Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Despite having to deal with a stop at EuroLines because some crazy spirit got his dates confused and bought Paris to Amsterdam tix for the wrong date (oops!), and a side trip to the giant outlet mall at Val d' Europe (one stop before DLP on the RER) to check out the DLP store there (had gotten loads of bargains last year, but nothing worth getting this time), we still arrived at DLP around 11 a.m. A quick walk under the hotel and we were back in the most beautiful MK of them all ... now, time for one of those patented Spirit side rants where he points out how bad something is at WDW by showing how it is nonexistent at DLP. What is it this time? Simple. Strollers. Anyone who knows me knows I despise them. Nothing says trash to me more than a triple wide parent pushing a double wide stroller thru one of the FLA parks, running up ankles, clogging up walkways and generally lowering the experience for others. Before all those selfish, lazy parents start attacking me over how much they're needed, all I can ask is why aren't they needed at DLP. Because there are no double-wides. And there are a fraction of the traditional singles as well. (Also the only people in ECV type vehicles clearly have a pronounced problem and it isn't an inability to pass up triple Whoppers at BK) Why is it that children walk at DLP? Again, I think it's something wrong in our culture. Something that has said 'if you want to rent a double-wide stroller to push around your fat, lazy 9-year-old, go right ahead.' Whereby in France, you'd be shamed by others. That shame reflex doesn't exist in the states ... anyway, rant over except to say my experience as a guest at a Disney theme park is greatly improved at parks like DLP where strollers aren't a nuisance all over and are only used for very, young children. Whew! I feel much better now. On with the trip observations. We hit the Liberty Arcade this day. It's an amazing little attraction in its own right showing the history of France's gift of Lady Liberty to the USA. It's one of many 'little' attractions that you enjoy at your pace ... things like Le Passage Enchante d' Aladdin ... or the Adventure Isle caves. They give a day at DLP depth, something you can't get at the MK. By the way, no Pooh's Playground or anything remotely like it at DLP ... guess European kids don't need to run around on plastic to run off steam. (MK shotmeter is off) After that we headed through the scenes depicting Aladdin's adventures before settling on Au Chalet de la Marionnette for lunch inside Fantasyland. The location is similar to Pinocchio themed dinning locations at both the MK and DL, only it's huge compared to the others. It also starts with a fairy-tale feel/theme on one side and transitions to a nautical themed seating area on the Adventureland side, which makes perfect transition for PoC right outside. Food was surprisingly good. My companion had a chicken dinner with fries and chocolate cake and I had some excellent tomato soup, great French bread and a side salad that was BIG. Getting that 10% AP discount helped. It was at this point that I realized I was eating fast-food at DLP for basically the first time in three visits. On all prior trips, I dined either exclusively full service or I grabbed a bite at Disney Village (usually McDonald's). I'd simply say the food was good, tasty and not THAT overpriced at all. It was at lunch that I started to notice the 'little' things that simply weren't right. Things that no 15th Anniversary banners can change. First, it was dark in our dining room. Now, the room is cavern-like with nautical lanterns hanging, so it's supposed to be on the dark side. But I counted no fewer than four of the lanterns had burned out bulbs. Then, when I went to toss our trash away (another rant: someone does need to teach Europeans of all nationalities that it is piggish and unacceptable to leave your trash on a table ... I don't want to hear the cultural excuses for boorish behavior. If you see trash cans and you see 70% of people using them, you can probably figure out what you're supposed to do) I saw there was all kind of food remnants on the ground near the trash can from butter pads to pieces of hot dog to fries. Since the can had a fresh, empty bag in it, it's obvious the CMs left the garbage on the floor ... that's unacceptable). After lunch, on to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Quickly Added Attractions. This had been closed on my 2006 visits, so it would be a first. It also was Disney's first coaster with a loop. Not a big deal now, but a biggie in the early 90s when Disney didn't 'do' rides like that. The wait said 15 minutes and didn't look that long, so I got in line. Along the way, you see various jungle props that Indy may have come across in a props department warehouse ... like tents, jeeps, mysterious sculptures etc ... The ride itself is nothing special. It's a fun little coaster. Mildly bumpy. The highlight for me, frankly, were the spectacular views of the rest of the park and the huge, vast, green fields you can see in the distance beyond the Disney resort property. After Indy I had wanted to see the interior of Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost, originally the Explorer's Club (think Adventurer's Club at PI meets the Tiki Room birds). But yet again, it was closed and locked. This was an ongoing theme as it appears that DLP simply has too many dining locations. At least this place is still ostensibly open, Restaurant Hakuna Matata (which sits on a huge chunk of prime A-Land real estate) isn't even listed on park maps, so it ostensibly doesn't exist anymore. Adventureland is also the land most in need of serious work. The pavement in most of the land simply needs replacing. There have been some patch jobs, but much of the area is plagued by huge holes. Also, areas that had rotting thatch last year simply had it pulled off leaving exposed wood beams ... apparently, DLP management believes no one will realize there's supposed to be thatch on top of it. Terrible show. We passed by the Silver Spur Steakhouse where we had a bad experience last year -- simply put the waiter delivered a lamb dish to my brother who had ordered a steak and when asked to get the right dish he returned 10 minutes later with a steak that had obviously been served to another guest who had taken a few bites and turned it back to the kitchen. Of course, this is something that would get any restaurant in the USA closed by the health department but apparently this isn't something Disney worries about. Since this was the same trip my dad came down with a very serious bout of food poisoning after dining at Walt's, one that likely should have required hospitalization according to the doctor that Disney itself sent to the room, and ended with me later having a shouting match with DLP Prez Karl Holz from my London hotel ... well, actually Karl did the shouting, I was much more reserved (with Disney Legal listening in for good measure), my brother just sent that steak back and ate a salad. We decided not to tempt fate again this time despite the fact we noticed a significant price drop to a 25 euro prix fix meal ... clearly, the current desire to push the price points higher by Holz, Kalogridis and their consultants is NOT working ... I heard countless comments about the 'ridiculous' prices ... many coming from Brits, who can obviously afford the food. To be continued ...
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo "After Indy I had wanted to see the interior of Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost, originally the Explorer's Club (think Adventurer's Club at PI meets the Tiki Room birds). But yet again, it was closed and locked. This was an ongoing theme as it appears that DLP simply has too many dining locations. At least this place is still ostensibly open, Restaurant Hakuna Matata (which sits on a huge chunk of prime A-Land real estate) isn't even listed on park maps, so it ostensibly doesn't exist anymore." That's news to me, they have fairly decent pizza and pasta options and is usually a hub of activity with African drummers or Jungle Book/Peter Pan/Lion King meet and greets. Very strange. That said, they sold off a lot of props at the old EC/Col Hathi's, just like they sold off the salad bar truck at Cafe Hyperion. The little things that used to matter.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 After lunch it was time to head over to DSP for a few hours. Why you ask? Good question. I wanted to check out the merchandise mix here and see if there was anything worth buying. As an aside, I had budgeted $1,000 for myself and gifts for others. I wound up spending somewhere around $150, which should tell you all you need to know about how the DLP merchandise situation is quickly becoming as bad as it is stateside. The shops for the most part are all selling the same merchandise now, with a strong focus on characters and kiddies. Some of the designs are different. And look better than similar US merchandise, but there's nothing that made my toes tingle or made me reach for my Am Ex ... one thing that I did notice however was the fact Disney was selling women's thong undies ... yep, you heard me ... with Mouse ears and such on the front. Just what you want to buy that special princess in your life ;-) Just imagine what the right-wing wackos would do if this stuff were selling in O-Town. Also, noticed that DLP sells an inordinate amount of character socks. Have no idea why. But it does. And now you know. The other reason I headed to DSP was in two 2006 trips, plus my first day this year, I hadn't been able to catch the Disney Cinema Parade. This parade has been here since opening day, although it is scheduled to be replaced in early 2008 by Disney-MGM castoff Stars and MotorCars Parade. The first thing I noticed is there's really almost nowhere to view a parade at DSP ... I couldn't say if things were better before plywood went up everywhere, but I can say that it now makes it near impossible. The parade is loosely themed to the movies, what else?, and has an OK soundtrack, albeit one that's annoying at times. The first float was kind of like a director's truck and featured (are you ready?) Chicken Little. Did I miss something? Was this film more successful in Europe? Or did they just decide to leave him out there? Early on, I witnessed a scary moment as one of the roller-bladders took a very nasty spill, tried to get up and had obviously injured themselves badly ... it only took a few seconds for CMs to come to his/her (I couldn't tell, sorry) aid and walk him/her backstage, keeping all pressure of the leg. Well, you know this is show biz ... break a leg and all that! The floats are well-thought out and the performers are into it, but there's really nothing to this. To call it a parade is stretching the term. Five floats doesn't make a parade. I was very underwhelmed. Good thing the 15th Anniversary Disney Dreams on Parade more that made up for this small scale production. Next I did another first for me. I took a spin on Aladdin's Magic Carpets ... why? Simple. There was no wait and it was my best chance to peer over the fences blocking Toon Studios. What did I see? Not much that hasn't been online. There were maybe a handful of workers doing very finishing touch type stuff like painting fences and planting flowers. Someone also needs to 'splain why Aladdin's queue has Beauty and the Beast background music too. OK ... let's take a timeout for another rant. Subject: poor guest behavior. I've already mentioned how Europeans don't believe in cleaning up from themselves. BTW, this isn't just at DLP ... it's the same at McDonald's in Amsterdam or a sandwich shop near the Louvre. They just feel it isn't something they should do. They also don't understand, well, that's not true ... they choose not to abide by the concept of fences. If the family from Scotland wants a picture of the kids with the floral Mickey at the entrance, they simply tell the brats to climb on in. It's like the fences aren't there. The worst is during parade time at DLP where huge groups climb into landscaped (sometimes quite heavily) areas and WORSE -- NO Disney CMs tell them to get out. Watching a family of 15 Parisians climb thru a very wooded area in the Hub near the entrance to Frontierland after the parade is truly a sight. Guests, as barboy pointed out in his trip report, don't believe in buying character merchandise. This is for IMHO a couple of reasons. First, DLP's selection is very cheap, very WalMart ... that's great if you're a tourist and or Disney geek visiting WDW, but if you come from the fashion capital of the world, Disney's going to have to offer a helluva lot better lines to get folks wearing it. Even kids are much more likely to be wearing regular tees and polos then Incredibles shirts or Pirates tees and caps. But again, they do sell Mickey thongs! Finally, for now, guests are obnoxious when it comes to photography (although to be fair, they're just as bad in the states). During the parade, you'd constantly have your view blocked by some imbecile who was more interested in capturing the parade to watch at home than to experience live ... I also noticed loads of flashes constantly going off during the Lion King show. I even had to finally gently tap a guy in front of me who kept sticking his camera up and indiscriminately snapping pics of whatever happened to be going on. I know sites like this have lots of fans who think it's perfectly OK to tape or snap a picture during a ride or show ... many will defend it as being for folks who can't experience it themselves. I don't care. It's boorish. Plain and simple. Come back over the weekend and hear about the wonderful new 15th parade at DLP ... hear about a MK that still has a Nautilus in it instead of a pile of Pooh ... find out why it's feeling so warm inside ... and see if I'm brave enough to head back to Walt's again. Thanks for reading ...
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I know you had bad dining experiences last time Spirit, totally uncharacteristic. But in our experience, you actually dined in one of the worst counter service restaurants. Pizzeria Bella Notte, Fuente del Oro and Cowboy Cookout BBQ tend to be our counter service choices when we don't do table service. Also, a lot of Brits moan about the prices at DLP because they are not used to the real cost of dining out. To many $8 a head for Fish and chips, $30 for Pizza Hut or $14 for a carvery are their experiences. But in real terms in the UK, a number of chain restaurants will set us back about $60 a head for a three course meal. So many Brits go to DLP expecting McD's prices and then are shocked by the sticker price. Hyperbole.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo "The first thing I noticed is there's really almost nowhere to view a parade at DSP ... I couldn't say if things were better before plywood went up everywhere, but I can say that it now makes it near impossible." Yep, before the plywood it ran from RNRC to the Magic Carpets and there was plenty of room to view.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo "The floats are well-thought out and the performers are into it, but there's really nothing to this. To call it a parade is stretching the term. Five floats doesn't make a parade. I was very underwhelmed. Good thing the 15th Anniversary Disney Dreams on Parade more that made up for this small scale production." They have scaled this back since opening (like all the other DLP parades), there used to be more floats, show stops and a lot more cast members. And yes, Chicken Little was quite popular in Europe.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo "Guests, as barboy pointed out in his trip report, don't believe in buying character merchandise. This is for IMHO a couple of reasons. First, DLP's selection is very cheap, very WalMart ... that's great if you're a tourist and or Disney geek visiting WDW, but if you come from the fashion capital of the world, Disney's going to have to offer a helluva lot better lines to get folks wearing it." Back in 1992 they used to. There were increadible themed and quality items for the different lands, and attractions. It was awesome. But sadly it doesn't sell. Socks sell, underwear sells, but big splashy characters do not. And forget ever finding a Disney hawaiian shirt at DLP anymore. The only big character stuff that sells are foam hats like you can get at a soccer game. It's sad. Last time we went to DLP I think we spent about $200 on souvenirs, and we have kids!!!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo As for the guest behaviour? This is one of the main reasons why we opt for the time and money to fly to WDW or DL. DLP as created by the imagineers is amazing. But the guest (and some cast behaviour), coupled with the poor management, lack of streetmousphere, lack of merchandise, poor maintenance and the weather means the experience lacks the same level of magic for me. Though I do enjoy a glass of wine in main street, buying my wife Disney thongs, the cultural meld as well as a scarier PM, BTMRR, SM and unPC PotC.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo And at least no teenagers lit up cigarettes halfway through It's a Small World to be ignored by everyone including the cast members.
Originally Posted By barboy """"Strollers. Anyone who knows me knows I despise them. Nothing says trash to me more than a triple wide parent pushing a double wide stroller thru one of the FLA parks, running up ankles, clogging up walkways and generally lowering the experience for others. Before all those selfish, lazy parents start attacking me over how much they're needed, all I can ask is why aren't they needed at DLP. Because there are no double-wides. And there are a fraction of the traditional singles as well. (Also the only people in ECV type vehicles clearly have a pronounced problem and it isn't an inability to pass up triple Whoppers at BK) Why is it that children walk at DLP? Again, I think it's something wrong in our culture. Something that has said 'if you want to rent a double-wide stroller to push around your fat, lazy 9-year-old, go right ahead.' Whereby in France, you'd be shamed by others. That shame reflex doesn't exist in the states ... anyway, rant over except to say my experience as a guest at a Disney theme park is greatly improved at parks like DLP where strollers aren't a nuisance all over and are only used for very, young children."""" Spirit, you wouldn't mind if I borrowed some of this justified rant and used it over in the WDW and DL Ananheim sections, would ya? Anyways, I fully agree word for word.
Originally Posted By barboy """"We hit the Liberty Arcade this day. It's an amazing little attraction in its own right showing the history of France's gift of Lady Liberty to the USA. It's one of many 'little' attractions that you enjoy at your pace ... things like Le Passage Enchante d' Aladdin ... or the Adventure Isle caves. They give a day at DLP depth, something you can't get at the MK.""" (or any other Magic Kingdom for that matter.) Hey, wasn't this what I was basically saying already about the lesser attractions there? (yes, but you say it much better)
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>And forget ever finding a Disney hawaiian shirt at DLP anymore. << Try TDL for that. Currently, they have the cutest hawaiian character shirts on sale during the "Find Stitch" event.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN NO. Only SS, S, M and L. And the L size is equal to a Medium size for those of us westerners. Remember, the majority of japanese are of slim physical shape, as opposed to the Americans and some europeans.
Originally Posted By Skellington88 "Since this was the same trip my dad came down with a very serious bout of food poisoning after dining at Walt's, one that likely should have required hospitalization according to the doctor that Disney itself sent to the room, and ended with me later having a shouting match with DLP Prez Karl Holz from my London hotel ... well, actually Karl did the shouting, I was much more reserved (with Disney Legal listening in for good measure)" Your my hero
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Hey, wasn't this what I was basically saying already about the lesser attractions there? (yes, but you say it much better)>> A good point always bears repeating ...(and thanks!)
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Your my hero>> Thanks ... I just try to inform, explain and entertain.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo "NO. Only SS, S, M and L. And the L size is equal to a Medium size for those of us westerners. Remember, the majority of japanese are of slim physical shape, as opposed to the Americans and some europeans." Nope, thought not. I will but clothes for my kids. Despite losing 42lbs so far this year, even if I go the further 120lbs I want to lose, I doubt my height and shoulders will ever let me wear TDL clothes.
Originally Posted By Mr X Wow...42 pounds is awsome! Congrats!! Re. Japan sizes. I'm embarrassed to say that I am still "snug" in many shirt sizes that are labeled FIVE X!!
