PDA

View Full Version : Been there, Done that



drjones
10-29-2006, 08:55 AM
Has this ever happened to you? Especially those who, like me, live about less than an hour from DL.
The Idea of Dl is greater than actually being there.

Don't get me wrong, I love going and my family loves going. We go when ever we can. The problem is once we're there, it seems same old, same old.

I think the issue is all the possible variables. Same rides/attractions, different guests, different wait times, different hassles. You never know what youa re gonna get.

every day when I log onto Mouseplanet. I Yearn to go. I have visions in my mind of the trees the building facades, the sounds, the smells. it almost makes my heart ache thinking about it.

Then the weekend comes and we decide, let's spend a couple of hours at Disneyland. As a family of 6 now, it's kinda hard to get everyone mobilized in a timely manner, so we usually don't get there until after 10.

I love the rush of getting of the tram and proceesing to the gates, but I think that Dl is not the intimate place I knew anymore. My kids may feel differently. Maybe I'm getting old, but after a couple of hours, I'm ready to go, even if we haven't been on any rides. It's like I can't be bothered. Maybe I've seen all the shops/attractions and feel it's not worth the hassle of dealing with all aforementioned variables. I feel like I've done it all before. I feel kind of jaded when I'm physically there, yet when I'm at home or work, I long to be there. There seems to be some contradictory feelings in me.

Anyone else feel the same?
Or am I just turning into a grumpy old man?

mommy-san
10-29-2006, 12:47 PM
The hype that surrounds a trip to disneyland can definately lead to disappointment... especially if the 'dream picture' in your head happens to leave out the swarms of people who are bound to be there. Everyone has an ideal Disneyland, and I know mine means 0 wait time and lots of character interaction.
Taking this into account I now realize: the people who love Disneyland tend to feel like we should be members of an exclusive club. Maybe like Entrance to Disneyland should be choosy, and elite for true believers of the Magic that is Disney. If you are not a true fanatic, stay home?
When I am surrounded by the crowds of people at opening, its really easy to wonder who has travelled the longest or farthest, who did their fast pass research, who comes once a week or maybe only once in a lifetime. Are they more or less worthy to enjoy Disneyland today than I? I think it would do us all a bit of good to remember that very few people are unhappy to come Disneyland (not dragged by the ear I mean). Its what you make it. Everyone who is there chose to be there and is doing their best to make the best of it.
And like it or not, we accepted the terms when we bought our tickets.

nightdesigns
10-29-2006, 02:23 PM
I coudln't agree with you more.

I'm 20 mintues away, and I"ll get all worked up and walk through the gates and be like, "what was all the excitement about again?" Having passes has made me much more aware about the park, but at the same time it's ruined a bit of the excitement.

I'll also say too that after having been to the park on several occasions where the lines are less than 15 mintues each, anything longer isn't worth standing in line for.

cstephens
10-29-2006, 02:38 PM
Yeah, it can get a bit more ordinary if you're able to go often. But that's when I like to find the little things, things that day guests don't really have the time to see/do.

I also like the special promotions. On the first weekend of Halloweentime, we were there all day, and I was so excited about seeing everything. I kind of get like that when the Christmas decorations go up as well.

Katran
10-29-2006, 03:48 PM
DH's family goes every single year, and they don't seem to find it as exciting as my kids and I do. Up until the past 3 or 4 years, we were lucky to go once every several years. In fact, I went in 2002, and that was the first time I'd gone since 1996! And let me tell you, that first trip in 6 years meant a heck of a lot to me!

Leofoenget
10-29-2006, 04:29 PM
With halloween time here, this is the perfect example. Remember before VCRs and DVDs? Ya know when dinosaurs roamed the earth back in the 1970's? (hehe) Well as a kid Halloween time always meant watching Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It was only on ONCE and if you missed it it was GONE for a whole year. The same goes for the Christmas episode. I remember watching it (them) every year and thinking it went by all too fast. It was special and you looked forward to it. But once it came out on Video tape and the DVD special boxed set, and you could watch it any old time even in swealtering heat of July, it lost something. It stopped being special and just ehh charlie brown halloween cartoon.
I think it's the same for DL. If you can only get there once in awhile then you saver everything. If you can go any old time then it stops being special.

How you get that special feeling back is up to you.

jan

Whittibo
10-29-2006, 04:48 PM
We got here on Friday, maybe 2pm, but went in to Disneyland, got our passes and went straight over to California Adventure to California Screamin' where we just pretty much walked on (maybe 10-15 minutes, but the line was moving the whole time). We rode Monsters and then tried to ride ToT and it was 55 minute wait time. We decided to go out and maybe go back for fireworks.

We ate then got checked into our hotel and that's where we stayed the evening.

Saturday, we got to the park maybe 10am? And only rode Pirates and Thunder Mt. Railroad. The wait times were 60 minutes for everything else we wanted to ride and the park was getting VERY crowded so we went to Build a Bear and then lunch and the Outlet.

Today we were there just a few minutes to 9am (rope drop) and stayed in the park until maybe 1:15 or so, then out for lunch and here is where we have stayed. (husband took a 2 hr nap which has made me a very unhappy camper, but that's another story).

The point of my story is this, we come here for so long, that we have the advantage of just going in, riding 2-4 rides and then leaving. It's nice to not have to stick around where we are being pushed/shoved, waiting in long lines and such. I could totally see myself, if I lived here, just dropping in once or twice a week for an hour or two and being able to go home when we had enough sensory overload for the day.

Our kids would prefer to stick it out all day/night, but we remind them we still have 7 or 6 or 5 more days. ;)

I know Fridays are horrible, we had never been on a Saturday, so yesterday was kind of nice to be able to ride the Columbia, and today was better. We did get 5 or 6 rides in in just a few hours. Tomorrow I am hoping will be MUCH lighter. If it is, we'll probably stay till closing. Casa Garcia's has Kids eat Free on Monday's, so we know where we'll have dinner tomorrow. I actually think we get excited about the resturants as much as we do Disneyland itself.

Bolivar
10-29-2006, 04:53 PM
I love going to DL. The magic kicks in and all my worries and cares melt away and I am ten years old again. I believe in Peter Pan the way I did then: I know it isn't true, but yet I don't quite know it. There is this thought that Tinkerbell might just leap off her cable and come flying by.

But, in the last year and a half I've been to the park three times and that was too much. This last trip it just felt like I was at an amusement park. The magic wasn't there. So, my wife and I have decided that we aren't going back until our youngest turns five. That is two years away. We plan to go before Christmas, 2008. That sounds so far away, but I think it is the right thing for me.

Not to mention we are currently building an addition to our house that is costing more than the house did, so we're broke anyway.

Katran
10-29-2006, 04:59 PM
Well as a kid Halloween time always meant watching Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It was only on ONCE and if you missed it it was GONE for a whole year. The same goes for the Christmas episode. I remember watching it (them) every year and thinking it went by all too fast. It was special and you looked forward to it. But once it came out on Video tape and the DVD special boxed set, and you could watch it any old time even in swealtering heat of July, it lost something. It stopped being special and just ehh charlie brown halloween cartoon.


I get what you're saying. I felt the same about The Wizard of Oz. It only came on once a year, usually around Thanksgiving. I remember being so excited when it came on, but now that we have it on DVD we hardly ever watch it because we know it's always available. My kids don't even understand the magic of that anticipation because they were very young when it went to video.

daisydog
10-29-2006, 05:03 PM
Well, I think that's true with everything in life. When something is available to you all the time, you tend to take it for granted even if you don't mean to.

I'm actually surprised at how much time some people spend at DL. I love the place but, I don't think it would be as fun for me if I could go all the time.

Bytebear
10-29-2006, 06:16 PM
One of my favorite rides is the Matterhorn, and since the line goes so fast even on busy days, it's the ride we go on when everything else is busy, or when we just want a quick thrill. So, as you can guess, we have gone home early a few times because when that time comes when we have done everything fun, we have nothing to fall back on.

charpaul
10-29-2006, 06:41 PM
I go to the park a lot. I tend to go with different people each time - that helps keep some of the excitement in each visit. Different friends want to see or do different things.

I also take some time to watch other people when I am standing in line or when I am taking a break. I enjoy watching little kids and their families as they "discover" the magic of Disney. It helps keep the magic alive for me.

Try taking a moment to just soak in the atmosphere and see how others are also enjoying it. It helps me remember some of my first times at the park.;)

jrsharp21
10-29-2006, 07:45 PM
I go to the park a lot. I tend to go with different people each time - that helps keep some of the excitement in each visit. Different friends want to see or do different things.

I also take some time to watch other people when I am standing in line or when I am taking a break. I enjoy watching little kids and their families as they "discover" the magic of Disney. It helps keep the magic alive for me.

Try taking a moment to just soak in the atmosphere and see how others are also enjoying it. It helps me remember some of my first times at the park.;)

I agree with the above. Going with different people, especially if they have never been, makes it that much better. Back when I was single, with each new girlfriend I would always schedule a trip to Disneyland. Usually they hadn't been in years or never been. It was always a special "date" and each time seemed new and fresh even though I was driving down to DL from NorCal every other month. Even when friends from back at school (Kentucky) would want to come out and visit, I would tell them don't come to Sacramento, meet me in L.A..

Katran
10-29-2006, 07:51 PM
I remember the first time I took my oldest and youngest daughters (I took each of my girls alone with me). They'd never been before, and I think I had more fun watching their excitement than I'd ever had going with friends or even as a kid myself.

I have to admit that I didn't enjoy DL quite as much when it was just my DH and I last March. We'd both been enough times that it wasn't as thrilling as when I took a child who had never been.