Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I wonder if this is caused by the fact that for those people WDW is a big, expensive vacation, and they feel that they need to get their $5000 worth and just try too hard (that wonderful Florida summer weather must also be a factor).>> I'm quite sure that all plays a role. But the bottom line is there are IMHO, based on many visits to Disney parks, far fewer smiles per 100 guests at WDW than there are at DL or DLP ... not scientific, just anecdotal. I remember being at WDW on 7/4/99 and waiting with a friend in front of Pooh and betting on whether we could find 100 smiling faces in 30 minutes (really) ... I said 'no. I won. Oh, we even considered half-smiles and smirks as smiles ...
Originally Posted By RoadTrip That's because of all the Brits at WDW. Stiff upper lip and all, you know. ;-)
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 Wow, Spirit and I were at WDW the same day, 7/4/99. Which one were you? The only time I've seen a dirty bathroom at WDW, was the one between Adventureland and Frontierland, way back in the early '80's. It hadn't been cleaned in hours judging by the papers all over the floor. But I sure wish Disney could come up with a way to have the previous person's tinkle removed from the seat before I get into the stall. But I see that in all public bathrooms. Women can be real pigs.
Originally Posted By MPierce ^^^ That's one reason they shouldn't complain when we leave the seat up!
Originally Posted By danyoung >You knwo some things are unacceptable but won't take a few minutes of your trip to let Guest Relations know about it.< If a problem elevated itself up to the point where it was affecting my vacation, then yes, I'd go talk to Guest Relations. A full trashcan, while lame, doesn't rise to that level for me. Think about it - you're there much more than I am, so it's much easier for you to take time out to go list some complaints. After all, you'll be back again next week, won't you? I'm only getting there twice a year (only once this year), so every minute is valuable to me. >When you turn your face the other way on purpose and excuse the situation, then you have no right to say these problems are unacceptable to you.< Of course I can still say that the problems exist, and I wish Disney would do something about them. Just because I don't march up like a militant and demand instant change doesn't mean that I can't still talk about the problems elsewhere.
Originally Posted By karlg In a period of 6 weeks, I visited Tokyo Disney Seas (1 day), WDW (9 Days), and Disneyland (3 Days). I've been to all of them before, but this was a chance to see them all within a reasonably short period of time. WDW Frankly, I was disappointed in WDW. I thought they were doing a poor job of running the parks, particularly the MK. My prime example of how they have fallen off in show quality is that they did nothing to stop or even reduce the amount of flash photography on Pirates. On my first trip it was non stop camera flashing and no cast members did anything. We couldn’t see no less enjoy the attraction between all the flashes. And it wasn't just our boat; it was every boat in the attraction and on every trip. Talk about ruining the magic, my thought was, "the really just don’t care anymore." I got to see HM on its last day before the big rehab, it pretty much ruins the magic knowing that they wait until an attraction gets totally run down before they rehab it (although I’m glad to hear there are doing a major upgrade). To me there was little new added to the park in the last 6 years and the park was running on past glories. Epcot has lost whatever magic it had. There are two attractions that hold any interest these days, Soaring and Test track. It is a huge park with two popular, reasonably family friendly, attractions and a lot of worn out ones. Soaring is an OK attraction in my opinion, but it is a blockbuster (with multi-hour standby times) at Epcot due to the lack of other fresh family friendly attractions. Illuminations to me is worn out as well. MGM is also pretty worn out (no secret). Animal Kingdom has a few strong attractions, but the park is poorly layed out with long HOT walks to everything. Everest is OK but not great in my opinion. It has the worst raft ride I have ever been on, the Kali River Rapids, I have nicknamed the big/only drop "Is that it falls" because the few times I have been on it, others on the raft with have said, "Is that it?" Then we come to Disney’s worst kept secret, the Disney Vacation Club. It seemed like not stop marketing for the DVC; on every bus window, in every hotel, in handouts in much of the information you get, and in every theme park they were pushing it. I have some friends in the DVC and my impression was that it was a good deal for them, but my reaction was, they are overselling this so much that it made me wonder if the bubble was going to burst on the deal. I stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and I hear they had to shut it down a few days after I left due to DVC construction (so of gives the message about Disney’s priorities). The transportation around WDW is hardly magical. Pretty much if you are going for a week or more, you are spending one of those days riding on a city bus. We did the Disney Dining Plan and I would say we had a few good meals but nothing was that great. With the new announced changes, they have pretty much eliminated it being much of a bargain. My overall experience at WDW left me wondering if I would ever go back. Tokyo Disney Seas This was my second visit to TDS and this time it was more off-season and not so crowded. In terms of the atmosphere, TDS is first rate, but in terms of the attractions, not so much. To me, there just are way too few great or even good attractions. Journey to the Center of the Earth is just a so-so attraction and it is the headliner. The best attraction in the park is Indiana Jones, and I like DL’s better. One of my favorite attractions at TDS is the simple elevated railway. The new ToT, while pretty on the outside and with a different and perhaps better pre-show, lacks some of the atmosphere of basement (you go straight from the pre-show to the elevator doors without much to see). I can see why TDS attendance has fallen off in the last year or so. The park is pretty, but you can easily do all the (few) attractions in one day. DL Disneyland saved me from thinking that the magic was all gone from Disney parks. There just was so much you could do and see in a day. I saw Fantasmic all 3 nights and it still blows away the WDW version (which I could only make it to WDW once on a 9 day trip). The fireworks are much better than WDW (but not as good as “Believe†in terms of emotional impact). The one saving grace of DCA is that you can hop over there in 5 minutes and cherry pick the few good attractions. This was part of a business trip, so I only got 1 full day and 2 nights and I felt like I did more than 9 days at WDW. The shows were much better, there was more to do per minute in the park, and park seemed better maintained. Certainly none of the parks is a magical as they used to be, and the main reason is the cast members. I remember a time when you could as a cast member about almost anything to do with the parks and they would know what was going on. Now a days, with the high turn over and very low pay (in spite of higher than inflation ticket price increases) they just are not up to the old Disney standard. My bottom line was that the only place that left me wanting to go back any time soon was DL. It still has a magic for me that is not found in the other parks.
Originally Posted By Disneybrad "DON'T insult our intelligence! I too have agreed to take those surveys when approached... and all I am asked is how much my income is, how long my stay is, am I staying on or off property etc etc.. NOT once am I asked if I am happy with the quality of the show, the cleanliness, the cast efficiency etc etc..in other words, the things that matter. " Come visit Tomorrowland, right now all they are askign you is you opions of the ride, the cast, cleanliness etc.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>My bottom line was that the only place that left me wanting to go back any time soon was DL. It still has a magic for me that is not found in the other parks.<<< I cannot comment on TDL, but I feel DL is the only place that has delivered real magic in the last few years. DLP is still better than WDW in this department, but they still have a number of issues (some very deeply rooted in the diversity of Europe's cultures), that DL still wins.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Karlg, great opinion on the parks.. As for your time at TDS, sorry the attraction lineup didn't live up to your expectation. Personally? I still concider most of TDS' attraction "above average to excellent because most of them are very much unique to that park, and the rides themselves are top notch lavish and well done. Even when you compare WDW's best offerings to most TDS' major rides, their attractions rate better in the technical and theming dept. Just my thought..
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>When I asked for a different room location at check-in I was told the room we were assigned was the only one available. When we discovered the room had not been cleaned I figured housekeeping was my only option since I had already been told nothing else was available.<< Again, your mistake Roady. Remember, I used to work at the Contemporary... I *know* the good old excuses to deter guests from getting their ways... "the only room avail" is the oldest excuse in the book. If your room was unclean, you needed to come back to the front desk and demand be changed to another room, OR another resort on property, period. During my days at the Contemporary, many guests had no problem doing just that, so why should you? I think you are letting Disneyoff the hook way too easily.
Originally Posted By karlg What makes DL the best for me is the total mix of attractions, plus all the other entertainment. At TDS, the atmosphere is great and I like the climb around fort area, but there really are not enough attractions. In particular I think they need a better mix of attractions. IJ is my favorite attraction but I overall like the one at DL a little better (mostly due to the fireball in the skull effect). Journey to the Center of the Earth to me is missing something, it is slow ride without much to see at first, followed by a fireball, a glimpse of a giant lava creature, and then zoom and you are done. I think they should have given you more time to take in the lava creature and more time zooming around. The 20K attraction is very weak IMO (among other problems it is just too dark to see anything), the Storm Rider is poor/dumb, ToT is ToT, the Aquatopia is a total waste of a great ride system (Pooh’s Hunny Hut with the same ride system technology blow it away), Sinbad I guess is a little better, but still a weak attraction. The new Indy Raging Spirits coaster, while well themed (and very much like the DLP version) is not a particularly good coaster. The best thing about the Magic Lamp Theater is the pre-show with the snake. Mermaid lagoon is a bunch of dressed up kiddie rides other than for the well done Little Mermaid show. My favorite small attraction was the Electric Railway. IMO, TDS is just barely a full day park were TDL right next door can be enjoyed for several days. TDS certainly is great atmosphere per square foot of the park (DLP is the other contender for best atmosphere). TDS does seem to have a good mix of big and small shows (although the big shows were canceled due to high winds on my last trip). My point is that the attractions don’t seem to me to live up to the atmosphere of the park. DL has the mix of atmosphere and attractions, plus you can enjoy so much of it in a few days. I really felt like I got a lot more enjoyment per minute at DL than any of the other parks. And DL has fallen off a bit since the mid 1990’s, back then they had more attractions and shows in both Fantasyland and Festival of Fools along with the Lion King Parade (almost a full show more than a parade) and the MSEP. DL at least seems to be making a comeback over the last few years, but at WDW I’m not so sure.
Originally Posted By bluebayou I live in Orlando and visit quite often and last week I had such bad service at the Magic Kingdom, I actually spoke words I never thought would cross my lips "I would rather go to Universal". At least there I can find a place to eat without ADR's. I am sorry but I live here, I don't plan my Disney meals six months in advance. Universal has a movie and a meal deal where you can eat at ANY of their citywalk restaurants and catch a movie for only $21.95 per person. Universal gives discounts on every meal and all merchandise to Annual Passholders. I have loved Disney since pretty much birth but after the last year and all the things mentioned in the first post, I am not sure how much more time and money I want to spend there.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Interesting comments ... especially Karl. I guess you and I were at the MK the same day in June as I also rode Mansion in its pitiful mortal(ly wounded) state before they closed it. Haven't been to TDS yet, so I can't comment. I still love Epcot. The place oozes quality to me ... and DAK is amazing, although intolerable in the summer. I also am more impressed with Everest and than you appeared to be. I do agree that for just one day, DL packs more of a punch than any of the eight Disney parks I regularly go to. There's never any boredom for me when I'm there. That's something I can't say about the MK or Disney-MGM Studios, for example. As to CMs, I think in Anaheim, Orlando and Paris, there are still far more good ones than not ... but it isn't like it was 20 years ago. If you pull a MK CM aside and have a question about how to get to the Studios, the chances are they'll have to look at their Tell-A-Cast weekly update and still not be able to tell you. Frankly, I'm looking forward to seeing DL again in a month because that place always feels special to me. But, more so, I'm looking forward to my upcoming trip to Asia, where I'll get to the visit the three Disney parks I haven't seen yet and (hopefully) the remaining Universal park too! I think that may recharge my Disney batteries because the MK just drains them.
Originally Posted By barboy "Journey to the Center of the Earth to me is missing something, it is slow ride without much to see at first, followed by a fireball, a glimpse of a giant lava creature, and then zoom and you are done." PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN is missing something it is slow ride without much to see at first, followed by a victim being dunked, a glimpse of a burning dungeon with a dog holding keys in its mouth, and then you are done. TEST TRACK is missing something, it is slow ride without much to see at first, followed by a bumpy ride over some bricks, a glimpse of a giant truck coming at you, and then zoom and you are done. EXPEDITION EVEREST is missing something, it is slow ride without much to see at first, followed by a modest lift hill, a glimpse of a giant snow creature, and then zoom and you are done. You know, one can paint any attraction as half-baked and uninspiring depending on his mood.
Originally Posted By barboy "Sinbad I guess is a little better, but still a weak attraction." --a weak attraction? Really?? As far as all of the Disney attractions go Sindbad is an E ticket. If that one is weak what would you call the "orange stinger" at DCA, "Chip N Dales Nuthouse Coaster" or the "Bouncing Jellyfish"? You are just hard to please.
Originally Posted By barboy "Animal Kingdom has a few strong attractions, but the park is poorly layed out with long HOT walks to everything." "DAK is amazing, although intolerable in the summer." Ok, now I know the climate is not different on that side of "the property" So what gives??? Why are you two saying AK is particularly hot? Come to think about it.... AK has so much more vegetation thus I would rather be there on a hot day as opposed to something like a Blizzard Beach or an EPCOT.
Originally Posted By danyoung The heat in DAK is due to the walkways being surrounded by such thick vegetation, but not really much in the way of cover overhead. So you're out in the direct sunlight without a hint of breeze. VERY hot and humid during the dog days of summer!
Originally Posted By barboy I can see the humidity angle but there are so many more trees to seek shade. EPCOT is an ocean of asphalt, cement and concrete with so very little overhead protection.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I think the big difference is Epcot is full of a/c environments, DAK is not.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<The heat in DAK is due to the walkways being surrounded by such thick vegetation, but not really much in the way of cover overhead. So you're out in the direct sunlight without a hint of breeze. VERY hot and humid during the dog days of summer!>> Dense vegetation absorbs and holds heat, just as black asphalt does. Most walkways at Epcot are light colored and absorb relatively little heat. From what I've read, Animal Kingdom is typically 3-5 degrees warmer than the other parks.
