Just back from Disneyland

[LindaBabe]

Since I didn't get many answers to the questions I asked here, I thought i'd share what I learned in case anyone else is having similar problems.

Orange County (John Wayne) is the closest airport but not necessarily the least expensive to fly into.

The shuttle to John Wayne is $10 and very prompt.

There are skycaps, but not many.

Candy Cane Inn had better customer service than Disneyland.

We lunched at Blue Bayou and dined at Storytellers. The food was good. The Blue Bayou waiter was nice but the hosting staff was not. At Storytellers, the manager was nice, the waiter was older, experienced, and next to useless after he discovered we didn't want the buffet. Never offered coffee or dessert, just the bill, with gratuity already on it.

The CM's do not seem to be as 'empowered' as at WDW - nobody would do anything that wasn't strictly by what was written in the book without consulting the manager - who invariably said 'but of course we can do that'.

There seemed to be a lot of mis-communication issues.

I used an ECV From Deckers medical supply. It was at the hotel when they said it would be. Driven at a walking pace, the batteries lasted all day and all evening. Pay close attention to the location of the curb cuts. They aren't always where you'd expect them to be.

I wanted to love Disneyland. I didn't.

Toon town is VERY cute. Pirates is fun. Small World is wonderful from the outside. I enjoyed California Adventure more.

 

[hlbtimes2]

Disneyland has had some real staffing problems over the last few years. They have had a very high turn over rate, and end up with people that dont care, arent trained long enough or are over worked and underpaid. Hopefully the new changes in managment will fix it. Anyway, it leads to lack of communication, answers that vary from cm to cm and lack of power.

Sorry you didnt love it there. I guess its not for everyone. My family loves it, and dont get to go nearly often enough.

Our experience at Storytellers was not great either. Service was very slow. I don't know that we'll go back.

 

[PattiPB]

Since I didn't get many answers to the questions I asked here, I thought i'd share what I learned in case anyone else is having similar problems.

I wanted to love Disneyland. I didn't.

Sorry to hear you didn't get answers to your questions on this forum. I'm kind of surprised---the "regulars" here are pretty awesome at sharing their knowledge.

Sorry you didn't love Disneyland. Even though my Disney expectations are through the roof, they always seem to be met and exceeded. Wish it had been the same for you.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I am sorry you didn't feel that you got your questions answered. Thats the first time I have ever read that on this particular board, since most people write back after their trip thanking the many nice people on this board who helped make their trip a success. Its interesting because I looked back to see what questions you posted and regarding your ECCV and Limo posts, it seemed you did get answers. Not in great numbers but answered nonetheless. In fact I think the ECCV company you mention on this post was referred to you by someone on this board answering your question. This is a much smaller board than the WDW side and many of the people who frequent this board are locals to Disneyland and don't have as much input on lodging, dining and transporation issues so those types of threads won't generate the pages of answers you get over on the WDW side. As for cm's going by the book, Disneyland has had a lot in the way of staffing and labor problems and it does at times show. They have a huge turnover rate so those cm's asking managers were probably new and just checking to be safe rather than sorry. Sorry you wanted to love it and didn't. That was a long way to go to be disappointed.

 

[LindaBabe]

You are right, of course, Amy&Dan. I did use both the shuttle and ecv rental recommended. I was referring to an earlier more open ended, general question which I hoped would elicit longwinded, opinonated answers.

And, actually, I had a fabulous time on my trip - which included time with my friends on the marathon team, a visit to Las Vegas, good food and some pool time.

 

[Amy&Dan]

You are right, of course, Amy&Dan. I did use both the shuttle and ecv rental recommended. I was referring to an earlier more open ended, general question which I hoped would elicit longwinded, opinonated answers.

And, actually, I had a fabulous time on my trip - which included time with my friends on the marathon team, a visit to Las Vegas, good food and some pool time.

And I copied down the name of the company you used for future reference since renting an ECCV daily for my fil gets way too expensive and yours was the first post where I found an outside company mentioned! When I needed that information for WDW, I went to the transportation board, found out about a company in less than one minute, end of story! So much easier, I must say. I am glad you had a wonderful trip. Unfortunately, this board just doesn't get the traffic the other side does. And frequently threads that would generate pages of answers over there only get a few answers here. We are just smaller in numbers and again the huge local base of park and board regulars gives things a whole different perspective.

 

[minnietoo]

We lunched at Blue Bayou and dined at Storytellers. The food was good. The Blue Bayou waiter was nice but the hosting staff was not. At Storytellers, the manager was nice, the waiter was older, experienced, and next to useless after he discovered we didn't want the buffet. Never offered coffee or dessert, just the bill, with gratuity already on it.

I have had the best eating experience anywhere (in and out of the park) at Storytellers - I have a very responsive waitress, wonderful character interaction, and the chef came to my table to help me choose foods for my special diet. My waitress' name was Marie and the Chef was Ralph- they did a great job!

I have also found the BB staff to be very accomodating and pleasent.

We go often - and we have never had a problem with the food service staff.

(just posted to balance out the problem and to show you'all that there are positive expereinces at the same places )