Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I missed this: >>>Secondly, just the approach to the place ALONE destroys DCA a million ways over.<<< To me, that is one of the most annoying design features of WDW. It's nice to look at, but man is it a pain in the rear. The approach is nicer than the park itself.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>Not to mention the fact that 4 of your 9 "must see" DCA attractions CAN be found in WDW, just not in the Magic Kingdom.<<< With waits for buses, then going through fake security checks, and needing to buy extra price hopper passes. Real convenient, not.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Trims 'n Ends... >>I went on the Uni tram tour. It's alright, if you get excited to know things like the old Leave it to Beaver house is now the same house used on Desperate Housewives.<< Ahem. The Leave it to Beaver House, also home to Marcus Welby, MD, was removed to make way for Tom Hanks' house in the feature film The Burbs. It has never been replaced, and none of the Desperate Housewives live there. A copy of the Leave it to Beaver house was built at Uni Florida for the taping of Still the Beaver. (See why I should have been a tour guide?) >>I prefer USH to all movie theme parks around the globe...<< Me too! It's the most accessible historic lot in the world. And that's something no ersatz theme park can ever offer. >>When I visited UniH in 2005 the backlot was the highlight of the tour.<< I have been a bit hard on the Tram Tour. It has dramatically improved in recent years with the addition of the touch screens that prompt the Tour Guides. >>Oh, sure they [Disney-MGM] had the false front street with the Golden Girls house and they promoted it as if that was the actual house that you saw on TV even though it was built a year or so after they stopped filming the show...<< Actually, The Golden Girls ran three more seasons after Disney-MGM Studios opened. The house on Residential Street was an exact copy of the house that had been used for exterior establishing shots. The one at D-MGM was used in the show-- but never by the cast. >>Am I the only one that doesn't find WDW a convenient place?<< But the buses are so MAGICAL! >>...is the Warner Bros. tour worth seeing, assuming you get a decent guide?<< Definitely. Read up on Warner history before you go, and look at images from the movies and TV shows. Their backlot is far more extensive than I thought. We have fun in our household identifying TV commercial and film locations from Warner's now. I really wish they would open the "ranch" up on Hollywood Way. The cityscape and fountain from "Friends" is there, along with a very significantly "suburb." Still standing are the homes of Darren and Samantha Stevens, Jeannie, and many others. Most recently they made extensive use of the Ranch for Pushing Daisies.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>I really wish they would open the "ranch" up on Hollywood Way. The cityscape and fountain from "Friends" is there, along with a very significantly "suburb." Still standing are the homes of Darren and Samantha Stevens, Jeannie, and many others. Most recently they made extensive use of the Ranch for Pushing Daisies.<<< Oh wow, that would be awesome. Whenever friends in Europe plan on a trip to LA and ask where to go, I often ask about their tastes. They all tell me they want to go to Hollywood. I often advise against it or say see it enroute to a Studio and I try to encourage them to go to USH (telling them not to expect a theme park, but a visitor attraction with historical value) or if they are just adults, I advise them to go on the WB tour - both if they can swing it. All of them come back disappointed with Hollywood, but most come back having loved the Studios.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Also should have mentioned that Warner maintains a pretty good museum on property, and it is part of the tour. In addition to the permanent displays, the last time we were there there was a big Harry Potter exhibit-- far better than any touring collection we have seen. (Harry's complete room under the stairs was there.) You also get to go into sound stages. Here is a superb tribute site to the Warner Ranch. Do bear in mind it is NOT open to the public, even on the tour. <a href="http://www.1164.com/ranch/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.1164.com/ranch/index.html</a> (Oh-- and prepare to waste a couple of hours looking at this site!)
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Oh my, I am going to need to come back to that website later. Facinating. There is a huge piece of work taking place in the UK right now. Despite also having a world famous film industry, there is no where really to see anything about it other than the media museum in Bradford. So there is a programme right now to turn Levesden Studios (owned by WB) into a visitor attraction. It was where they filmed Golden Eye, Phantom Menace, Sleepy Hallow, Sherlock Homes, Harry Potter, Inception, and the Dark Knight (also filmed at the airship hanger in my village). I'm quite excited.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Here are the details. I hope they come to pass: <a href="http://www.thestudiotour.com/leavesden/visitorattraction.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.thestudiotour.com/l...on.shtml</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 2oony, Jerry and I also took the WB tour, and if we weren't quite blown away by it, we did quite enjoy it and considered it a solid tour. Our guide was the exact opposite of Dug's and was all about the 30's and 40's WB output, which was fine with us. (Cue the Eddie G imitation): nyaaah, see? Nyaaah.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>Our guide was the exact opposite of Dug's and was all about the 30's and 40's WB output...<< Lucky you! We still laugh about the moment in the toru when, after taking an in-depth look at the house from the Gilmore Girls, we headed over to see the set for Central Perk from Friends. As we zoomed along in our golf cart, the guide pointed over our shoulders and said, "Oh! And just back there on the corner was the cafe where Rick said goodbye to Ilse in Casablanca."
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Oh! And just back there on the corner was the cafe where Rick said goodbye to Ilse in Casablanca."> You can still see the place where Rick said his final goodbye to Ilse, you know... it's called the Long Beach Airport.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones I would rather go to DCA than the Magic Kingdom. The latter is just so depressing these days.
Originally Posted By barboy2 I think both of you(Dabob and Dland Dug) give us whacked opinions LOL!! How about this: Both parks rest so very low on the Disney 'totem pole'. MGM at opening, I say, was barely worth the bus ride from EPCOT on a 5 day stay----I sure as hell would not have tapped that if it weren't for the hopper feature on the media--- and I felt embarrassed walking around DCA in 2001 due to its cheese factor and 'save a buck' approach. I find it interesting how Disney parks can be so different in their budgets & executions. I wish all 11 were built like Dl Anaheim, Disney Sea, Dl Parc Paris, EPCOT and on some level Animal Kingdom. I wish Disney would have consolidated their best parks instead of scatter them on 3 different continents(and even though Dl & EPCOT share the same continent it is still a 6 hr. flight coast to coast).
Originally Posted By barboy2 Oh and Dug, please tell me that you're not concluding that the masses found MGM to be a superior product just because the park hosted sellouts and financial success at opening. You're not doing that, right? The fact is we do not know why the park rocketed on day 1. Was it a superior product(which I highly doubt)? Was it the 'hopper' factor on a 4-6 day trip(which I believe is very likely)? Or was it a combination of the two?
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>I agree with Spokker Jones entirely.<<< Dave, I'm getting up there in years so my memory is sometimes a little shaky, but I have this lingering idea in the back of my mind that your thoughts on MK are a very drastic change from when I first noticed your posts many years ago. It seems to me that you were a lover of MK and a strong advocate of Disney in general. What happened? At what point did you stop seeing the good and started only seeing whatever it is that you see as bad about MK? Did something specific happen that turned your thoughts so drastically around? Or am I completely wrong about your earlier projections. I could be wrong, I have been here a long time and frankly, I usually don't pay a lot of attention to who exactly is posting things, I just read them and agree or don't agree. It just seems like things are way different. Heck, I have even responded to threads that my own sister has posted and not notice it was her and I knew her board name. I'm not trying to be critical, I'm am truly curious. I do see things, occasionally that bother me but over all I still think the place is outstanding. What caused you to go from positive and, from what I remember as a real happy WDW visitor to one that no longer can see any good? I am reading this over as I type it and I want to be clear that you have every right to feel however you feel, but it just seems to me to be such a drastic about face that it has me wondering. I respect your knowledge and opinions very much and I am trying to sort this out. Can you shed any light on maybe a specific event or situation that stuck with you enough to end your enjoyment of the place? If I am all wrong about this...just say so. As I said I am not trying to stir up anything...I'm just trying to figure it all out and see if I have been blinded by something that I just don't see.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Goofyernmost, you are correct, I used to adore virtually every Disney theme park, and had fantastic visits to DL, DLP and WDW over the years. However, there are a number of catalysts that have made me jaded. I still enjoy DL and to a much lesser degree DLP (they need to sort out the maintenance and non rubber headed entertainment). But after adoring WDW in 2000 on our honeymooon, we had a trip that was disappointment after disappointment four years ago, and from what I read, I see much of it is getting worse. We had 1 hour plus transport times, virtually every AA attractions had broken AA's, we missed a dining reservation due to sick kids, and it took ages for us to book another place. In short it was fun, but overall it felt like a real waste of money compared to other vacation experiences. Add to it that it was always the edutainment and high quality theming I loved about Disney, and now that is cut in favor of toon based synergy (which I was never a fan of even as a kid). And at DLP, I am tired of the cut, cut, cut, but with owning a villa there, we go back (plus my kids love it). It feels like everything i have always believed in is going. So ya, not a happy bunny since I belive Iger and Rasulo have really sucked the real magic out of the place. and I read in the hopes that just like DL turned around, maybe WDW and DLP will too.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Most of the movies have been garbage IMHO. Toys we have bought the kids with Disney branding break within days. My wife still wears a T Shirt from EuroDisneyland in 1992, yet clothes we bought in the parks 2 years ago are nearly not wearable. Attractions such as MILF, Stitch Encounter, Mission Space, Toystory Playland etc. seem to be the antithesis of Wal's vision. Add this all together and it really makes me angry.
