Originally Posted By dagobert >>>"WDW still has a Planet Hollywood in their DTD too." Has to be one of the only ones left in the US.<<< There aren't many PH restaurants left. There is a casino/hotel in Las Vegas that is branded PH, but it belongs to Caesars Entertainment. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.planethollywoodintl.com/locations">http://www.planethollywoodintl...ocations</a> Disney got the wrong brand with PH. Universal got Hard Rock Cafe, I think each Universal resort is home to a Hard Rock Cafe. I have never been to a PH, but I love the Hard Rock Cafes.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>The lightning on the castle roof tops doesn't look that bad in real life.<< I assume it's similar to the Christmas lights they put on the castle in WDW, which is basically a giant net that they drape over everything. If you look really close it doesn't look great, but from a distance it looks fine. The DLP ones seem to be more structured than WDW's, but are still fairly easy to look past. I assume that DL is the only park that can really do the fake roof overlays (like they do for Christmas and currently have for the 60th) because there's so little rain there; I imagine they would be a real problem with any significant rain >>Disney got the wrong brand with PH. Universal got Hard Rock Cafe, I think each Universal resort is home to a Hard Rock Cafe. I have never been to a PH, but I love the Hard Rock Cafes.<< While I also like Hard Rock Café more, they both seem like dated concepts to me. They were a lot of fun in the 90's (along with the Rainforest Café, which has locations at DLR and WDW) when themed dining was the craze, but now they just seem like relics of the past
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>While I also like Hard Rock Café more, they both seem like dated concepts to me. They were a lot of fun in the 90's (along with the Rainforest Café, which has locations at DLR and WDW) when themed dining was the craze, but now they just seem like relics of the past<<< I visited my first HRC in 2007 in Pittsburgh and was hooked immediately. Since then the cafes changed a lot. I think HRC reinvented itself when they got purchased by a Native American tribe from Florida. Many cafes gots a makeover and look very stylish now. And the new ones have a much more modern feeling. They are still opening a lot new cafes and last year, Austria finally got one as well. >>>I assume it's similar to the Christmas lights they put on the castle in WDW, which is basically a giant net that they drape over everything. If you look really close it doesn't look great, but from a distance it looks fine. The DLP ones seem to be more structured than WDW's, but are still fairly easy to look past. I assume that DL is the only park that can really do the fake roof overlays (like they do for Christmas and currently have for the 60th) because there's so little rain there; I imagine they would be a real problem with any significant rain<<< Before Dreams arrived, the castle was covered with more lights during the Christmas time and that didn't look good, although it wasn't noticeabel from the distance. Luckily the need the castle for the projections, the lights have gone, except for the rooftops.
Originally Posted By u k fan I've been to three PH locations (DLP, WDW and London), but never been to a Hard Rock Cafe. Perhaps I'll go one day, but when I'm out and about I tend to eat cheaply and I've always assumed they were expensive!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I've been to three PH locations (DLP, WDW and London), but never been to a Hard Rock Cafe. Perhaps I'll go one day, but when I'm out and about I tend to eat cheaply and I've always assumed they were expensive!!!<<< We don't eat at the HRC either. Usually we enjoy only a couple of beers and cocktails at the bar. We just like the atmosphere and music. I'm not sure if the HRCs are expensive foodwise, but the drinks have reasonable prices, at least at most locations.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros From what I remember, HRC's aren't especially expensive, but they have the typical tourist prices. I'm sure you could find better food at a lower price, but the atmosphere is a lot of fun and they're usually in convenient places for tourists I remember being really excited to eat at the original HRC in London in the late 90's when they were at the height of their worldwide popularity. In hindsight, I probably could/should have eaten elsewhere since it was in the middle of the mad cow disease problems and we were avoiding beef in the UK; tough to do at a burger place (though they do have a pretty big menu)
Originally Posted By dagobert I have been to the HRC London last week. @ ukfan Here are some pictures of the Doctor Who Experience. I didn't take many, only a few. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://reisewarnung.blogspot.com/2015/05/cardiff-london-2015-part-2.html">http://reisewarnung.blogspot.c...t-2.html</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert The Season Pass Podcast did a new interview with former Imagineer Tony Baxter. This time they talked about DLP. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/a/b/c/abcfaf69925fe239/The_Season_Pass_292.mp3?c_id=8141447&expiration=1431859359&hwt=9b612fe0498c70807c570a7a581b03ce">http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/a/b/...581b03ce</a> They asked Tony about alcohol being served at DLP and he told them, that DLP was already equipped with a draft system for beer from the beginning. They just wanted to try it like in the US, although they knew that Europeans like their wine and beer, but after complaints they opened the pipes.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros That's a really great discussion that taps into all sorts of different things. What's Tony's background? I always assumed he was an architect, but he doesn't really talk like I thought the backstory about Rocket Rods was really interesting, when it was originally to have a design center element like the 'new' Test Track. For me it doesn't really work well on TT, since it replaced something with so much more scenery (though still limited) and physical effects, but I think it could have worked really well on RR, where there were long stretches between the indoor 'scenes'. Disney is known for constantly reviving old ideas, so it kind of makes sense that this one would come back around
Originally Posted By dagobert I don't know what background Tony has, but he is a very interesting person to listen to. And he is a die hard Disney fan. All four parts of the interview are fantastic and very interesting. In part 3 they talk about Indiana Jones Adventure and about his window on MS USA. TSPP also did a three part interview with Tim Delaney, who was responsible for DLP's Discoveryland. You should listen to that too.
Originally Posted By u k fan Thanks for posting your trip report dagobert! I read the whole thing and it sounds like you had a lot of fun. I've been to Wales quite a few times, but tend to go to the north so haven't been to Cardiff before. I guess the Welsh mountains aren't that interesting to someone from Austria! I love the Natural History Museum. Controversially, the dinosaur in the entrance is about to be replaced after about 40 years by a blue whale. There's not much to see at the O2 if there isn't a show on, but I went in the year 2000 when it was the Millennium Dome and although it got a bad press it was actually a lot of fun and felt like a giant expo. Next time you're in London let me know and we can meet up somewhere!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert Thanks for reading the report. I hope there weren't too many grammar mistakes ;-) Yes we had a lot of fun in London, it's our favourite city to visit. Unfortunately we arrived two days late in London, so we missed all the buzz about the Royal baby. But some people in Cardiff were really happy and celebrated in the pubs. I Loved that, because I still find it amazing that the UK is a monarchy. I was thinking about getting in touch with you for a meeting, but the time before we left was very stressfull and so I forgot about that. Sorry! I've some travel catalogues from Wales and it looks stunning, although the mountains are not as impressive as in Austria. I'm sure we will return to Wales to see more of the beautiful country side.
Originally Posted By dagobert Here's a new update about DLP. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.disneygazette.fr/gazette-mai-2015-space-mountain-newport-bay-club-news-1703.html">http://www.disneygazette.fr/ga...703.html</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Discoveryland looks great with its fresh paint! Hopefully they'll be able to keep it up this time, since it looks really nice right now
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I agree Ferret. I'm also impressed at how well the design of Discoveryland has stood the test of time. The land is over 20 years old and yet the "futuristic" architecture and embellishments look timeless and fresh. Especially when compared to the newer HKDL TL, which lacks big detail and has some rather cheesy storytelling elements.
Originally Posted By dagobert Discoveryland does look great with the fresh paint. Tim Delaney did a fantastic job when he designed the whole land. It's still the best Tomorrowland. If I'm not mistaken, he was also part of HKDL's Tomorrowland design team, although not from the beginning. I think there were some problems and then he was attached to the project.
Originally Posted By dagobert DLP's Space Mountain is celebrating its 20th anniversary. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://disneylandparis-news.com/en/space-mountain-20-years-of-interstellar-travel-at-disneyland-paris/">http://disneylandparis-news.co...d-paris/</a> I've only experienced the mountains at dLP and at the MK and DLP's version is the best.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss "DLP's version is the best." DLP has a lot of the best versions:SM, BTMRR, PotC ...
