My Disneyland Resort Report...

[Owlzindabarn]

Went to Disneyland Resort on Friday the 27th. Pretty crowded but not too. We went to California Adventure briefly and then on to Disneyland around 2pm. That was my first trip to California Adventure. We didn't have a chance to see much. I did enjoy the Toy Story interactive ride. It's a big hit with everyone, young and old. I scored about 200,000 on my first try hehehe. I went on that "Orange Swing" ride (can't remember what it's called). It was fairly good. I was with my five-year-old grand-niece. She wanted to see the High School Musical show and was p.o.'ed because she thought she was going to see Zac Efron in person, not an imposter.

We ate at that flight-themed restaurant. Disaster! Total mess. It's completely uncoordinated. Horrible, horrible place to try and eat. Not only is it severely over-priced, but the wait in line was over 30 minutes~! The food is bad, the selection is bad. There was no place to sit. People were "reserving" tables while other family members waited in line. So while some families were sitting there at tables with no food, other families had their food and had no place to sit!

On to Disneyland. That was the first time I'd been in Sleeping Beauty's castle since it closed, ages ago. They did a nice job of restoring it! I hope they keep it open forever this time. It was wonderful walking around in there, after so many years. Many of the old-school special effects were restored. However, they still left out that "bottomless well" that I loved so much as a kid.

I have to say that a trip to Disneyland is not as easy as it used to be. The crowd control has become impossible. Everyone was complaining. I know the crowd control personnel have jobs to do--they have to make sure the parades get through and that the guests remain safe. However, it seems likely that a great degree of rudeness is permitted on their part. VERY un-Disney like. They rope off parade routes about an hour before the events take place. They constantly harass and corral the guests. Lots of shouting takes place. If people just want to walk across the park to see a certain attraction elsewhere--they have to go through hell to do it. It's impossible to navigate the park normally anymore. And there's so many events during the day, that it's almost a constant annoyance trying to go where you want to go. The worst is during the fireworks because they rope off most of Fantasyland, leaving crying kids and cranky parents confused and bewildered.

The fireworks show itself is a masterpiece. The 'works are now all themed around Disney concepts and characters. There's a "Pirates" section a "Haunted Mansion" section, etc. Tinkerbell doesn't just float down from her vantage point anymore--she goes back up, flies around, does all kinds of aerial aerobics. Great stuff!

Went on the updated Small World. I was very, very worried that they'd ruined the attraction because as you know--they've added classic Disney characters to the mix. Not so! The attraction still retains its flavor. The Disney dolls meld nicely amongst the older figures. A lot was made of the re-scored soundtrack. Quite honestly, I could barely notice the added "Disney" songs--there's too much background noise anyway.

All in all--a pretty good trip. I just wish Disneyland would be less spazzy. There's too many organized events and way too much rude crowd control going on. I suppose if your only motivation for going to the park is to see a bunch of parades--fine. But for the rest of us who want to stroll the park or see the rides--forget it. You're just going to get corralled and pushed around all day. Disneyland needs to RELAX so that the guests can enjoy themselves as they want.

[dizfan]

While I think your take on getting around the park is a bit over the top, I am glad you had an over all good trip.

You are right on about the fireworks! Unfortunatley, Disneyland is getting new fireworks this summer and yet another new fireworks show next year. The new ones might be good, but I just love the current ones so much!

[bradhig]

Disney World was just as bad parades on Main Street left and right and a bunch of shows in front of the castle only got to go through it once or twice didn't get to see Cinderella in it cause of all the shows.

[Owlzindabarn]

Well, it would probably uglify the parks too much, but they should create pedestrian tunnels or ramps so that people can simply get around those pesky parades.

Sometimes I love the parades; sometimes I think they're just kinda dumb. The one I saw last Friday...all I recall from it really is Peter Pan and Wendy dancing around on top of a float singing songs from "Hairspray." I don't really understand the logic of that.

[goofystitch]

That's not a parade! It's their celebration street party. And yeah, you can't cross the road when a parade is coming through. That's common sense. I hate when people get so angry at Disney for having entertainment. You know how to avoid it? Grab a times guide on your way in and just don't be on Main Street when its happening. It's not hard to do. Don't blame Disneyland for providing a fun time for their guests and making you 5 minutes late for your Fastpass. That's your fault, not theirs. The other guests who wanted to participate obviously knew about it, or they wouldn't have needed to rope off the route before hand. And all of the lands are connected, so you have the option of going behind the castle to get to other lands.

The parade audience control cast members aren't there to harass you. If they seemed rude, its because a guest was being rude to them. I've seen guests scream at them and swear at them and it looks like a very stressful job. But they have safety regulations to go by, so if they tell you that you can't stand in a certain spot, just listen to them and move. Don't give them a hard time about it. Its not their fault that you didn't plan your day in the park better.

[goofystitch]

bradhig wrote:

Disney World was just as bad parades on Main Street left and right and a bunch of shows in front of the castle only got to go through it once or twice didn't get to see Cinderella in it cause of all the shows.

You can go around the back and still see the mosaics and get to the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique, but I think you are mistaken. You can only meet Cinderella IN the castle if you have prepaid reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table, the restaurant on the second floor. The only other way to meet her in the Magic Kingdom is the way you did in Toontown.

[bradhig]

That was our first trip to Disney World we didn't know there would be that much entertainment on main street. It's gonna be a while before we get back there couple years maybe.

[Owlzindabarn]

That's not a parade! It's their celebration street party. And yeah, you can't cross the road when a parade is coming through. That's common sense. I hate when people get so angry at Disney for having entertainment. You know how to avoid it? Grab a times guide on your way in and just don't be on Main Street when its happening. It's not hard to do. Don't blame Disneyland for providing a fun time for their guests and making you 5 minutes late for your Fastpass. That's your fault, not theirs. The other guests who wanted to participate obviously knew about it, or they wouldn't have needed to rope off the route before hand. And all of the lands are connected, so you have the option of going behind the castle to get to other lands.

The parade audience control cast members aren't there to harass you. If they seemed rude, its because a guest was being rude to them. I've seen guests scream at them and swear at them and it looks like a very stressful job. But they have safety regulations to go by, so if they tell you that you can't stand in a certain spot, just listen to them and move. Don't give them a hard time about it. Its not their fault that you didn't plan your day in the park better.

Don't yell at me. How's that?

[bradhig]

Alright I saying I didn't know there was that much going on at the parks. How do you guys find the characters?

[goofystitch]

When you grab a park map, there is a Mickey hand icon where characters can be found. On the times guides at each park, they also list when a large amount of characters are going to be out and where. Some places have characters throughout the day, such as Toontown at the Magic Kingdom and The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Other areas receive frequent visits, such as characters from Peter Pan in Adventureland and Belle and the Beast in France at Epcot. If you have any characters that you want to meet in particular, its a good idea to ask a character attendant. They wear yellow and are usually near other characters. They know more about what characters are around and where and will be able to direct you to where you want to be for those coveted photo ops.

Owlzindabarn wrote:

Don't yell at me. How's that?

I didn't type it in all caps and wasn't trying to yell at you. But Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom have always had parades. They have always roped off the streets. This is nothing new. I've seen cast members kindly explain to guests that they can walk behind the castle to get to Tomorrowland if they are in a hurry only to have the guests flip them off and tell them to go "f" themselves. Their job is to keep guests and the performers safe and having people run all over the place when 2 ton floats are on their way down the street is not at all safe. If the ropes are up, don't cross them and if they tell you that you can't cross and have to go around to get to the other side, it isn't the end of the world. One time I saw a woman say she was never coming back because of this. People get so heated when they are told that they can't do something at Disneyland and they need to lighten up. They are in the happiest place on earth.

[Owlzindabarn]

My dear friend, I have been to Disneyland Resort approximately 120 times--which correlates to roughly four months of my life spent at the Magic Kingdom. I know Disneyland better than some of the people working there. After all, I've spent more time there than they have.

During the parades and event, the areas were being roped off well in advance. Some 30-40 minutes before these events, they were already closing down streets and jamming up thousands of hot, tired people with little kids. I had a five-year-old child with me who just wanted to see Small World; the Small World queue began no more than 20 feet from where we were standing and yet--with the parade still a good half-hour from its start--we weren't allowed to cross the street without a major hassle from the crowd control workers. (They must have thought my five year old niece was going to start some kind of stampede). I assert that I was not being rude in the slightest; the crowd control personnel were incredibly touchy that particular day. I maintain that they all seem to have adopted trigger-fire personalities. They were trying very hard, almost militaristically, to keep those crowds at bay--screaming things like MOVE MOVE and PEOPLE: YOU MUST STAY BEHIND THE ROPE at the tops of their lungs. I understand that they have a job to do--it's the way they were doing it that I have a problem with. In the past, I've seen the crowd control people as helpful, smiling persons--they were doing their jobs, but doing them nicely and unobtrusively. Nowadays those same workers having taken on the personalities of hyperactive college football players. They seemed to have forgotten the Disney image. And I think that's sad.

If guests get p.o.'ed because they can't do something they'd like to do at Disneyland, keep in mind that they paid an incredible amount of money to get in, and have rights that are being infringed upon. Disneyland needs to check the personalities of its crowd control workers.

You must think I'm some crazy bat out of hell, trying to trash Disneyland. But again--I've been going there regularly for 40 years this summer. I know when the workers are being rude or not.[/i]

[goofystitch]

I agree that the situation you experienced must have been frustrating. I think a lot of it has to do with the expansion of the College Program at Disneyland. A lot of the employees now are only there for 4 months and don't fully understand the heritage and the high standards that guests hold Disney accountable to.

I think the other part of it is the management, which has been scaled back (450 managers were laid off between Disneyland and Disney World two weeks ago), so a lot of the cast members have become over stressed and uptight. I know that Disney needs to cut back to continue making money during this recession, but I have a problem with it when it impacts the guest experience. Personally, I think the executives should have taken pay cuts and I blame Jay Rosulo, president of Disney Parks and Resorts. I really think they need a turnover in executive positions because he is running the parks into the ground.

[Owlzindabarn]

I agree with everything you said. Those may very well be the cause of the crankiness I noticed last week. My most previous trip was I think Fall of 2007; didn't hear anybody yelling that day. It was a perfect day. So I think it's pretty much a recent (unfortunate) development.

Management also must begin to understand that the majority of Disneyland guests are going to be repeat customers, who bring friends, children and eventually grandchildren to the park. I say I've been going there for 40 years (I was about four my first time) and my family'd been going there since about 1958. Now I'm taking my two year old grand-nephew to the park. Also, management needs to know that I have a long memory and I do remember the service I enjoyed upon earlier visits to the park. All thru the 70s and 80s I never saw any of the workers lose their cool. They sure do now...

[Escapay]

Regarding the PAC castmembers roping off the streets up to an hour before the parade starts, it's partly a crowd-control thing and partly a safety thing. In my experience, guests will still often cross the ropes because they know that the parade's not coming for awhile, but that's generally frowned upon. Heck, not even castmembers are allowed to cross the ropes unless they're on the PAC shift.

Parades are always a b!tch for anyone, be it castmember or guest. While onstage it seems like an inconvenience that a guest has to walk an extra couple minutes to get to Splash Mountain because an area's roped off, they don't realize that castmembers also get the short end of the stick. In addition to us being roped off from certain areas (not even castmembers are allowed to cross ropes unless they're on the PAC shift), there are certain backstage areas that are suddenly inaccessible to us, necessitating that we take long ways around it, or that we cross lands and hope we're not caught.

For example, in the summer of 2006, one of the elevators from the utilidor to a Main Street entrance was out of commission for the week, necessitating that whenever a castmember with a dolly or cart needed to get somewhere, they had to do it onstage rather than take shortcuts in the tunnels. Needless to say, this was a pain in the ass during the afternoons and evenings when the parades were getting prepped. If a vendor in Frontierland called in an order for soda and ice cream, the stocker at the ODF garage (which is behind Tomorrowland's Galaxy Palace Theatre) would have to take a long round-about way from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland to Liberty Square to Frontierland because much of Main Street is blocked and crowded, and so the onstage way of Main Street to Adventureland (or Liberty Square) to Frontierland was cut off due to parades and guests.

Also, to address the whole "PAC castmembers yelling at guests", they're one of the few types of castmembers allowed to yell at guests, and for a few reasons. The main reason is that they need the guests' attention, as guests themselves will really only pay attention to themselves and not the other guests. So having a PAC castmember courteously say "Excuse me, can you please move away from the ropes?" will get no result, but if a PAC castmember yells "Folks, please move away from the ropes! Stay on your side of the ropes!", the guests will more likely hear and obey them. I'm sorry that the Disneyland ones sounded a bit rude, but as goofystitch said, it's likely due to Disneyland CP's not fully understanding the importance of their role and what it means to guests and treating it like any other job. At WDW (at least in my experience), when PAC castmembers yell, they do it in a more friendly tone.

The harsh reality is that in all theme parks, be it Disney or otherwise, guests are cattle. They move about freely wherever they wish, but when it's necessary to keep them in one area or move them out of an area, the castmembers will do what they have to to herd them where they need to be. I know it sounds a bit demeaning to guests, but that's the way it is, mainly if it's guests who don't know their way around and simply follow the crowds.

The only difference is at Disney, when we yell, we'll do it with a smile and a trademarked "Have a Magical Day!". And, of course, castmembers know what we really mean half the time when we say that wonderful four-word sentence.

albert

[Owlzindabarn]

I believe you; I"m just saying that over time the cast member/guest policies seem to have disintegrated. For whatever reason, I do know that the crowd control people were never, never, never as intrusive as they were last week. It's just a very different atmosphere at that park lately.