madmaxx
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2012
- Messages
- 124
We're just back from 10 days in Anaheim (and 7 days in the parks). I'm posting a few notes about the parks, and will try to post a full trip report in the other forum later this week.
1. Special ticket lines for longer tickets no longer being utilized. I've seen this change reported elsewhere, and we can confirm that they changed this on the 8th (or 9th). I spoke to a few CMs who confirmed what we saw: that people were unhappy with the special (and sometimes slower) treatment in the segregated lines. We did not notice the special lines as slower, but we were always within the first few families in line.
The new procedure was pretty flawless. CMs walked the lines to ensure tickets were signed, and that everyone had the appropriate ID. Once we hit the gates, we found it no slower than in previous years.
2. Monorail slides/pool closed at the DLH. We didn't see this one on the boards before we left, and our kids were initially a bit disappointed (though this didn't last long, there was so much else to do). A CM told us that there was no completion date available, but that we could use any of the other DL hotel pools. To use the GCH pools they instructed us to take our room keys too the front desk of that hotel (we didn't get a chance to use the other pools, however).
3. The parks were much slower than we expected. We walked onto most rides for our entire stay, with the exception of the peak periods on Saturday/Monday on the long weekend (and Fastpasses sufficed on those days). We rode RSR a few times each day (wide right worked well enough), and nothing else was especially backed up.
4. Park opening procedures (in general) seemed less organized. We found it odd that park opening was vastly different each day. This was compounded by the initial confusion of the changed extended pass procedure, and the ongoing confusion guests have with Early Entry vs. Magic Mornings. We even saw a countdown at DCA (one of the 4 mornings we were there). Rope drops differed daily, and there seemed to be more confusion in the gate lines due to poorly/incorrectly marked gates. Many lines were closed/merged at opening, resulting in a number of visibly angry guests. We had never seen this before, and we assumed that the changing procedures were causing the Cast Members some amount of disarray.
Overall, though, we found the gates and rope drops were reasonable enough even with the confusion. The CMs were helpful and fair, even if guests were unhappy. I'm guessing that early mornings aren't the best time for anyone ;-)
5. BTM looked like it needed some TLC. While the Fastpass refurb completed early this week, the ride itself was down much of our time in the DL park. We noticed a number of patches to the tracks (some cable holding the end portion of the track together), and many surfaces clearly need work. A few of the effects were down too, so this Winter's rework is timely.
We also noticed that Splash was down more than usual, but a few cooler days made it a much less important part of our trip. I'm guessing that Splash will be up for refurb in the next year or two, as it also needs some paint/cleanup.
Space Mountain was also down for extended periods (and the cameras were down for our last few days). It was otherwise in great condition, and we rode this many times (it's my fav).
We spoke to a number of CMs who confirmed the expected Innoventions work. One CM (at the hotel) suggested he had heard that it was scheduled to be shut down permanently in the new year, but after that no firm plans had been made. Walking through Innoventions, it was clear that it is ready for something (many broken exhibits).
6. DLH thoughts. I have to say that the DLH was much better than expected. Combining the huge, pristine rooms (extra couch/bed, double sinks, and separate toilet) with the amazing service, I don't think we'll ever stay offsite again. Our only complaint was that the food at the Tangora Terrace was some of the worst we've experienced at any DL counter service. Trader Sam's (and Steakhouse 55), on the other hand were both superb.
Food overall was much improved over a few years ago. I'll try to focus my trip report on the food and DLH, as they're things I wanted to know before we left.
7. Fastpass enforcement. We didn't see any Fastpass end time enforcement on our trip for us or anyone else, and we used a number of our passes after the end time (due to parades, a sick kid, meals, etc.). We also asked a two different CMs about it, and they said that they had not been told to enforce end times, and that they hadn't heard about it coming up. These CMs may not have been allowed to talk about it or they may have just not heard about it. One CM manager we spoke to (at the DLH bar) had heard about enforcement, but had no details (he did suggest that he thought they should be enforced personally, but only because it was more fair overall).
1. Special ticket lines for longer tickets no longer being utilized. I've seen this change reported elsewhere, and we can confirm that they changed this on the 8th (or 9th). I spoke to a few CMs who confirmed what we saw: that people were unhappy with the special (and sometimes slower) treatment in the segregated lines. We did not notice the special lines as slower, but we were always within the first few families in line.
The new procedure was pretty flawless. CMs walked the lines to ensure tickets were signed, and that everyone had the appropriate ID. Once we hit the gates, we found it no slower than in previous years.
2. Monorail slides/pool closed at the DLH. We didn't see this one on the boards before we left, and our kids were initially a bit disappointed (though this didn't last long, there was so much else to do). A CM told us that there was no completion date available, but that we could use any of the other DL hotel pools. To use the GCH pools they instructed us to take our room keys too the front desk of that hotel (we didn't get a chance to use the other pools, however).
3. The parks were much slower than we expected. We walked onto most rides for our entire stay, with the exception of the peak periods on Saturday/Monday on the long weekend (and Fastpasses sufficed on those days). We rode RSR a few times each day (wide right worked well enough), and nothing else was especially backed up.
4. Park opening procedures (in general) seemed less organized. We found it odd that park opening was vastly different each day. This was compounded by the initial confusion of the changed extended pass procedure, and the ongoing confusion guests have with Early Entry vs. Magic Mornings. We even saw a countdown at DCA (one of the 4 mornings we were there). Rope drops differed daily, and there seemed to be more confusion in the gate lines due to poorly/incorrectly marked gates. Many lines were closed/merged at opening, resulting in a number of visibly angry guests. We had never seen this before, and we assumed that the changing procedures were causing the Cast Members some amount of disarray.
Overall, though, we found the gates and rope drops were reasonable enough even with the confusion. The CMs were helpful and fair, even if guests were unhappy. I'm guessing that early mornings aren't the best time for anyone ;-)
5. BTM looked like it needed some TLC. While the Fastpass refurb completed early this week, the ride itself was down much of our time in the DL park. We noticed a number of patches to the tracks (some cable holding the end portion of the track together), and many surfaces clearly need work. A few of the effects were down too, so this Winter's rework is timely.
We also noticed that Splash was down more than usual, but a few cooler days made it a much less important part of our trip. I'm guessing that Splash will be up for refurb in the next year or two, as it also needs some paint/cleanup.
Space Mountain was also down for extended periods (and the cameras were down for our last few days). It was otherwise in great condition, and we rode this many times (it's my fav).
We spoke to a number of CMs who confirmed the expected Innoventions work. One CM (at the hotel) suggested he had heard that it was scheduled to be shut down permanently in the new year, but after that no firm plans had been made. Walking through Innoventions, it was clear that it is ready for something (many broken exhibits).
6. DLH thoughts. I have to say that the DLH was much better than expected. Combining the huge, pristine rooms (extra couch/bed, double sinks, and separate toilet) with the amazing service, I don't think we'll ever stay offsite again. Our only complaint was that the food at the Tangora Terrace was some of the worst we've experienced at any DL counter service. Trader Sam's (and Steakhouse 55), on the other hand were both superb.
Food overall was much improved over a few years ago. I'll try to focus my trip report on the food and DLH, as they're things I wanted to know before we left.
7. Fastpass enforcement. We didn't see any Fastpass end time enforcement on our trip for us or anyone else, and we used a number of our passes after the end time (due to parades, a sick kid, meals, etc.). We also asked a two different CMs about it, and they said that they had not been told to enforce end times, and that they hadn't heard about it coming up. These CMs may not have been allowed to talk about it or they may have just not heard about it. One CM manager we spoke to (at the DLH bar) had heard about enforcement, but had no details (he did suggest that he thought they should be enforced personally, but only because it was more fair overall).
