Just Got Back - NEVER AGAIN !!!

[dlpSteve]

Have to agree there - I come across an awful lot of very rude British people on my visits to DLRP, all nationalities are represented in their ignorance - there are rude people the world over.

 

[BONITATIME]

Don't start with that! That's really unfair. That has nothing to do with being French.

A lot of my Spanish friends laugh at this silly concept of standing in a line to get to something ''why would you do that '' they ask. If you want to get on you should put yourself forward. It is really only the british who queue at all.

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

all nationalities are represented in their ignorance - there are rude people the world over.

You're right !! BUT ...
To me the magic of Disneyland is ... that I sometimes "see" rude people ...
but... they can NEVER spoil MY MAGIC HOLIDAY THERE !!!!

There are so many happy things to do,to live ... that I'm anyway !!!!!

To me Disney parks are MY HAPPY PLACE , by any means !!!!

Laura

 

[Father_and_Son]

It is really a pity that your Trip went so wrong in different ways. But I can understand you totally, I can´t be in big crowds because I have claustrophobia. That is the reason I like the magic unlimited time so much.

But even than the Queuemanagment of DLRP is inexistent. On my first Version of my Video from our last Trip I have a scene were my son is waiting about 5 minutes to get near Stitch and allways when he is near other chidren or even parents push him away and put their children into the "queue" .

And now here comes the worst. (Pitty that the ... Camcorder has a microphone) On the Video I can clearly understand me telling my son to push back. To my luck he didn´t. He just looked at me and said he will not do that and that he will see Stitch another time then. Needless to say that this scene didn´t made it into the Endcut of the Trip-Movie. Shame on me and a bless to my son.

Oh by the Way and a bless to Stitch. He followed Lukas and took extra time just for him.
If you don´t belive me, I can show you the video of this part of the scene .

 

[diberry]

Your son sounds like an extremely sensible young man but I know how you felt - you didn't want him to miss out because he was waiting patiently. We sometimes give up on characters we can't get near because there is a never-ending crowd of people - they must think we're mad standing back politely!!! But Stitch was great to see the situation and make time for Lukas - patience was rewarded!!!

 

[Cyrano]

Your son sounds like an extremely sensible young man but I know how you felt - you didn't want him to miss out because he was waiting patiently. We sometimes give up on characters we can't get near because there is a never-ending crowd of people - they must think we're mad standing back politely!!! But Stitch was great to see the situation and make time for Lukas - patience was rewarded!!!

I agree, well done Lukas

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Oh by the Way and a bless to Stitch. He followed Lukas and took extra time just for him.

This is PURE DISNEY MAGIC !!!!
Glad your lovely son was rewarded !!!
We have to learn so much from kids ...like yours !!!

Lukas !!!!


Laura

 

[DisneyRGB]

Yep I know exactly what you mean, we spent a Sunday just before Christmas in the park and it was absolutely unbelievable, having only been at quiet times before we absolutely could not believe our eyes

We couldn't even appreciate the Disney/Christmas atmosphere as there were just too many people and we were really fed up. Luckily we were there over weekdays so our other days were a lot less busy. Sorry you didn't get the chance for any quiet days.

I really hope this doesn't put you off DLRP as you have obviously enjoyed it in quieter times. You know which times to avoid now!

 

[Lordy]

Have to agree that weekends are horrible .
We arrived Sunday 27th November and it was heaving !

As for merchandise DW bought a pair of gloves in the park which lasted a day before the stitching came undone .

 

[BONITATIME]

As for merchandise DW bought a pair of gloves in the park which lasted a day before the stitching came undone .

That really surprises me as we bought a pair last year which we took back this year and have them put away for next year. One of the things I like about Disney is that although it is expensive items are good quality.

Did you take the gloves back?

 

[nicola]

Oh that sounds terrible!! I can't relate to that at all and I hope I will never experience crowds like that. We have been twice in May, once in June and just got back first week of Dec. We always go midweek and the park has been practically empty every time we have been. We are so lucky and will continue to stick to these times (even though it means taking kiddies out of school). One thing I would like to encourage you to do is to try Lucky Nugget again. We have gone several times and each time it has been LOVELY food. Yummy salad, great selection of dishes in buffet and desserts, nice fresh delicious food. We actually have found the opposite to you, we found Cafe Mickey to be quite horrible and overpriced and much prefer Lucky Nugget. Guess we're all different in our preferences eh? I do agree with you about Annettes though; its great IMHO. Once again, so sorry you didn't have a better trip.

 

[Rosie]

Sorry it wasn't a great trip

There is a fine balance between no atmosphere and light crowds - but huge crowds of stressed visitors is not fun. When its like that staff feel stressed too - I know from working in bars that its hard to keep smiling. That could be why the service and food at the Lucky Nugget were so poor.

I hope your next visit will be all you wish for.

 

[Lordy]

Did you take the gloves back?

Yes before we left the parks . Still it's dissapointing .

 

[BONITATIME]

It must have been, I too always expect everything to be perfect when I am in Disney.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Hi Russ
We were there the same time as you...Saturday and Sunday, and WOW! the parks were busy! Far busier than Halloween! Saying that, we managed to avoid too much queuing, by utilising the fastpasses. We managed to do everything we wanted to do, and see most of the Christmas things, but unfortunately a bit of bad planning meant that we missed the tree lighting ceremony...as we went to the ice skating show at the same time! We couldn't catch it on the Sunday as we had booked the Blue Lagoon! The crowds were annoying, and the most annoying thing was that the French people don't seem to understand the fastpass system...everytime we went to use our fastpasses, there was a long line of people in the fastpass line who were waiting in advance of their allocated fastpass times, sometimes up to 30 mins in advance. This meant the cast member had to walk up and down this line to see if anyone was stuck at the back with useable fastpasses. Why do they do this! The whole point of fastpass is to avoid queuing!!!

Although we still had a great time, with hindsight, I don't think I would book this weekend again in the future!

 

[Ware Bears]

A lot of my Spanish friends laugh at this silly concept of standing in a line to get to something ''why would you do that '' they ask. If you want to get on you should put yourself forward. It is really only the british who queue at all.

Sorry this is off-topic but Nikki, I am being very nosey here, are you British, Spanish, American????

 

[Dee8197]

Sorry to hear about your problems Rascal. A friend of mine went last week, came back Friday and she said it was quiet. (I guess it depends on your definition of "Quiet" )

We leave on Friday and arrive in the Parks Christmas Eve, We are expecting it to be packed ! Still it will be a different Christmas for us and hopefully one that we look back on with fond memories.

The crowd management is a big problem at DLP ( the opening night of Wishes was no exception ) and there never seems to be any cast members around to controle things.

Anyway I had best go now and continue packing. Have a great Christmas everyone

 

[MICKEY'S DREAMERS]

Good packing !!! Isn'it magic ... when you are"anticipating" where you will go or eat, how you will be dressed ...?
To me this is one of the best things in any trip !!!!

We were at DLP on Christmas eve: yes, it will be packed with people ... but my parents (very old !) and hubby - and myself of course ! - still could manage to have our magic Christmas of a lifetime !!!!
Now that my parents can't travel anymore ... we all are watching those videos ... with a tear in our eyes !!!!
Find the magic inside you and your loved ones, do a careful planning ... and be prepared to smile ... if something is not perfect !!!
I'm sure your Christmas will be the most magical ever !!!

Laura

 

[diberry]

Find the magic inside you and your loved ones, do a careful planning ... and be prepared to smile ... if something is not perfect !!!

Laura

Now that's what I call real Disney spirit!!! What a fantastic way of looking at things!!!

 

[Rascal1003]

It is really a pity that your Trip went so wrong in different ways. But I can understand you totally, I can´t be in big crowds because I have claustrophobia. That is the reason I like the magic unlimited time so much.

But even than the Queuemanagment of DLRP is inexistent. On my first Version of my Video from our last Trip I have a scene were my son is waiting about 5 minutes to get near Stitch and allways when he is near other chidren or even parents push him away and put their children into the "queue" .

And now here comes the worst. (Pitty that the ... Camcorder has a microphone) On the Video I can clearly understand me telling my son to push back. To my luck he didn´t. He just looked at me and said he will not do that and that he will see Stitch another time then. Needless to say that this scene didn´t made it into the Endcut of the Trip-Movie. Shame on me and a bless to my son.

Oh by the Way and a bless to Stitch. He followed Lukas and took extra time just for him.
If you don´t belive me, I can show you the video of this part of the scene .

Well done, you clearly brought your son up correctly ! Plenty of other kids have no manners and when things like this happen, it is very noticeable, perhaps Stitch was sharp enough to see how courtious your son was, hence the extra time.

I really feel sorry for the characters in the parks, they get maulled. How anyone can get a photo is a mystery. In WDW, the people are encouraged to queue so everyone can have a chance to see their "heroes" and have a great photo, but in DLP it is a pure free-for-all. You frequently see the characters having to walk away from a madding crowd because they are so mobbed. Things like this truly set DLP & WDW apart and I have no hesitation in blaming the local culture.

Additionally, someone mentioned earlier that the staff get stressed and this affects the atmosphere. This should be inexcuseable. I don't know how many regulars to this board have been to WDW, but it is happy, smiling faces from Dawn 'til Dusk as though they are genuinely glad to see you in their park. This is very lost in DLP.
I could probably write a book on the elements of WDW that have not been carried across to DLP and am surprised Disney themsleves have not noticed.

It is a shame because the infrastructure is mainly much the same so wouldn't be too difficult to bring them onto a level playing field.

Sorry guys, I seem to have started ranting and that is bad. DLP is fundamentally a great place to go, just needs some fine tuning as they seem to have lost their focus a little bit.