Disneyland Resort (DL, DLR, DCA) Discussion Thread

[Rastuso]

http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/themeparks/la-trb-disney-california-adventure-retrospective-06201217,0,6371327.story

[Rastuso]

^^I've seen plenty of posts that TSMM has shorter lines at DCA. You are the only person I've ever seen claim otherwise, probably just to argue my point.

 

My opening day crowds are simply a response to the same people that are now saying RSR is ALL THAT. Those same people said opening day, and Sunday were going to be OMDD level chaos, and they simply weren't, not even close. So they do not have a history of knowing it all as they seem to believe they do.

 

And as for the mouths, I think you are totally wrong. EVERYONE is saying the AAs are the great part of RSR, so their perfect operation is key. There is no huge theme room with fog and flames, and a rickety bridge, to entertain. It is the animatrons. Elissa agreed with that observation. I'm surprised the mouths are off already . I'd assume there are projectors with animated mouths that moves on the screen to match the AA movement. If the mouths are off, the animatrons off. The PJ should be mounted quite well and not move. The projection of BRer Rabbit hopping on the hill is rarely working, but has no impact on the ride. Lightning McQueen having a mouth on his hood does impact the ride quality.

 

It's early, and hopefully things will be corrected. However, it sounds like they need to ban all items from being taken on the ride, including hats. And TTs operational downtime doesn't give a great feeling.

 

-RO

[Justice]

Folks on here saying its a great investment because they want to go now have little economic sense. There needs to be over 10 MILLION visitors JUST for the new additions for Disney to break even with admissions. And those visitors need to show up in the next 2 or 3 years to really impact the IRR. If merch sales increase dramatically, that will help, but thats a number we never see. We'll see if that happens, before idiotically saying its a great investment because RSR is really cool, so it's a billion dollars well spent.

Its not like the billion dollars was spent over night. The real investments began back in 2010 with the Paradise Pier re-do (I don't believe World of Color was included with the $1.1 billion budget) and has continued for two years since. The billion dollars was spent over a multi-year period. The increase in visitors was already present (and quite large) in 2010 when World of Color caused a jump in attendance (not to mention its a killer money maker keeping guests in the park later than ever buying dinner, merch, etc.

 

I think it is rather likely that we will see 5-10 million new visitors in the coming years than we would have if there were no expansion at all.

 

Call me out all you want, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Disney did their math correctly and this will be a worthwhile investment in the long run.

[BDG]

Folks on here saying its a great investment because they want to go now have little economic sense. There needs to be over 10 MILLION visitors JUST for the new additions for Disney to break even with admissions.

Parks and Resorts has well over a billion net income annually, they can afford expansions like this.

Not every year, not at every park, but it's definitely not as expensive as you think.

[coasterfreak101]

^^I've seen plenty of posts that TSMM has shorter lines at DCA. You are the only person I've ever seen claim otherwise, probably just to argue my point.

 

I've waited longer in California twice than the two times I rode in Florida. But hey, why bother with empirical evidence, right? Let's get back to arguing over videos and hearsay.

[BeemerBoy]

I don't get out to Disney very often. For me an E-ticket is a signature attraction in both popularity and scale. Personally for me it's a ride that I would plan a trip to the resort around. Carsland fits the bill on all fronts IMO.

But this does not apply to RSR. One person who watched the POV has clearly stated that it is NOT worthy of its price tag or an "E Ticket" designation, and that some show elements may be a bit off. Whatever you do, do NOT plan a whole trip around this ride....or the rest of the updated park for that matter.

 

 

Pave DCA.

[mcjaco]

Go ride Voyage or Millenium Force!

 

Shorter lines for me!

[Rastuso]

^^I've seen plenty of posts that TSMM has shorter lines at DCA. You are the only person I've ever seen claim otherwise, probably just to argue my point.

 

I've waited longer in California twice than the two times I rode in Florida. But hey, why bother with empirical evidence, right? Let's get back to arguing over videos and hearsay.

 

DCA's version has no Fastpass, so saying you stand in line longer there is not really a valuable comment. THe standby at DS is always very long, and FPs are gone early in the day.

 

I can't believe you folks will even argue this point. Proof that you really don't know what you are talking about. It is pretty much an accepted fact that TSMM is not as popular at DCA as it is at DS. But whatever.

 

And DCA went up 3%, or about 20,000 entries in 2010. Far from what is needed. I always love when people say stuff like "I'm sure Disney did their math and the investment will be great." If that were the case, there would be no reason to trade stocks. ANd comments like that prove you know absolutely nothing about economics.

 

 

-RO

[netdvn]

My opening day crowds are simply a response to the same people that are now saying RSR is ALL THAT. Those same people said opening day, and Sunday were going to be OMDD level chaos, and they simply weren't, not even close. So they do not have a history of knowing it all as they seem to believe they do.

Nobody has a history of knowing yet. Carsland has only been open for a couple days now. Only time will tell how the expansions work out for DCA and they seem to be doing a good job if DCA's attendance is currently on the rise.

 

DCA's version has no Fastpass, so saying you stand in line longer there is not really a valuable comment. THe standby at DS is always very long, and FPs are gone early in the day.

 

So what? Is DCA's Midway Mania less popular because it doesn't have Fastpass? Does that make Matterhorn and Pirates unpopular too because they don't utilize FPs? Did that make Matterhorn and Pirates bad investments because Disney didn't put Fastpasses on them when the system was introduced?

 

ANd comments like that prove you know absolutely nothing about economics.

 

Wow so you have an Economics degree on top of your Engineering degree too? I'm impressed.

 

Reading that LA Times article, it seems that Disney's got a lot in store for DCA's future to bring the rest of the park to the standard set by the current updates. All these new additions should definitely increase attendance for the park in the coming years.

Edited June 19, 2012 by netdvn

[ernierocker]

Enough. No one is going to convince Rastuso that he is wrong. Everyone please avoid responding to him, and he will have no one to argue with. This is not a competition to see who is right, it is a discussion board. As long as the discussion remains civil, it can go on, but this sadly has not.

[coasterfreak101]

Reading that LA Times article, it seems that Disney's got a lot in store for DCA's future to bring the rest of the park to the standard set by the current updates. All these new additions should definitely increase attendance for the park in the coming years.

 

I think it's less what Disney has in store and more what the writer hopes they have in store, but I think we can all agree that he's right. The park still has some work to do, but this expansion and reinvention process was a huge step in the right direction. It wasn't the Disney park it should've been a decade ago, but I think that within the next decade it could be a contender for one of the best, balancing some great themed areas and a larger number of attractions than the WDW parks supporting MK.

[X2coasterfreak]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but has anyone ridden Matterhorn since the new trains were added? I am really interested to see what they have done to the ride during its rehab.

[ernierocker]

^I know David and Brittney got on it last week during the DCA Grand Re-Opening hooplah, so maybe they will have a review included in their report.

[Erik Johnson]

I got to ride it. The coolest and best addition to the Matterhorn is that they added single rider line for both sides!! As for the ride itself, it is pretty much exactly the same. Everything has been super cleaned up, and the Yeti's roar is certainly a lot louder. I honestly do not care much for the new trains as there is not any padding. Matterhorn is certainly a bumpy ride, and now that the padding is gone, with these new trains, you feel every bump. My back did not appreciate it much.

[Jew]

Reading that LA Times article, it seems that Disney's got a lot in store for DCA's future to bring the rest of the park to the standard set by the current updates. All these new additions should definitely increase attendance for the park in the coming years.

 

I think it's less what Disney has in store and more what the writer hopes they have in store, but I think we can all agree that he's right. The park still has some work to do, but this expansion and reinvention process was a huge step in the right direction. It wasn't the Disney park it should've been a decade ago, but I think that within the next decade it could be a contender for one of the best, balancing some great themed areas and a larger number of attractions than the WDW parks supporting MK.

 

If I was in charge, I would be looking at seeing what can be done to continue to transform the whole property into a resort. Continue getting strong tenants for Downtown Disney, renovate the Paradise Pier hotel into a true Disney deluxe property, and look at ways to continue to improve the infrastructure (parking and narrow pathways inside Disneyland especially) to handle the larger crowds.

 

Rides wise, I think Disneyland is now overdue for something before going back to DCA. They can ride this revamp for at least a few years.

[coasterfreak101]

^I agree, especially on the Paradise Pier front. Keep it cheaper than Grand Californian to stay there, but don't leave it how it is. I stayed in one of the renovated Disneyland Hotel wings last year, and my room was more than I ever expected - Mickey faucets and shower tiles, a light-up stencil fireworks backboard for the beds, and so on. If they can bring that sort of magic to Paradise Pier Hotel, I think they really have three winners under their belt.

 

And yeah, DCA won't be seeing improvements for a while, I imagine. That's why I was saying another decade - let the rest of the resort grow in quality before DCA needs an extra boost. Is there still talk of a Tomorrowland revamp and/or the Tron ride? I know they're doing a brand new take on the futuristic land over in Shanghai, including a Tron coaster - chances of the stateside equivalent happening at Disneyland to tie in to the sequel coming out hopefully in 2015/2016?

 

Now that I think about it, that would be good for the resort to compete with WWoHP at Universal in 2016...

[mcjaco]

I don't get the TRON stuff. I love TRON, but didn't the movie(s) kind of flop?

Edited June 19, 2012 by mcjaco

[SuperShawn]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but has anyone ridden Matterhorn since the new trains were added? I am really interested to see what they have done to the ride during its rehab.

 

Erik sums evertyhing up well, and I'll add that the new trains biggest and only issue to me is that they lack leg room, at 5'10 it was a bit odd for my legs in them and we had taller guys in our group. And just have to add that the single rider line is fantastic! Took a 90 minute line and turned it into 10.

 

Oh yes and DCA is now the better Food park between the two, not that Disney gave much competition. Carthay does not disappoint!

Edited June 19, 2012 by SuperShawn

[coasterfreak101]

I don't get the TRON stuff. I love TRON, but didn't the movie(s) kind of flop?

 

TRON: Legacy grossed $400 million - $172 million in North America, and $228 million in international markets. It didn't get overly great reviews, nor overly bad ones, and it didn't perform to Disney's expectations, though I wouldn't consider a $400 million run anything too shabby (granted, the movie allegedly cost somewhere between $150 and $200 million to make). Interestingly enough, China isn't in the top five of the markets that helped to boost that box office number, but it's the one getting the TRON coaster in Shanghai.

 

There's a sequel currently being written, so it performed at least well enough for the Disney execs to make that decision. It's hopefully starting production by 2014. That should put it in theaters by 2016, which seems like a good timetable if we could finally see a Tomorrowland v2.

 

The coolest and best addition to the Matterhorn is that they added single rider line for both sides!!

 

I haven't even visited yet this year and I can already say this is going to be my favorite part too! Fantastic decision on their part.

[Wes]

I have a feeling that even if TRON was an idea for an attraction, it probably got swapped out by a certain other franchise Disney is making a buttload of money from right now.

[coasterfreak101]

Oh yeah. I forgot about that already.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Oh yes and DCA is now the better Food park between the two, not that Disney gave much competition. Carthay does not disappoint!

 

DCA's been the better food park since it opened IMO. Or maybe that's just the booze talking.

[cfc]

I remember eating at the old Tahitian Terrace in Adventureland when I was kid--pretty good, as I recall. But outside of the Blue Bayou, food was pretty "blah" at Disneyland. It has improved over the last few years (particularly at Cafe Orleans).

 

But DCA's food offerings look more enticing.

[cal1br3tto]

I can't say I've sought out any "great" food at DCA, but I've certainly had some decidedly mediocre food at Disneyland.

[SuperShawn]

DCA seemed on par with Disneyland's food up till they completed the remodel and change of the menu at Wine Country Terracotta along with the opening of the Paradise Pier quick serve restaurants, they've seemed to move ahead of Disneyland in food quality. Well at least to me. And now with all the Beuana Vista and Carlsand offerings that were mighty tasty, and having Carthay (Get the Biscuits with Cheese, Bacon, Jalapenos, served with Apricot Butter!) they totally take the cake for foodies.

 

 

DCA's been the better food park since it opened IMO. Or maybe that's just the booze talking.

 

One of the Cozy Cones has Vodka Pomegranate Limeade! After sampling it, I would happily get it again and give it the Shirley stamp of approval. Yay for booze in DCA.