Over the holiday break, my wife, the kids, and I spent 6 days in Southern California. Our plan was to visit Disneyland and the newer California Adventures Park. Our trip to and from Anaheim was paid in advance, including airport transport to and from LAX. Anaheim's local transit system was also excellent, taking us from outside our hotel to the admission gates of both parks. We paid everything in advance through Disneyland Travel Services, who were very helpful in giving us choices for the decisions we had to make.
Flying economy is difficult in traveling anywhere. Our United Airlines flight attendants made our flights less stressful by pleasantly talking with our kids, who are 8 and 9. Our time at the Anaheim Disney Parks was compromised by enormous attendance at both parks. For anyone planning to go to both parks, I would suggest traveling at a time that is not a vacation period for schools. Crowds at both parks were very large, and park visitors have to be respectful of Indigenous tribe's traditional practices, as they as they wind their way through park rides and themed sections (e.g. Frontierland).
My last visit to Disneyland was in 1986. I had a two year old child on that visit. I was fortunate to have had several visits. I went to Disneyland for the first time when I was four, in 1957, when Disneyland had been open for two years. The memories from that first visit are somewhat hazy. Fantasyland and Frontierland are the areas that made the biggest impression 60 years ago. Disneyland has always been crowded on the visits I have made. As time has marched onward, Disneyland has changed the exhibits and rides to reflect the nation's changes. This is excellent.
I remember Monsanto having had a home of the future, and using the slogan "better living through chemistry." This was in my 1957 visit. Parking was ample, and the way the parking lots that were set up made it easy to find our 1955 Mercury when we were done with the park. The Matterhorn coaster was still on the development plan. Crowds were large, but waits for park attractions were much shorter. As the Fifties passed into the Sixties, Walt Disney World took up more of the Disney Company's time.
When Disney World opened, for a time Disneyland was less crowded on my visits. It seemed that Disneyland was given less attention by Disney Corporation. Despite the company's priorities being mostly shaped by Disney World, new attractions were periodically opened at Disneyland. As time moved along, new attractions opened at both parks regularly.
The story of Disneyland after Walt Disney's passing in 1966 was for me all about the Disney family carrying on Walt Disney's vision and staying true to the vision Mr. Disney had for the Disney Company's various operating divisions. There was a point when Disney Corporation appeared to have lost some of the clarity Mr. Disney brought to the operating divisions of Disney Corporation. At some point in the Eighties, the Disney family holdings in Disney Corporation became a minority interest with other investors holding majority interest.
The Disney Corporation's priorities moved into an international platform with Disney amusement parks opening in Asia and Europe. Disney Corporation placed themselves in the burgeoning cable television market. The Disney Channel and it's offshoots were dominant in the cable television market for programming targeting young viewers. In the Fifties and Sixties, Walt Disney's weekly show dominated Sunday night programming on ABC. In the Nineties, Disney Corporation bought ABC....!
Disneyland, the former flagship park in the Disney chain of amusement parks sadly began to show its age. An intense long-term development plan brought Disneyland into the Twenty First Century. Attendance at Disneyland expanded and grew. New attractions boosted the public's interest. New areas of Disneyland and the new California Adventures Park made Disneyland competitive with parks like Six Flags and Magic Mountain.
The Disney name became synonymous with excellent service to customers. Disney patrons were called "guests" and other service and vacation sector market corporations used Disney's customer service model with similar successes. Disney's reanimated pictures experienced a rejuvenation of box office success that brought awards and an anticipation of each new Disney film that had not been witnessed since the Sixties. Disney rereleased Walt Disney's masterpiece, Fantasia. The film finally received the artistic adoration it had always deserved, and Roy Disney, Walt's brother, oversaw the release of a 21st Century sequel to Fantasia that was acclaimed.
Over the first decade of the 21st Century, Disney became an entertainment giant. Disneyland was expanded correspondingly.
That brings me to our visit to the park over the holiday just passed.
Disneyland/California Adventures combines the traditional vision of Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom with the overpowering Star Wars franchise. There are the original sections, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, and new attractions in Mainstreet, plus all of the attractions in California Adventures. The price for a day in Disneyland is $125 For an adult and $95 for young children.
Price stated, I would like to offer some observations about my family's experiences in both parks - Disneyland and California Adventures...
1) The two park's "cast members" were unfailingly helpful. We misplaced our son's diabetic medication and testing kit one night. We were given excellent instructions on who to see and report the lost kit. The staff's instructions were given clearly, and as they predicted, the kit was in lost and found the next morning as they had predicted.
2) The abuse of the so called "fast pass" insofar as the disparity how fastpass buyers and regular patrons are treated is a very disappointing. The wait time fit most popular rides until 40 to 50 fast pass holders got their ride on an attraction. Regular customers are admitted at roughly one regular customer to fifteen fast pass holders. The regular customers are called "standbys" and on high attendance days have wait times averaging rights times longer than fast pass purchasers. This often results in a 3 hour wait time for popular rides.
3) We found that food quality at both parks was generally fair to good, but that the prices were excessive for what you buy. The problems centered on food quality and presentation. But for the price, helpful staff tried to speak with a supportive understanding tone to our family.
4) The staff people we met were pleasant for small talk. Disney Parks seems to attract high quality staff. Their loyalty to standards of the original founders has a solid positive impact.
af/
Flying economy is difficult in traveling anywhere. Our United Airlines flight attendants made our flights less stressful by pleasantly talking with our kids, who are 8 and 9. Our time at the Anaheim Disney Parks was compromised by enormous attendance at both parks. For anyone planning to go to both parks, I would suggest traveling at a time that is not a vacation period for schools. Crowds at both parks were very large, and park visitors have to be respectful of Indigenous tribe's traditional practices, as they as they wind their way through park rides and themed sections (e.g. Frontierland).
My last visit to Disneyland was in 1986. I had a two year old child on that visit. I was fortunate to have had several visits. I went to Disneyland for the first time when I was four, in 1957, when Disneyland had been open for two years. The memories from that first visit are somewhat hazy. Fantasyland and Frontierland are the areas that made the biggest impression 60 years ago. Disneyland has always been crowded on the visits I have made. As time has marched onward, Disneyland has changed the exhibits and rides to reflect the nation's changes. This is excellent.
I remember Monsanto having had a home of the future, and using the slogan "better living through chemistry." This was in my 1957 visit. Parking was ample, and the way the parking lots that were set up made it easy to find our 1955 Mercury when we were done with the park. The Matterhorn coaster was still on the development plan. Crowds were large, but waits for park attractions were much shorter. As the Fifties passed into the Sixties, Walt Disney World took up more of the Disney Company's time.
When Disney World opened, for a time Disneyland was less crowded on my visits. It seemed that Disneyland was given less attention by Disney Corporation. Despite the company's priorities being mostly shaped by Disney World, new attractions were periodically opened at Disneyland. As time moved along, new attractions opened at both parks regularly.
The story of Disneyland after Walt Disney's passing in 1966 was for me all about the Disney family carrying on Walt Disney's vision and staying true to the vision Mr. Disney had for the Disney Company's various operating divisions. There was a point when Disney Corporation appeared to have lost some of the clarity Mr. Disney brought to the operating divisions of Disney Corporation. At some point in the Eighties, the Disney family holdings in Disney Corporation became a minority interest with other investors holding majority interest.
The Disney Corporation's priorities moved into an international platform with Disney amusement parks opening in Asia and Europe. Disney Corporation placed themselves in the burgeoning cable television market. The Disney Channel and it's offshoots were dominant in the cable television market for programming targeting young viewers. In the Fifties and Sixties, Walt Disney's weekly show dominated Sunday night programming on ABC. In the Nineties, Disney Corporation bought ABC....!
Disneyland, the former flagship park in the Disney chain of amusement parks sadly began to show its age. An intense long-term development plan brought Disneyland into the Twenty First Century. Attendance at Disneyland expanded and grew. New attractions boosted the public's interest. New areas of Disneyland and the new California Adventures Park made Disneyland competitive with parks like Six Flags and Magic Mountain.
The Disney name became synonymous with excellent service to customers. Disney patrons were called "guests" and other service and vacation sector market corporations used Disney's customer service model with similar successes. Disney's reanimated pictures experienced a rejuvenation of box office success that brought awards and an anticipation of each new Disney film that had not been witnessed since the Sixties. Disney rereleased Walt Disney's masterpiece, Fantasia. The film finally received the artistic adoration it had always deserved, and Roy Disney, Walt's brother, oversaw the release of a 21st Century sequel to Fantasia that was acclaimed.
Over the first decade of the 21st Century, Disney became an entertainment giant. Disneyland was expanded correspondingly.
That brings me to our visit to the park over the holiday just passed.
Disneyland/California Adventures combines the traditional vision of Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom with the overpowering Star Wars franchise. There are the original sections, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, and new attractions in Mainstreet, plus all of the attractions in California Adventures. The price for a day in Disneyland is $125 For an adult and $95 for young children.
Price stated, I would like to offer some observations about my family's experiences in both parks - Disneyland and California Adventures...
1) The two park's "cast members" were unfailingly helpful. We misplaced our son's diabetic medication and testing kit one night. We were given excellent instructions on who to see and report the lost kit. The staff's instructions were given clearly, and as they predicted, the kit was in lost and found the next morning as they had predicted.
2) The abuse of the so called "fast pass" insofar as the disparity how fastpass buyers and regular patrons are treated is a very disappointing. The wait time fit most popular rides until 40 to 50 fast pass holders got their ride on an attraction. Regular customers are admitted at roughly one regular customer to fifteen fast pass holders. The regular customers are called "standbys" and on high attendance days have wait times averaging rights times longer than fast pass purchasers. This often results in a 3 hour wait time for popular rides.
3) We found that food quality at both parks was generally fair to good, but that the prices were excessive for what you buy. The problems centered on food quality and presentation. But for the price, helpful staff tried to speak with a supportive understanding tone to our family.
4) The staff people we met were pleasant for small talk. Disney Parks seems to attract high quality staff. Their loyalty to standards of the original founders has a solid positive impact.
af/
No comments:
Post a Comment