Disneyland Resort (DL, DLR, DCA) Discussion Thread

[ahecht]

ok

[ILoveRides]

Here's another DCA and Disneyland construction update. The pictures are from Sunday November 6 and Monday November 7:

Construction is coming along on Buena Vista street. This is your first sight when entering the park.

The entrance walkway...

... now with 100% more holiday wreaths.

Good!

There are 3 things of interest in this photo: 1. Carthay Circle Theater construction 2. Spot the Spears 3. Random guy with weird expression on his face.

This looks about the same.

As does this.

Now over to Cars Land.

It really looks amazing.

But even better than Cars Land... Chili in a bread bowl!

This leaf says "LEAF ME ALONE!"

Here's the infamous wall that everyone was asking about last time.

It's finally getting covered with rock work.

Spears and I braved the fun wheel on one of So Cal's coldest days in recent memory to get you Cars Land overview shots. It was windy too. Consider yourselves lucky!

Overview shot #1. Ooooooh!

Overview shot #2. Ahhhhh!

Spot the Spears!

Mermaid is still new, and still awesome!

Sha-la-la-la-la-la

My, oh, my

Look at the boy too shy

He ain’t gonna kiss the girl

Exclusive!!! Cars Land at night with lights!

This was the first night I've seen it with lights on. It's very impressive at night. This clearly wasn't the finalized lighting (it was very spot-light-ish), but it was still neat seeing the entire land lit up.

Over to Disneyland...

Stephen is very excited to be at Disneyland!

Ash bought gloves because his hands were cold. SEE! I told you it was cold!

Ghost Galaxy is no more, and regular Space Mountain is already up and running again.

Haunted Mansion Holiday is amazing as always.

Hello Jack!

Oogie's Holiday Tricks and Treats.

Gertrude pooped some treats of her own.

We decided to watch Fantasmic! Still one of the best amusement park shows ever made.

Fantasmic!

Indiana Jones is better with Kettle Corn. Spears is very serious about this.

Shane got sick on the teacups.

Can you fit 6 people in one Snow White car? YES!

Can you fit 6 people in one Pinocchio car? YES!

Can you fit 6 people in one Casey Jr. car? YES! (Barely)

Can you fit 6 people in 2 rows on Big Thunder Mountain? YES!

The holiday season hasn't officially started at Disneyland yet, but you wouldn't know it walking around the park.

Even the giant Christmas tree is already up in all its glory. But what is that on top of the tree?

It's Gertrude! Thanks for checking out the construction update everyone!

Edited November 9, 2011 by ILoveRides

[Gnome]

It originally was going to be a flat wall...

 

[citation needed]

 

Even Al Lutz (who is by no means a reliable source, but who loves to find any excuse to slam Disney for being cheap) never claimed that. And Jim Disney, who usually doesn't make wild claims, said they were in the plan from the beginning.

Idk... Al Lutz has always been on the mark when it comes to park projects. The thing he is known to do is exaggerate circumstances and make things sound worse or more hectic then what is likely the reality of the situation. I also don't doubt that it was planned to be a flat wall from the beginning, but I'm sure a lot of heavy negative external speculation (as well as internal comments) to the likes of "oh.. I really hope they don't just leave it like that" probably forced some executive some where to reassess the plans to make sure they do it right. Thank god, too.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Have you read Al's stuff over the last year? He's been dead wrong on a lot of stuff, and when he isn't wrong, its cause the regular cast members already know about it. I think hes burned too many bridges in his world and no longer gets the "scoop" he used to.

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

I was at DCA the last week of October, and Carthay looked like it made some serious progress over two weeks.

[UniverseHollywood]

It originally was going to be a flat wall...

And Jim Disney, who usually doesn't make wild claims, said they were in the plan from the beginning.

 

Actually he said they were planned for quite some time, which really doesn't answer any definite decision period. I mean anyone can say anything AFTER they had already started putting the rocks on the back wall. You can also very easily build a structure then figure out what to do with it later...up to and beyond 15 years later...which is exactly what they're doing with Lex Luther at Magic Mountain.

 

I'm with Coaster Freak on this one, although we'll never really know. Not really important, they're doing it with rocks and that's really all that matters. But boy, I can already imagine the uproar if that was just a wall!

[Chroniq]

FWIW - (grain of salt time)-I spoke with people, who I consider friends, that are directly involved in the project.

 

This is the entire story behind the rock work.

 

During the design phase of the project it was planned that all visible areas of the Cadillac Range would be adorned in rock work . During the cost/planning/feasibility stage of the project it was decided that if the project were to be significantly delayed or go over budget that "a plan B" of traditional stucco sides would be used to reign in the costs and time. The 2009 D23 model shows flat sides on the back as that part of the project ran under a different and much later schedule than the mission critical areas of Cars Land.

 

After the preliminary ride testing in the Summer of 2010 which successfully tested the additional elements that were added to the "test track system" and the conclusion by January 2011 that they were on schedule by having installed 30% of the "chips" which make up the rock work, management came to the conclusion that this ride would be delivered on time and without major cost overruns.

 

In March of 2011, 3 years afters this ride was first conceptualized, the imagineers went back and designed the rock work for the back and side walls. The chips began fabrication 6 months after the last chip came off the line for the front side of the ride.

 

Hopefully this finally explains why Yes- Cadillac Range was always planned to be covered completely in rock and why the early models showed flat walls and the timing/schedule was different from the original rock construction.

[ahecht]

^Thanks for sharing that. It sounds like a reasonable explanation -- as an engineer, those are the sorts of trade-offs we have to make all the time.

[WFChris]

The rock work is becoming VERY visible on Harbor Blvd, much more awesome looking than a month ago. While DCA is a pain to get around these days especially with the entrance the way it is, I do appreciate seeing progress EVERY time I visit the resort.

[Gnome]

Have you read Al's stuff over the last year? He's been dead wrong on a lot of stuff, and when he isn't wrong, its cause the regular cast members already know about it. I think hes burned too many bridges in his world and no longer gets the "scoop" he used to.

I haven't noticed it. But if you care to point out anything specific, I would be interested.

[alilstronger]

Awesome update!

[RoCo]

^ Totally! The night shots of Carsland made me utter an audible "wow." It's like I've died and gone to rockwork heaven.

[mcjaco]

I haven't noticed it. But if you care to point out anything specific, I would be interested.

 

No need to point it out. It's pretty well known, and has been for years.

 

Let's get back to the real discussion, and leave Lutz out of this.

[coastercrzyjames]

Amazing photo tour! Looks like you all had an exciting visit to the park, enjoyed all the great pics! Loved the fact they let you place 3/row on BTMR! I didn't know you could do that, good to know. I want to be back at DL now.

[Gnome]

went to DCA and took some friends with me who never saw world of color. They wanted to go about halfway through so we ended up leaving. I really think they need to go in and chop it down more. IMO, the movie moments where they just play clips from the films need to go. It destroys the pacing, its uninteresting, and i've already seen and own it on dvd. I've also noticed that they now have a free standing area in the back along the mermaid que that doesn't require a fast pass, and I would actually say it has a better view of the show. It just seems the closer you are to the water, the less interesting it is because you just can not get the full picture.

[gisco]

When I saw the World of Color I lucked out and managed to get a pretty good location and didn't have to wait at all. I was on the Little Mermaid just after the first show. When I got off the ride they were ushering in the second group. I group was walking by and I just joined them and ended up being in the center. After seeing the show I felt sorry for the people who waited over an hour.

 

Unfortunately, we are going next week and my daughter wants to see it now!

[COASTER FREAK 11]

The lines are basically gone now. So you don't need to worry about that anymore.

 

Also, if you want company I'd be happy to meet you guys in the parks.

[WFChris]

^Do you know if they discontinue WOC fastpass distribution for the really slow periods or is it always there?

 

I also have a random question. Does anybody know why Soarin' shows Disneyland in holiday mode all year? I was there last week and thought I was all special for noticing it was a holiday scene, only to be told it is always that way (I don't ride Soarin much; I have the row 3 curse). Just wondering if anybody has insight on that

[DJeXeL]

^Do you know if they discontinue WOC fastpass distribution for the really slow periods or is it always there?

 

WOC fastpasses are available up until an hour before show time on the 1 show nights and on 2 show nights they are available until the 1st show starts or until they book out, whichever comes first.

 

I also have a random question. Does anybody know why Soarin' shows Disneyland in holiday mode all year? I was there last week and thought I was all special for noticing it was a holiday scene, only to be told it is always that way (I don't ride Soarin much; I have the row 3 curse). Just wondering if anybody has insight on that

 

Soarin' has had the same film since it opened but there's been rumors flying around (pun intended) since 2007 about the film being changed but has yet to happen.

I always thought it should have different films that change with the season but that's just my 2 cents....

[COASTER FREAK 11]

^They never discontinue Fast Pass for the show (at least they haven't yet). On slow nights, they load the fast pass people first, and then just open the viewing area to anyone!

 

As for Sorin', the reason it has holiday Disney at the end was because that's just when they filmed it and It's

been that way from opening day. I don't have any clue as to why they haven't updated it to be regular Disneyland (probably cause they just don't feel the need to, it's not really an issue)

[Sunfire]

I don't ride Soarin much; I have the row 3 curse

 

Just in case you didn't know, if you talk to the cast member who's assigning rows, you can request to sit in row 1, and they will almost always accomodate your request. However, you may have to wait an extra cycle, but it's worth it because the experience is much better in the first row.

[DJeXeL]

^^I work WOC guest control quite a bit........just sayin'

 

You are right about the viewing area being opened up if the show doesn't book out but never a good idea to depend on that as some nights it doesn't happen. If fastpasses are available you should always get one.

[pdcon]

I cant wait for them to change soarins film all together, Frankly im tired of soarin over California, time to change it up and soar somewhere else

[COASTER FREAK 11]

^^I work WOC guest control quite a bit........just sayin'

 

You are right about the viewing area being opened up if the show doesn't book out but never a good idea to depend on that as some nights it doesn't happen. If fastpasses are available you should always get one.

 

My response wasn't to you, it was to WFChris.

[Rocket Rodder]

I cant wait for them to change soarins film all together, Frankly im tired of soarin over California, time to change it up and soar somewhere else

 

 

Then it wouldn't be Soarin' OVER CALIFORNIA. And therefore pointless, in my opinion...