Al Lutz: "Magical!" to Launch Over Disneyland Park This Summer

[glendalais]

(First off, I assure you, this time it isn't an April Fool's Day joke, lol)

AL Lutz is reporting that the Disneyland Resort will be introducing our new fireworks spectacular Magical!, which will be part of a variety of new entertainment offerings to be introduced at both Disneyland Park and Disney's California Adventure Park to encourage Southern Californians to come and celebrate the nightlife with us this coming summer.

http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al040709a.htm

We've told you previously why Remember had its plug pulled, as a recent example of the operational needs of the park trumping the sometimes unrealistic wants of the wildly creative types....

Magical will be shorter than the 17 minute long Remember, clocking in at about 12 minutes, but they are trying to add in as many new effects as possible that don't close attractions or walkways. The concepts still being thrown around late in the game include a flying Dumbo character sharing cable time with Tinkerbelle, and a confetti filled finale' on Main Street USA. We'll keep you posted, but this recessionary summer is proving Disneyland can still pull a few tricks out of its sleeve even when money is tight.

I can't confirm any of this just yet, though I can say that an announcement will be forthcoming later this month on new nighttime entertainment offerings, but it does jive with what I've been hearing recently, which is that Guest Control for the fireworks will become much easier in the near future.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Thank you, glendalais!

 

[nunzia]

Thanks, and oh dear..confetti! I feel for the cleaner uppers...we used to work at church as lock up and one of our jobs was cleaning up in between services..the 4th of July production was great until the all the glitter got shot off all over the sanctuary! That was probably 20 years ago and I bet there is still some glitter stuck somewhere..I aways think of this when I'm watching a show where there is a bunch of stuff shot out that someone has to clean up..Didn't I see big ride on vaccuums after the Celebrate street show??

 

[disney-super-mom]

I completely agree with Al regarding the food prices at DLR. They're getting out of control. I mean really.......around $30 p/p for lunch (not dinner, but LUNCH) at the BB?!!!......$36 for an adult to eat BBQ and see Toy Story characters?!!!

And if they're not raising prices, then they're cutting portion sizes or cutting out the more expensive ingredients. (sigh)

For just a few more dollars at WDW, an adult can purchase the meal plan and have their food for the entire day payed for. $38 for an entire day's worth of food I can swallow.

 

[mystic_path]

Disneyland should really start doing a meal plan just like WDW your right. I would rather pay that then what we do already. Disney would be making a KILLING if they did this. I mean they already are with their prices the way they are, but they are also going to be losing out on a lot of interest.

If you look at the Al Lutz column, it shows a video of the BBQ roundup. Honestly sure for kids that could be a bit of fun, but its definitely not worth the money you have to spend to see it. Sure its new but the crowds should be bigger then what they are.

I was looking forward to this, but after seeing that video and seeing the price.... I dunno anymore.

 

[Disney Dreams]

...If you look at the Al Lutz column, it shows a video of the BBQ roundup. Honestly sure for kids that could be a bit of fun, but its definitely not worth the money you have to spend to see it....

Well, for adults it's all you can eat. If you think about going out to dinner to a restaurant with entertainment and all you can eat food, $30 isn't really that much. As for the kids... the kids eat for $19. AND, they get the goodie bag.

If you were to purchase those items, maybe a guess at pricing would be:
- canvas bag $10
- the crayons -
- cardboard ear hat -
- Mickey straw - $1
- magnet board - $?
- Celebration Roundup cup $10

So... a kid gets $22 worth of stuff, making their meal -$3. (Use it towards the tax and tip!) ROFL, idk about you, but that's a great deal when you really break it out. (For the kids that are 10 and over, but not quite adult appetite yet, it DOES seem expensive as they don't get the goodie bag.)

- Dreams

P.S. Yes, I will agree for the kids that are 12-maybe 14(?) it's a pricey meal.

 

[disney-super-mom]

Well, for adults it's all you can eat. If you think about going out to dinner to a restaurant with entertainment and all you can eat food, $30 isn't really that much. As for the kids... the kids eat for $19. AND, they get the goodie bag.

If you were to purchase those items, maybe a guess at pricing would be:
- canvas bag $10
- the crayons -
- cardboard ear hat -
- Mickey straw - $1
- magnet board - $?
- Celebration Roundup cup $10

So... a kid gets $22 worth of stuff, making their meal -$3. (Use it towards the tax and tip!) ROFL, idk about you, but that's a great deal when you really break it out. (For the kids that are 10 and over, but not quite adult appetite yet, it DOES seem expensive as they don't get the goodie bag.)

- Dreams

P.S. Yes, I will agree for the kids that are 12-maybe 14(?) it's a pricey meal.

No matter how you package it, $120 for a family of four (2 adults and 2 children) for one meal is hard to swallow when families are trying to cut costs wherever they can to make a Disney vacation affordable in the first place.

 

[glendalais]

Disneyland should really start doing a meal plan just like WDW your right. I would rather pay that then what we do already. Disney would be making a KILLING if they did this. I mean they already are with their prices the way they are, but they are also going to be losing out on a lot of interest.

If you look at the Al Lutz column, it shows a video of the BBQ roundup. Honestly sure for kids that could be a bit of fun, but its definitely not worth the money you have to spend to see it. Sure its new but the crowds should be bigger then what they are.

I was looking forward to this, but after seeing that video and seeing the price.... I dunno anymore.

They actually test-trialed a WDW-style Dining Plan with select Guests staying at the Hotels of the Disneyland Resort on Walt Disney Travel Company packages late last year.

I don't remember that much, but most of the rules were the same as the Dining Plans in Florida (Basic Plan was 1 CS, 1 TS and 1 Snack per person per day, and there was also a Quick Service Plan that included 2 CS and 1 Snack per person per day).

I think it was decided not to implement it further for a bunch of reasons.

First off, we don't have the grand variety of restaurants at the DLR that WDW has, and it was apparently near impossible to convince the restaurants in the Downtown Disney District to participate.

In addition, there were issues with the logistics. Unlike WDW, where they have 20+ Resort Hotels and are able to encode the Dining Plans onto the Key to the World Card, most holidaying Guests at the DLR stay offsite at one of the Good Neighbour Hotels. It would've be too much of a hassle to ask all those hotels to encode the data onto their room keys. And issuing Dining Plan vouchers, as was done during the trail period, proved to be a bit of a hassle, what with all that paper flying around.

Finally, there just isn't the initiative at the DLR that there is at WDW to implement a permanent WDW-style Dining Plan in spite of any and all hassles.

WDW uses the Disney Dining Plan and it's other Meal and Vacation Plans as part of a bigger, multi-faceted, plan to get their Guests, many of whom are extended, multi-day holidays in Central Florida, to spend all their time on Disney Property; and conversely, avoid visiting other Central Florida Attractions (*cough*Universal/Busch Gardens/International Drive/Sea World/Gatorland/Downtown Orlando/Space Coast*cough*)

At the DLR, most of our Guests are Annual Passholders or otherwise from the Southern California or surrounding areas. Either way, the vast majority of our Guests don't stay with us on very long holidays; and those that do will end up spending time at other Southern California Attractions, despite our best efforts, due to our smaller size.