Disneyland Resort (DL, DLR, DCA) Discussion Thread

[BackseatBoss]

Just in case you're not able to make it to Anaheim (like most of us) there are 6 webcams that Disney has up all day from all over the park.

 

 

http://www.disneylandevent.com/24hrevent/

[COASTER FREAK 11]

As of 1:50pm, Disneyland is closed to new guests. Only re-entry can enter the park right now with all traffic being diverted to DCA. DCA is also filling up quick.

[DJeXeL]

DCA is now at capacity as well.

 

Edit: As of 530 DCA is allowing new entries.

[Jew]

Just from watching videos, I am intrigued by the fireworks more than anything. The Main Street projection mapping doesn't look like it fit the criteria I mentioned earlier about how I want to see something cool happen on the streets. It looks more like they just used the surfaces to project images. However, it does look like they used the castle and matterhorn to achieve the cool part. In addition to the great pyro.

 

Paint the Night really looks like the parade I've seen at EDC the last two years with Disney characters instead of wacky costumes/floats. That's not a bad thing by any means, but it just doesn't have the WOW factor to it since I feel like I've seen it before. Though I admit I am not much of a parade person to begin with. It still looks like a nice evolution of the MSEP and Disneyland was overdue for a new parade, so in that regard it is mission accomplished for the park.

 

World of Color is still just a repetitive clip show to me. It fills the void of DCA needing a night time show, and it was overdue for an overhaul.

 

I'll definitely check out these offerings in person as soon as I can since at the very least I know I will geek out about the technical aspects behind the shows.

[DBJ]

Thanks for the link for the webcams!

[COASTER FREAK 11]

DCA is open as of 9:09.

 

Also, if you have ANY dining reservation at either park, and the gates are closed, you will be escorted to the restaurant for your meal. And if you also have a show Fast Pass for Fantasmic or WOC you will get to see the show as well.

[Jew]

After reading through twitter, it sounds like Disneyland dropped the ball with the event this year. From what I gather, parking was maxed out, Disneyland filled up and hasn't reopened for all those who are waiting it out on the esplanade, and the message has been mixed depending on what CM you talked to.

 

The webcam/social media turned out to bite them in the ass, since everyone can see Disneyland park isn't too busy anymore...which is probably why they decided to open up the park again. Only to guests who are in DCA. Except those who came on one-day/pass blackout tickets were told park hoppers wouldn't be sold, so they're stuck in DCA. Park didn't reopen until 2:55AM. Why in the world people would wait around that long I have no idea...

 

Sadly, Disney is really in a no-win situation. Disneyland is not designed for the crowd. The 24hr event definitely seems better suited for WDW, but I'm sure the money is too good for them to not keep doing these events...

Edited May 23, 2015 by Jew

[COASTER FREAK 11]

The first party was bad because they didn't know what to expect.

 

The second party was good because they learned their lesson.

 

The third was even better, and handlers extremely well.

 

This one though is much like the first one. They had never done a 24hr party and kicked off a celebration the magnitude of the 60th celebration. They doubled down and lost this round. The parties work great when it's a normal summer kick off though, and I'll go to the future ones as well (we'll see) but this one just got away from them.

[Simipour'sTrainer]

2012 - They learned they have to keep both parks open

2013 - They learned not to schedule a 24-hour party the same night as Grad Nite

2014 - They learned that it is possible to have a (mostly) enjoyable 24-hour party

 

I guess the lesson for 2015 is to not do so many promotions all at the same time?

[PeoplemoverMatt]

2015: They learned NOT to debut a new nighttime parade, new fireworks, new DCA nighttime show, and release a ton of new X0th Anniversary merchandise on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend during a 24 hour party.

 

But in all honesty, when all the above happens, these problems are going to happen regardless of whether or not there's also a 24-hour party going on. DLR is just not big enough to handle the crushing demand from the millions who live within driving distance who feel that they MUST be there for the first day that all the new stuff shows up.

[Jew]

What I really don't understand is how they didn't expect this? They know the 24hr events are popular. I'm sure they also have historical data on how ride/show openings impact AP revisits. They probably also have historical data on the attendance jump that occurred for the 50th anniversary. I'm really surprised they didn't have better plans in place. Granted I only had peoples tweets to go by, but my impression is that once their plan fell apart...they had no backup plans in place and were improvising to try and get by.

 

Disneyland was not really designed with the current business model in mind. It needs a MAJOR overhaul to be able to contend with the crowds that annual pass program have added. I hope Disney is looking over every single inch of the park to figure out how to increase capacity and efficiency. They can look up the road to Universal to see how they have essentially re-made the park in the last 5 years as they prepare for Potter. Disney needs that kind of overhaul. The other part of the problem is that the park that was designed to accommodate these crowds still can't seem to completely resonate with guests: despite the major overhaul, it seems like there are still lots of people would rather wait to get into Disneyland vs. visiting the open DCA. I

 

i also assume what gets announced at D23 this year will be phase 1 in solving their dilemma..

Edited May 24, 2015 by Jew

[dylanreich]

I went to the event with a friend. We got to Disneyland around 7am, and left the park around 1ish to visit DCA. Obviously, Disneyland had closed, so we were in DCA until about 2:30am, when Disneyland opened back up. The lines weren't too bad at that point, less than DCA (2 hours 20 minutes for Soarin') - we waited 20 minutes for Alice, 50 for Indy, and 25 for Space at about 5:50am as our last ride.

 

Honestly, I DON'T see what the big deal is. It seems like more people in the coaster community are expressing displeasure than the General Public, who seemed to all be aware that the crowds were going to be huge, and no one seemed upset that Disneyland had closed off. Cast members were telling people at the exit gates of DCA that Disneyland was currently closed but may open up later to guests in DCA, which it did. Everyone in both parks seemed to be having lots of fun. I'll definitely be back next year because my friend woke us up late - I want to go from 6 to 6!

 

EDIT: We thought it was hilarious how they try to make you feel special about being at the event - the announcements every few hours over the PA by a Disney Princess - "Congratulations! You've made it through 12 hours of our DIAMOND Celebration!"... "Just 4 hours left! It's the point where it's hard to tell if it's late or early!" The naming itself is funny - is the 70th the SAPPHIRE Celebration?

[Jew]

^You should have read some of the responses on twitter to the @DisneylandToday tweets...it was definitely more than enthusiasts complaining. We just try to dissect it more.

[dylanreich]

^You should have read some of the responses on twitter to the @DisneylandToday tweets...it was definitely more than enthusiasts complaining. We just try to dissect it more.

Thanks, I'll go check them out. I doubt it'll ever happen, but maybe the park could handle attendance for the 24 hour events by registering online ahead of the event. Registration would be linked to your ticket.

[Jew]

I don't think that's practical since everyone would just register right away and fill up all the slots and horde them.

[CoasterLover]

The naming itself is funny - is the 70th the SAPPHIRE Celebration?

 

Traditionally, the 45th (or in some cases 65th) anniversary is sapphire... the 70th anniversary is traditionally platinum...

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Gotta remember that two parks filled to absolute capacity is exactly what Disney is looking for with these events. It's one of those problems they want to have. How it is handled is ultimately irrelevant unless something drastically goes wrong, which it didn't. Some temporarily inconvenienced guests complaining on Twitter won't matter a lick in the face of the fact that they had two parks completely filled to capacity with people buying food, buying merch, giving the parks all sorts of social media buzz, and soaking up their product as much as possible.

 

Anybody who thought a plan that totally fell apart was going to keep people from going to the next 24 hour event should have learned otherwise after all that went wrong during One More Disney Day in 2012 did nothing to impact attendance at the next one. As long as these 24 hour events are limited to once or twice a year, people are going to cram them as much as possible to take advantage of the rare chance to be in Disneyland riding stuff and hanging out all night long.

[dylanreich]

^Well said.

[robbalvey]

Gotta remember that two parks filled to absolute capacity is exactly what Disney is looking for with these events. It's one of those problems they want to have. How it is handled is ultimately irrelevant unless something drastically goes wrong, which it didn't. Some temporarily inconvenienced guests complaining on Twitter won't matter a lick in the face of the fact that they had two parks completely filled to capacity with people buying food, buying merch, giving the parks all sorts of social media buzz, and soaking up their product as much as possible.

 

Anybody who thought a plan that totally fell apart was going to keep people from going to the next 24 hour event should have learned otherwise after all that went wrong during One More Disney Day in 2012 did nothing to impact attendance at the next one. As long as these 24 hour events are limited to once or twice a year, people are going to cram them as much as possible to take advantage of the rare chance to be in Disneyland riding stuff and hanging out all night long.

You would be correct if what you are stating was actually the case, but it wasn't. I was getting pictures sent to me from inside Disneyland of empty queues for Pirates, Roger Rabbit, Small World, etc, while people out at Downtown Disney were being locked out of the park. There was most certainly some sort of disconnect with the amount of people in the park because Disneyland, at least, wasn't "at capacity" for a lot of the time that they were saying they were.

 

I think THAT is were the issue lies. I think people would have been "ok" with it if both parks were jammed full to the max, and people were waiting outside for someone to leave so they could get in, but that's not what was actually happening.

[robbalvey]

Oh, and I think this was my favorite tweet of the night showing the difference of the event at WDW vs Disneyland.

[Jew]

Gotta remember that two parks filled to absolute capacity is exactly what Disney is looking for with these events. It's one of those problems they want to have. How it is handled is ultimately irrelevant unless something drastically goes wrong, which it didn't. Some temporarily inconvenienced guests complaining on Twitter won't matter a lick in the face of the fact that they had two parks completely filled to capacity with people buying food, buying merch, giving the parks all sorts of social media buzz, and soaking up their product as much as possible.

 

Anybody who thought a plan that totally fell apart was going to keep people from going to the next 24 hour event should have learned otherwise after all that went wrong during One More Disney Day in 2012 did nothing to impact attendance at the next one. As long as these 24 hour events are limited to once or twice a year, people are going to cram them as much as possible to take advantage of the rare chance to be in Disneyland riding stuff and hanging out all night long.

 

Financially, I am sure it was a huge success. That was never in doubt. However, as Robb said---Disneyland very obviously wasn't at capacity after the fireworks show. Operationally they dropped the ball BIG TIME. You can't dispute that. I would bet that next years event will see a drop in attendance, as the combination of no new entertainment debuts & the pissed off people will have an impact. They'll still make money regardless, but there's no question in mind that some damage was done.

[jedimaster1227]

http://deadline.com/2015/05/abc-disneyland-anniversary-special-abc-1201425454/

 

ABC, one of the most synergetic networks out there with shows tied in to anything in the Disney universe from Marvel to fairytale characters to the Muppets, is pitching into the anniversary celebrations at Disneyland. The network will air a Disneyland 60th Anniversary special in February, live from the Anaheim theme park that opened July 17, 1955. ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee made the announcement during the network’s upfront presentation. Disneyland has been a frequent setting for ABC shows including Modern Family.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

You would be correct if what you are stating was actually the case, but it wasn't. I was getting pictures sent to me from inside Disneyland of empty queues for Pirates, Roger Rabbit, Small World, etc, while people out at Downtown Disney were being locked out of the park. There was most certainly some sort of disconnect with the amount of people in the park because Disneyland, at least, wasn't "at capacity" for a lot of the time that they were saying they were.

 

I think THAT is were the issue lies. I think people would have been "ok" with it if both parks were jammed full to the max, and people were waiting outside for someone to leave so they could get in, but that's not what was actually happening.

 

Oh I never meant to imply that the event wasn't mishandled big time, it was. I stayed away because I didn't want to deal with the ensuing nightmare that happens when one or both parks hit capacity. Empty queues etc while the gates were still locked is an embarrassment. All I'm saying is both parks hitting capacity and having their gates closed fairly early on in the event is exactly what Disney wants. After that, as much they mucked up how to handle two parks at capacity big time, we've seen these before how Disney's mishandling of these events create nightmare scenarios, and the parks still are crammed to the max during the next one. Even with that momentary embarrassment on social media, I think what's going to matter most to them is the financial success. My guess is they'll focus mostly on that, and spend a small minority of their time on what caused the disconnect that led to empty queues for Pirates and such.

[Jew]

I would hope you are wrong about that. That's the Eisner way of operating parks.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

There was a lot going on that night, and it seemed there were several areas where communication broke down. But I would like to say that at no point did DCA close the gates, only Disneyland closed.

 

^^And I completely disagree about what you said. I think customer satisfaction is hugely important, and Disney has shown they care enough to do things about it. This was just a different beat with the opening of all the new stuff for the 60th. Had they done this party on a different night I doubt there would have been this issue.