DL Pales in comparison to WDW

[Kittyskyfish]

This is why I'm very pro human cloning. If we could make thousands of Kenneth Parcells, we could have perfect DL Cast Members!

 

[FlameGirl]

This is why I'm very pro human cloning. If we could make thousands of Kenneth Parcells, we could have perfect DL Cast Members!

Life would certainly be a whole lot more adorable!

 

[PirateFish989]

When in his post did he attack YOU? You are not DL, no matter how many times you've visited there! Having disappointment in his DL trip isn't attacking anyone on this thread. That's why I don't think it's appropriate for any of you to attack him.
When we come back from our DL trip, I will not be posting my feelings about our trip b/c I don't want to be taken as a troll or attacking people here.
Everyone has different likes/dislikes, expectations/wishes, etc. They should all be respected whether it's the DL or WDW boards!

You're absolutely right, I am not Disneyland. I do, however, feel a strong allegiance to Disneyland, which has given me countless happy memories as well as some not so magical experiences. I apologize if my comment earlier seemed a little snarky, but I just felt that if a person approaches something with a combative tone/attitude, they probably won't get the sympathy they may be looking for. If you approach something with expectations up the wazoo, nothing will ever live up to what you want it to be. It is a shame that the OP was attacked like he was, but I do think he could have approached the topic in a slightly less harsh way.

And I do hope you change your mind about posting your feelings about your trip. I (and a lot of other people) love reading about other people's experiences, both good and bad. What I don't love is when a general statement is made based on a single not-so-happy experience. I hope you have a great trip!

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I'm not trying to change your mind about this Mrs. Jack Sparrow (you lucky gal ) because I can see you're firm in your opinion, as am I. This post is primarily for "community value". You're right though, they're not animatronics.......they're actors. As actors, they are expected to be in character when on stage. When we go to Broadway productions, we expect the actors to be in character. If an actor on stage says, "look I'm really tired of being in this position, can I go backstage now?" they have rightly lost themselves a job.

When someone is hired as a character, of course they're still "human", BUT, they are expected to stop being "them" while on stage and play the part they were hired for. It's their job. They are given plenty of room for creative improvisation as long as they stay in character.

You liked the qote from BeccaG that said, "As much as I would like to say they should leave their issues off stage, its simply not realistic to think all cast members will be 100% perfect 100% of the time." When it comes to the characters, though, it IS realistic to weed out the weak (those who don't stay in character) in order to create a top notch team. There are plenty of people that DO care about the quality of their performance and it's not necessary to keep on board those who don't. There are other positions available for them. These are the kinds of standards that make something extraordinary. These are the kinds of standards that make... Disney.

If you want Broadway quality actors when you go to DL then you need to get the DL higher ups to start paying the CM's an actual living wage.

And no, you're are not going to change my mind. I think it is absolutely awful how many times I have come on here and the WDW boards and seen posters wanting CM's to be fired because they had a bad day and said something that wasn't full of pixie dust.

Even with a rude CM you can still have a "magical" vacation and I would much rather be the person who gives them the benefit of the doubt and moves on than be the person who wants to make their bad day even worse.

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

Kenneth!

About the CMs debate, there's a difference between a regular cast member and a face character. They are held to different standards by Disneyland. I will absolutely cut some slack for regular CMs. They are human and they do have some off times, I get that.

But the face characters are performance roles. Breaking character on stage is often grounds for termination. That's not my opinion or lack of compassion, that is Disney's terms of employment for that position. Face characters spend short periods of time on stage and are expected, both by the public and by Disneyland, to be flawless for those performances.

That said, there are always two sides to every story and with this Bert incident, we have (by necessity) only heard one side. It's not uncommon to have misperceptions and misinterpretations of situations. I'm sure Bert has his side of the story too (Mary too), and I feel confident that Disney will take appropriate action based on all reports. They are VERY serious about their face characters.

 

[KCmike]

Favorite Quotes and for me it explains how I feel about Disneyland:

Al Lutz from miceage.com
There's an answer the old timers at Disney like to give when asked to compare the Anaheim and Orlando main parks, and to me it still applies as to how they are currently run: Disneyland is a park designed by a father for his daughters, while the Magic Kingdom is designed by a committee for the hordes.


Tony Baxter:
Tony Baxter also serves as Creative Executive for Disneyland; a role he has filled on and off for nearly 25 years. He enjoys the position because he grew up with Disneyland, and it still evokes powerful feelings that are different from the other parks. Tony describes Disneyland as “a park that was not manufactured to reproduce something successful. It was that successful thing that all the other parks have been trying to emulate.” Thus, Disneyland is one example of a wildly outrageous and successful project that is the product of these creative attitudes Tony will be describe in his keynote presentation in Buffalo. Disneyland can never be duplicated because it was the original “I’ve never seen anything like this!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I am sorry to hear that you had a bad time and would encourage you to contact Disneyland Guest Services about the issue with the characters (and anything else you found disheartening). I grew up going to WDW and actually took my first trip to DL last summer. I returned this summer. I actually prefer DL now. I did not experience any of the issues you described, but know that they could easily have happened at either park.

 

[Hoku]

Favorite Quotes and for me it explains how I feel about Disneyland:

Al Lutz from miceage.com
There's an answer the old timers at Disney like to give when asked to compare the Anaheim and Orlando main parks, and to me it still applies as to how they are currently run: Disneyland is a park designed by a father for his daughters, while the Magic Kingdom is designed by a committee for the hordes.


Tony Baxter:
Tony Baxter also serves as Creative Executive for Disneyland; a role he has filled on and off for nearly 25 years. He enjoys the position because he grew up with Disneyland, and it still evokes powerful feelings that are different from the other parks. Tony describes Disneyland as “a park that was not manufactured to reproduce something successful. It was that successful thing that all the other parks have been trying to emulate.” Thus, Disneyland is one example of a wildly outrageous and successful project that is the product of these creative attitudes Tony will be describe in his keynote presentation in Buffalo. Disneyland can never be duplicated because it was the original “I’ve never seen anything like this!

Nice!

 

[sierranevada]

Well - I have to say that I feel the exact opposite. I just got back from WDW a little over a week ago and am actually on my way now to DL. I was traveling with a group and we all felt that the CM's at WDW were not as nice as DL - but that is only my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own. When you title a thread with an inflammatory remark on a DL discussion board, you will get a lot of negative feedback.

 

[cmwade77]

I think both have their own personalities are are great in their own right.

At DL everything is much closer together (incidentally our two parks have more attractions than all four parks in WDW combined).

WDW has a lot to do, but it is just so spread out, if it was designed more like Disneyland, it could have 10 times the number of attractions in the same space.

 

[HydroGuy]

At DL everything is much closer together (incidentally our two parks have more attractions than all four parks in WDW combined).

In principle you are right but I believe your ride count is off a little. When I count rides I see WDW having about 10% more rides in their four parks as DLR has in their two.

 

[cmwade77]

In principle you are right but I believe your ride count is off a little. When I count rides I see WDW having about 10% more rides in their four parks as DLR has in their two.

Actual rides, we have one and Disneyworld has zero, since we still have Mr. toad's wild ride (Slight Trivia there, all others are considered attractions). That being said, I am counting all attractions, including shows and theaters. In addition, we are adding a few more attractions, which has caused our current count to be slightly off, but that will be corrected shortly. Also, don't forget to count each of the Main Street Transportation methods.

 

[HydroGuy]

Actual rides, we have one and Disneyworld has zero, since we still have Mr. toad's wild ride (Slight Trivia there, all others are considered attractions). That being said, I am counting all attractions, including shows and theaters. In addition, we are adding a few more attractions, which has caused our current count to be slightly off, but that will be corrected shortly. Also, don't forget to count each of the Main Street Transportation methods.

Unless there is something more sophisticated than Toad has the word "ride" in it's name then score one for WDW and the Great Movie Ride.

Also few people would count shows as rides and most people know what a ride is when they see it.

I think if you do a ride count even including Cars Land of what most people think of as rides you will see WDW is slightly ahead. Which brings me back to agreeing with your general point that DLR has a much higher concentration of rides than WDW.

 

[toocherie]

FTR, I have never had anyone at Disney say "have a magical day". I will survive. I GUESS.

Actually, I don't really like it when the say, "have a magical day". It seems kinda fakey. I'm more impressed with a genuine sparkle in the eye and warm smile, no matter what words come out.

Actually, as long as they DON'T tell me "Have a Disney Day" I'm a happy camper!

And I think OP might feel differently if he had only met Maynard!

 

[GhostlyHitchhiker]

Favorite Quotes and for me it explains how I feel about Disneyland:

Al Lutz from miceage.com
There's an answer the old timers at Disney like to give when asked to compare the Anaheim and Orlando main parks, and to me it still applies as to how they are currently run: Disneyland is a park designed by a father for his daughters, while the Magic Kingdom is designed by a committee for the hordes.

And here is my own personal quote comparing the two. Disneyland was a rush job with limited space (read up on the construction (ground-breaking for the park began in July 1954 and the park opened July 18, 1955, only a year later) and original opening of Disneyland sometime) vs. WDW which was planned over many years and had the space to evolve and expand and plan things out accordingly.

It doesn't mean Walt loved Disneyland more than WDW (which I think some people around here truly believe - which is why they get so defensive). He just wasn't around to see WDW open. He took a ton of time planning WDW out before his death and they DID make it the way he wanted it. Just because he never walked down the Magic Kingdom's Main Street doesn't mean Walt's spirit never has since...

To be fair, I absolutely love both resorts, but they are entirely different experiences in my opinion. Disneyland is my "home park" and I have been there FAR more often than WDW. WDW was my *first* park however and also the park where I got married. My DDs have grown up in Disneyland and it holds a special fondness for me because of that, but all my favorite character memories, dining experiences, cast member interactions, Hotel magic, etc have all been at WDW.

Disneyland is meant more for locals (even most of the CMs are locals) whereas WDW is a destination (and at WDW many of the CMs are in the college program from other countries and therefor are FAR more dedicated imo). Both have their appeal, but it really depends on what you want from each trip.

 

[MyYearWithTheMouse]

And here is my own personal quote comparing the two. Disneyland was a rush job with limited space (read up on the construction (ground-breaking for the park began in July 1954 and the park opened July 18, 1955, only a year later) and original opening of Disneyland sometime) vs. WDW which was planned over many years and had the space to evolve and expand and plan things out accordingly.

Not true. There was plenty of space for construction when Disneyland opened. The problem was that Walt, along with many others, failed to estimate the degree to which Orange County would grow and become a metropolitan area. There was plenty of land--he simply did not buy enough of it and always regretted it. That had nothing to do with being a rush job and everything to do with not being psychic about how many people would flee Los Angeles to look for cheaper housing elsewhere.

WDW was planned over many years. Orlando was chosen not because Walt really liked Florida, but because the land was cheap and it didn't get cold in the winter. There's nothing special about Orlando just like there wasn't anything special about Anaheim. Disneyland was almost built in the Valley, actually.

It doesn't mean Walt loved Disneyland more than WDW (which I think some people around here truly believe - which is why they get so defensive). He just wasn't around to see WDW open. He took a ton of time planning WDW out before his death and they DID make it the way he wanted it. Just because he never walked down the Magic Kingdom's Main Street doesn't mean Walt's spirit never has since...

I do not necessarily believe that Walt loved Disneyland more than he loved WDW. But the fact is, Disneyland was built to create a new type of family-friendly amusement park, and WDW was built to make money. It wasn't a matter of Walt having so much love in his heart that he just couldn't contain it, so he had to build another park in Florida that coincidentally was much more convenient for East coasters to attend. WDW was built because Walt saw an opportunity to capitalize on the financial success of Disneyland without repeating the mistakes made at Disneyland. Absolutely it was much better planned and executed than the original. That doesn't mean that Walt's motivation was the same for each park.

Disneyland is meant more for locals (even most of the CMs are locals) whereas WDW is a destination (and at WDW many of the CMs are in the college program from other countries and therefor are FAR more dedicated imo). Both have their appeal, but it really depends on what you want from each trip.

Disneyland was not meant for locals. There were practically no locals in the area when Disneyland was built. DLR is staffed primarily with locals not because that was the way Walt wanted it, but because there are plenty of locals to staff it. WDW has to bring in non-locals not because they want to share the Disney love with college kids and international students, but because there simply aren't enough people in that area of the state to staff the resort.

 

[skiingfast]

He just wasn't around to see WDW open. He took a ton of time planning WDW out before his death and they DID make it the way he wanted it.

If you do a quick study of Disney history you will find Disney made a deal with the FL government to build another DL that became the MK so they would allow Disney to self govern its property. Walt also wanted to build Epcot, but barely like the one that was built. WDW opened with the second MK, two hotels and a campground. It's now nothing like the original ideas of a theme park by the city of the future.

but all my favorite character memories, dining experiences, cast member interactions, Hotel magic, etc have all been at WDW.

It's great that that is your experience but mine doesn't agree with that.

at WDW many of the CMs are in the college program from other countries and therefor are FAR more dedicated imo).

Those foreign CPs are there because they are cheap to hire, not because they are great in any way once they leave the Epcot Pavillion of their home country. The other CPs are ok, but most are just there on an extended vacation at Vista Lay. It takes a lot of work at WDW to find a CM that has been there for more than two seasons.

 

[GhostlyHitchhiker]

If you do a quick study of Disney history you will find Disney made a deal with the FL government to build another DL that became the MK so they would allow Disney to self govern its property. Walt also wanted to build Epcot, but barely like the one that was built. WDW opened with the second MK, two hotels and a campground. It's now nothing like the original ideas of a theme park by the city of the future.



It's great that that is your experience but mine doesn't agree with that.



Those foreign CPs are there because they are cheap to hire, not because they are great in any way once they leave the Epcot Pavillion of their home country. The other CPs are ok, but most are just there on an extended vacation at Vista Lay. It takes a lot of work at WDW to find a CM that has been there for more than two seasons.

Your experiences and mine are different, just as the OP's experiences are different than anyone else's. No one's experiences are identical and there is nothing wrong with that. No one is right and no one is wrong, yet very often around here (on the WDW boards and sometimes the DCL boards as well) it can come across that you are "wrong" if you don't agree with the main group.

The OP is new and while the post was strongly worded in some senses, they never "attacked" anyone or anything. They were asking if other people felt similarly to the way they did...

I do not believe that the only reason WDW was built was to make money just as I don't believe the only reason DL was built was for Walt's daughters. Nothing is as black and white. Walt was a father, but he was a businessman as well and there is some truth in both sides. WDW was built partly to make money and partly to make a second, larger DL while learning from some of the mistakes he made with the original. DL was made partly for families to enjoy a new amusement park experience together and partly to make money.

As far as the CMs go, you could very well be correct though there are plenty of CMs on the college program not working in their country's pavillion but all over the rest of the resort. There seems to be a greater variety of CMs from all over the world in general (not just on the college program) working at WDW than at DL. When you are at both parks and see the originating city/country/etc of the CMs, the ones at DL mostly seem to be locals young and old.

And while DL was never originally designed for locals, it has that feel every time I'm there. The CMs are mostly locals, there is a lot more walk-in traffic from locals because it's in the middle of LA, etc. Whereas, like I said, WDW is more a "destination" and feels accordingly. I go to DL about 3-4 times a year while I only get to WDW once every few years now that I'm a West Coaster. Perhaps that contributes to the way I feel about both parks.

As I stated before, I love and adore both parks and have fond memories of each. I'm not saying WDW is a *better* resort, just like I'm not saying DL is. They are both different experiences and there is nothing wrong with that, imo.

 

[larina]

Can't we all just get along???

 

[HydroGuy]

And here is my own personal quote comparing the two. Disneyland was a rush job with limited space (read up on the construction (ground-breaking for the park began in July 1954 and the park opened July 18, 1955, only a year later) and original opening of Disneyland sometime) vs. WDW which was planned over many years and had the space to evolve and expand and plan things out accordingly.

It doesn't mean Walt loved Disneyland more than WDW (which I think some people around here truly believe - which is why they get so defensive). He just wasn't around to see WDW open. He took a ton of time planning WDW out before his death and they DID make it the way he wanted it. Just because he never walked down the Magic Kingdom's Main Street doesn't mean Walt's spirit never has since...

To be fair, I absolutely love both resorts, but they are entirely different experiences in my opinion. Disneyland is my "home park" and I have been there FAR more often than WDW. WDW was my *first* park however and also the park where I got married. My DDs have grown up in Disneyland and it holds a special fondness for me because of that, but all my favorite character memories, dining experiences, cast member interactions, Hotel magic, etc have all been at WDW.

Disneyland is meant more for locals (even most of the CMs are locals) whereas WDW is a destination (and at WDW many of the CMs are in the college program from other countries and therefor are FAR more dedicated imo). Both have their appeal, but it really depends on what you want from each trip.

I think you do a fair job in your description here and I for one never use the quote to which you were responding. It does not strike me the right way.

However I think there is a little more to the story than you summarize. You are talking about the construction of DL. But of course work continued on DL and in 1959 they opened three new E-ticket rides. In the 60's they added things like POTC and HM. Walt had an apartment at DL and walked the park frequently. So it is true he was integrally involved not just with the 1955 construction and opening (the rush job) but the whole evolution of the park for 11 years until his death in 1966.

Having visited the four major Disney resorts in the world I think the DL park is the crown jewel and the best of all of them - as far as theme parks go. However the whole notion about "Walt's personal touch" at DL is a bit lost on me. Yes it is true and it is nostalgic to think of Walt actually being at DL and overseeing it. But 45 years have passed since then and the park's evolution has gone on without his personal direction for a very long time.

I do not see that much difference between DL and MK other than DL has lots more rides and it's smaller size makes things feel a little more integrated and intimate and self-reinforcing. MK has plenty of the same feeling.

Thanks!