Disneyland Resort

DTH · May 25, 2024

Anyone catch the new Fantasmic? Debating if the new version is worth going to at all. The dragon was literally my favorite part.

Skipper Justin said:
Thought I would share this. Rocket Rods and the strangest Disney parade I’ve ever seen. Also, they were really betting on Tarzan and Hunchback.

This is an amazing find. This is genuinely how I like to remember DIsneyland. It was weird and funky, but it felt genuine. Same thing for DCA in its first year, even with Superstar Limo. Somewhere around the time they started to build CarsLand is where Disneyland Resort as a whole started to feel...fakey to me. But even then, it felt like they were trying to make good natured improvements over the next couple of years. That all came to a screeching halt when the Pandemic happened, and now it's all just IP based everything, money grab systems, reservations that are never available, mobile ordering that doesn't work, restaurants shortstaffed with no way to get a table, changing things to be more PC, etc.. I'm not sure how much goodwill nostalgia will keep me there, but I'll ride it out as much as I can.

saint.piss · May 25, 2024

Paulio · May 27, 2024

DTH said:
Anyone catch the new Fantasmic? Debating if the new version is worth going to at all. The dragon was literally my favorite part.

Unfortunately, the dragon isn't there anymore and the boss at the end happens to be Maleficent floating in mid-air being the replacement in attacking Mickey. However, the Peter Pan sequence and the original Fantasmic exit music returning is a nice touch. Heard a rumor that the Maleficent floating in mid-air is only temporary so DL can find the dragon they need.

Freak · May 28, 2024

DTH said:
Anyone catch the new Fantasmic? Debating if the new version is worth going to at all. The dragon was literally my favorite part.

This is an amazing find. This is genuinely how I like to remember DIsneyland. It was weird and funky, but it felt genuine. Same thing for DCA in its first year, even with Superstar Limo. Somewhere around the time they started to build CarsLand is where Disneyland Resort as a whole started to feel...fakey to me. But even then, it felt like they were trying to make good natured improvements over the next couple of years. That all came to a screeching halt when the Pandemic happened, and now it's all just IP based everything, money grab systems, reservations that are never available, mobile ordering that doesn't work, restaurants shortstaffed with no way to get a table, changing things to be more PC, etc.. I'm not sure how much goodwill nostalgia will keep me there, but I'll ride it out as much as I can.

100% agree. I also want to point out that other than the cheapest Magic Key (The Imagine Key), the other ones that are more expensive are still available. For all the reasons you mentioned, I can only imagine why they're still available. Could Disney's over-inflated perception of "value" be finally catching up to them?

It's going to be interesting once the younger generation gets to "buying" age to Disney. At least with the millenials, they had all of that nostalgia to bank on. With Gen Z, their primary experience is reservations, IP up the wazoo, money grabbing, and everything else. Once Gen Alpha comes in if Gen Z is only used to those bad experiences....what nostalgia will be there for them to bank on?

Something is going to have to give. The experience is dwindling while the prices keep skyrocketing.

HandsomePete · May 28, 2024

Freak said:
100% agree. I also want to point out that other than the cheapest Magic Key (The Imagine Key), the other ones that are more expensive are still available. For all the reasons you mentioned, I can only imagine why they're still available. Could Disney's over-inflated perception of "value" be finally catching up to them?

Is there another theme park on Earth where annual passes are sold out?

Maybe they’re still available because that’s the normal way of doing business - selling the thing that you sell.

Freak · May 28, 2024

HandsomePete said:
Is there another theme park on Earth where annual passes are sold out?

Maybe they’re still available because that’s the normal way of doing business - selling the thing that you sell.

Yes, but before, Magic Keys…ALL OF THEM….would normally be gone within days if not hours once they went live. Now since they made them available again, you can easily get one as long as it’s the one above the cheapest. They’ve been widely available for months when they normally aren’t. I just find that interesting.

Jake S · May 28, 2024

isn't it more likely that this is normal and the past two years were an aberration? the idea was to price most people out of an annual pass. that mission is likely accomplished.

Jerroddragon · May 28, 2024

So I went on Sunday and in recent memory it was the busiest I've seen the parks since Pre Covid

Might be one of the worst trips I've had just everything busy and because of a glitch/them selling too many dinning packages at River Belle, you had to wait about 40-60 mins after checking in for a table from your time you were suppose to be seated. I stayed for 30 mins and when I was still behind over 10 groups, I asked get ride of my reservation and they did

So I'll be watching Fantasmic in June and hopefully the dinning plans are at a better place by then

Clive · May 28, 2024

Jerroddragon said:
So I went on Sunday and in recent memory it was the busiest I've seen the parks since Pre Covid

Might be one of the worst trips I've had just everything busy and because of a glitch/them selling too many dinning packages at River Belle, you had to wait about 40-60 mins after checking in for a table from your time you were suppose to be seated. I stayed for 30 mins and when I was still behind over 10 groups, I asked get ride of my reservation and they did

So I'll be watching Fantasmic in June and hopefully the dinning plans are at a better place by then

This sort of thing has become more and more commonplace at in-demand Disney restaurants, and it's really soured me on dining there. I get waiting 15 minutes or so past your reservation time because they're backed up. But I've waited 30 minutes+ with no update before, which has prompted me to go to the host stand to inquire. All three times I've had to do this, my table suddenly becomes available. What kind of operation are they running?

(For those wondering, this has happened at Carthay Circle Restaurant, Blue Bayou, and Napa Rose.)

deadbydawn · May 28, 2024

DTH said:
This is an amazing find. This is genuinely how I like to remember DIsneyland. It was weird and funky, but it felt genuine. Same thing for DCA in its first year, even with Superstar Limo. Somewhere around the time they started to build CarsLand is where Disneyland Resort as a whole started to feel...fakey to me. But even then, it felt like they were trying to make good natured improvements over the next couple of years. That all came to a screeching halt when the Pandemic happened, and now it's all just IP based everything, money grab systems, reservations that are never available, mobile ordering that doesn't work, restaurants shortstaffed with no way to get a table, changing things to be more PC, etc.. I'm not sure how much goodwill nostalgia will keep me there, but I'll ride it out as much as I can.

I'm not going to lie, DCA 1.0 was pretty bad from the jump, and they knew it. It was practically Plan C, but at the end of the day, Eisner wanted to take Disneyland from a mainly local park and turn it into a resort where people would want to stay for several days, so we ended up with what we got (DCA 1.0, Downtown Disney, The Grand Californian and ownership of The Disneyland Hotel). Paired with Pressler, Harriss, and the rest of the consumer based executives that were then in charge of the theme park side at the time, it's no wonder DCA turned out the way it did. We should be thankful some of their other proposed ideas never happened.

I would say the opposite about Cars Land though. It was first part of that park that felt like Disney actually let their creative team work. The interesting thing about the entire evolution of Cars Land was it was mainly greenlit not only because of how popular the film franchise was, but due to the merchandising capability of it. This was something that the former executive team couldn't figure out how to do. The guests ended up getting an insanely detailed land, with a few good flat rides and a really good E-Ticket and the company got a land that helped continue to drive marketing sales. Paired with the Buena Vista Street update, it also helped legitimize DCA as a park that was up to the "Disney standard".

I think the 60th anniversary was the beginning of the tipping point for most of the other issues you mentioned, but the pandemic felt like the final nail for how things seem to be run, operationally at least.

DTH · May 29, 2024

deadbydawn said:
I'm not going to lie, DCA 1.0 was pretty bad from the jump, and they knew it. It was practically Plan C, but at the end of the day, Eisner wanted to take Disneyland from a mainly local park and turn it into a resort where people would want to stay for several days, so we ended up with what we got (DCA 1.0, Downtown Disney, The Grand Californian and ownership of The Disneyland Hotel). Paired with Pressler, Harriss, and the rest of the consumer based executives that were then in charge of the theme park side at the time, it's no wonder DCA turned out the way it did. We should be thankful some of their other proposed ideas never happened.

I would say the opposite about Cars Land though. It was first part of that park that felt like Disney actually let their creative team work. The interesting thing about the entire evolution of Cars Land was it was mainly greenlit not only because of how popular the film franchise was, but due to the merchandising capability of it. This was something that the former executive team couldn't figure out how to do. The guests ended up getting an insanely detailed land, with a few good flat rides and a really good E-Ticket and the company got a land that helped continue to drive marketing sales. Paired with the Buena Vista Street update, it also helped legitimize DCA as a park that was up to the "Disney standard".

I think the 60th anniversary was the beginning of the tipping point for most of the other issues you mentioned, but the pandemic felt like the final nail for how things seem to be run, operationally at least.

Don't get me wrong, I love CarsLand! I just remember with it, they started to upgrade the rest of the park, and while it was all good intentioned, I still miss the cheap looking Sun Plaza with the Golden Gate Bridge, California letters out front, etc.. I remember they were sprucing up the park in phases, with Pixar Pier (2019?) being the last of it, and that really felt like the final nail in the coffin in terms of "the old DCA" (while there are still many remaining fragments, but at the time, that seemed like the bulk of the changes were done). But yeah, somewhere between 2012-2019 these shifts were happening, then 2021-2022 it just capsized in the wrong direction.

I think a lot of the changes we were very patient of in the beginning, understanding that the whole world was hurting and that Disney was no exception. While there are still staffing issues, I feel a lot of these troubles fall upon Disney's management. And 3 years removed from reopening, taking advantage of a pandemic to implement permanent changes for their own benefit/business preferences just feels...icky.

Rideguy70 · May 29, 2024

DTH said:
California letters out front, etc..

The letters out front are still in place at the California State Fairgrounds in Sacramento.

Iconic ‘CALIFORNIA’ Letters Dedicated at 160th California State Fair

The iconic C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A letters that previously stood at the entrance of Disney California Adventure park for a decade will welcome tens of thousands of guests to the California State Fair tomorrow on its opening day! The letters were

disneyparks.disney.go.com

saint.piss · May 29, 2024

Freak · May 29, 2024

saint.piss said:

During peak Summer operations? Man Disney is on top of their game!

Jerroddragon · May 29, 2024

lol

Like I want to hope they are making REAL upgrades to the land....like right now CC is all dirt and they are working on it...so if they are plussing the area then great but man what a bad time to do it but really there is only Jan-kinda march when its not off season now so here we are

Now my bigger concern is that DIsney wont be reopening the area until the ride opens some time in October/November

belloq87 · May 29, 2024

I can't help but think that -- from a pure park operations standpoint -- this convergence of multiple projects has been ill-conceived and mismanaged.

To have that much of the park impassable/closed/unusable is a major inconvenience to guests.

Jamesh22 · May 29, 2024

belloq87 said:
I can't help but think that -- from a pure park operations standpoint -- this convergence of multiple projects has been ill-conceived and mismanaged.

To have that much of the park impassable/closed/unusable is a major inconvenience to guests.

Agreed. 3 Major attractions all closed at the same time in peak season, plus no opening dates for ANY of them. If they at least gave some kind of opening window people might be more understanding, but their current speed is glacial.

Freak · May 29, 2024

belloq87 said:
I can't help but think that -- from a pure park operations standpoint -- this convergence of multiple projects has been ill-conceived and mismanaged.

To have that much of the park impassable/closed/unusable is a major inconvenience to guests.

You're gonna tell me that three of your major rides are down and you want me to pay full price? On top of that, you want me to plan ahead by making a reservation when you yourselves can't even plan ahead when to do these refurbs? Good grief.

Jerroddragon · May 29, 2024

Freak said:
You're gonna tell me that three of your major rides are down and you want me to pay full price? On top of that, you want me to plan ahead by making a reservation when you yourselves can't even plan ahead when to do these refurbs? Good grief.

Well They do have some tickets that are fairer priced for the summer......So some peopel wont mind

I'm just worried about HM and NY station even being opened for Halloween time....we are only a few months away and the new store at the end of the ride hasnt started yet either