Disneyland Resort (DL, DLR, DCA) Discussion Thread

[Nyteowl]

^LOL, some schools are already out.

Yeah, pretty much every college friend I have that graduated from my high school last year is out. This is our last week, but I'm sure a lot of grade schools in Socal are already out.

[ECZenith]

I worked at the attraction for five years, lots of fun! Indy has 17 jeeps, 15 max active at one time, with at least two in refurbishment at any given time. There have always been a mix of tan and drab green jeeps. I would love to see what they did to it since I've been away, I heard whispers of this refurbishment and BTMRR's for at least 7 years, glad to see it is getting done.

[jedimaster1227]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/12/new-stories-coming-to-disney-junior-live-on-stage-in-2013-at-disneys-hollywood-studios-and-disney-california-adventure-park/

 

As a father of twin boys, the Disney Junior – Live on Stage! show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure park is a favorite stop whenever we visit those parks. One of the best things about the show is that it’s regularly updated to feature new characters and stories from the Disney Junior line-up on TV. Well, I’m excited to tell you (and them), that Disney Junior – Live on Stage! is primed to get another update in early 2013, when new hits “Doc McStuffins” and “Sofia the First” join “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and “Jake and the Never Land Pirates.”

 

The new version of Disney Junior – Live on Stage! debuts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in mid-February and comes to Disney California Adventure about a month later, in March 2013. And be sure to catch the premiere of the “Sofia the First” TV series Friday, Jan. 11 on Disney Channel and Disney Junior.

[SFMMGeek27]

The Indy SR line is an absolute mess, or at least it was last night. It took 50 minutes to get on. Stand-by was 65 minutes. I first went up the exit and got in line.The line was probably 25-30 deep even before crossing the regular queue. Every 5-8 minutes, 3-5 people would go through. The CM working at this location didn't know how many people to send across at a time and was not aware of the existence of a SR line until someone near the front of the line told him. Finally a supervisor noticed the backup of the line and had the CM rotate. Then I got across the regular queue and was met with another full line on the other side. And guess who was in control of how many people advanced into the video room... Yep, the same CM who didn't know what the SR line was before. Each time the video room would empty, he would let 1 wheelchair and 2 single riders in and then fill the rest with regular guests. Then the supervisor saw that he was doing this incorrectly and told him that he should take 5 single riders and 2 wheelchairs each time. This made the line go much faster. Once in the video room it was smooth sailing. They never collected our SR line passes so we (the other single riders I made friends with in the line and I) just continued through the regular line and all got on together. In the end, the ignorance of a CM made for a very long wait when it wasn't needed. Very disappointing.

[Jew]

^I think ignorance is a strong word. What if the guy was just new? Sh*t happens sometimes. I would actually say good on Disney for having management on site to help the guy out so he can learn and get better.

 

Something that definitely doesn't happen at the park in your username.

[SFMMGeek27]

I would excuse that at SFMM, for reasons we all know. But at DL, they should've had better training. He looked like he was 16 and was new. But that's no excuse for not knowing what he was doing. It was great that management corrected him. However, I told my group before I went in that I was going to be out in 15 minutes (which is how long they said they wait would be out front). So due to his lack of knowledge, my wait was 4 times longer and my group outside was very angry with me when I came out an hour later. Wasn't the best experience.

[cfc]

^Training is one thing; experience is another. At least there was a supervisor trying to give the guy some direction.

[robbalvey]

I would excuse that at SFMM, for reasons we all know. But at DL, they should've had better training. He looked like he was 16 and was new. But that's no excuse for not knowing what he was doing. It was great that management corrected him. However, I told my group before I went in that I was going to be out in 15 minutes (which is how long they said they wait would be out front). So due to his lack of knowledge, my wait was 4 times longer and my group outside was very angry with me when I came out an hour later. Wasn't the best experience.

First of all, I flat-out don't believe you. I think you probably had to wait longer, but I think you're exaggerating by saying it was an hour instead of 15 minutes just to post an angry rant.

 

Secondly, WTF is with all the California Disney fanboys lately?!?! I seriously don't remember THIS MUCH obnoxious bitching and complaining when I lived there!

 

Honest question - has it gotten "worse" or is it just that the Florida parks don't really have as many passholders as in California and I'm now more used to the majority or Florida Disney fanboys just being more appreciative and happy to have such great parks in their backyard?

 

It was annoying before, but it really seems like it's gotten worse...

 

--Robb "Either that or my tolerance level has just gotten lower..." Alvey

Edited December 23, 2012 by robbalvey

[Jew]

^Training is one thing; experience is another. At least there was a supervisor trying to give the guy some direction.

 

That's exactly it. I've been in the industry a long time (and trained hundreds of employees), and I can tell you that there has never been a ride operator (myself included) that is able to fully grasp their job just from passing the training.

 

Perhaps you were the ignorant one by assuming that you knew how he should do his job? Who is to say they weren't testing out new ratios?

 

Only in CA could someone complain about saving 15 minutes off the posted wait time.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Jew

[SFMMGeek27]

I actually don't have a pass for your information. That was the first time I've been to DL in the last 2 years and I won't be back again for at least another year. That's why I was angry. It was indeed 60 minutes from when I got into the line to when I got out the exit, no exaggeration. I was also angered because the rest of my party had to wait all this time. I also had a Fastpass that I could've used but opted for SR instead because I thought it would be faster. (The Fastpass line ended down near Pirates entrance). I'm not a fanboy, I'm just angry and so were all the guests around me. I still think DL is an awesome place, and when I got on RSR in 10 minutes with a Fastpass earlier in the day, I was quite frustrated.

 

And management was obviously frustrated with him.he didn't know what to do. If it was SFMM, I wouldn't care, but since I had used the SR line on Indy a couple years back and got on in 5 minutes each time, I knew something was wrong.

[WFChris]

I would excuse that at SFMM, for reasons we all know. But at DL, they should've had better training. He looked like he was 16 and was new. But that's no excuse for not knowing what he was doing. It was great that management corrected him. However, I told my group before I went in that I was going to be out in 15 minutes (which is how long they said they wait would be out front). So due to his lack of knowledge, my wait was 4 times longer and my group outside was very angry with me when I came out an hour later. Wasn't the best experience.

First of all, I flat-out don't believe you. I think you probably had to wait longer, but I think you're exaggerating by saying it was an hour instead of 15 minutes just to post an angry rant.

 

Secondly, WTF is with all the California Disney fanboys lately?!?! I seriously don't remember THIS MUCH obnoxious bitching and complaining when I lived there!

 

Honest question - has it gotten "worse" or is it just that the Florida parks don't really have as many passholders as in California and I'm now more used to the majority or Florida Disney fanboys just being more appreciative and happy to have such great parks in their backyard?

 

It was annoying before, but it really seems like it's gotten worse...

 

--Robb "Either that or my tolerance level has just gotten lower..." Alvey

 

 

I did single rider on Indiana Jones on a relatively not busy day (MW crowd index 65) before the refurb, and I have to say that it was actually pretty bad. I think the entire ride experience took me about 35 minutes. Somebody already explained how the line for SR works and they were correct. You walk down the exit to the room before the projector room. There, you wait for a CM to send you across the main line to a holding line along the right side of the queue. After waiting here, we were sent down a corridor on the right side of the projector room and waited. A 3rd CM would then filter in little groups of SR and Disabled into the main queue, instructing us to merge out of line at the base of the steps. At this point, we are all in the main queue holding our SR passes. Once at the base of the steps to the loading platform, we once again separated, and were instructed to use the elevators. Up we went, and down the other side, to a final SR holding pen, where we waited for a seat to require one of us. The grouper was ultimately the person who took the SR coupon. All in all you wait in a total of 4 holding areas with 4 different CMs. Trust me Robb, it's pretty chaotic.

 

Every other SR in the park, well besides Soarin (which let on average 3 people in for each showing on each side, took the ride experience over a half hour with about 10 SR's), has been absolutely beneficial to use. The system at Indie felt squeezed in and not really mastered yet, I can see it becoming even more difficult with a CM in training or one that isn't on the ball. Fortunately the queuing area for Indie is fun to look at and I try not to let myself get fed up with little things at Disney parks, especially if I'm there by myself doing SR lol. Also with SR you are not supposed to expect to be served immediately, so that was kind of the posters fault for promising his friends a time that he has no guarantee of, and I suppose you could have texted them or told them to take a Jungle Cruise or something...that's why it's called SINGLE rider. But anyway, I'm not sure about the other complaining going on but as far as SR at Indie, his story is likely legit.

[Jew]

The grouper was ultimately the person who took the SR coupon. All in all you wait in a total of 4 holding areas with 4 different CMs. Trust me Robb, it's pretty chaotic.

 

Inefficient to use so much staff? Definitely. Chaotic? Maybe. But if you waited less than the posted wait time (as he did), it still did its job. It's his fault for assuming it would take less time. Disney owes the guests in single rider absolutely nothing except the promise of a shorter wait time, which they delivered on by shaving 15 minutes off the posted wait time. He is just blaming the CM, when as Robb pointed out, with a fastpass already in hand, easily could have called/texted his friends, or left the line and used the FP.

 

He is also just assuming the CM was doing it wrong, which is just one of the many possibilities. Honestly, from the sound of how he described it, they may have been testing different ratios to see how they impacted the line. To me it sounds like they were purposely putting an emphasis on letting more guests from the regular queue in to keep the regular line moving, and that the manager only made the change after he saw the impact it had on single rider/wheelchairs.

Edited December 24, 2012 by Jew

[SFMMGeek27]

No cell service in there for whatever reason. At least with Verizon. And the CM was unsure. The person standing next to me in the sR line said she asked the CM about a SR line and he didn't know that it existed and blamed it on the fact that " we just opened back up a week and a half ago and are really busy right now" which they weren't. Plus all the employees rotate rides, so it may have been his first night on the ride. Whatever it was, it had upset all the guests around me. Also, the lady I was standing next to told me that her husband had just done the SR in 20 minutes from enter to exit with a 75 minute posted wait time. Also, they never collected our SR passes before the steps so we went through the regular line and were all seated together.

 

Although, I must say it works great for Matterhorn! I'm so glad they put it there.

[Someotherguyuser]

Honest question - has it gotten "worse" or is it just that the Florida parks don't really have as many passholders as in California and I'm now more used to the majority or Florida Disney fanboys just being more appreciative and happy to have such great parks in their backyard?

 

It was annoying before, but it really seems like it's gotten worse...

 

--Robb "Either that or my tolerance level has just gotten lower..." Alvey

What I find odd is that ever since the park has gotten new management (To turn DL around for the better), the griping has gotten worse. From Luigi's balls, to Ariel's hair, to some algae building up in the water in the corner of the park that nobody will notice, it seems like the fanboys expect so much out of the management that they expect everything has to be totally perfect. It's Walt's original Magic Kingdom so it better be PERFECTLY in line.

 

I think part of this also has to do with the fanboys being jealous of Walt Disney World. While the Cali fanboys seem to gripe about Disneyland here, I'm also hearing a lot of bashing from the same people at how "horrible" the management at WDW is. It isn't fair that WDW has nicer parks and has the better versions of many of the rides (Space, Splash, Mansion, Test Track>Racers, Mermaid, etc.), so let's build WDW into such a flimsy strawman, that we can whine and moan enough to trick ourselves into thinking that Walt's original Magic Kingdom is better than anything the other coast has.

 

DL fanboys just need to be thankful for what they do have in their backyard and realize that there are many people in the world who would love to live next to a Disney theme park. Period. So few have that privilege. The people that visit DL or WDW that live in the central US probably don't complain about the silly things at any of those parks.

Edited December 24, 2012 by Someotherguyuser

[cfc]

Obsessive fans can be more irritating than the so-called GP. At least "regular" visitors who make it to a Disney park only every few years or so are likely to be less critical than fans who go every weekend and take note of every "blemish." This is why I gave up on single-park fansites a long time ago.

[SFMMGeek27]

I haven't made it there in years and still think that it's unacceptable.

[Wes]

You could have gotten out of the line.

[WFChris]

Maybe complaints have gone up along with the prices of APs?

 

No but seriously, I hadn't been to DL for at least 12 years and randomly bought an AP in 2011 and recently renewed. It's my vacation-at-home and I really don't have anything to complain about. I buy the food, I buy the candy, and if the line is too long I don't wait in it. I explained my Indy story just so people can read it and know what it is, but I cannot stress enough that I was not 'disappointed' or anything like that, it just came off as more chaotic than your typical Disneyland experience. The ONLY time I started getting a little annoyed ever was at Soarin', where they only let 1-3 SR's into the gates per show, and there really isn't anything to look at in that hallway. I could have gotten out of line at any point though so obviously I wasn't too annoyed.

 

I love the parks, and the lowest end AP at $269 is a better value to me than Buying a Day and Getting a Year at Universal or getting a SP at SFMM.

[robbalvey]

You could have gotten out of the line.

THIS!

 

We're all supposed to be "smarter" than the GP. And in that scenario, if Single Rider had barely moved in 15 minutes, especially if you've done it before and it wasn't like that AND you had a FastPass in your hand...why... WHY did you stay in that line?!?!?

 

It makes no sense to me...and then you bitch and complain about it. YOU are the only one to blame.

 

Joey is 100% right. The posted stand-by line was 65 minutes and you waited 50 minutes. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BITCH!!!

 

--Robb "Really sick of all the petty complaining." Alvey

Edited December 24, 2012 by robbalvey

[Double0Kevin]

Maybe it's that I grew up on CGA and SFDK and visits to DL were always the "Special" trips. I definitely would call me a DL Fanboy, it's fine, I am what I am. But I'm a DL Fanboy cause I'm always so impressed with everything Disney does, and DL is the one I can get to more often. I don't sit there and pick apart the hair on an animatronic, because I'm just happy that their rides aren't sitting over a parking lot.

 

And I'm tired of WDW vs. DL. I don't consider either resort as "better" than one of the other, they are just different. WDW puts some things at DL to shame, and vice versa. People can prefer one resort to the other, but they are so different it's hard to compare and call one better. Plus, DL Fanboys that keep bitching about the small stuff are just making the rest of us ashamed to be DL fans, shut up and enjoy what you get. Seriously, what spoiled brat complains about getting through the line faster, but not fast enough?

[robbalvey]

Seriously, what spoiled brat complains about getting through the line faster, but not fast enough?

SFMMGeek27

 

And I'm tired of WDW vs. DL. I don't consider either resort as "better" than one of the other, they are just different.

I'm tired of always having the Disneyland Resort shoved down my throat.

 

Average DL fanboy: "Disneyland is the BEST Disney park and YOU should love it. Walt walked through the castle. OUR park is better than YOUR park!"

 

Average WDW fanboy: "I'm just happy to be at a Disney park...ANY Disney park... I love them all (yes, even Paris!)"

 

IMO, that is the biggest difference that I encounter all the time now...

Edited December 25, 2012 by robbalvey

[Double0Kevin]

^

[Simipour'sTrainer]

Average WDW fanboy: "I'm just happy to be at a Disney park...ANY Disney park... I love them all (yes, even Paris!)"

 

That should be the mentality for anyone who goes to a Disney Park.

[Double0Kevin]

And I'm tired of WDW vs. DL. I don't consider either resort as "better" than one of the other, they are just different.

I'm tired of always having the Disneyland Resort shoved down my throat.

 

Average DL fanboy: "Disneyland is the BEST Disney park and YOU should love it. Walt walked through the castle. OUR park is better than YOUR park!"

 

Average WDW fanboy: "I'm just happy to be at a Disney park...ANY Disney park... I love them all (yes, even Paris!)"

 

IMO, that is the biggest difference that I encounter all the time now...

 

 

That's very true, and that actually articulates what I was trying to say much better. I'm appreciative of what Walt created, but just because he tracked dirt through DL's midget castle doesn't make it superior. The only thing that would really even come close to making DL's castle better is if a kingdom of midgets lived in it... Wait, this could be awesome...

 

But back to the point, The majority of DL Fanboys have acquired this weird god complex like running some fan site (you know the one of which I speak) makes them the definitive word on what is right or wrong. And when they get their way (animatronic hair change) at one resort they suddenly think that one is superior because the other resort laughs it off and spends money on real needs of the resort. Long story short, people need to get laid...

[laqueefa]

And I'm tired of WDW vs. DL. I don't consider either resort as "better" than one of the other, they are just different.

I'm tired of always having the Disneyland Resort shoved down my throat.

 

Average DL fanboy: "Disneyland is the BEST Disney park and YOU should love it. Walt walked through the castle. OUR park is better than YOUR park!"

 

Average WDW fanboy: "I'm just happy to be at a Disney park...ANY Disney park... I love them all (yes, even Paris!)"

 

IMO, that is the biggest difference that I encounter all the time now...

 

have acquired this weird god complex

 

^ Coming from the Northern California Bay Area and have lived in Southern California for a couple years, this is pretty much what you can expect from 70% of the SoCal residency. "Our food/weather/shopping/entertainment/lifestyle are the best.."