Languages within the park, what do you think....

[Lakewood]

After posting on someones post about a kid recently getting hurt on Thunder Mountain I began to think to myself. What if the kid did not speak English or Spanish?
Do you think there should be other languages included? People from all over visit Disneyland, not just English or Spanish speaking countries.
Heck, in So Cal. alone we are quite diverse. Lakewood is/was largely Dutch, Anaheim has a strong German contingent, Garden Grove has a lot of Vietnamese, Torrance is largely Japanese, etc...
Do you think Disney should cater only to the English and Spanish, English only or all (major) languages?

 

[Stacerita]

After posting on someones post about a kid recently getting hurt on Thunder Mountain I began to think to myself. What if the kid did not speak English or Spanish?
Do you think there should be other languages included? People from all over visit Disneyland, not just English or Spanish speaking countries.
Heck, in So Cal. alone we are quite diverse. Lakewood is/was largely Dutch, Anaheim has a strong German contingent, Garden Grove has a lot of Vietnamese, Torrance is largely Japanese, etc...
Do you think Disney should cater only to the English and Spanish, English only or all (major) languages?

If I am not mistaken, the maps and such are in major languages.

 

[Lakewood]

If I am not mistaken, the maps and such are in major languages.

You are correct, I kind of was thinking of the line speils and the such...

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Can you guys imagine how long it would take to get through the queues if they did every major language? People complain about standing in line, as is. It would only get worse.

The continuous loader rides wouldn't be that anymore. They would have to slow them down to an absolute crawl - affecting the speed of how the attractions run. (Think about how they have to slow or stop Haunted Mansion to load diabilities...) that would be the normal ride speed.....

 

[Lakewood]

Can you guys imagine how long it would take to get through the queues if they did every major language? People complain about standing in line, as is. It would only get worse.

The continuous loader rides wouldn't be that anymore. They would have to slow them down to an absolute crawl - affecting the speed of how the attractions run. (Think about how they have to slow or stop Haunted Mansion to load diabilities...) that would be the normal ride speed.....

True, never thought of that....What about just good old plain English?

 

[disney-inspired]

I know that IASW has more than just a Spanish translation.

 

[dmked]

They do have maps and info in TONS of languages. I do not think they should have anything besides English on their signs, we are in an English speaking country after all. I understand there are tourists from other countries, but I don't think that Disneyland should have to cater to everyone's different languages, the signs would all be a mile long!

 

[KerTggr]

After posting on someones post about a kid recently getting hurt on Thunder Mountain I began to think to myself. What if the kid did not speak English or Spanish?
Do you think there should be other languages included? People from all over visit Disneyland, not just English or Spanish speaking countries.
Heck, in So Cal. alone we are quite diverse. Lakewood is/was largely Dutch, Anaheim has a strong German contingent, Garden Grove has a lot of Vietnamese, Torrance is largely Japanese, etc...
Do you think Disney should cater only to the English and Spanish, English only or all (major) languages?

Not to balk at your suggestion, just wondering how long this would take and how this would affect load times. Similar to me going to Disneyland Tokyo, I would expect to understand some of the native language and insure my children adhere to the standard disney rules (e.g. stand behind the yellow line, keep hands, arms, feet etc inside). Think they need to make calculated business decisions in each park - Paris uses french & english, but does not do speils in all EU languages. Though we all love Disney for reasons beyond the business, they are that and must remember the bottom line with any decision made (esp at this time).

 

[Lakewood]

They do have maps and info in TONS of languages. I do not think they should have anything besides English on their signs, we are in an English speaking country after all. I understand there are tourists from other countries, but I don't think that Disneyland should have to cater to everyone's different languages, the signs would all be a mile long!

That's kind of my mind set... When I went to TDL I don't remember English... But everyone there spoke a bit of it to help us out...

 

[AmericanItGirl]

Aren't some of the "warning" signs (y'know where they say "don't ride this if you're pregnant, etc.") in more languages than just English and Spanish? I think if they had the warning spiel printed out on signs right by the loading area in multiple languages (English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese) and then the read spiel in only English (a lot of people understand rudimentary English and it's the only official language of the US), that would not only shorten the waiting time, but also solve the problem of people not understand what's being said.

 

[WannaBeAPrincess]

They do have maps and info in TONS of languages. I do not think they should have anything besides English on their signs, we are in an English speaking country after all. I understand there are tourists from other countries, but I don't think that Disneyland should have to cater to everyone's different languages, the signs would all be a mile long!

That pretty much sums up my opinion too.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

They do have maps and info in TONS of languages. I do not think they should have anything besides English on their signs, we are in an English speaking country after all. I understand there are tourists from other countries, but I don't think that Disneyland should have to cater to everyone's different languages, the signs would all be a mile long!

I agree too.

I *think* the spiels used to be in English, Spanish AND Japanese, and then they removed the Japanese one. Am I remembering correctly?

 

[Diznygrl]

I agree too.

I *think* the spiels used to be in English, Spanish AND Japanese, and then they removed the Japanese one. Am I remembering correctly?

As far as rides are concerned, no I don't believe any ever had Japanese spiels...except of course for Small World. However, I'm pretty sure I remember parade and fireworks announcements having Japanese included.

 

[pixiewings71]

They are in other languages not just Spanish or English. But when someone visits a foreign country they should have at the very least simple language skills so they should understand the basic concept of the ride warnings. kwim? I know when I visit other countries I make sure I have the basic skills to speak with someone, I am not by any means fluent but still.....And yes, warning signs and maps are available in other languages.

 

[Krissy Marissy]

When we go DLP in a few years I dont expect everything in english, although I know europe is fairly american friendly. I will learn some of the language, my DH already speaks it, and we will be responsible for learning their rules. The same is expected of those who dont speak english here.

 

[bumbershoot]

When we go DLP in a few years I dont expect everything in english, although I know europe is fairly american friendly.

That's how I feel too. Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong...I won't expect much, if anything, in English (even though I know that English is taught throughout school in Japan, at least).

As for maps being in many languages, I'm not sure that's true. I took part in a scavenger hunt this weekend and one of the quests was to get a map from the int'l map "cabinet" (for lack of a better word). They had Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and maybe 2 other languages. Not even Korean (which irked me, having a half Korean hubby). There were many spots for maps, but it was all doubled...so passing by you would think "WOW!" but the reality was a disappointment IMO.

 

[MAH4546]

Adding anything past English and Spanish would take too long; although I believe some attractions at DLP have French, English and German; while at DLHK many spiels are in Mandarin, Cantonese and English.

Since we are in a country with no official language, it makes sense that the two most spoken - English and Spanish - are the ones used on safety spiels.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

As far as rides are concerned, no I don't believe any ever had Japanese spiels...except of course for Small World. However, I'm pretty sure I remember parade and fireworks announcements having Japanese included.

I'm probably just thinking of IASW then as far as ride spiels.

That's how I feel too. Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong...I won't expect much, if anything, in English (even though I know that English is taught throughout school in Japan, at least).

As for maps being in many languages, I'm not sure that's true. I took part in a scavenger hunt this weekend and one of the quests was to get a map from the int'l map "cabinet" (for lack of a better word). They had Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and maybe 2 other languages. Not even Korean (which irked me, having a half Korean hubby). There were many spots for maps, but it was all doubled...so passing by you would think "WOW!" but the reality was a disappointment IMO.

That's very interesting about the map cabinet. I always see those and they're packed with maps, I always thought they had a lot of different languages by the way it looks.


So what's it like at WDW? Just English and Spanish spiels too?

 

[MAH4546]

So what's it like at WDW? Just English and Spanish spiels too?

Yes, pretty much.

However, on Spaceship Earth at Epcot, which is a dark ride with a long narration that is a key part of explaining the ride, riders can select between English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French and Japanese. The entire ride can be narrated to the vehicle speakers in any of those six languages.

 

[Lakewood]

So would you all be cool if Disneyland went to an "All English" park?