Walt Disney World and Disneyland(s) Discussion

[Agent0028]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

I'm just worried about this being too choppy. So we're going to leave the dock, jump into hyperspace, cruise around a planet, jump in hyperspace rinse and repeat. Twice.

 

[cokebabies]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Pod racing

 

[Agent0028]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

I think the pod racing will be cool. I would prefer it if each ride is different but focus on one trip. Kinda like the old one, while en route to Endor you get caught in the death star battle or making an emergency landing on Tatooine that puts you in the middle of a pod race, etc.

 

[Protozaius]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

I think that this video is only one of a bunch of videoes that will be played while waiting in line. I seem to remember there was a Hoth themed clip as well as the Endor clip. I always thought the Imagineers could have done more with the clips and shown more tours of planets while we waited for the ride than they did. Perhaps they are correcting this.

 

[Coheteboy]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

I think that this video is only one of a bunch of videoes that will be played while waiting in line. I seem to remember there was a Hoth themed clip as well as the Endor clip. I always thought the Imagineers could have done more with the clips and shown more tours of planets while we waited for the ride than they did. Perhaps they are correcting this.

Yup.

Don't look into that video too closely because it may or may not reflect the actual ride.

I do wish that they got the guy with the "voice" to do the commercials like the old ones.



And Cokebabies, although there are fewer wide walkways at Disneyland compared to Disney World, they make up for it in number of attractions per square inch. There won't be long walks to find your favorite attraction as they're just a few short steps away.

 

[Coheteboy]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Just a few random pics from last night at California Adventure.

Lumiere from World of Color pre-show

Whoa, single rainbow

Glow Fest, the Disney rave

 

[cokebabies]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Ugh, the HM NBC update means when I go, Star Tours, HM, and TSMM will all be closed.

But between the short weekend, not getting to use our DVC points, holiday weekend, ride closings, and a few other annoyances, it was enough to "force" us to book another DLR trip in mid-December.

 

[Coheteboy]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Ugh, the HM NBC update means when I go, Star Tours, HM, and TSMM will all be closed.

But between the short weekend, not getting to use our DVC points, holiday weekend, ride closings, and a few other annoyances, it was enough to "force" us to book another DLR trip in mid-December.

Honestly, I'm happy you made that decision. Especially for your first trip in a long time, you should definitely return when more attractions are open. I think Haunted Mansion re-opens as Haunted Mansion Holiday in mid September so anytime after that should be good to go.

It DOES get more crowded mid-december though so take that into consideration.

 

[cokebabies]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Honestly, I'm happy you made that decision. Especially for your first trip in a long time, you should definitely return when more attractions are open. I think Haunted Mansion re-opens as Haunted Mansion Holiday in mid September so anytime after that should be good to go.

It DOES get more crowded mid-december though so take that into consideration.

Well, my wife is a teacher, so our last five+ WDW trips have been during peak times since she only has off when everyone else does.

When we went the week after Christmas two years ago, we saw the most frightening thing ever. On the road signs where it says "Epcot turn left, Animal Kingdom straight ahead, etc." at the top of the sign was the message "Magic Kingdom: FULL" Yikes.

 

[Agent0028]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Yep, those are the times I avoid my beloved parks. Saw pics of Epcot last New Years day. The Gran Fiesta Tour line was wrapped around the outside of the building. And Soarin had like a 5 or 6 hour wait. I heard from a CM that it looked like a refugee camp.

 

[cokebabies]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Well the one upside for WDW is that we're experts by now of avoiding all that nonsense. Sure, when the parks are that crowded there are limits to what you can get away with, but if you're smart you can avoid most of that hassle.

Unfortunately I don't know DLR like that, but at least a lot of my Disney park knowledge should translate in terms of crowd avoidance.

 

[Coheteboy]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

The thing you need to worry about at Disneyland on peak periods are the nighttime shows like the Fireworks, Fantasmic!, and now World of Color.

Getting into World of Color is simple enough to plan for. You need to do the following things:

1. Go to Disney California Adventure an hour prior to opening (sometimes they let you in early)
2. Queue up at the Grizzly River Run attraction's fast pass machines. There you will get your World of Color "show pass" that tells you what time show you're seeing and what area you'll be viewing the show from. The earlier you go, the earlier your show. There will most likely be THREE showings a night during peak periods. One at 9pm, a second at 10, and a third at 11.
3. The show pass will tell you where to queue up that evening

OR.

1. Call Disneyland Dining hotline 714-781-3463
2. Make a Prefix dinner reservation at either the Wine Country Trattoria or Ariel's Grotto restaurant. These meals will probably run you $40-50 per person but foods are of the park's highest quality.
3. By doing this, you are also given a reserved seating for the show.

OR

1. Go to www.disneyland.com and order a Picnic Lunch/Dinner for $15 each. These can also be ordered the day of at the Wine Country Trattoria Restaurant.
2. Each picnic meal also comes with reserved seating.



OR

1. If you don't care and want to see the show without all of that riff raff, you can go to Paradise Pier and watch the show from the back. You won't be able to see all the projected elements clearly but the fountains should all be pretty visible.




Fantasmic! and Fireworks are first come first serve at Disneyland park and probably be the most hell one can encounter during peak periods.

BUT... if you go to the first Fantasmic showing, you would be able to stay put and enjoy the fireworks from there.

The PREFERRED method of seeing the fireworks though are in front of the Castle or on Main Street USA. There's added show elements on the castle and around the hub so people frequently crowd that area early on.



I hope these tips help you enjoy your stay better even though it's a few months from now.

 

[Agent0028]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

That's pretty awesome that they do World of Color that way. I wish they would do something like that for Fantasmic here. Although they only do the show twice a week now, so it is difficult for me to be at the park on a show night to begin with.

 

[cokebabies]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

The info is definitely appreciated.

Yeah, we did that picnic in the park thing to get the WoC FastPasses. The food only looked mediocre, but not waiting in line for a FP increased its desirability just a tad.

Fireworks, we've never been "we have to be in this spot" people, we tend to just watch them as we walk around, and if we stumble upon a good viewing spot, we just park it.

Fantasmic I know from DHS, can be one brutal experience even in lighter times. I'm not sure how different the two Fantasmic shows are, so I'll check to see if it's even worth fighting to get in.

WoC was definitely the priority for shows, since that is the one show that is absolutely unique to DLR. While I know the fireworks aren't the same as WDW's they're still the same principle, and we've seen Fantasmic numerous times.

 

[Coheteboy]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

The info is definitely appreciated.

Yeah, we did that picnic in the park thing to get the WoC FastPasses. The food only looked mediocre, but not waiting in line for a FP increased its desirability just a tad.

Fireworks, we've never been "we have to be in this spot" people, we tend to just watch them as we walk around, and if we stumble upon a good viewing spot, we just park it.

Fantasmic I know from DHS, can be one brutal experience even in lighter times. I'm not sure how different the two Fantasmic shows are, so I'll check to see if it's even worth fighting to get in.

WoC was definitely the priority for shows, since that is the one show that is absolutely unique to DLR. While I know the fireworks aren't the same as WDW's they're still the same principle, and we've seen Fantasmic numerous times.

I'm really impressed with the Disneyland firework shows. During December, depending on what area you're in, the finale is... snow. It's actually soap suds that dissolves immediately without a filmy residue but in Southern California, experiencing snow is pretty magical since we never get it. It's kind of neat.


Fantasmic! at Disneyland is by far the superior version. I've seen both on several occasions and the differences are quite obvious. This is one of those occasions where they [florida] spent even more money, made it bigger and longer, but lost a lot of its heart and magic along the way.

The difference is that Fantasmic! at Disneyland performs right on Tom Sawyer Island, two shows a night. It's a more compact show, clocking in at 22 minutes (I think florida's is half an hour or close) and musically more satisfying.

The viewing area is also much closer to the river so it's a much more intimate experience.


I can get into more specific reasons on why Disneyland's show is better if you want me to. I'm going to save myself from boring you just in case.


as for the picnic in the park, the food IS mediocre. I believe you're able to pick it up anytime. I recommend eating it for lunch and doing something more decent for dinner. You at least get a World of Color canvas bag I suppose.

 

[cokebabies]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Yeah literally the only reason we got the lunch was for the Fast Passes. Even Disney's professional photographers couldn't make the food look great, and the amateur reviewers pictures look even worse.

But we've got dinner reservations both nights (although I forget where... I think one is Blue Bayou), so that should make up for the lunch. Dinner reservations have actually become one of my favorite parts of a WDW trip, so I look forward to new DLR restaurants.

We were planning on doing Fantasmic on one of the trips, so if not this weekend then in Dec. Dec will be more crowded, but we'll have more time so it'll depend on how it goes this weekend. We'll probably just stay for the fireworks after that, since we never get to crazy about "the perfect spot". As long as we can see them, that should work.

 

[Coheteboy]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Yeah literally the only reason we got the lunch was for the Fast Passes. Even Disney's professional photographers couldn't make the food look great, and the amateur reviewers pictures look even worse.

But we've got dinner reservations both nights (although I forget where... I think one is Blue Bayou), so that should make up for the lunch. Dinner reservations have actually become one of my favorite parts of a WDW trip, so I look forward to new DLR restaurants.

We were planning on doing Fantasmic on one of the trips, so if not this weekend then in Dec. Dec will be more crowded, but we'll have more time so it'll depend on how it goes this weekend. We'll probably just stay for the fireworks after that, since we never get to crazy about "the perfect spot". As long as we can see them, that should work.

Let me know where your other dinner reservations are. I'm eager to hear where you end up going!

And a tip for fireworks. One of the best views is right in front of Small World. There's less of a crowd there and they play the music and do projections onto the ride facade. It's not as good as the castle but it's a very good 2nd best.

 

[dunedain]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

During the summer holiday I went to Disneyland Paris (I live in Europe)

And I was lucky enough to be there during the opening of the new Toy Story Play land. There are some new fun attractions and I enjoyed them although the ques are very long.

Now seeing if I might get back to Disneyland Paris in October for Halloween with some friends.

Some pictures of the new Toy Story Land:

And it was great so see Captain EO! I loved every second of it!

 

[cokebabies]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

The small Toy Story section in Hollywood Studios is so fantastically themed, so I'd imagine being in the midst of an even bigger TS area would be awesome.

I am completely unfamiliar with the non-US parks, so I was surprised to see the park is so... tree-y (I'm going to go ahead and guess that is not the best word in that situation).

 

[Agent0028]

Re: Walt Disney World and Dineyland(s) Discussion

Thanks for sharing the pics, that is pretty awesome looking. I love our little Toy Story area at The Studios.