Originally Posted By magnet I went to this street party last Friday, and here are my thoughts on the experience: First, I really am very happy to see something like this happening in DAK. I think Harambe is a great setting for such a party, and I like the idea of it being an African-themed food & wine festival. Overall, I would like to see this be successful. I like DAK getting more castmember-guest interaction and perhaps something seasonal. The impression that I got from attending one time was that it was very difficult to get people involved in the street party aspect. Part of the problem was that I don't think people really knew that there was a special party going on. There was a general announcement about it at the park over a loudspeaker during the day, but it was obvious that few really paid much attention to it. An announcer basically said there's going to be a street party, and not much more, so I don't think people understood what was going to happen. I liked the MC and I thought he was really trying to get people loosened up, but he was up on the roof of one of the buildings and there weren't any cast members "seeding" the street party. Either the MC needs to be down in the street until things get rolling or there needs to be some cast members there whose job it is to get people dancing or partying. Everyone who bothered to stop for the party was being wallflowers like adolescents at their first school dance. There were cast members there on the side of the street shaking maracas and swaying with the music but that wasn't enough. There was also something I saw repeated over and over throughout the party. Guests were coming into Harambe after getting off KS. They stopped long enough to hear the music and MC, look around for a couple minutes, then they pulled out a FastPass, checked the time, and were off to Expedition Everest or Kali. People were not in the right frame of mind for a party. They were in commando mode checking FastPasses so they could hit their ride schedules. This is a real problem that DAK needs to overcome. Its shorter hours, high attendance, and gigantic area have conditioned guests not to be one bit laid back. It has the most tense guests of all the Disney parks.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> This is a real problem that DAK needs to overcome. Its shorter hours, high attendance, and gigantic area have conditioned guests not to be one bit laid back. It has the most tense guests of all the Disney parks. << I agree magnet. The shorten hours at DAK make for a sense of urgency getting from one attraction to the other before the Park closes up.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer That'd be easily solved by RoL coming to fruition, same amount to see ( no rushing to another land) and the reason to stay open till dark.
Originally Posted By leemac <<That'd be easily solved by RoL coming to fruition>> That one is dead than the proverbial Dodo - visually it was a stunning show but it was never going to work. Ops and Show Tech would have had nightmares.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> That'd be easily solved by RoL coming to fruition, same amount to see ( no rushing to another land) and the reason to stay open till dark. << I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. No matter how much we want it.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<That one is dead than the proverbial Dodo - visually it was a stunning show but it was never going to work. Ops and Show Tech would have had nightmares.>> Never? I don't buy the "It would never work" excuse.
Originally Posted By leemac <<I don't buy the "It would never work" excuse.>> It wouldn't. You need the whole of the Rivers of Light concept to make it work - and just having the Japanese lantern procession would not have been compelling. It was the acrobatics that would be added some energy and we couldn't find a way to make that work in an environment like DAK.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> Sit down and write a trip report ... or at least a restroom report for Leo as I think he's holding it in until you do so and he must be in quite some pain. << My kidneys were aching and I was going to hold it until Bobbelee posted a trip report. But then I got my Fox and the Hound snowglobe in the mail and I peed a glorious, magical stream of pee on myself while I was standing at the mailbox. Wouldn't a Fox and the Hound dark ride be so...what's the word I'm looking for...toiletrific? Sarah Palin and Shakespeare aren't the only ones who can make up words!
Originally Posted By leobloom >> The Mouse will never know. << The Mouse probably won't even admit there are other theme parks in Orlando. That poor, delusion rodent. Someone needs to arrange an intervention.
Originally Posted By magnet DAK is a park that is meant to be taken in slowly. The safari ride, the nature walks, the amazing shows, and all the little details that are there in the design and theming can't be dehydrated into a small pill and swallowed in a single day. It's also a park where you can do the same thing throughout the day and have it turn out completely different each time. However, it was while visiting this street party that I realized just how "tense" the guests are in this park. Perhaps "tense" isn't the right word, but many sure seem "on a mission" to say the least. Now as I think back on my day there, I begin to understand some of the behaviors I observed.
Originally Posted By magnet When I went on the Maharajah jungle trek, I noticed people literally racing through it. Some run up to the observation posts and spend about ten seconds looking for/at an animal and then race off to the next station. When you get to the bird sanctuary, very few actually take the time to look for much of anything. There are a couple people with spotting guides, but many just pass through it like the entrance area at a supermarket where the shopping carts are kept. Another hilarious thing I saw I call "racing the FastPass queue." Where the FastPass and standby queues run side-by-side the standby riders will literally run down the queue to pass the people walking up the FastPass side. Finally, the standby riders hit a brick wall when they catch up with the line. What was the point of that? Ridiculous - but THAT doesn't just happen at DAK, however.
Originally Posted By magnet As I was walking along a boy with his Dad passed by me, and I overheard the Dad saying something like, "This park (DAK) has about three or four real rides and the rest is just filler." Just filler. Wow. I could hardly believe it. That's so unappreciative of how magnificent the park really is. But this park really forces people to reveal what kind of visitor they are. Some people will kill themselves to try to do everything in one day. Some people hit what they consider to be the "highlights" and dismiss everything else. And then there are some who just take their sweet time to do anything.
Originally Posted By magnet I completely understand why people feel like they need to "go commando." I would probably do exactly the same thing in their situations. There isn't enough time in a single day to do it all, but this park having the shortest hours of all the parks really stretches some people to the brink. Then to drop a party like this into the mix just seems clueless given the current culture of the park. Don't get me wrong, DAK desperately needs a "stressbuster" like this party, but it may be hard to get folks to slow down.
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt Filler??? Even I stop & smell the foliage at DAK. it's so beautiful & I love all the prayer flags. How sad
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo No way!!! DAK is a two day park IMHO. I can spend about 2 hours in each walk through easily. The dumbing down of society just amazes me.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<we couldn't find a way to make that work in an environment like DAK.>> Sorry, I'm not buying that there was no possible way to make it work.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<we couldn't find a way to make that work in an environment like DAK.>> Sorry, I'm not buying that there was no possible way to make it work.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> It wouldn't. You need the whole of the Rivers of Light concept to make it work - and just having the Japanese lantern procession would not have been compelling. It was the acrobatics that would be added some energy and we couldn't find a way to make that work in an environment like DAK. << The big question then becomes, is there anything being considered for DAK or will it remain strictly a daytime Park?
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Sorry, I'm not buying that there was no possible way to make it work. << I would hate to be the one that attempted to choreograph a nighttime extravaganza for DAK. I could definetly see how it could be a total nightmare. I just don't understand why so much money was spent developing RoL, if it was destined to be scrapped.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper ^^^I'm not saying it wouldn't have been hard. That part I can completely see. But to say it's impossible? I don't see it.
