Any positive changes to 2016 dates?

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Every year they seem to remove something else from the itinerary. Lillibelle, the trains at griffin park, el capitan is not available it seems this year or next, club 33...in years past a personalized drawing of your favorite character...but from what I can tell the price rises. I am glad we are going this year before something else disappears...

We did Walt's Train Barn at Griffith Park as well as the El Capitan. We didn't get to see World of Colour, which I as really looking forward to, as it was down for reprogramming for the Diamond Celebration. We also got the personalized drawings on our last day at our farewell dinner. I got Cinderella, my mom got Merida and the artist had done Anna and Elsa before dinner started so he raffled them off and I got the first question so I got to choose which one I wanted, I opted for Anna.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

We did Walt's Train Barn at Griffith Park as well as the El Capitan. We didn't get to see World of Colour, which I as really looking forward to, as it was down for reprogramming for the Diamond Celebration. We also got the personalized drawings on our last day at our farewell dinner. I got Cinderella, my mom got Merida and the artist had done Anna and Elsa before dinner started so he raffled them off and I got the first question so I got to choose which one I wanted, I opted for Anna.

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Wow, those are cool. We went in 2014 and didn't get these I agree Terrie. I printed off last year's PDFs to compare. I'll also be rereading trip reports. China went up $370 pp this year. I hope it's because of the better restaurant and hotel. It's already such an expensive trip.

 

[White Rose]

We did Walt's Train Barn at Griffith Park as well as the El Capitan. We didn't get to see World of Colour, which I as really looking forward to, as it was down for reprogramming for the Diamond Celebration. We also got the personalized drawings on our last day at our farewell dinner. I got Cinderella, my mom got Merida and the artist had done Anna and Elsa before dinner started so he raffled them off and I got the first question so I got to choose which one I wanted, I opted for Anna.

Oh wow...very lovely! Griffith park was listed on previous intinerary for 2014 I believe, and I think yours was part of the 2014 intinerary...i am wondering if they are just removing details and are just making more things "surprises".

I do not like surprises. I guess I am unique in this situation. I like to know what I am paying for and what I can expect. I would rather know 'you *might* see XYZ' rather then being thrown into something as a "surprise". I am heat sensitive. I am a picky eater. I have weak ankles...I can prepare so I am not impacted by my shortcomings (oh and I am very very short, too...lol) but surprises just annoy me.

I have been made to feel very uncomfortable in the past by people throwing surprises on me...(like the big office Xmas party was 'surprise Italian food lunch' were everything served was something I can't eat...if I had known I would have brought something for myself!) I know the surprises ABD throws out are not surprise Italian food...lol...but they still are not my preferred way to travel on my once a year vacation. I am hoping we have a great trip and the surprises are not things that will impact me in a negative way because I was not prepared.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I do not like surprises. I guess I am unique in this situation. I like to know what I am paying for and what I can expect. I would rather know 'you *might* see XYZ' rather then being thrown into something as a "surprise". I am heat sensitive. I am a picky eater. I have weak ankles...I can prepare so I am not impacted by my shortcomings (oh and I am very very short, too...lol) but surprises just annoy me.

I don't think you are alone. I am the same way. I don't mind little surprises, but I prefer to know what I'm paying for as well. I think Disney does a lot of the "surprises" when they can't always guarantee an experience (i.e. in the old days Club 33, etc), which instead I think makes for uneven guest experiences.

 

[carpenta]

I agree with you about the "surprises".......It seems to give cover for insufficient planning......In business you never want "surprises" is all I know.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

I don't necessarily think it's insufficient planning. I think sometimes it has more to do with logistics of a trip. We did Walt's Barn, which they had to make special arrangements to have opened for us because it's closed on Mondays because we couldn't do the Jim Hensen Studios on the Monday as it was closed for President's Day. Also, we were supposed to have VIP viewing of World of Color but instead we had fastpasses to Fantasmic and VIP viewing of the afternoon parade because World of Color was down.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Surprises shouldn't take away from the experience. In Italy, they did, of sort. Example, we saw the church of St. Ignaitius, when we could have spent more time at the Pantheon.

 

[White Rose]

I don't necessarily think it's insufficient planning. I think sometimes it has more to do with logistics of a trip. We did Walt's Barn, which they had to make special arrangements to have opened for us because it's closed on Mondays because we couldn't do the Jim Hensen Studios on the Monday as it was closed for President's Day. Also, we were supposed to have VIP viewing of World of Color but instead we had fastpasses to Fantasmic and VIP viewing of the afternoon parade because World of Color was down.

Did you go to Jim Henson's studios another day? We are doing the trip...specifically for that...my hubby is looking like a depressed puppy...cause he is worried it could be closed when we do our trip, which is over Columbus Day...

 

[CinderALLIE]

I also noticed the apartment isn't listed specifically on next years itinerary. I mean it's a selling point.

That sucks that the drawing is random now...sure it has been 6 years since I last did tour but...
Did they replace with something else? I love my Dopey drawing I got from Stacia.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Did you go to Jim Henson's studios another day? We are doing the trip...specifically for that...my hubby is looking like a depressed puppy...cause he is worried it could be closed when we do our trip, which is over Columbus Day...

If you are on a trip that is over a state holiday where the studio is closed, you will do the studio the next day. The itinerary has the studio listed as an activity on Monday afternoon, after your Hollywood tour. This was the itinerary that we had too. But since President's Day fell on Monday and Jim Hensen Studio was closed for the holiday, we did it first thing Tuesday morning before heading off to Burbank and the Walt Disney Studios. Just be prepared for your Tuesday to be a long and crazy day. We did Jim Hensen Studios, then the Walt Disney Studios for a tour and lunch (only had about 45 minutes to eat and shop in the studio store) then headed to Imagineering. We were done at Imagineering around 3:30pm, later than we should have been but we headed off to Disneyland at that time and made it just in time for dinner at Steakhouse 55 after having 5 minutes to throw stuff in our rooms.

 

[pudinhd]

I also noticed the apartment isn't listed specifically on next years itinerary. I mean it's a selling point.

That sucks that the drawing is random now...sure it has been 6 years since I last did tour but...
Did they replace with something else? I love my Dopey drawing I got from Stacia.

We went in October of 2014. Half the group did Walt's apartment while the other half did the dream Suite and then we switched. I also hope it's a surprise than a removal!! Unfortunately, we did not have Stacia do drawings on our last trip. We love our drawings from 2009 and were really looking forward to a new one!!

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

We went in October of 2014. Half the group did Walt's apartment while the other half did the dream Suite and then we switched. I also hope it's a surprise than a removal!! Unfortunately, we did not have Stacia do drawings on our last trip. We love our drawings from 2009 and were really looking forward to a new one!!

In February, half our group did the apartment while the other did a private tour of Main Street, then switched. We did the Dream Suite as a complete group later in the day.

 

[pudinhd]

In February, half our group did the apartment while the other did a private tour of Main Street, then switched. We did the Dream Suite as a complete group later in the day.

Interesting... May I ask about the private tour of Main Street? I am curious to hear what they showed you!

 

[knewton64]

I don't necessarily think it's insufficient planning. I think sometimes it has more to do with logistics of a trip. We did Walt's Barn, which they had to make special arrangements to have opened for us because it's closed on Mondays because we couldn't do the Jim Hensen Studios on the Monday as it was closed for President's Day. Also, we were supposed to have VIP viewing of World of Color but instead we had fastpasses to Fantasmic and VIP viewing of the afternoon parade because World of Color was down.

I have to agree on this as I can see just getting (on this adventure) from Walt's Barn to Glendale to Burbank to Anaheim and then PLAN all these fun things for us is well......quite daunting and quite a challenge.
Even more the reason why now I see WHY Walt had that Apartment built over the Firestation at DL.


Yes, I am also sensing that ABD is 'holding back' and not releasing details on some things on this vacation.....
ME?

I am gonna make a serious run at going on this adventure October 2016 and just enjoy. ABD.




T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL



"MY VERY 1ST TRIP 2 WDW / DISNEY WONDER" 01-07-09 to 01-15-09 (w/pics & video)
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2062857

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Interesting... May I ask about the private tour of Main Street? I am curious to hear what they showed you!

We had a Disneyland VIP tour guide (not our trip guide Michael) take us around the front hub area of Main Street. We started out outside the train station and talked about the history and significance of the train station and the Mickey flower bed before heading back onto Main Street where we talked about the significance of the lampposts etc and just the overall theming of this area. We also saw the plaque that is located in this front hub area with Walt's opening day speech. Half our group did this while the other half was in Walt's apartment, then we switched. We did the Dream Suite in the afternoon before getting our VIP seats for the afternoon parade.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

I have to agree on this as I can see just getting (on this adventure) from Walt's Barn to Glendale to Burbank to Anaheim and then PLAN all these fun things for us is well......quite daunting and quite a challenge.
Even more the reason why now I see WHY Walt had that Apartment built over the Firestation at DL.


Yes, I am also sensing that ABD is 'holding back' and not releasing details on some things on this vacation.....
ME?

I am gonna make a serious run at going on this adventure October 2016 and just enjoy. ABD.




T.T.F.N.
&
CHEERS Y'ALL



"MY VERY 1ST TRIP 2 WDW / DISNEY WONDER" 01-07-09 to 01-15-09 (w/pics & video)
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2062857

We didn't know what to fully expect on the trip and just took the listed itinerary as an "idea" of what we might do. We didn't even look at our itinerary every morning just went with the flow and let ourselves be surprised. I think doing it this way helped us not be disappointed because we didn't get to do certain things. It was hard enough doing this trip while half the park was being refurbed for the 60th celebration. I may not have gotten to see World of Color but I did get to ride California Screamin' twice in a row and my mom got to ride Indiana Jones so while many things were shut down, we still have a great time. So great in fact we are heading back to Disneyland this December to do everything we didn't get to and to enjoy the celebration.

 

[BasilofBakerstreet]

Change for southern CA...no listing on detailed itinerary for the apartment and dream suite on the Disneyland day....It was listed on this year's itinerary...also this year's does not show the lillibelle and it was listed for 2014.

We went on the Dland tour in 2014 and didn't get to do Lillibelle, went on a ride on the double decker bus from Walt's apt to near the Tiki Birds instead. Guides told us it wasn't always available. Was kind of annoyed that it was in the schedule and we didn't do it, maybe that's why they removed it.
We did get to go on it on the tour in 2009.