Another annual pass holder checking in here, but I bought the next level up from So Cal. It was worth it. You only have to make four trips into the parks to make it pay off. And if I have a niece or nephew come in, I can knock off those trips very quickly.
Let alone just having the option of just being able to stop by the park for an hour or two.
Disneyland is still superior to DCA, but DL now has three big rides out of commission: Big Thunder Mountain (fatal accident), Space Mountain (major refurishment until 2005) and Splash Mountain (constantly being tinkered with).
From what I understand, Splash Mountain re-opens this week. They have scrambling to get it finished because nobody anticipated the closure of Big Thunder Mountain. That left Disneyland with 3 of the 4 mountains closed, not a good thing.
Personally, I can’t wait for Space Mountain to open. Supposedly, it is going to be an entirely new ride with a new track. It was always my favorite of the roller coasters at the park. There is also talk of a new “Buzz Lightyear” ride that will take the place of the now-defunct Rocket Rods. It’s about time. I heard Tomorrowland referred to as a ghost town and sadly, that isn’t too far off the mark. It was always one of my favorite parts of the park before it was renovated, which in my opinion was not an improvement.
Fun fact #5: When operators of the Submarine Ride wanted to play a cruel joke on the drivers, they would place a penny where the drivers hatch closed, thereby not allowing it to seal. The drivers would be unaware until they hit the waterfalls, where they would be made very aware.
The thing that amazes me about Disney World (I’ve never been to DisneyLand), it the extraordinary human engineering. Absolutely nothing is placed anywhere within the parks without a purpose.
If there is a flowerpot island in the middle of an intersection, you can bet that the engineers studied exactly how the placement would affect traffic flow, and placed it just so to optimize the movement of the crowds. Even if you never go on a ride, it is an extraordinary experience!
My fiancee’s family has the family pass package. “Killer” loves DL and is happily planning our next trip. We’re getting married in March, so maybe in May we’ll go back. I’m sure she would be up for a DL Dopefest, so if you plan one e-mail me just in case I miss the thread.
I haven’t seen DLGirl post for a long, long, time. Maybe lel, or one of the other Phoenix Dopers knows where she is and what she’s up to these days.
I imagine it will be a close of Disney World’s, Buzz Light year’s Space Ranger Spin. It’s a shooting gallery type attraction where you sit in a pod that’s cam spin 360 degrees, as steered by the occupents. It’s actually a lot more fun then a I had anticapted.
Just got back from a 4-day trip earlier this year - we had a great time! This was my third visit - 1977, 1999, and 2003 (didn’t want to wait 23 years between the second & third visit).
I’ve been to WDW about 8 times in the same timespan, so it’s hard to not make comparisons between the two. I like DL’s Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean better, as well as that version of Fantasmic!- and I enjoyed the rides that are unique to DL, such as Mr. Toad, Alice, Indy… and of course the thought that Walt actually got to spend time in this park. In fact, we took the Walk in Walt’s Footsteps tour and really enjoyed it!
WDW, on the other hand, has 3 more parks to enjoy. OK 2 1/2 - I wasn’t that impressed with California Adventure :). Some of the individuals attractions were good (Soarin’ rocks!) - but the park overall needs more to it.
Also, Politzania just curious but what did you find better about DLs Haunted Mansion (I couldn’t discern any noticeable differences, excluding the exterior of the building). I do agree that DL’s Pirates of the Caribbean is better though. However, Disney World’s Splash Mountain definitely is superior to DLs.
The DL version has those morphing portraits in the walk-through to the people movers. That’s the only difference I can really remember, but it’s been 4 years+ since I was in DL and 5 months since I was in WDW.
By the way, I was being retarded in my previous post about “3 1/2”, I can’t do simple math apparently, haha. Actually, for some reason, my brain regarded both DL and CA as one park, despite knowing they’re 2.
My mom works full time at Disneyland as a nurse. Half her time is spent at First Aid, off Main Street. The other half is spent behind the scenes doing community health with the cast members - giving immunizations and first aid for on-the-job injuries.
Her last job was horrible - admin of a nursing school that wasn’t taken seriously by the owners. She was so miserable, I worried about her health. Now, though, even after a twelve hour shift and a three hour round trip commute, she comes home smiling and sparkling.
She tells stories about the people who work at the park, what they do to make sure every guest is taken care of, and the lengths to which they go to make sure it’s done “the Disney way”. Then, of course, she also has stories about what the cast members occasionally have to put up with (what do you do if you spot a couple having sex behind one of the buildings? You tell Security, who sends over a clumping, coughing guard, muttering loudly about how his feet hurt and he wants a break. They hear him coming from twenty yards off and make discretion the much better part of valor.)
So, if we do decide on a Doper Disney outting, let me know, because I’m right there!
Another huge Disney park fan checking in here. I usually feel like I have to keep it under wraps, because people are always too willing to complain or make fun of Disney, as if they’re telling you something you’ve never heard before. Like, “It’s all so fake!” as if that weren’t the whole point. Anyway, if a Doper fest happens I’m all for it; I’m just a six hour trip away and I know the route by heart.
I usually take two trips to DL a year, one around Spring and one for the Christmas decorations. And then a summer trip to Walt Disney World with my parents – it’s their fault I got hooked on Disney parks, since it was a family tradition that we drive down to WDW just about every summer since the year I was born (which was the year WDW opened). And over the past two years I’ve visited Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, so I’ve now been to all four of the “resorts” (and am officially a spaz).
Disneyland’s the best. There’s so much crammed in there, and there’s always something going on. The other parks seem cold and empty by comparison. The first time I went to DL was in '96, and at first I was stunned by how anti-climactic it was. We were driving down from LA, and there on the left was McDonald’s, and on the right was Disneyland. A huge contrast from WDW, where you have to take a boat or monorail to get anywhere near the Magic Kingdom. But once you get inside Disneyland, you might as well be on a different planet; like somebody else mentioned, the rest of the world is invisible. The smaller streets make everything feel more “intimate,” and all the street performances and the live musicians just make it all feel more alive.
Until a couple years ago, Disneyland’s Space Mountain was my favorite theme park attraction anywhere. I was a fan of the ride already, and the whole space theme, but the addition of the music just knocked it into the stratosphere. Such a perfect choice and so perfectly synched to the ride. I can’t imagine why they just let it get broken and stay broken and then just fade away. Since the music stopped, my favorite attraction is the Tower of Terror at MGM Studios in FL. I hope they don’t mess up the new version at California Adventure; if it’s as well-done as the FL version it’ll really bring that park to life.
I don’t know the details of this particular accident, but I’m willing to bet that this is a way, way too simplistic take on it. If for no other reason than that there was a serious accident on Big Thunder a couple of years ago, causing a big OHSA investigation, a new safety department at the parks, and a major refurbishment/inspection of all the rides in the park, especially Big Thunder. There are clearly serious budget cuts going on throughout the company, and they’re evident in the parks in scaled back hours & live entertainment and number of rides, or peeling paint and general park cleanliness. It’s not at the expense of safety or maintenance. I’m more inclined to believe this was just a freak accident that occurred at the worst possible time.
(And not to hijack the thread, but as much as I love Disneyland, I may like Tokyo DisneySea even better. It’s at least a close second. Beautiful, beautiful theming, genuinely good food instead of just theme park food, the staff & other guests seemed genuinely friendly instead of just polite as everywhere else in Tokyo.)
Actually, they didn’t let Space Mountain just fade away. It is undergoing a complete re-design and is slated to open in 2005 for the 50th anniversary of the park.
I hope you are correct. My information basically comes from former employees, who probably are somewhat disgruntled, yet knowledgable of current maintenance procedures, and also from personal observation. There just seems to be a lot more downtime lately due to more breakdowns of rides. Case in point, the coaster in DCA is now shutdown indefinitely due to one of the cars getting stuck and stranding a bunch of guests for a couple of hours last week. Employees don’t seem to know what caused it but many are blaming infrequent maintenance.
Having said all of that, I think Disneyland is probably one of the safest parks around. I was there the day the accident occurred at Big Thunder and didn’t hesitate to ride the Matterhorn or the other coasters in DCA. And if Big Thunder opened tomorrow, I would ride it without hesitation.
I love Disneyland. I used to go every year at least once when I lived in Southern California. I love how nice everything is there. The colorful paint, the landscaping, the street musicians… My favorite Disneyland tradition is to rush over to fantsyland during the last hour the park is open and go on all the kids rides when it isn’t so busy. I always end my Disneyland trips with a ride on Peter Pan. I miss a few things about it though. I miss the People Movers. That was my favorite lame ride, especially the Tron part where thw walls lit up to make you feel like you were going faster than 2mph! I also miss the Dick Dale music from Space Mountian. I hope the new ride includes it. Did they redo the matterhorn recently? I saw a commercial for Disneyland just last night and the cars looked different.
The only thing I am aware of them changing on the Matterhorn is filling in the holes where the Skyway used to pass through.
I have heard rumors that Disneyland is planning on bringing back the Submarines and Peoplemover for the 50th anniversary of the park in 2005, along with Space Mountain. there is a huge campaign going to get them to repaint Space Mountain white, as it used to be, before it was changed for the Tomorrowland Refurb. And yes, Tron was very cool.
Fun Fact #6: There is a basketball court inside the Matterhorn, for employees to use during their breaks.
I love DL (never been to any other Disney parks, other than the two in Anaheim). Been there…lessee…about 12 times since 1969.
My feelings are kind of bittersweet, realizing that it’s not what it once was (still great, though). I think the park’s golden era was the post-World’s Fair/Audio-Animatronics1965-1970 boom, thata brought us Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Small World, Mr. Lincoln, Tiki Room, People Mover. The Indiana Jones Adventure is the only thing added in the past 10 years that’s in this class (and I think the coolest thing about Indy is the line).
One of the things that went wrong with Tomorrowland–the old Tomorrowland looked hopefully to the future. The new Tomorrowland has a retro-Jules Verne feel (plus the major attraction–Rocket Rods–had the lowest fun/line-wait ratio in the park.)
My first impressions on my first trip are still vivid, and still applicable: the flowers; the music; the cleanliness; the people-management/line management skill. All amazing.
(The Travel Channel recently ran a “Secrets of Disneyland” show…no big deal. But when I heard the sound of the Mark Twain whistle, I felt an irresistible pull to be there.)
Remain seated, please. Permanacer cetavos, por favor.
Growing up in LA during the 60’s and 70’s leaves me with too many fond memories to begin to describe.
I remember when we moved to Orlando back in '89 making our first visit to WDW. I wanted to go on the Matterhorn, and I asked a young park employee ‘where is it’ and he replied with a straight face ‘go down to Main Street, hang a left, get on I4 to the Turnpike, take I75 to I10 and head west.’ My kids still give a hard time about that one.
The ride, sure, but there I was talking about the music in particular. The new soundtrack just made the ride for me; without it, it’s just a not-very-spectacular roller coaster in the dark – the overall effects & presentation are better at Orlando’s version.
As for the rehab, I’m wavering between cautiously optimistic and skeptical. I’m pretty sure that they’ll include a soundtrack with the new version, but that doesn’t guarantee it’ll be good – California Screamin’ at DCA has music, neat music even, but it doesn’t add all that much. It was just such an inspired choice to use Dick Dale performing a classical piece, with space sfx in the background – it alone perfectly captured the theme of what’s cool about Tomorrowland even as they went the cheesy route everywhere else. I’m afraid they’ll try to make the new one too much like Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris, which is a nice concept but just ends up feeling kind of empty.
There are frequent rumors of a Matterhorn clone being put into the World Showcase at Epcot. Usually it’s said to be planned as a Mt. Fuji-themed attraction for the Japan pavilion. If this were true, it would be phenomenal, but I’m skeptical. (I’ve also heard rumors of its going into Animal Kingdom instead of the dragon-themed coaster they’d originally planned.)
