Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of <a href="http://www.LaughingPlace.com/Latest-ID-76181.asp" target="_blank"><b>Latest: MiceAge: Annual Passholders, Holiday Numbers, Much More</b></a> <p>MiceAge.com's latest update from Al Lutz has tons of info and rumors on the hectic Christmas week, DCA construction updates, Esplanade rumors, a geyser for the Disneyland Hotel, Matterhorn bobsled changes, possible major changes to the Annual Passholder program</p>
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Changing the APs to a never ending membership fee similar to health clubs...will I need to read the fine print? ALso wonder how they will control non-guests hanging out in the Grand lobby to keep the cruise-line resort guests happy and spending. When they first opened security was at the entrance by Sephora and you had to show your roomkey. That did not last very long but security was always present in the lobby. One guard actually approached my niece to ask if she was a resort guest. She was...
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS I would think that unless they make the hotel a private exclusive club-like hotel, they don't have the right to ask you if you are a guest or not. The Grand offers a gift shop, a bar, and many restaurants that not only hotel guests use. I'm sure the spa turning down business if you aren't a hotel guest would decrease income. They stand to lose a lot of business if they start questioning why you are walking through the hotel. However, I can somewhat understand the need for the lobby to be guest accessible at peak times. There are many park visitors who enjoy lounging in a chair by the fire with a glass of wine or just to hear the hotel entertainment - I'm not sure how that issue could be solved.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I think that the DTD and DCA entrances should be exclusive to DLR hotel guests only. These are easy perks to provide and make tourists who are paying top dollar and don't have the opportunity to visit the place every weekend feel special.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I would think that unless they make the hotel a private exclusive club-like hotel, they don't have the right to ask you if you are a guest or not. >>> Sure they do. It's private property. They can absolutely control who is or is not allowed in any part of the hotel. Practical, business, and guest relations reasons will dictate what they do, not what rights they have. I'm not sure that an influx of cruise passengers that are also staying at the GCH will be as big of a problem as Al implies. The hotel will have no more guests once DCL is on the west coast than it has now when it's at 100% occupancy, which is not unusual. I wonder what the real problem is considered to be: The Hearthstone Lounge can sometimes get crowded. Do they have people sitting in there ordering nothing, or just a single drink then occupying space for a few hours? If that's a problem, then a cover charge for non-hotel guests during peak periods only would solve the problem. The hardest problem to solve would be the lobby. I can see how more and more resort regulars would pick that as a meeting spot, as it's inside and by far the most comfortable place that's open to the public and near the entrance. Does it really turn into a zoo on high attendance days so much so that it's a problem?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I think the real issue is that Disney doesn't want to piss anyone off so they simply stopped excluding non-hotel guests from using the DTD entrance. One or two too many big mouthed self entitled guests making a stink because they don't have a room key but want to visit the lobby without walking around to the front of the building and "poof" the DTD security detail was dropped.
Originally Posted By Manfried I just read Al's five wishes for this year and am going to pick them apart: "No. 5: I wish... (should Disneyland decide to do hard ticket Christmas parties) that they will keep the current fireworks and parade for the regular admission crowds, even if it's on a reduced schedule. If people are going to pay extra for Christmas give them something new to see and enjoy." Sorry Al, but I think Disney should do more hard ticket events. They make financial and enjoyment sense. "No. 4: I wish... that Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton would join ex-Disneyland President Ed Grier in the world of academia. (Yes, she is really the president, and No, we don't have a clue as to what she actually does out there.)" Now that one is meaner than many of my posts here. "No. 3: I wish... they would finally get serious about Disneyland's Tomorrowland. And yes, that means saying no to Tron." I'm sorry Al, that means saying yes to Tron. Please. "No. 2: I wish... that the D23 fan club would get a new president and business mission: Former Disneyland President Matt Ouimet's skillset is much better suited to dealing with the company's most loyal/demanding customers. A consolidation of D23 with other consumer focused units such as Disney Movie Rewards would better balance revenues and unify the company's brand loyalty efforts." This one makes business sense, but only if they get rid of the Disney Geek. "And finally, at No. 1: I wish... that Bob Iger would let his creatives do their jobs. He has some of the best people on the planet working for him. Rather than second guess them, he should be more focused on targeting problems and then marshalling the resources needed to fix them." Funny, I think he's actually doing that now, only with people who seem to have more of a pulse on what is popular with people now, not 30 years ago. Time to take a step back Al.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I'm sorry Al, that means saying yes to Tron. Please." Surely you jest. You really need to get a grip on your dislike of Al, Manfried. Seriously.
Originally Posted By Manfried Actually I think an attraction based on Tron would be a lot of fun. And why not put it in Tomorrowland? It would be a perfect fit.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance So the DCA entrance at the Grand is open to anyone now? That's stupid. I enjoyed getting to use that when we stayed at the DLH. It's almost to the point that staying on site at a DLR hotel is pointless.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Actually I think an attraction based on Tron would be a lot of fun.<< ... and have a shelf life of about 18 months. Which is ticking right now.
Originally Posted By Manfried If there was an attraction that made you feel like you were riding the light cycles, it would last awhile.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< So the DCA entrance at the Grand is open to anyone now? >>> No - where did you get that idea?
Originally Posted By TP2000 Part of Al's article has already come true. Last week parking at the hotels was $6 dollars per hour, from the first hour onward. It had been $6 dollars an hour at all the hotels for years and years, with a max rate of $30 per day. I saw the sign tonight pulling in to the Disneyland Hotel to get a cruise line brochure and did a double take. The new rates all of a sudden are suddenly much higher, as follows: 1st Hour - $15 2nd thru 6th Hours - $9 Max Rate $60 Per Day That's more than double the old rate for the first hour, and easily double the rate for a few hours of parking. Chatting with the girl in the booth on the way out, she said they were also now staffing the booths until the wee hours "until after last call at 1AM", when previously they closed the booths and opened the gate arms around 10PM effectively making it free hotel parking if you left late at night, or an hour after fireworks time. Someone is making big changes, that's for sure. I know people who park at the hotels and go to the parks, and they are in for a shock the next time they try and leave around 11PM and are facing a 40 or 50 dollar parking fee.
Originally Posted By TP2000 By the way, I'm not telling them what I know about the dramatic increase in parking charges. I always thought it a bit shifty of them to park at the hotels and walk in to the theme parks for the night, knowing the toll booths would be unstaffed when they returned late, effectively getting them free parking within an easy stroll of the parks. I can't wait to hear the howls this weekend when this stunt no longer works. TDA is catching on it seems.
Originally Posted By DlandDug The change that allowed non-hotel guests to enter the Grand Californian via Downtown Disney was made very early. I believe it was not driven by guest demand, but rather by economics. When the full Disneyland Resort opened in 2001, the GC and DtD opened in advance of DCA. Guests were allowed to explore everything, and grew accustomed to walking into the GC through the Moon Gate (that's the one next to Sephora). But when everything opened, security guards appeared and demanded guest keys to enter. The idea was to drive guests through the rest of DtD as they headed toward the entrance of DCA. But an unintended consequence was a drop in revenue for the hotel restaurants, especially Story Tellers. Indeed, as DCA began to flail, locations in DtD began to look more and more attractive. DtD was the only component of the Disneyland Resort that was largely successful in 2001. (Wolfgang Puck and Robert Mondavi were surely annoyed at their buddy Michael Eisner, who reserved three locations for the Patina Group in DtD, while foisting off two dud locations inside the theme park on them!) We knew that something was up when not only was the security check at the Moon Gate removed, but promotional material about the hotel was put out, to attract guests to the restaurants. And it's been open to the public ever since.
Originally Posted By SafariRob >>... and have a shelf life of about 18 months. Which is ticking right now.<< That is not necessarily true. Some attractions remain popular many years after the release date of the movies on which they were based. For example, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, based on The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), was already six years old when the ride opened with Disneyland. It is still popular today. 1949-2011=62 years since the movie came out. Here are more. Numbers are based on film release date, not attraction opening date: Tarzan's Treehouse (12 years since movie) Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin (23 years since movie) Peter Pan's Flight (58 years since movie) Alice in Wonderland (60 years since movie) Splash Mountain (65 years since movie "Song of the South") Dumbo/Casey Jr. Circus Train (70 years since movie) Pinocchio's Daring Journey (71 years since movie) Snow White's Scary Adventures (74 years since movie) No, I am not comparing Tron to Snow White, but a well-done attraction can remain timeless for many years. I would welcome a Light Cycle ride...or any Tron-based attraction to Tomorrowland. I would welcome ANY decent addition to Tomorrowland.
Originally Posted By Britain Don't they let you through the Grand's DCA gate if you have a receipt from Storytellers?
