Hi all. I love our park and think they do an awful lot right. Not everything though - there's always room for improvement, right? So what would you love to see DL the park improve? I'm not really thinking about super huge, multi-year changes (say adding a Star Wars land or bringing back the PM), but rather smaller changes that could be implemented in a shorter timeframe. Here's my 3. Feel free to disagree or add your own.
1. Stroller Parking. This is way at the top of my list. Some people complain about all the strollers, and even if I think they're sorta silly sometimes, I really have no gripe about them. Do what ya wanna do, it's your trip. But how Disney handles stroller parking is a joke (imo.) Basically, put up a sign or ugly ropes anywhere there's a wall, rail or worse, walking area (Adventureland! Tomorrowland!) It just conjests everything for everyone, almost all the time. The crowds become more crowded together, the chokepoints become more choked. And the poor people struggling to find a space or get their stoller out. I think every land should have it's own stroller parking area(s) - proper, themed parking areas. And strollers not parked there would be moved asap. Yes, some things would have to go - probably some landscaping, how about the dumb ball in TL, even the fountain in Toontown. And yes, some parents would have to forsake the convenience of parking immediately outside a ride. But I'd gladly give something up here to get a more manageable park to traverse. The park would feel a lot less crowded without the strollers parked everywhere. Plus the chance to enjoy more of the scenery without strollers dominating the landscape (ROA area.)
2. Picture Taking for Tickets - Hello, this is problem solving 101 Disney. Why are you having the ticket CM's do this now? We're really patient, never mind waiting our turn and even understand when lines run longer than the posted wait time. But the sometimes extreme hold up at the gate for picture taking is lame. Ya gotta wait for a CM to take a party of 6's pictures, sometimes their equipment isn't working quite right and no, not all guests are fluent in English so the communication barrier can really slow things down. Then they have to sign them one by one. Lame process. Have bagcheck scan day tickets (bypassing those showing the hard AP cards). The scanning wouldn't allow park entry, just verify if the ticket holder has an associated picture. If they don't, direct them to a picture taking booth (say at either end of the ticket kiosks) and handle the process there. Ticket booth CM's would direct guests to the picture kiosks upon sale. Done.
3. Varied Merchandise - Even my 6yo knows that most of the stuff in the shops is boring. Sometimes he gets gift cards as presents and now that the toy guns in Frontierland have been purchased, a few mouse ears and tshirts, a customer lightsaber, et al, there's not much else to rope even him in. We shop without spending sometimes because it's just so much of the same generic stuff (magnets, tshirts, mugs, repeat in different land just with different pictures.) Disney, you've done a great job varying and specializing the food offerings (we purchase plenty of those!), please give me more interesting merchandise to spend my money on.
1. Stroller Parking. This is way at the top of my list. Some people complain about all the strollers, and even if I think they're sorta silly sometimes, I really have no gripe about them. Do what ya wanna do, it's your trip. But how Disney handles stroller parking is a joke (imo.) Basically, put up a sign or ugly ropes anywhere there's a wall, rail or worse, walking area (Adventureland! Tomorrowland!) It just conjests everything for everyone, almost all the time. The crowds become more crowded together, the chokepoints become more choked. And the poor people struggling to find a space or get their stoller out. I think every land should have it's own stroller parking area(s) - proper, themed parking areas. And strollers not parked there would be moved asap. Yes, some things would have to go - probably some landscaping, how about the dumb ball in TL, even the fountain in Toontown. And yes, some parents would have to forsake the convenience of parking immediately outside a ride. But I'd gladly give something up here to get a more manageable park to traverse. The park would feel a lot less crowded without the strollers parked everywhere. Plus the chance to enjoy more of the scenery without strollers dominating the landscape (ROA area.)
2. Picture Taking for Tickets - Hello, this is problem solving 101 Disney. Why are you having the ticket CM's do this now? We're really patient, never mind waiting our turn and even understand when lines run longer than the posted wait time. But the sometimes extreme hold up at the gate for picture taking is lame. Ya gotta wait for a CM to take a party of 6's pictures, sometimes their equipment isn't working quite right and no, not all guests are fluent in English so the communication barrier can really slow things down. Then they have to sign them one by one. Lame process. Have bagcheck scan day tickets (bypassing those showing the hard AP cards). The scanning wouldn't allow park entry, just verify if the ticket holder has an associated picture. If they don't, direct them to a picture taking booth (say at either end of the ticket kiosks) and handle the process there. Ticket booth CM's would direct guests to the picture kiosks upon sale. Done.
3. Varied Merchandise - Even my 6yo knows that most of the stuff in the shops is boring. Sometimes he gets gift cards as presents and now that the toy guns in Frontierland have been purchased, a few mouse ears and tshirts, a customer lightsaber, et al, there's not much else to rope even him in. We shop without spending sometimes because it's just so much of the same generic stuff (magnets, tshirts, mugs, repeat in different land just with different pictures.) Disney, you've done a great job varying and specializing the food offerings (we purchase plenty of those!), please give me more interesting merchandise to spend my money on.
