C'mon Disney...This is PATHETIC!!

[roymccoy]

Just got back from California Adventure. Folks....there's nothing open anymore. (Not that there was a lot there in the first place.) Most of the restaurants were closed. (Lucky Fortune, Mission Tortilla, Maliburritos, The Farm Stand, San Andreas Shakes, Hollywood and Dine, The Nacho Truck, Pizza Mow Mow, Avalon Cove, Winery Restaurant, etc.) Why is that worth $43 ?? Oh, McDonalds was open! Surprise, Surprise! McDonalds makes this neat little thing called a "hamburger" and they also make these neat "fried potatoes". You'll NEVER taste anything like it ANYWHERE! And it's only DOUBLE what it is outside of DCA.

I have HAD IT! My family and I have our bi-annual trip planned to DisneyWorld for January 5-12th of 2002. This trip costs us about $10,000 with plane fare, hotel, hopper passes and expenses. (5 of us). I AM CANCELING!! I WILL NOT PAY FOR THIS SUBSTANDARD DISNEY VACATION!! I am calling and canceling our trip just a soon as I am done typing this message. I AM FURIOUS at Disney....what do they think we are....SAPS?!?! Do they think we'll pay top dollar for this??!! I've made my decision based on what I am seeing here at the California parks. I figure that it's gotta be at least as bad in WDW.

I guess I'll catch em' on the rebound. I've had it....I'm through. A word of caution to anyone who is plunking down hard-earned money for a vacation to the Disneyland Resort...DON'T do it. There's not enough open in EITHER park to justify a trip at this time. Just my opinion, but I'm sure I'm not alone. Time to go cancel. I'm through.

Roy

 

[Cora]

Wow, how awful.

Just to let you know we (Hubby and I) just returned from WDW on Sunday and other than the discontinuing of EE mornings, I didn't really see other major changes.

I hope you re-think your decision.

Good Luck
Cora

 

[mrswortham]

Roy-

I don't post on this board very much, but I do read it every day. It seems all you ever have to say about Disney is negative.....in fact, I have never seen you write anything positive about Disney. So, I guess my question is, why do you go? Why do you even have anything to do with Disney? This is a Disney Lovers board (or at least that is the impression I get)...I honestly get tired of reading you rip on Disney....I will be avoiding your posts from now on. I hope you soon find a vacation place you enjoy.

Best of Luck


Amy

 

[roymccoy]

I love Disney, too. I'm sorry you don't like my posts and that you feel I'm too negative. If you read some of my older posts, you'll see that I was VERY happy and excited with Disney...until about a year ago. Now, I can not just sit here and pretend that everything is okay and I'm happy with the direction that the company is going in. I can't just sit here with pixie dust in my eyes. This is a corporation now....Walt is dead and the new folks in charge will respond to only one thing. OUR COMPLAINTS! When they threatened to take out Mr. Lincoln and there was a big swelling of complaints from us loyalists what happened?? They left it as is. When they talked about closing Mr. Toad and we complained, what happened?? They left it there, as is. They would have LOVED to have closed these rides and attractions. Those areas would be empty and we would still pay $43 for a park without them. Enough people COMPLAINED (not "went merrily on there way") and they realized it would not be PROFITABLE to go ahead with the closures. That's the key word, profitable. That's one of the reasons I cancelled my WDW trip for next year...it's my protest to all the cutbacks. If enough of us complain with our voices AND our dollars, they will do the spending they need to at the parks. If we don't, then they will suck the living blood out of the parks for cash to fund their other failing enterprises. The parks are a big cash cow and it is very tempting for these "corporate types" to think that it is something to be exploited. I know, I work in a field like that. I see it everyday.

So Amy, you can ignore me...but the next time you're at Disneyland or DCA and you look around at all the empty spaces and the $43 ticket prices I want you to at least think about what I have posted. I'm not on here trying to destroy Disney, I'm trying to SAVE it. We can only save it by letting our voices be heard.

Roy

 

[nickglover]

It is sad to hear so many food places are closed in CA. We were there Sept. 10 and I was disappointed that the Farm Food Stand was closed. The Fortune Cookery was open but the food was expensive for rather mediocre quality. San Andreas shakes was open, but you didn't miss anything there - they were expensive and tasted suspiciously like a McDonalds shake!
However, we did have a great time in the park, on the rides and in the Millionaire show. We also enjoyed the show in the Hyperion Theater (Steps in Time). I hope they open something soon at Avalon Cove and the winery.

 

[roymccoy]

on another board and thought it was funny and appropriate!


NEW RELEASE!

The debut single from the brand new Ei$nerland Records
label is finally
here! Yes folks, it's "There's a Great Big Beautiful New
Eisney", with
"Universe of Synergy" as the B-side! Here is a sneak preview:


Ei$nerland Records Product # E-001

"There's a Great Big Beautiful New Eisney"
(sung by Michael Eisner)

There's a great big beautiful new Eisney
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great big beautiful new Eisney
And a fortune is just a budget cut away

Walt had a dream, that was the start
He followed his dream with mind and heart
And when it became a reality
The dream was killed by Paul Pressler and me

So there's a great big beautiful new Eisney
We will destroy another classic ride today
There's a great big beautiful new Eisney
Our "guests" will still come anyway

So there's a great big beautiful new Eisney
Let's buy another company today
There's a great big beautiful new Eisney
Who's Walt Disney, anyway?

Yes, you and your loved ones will spend countless hours
gathered around
the stereo, sharing magical memories that will last a lifetime!

Plus, if you reserve your copy at the Disney Store, your CD or
cassette
will include a special bonus track, a celebrity cover version of
"Tiki Room Rap" performed by Snoop Doggy Dogg!

There's a Great Big Beautiful New Eisney/Universe of Synergy
will only be
available for 45 days. After 45 days, this timeless treasure will
return
to the Vault indefinitely. So act now, before the Magic slips
away!

Send payment to:
Attn: Michael Eisner
Ei$nerland Records
"The Walt Disney Company"
Burbank, CA 91521

Please specify product number when ordering.

Roy

 

[WDW2002]

Roy,

I don't want say, imply or in any other way make you feel you are not intitled to your own opinions. But I agree with Amy that you do tend to focus A LOT on the negative.

First and foremost Disney is a company, a business. And in troubled times, all companys make cut backs. If Disneyland is to still be standing in 5-10 years these cut backs are neccessary. NOONE is happy about it. I am extremely unhappy that there will be no Fantasmic when I go with my mom in 4 weeks. I am disapointed that Animazement is gone (though it is a bit outdated) because she has never seen it. But they are giving us something in place of these, even if they are on a smaller scale (or at the other park). Starting in a few weeks there will be LuminAria at DCA and in the Fantasyland Theatre there will be Minnies Christmas Party.

Now if all those food place in DCA are closed when we are there in four weeks, we will be eating outside the parks. There are only limited places I can eat, because I don't eat meat. Mali-burito and Pizza mow mow were two of those places I could eat.

 

[Judge Doom]

If Disneyland is to still be standing in 5-10 years these cut backs are neccessary

Absolutly not. Eisner gets a 6 Million dollar bonus a year even if Disney doesn't make any money. He also spent BILLIONS on a second rate cable station. When was the last time Disney had a hit movie? When was the last time Disney had a hit animated movie? The poor decisions made by the company is the reason they are worst off than others and frankly I don't feel bad for them. I already canceled my trip so Roy your not alone...and I love the song!

 

[roymccoy]

When you go into DCA now, you are ambushed by a Disney employee who has a couple of simple questions for you. What brought you to DCA and would you have still came if that ride or attraction wasn't there. What does that tell you about Disney's approach to things? Also, they ask you, "If DCA was closed today, would you come back another day?" Those questions prove my point. They will close rides and possibly even the parks if people would tolerate it. We need to COMPLAIN like we've never COMPLAINED before! We ain't dealing with Walt anymore folks...we're dealing with big business and corporate types. They respond to one thing... Public outcry.

Roy

 

[trishy]

Roy has valid points. I live an hour away from DL/DCA and we have annual parkhopper passes. Every time we go to DCA there are few places open to eat (you can always rely on Taste Pilots, though - yummy mickey potatoes) and the park hours are ALWAYS shortened (as Disney's policy "without prior notification"). However, we still go there ONLY because we have the parkhopper pass. There are never lines at any of the rides. Overall, the park does not appear to being doing well financially. For example on the hours - we spoke to a cm when the posted closing was 10 p.m. and they closed rides down at 8 p.m. - he acknowledged the hours depend on the amount of people in the park. Fair? No way - people pay to get in based on what they expect to get out of it. Let's be honest, DCA is pretty expensive for what you're getting. At least Disneyland has atmosphere.

 

[PrincessAurora]

I agree 100% that DCA basically sucks. Even when it was being built I kept saying that it was a no-brainer idea. Who wants to do mini-sanitized California when you are IN California, especially LA? You want the "pretty" Hollywood without the trash and the hookers, OK but I don't think it's a wide draw.

The major thing is that the rides, with the exception of the incredible, 100% awe-inspiring Soarin' Over California are pretty pedestrian. It's a more adult park, little for small children to do but there aren't enough thrill rides to keep teens and young adults coming back. The bottom line is that the price is WAY too high for what you get. If admission was $25 - 28.00 and $10.00 to add it to a one-day park hopper admission with Disneyland, I would say SWELL but at $45 - 48.00 - NO WAY!!

Where I disagree is on The World. I am leaving for The World in 3 weeks and looking forward to it. I was there in early 2000 and again the year before. I am sooooooo hooked that I would rather trek to Florida than driving 6 hours to Disneyland. You really can't compare the two Parks, it's apples and oranges.

Peace and Mickey.

 

[WDW2002]

Originally posted by trishy
For example on the hours - we spoke to a cm when the posted closing was 10 p.m. and they closed rides down at 8 p.m. - he acknowledged the hours depend on the amount of people in the park. Fair? No way - people pay to get in based on what they expect to get out of it.

This I do agree on. It would be very upsetting to me and I would complain BIG TIME if I went the park and they closed it a full 2 hours earlier then what was posted when I went in.

But Disney is a business and has to do what they think will make profit. And if there are not people in the park, spending money on food (not that from what I hear there any places to buy food) or suveniors, they are likely to continue to close the park earlier then expected.

 

[King Triton]

Here's my idea. Just tear down DCA and start all over. Build a DisneySea park - exactly like the one from Japan. Why did so much quality go into that park and so little quality go into DCA? I know, DisneySea had more investors, but still....if you're going to build a park, you might as well do it right. The difference between the two parks is like night and day.

What gets me mad is that Disney closed down Fantasmic at Disneyland in order to force more people over to DCA. That is insane! I don't understand that move. Oh well, I will always be a Disney fan for life.

King Triton

 

[Douglas Dubh]

"Build a DisneySea park - exactly like the one from Japan."

It won't fit. Even if they used all of Timon. And it would be in the red for years.

"What gets me mad is that Disney closed down Fantasmic at Disneyland in order to force more people over to DCA. "

Or it could be that attendence was way down and it was much more cost effective to have Believe and Luminaria showing rather than the labor intensive Fantasmic.

 

[trishy]

Low attendance at Fantasmic??? In all my years of being a passholder, I've never seen Fantasmic suffer from low attendance. Just the opposite, the crowd seems to be growing every year.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

"Low attendance at Fantasmic???"

No, low attendance at the park in general.

 

[trishy]

Okay, it's in this morning's paper....

"Anaheim Disney announced this week another move to stir up business at its new theme park by offering admission to Disneyland and California Adventure for $49. The two-park ticket offer for DL and CA - which applies to Southern California residents and costs $49 for adults and $39 for children - is good through Dec. 18 and is the latest promotion intended to draw bigger crowds to the new park."

Will it work? It beats $49 for California Adventure alone anyway. For those who live outside So. Cal. - get to know someone who lives here - maybe on the tram ride from the parking lot.

At least they're doing something

 

[d-r]

We just got back from DL & CA - not only were the restaurants in CA mostly closed - you could hardly find anything to eat in DL either. Most of their larger food courts were closed - even on Saturday. The park hours were short, but it was off season - that didn't bother us as much, but the lack of food options was pretty ridiculous.

All in all the ticket price didn't bother me as much - being used to WDW, we felt that if you are only going for a day or two there is more to do at DL and CA is kind of like a little bit ( a very little bit ) of AK, MGM and Epcot all in one. Granted we did do EVERYTHING there was to do in CA in about 5-6 hours. Soaring was great, but that was all that stood out really. Paradise Pier is - well painfully tacky, IMHO. And I'm not sure how in the world Superstar Limo made it to creation, that was an actual waste of five minutes of my life!

The Animation attraction was much better than in MGM - we enjoyed that. And since I made it to the hot seat at Millionaire - that was fun, but the rest was pretty unremarkable. We did enjoy GRR - we were able to stay on the boat for 3 rides in a row.

I guess when you are used to the cost of WDW, DL and CA don't seem so bad - particularly with 4 days for the price of 3. You can pack more in to you day in a shorter time than at WDW, but the quality of CA is somewhat lacking. DD doesn't really offer much in the evenings if you aren't interested in a full dinner. With the parks closing so early we found ourselves trying to kill time to find something to do in the evenings.

I will say though - Mansion w/ Jack Skellington - is WONDERFUL! I was hesitant at first and I wouldn't want it permanently, but what a great treat for the holidays!

We had a great trip and will go back someday, but really felt like it was more of a day trip kind of thing and prefer to vacation at WDW.

Melissa

 

[vickyBaby]

Every person that decides to cancel their trip and not go, makes my life easier when I go. I don't have to wait in long lines!!!

 

[WDWfanatic288]

well i havent been to DCA yet(will be in 15 days! ) but it seems like it sucks

but i would recommend not canceling!!! WDW is in the middle of a celebration and I betting its wonderful!


also yeah you do have a point...if eisner woudlnt get him millions of dollars bonus a year when he does nothing to help the compnay then they would be in much better shape!