-2006, 03:40 AM
I notice a lot of folks get very up in arms if Disneyland changes anything in the parks, whether a small detail or something large like Pirates.

Sure.
If Disney ever changes a single thing on MIKE AND SULLY THE RESCUE, I'm laying down flowers!

;)