Originally Posted By LadyandtheTramp "As far as the Yeti goes, it is ONE animatronic effect in an otherwise great attraction. " Let us not forget the only other animatronic effect in the attraction - the bird at the peak where the track is "ripped up". This one hasn't worked in forever - and how hard is it to make a stick go up and down?
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<Let us not forget the only other animatronic effect in the attraction - the bird at the peak where the track is "ripped up". This one hasn't worked in forever - and how hard is it to make a stick go up and down?>> Not to mention multiple effects on Kilimanjaro Safaris and Dinosaur that have been inoperable for years.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<but I kind of wonder what circumstances would put someone in a position to need a meal at 4am while vacationing at WDW.>> Guests just getting from/or leaving for the airport, guests getting back from Downtown Disney, gests getting up for any one of the multitude of marathons going on now at WDW. Not to mention the international guests who are on a completely different time clock. I can remember one time when I was flying Delta non-stop between Atlanta and Providence, RI ( a 2 hour flight ). The flight was scheduled to leave Atlanta at 6am and arriving in Providence at 8:15am. Due to weather ( and various other problems, fueling, defueling, moving passangers around the cabin, yes moving passangers around the cabin to equalize the weight, changing of the crew, we waited in the plane on the tarmat between 5pm and 7pm with the door to the plane open while rain was pouring inside ) the flight ended up being delayed 13 hours. I don't think I had anything to eat that day as the terminal was in this lower area of the terminal building ( we literally walked on the runway deck into the plane ). I didn't know the Atlanata airport still had facilities like that. Anyway, finally got to the hotel in East Providence and my party was hungry. The hotel at least had breakfast danishes, juice and things out. And the hostest directed us to a TGI Friday's that was still open next door, we walked. I guess my discussion is more or less about choices, options and convience while on vacation at WDW. What we all take for granted as the norm anywhere else in the USA ( well except maybe Coldfoot, Alaska ), those rules don't apply at WDW. Instead, WDW seems like an alternate reality. Where as at DL California, those little conviences still exist.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip KT... you can go to 10 pizza joints in the "real world" and at 7 of them you will probably be unable to find pizza bianco. It is not a common offering. WDW is feeding 10's of thousands of people per day... by necessity they concentrate on items appealing to the largest number of people. I will certainly agree that WDW is a vast wasteland when it comes to good pizza of ANY kind. The Boardwalk Pizza Window offers pretty decent product, but that is about it. As for pumpkin ice cream, it takes a place with Baskin Robins and their 31 flavors to provide an offering like that. I live in the Springfield MO area (metro area population of 436,712) and since Baskin Robins closed their store I would probably have an impossible time finding pumpkins ice-cream HERE. In my mind it is totally unreasonable to expect a freaking theme park to provide offerings that a metro area of close to a half million people does not provide!
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Why the animosity? KT has issue with WDW, and I think comparing Pizzaria Uno with Tony's is fair, RT has less of an issue. It's not like either of you has to actually eat together... ever. I like many of the dining options at WDW, but because of price I limit myself to two or three sit down meals there over the course of a week. I also like some of the food options at DL, especially since many places like Hungry Bear have improved their menus. When I have a car at WDW we'll often eat off property and in fact on one trip we had a very nice meal at Pizzaria Uno. At DL I may walk across the street to the Quiznos, but rarely eat sit down away from the resort as I can get a good meal at Carnation, Plaza or Riverbelle for a similar amount of money and save my feet. So really the dining, like many other aspects of the resorts, are different animals depending on which coast you're on. No need to get tetchy over someone's opinion because they don't agree and there is certainly no need to tear them down for it.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Where as at DL California, those little conviences still exist." I think what you're really talking about is convenience. Although both are self contained resorts, DLR is a small property right in the middle of a major California suburb adjacent to an interstate highway that runs from Mexico to Canada only 35 miles from the biggest city in the US, so of course its going to be easier to get a variety of dining options nearby. It would be like smashing the Magic Kingdom next to DHS and plopping them on International Drive. In that regard DLR and WDW are not really comparable.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<It would be like smashing the Magic Kingdom next to DHS and plopping them on International Drive. In that regard DLR and WDW are not really comparable.>> Well, except that WDW is home to four out of the ten most visited theme parks in the world. And Orlando (thanks to WDW) is the vacation capital of the world. And WDW is the timeshare capital of the world. Not to mention WDW is home to the only Armed Forces Recreational Center in the continental USA (according to Shades of Green's website). I don't see the problem comparing the two. In fact out of those two Disney resorts, people are more apt to have a much longer stay at WDW than DL California. Limited hours of operation, limited and diminishing menu items, sporadic mediocre service at WDW and you don't think that should be on table open to discussion? I say let the two resorts stand on their own merits or demerits.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt " In fact out of those two Disney resorts, people are more apt to have a much longer stay at WDW than DL California. Limited hours of operation, limited and diminishing menu items, sporadic mediocre service at WDW and you don't think that should be on table open to discussion?" I agree with what you're saying in principle Tom, however you do have to take into account the way the place is set up. Even if there were a 24 hour restaurant, say in the Disney Village, how would a jet lagged foreign tourist get there at 3am from the Coronado Springs Resort without a renal car, for example? Without a 24 hour eatery at every resort on site it would be impossible to make late night dining convenient for all of WDW's overnight guests.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom My experience has been that the food courts are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but unattended between 11pm-6am. My experience has been that the soda/ beverage machines are down between those hours as well. Simply keep the soda, coffee/ hot chocolate machines available overnight. At least the beverage problem could be easily solved. As for other conviences simply do what all the other hotels in greater Orlando do and allow outside delivery. There are many 24 hour restaurants in Orlando that will do 24 hour delivery. For that matter there are even delivery services available in the greater Orlando area. I know the Disney hotels don't allow off property restaurants to leave paper menus at Disney resorts. But, I have to admit in all honesty there is nothing preventing a guest from going online and looking up a nearby 24 hour restaurant, picking up a phone and ordering. Then going down to the front desk once the order arrives. Just looked the Swan and Dolphin offer 24 hour room service. <a href="http://www.swandolphin.com/languages/english/" target="_blank">http://www.swandolphin.com/lan...english/</a> As well as something called "personal pantry service", which is available 24 hours a day (scroll to the bottom of the above sited page). <a href="http://www.swandolphin.com/pantry/pantry_menu.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.swandolphin.com/pan...menu.pdf</a> Oh wow! Starbucks Frappuccinos! They will even deliver playing cards. Look at the Extreme Start! 2 Redbulls, 2 power bars and 2 Zone bars. Humm, looks like Swan and Dolphin can offer 24 hour room service. Just did a quick search and the Grand Floridian offers 24 hour room service. Their in room late night menu (specifically between the hours of 10pm and 6am) is extensive and includes crab cakes, steak among other more traditional breakfast items. <a href="http://allears.net/menu/menu_gfp.htm" target="_blank">http://allears.net/menu/menu_gfp.htm</a>
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "There are many 24 hour restaurants in Orlando that will do 24 hour delivery. For that matter there are even delivery services available in the greater Orlando area." Maybe the solution then is for Disney to have a 24 hour restaurant delivery operation that would service all of it's hotels.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I would guess that there isn't enough of a business at that time of the night to justify the operating expenses of having a 24 hour restaurant and delivery service. Of course I don't really know. But that would be my guess.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>[response to who needs food at 4am] ...gests getting up for any one of the multitude of marathons going on now at WDW.<< Having visited and participated in the Marathon Weekend in January, I can certainly say that the operations that weekend are pretty incredible. In addition to the regular hours that everything keeps for the regular guests, there's also a multitude of options at all hours of the day for the racers. While I believe the food court at our hotel (Riverside) was closed in the early morning hours before the races (we had to be on a shuttle bus from the hotel between 3-4am), they sold boxed breakfasts to anyone who was interested the night before. It looked like it included a bagel, some fruit, milk, and a couple other things; I brought my own stuff for breakfast. Personally, the last thing I want at 3am before running a marathon is the type of stuff on the standard breakfast menu; the eggs and bacon would not sit well for 26.2 miles of bouncing. >>Limited hours of operation, limited and diminishing menu items, sporadic mediocre service at WDW and you don't think that should be on table open to discussion?<< Maybe it should, but I don't really see that as being any different than what's offered at DL. I geuss it's a matter of convenience, as Jim said, but Disney's offerings in Anaheim are also very limited; people staying at the on-property hotels only have a couple options within their hotels, and they all have pretty limited menus (especially at the DLH and PPH). I guess there are other places to go nearby, but it's not like Disney's hours of operation are drastically different between the two resorts. And having done a couple early-morning events (half marathon and CHOC Walk) at DL in the past year, there's not much going on in Anaheim in the middle of the night either. I think that the Ihop and Dennys on Harbor are open, but that's about it, even on days when they know that thousands of people will be getting there in the middle of the night. For a lot of places, it just doesn't make sense to have food options all night, DL included.
Originally Posted By danyoung For what it's worth, I agree almost completely with what my friend Road Trip has had to say. I really look forward to dining at WDW, and have had many many great meals there. I don't go in wanting a specific item and then get upset because I can't find it anywhere. I understand that WDW has to cater to the masses (although I do think they've simplified some of the menus too far). I've had great meals at DL too. But as far as sitdown restaurants go, there are far more in Florida than there are in SoCal. DL has great quick serve, like the Rancho del Zocalo or the French Market or Redd Rocket's. But WDW has great quick serve too, like the Flame Tree BBQ or Columbia Harbor House. But if someone wants to dislike the offerings at either park, more power to 'em.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Getting back on topic, there's never been any sort of large-scale refurb on the Tree of Life, has there? On a visit about 6 years ago, I noticed that the leaves were starting to fade in the sun, changing to an electric green shade. And with the pieces of the tree falling off, maybe it's time that they'll start working on it. How long do most park icons go between major exterior refurbishments? It seems like both castles got repainted a few years ago (though DL could use another paint job, since it's still overly dressed with gold accents left over from the 50th), but I don't know when the last time was before that. The Matterhorn just finished a top-to-bottom repainting, which may have been the first one since the 60's (though it has had many, many partial paint jobs in the interim). After 14 years of theme park operations, maybe it's just time to put up the scaffholding and get to work.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip My only beef with KT is his insistence on making what I see as a totally unfair comparison. Compare Disneyland in-park and in-hotel dining options with those at WDW? ABSOLUTELY FAIR! But compare what is available in the city of Anaheim with what is available on-property at WDW and I call FOUL! Disney has absolutely nothing to do with the off property dining options at either location and should get no credit (or blame) for their availability or lack thereof. I think WDW has recognized that their remoteness has led to a somewhat captive dining audience, and tried to address that by offering a far greater number and variety of dining options than are available on-property at Disneyland. You want to say Disneyland is a better theme park? Fine with me. I also think that DL Park is the single best Disney theme park in America. But I think WDW is a greatly superior resort destination for all the other options it offers (golf courses, water parks, water-craft rentals, etc). I only get a little irritated when someone says that Disneyland offers better dining options that WDW does. It does no such thing. The Los Angeles Metropolitan area offers better dining options than WDW does. BIG difference. In a way I guess that IS Disney's fault. You can thank Uncle Walt (I want to be in control of all surrounding development) Disney for that! He bought up half of central Florida precisely to AVOID what the current situation is at Disneyland. So if you want to bad-rap someone for the situation at WDW you better point at Walt... the current bum-of-the month in WDW management really has nothing to do with it.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip By the way... you CAN get off-site delivery of food to WDW resort hotels. And it must be more or less sanctioned by Disney or they would never get past the entry gates to the resorts. I've even had fliers advertising hotel delivery from off-site vendors left under my windshield wiper while parked in Disney hotel and theme park lots (not sure if Disney approves of THAT, but who's going to stop them?)
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub I have always gotten the impression the 2 pancake restaurants on Harbor are open all night because the Disney cast members spend a lot of time in there before or after shifts,waiting for busses or for their other transportation picks. That location has a really popular bus stop serving many people. I doubt they are staying open 24 hours waiting for a resort guest...
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub I was just at the WDW Resort this April and did not notice The sky falling at AK. but you are correct they do need to improve basic maintenance and give it just as much priority as the new construction demands. Unfortunately the new attracts the media and free PR even tho it is not exciting.
Originally Posted By barboy /// The Tree of Life is by far the largest and most incredibly complex "weenie" ever created at a Disney Park./// Not so fast there.... "largest"? What about geosphere, volcano, 3 castles or Grizzly Peak "complex", hmmm? probably not. I'd say certainly the volcano has more going on, much more actually and the Dl Parc Paris castle rivals Tree of Life.
