Why Disneyland Sucks

Yeah, I hear you. That's why this is my first pass in about 7 years. I got it mainly for california adventure, and those nights when I can just slip in after work, have a beer, and go on one or two rides...I got the pass in november and have been able to do exactly that, until Thursday the 21st. That was a day from hell, and as busy as any Saturday in august, at the height of tourist season.....

I'm just going to post a quick list of the crappy things I saw on the last visit:

• The new Matterhorn seats are a machined duplicate from one of their Florida rides, apparently. This cuts down on custom production costs, like they need to to cut down on costs SO MUCH. The seats are impossible to sit in comfortably, sit LESS people per car, don't have the outside bobsled grips, and kill your tailbone, a bone I like very much. They are also virtually impossible to GET OUT OF, as both feet are locked into separate holes. I've never seen a worse designed ride, which is too bad because it used to be the BEST, being the first tube-tracked roller coaster of all time.

• There are now little metal razor blades and netting on the top edge rails of the Jungle Cruise ride, they are serious about not touching the water or leaning on the rails. REALLY serious.

• The Gibson Girl ice cream place on Main street has been re-designed, destroying all the best features and taking away most of the tables and chairs in the back. The new menu sucks. I have no idea where you are supposed to share a big messy sundae now. They've also added an art-nouveau twist to the place, a style similar to but NOT the same as the Charles Dana Gibson era he drew Gibson Girls from. Oh yeah, the giant green elephant is gone. All of this, and the coffee shop/bakery next door are not decorated in the Main Street style, but look more like a Cheesecake Factory-Starbucks version of the early 20th century, sort of...

• The floor show at the Golden Horseshoe is like really short with NO girls allowed anymore as performers, apparently. It was pretty pathetic.

• No holiday dinners at the Plaza, same menu for the holidays, or am I wrong on this? They used to serve a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings, not anymore, bub.

• Over at the Blue Bayou, now must make reservations in advance, new more more expensive and limited menu, bad desserts, terribly slow service.

• The Mint Julep Bar has re-designed their beignets so they're not as fluffy - and smaller. They are shaped like Mickey now. Big deal.

• No Disney Gallery anymore above Pirates. It's an expensive room you can rent instead.

There's WAY more than that. It was weird, seeing things like the newer "safer" front on the Alice in Wonderland ride, which destroys the thrill of bursting out above the heads of those waiting in line. The new designs look quickly made and cheap. It's embarrassing.

Here's my beef - there are now 1 million people with yearly passes. This means they have an income of (round numbers) 300 MILLION dollars coming in, aside from the food & drinks, toys, plush dolls, and daily tickets sold, etc. You can double or triple their incoming, like 500 million in conservative numbers?

So -

Why CUT COSTS????

For the ego-inflating thrill of making 1.258% more than last year?

On 2012-12-22 10:41, Cammo wrote:

Why CUT COSTS????

For the ego-inflating thrill of making 1.258% more than last year?

Why cut costs ?? Because Disney can, and get away with it. Cutting costs increases the profit margin.

For all of the lamenting of the changes, the majority here are still going to pony up the hundreds of dollars to spend a day in the park or renew their passes.

Besides, Disney is a publicly owned corporation with the responsibility to provide an increasing return on investment to its shareholders. If the Magic Kingdom has a monopoly on your childhood memories, then it's only good business to milk that for all it's worth, all long as you keep feeding that Mouse. :(

The best trip to Disneyland is the one taken through old family vacation photo albums. Anyways I always preferred Movieland Wax Museum and Japanese Deer Park. :) (RIP to both)

Before reading this thread, I was listening to a podcast which had an interview with Disneyland Imagineering legend Bob Gurr and he was talking about designing and building the Viewliner train in the late 50's. He mentioned how it would be difficult to make this type of attraction now because of the financial redtape and bureaucracy within the Disney Company

Communicore Weekly podcast: Bob Gurr interview

(Yes, the host are kind of silly but, hey, this is a podcast about Disneyland, not "This Week in Wall Street").

Many of the negative changes in Disneyland are both from internal and external sources. Some of the various safety modifications were mandated by the State of California. And some were because one person did something stupid so we all have to suffer and pay for it. Similar to plane travel and the fact that one a**hole tried to blow up a plane with his shoe, so we all have to take off our shoes before boarding a plane.

[->>King Bushwich 33rd on Hulu.com

"Besides, Disney is a publicly owned corporation with the responsibility to provide an increasing return on investment to its shareholders."

I don't agree. Walt was planning much more long term; and selling that idea to investors isn't such a hard pitch. Clearly Walt designed the parks as a public relations showcase for his company, in today's terms a loss leader that utilizes the synergy of the Disney company to provide a lasting, many-generation positive image for the company. It's like charging somebody to watch a commercial. Clearly it's the rest of the Disney company that is faltering, relying on the steady park system now to generate cash instead of the other way around.

Not good business sense, not good marketing, bad long term goals. It's becoming more carny-like every day.

Well, while Disneyland has been apparently achieving ugly sister status here on the west coast, Disney World has been busy doing exactly everything I've been suggesting they do right from the start, including less expensive multi-generational hotel rooms, new updates that actually improve the wait in line, and giant new restaurants that look pretty fun and take advantage of 21st century ordering technology. I don't see any Pixar or Lucas crap, it's all Disney all day every day! They're doing everything right over there!

Disneyland sucks, but Disney World in Florida seemingly doesn't!

Read about their Brand New Fantasyland here in the New York Times:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/travel/inside-disneys-new-fantasyland.html?_r=0

On 2007-11-28 18:22, lucas vigor wrote:
I am a huge fan of yesterland.com, because there is a fairly good amount of information on the past glory that was Disneyland.

From a personal perspective, my happiest memories were of Disneyland pre-1983.

I had my traditions and rituals I engaged in while there, like:

I always rode the train first, and last. Waiting at the end of the platform and trying to see the first lights of the train coming out of the diorama tunnel gave me a huge boner. Now of course, anyone just sitting and watching gets you extra disney security scrutiny, and you end up feeling like a criminal. Anyway, moving on..

Next was breakfast at the hills brother's coffehouse, which was right on main street next to the the employee entrance to tomorrowland. There was one oval shaped room in the back that was done in the style of the blue bayou restaraunt in that it had a fake night-sky cieling with stars. I peeked in there recently, and they have that room as a storeroom. Some times we ate at the carnation breakfast place. As Cammo said, there were many shops on main street that had non-disney products for sale. A look at Yesterland will give you a complete list. We always went to the sunkist lemonade store on the way out. The magic/joke store had the cool fake barf patty I used to enjoy so much, and there was not a whiff of any of those accursed buzz lightyear toys anywhere to be found.

Lunch was at the blue bayou restaraunt, because back then you did not have to book a table 6-8 months in advance. We also ate frequently at the pirate ship, and had killer tuna sandwhiches. But really, all the hamburgers in the park had that classic "early big mac" taste. They were delicious. Not the rain forest cafe texturized carboard with the unmelted cheese they have now.

The lands: What can I say? Tomorrowland was a googie/futurist dream come true. Rides such as inner space, the subs, america sings (and before that GE house of the future-with the huge cityscape diorama you saw when exiting), the peoplemover were some of the kitchy-ist awesome rides ever made. Especially the peoplemover. You got an almost "backstage" view of things when the track carried you through the upper levels of the buildings. Circle vision 3D. Again, I got a boner when they came to the colonial williamsburg, V.A. scene and you heard the fifes and drums, and again when you started hearing steel guitar and the film showed you flying over the canefields of Oahu. That first experience gave me a taste of wanting to go to Hawaii for real. The views of the great lakes were also wonderful.

Now, tomorrowland lies fallow. Painted a depressing NEGATIVE copper-brown, instead of the hopeful, positive atomic -age white it used to be. All the best rides gone. The only good thing is that Rocket rod pizza port is now the best food in the park. That's a sad testimony right there.

Fantasyland. You could walk through the castle. It had awesome dioramas from the sleeping beauty story. I think similar items are now in one of the windows on the right as you leave main street and are leaving the park. But anyway, you could walk through the castle, rather then being pushed and jostled by the huge picture taking, moving day care facilities/lazy parents that now can be found dominating the castle area.
They also had the swiss skyway terminal, which was located next to casey jones, and is now unused and obscured by trees. I am sure it is destined to become a trading card buying area soon. The storybook land boat ride was always open, not just during peak tourist/surrogate day care times as it is now. And the motorboat cruise was a great way to see more of Disney's wild areas. The cartopia and autopia were TWO differen tracks, and all the cars were painted only in primary and secondary colors. There was not the hour-long wait there is now, because you had TWO similar rides.

Adventureland: They had the tahitian terrace restaraunt. What more needs to be said.

Frontierland. Except for the big thunder mountain railroad, there is nothing there anymore. You used to be able to buy wooden and steel musket rifle copies and fake civil war swords. Now they are plastic. The frito lay restaraunt had great tasting fake mexican food. Cafe zoccala, the replacement has food that is consistently terrible and overly pretentious (and expensive). Before big thunder mountain railroad, there was the mine train through the wilderness ride. Simply awesome. Way better then the calico mine ride at Knotts. The rainbow caverns were awesome, and I even have a CD that contains the background music, which was a ghostly and magical choir singing some wordless exotica music full of chromatic chords and would have fit in on any star trek episode. Some of the original small scale buildings are now visible on the ridge above the line of big thunder railroad.

New orlean's square. The haunted mansion was never shut down for three weeks and then converted into something decidely un-scary for the entire fall and winter season, (thus doubling, even tripling the line wait time.) It also was not politically correct, as back then no one sued Disney. Therefore they could really dim the lights and make the place look creepy, without worrying about some jackass falling down. Even the doombuggy loading area was creepy. The attic: The screaming ghoul heads scared the piss out of me, as did the bride with the glowing heart. Nowadays, with all the exit signs visible, and the ulitarian office -style carpeting, my own workplace scares me more. Of course, I am 43 not 10, but you get the point.

Disneyland has changed, and not for the better. Somethings they have done right, but most wrong.

IMFO

(In my f-ing opinion)

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2007-11-28 18:40 ]

Some of this stuff I still agree with, some I have come to accept, and some I have changed my mind about.......

Best food in classic Disneyland? Dole whip float.....and that new pork shank at the place next to the matterhorn. We eat it at the dining area that used to be the embarking area for the motorboat cruise. Innoventions actually has some cool stuff, but they removed the section of kitchen they still had that came from the GE attraction carousel of progress....

Ok, big thunder mountain has been closed for almost a year now...when they gonna re-open that sucker?

I am still pissed about the haunted mansion...ok, they close this ride right after July (which is blocked out for my pass) and it stays closed until october. Then it opens, the line is 10 times as long....so you can't really go on it unless you want to murder about 2 hours.

Halloween just sucks at Disneyland...all of october you must exit the park at 7 now for a badge only event...

While I still like parts of classic disneyland, I generally inhabit california adventure....which has booze and lots of great rides in cars land (see my cars land at night thread) but dammit they are closing down the garden grill, which had actually really good quasi-mediterranean food...... :(

Someone needs to start a thread on why LEGOLAND sucks. I didn't realize most of the rides can only be ridden IF you have a small child with you. We made the mistake of taking one 4 year old with four adults (which would have been fine at DL), I paid $80 to watch my grandson ride 5 rides all day. The lines are bad because they don't have the DL efficiency of getting people on and off rides. They have wannabe carnies hawking games of chance (basketball shoot, coin toss, etc) everywhere at $10 a shot, as if they didn't scam you out of enough money already. The Lego sculptures are cool but many of them are aging and are badly in need of some DL-style upkeep. But my grandson had a blast :D

On 2007-12-08 08:05, lucas vigor wrote:
Well, I hope this helps them:

Parades: Once a month, not every night. I was laughing at Tom Slick's account of trying to "outrun" the parade. It rarely works. I know. I have tried! The parade is everywhere, and the employees with the safety cone lights are everywhere, and it all happens simultaneously. You only have a narrow window to make your move.

Strollers: You can't bring your own. You have to rent the small, reasonably sized stroller. They will be 20 bucks, which is perfectly fair since that is just about the going rate for a babysitter.

Tomorrowland: Paint it white.

Haunted Mansion: Never convert it to nightmare before christmas again.

Toys: Buzz lightyear toys can only be sold outside the astroblaster rides, and nowhere else in the park.

Remove the vegetables in tomorrowland: Replace them with the space age ferns and philodendrons that used to be there. Donate the vegetables to a homeless shelter.

Reopen rides you shut down for no real good reason, like the peoplemover and the skyway. I don't care if anyone dies on them anymore. It thins the herd, and no one needs more herd-thinning then a 70,000 member audience!

Entrance gates and ride capacity: Keep all the gates open. Use the supermarket philosophy: You see more then three at a check stand, open another!

New Orleans square: Fantasmic: once a month, not every night. The Woodstock-like gypsy camp that the guests set up in front of the river, HOURS before the show starts is a travesty. They need to call INS and haul all those people away for deportation. I am talking about the caucasian, American citizen guests. Haul everyone away! And take their filthy towels, carpets, mats and pillows away too! How did they smuggle that stuff in anyway? Are they the reason the security checkpoint line is so long, as they go through each article of clothing and bedding?

Balloons and Churros: No more balloons allowed. The kids bring them in the lines for the rides, where they constantly bump against you. Later, when they escape from the hands of the kids, they sail high into the air and land in the cleveland national forest where a deer chokes on them and dies. The churros: My kid always asks for one, and then eats only the first 1/3. We are stuck with the rest of it. I clocked my time in one churro line, and it was 23 minutes. 23 minutes for 1/3 a churro? That's fuzzy math! The employee was going as slow as humanly possible. People were buying 10-20 churros at a time, just before the fantasmic show, and this guy was moving at a snail's pace with this sad sort of smile on his face.

No more McDonalds: McDonalds is not Tiki, .....ahem, I mean not DISNEY!

Jungleboat cruise: Stop the madness! The jokes are only funny if you actually have people with comic timing. "Let's see if I can translate what they are saying.......nope!" You have to put a decent pause in there, when you do that line. And clean out the microphones. I can't even understand what you are saying! Thurl Ravencroft's original recording of the ride narrrative is excellent. Why not go back to playing it straight? And the brief spurt of mist as you enter the jungle? Last time I checked, it's always raining in a real rainforest. How come only the giant spiders get wet? Soak those guests the whole time! As one poster said, the smell of Disney water is one of the few excellent things they still do. Chlorine and anti-fungul chemicals are delicious! Drop buckets on the passengers!

I could go on and on, but others here have already posted better stuff!

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2007-12-08 08:21 ]

a selfie bump.

On 2013-10-14 17:41, MadDogMike wrote:
Someone needs to start a thread on why LEGOLAND sucks. I didn't realize most of the rides can only be ridden IF you have a small child with you. We made the mistake of taking one 4 year old with four adults (which would have been fine at DL), I paid $80 to watch my grandson ride 5 rides all day.
...

LEGOLAND is a bargain if you go with children and outrageously expensive if only adults go. A few years back I went to LEGOLAND on the way back from Tiki Oasis and got in with a shopping pass. Free admission for 1 hour. You got to rush through but you can see a lot. Many theme parks, including Disneyland, had shopping passes but in recent years have phases them out. Not sure if LEGOLAND still has them available.

One of the LEGOLAND rides is sponsored by Volvo. That's got to be the only thing in the USA sponsored by Volvo. I don't think Volvo has a very large presence in NASCAR.

New movie about a man losing his mind at the Happiest Place on Earth. It was filmed at Disney World and Disneyland without Disney's ok.

-Lori

[ Edited by: tikilongbeach 2013-10-15 11:43 ]

It's actually easy to lose your mind at Disney!

Case in point:

Lucas you should not be having fun at Disneyland it is against the rules!

I know.

I am supposed to be home, stewing, plotting, remembering how every one hates me, how all the bands I work with or have ever worked with hate me, how I am sociopath...

Instead, I am out there having fun (as I always do)....just don't tell anyone, ATP....it will be our little secret!

:)

The little girl next to you looks afraid. :)

Her dad looked even more afraid.....

(it's probably better I don't go to DL alone, without my kid)

:)

Orange County Register:New book asks if lawsuits and lawyers are taking the fun out of Disneyland

Back in the 1960's, Walt Disney called Harbor Blvd a “second rate Las Vegas".

In later years, the Disney company used it's influence to change it and make it more respectable.

I miss the Second rate Las Vegas Harbor Blvd.

actually, one of my suggestions may have come true. No more fantasmic gypsy camp allowed. (see my selfie bump below to see the original rant)

"Parades: Once a month, not every night. I was laughing at Tom Slick's account of trying to "outrun" the parade. It rarely works. I know. I have tried! The parade is everywhere, and the employees with the safety cone lights are everywhere, and it all happens simultaneously. You only have a narrow window to make your move.

Strollers: You can't bring your own. You have to rent the small, reasonably sized stroller. They will be 20 bucks, which is perfectly fair since that is just about the going rate for a babysitter.

Tomorrowland: Paint it white.

Haunted Mansion: Never convert it to nightmare before christmas again.

Toys: Buzz lightyear toys can only be sold outside the astroblaster rides, and nowhere else in the park.

Remove the vegetables in tomorrowland: Replace them with the space age ferns and philodendrons that used to be there. Donate the vegetables to a homeless shelter.

Reopen rides you shut down for no real good reason, like the peoplemover and the skyway. I don't care if anyone dies on them anymore. It thins the herd, and no one needs more herd-thinning then a 70,000 member audience!

Entrance gates and ride capacity: Keep all the gates open. Use the supermarket philosophy: You see more then three at a check stand, open another!

New Orleans square: Fantasmic: once a month, not every night. The Woodstock-like gypsy camp that the guests set up in front of the river, HOURS before the show starts is a travesty. They need to call INS and haul all those people away for deportation. I am talking about the caucasian, American citizen guests. Haul everyone away! And take their filthy towels, carpets, mats and pillows away too! How did they smuggle that stuff in anyway? Are they the reason the security checkpoint line is so long, as they go through each article of clothing and bedding?

Balloons and Churros: No more balloons allowed. The kids bring them in the lines for the rides, where they constantly bump against you. Later, when they escape from the hands of the kids, they sail high into the air and land in the cleveland national forest where a deer chokes on them and dies. The churros: My kid always asks for one, and then eats only the first 1/3. We are stuck with the rest of it. I clocked my time in one churro line, and it was 23 minutes. 23 minutes for 1/3 a churro? That's fuzzy math! The employee was going as slow as humanly possible. People were buying 10-20 churros at a time, just before the fantasmic show, and this guy was moving at a snail's pace with this sad sort of smile on his face.

No more McDonalds: McDonalds is not Tiki, .....ahem, I mean not DISNEY!

Jungleboat cruise: Stop the madness! The jokes are only funny if you actually have people with comic timing. "Let's see if I can translate what they are saying.......nope!" You have to put a decent pause in there, when you do that line. And clean out the microphones. I can't even understand what you are saying! Thurl Ravencroft's original recording of the ride narrrative is excellent. Why not go back to playing it straight? And the brief spurt of mist as you enter the jungle? Last time I checked, it's always raining in a real rainforest. How come only the giant spiders get wet? Soak those guests the whole time! As one poster said, the smell of Disney water is one of the few excellent things they still do. Chlorine and anti-fungul chemicals are delicious! Drop buckets on the passengers! "

http://soundcloud.com/lucas-vigor/sets/set-3/

I AM A SOCIOPATH!

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2017-03-07 16:25 ]

On 2017-03-07 16:24, lucas vigor wrote:

.......

Strollers: You can't bring your own. You have to rent the small, reasonably sized stroller. They will be 20 bucks, which is perfectly fair since that is just about the going rate for a babysitter

.......

---

http://soundcloud.com/lucas-vigor/sets/set-3/

I AM A SOCIOPATH!

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2017-03-07 16:25 ]

Thanks for the heads up on this article on that other social media

Orange County Register: Consider leaving the stroller at home when you visit Disneyland

[ Edited by: King Bushwich the 33rd 2017-05-17 09:52 ]

Vindication!

Orange County Register: Consider leaving the stroller at home when you visit Disneyland

I think this qualifies better under the category: Why people suck :wink:

I've made those suggestions about not bringing kids until they're old enough to walk and tall enough to get on all the rides, and got frickin' excoriated on Disney fan sites for it. "Disneyland is for kids!" Yeah, kids... not the neonatal.

Disney Announces Small World Stroller Parking Structure

The stroller problem has nothing to do with babies, believe it or not.

Very few people bring 3 month old kids to the park because of the constant attention they need; the parents can't go on rides and if they do they have to saddle one parent with the baby and these greedy parents don't like that.

The real problem is that parents are now bringing strollers to cart around 12 year olds.

It's incredible, but I see it every time. Kids who can barely fit into a stroller get wheeled around every day and are told that they can't leave the stroller without permission. I've seen kids get yelled at and hit for leaving the stroller, looking at the various things passing by wishing they could get out and investigate but mommy won't let them out.

The parents obviously want to be at Disneyland themselves and see it as a horrible liability to have to bring the kid, and simply use the stroller as some kind of holding device. It keeps the kid in check and carries food and drinks in the pack section at the back, so it's much cheaper than renting a locker (which is what I do every time) - and the stroller can be pushed in front of them like a big bumper car.

It also means that the parents don't have to listen to the kids whining because the kid is up front out of sight.

And the parents don't have to demonstrate nonexistent discipline skills when they tell the kid to do something and the kid does not listen. They don't want to yell at them like at home or hit them so it's the stroller instead.

I've wanted to do a series of pics of big kids in strollers but it's getting so ridiculous now people would think I'm actually posing the shots. I've actually seen teenagers getting pushed around in strollers by Grandmas. I've seen 3 10-year olds packed into one stroller hitting each other because they're so frustrated that they are not allowed out.

And I've always wanted to simply follow a stroller parent with a big kid inside and just see where they are always rushing to. Where are they going in such a flurry? What DOES the kid get to do? Do they stay in the stroller all day? Why exactly ARE they bringing it?….

Because the parents are the ONLY thing that matters...THEY are important. Plus God forbid they actually have to parent.

Excellent posts from Cammo and OGR!

Thanks Lucas...BTW, I really like the playing of Bruce Thomas...is that bad? :)

On 2017-05-18 07:36, Cammo wrote:
The stroller problem has nothing to do with babies, believe it or not...

I've seen too-old kids in strollers but had no idea that is really what's going on. Holy smokes.

I don't blame the babies for the strollers, of course. I generally figure that it's parents who don't want to let their own kids prevent them from visiting Disneyland (and the ones who more generously want to get pictures of their wee ones with Mickey and such things). They wanna' go, and damned be anyone, including their own child, from getting in the way. I had no idea it extended to 10 year olds or older.

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201705/5579/

The auction scene will be changed in Pirates of the Caribbean

MiceAge: Final Auction Coming Soon to Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom

But what does the Redhead want!?

(This redhead says:) If I hadn't seen the Dickies "controversy," this would've been the dumbest thing I'd seen all day.

I just wasn't made for these times.

I love it! a smoking baby!
You can't even show people smoking on TV these days.

Yet "The housewives of" shows can show trashy women beating the heck out
of each other and being total sluts and that's fine.
In fact they add a new Housewives show every year it seems.
I guess violent out of control slut women sells.

Why would those shows not bring the same outrage that this Disney attraction does?
Selective Political Correctness at it's best.

So are young women going to see that and think that's how the wives of today act?
You can bet MANY will do just that.

Fine TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RhQIZmkgDQ

HA! it says...
"real babies should NEVER smoke!" on the box.
I guess in this day and age some idiot would let their baby smoke and then sue these
guys for making this item as it lead to their baby smoking.

To keep up with modern sensibilities, they're making the Redhead a killer.

The gangs of Disneyland!?

Orange County Weekly: Gangs of Disneyland

I'm not sure if I find these names/logos clever or disturbing.