For the Love Of All Disney Parks!- Page 6

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/13/09 at 9:27pm

Pardon my ignorance but, how much of the parks do they close doing major expansions? Is it worth visiting before they are complete?

They wouldn't close ALL Fantasyland and/or California Adventure for these, would they?

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/13/09 at 9:33pm

They closed all of Tomorrowland at Disneyland when they gave it the "Jules Verne" look. (Ugh! And have since reversed at least HALF of it.)

I'm sure they will keep as much of WDW open as possible, but if it's that major of a re-haul in Fantasyland, they will shut down as much of it as needed to get the job done.

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 9/13/09 at 11:39pm

I remember reading or hearing somewhere that Disney said the Fantasyland expansion will supposedly have minimal effects on guests' experiences. I have no idea what the DCA one will be like, since they're basically overhauling the entire park.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/13/09 at 11:50pm

The only effect that the DCA expansion will have on guests, based on what I was told this weekend at the expo, is when they begin work on the entrance plazas. The Cars Land expansion and the World of Color work on the lagoon have already begun. You can only really see the Cars Land work right now from the tops of some of the attractions. The lagoon is a giant slab of concrete with wires and metal sticking out of it, but aside from being incredibly aesthetically unappealing, it does not disrupt the guest experience. There are huge rehab walls up all around parts of it, too.

Updated On: 9/14/09 at 11:50 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 9/13/09 at 11:55pm

I'm glad Murphy looked cool. I can't wait to drive down and see him in person!

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 12:01am

What about the new entrance area they're going to build? Was there anything mentioned about that?
Updated On: 9/14/09 at 12:01 AM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 12:16am

Yes. The giant sunbeam is disappearing, and the entire area is being re-themed to give it an "old Hollywood" feel. The Golden Gate Bridge is also disappearing. The turn styles will bear a striking resemblance to the ones at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Here's the new entrance plaza:


Here's concept art for just beyond the turn styles:

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 12:24am

I know what the plans are, I was asking if anything had been said about how the construction will affect guest experiences. :)
Updated On: 9/14/09 at 12:24 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 12:39am

Did they say if the Little Mermaid ride will be similar or identical to the one that is shown on the DVD's special features?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 12:44am

The gate is not to any Hollywood studios. The one in the drawing is a copy of the old Pan Pacific Auditorium where they filmed Xanadu, that burned down years later.



Check It Out

Updated On: 9/14/09 at 12:44 AM

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 1:34am

"Did they say if the Little Mermaid ride will be similar or identical to the one that is shown on the DVD's special features?"

As far as I know, it's only similar. It's too bad, because I thought the laser ocean and dual level underwater/abovewater scenes and viewpoints were a really cool idea.

Looks like it's going to have omnimover shell cars, a la The Seas with Nemo and Friends.






Here's some amazing concept art and photos from the original design:

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/03/will-little-mermaid-attraction-be.html
Updated On: 9/14/09 at 01:34 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 1:50am

Mmm, I guess the omnimovers will make the lines go faster. At the same time, I hope it's not like the Monsters Inc. or Pooh rides where two dimensional cardboard characters move back and forth, but with real animatronics.

And I hope they keep the scary Ursula parts too - what I love about rides like Snow White and Pinocchio is that they focus on the scary.

In any case, I'm thrilled about a new dark ride! My future boyfriend who loves Disney parks is too (I hope).

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 1:57am

Do omnimovers really load much faster than Peter Pan-type cars? I always thought that Pan has long lines just because it's so popular... And the fastpass at WDW just serves to muck it up even more.

And it does look pretty scary. Ariel was only actually in there, what, three times?

You go! Anyone who loves Disney parks is a worthy boyfriend/girlfriend. :) I have two older, married, gay friends who first met working at Disneyland's Blue Bayou Restaurant... 40 years ago!

(One of them became the Maitre D' at Club 33 for a while, but that's a different story. )


Updated On: 9/14/09 at 01:57 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 2:03am

Actually, yes. One of the ideas of the omnimovers was to move crowds a lot faster, but sacrificing the feeling of being alone in the ride. I guess because with omnimovers you can see other people riding at the same time.

A ride like Haunted Mansion can move faster than smaller ones that go by one, like the ones in Fantasyland, it just keeps going.

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 2:09am

Yeah, I suppose omnimovers have the advantage of vehicle numbers.

Which is an extremely good thing. Crush's Coaster in Paris is the slowest loading Disney ride I have ever encountered. It loads 8 people per minute. Insanity!! They only have about three cars in the loading dock at one time. And then they have to keep stopping the vehicles because people have trouble getting in/out, and they're continuous loaders. I waited an hour and a half to ride something that, in Disney World or Disneyland, would have had me in and out in 30 minutes.
Updated On: 9/14/09 at 02:09 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 2:21am

Eek! I went to France the week before Christmas and the place was deserted. I did the whole park in half a day, lol.

I found the rides there lacking detail, I could see the roof, for example. I was blown away by their Space Mountain, but everything else was a bit bland compared to the parks here, maybe because they don't have as many rides.

The Phantom Manor was bizarre, it felt like they ran out of money halfway through building the ride and bought some mannequins from a store to complete it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 11:17am

Crush's Coaster in Paris is the slowest loading Disney ride I have ever encountered.

That's one of the reasons we didn't ride it. It always had a 90-minute wait. Plus, it looked like it would spin too much and make us sick.

I found the rides there lacking detail, I could see the roof, for example. I was blown away by their Space Mountain, but everything else was a bit bland compared to the parks here, maybe because they don't have as many rides.

I did think some of the rides in Paris were sort of reduced versions of their originals, such as the Tower of Terror, which is much smaller than the one at WDW. But overall, I thought the park theming and decor was stunning. The rides were a bit farther apart and had more extensive surroundings. The teacups, Dumbo and Phantom Manor had particularly beautiful exteriors.

I do think it is odd that the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Paris is entirely different from the ones in Anaheim or Hong Kong. I actually prefer the one in Paris.

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 12:36pm

"That's one of the reasons we didn't ride it. It always had a 90-minute wait. Plus, it looked like it would spin too much and make us sick."

Actually, it's not too bad. I'd say Primeval Whirl in Animal Kingdom is worse. (Think the PW vehicles on the WDW Space Mountain's track. That would be similar.)

"I did think some of the rides in Paris were sort of reduced versions of their originals... But overall, I thought the park theming and decor was stunning."

Agreed. Disneyland Paris is beautiful, but boring. Besides Phantom Manor, nothing's very impressive, and there aren't many rides. And when I was there, the parks closed at like 6, and there is NOTHING else to do there! You could only either go to Disney Village or go back to your hotel.

And I definitely prefer the Paris castle. I think it's the prettiest out of all of them, and I love the hill/cliff/waterfall on the side. Not to mention that animatronic dragon beneath it, and the fact that you can go up to the second story and balcony without needing an impossible-to-get restaurant reservation.

Like I said, it's too bad that Paris is so boring and has so little to do, because the Disneyland park is beautiful. It's probably second only to DisneySea in theming.
Updated On: 9/14/09 at 12:36 PM

[HollyGolightly2]

Posted: 9/24/09 at 10:23pm

LOL, I'd go, but I'm going to WDW for New Years and London in February. Not enough moolah to take any more trips.

So they're not extending the 'Celebrate?' campaign? Is there any premise for the next one besides the volunteering? I haven't been keeping up with Disney parks lately; I've been focusing on their movies (Princess and the Frog!!).

[James885]

Posted: 11/3/09 at 11:47pm

Bumping this thread because I just returned yesterday from a 4-day stay at WDW, and this seemed like an appropriate place to post some thoughts about my trip. I won't bore you with a long report, but here are a few highlights:

We hit every park except Hollywood Studios.

The Epcot Food and Wine festival is not to be missed. We ate at the Teppan Edo restaurant in the Japanese pavilion. Our chef was hilarious, and was telling jokes while he was making the food. We hit all the major rides. LOVED Soarin' and Test Track. However, my girlfriend chickened out of doing the intense version of Mission: Space, so I did it alone. I don't really like how they added all the Nemo stuff to The Seas pavilion. I miss the hydrolators. The new personalized features on Spaceship Earth were pretty cool. I always love the part where you get to the top of the ball, and you see all the stars.

Animal Kingdom was fun. We saw Finding Nemo The Musical, which was OUTSTANDING. Great score. Great cast. The sets and effects were amazing. Definitely one of the best theme park shows I've ever seen. Festival of The Lion King was also good. We made the mistake of doing the safari near closing time, so most of the animals weren't out. But we did do the Flights of Wonder bird show which had some very close encounters with the birds. Expedition Everest was fun, as was Dinosaur.

We spent the most time at Magic Kingdom. We didn't get to eat at the Crystal Palace unfortunately. We saw both the day parade and the night parade, and got some pictures with the characters. I was a little bummed that my favorite ride, Space Mountain was down for renovation, but we did the other two mountains in frontierland. Splash Mountain is always a delight!

All in all, it was an outstanding trip. We saw two fireworks shows: Wishes at Magic Kingdom and Illuminations at Epcot. I liked both, but I liked Illuminations better. I liked the giant spinning globe with all the projections, and the lasers and the water jets. The gigantic fireballs that occur at the beginning of the show were awesome. It was in the middle of the lagoon, but you still feel the heat from very far back.

But the Spectromagic parade at the Magic Kingdom is my absolute favorite nighttime attraction. I don't care that it hasn't been updated in forever, the music is thrilling, the floats are dazzling and the whole thing just makes me feel like I'm 7 years old again.

I hope that wasn't too long a report :)

EDIT: For some reason my original post didn't show up in the thread, so I'm re-posting it again.

Updated On: 11/3/09 at 11:47 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 11/4/09 at 12:04am

Can you share pictures, please? :)

[James885]

Posted: 11/4/09 at 12:23am

Sure thing! Coming right up!

[James885]

Posted: 11/4/09 at 1:08am

As requested. Most of them are from Animal Kingdom, since my ancient digital camera kept acting up the other 2 days.



The entrance to Animal Kingdom



The Tree of Life.



The Flights of Wonder bird show.



Expedition Everest



A train heading down Everest's big drop.



The Dino Institute, A.K.A. Dinosaur: Countdown to Extinction.



All of us at the Japanese restaurant at Epcot. I'm the second person from the left. The black guy with the dopey expression, lol.

Updated On: 11/4/09 at 01:08 AM

[pli1018]

Posted: 11/4/09 at 7:59am

No to threadjack your pics James, but Bob Iger announced yesterday the worst kept secret in the Disney community - Shanghai Disneyland. It's going to be a legitimate park, along the lines of Paris and Tokyo instead of the lame excuse for one in Hong Kong. No concept art has been released just yet but it's intended to open in the next five or six years.

[EVIE]

Posted: 11/4/09 at 12:20pm

I went to Disneyland Paris in the late nineties and it was so, so deserted...it was pretty depressing. I hope things have changed.