With 3 days left my verdict is in

[auntiedot]

I am leaving early tomorrow morning for DL from Massachusetts, a real long way to go to enjoy an "amusement park". We have been to DW numerous times and DL a couple of times and have enjoyed both for different reasons. In my opinion, people do too much planning about what they want to "accompllish" on their vacation and lose sight of the fact that it is a vacation. If a ride is down, move on to the next one. Can't get into a specific restaurant, oh well, it's not your last meal on earth (hopefully). It is costing me a small fortune (can't take it with me attitude) to take my granddaughter to DL and we will have fun no matter what is closed. Her happiness is all that matters..

 

[ttfn2u2pooh]

I'm so sorry to hear that things have not lived up to your expectations. However, to be perfectly to the point... Suck it up, put your big girl panties on and find some joy and fun for the sake of your kids. Don't spoil the trip for them because a few things have not going according to your plan. Things happen and yes, it sucks but 10 years down the road, is your attitude and actions during this trip really how you want your kids to remember Disneyland?? I would hope not.

Each day is a new one and only you can make it out to be a great day full of fun, laughter and endless joy for your family.

Good luck on the rest of your vacation. I hope it goes better from here on out.

 

[bbangel]

I'm sorry that you are having an overall bad experience. Hopefully that will get better. I know how hard it can be to do so much planning and then feel like it is all falling apart through no fault of your own. Just remember it likely isn't anyone's fault - stuff happens.

Reminds me of the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". You are on vacation - give yourself permission to enjoy it - including all the things that seem to go wrong.

 

[disneyfan67]

.

 

[Scaramedic]

You know a few years ago we had a big brush fire that stretched across I-5 and they had to close the highway both directions for about two hours. This of course had to happen on a very, very hot day, for Washington which means like 90. We had Medics walking in this heat carrying bags of bottled water to give to the elderly, the sick, children and people whose vehicles had no AC.

I would not even consider typing the names they were called and the insults they endured from people. People who were mad the highway was closed and people who thought they should get water even though it was limited and they were sitting in air conditioned cars. They thought these Medics were there personal valets and they peppered good people trying to help with outrageous complaints and insults.

What is my point?

The CM's are doing the best they can. They can only pass on what they know. The CM''s have no control over what is closed and when it will be closed. Things happen and life is full of inconveniences, but anger is never the answer.

Take a deep breath, enjoy the sun, the rides that are up, and not being in New York.

"big girl panties"

 

[BELLEDOZER]

Let's face it...no matter what time of year you go to DL, it's going to be inevitable that rides are going to either breakdown,or be in refurbishment. It's a part of life in any park of the size in DL and larger. When I go to DL in Sept POTC, my fav ride is going to be down for refurbishment. Will I let this ruin my trip...NO. You have to take things in stride and concentrate on making the most of what little time you have there, and enjoy it to it's fullest. Trips in general are what you make of them, and I refuse to let the little annoyances, and inconveniences take away from my DL experience. Have I encountered rude CM's...YES, but the ones that have really made our trips special have far outweighed the bad ones.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

I find you have to roll with the punches on vacation. You can try and plan your day out to the minute, but be prepared for plan B. You still have lots of time left. Try to make the best of it.

 

[HydroGuy]

First off the OP has a right to his opinion and I knew he was going to get lambasted. It doesn't matter if it's the WDW section, Universal Orlando, or the DL section of these boards, I have been around long enough here to know that some fans don't like their favorite park dissed. The end result is always the same. He has a right to his opinion and I don't see why anyone has to make it their mission to hammer him into pulp. To each their own though.

Having said that, I wanted to strongly disagree with your knock off statement of MK in Florida. Couldn't be further from the truth and that property, design of the park, and it's advanced features most of which are underground, were the product of Walt Disney himself. He wanted to improve on the mistakes and lessons learned from building DL and he did. It's a damn shame he didn't live a few years longer to see it opened. When you say knockoff that usually means a cheap copy and I could see that being applied to Hong Kong DL, but not MK in WDW. You will never see in your lifetime a park built with monorail resorts and transportation system surrounding MK like you do in Florida. It was brilliantly designed and done by the same folks who did DL. Sadly, it would cost several billion dollars to do it today and that's just for one park. We will never see a project of that scale ever again.


Both DL and MK in Florida have their charm and style and both dreamt and designed by the man who the park is named for. Why not just enjoy the beauty of both and realize how lucky we are to have them?

He has a right to his opinion. But so does everyone else here. The OP has zero credibility IMO because the OP has not taken the time to develop it. The OP just takes a shortcut and says "DLR sucks". Give me a break.

I would much prefer an informed WDW vet with a balanced view who uses their hard earned credibility to critique DLR. I love the debate and different perspective. The OP has failed to do this. It has very little to do with one's favorite park being dissed and everything to do with the approach and attitude of the one making the critique.

 

[nunzia]

First off the OP has a right to his opinion and I knew he was going to get lambasted. It doesn't matter if it's the WDW section, Universal Orlando, or the DL section of these boards, I have been around long enough here to know that some fans don't like their favorite park dissed. The end result is always the same. He has a right to his opinion and I don't see why anyone has to make it their mission to hammer him into pulp. To each their own though.

Having said that, I wanted to strongly disagree with your knock off statement of MK in Florida. Couldn't be further from the truth and that property, design of the park, and it's advanced features most of which are underground, were the product of Walt Disney himself. He wanted to improve on the mistakes and lessons learned from building DL and he did. It's a damn shame he didn't live a few years longer to see it opened. When you say knockoff that usually means a cheap copy and I could see that being applied to Hong Kong DL, but not MK in WDW. You will never see in your lifetime a park built with monorail resorts and transportation system surrounding MK like you do in Florida. It was brilliantly designed and done by the same folks who did DL. Sadly, it would cost several billion dollars to do it today and that's just for one park. We will never see a project of that scale ever again.


Both DL and MK in Florida have their charm and style and both dreamt and designed by the man who the park is named for. Why not just enjoy the beauty of both and realize how lucky we are to have them?

Well...I think you are taking that statement a tad too seriously. Walt and DLR hardcore fans (like me) see Disneyland as a real tribute to Walt, even though of course he had a big hand in WDW, DL was truly his baby, one he risked everything to create. The basics of DL are ORIGINAL to that park, so WDW Magic Kingdom is a knock off/copy/inspired by, what have you. I have heard that Disneyland is for purists, Disneyworld is for tourists..just saying..I think both parks have plenty of fans and magic, but some prefer one, for their own reasons, while others prefer the other, again, for their own reasons. We went to WDW once..about 17 years ago and it was a huge comedy of errors with horrific weather and just an odd feel the whole time. We totally missed Illuminations because we thought we had the right viewing area, but clearly didn't, as we saw nothing. My kids never want to go back, and DH and I have decided 2013 may be the time.
The OP really did seem to have a negative view and when you are negative you generally get what you expect. I'd rather they close things then have an accident..wouldn't you? As another poster said, things close for a variety of reasons and not every CM who is stationed by a ride will be privvy to what is going on, and yes Disney does like to keep the magic and not spell it all out ("well...Indy is closed because a kid threw up on the rope bridge and just as soon as we clean that up we'll re-open). Really?
Anyway...no matter what is going on you can find magic if you look..it's all in the outlook and I hope the OP for the sake of his kid's memory museum, will lighten up and make THEIR day..A parent can make as much magic for their kids as any CM.

 

[Huff]

He wanted to improve on the mistakes and lessons learned from building DL and he did.

I tend to agree that MK is a knock off of the original and lacks much character and attention to detail. Two major things stand out to me to back that up. First, Pirates. MK's was shortened considerably I assume for cost savings. Second is Fantasyland. Tents vs. themed buildings. Look at DL's IASW well themed enterance compared with MK's knock off attempt. Again, I assume to save money. I don't see the improvements to FL or POTC!

That said, I love WDW just as much as DLR, MK included. Different parks, different vacations and just as magical.

 

[jernysgirl]

First off the OP has a right to his opinion and I knew he was going to get lambasted. It doesn't matter if it's the WDW section, Universal Orlando, or the DL section of these boards, I have been around long enough here to know that some fans don't like their favorite park dissed. The end result is always the same. He has a right to his opinion and I don't see why anyone has to make it their mission to hammer him into pulp. To each their own though.

Ok, usually I try to avoid threads such as this like the plague, but I do somewhat agree with you that the OP has a right to his own opinion. However, I don't think that you were the only one that knew he was going to get "lambasted". I think that the OP knew that they would as well. I mean, who gets onto a Disneyland fanatics board and says "Disneyland sucks" and does not expect people to disagree?

Of course people don't like to hear someone else saying how horrible something is that they love. I don't like to hear it, I don't like to say it to others. I think that many of the people on this board are simply trying to defend something that they love, not hammer the OP into a pulp. So yes, to each their own, as you say.

And to the OP, I as well, pass on my apologies that you have had to experience such un-magical things on your vacation. Unfortunately, for EVERY single one us, we hold Disney to such high standards that when they fail to achieve them it seems like even more of a disappointment than usual. I have experienced some of the things you have encountered and it does upset me at times. But you do have to remember to try to look past the people to see the magic and pixie dust underneath all that.

I don't know anything else about your trip, your opinions and I personally don't want to spend the time researching previous posts (no offense to anyone intended), I just want to tell you sorry on behalf of the park. I am sure that Disneyland was never intended to be a place that caused heartache, disappointment and stress. A great quote from the man that created all this, Walt Disney: "All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."

Take the adversity of your vacation and use it as a learning experience for next time, whatever that may be for you. I hope that the rest of your vacation is sprinkled with pixie dust, happiness and enjoyment!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

If you have a smartphone, there's a really simple solutions to trekking all the way across the park only to find a ride closed. Load the free Mousewait app on your phone. It shows ride wait times and closures in real-time. We were at DL this past Thurs, Fri and Sat and Mousewait was great. We always checked the status of rides before walking a long distance. If something was closed, we would make an alternate plan and keep checking until it showed as being open. Since the users enter the wait times, we updated the status on rides several times ourselves. It's like a little community of people who help each other get the most out of the parks. They also have a message board area where people post pictures and little news items about what's going on. I learned about Friday's Screamin' closure and what caused it while standing in line for Little Mermaid and reading Mousewait.

 

[bumbershoot]

Why not just enjoy the beauty of both and realize how lucky we are to have them?

I hope the OP is able to get to that place.

The whole Matterhorn thing was Disneylands fault. I did my job and called. They assured me it would be open.

This happens at WDW too. You should NEVER have believed a random CM, any random CM, who works the front lines, IF they said that it would absolutely be open. They have NO way of knowing. They aren't told. Companies just don't tell their front line people big important things until it's absolutely set in motion.

Oh and don't tell me Disneyland didnt know The ride is going through a major rehab. They new far in advance.

Sure, I bet some CMs knew. I bet the maintenance people knew it was coming down the pike, I bet some bigwigs knew. But until it was published in the info for the front-line CMs, they have no way of knowing. Someone said you're from NY...knowing how street smart NYers like to be (my mom was from NY, though not the city), I'm stunned that you felt that the lowest-rung employees would be told something like this in advance.

Oh and here is another example one day we were near Big Thunder. It was under supposed routine maintence. If that the case why doesnt Disneyland just say between 2-3 ride will be closed. No they never know when it will be back up. If its routine they should have a time frame. The kicker is. My wife went to CM at ride and asked for 3rd time when it will be back up. She had no idea. As my wife is telling me this. Which was not even 10 seconds after question was asked,hoards of people start rushing in because ride is open again. If that doesn't make your blood boil then your not human.

They *call it* routine maintenance. They do it at WDW, too. Oh, it's down for a bit for routine maintenance. They don't EVER tell you what is happenING. You might find out later what happenED, maybe.

They don't give you a time estimate because *they do not know*. And to expect them to know AND to tell you what they know is to bring bad feelings on yourself. It was an inappropriate expectation to bring to Disney (land, world, any Disney!) that they will be totally open with their guests. They won't, and we shouldn't expect it.

While they were answering your question, the CM being talked to didn't know. And then they knew otherwise. Thank goodness you were right there!

Oh and don't let me get started on the biggest secret of how to get 8 day park hopper. How we called 5 times to make sure we would be on exception list whatever that is. How disneyland doesn't avertise this. How when we got to ticketbooth. The guy has no idea what we were talking about.45 minutes later after getting a supervisor. They found our name in the secret list. How magical.

While I'm glad you updated this...I still have a problem with this supposed secret list. I wish you'd never dug so deep as to find out about this thing (that none of the DLR vets have any idea about), because if you'd just lowered your days in the parks (giving yourself a break day is always a good idea with small children at a new place!) or bought an AP, you wouldn't have had this stress.

And I bet Guest Relations would have been a better place to go rather than a ticketbooth.

 

[TeddiBarra]

Tino, sorry to hear you have had a frustrating visit. We went last month, and it was by far the most frustrating day or two (out of three) I've had in a long, long time.

Don't write off DLR completely. Rethink a trip in the future (if you want) during a slower time of the year. FWIW, I LOVE the disney parks, and can do them in virtually any and every circumstance and time of year- honestly, the summer crowds are different- that and the "heat" (don't laugh WDWlovers) can add to the stress and make it less enjoyable overall. It seems this has been a tough week overall- millions of people come to the parks every year and not matter how good the upkeep things do happen- even a lot. These "things" happen alot more during the summer, IMO just from the long hours and full capacity (nature of the best).

 

[blackjackdelta]

First off the OP has a right to his opinion and I knew he was going to get lambasted. It doesn't matter if it's the WDW section, Universal Orlando, or the DL section of these boards, I have been around long enough here to know that some fans don't like their favorite park dissed. The end result is always the same. He has a right to his opinion and I don't see why anyone has to make it their mission to hammer him into pulp. To each their own though.

Having said that, I wanted to strongly disagree with your knock off statement of MK in Florida. Couldn't be further from the truth and that property, design of the park, and it's advanced features most of which are underground, were the product of Walt Disney himself. He wanted to improve on the mistakes and lessons learned from building DL and he did. It's a damn shame he didn't live a few years longer to see it opened. When you say knockoff that usually means a cheap copy and I could see that being applied to Hong Kong DL, but not MK in WDW. You will never see in your lifetime a park built with monorail resorts and transportation system surrounding MK like you do in Florida. It was brilliantly designed and done by the same folks who did DL. Sadly, it would cost several billion dollars to do it today and that's just for one park. We will never see a project of that scale ever again.


Both DL and MK in Florida have their charm and style and both dreamt and designed by the man who the park is named for. Why not just enjoy the beauty of both and realize how lucky we are to have them?

A knock off is something that someone tried and copied as best they could. Walt had a concept that was it. I have an who worked for Walt for many years, 3 years a a writer while WDW was being designed. There is no original Disney anything, and was not done by the same folks who did
Disneyland, there were some key players and that was it. Most asked "what would walt do".

I have never experienced WDW since my family does not care to go there, so we are left with the original. I am really tired of comparisons of the two they are very different. In my Opinion let those who come in Dising say it on the WDW board...

Jack

 

[Tino]

WOW, I knew the Disneyland sucks comment would get peoples attention but not have people go off on me in such an insulting manner. Um Hydroguy while I read many of your threads and they were helpful and I know everyone loves you here,please don't say I have zero credibility. It's an Amusement Park not rocket science. I am not trying to tell anyone not to go. I have the right to my opinion. I have been hear 6 night so far and I think Disneyworld is better. That's all I don't need to go 100 times to earn the right to form an opinion. My wife is having a good time. My kids would rather be at HOJOS. Me like I said I am having a stressful good time. Does Disneyland suck , NO do I think Disneyworld is better yes. Is the weather better than Florida, yes. But apparently I have to be a Disney Vet to be respected. I was just a guy who booked a vacation for his family. Came on these boards to talk, get help, vent, for the people analizing my posts, maybe you have the problem. My opinion doesn't count fine but I will say this. Peter pan is horrible in Disneyland as compared to World. Pirates far superior in DL. Small world DL. RAPIDS DW. DINOSAUR VS INDY, INDY WINS. Snowwhite scary adventure DW. HAUNTED MANSION DW.CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE is a mess. Disneyland has more characters roaming or signing. Felt too congested in Disneyland. Don't like being packed in like that. More wiggle room in Magic Kingdom. Not sure yet on Fantasmic doing dessert seating tonight. Oh Alladin was great. Star tours over rated. My kids love new Ariel ride. Tinkerbell meet and greet was an hour wait just to see tinkerbell and some guy fairy. Big disappointment. Tangled meet and greet is always like a 60 to 90 minute wait. Surfer up with mickey breakfast was fun. Ariels grotto lunch with princess was rushed. I guess its my fault they over book. Did notice the other morning the fast pass machines were spitting out fast passes before my printed return time window. Happened to me all day. Not sure why. I mean at least a half hour before not 2 minutes. But anyway I will get blasted again or they will shut thread down because you know why would anyone want to have a heated discussion. Everything has to be happy. When that's just not reality. All this doesnt matter because I have 0 credibility. Last I checked there are no college courses offered that have anything to do with Disneyland.

 

[FlameGirl]

Tino - I really wanted to read all that but holy crap. Paragraph breaks are your friends.

 

[Tino]

I know sorry. I am in bed on my cell typing it. Wife sleeping kids sleeping. Trying to rush through it. I don't know how we are getting up for our magic morning in a few hours. Again sorry.

 

[Kalice]

A bad day in Disney (land or world) is better than a good day most other places.

 

[NStramler]

Guess we all have our own opinions... My family loves Disneyland but can not stand Disney World... They are both "Disney" but so different.. We spent 2 weeks at Disney World a couple of years ago and could not wait to get home to Disneyland... I am not going to say it is bad.. what I will say is it is not the place we want to be..
I could write about quite a few things that happened at Disney World that were far from good but what is the point? Just because it happened to us does not mean it will happen to you...
We are all adults... get over it! I for one, refuse to let a few negative things spoil my vacation.. Just be grateful that you have the opportunity to be someplace with your spouse and children... that in itself is enough to make it a great vacation!!!!