Disneyland Resort (DL, DLR, DCA) Discussion Thread

[Jew]

^One of my co-workers was stuck waiting in the bag check line for 3 hours before he could even make it to DCA. I think they under estimated how many people were there for just Disneyland and couldn't figure out the best way to get people into DCA. I have faith Disney will learn from these mistakes, but I have to admit that I was definitely surprised they let their guard down so much and didn't anticipate the madness.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

I was in the Eastern Bag Check line. They closed all access to the esplanade, even though DCA was not closed. They also continued to let people slowly go in from the Western Bag Check. Security never made any comment as to why one side was closed and the other open even though people could see the other side. That was pretty irritating by itself, then adding in that people were posting that DL was super empty, but still closed only added to the frustration and confusion of the whole thing. Plus the congestion of the esplanade. Basically, because none of this makes ANY sense, I am guessing that's where the communication broke down in some way. Or something out of the norm was happening.

 

The only way that I made it through the Bag Check is because I had a Dining reservation, and it was within an hour of my reservation time. So a very kind Security CM allowed me to walk through a planter and he opened a barricade for me.

 

I just don't understand what happened. But I'm sure Disney knows what went down, and it probably wont happen again. At least not for the same reasons.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Have you ever been to any of the WDW 24 hour Events, Chris?

Then, you might have a comparison to share. Just curious.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

No, I haven't, but WDW has different infrastructure and clientele. I have no clue how numbers compare, but they are so different to begin with, you really can't compare.

[Jew]

Disneyland was built to 1955 standards. Before anyone knew how huge the theme park industry would become. WDW had the benefit of building for the future and is able to manage crowds much better since by then Disney knew what they had. No way to make a direct comparison, though I've said before that I think WDW is a much better venue for the event just based on the capacity and proximity of so many resort hotels.

 

But anyways...back to Disneyland. My completely uneducated guess would be that they didn't do a good job getting a centralized message/plan across to all the different departments involved. Once their initial plan fell apart, it seemed like each group started doing things without any rhyme or reason (at least that's how my view from the internet looked) to try and control just their area without realizing the larger impact on the whole event. But I really know nothing about how DLR operates, so I could be completely off on that as well.

[jray21]

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

That's perfect. I still remember the first one they had and it was pretty similar.

[dylanreich]

Does anyone know if they have permanently stopped using the door effect on Indiana Jones?

[COASTER FREAK 11]

I believe they have, I haven't seen it working. Which is why the new projection effect was installed, to replace the non-moving door effect.

[DJeXeL]

^Agreed. The projections are more reliable than the mechanics of the moving door effect.

[dylanreich]

My personal preference would be to have both! Haha. To me the projections by themselves don't cut it and don't give any allusion that you're actually going down a different path. I wonder if they just didn't want to keep spending money on the upkeep to keep it running consistently. If that's the case it's a disappointment because they did it for 20 years, why stop now?

[cfc]

^Because they want to put their money on a more reliable effect?

[BelizeIt]

Wait Hold Up......

 

Disney doesn't want to invest much money into their Cash Cow Disneyland?!......What a surprise.

Disney hasn't added a brand new E-Ticket attraction to Disneyland for 20+ years.

But with Universal Hollywood investing $$$ in a Harry Potter Land, we can only hope that Disneyland will step up. (with a major ride, and not just a movie promotion tie-in.... Frozen Etc.) They have lots of room to build, we can only hope the imagineers will succeed!

Edited June 17, 2015 by BelizeIt

[Jew]

Universal's attractions also heavily lean on projections. My biggest gripe about 3D and projection mapping is not that they don't look good, but rather that they don't have the wow factor of practical FX.

 

Totally makes business/engineering sense why they would switch out the effect, but it is definitely disappointing.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Wait Hold Up!

 

Disney doesn't want to invest much money into their Fat Cash Cow Disneyland???!......What a surprise.

Disney hasn't added a brand new E-Ticket attraction to Disneyland for 20+ years! (Milk that bloated cow for all its worth, and then some!)

But with Universal Hollywood investing $$$ in a Harry Potter Land, we can only hope that Disneyland will step up! (with a major ride, and not just a 'pathetic' movie promotion tie-in.... Frozen Etc.) They have lots of room to build, we can only hope the imagineers will succeed!

 

Clearly you have no idea how much money it costs to keep a ride like Indiana Jones and all its effects working up to Disney's show standards. There comes a point when it just doesn't make sense to keep filling the money pit.

 

As for the old, tired argument that Disneyland hasn't had a "new" E-ticket in 20 years, what you're saying is you'd like to have a couple new rides while all the treasured classics like Matterhorn, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Small World, Peter Pan, etc who've all gone through extensive expensive lengthy refurbishments in that time go completely to rot, right? And I guess we should just completely ignore all that awesome improvement done across the Esplanade with BV St, Cars Land, Mermaid, Midway Mania, Tower of Terror, and everything else simply because it wasn't built within Walt's berm. None of that improved any bit of one's day at Disneyland. Nope, not at all.

 

I just don't understand this sense of entitlement some people have...

[DJeXeL]

^Well said.

[cfc]

Universal's attractions also heavily lean on projections. My biggest gripe about 3D and projection mapping is not that they don't look good, but rather that they don't have the wow factor of practical FX.

 

Totally makes business/engineering sense why they would switch out the effect, but it is definitely disappointing.

 

I also prefer practical effects to just projections. I appreciate it when they effectively combine the two (as in the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train coaster in Florida).

[jray21]

^I agree. I'd pick practical effects over projections/digital, but I really like the combination of both like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I think Spiderman at IOA does a good job, but I think it's too obvious with Forbidden Journey and Transformers. Forbidden Journey does have a lot of practical effects, so that's definitely a plus, but it's more like watch a movie, practical effects, watch a movie, practical effects. Not comparing Disney vs. Universal, just the use of effects.

[DirkFunk]

I think it all looks fake and I'm not "wow'ed" by any of it. But that's me. Heavy use of projected image is going to be at the center of everything these parks do from here until infinity. Frozen is (I'm told) going to heavily use them, and obviously expansions to Toy Story Mania and Soarin' are going to be projector based. I think it's a preference a group of people who grew up in this previous eras will have that future people probably won't, kinda like wood coaster enthusiasts to steel. Animatronics can't jump around or run, and those that might be able to cost astronomical sums.

[dylanreich]

Wait Hold Up!

 

Disney doesn't want to invest much money into their Fat Cash Cow Disneyland???!......What a surprise.

Disney hasn't added a brand new E-Ticket attraction to Disneyland for 20+ years! (Milk that bloated cow for all its worth, and then some!)

But with Universal Hollywood investing $$$ in a Harry Potter Land, we can only hope that Disneyland will step up! (with a major ride, and not just a 'pathetic' movie promotion tie-in.... Frozen Etc.) They have lots of room to build, we can only hope the imagineers will succeed!

 

Clearly you have no idea how much money it costs to keep a ride like Indiana Jones and all its effects working up to Disney's show standards. There comes a point when it just doesn't make sense to keep filling the money pit.

 

As for the old, tired argument that Disneyland hasn't had a "new" E-ticket in 20 years, what you're saying is you'd like to have a couple new rides while all the treasured classics like Matterhorn, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Small World, Peter Pan, etc who've all gone through extensive expensive lengthy refurbishments in that time go completely to rot, right? And I guess we should just completely ignore all that awesome improvement done across the Esplanade with BV St, Cars Land, Mermaid, Midway Mania, Tower of Terror, and everything else simply because it wasn't built within Walt's berm. None of that improved any bit of one's day at Disneyland. Nope, not at all.

 

I just don't understand this sense of entitlement some people have...

I think you summed it up in your first sentence. They didn't want to keep spending on it so they lowered their show standards. I don't think BelizeIt does and I don't have a sense of entitlement, I just decided not to lower my expectations in line with Disney's. I love Disneyland. That's why I go a few times a week. That doesn't mean I should give them a free pass when it comes to removing a big effect on one of the biggest E-tickets in the park.

[Jew]

Clearly you have no idea how much money it costs to keep a ride like Indiana Jones and all its effects working up to Disney's show standards. There comes a point when it just doesn't make sense to keep filling the money pit.

 

As for the old, tired argument that Disneyland hasn't had a "new" E-ticket in 20 years, what you're saying is you'd like to have a couple new rides while all the treasured classics like Matterhorn, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Small World, Peter Pan, etc who've all gone through extensive expensive lengthy refurbishments in that time go completely to rot, right?

 

Disney Parks and Resorts had $3.9 BILLION in revenue for the first quarter of 2015. They could afford it. IMO, in the case of the projection mapping for the doors, It just really boils down to the creative direction the resort is going---projection mapping made sense considering everything else they have done. I'm sure they had proposals to fix the physical effect too. It's personal preference.

 

The Disney brand is the most famous theme park brand in the world, and part of that aura is because people generally think Disney is the standard bearer (Hell, Disney themselves sells "The Disney Institute" classes to other companies based on this belief)---IMO, it is completely fair to question why the industries supposed standard bearer is the lowering their standards to the point that all their E-tickets needed major overhauls. (Side note: Whomever figured out they can market them as well as they did deserves major kudos.)

 

It's not entitlement to think that Disneyland needs a new E-ticket attraction, since it is very obvious they need another people eating E-ticket to get people off of the midways built for 1955 crowds. It's stating the obvious. The DCA overhaul just made the need for another major ride at Disneyland even more obvious, since it just put even more pressure on the resort with its added attendance, most of which are probably visiting on park hopper tickets.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see replacing the moving door effect with projection mapping effects as a lowering of show standards. If asked, I would say I prefer practical effects over projection mappings as well. That said, I did not perceive any drop in ride quality when I saw the projections instead of the moving door. Obviously some people aren't going to like the change. A change in effects is often decried on the 'net for being lowering of standards, beneath Disney, unnecessarily going cheap, etc and sometimes it's worthwhile because there's been obvious drop in quality. Not the case here, IMO. The new effects are creative even in the sense that they utilize the existing décor above the door. Mara is absolutely better thanks to the added projections. You can choose which one you prefer. Ultimately I'd like to see both used, but I would disagree that any standards have been lowered.

 

As for the remark about a new ride, the post I quoted completely overlooked all that has been spent on keeping many of the classics just as good or better than they've ever been over the past 20 years. Of course Disneyland could use a brand, new E-ticket people eater. I would love to see that. But let's not think there hasn't been anything the least bit new over that period of time. Nearly all of Disneyland's classic rides have been upgraded and enhanced while $1 Billion+ in new and improved now sits across the Esplanade in DCA. That post sounded like Disneyland has done nothing but sit back and "milk the cow" which is completely 100% false. That's where the post sounded entitled to me. Ignoring everything and complaining because it wasn't a *completely brand new ride* a very old, tired argument and sounded like a kid complaining about only 32 birthday presents because he got 33 presents last year.

 

IMO, it is completely fair to question why the industries supposed standard bearer is the lowering their standards to the point that all their E-tickets needed major overhauls. (Side note: Whomever figured out they can market them as well as they did deserves major kudos.)

 

Of course it's fair to question, but here you're looking at overhauls as evidence of lowered standards and not necessary to combat the effects of simple deterioration over time. Many of these rides were built in the 1960s and 70s. How long should we expect them to last before needing an overhaul? Should they not be upgraded with new sound and effects technology?

[Jew]

That post sounded like Disneyland has done nothing but sit back and "milk the cow" which is completely 100% false. That's where the post sounded entitled to me. Ignoring everything and complaining because it wasn't a *completely brand new ride* a very old, tired argument and sounded like a kid complaining about only 32 birthday presents because he got 33 presents last year.

 

I don't think you can say it is 100% false, because that is exactly what the business model became under Eisner. That neglect put Disney in the current situation it is in where the ride (and in the case of DCA, an entire park) overhauls became part improvement, part necessity.

 

 

 

Of course it's fair to question, but here you're looking at overhauls as evidence of lowered standards and not necessary to combat the effects of simple deterioration over time. Many of these rides were built in the 1960s and 70s. How long should we expect them to last before needing an overhaul? Should they not be upgraded with new sound and effects technology?

 

They should be upgraded. No question. However, my point is that people expect more of Disney because they are supposed to be the standard bearer of the industry. These upgrades should be the norm. Not "we have nothing else to market, so lets talk about upgrading rides that were going to need these upgrades regardless!" It's brilliant marketing to make something out of nothing, but it also opens up Disney to the criticism like the post you quoted.

 

TL; DR version: IMO, it's definitely fair to wonder why Disneyland has not received an E-ticket in 20 years, especially given how DCA's overhaul has the resort busting at the seams with people. I also suspect when D-23 comes along, we'll have the announcement of Disneyland's next major ride/area...so in a few months this conversation will be a moot point.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

It's brilliant marketing to make something out of nothing, but it also opens up Disney to the criticism like the post you quoted.

 

I guess I don't see it as nothing. Obviously new effects aren't a completely new ride, but I have to disagree with this new ride or nothing mentality. What's been done to the Matterhorn recently isn't nothing. It isn't Cars Land but it isn't nothing. Same goes for new stuff in Indy, redone Space Mountain, redone Thunder Mountain, redone Star Tours, redone Small World, redone Pirates, Mansion + Hatbox, Astro Blasters, Nemo Subs, etc. Star Tours and Nemo Subs are almost completely new rides. Why shouldn't they be marketed? Even a ride on the train seems much better now than it was before with the new sound upgrades. All these things are not nothing to me because they all help to better my visit.

 

You may have answered your own question by citing DCA's overhaul causing the place to be bursting with crowds. There's a lot more money to be made from causing bursting crowds across two parks rather than just one.

[Jew]

The upgrades are nice. And they were sorely needed. And when you don't have anything else to market, of course they should be marketed. I personally think that is all taking the easy way out, but hey, it works...so good for them. It worked so well that they used the concept for the 50th and 60th anniversaries.

 

However, none of that changes the fact Disneyland has gone 20 years without an E-ticket. That's an awful long time by the standard that Disneyland set themselves. It's not spoiled for someone to wonder when the next one is coming, especially given the increase in prices and the capacity problems the park faces.

[jedimaster1227]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/06/new-menu-items-inspired-by-disney•pixars-inside-out-debut-at-award-wieners-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

 

In celebration of Disney•Pixar’s “Inside Out” in theaters today, Award Wieners at Disney California Adventure park has added specialty items inspired by the movie to the menu.

 

Look for two new hot dogs: The Jubilant “Joy” Dog—sweet Italian sausage with bell peppers, lettuce and cheddar cheese, topped with honey mustard, relish, chopped bacon and crispy onions on a hoagie roll. Or spice things up with the “Angry” HOT Dog, a spicy hot link topped with jalapenos, onions, bell peppers, Pepper Jack cheese, Sriracha ketchup and served on a jalapeno-cheddar bun.

 

Take delight in sipping a “Joy”-ful Splash with Sprite and flavors of citrus and vanilla or try the Spicy Fear-less Lemonade with flavors of pear, chipotle, pineapple, ginger ale and Minute Maid light lemonade. Both drinks are available in the 16 oz. tumbler with artwork inspired by Disney•Pixar’s “Inside Out.”

 

Are the voices inside your head telling you that you’re hungry? Mine are!

 

 

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/06/disneypixars-inside-out-pre-parade-starts-today-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

 

Our celebration of Disney•Pixar’s original film “Inside Out” starts today at Disney California Adventure park with special, pre-parade appearances by the movie’s main characters, the five Emotions: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness.

 

Arriving just ahead of daily performances of Pixar Play Parade, the “Inside Out” pre-parade brings these five new characters and their colorful, curious world right through the heart of Disney California Adventure park, allowing them to experience for the first time all the sights, sounds, smells and excitement of a day in a Disney park.

 

Bringing an innovative storytelling approach to audiences, the film “Inside Out” ventures inside the mind of Riley and introduces us to the Emotions that guide her. Based in Headquarters, the five Emotions are hard at work, led by lighthearted optimist Joy, whose mission is to make sure Riley stays happy. “Inside Out” is directed by Academy Award® winner Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Up”) and produced by Jonas Rivera (“Up”) with an original score by Michael Giacchino (“The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille,” “Up”).

 

The “Inside Out” pre-parade continues daily all summer long, and you can also catch Disney•Pixar’s “Inside Out” in theaters everywhere this weekend!

 

 

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/06/special-look-at-ant-man-begins-today-at-disney-california-adventure-park/

 

Are you ready for “Ant-Man“?

 

Our sneak peek of the next evolution of Super Hero movies begins this weekend at Disney California Adventure park. Starting today, head over to the Bug’s Life Theater for an advance look at scenes from the upcoming adventure film, “Ant-Man,” presented in 3D with special in-theater effects and a display of the original Ant-Man suit from the film.

 

“Ant-Man,” directed by Peyton Reed and starring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, introduces us to a hero armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength. Master thief Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

 

“Ant-Man” opens in theaters on July 17, 2015.

 

Edited June 23, 2015 by jedimaster1227