disneymurtagh
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2008
- Messages
- 176
ok my fellow WDW vets have told me how superior the WDW parks are to DL and that I would be very disappointed in the trip. I heard it 100 times, and they were very wrong!! There were differences obviously but not in the parks, I will review:
I love the close proximity of the 3 DL parks. It was so much better to walk across the gateway then to get on a bus for 30 minutes to park hop. Score 1 for DL. The rides were either better or the same in DL then in WDW, however with 4 parks at WDW you get more rides, so that was a draw. The fireworks show was better in DL, by far. Score 2 for DL. The park setup was better at DL, less walking involved score 3 for DL.
Now the bad...The CM at DL were awful. I mean just plain terrible. I went to go on the Indiana Jones ride with my son, who at just about 5 years old wants to be Indiana Jones more than anything. He waited for months for this ride and when we get to the front of the line, the CM says he is too small. I know the height requirement is 48", but when you have the measuring pole on a hill it makes it a bit taller. He is just 48" and the cast member would not let him on. When I say he had hairs above the line, he was that close. The CM then became rude about it, actually yelling at me in front of my kids, telling me I'm going to get the ride closed, why would I bring my son to the ride etc... He actually followed me from the booth at the front of the line back to the walkway berating me. It was sad to see. Then during the fireworks show we were herded around the Main St area by CM's as we were exiting. We would walk 5 feet and one CM would scream at us to "stay to the left" then walk another 5 feet and a different CM would scream at us to get to the right. They were inconsistent and yelling at the guests like it was our fault. And finally we hopped for 3 days from park to park. Every time we left a park we would get our hand stamped, and then re-enter the other park and show our hand stamp and ticket. The CM at the gate never looked at our hand stamps for 3 days. My left hand was lime green from the stamping, yet they CM only cared about seeing our tickets. On day #4 I forgot to get my hand stamped and wouldn't you know it, that was the day I got the CM who appeared to be the hand stamp worshiper. He was not going to let me in!!! I had a valid ticket, the 4 other people in my family had tickets and he was adamant on not letting me in. He was even accusing me of using stolen tickets!! I finally said to him "it's only 11am, just say I just got here from my hotel, I would be entering with just a ticket and no hand stamp right? " He said yes, so then I said, "ok we just got here". He looked at me and let me in. In WDW none of that would have ever happened.
Second was our dinner in Blue Bayou. I was so excited to eat there after hearing how good the food was and boy was I let down. The crab cakes my wife got were still frozen when she first got them!! Still think they are made fresh??? Then in the dimly lit room my kids were complaining about the grapes of all things. My wife looks at them good under the candle light and realizes they have mold on them!!! White fuzzy mold. The waiter just shrugged his head and brought us new grapes. Nothing was done with our bill, which was very high. the food at Carnation Cafe was great, and we were seated in seconds. The food at Rancho Del Zocalo was better then I thought it could be and the food at The warf was also good. Food advantage still goes to WDW.
I was not impressed with the amount of rides that were closed, Star Tours, Astro Blasters, Peter Pan and the Thunder Ranch were all closed. The canoes only run on weekends and the pirate ship only runs on weekends. No fireworks 7 days a week was also tough.
Overall I loved the trip. I would love 5 minutes in an alley with the Cm from Indiana Jones more, but the trip was still great. The flight from NY to Fl is much easier and cheaper then to CA so it will be a while til I return but I would not hesitate a second to go back to DL.
I love the close proximity of the 3 DL parks. It was so much better to walk across the gateway then to get on a bus for 30 minutes to park hop. Score 1 for DL. The rides were either better or the same in DL then in WDW, however with 4 parks at WDW you get more rides, so that was a draw. The fireworks show was better in DL, by far. Score 2 for DL. The park setup was better at DL, less walking involved score 3 for DL.
Now the bad...The CM at DL were awful. I mean just plain terrible. I went to go on the Indiana Jones ride with my son, who at just about 5 years old wants to be Indiana Jones more than anything. He waited for months for this ride and when we get to the front of the line, the CM says he is too small. I know the height requirement is 48", but when you have the measuring pole on a hill it makes it a bit taller. He is just 48" and the cast member would not let him on. When I say he had hairs above the line, he was that close. The CM then became rude about it, actually yelling at me in front of my kids, telling me I'm going to get the ride closed, why would I bring my son to the ride etc... He actually followed me from the booth at the front of the line back to the walkway berating me. It was sad to see. Then during the fireworks show we were herded around the Main St area by CM's as we were exiting. We would walk 5 feet and one CM would scream at us to "stay to the left" then walk another 5 feet and a different CM would scream at us to get to the right. They were inconsistent and yelling at the guests like it was our fault. And finally we hopped for 3 days from park to park. Every time we left a park we would get our hand stamped, and then re-enter the other park and show our hand stamp and ticket. The CM at the gate never looked at our hand stamps for 3 days. My left hand was lime green from the stamping, yet they CM only cared about seeing our tickets. On day #4 I forgot to get my hand stamped and wouldn't you know it, that was the day I got the CM who appeared to be the hand stamp worshiper. He was not going to let me in!!! I had a valid ticket, the 4 other people in my family had tickets and he was adamant on not letting me in. He was even accusing me of using stolen tickets!! I finally said to him "it's only 11am, just say I just got here from my hotel, I would be entering with just a ticket and no hand stamp right? " He said yes, so then I said, "ok we just got here". He looked at me and let me in. In WDW none of that would have ever happened.
Second was our dinner in Blue Bayou. I was so excited to eat there after hearing how good the food was and boy was I let down. The crab cakes my wife got were still frozen when she first got them!! Still think they are made fresh??? Then in the dimly lit room my kids were complaining about the grapes of all things. My wife looks at them good under the candle light and realizes they have mold on them!!! White fuzzy mold. The waiter just shrugged his head and brought us new grapes. Nothing was done with our bill, which was very high. the food at Carnation Cafe was great, and we were seated in seconds. The food at Rancho Del Zocalo was better then I thought it could be and the food at The warf was also good. Food advantage still goes to WDW.
I was not impressed with the amount of rides that were closed, Star Tours, Astro Blasters, Peter Pan and the Thunder Ranch were all closed. The canoes only run on weekends and the pirate ship only runs on weekends. No fireworks 7 days a week was also tough.
Overall I loved the trip. I would love 5 minutes in an alley with the Cm from Indiana Jones more, but the trip was still great. The flight from NY to Fl is much easier and cheaper then to CA so it will be a while til I return but I would not hesitate a second to go back to DL.
My mom really wants to eat there, though, and I want (wanted?) to try the cookie boat...
