DLP and DCA Friday May 19th, 2006!

Mr. Chaperone spent Saturday with the one day park hopper. My wife’s middle school band had a competition in Fullerton, and somehow I got the gig. My 2 year-old was with me so a lot of the stuff you guys will not care about. Let me randomly rant as usual…

Crowds: Disneyland packed while DCA is a ghost town. Where have we heard this before?

Tower of Terror: I freaking love this ride (it is still better in Orlando though). It is even better when midday you can walk right into the hotel lobby and get on AND off in less than fifteen.

Single Rider Line: You HAVE to use this thing for California Screamin and Mulholland’s Madness. You literally walk right to your seat most of the time. For Soarin it will get you damn close. Grizzly River still has a 5 minute wait, but when the real line is 30 minutes…DUH!

California Screamin: While never a coaster to pack much of a punch, it has lost a step or two. Those bunny hops before the final helix are as airless as the park bench now. It is still a nice family coaster.

Space Mountain: Alright…get rid of Apollo’s Chariot and Georgia’s Goliath and you have my favorite steel coaster. This baby was eating people and thrilling all. Why in the hell have the regional themers not taken note that an oversized mouse in the dark is about as fun as you can get? This California version absolutely delivers in the fun department.

Hmmm: Monster’s Inc broken, Bugs Life Down, Pirates down AND Toontown Spin broken….

Food Service: What the heck happened to service at Disney? The rides seem efficient…the food lines are out of control. I’d prefer a fastpass for the food lines than the rides at this point of time. At 9:00 pm there were 25 (conservative) people in line for ice cream at DLP with ONE person taking the order AND preparing the treats. The restaurant next to Soarin has the self-check in computers (we know how well these things worked out in the grocery stores) that work real good when the kid in front of you is feeding singles for the $17 tab. I could go on and on...but needless to say the understaffing is epic!

Anybody that has a child who likes/NEEDS milk can pretty much realize that 60% his or her entire day will be spent waiting in a line to find the stuff. I’m a Disney geek with the worst of them! Their food service, at this point in time, is pitiful and pathetic and makes me long for the old SFMM days! When middle school kids are complaining, there is indeed an issue!

Highlight: My boy is 35 inches and could finally get on the Gadget Coaster in Toontown. To my delight he loves the damn thing. To my chagrin he wants to do it OVER and OVER and OVER!

Bottom Line: Disney is still among the best at what they do unless you like to eat and drink!

*** Edited 5/21/2006 4:49:31 PM UTC by Jeffrey R Smith***

I was there a couple days ago as well. Yes, Space Mountain kix tookus!! I found it much more thrilling than any indoor coaster I have ever ridden. The food at Disney is..eh. Better than the run-of-the-mill themepark. I still like Universal best. Glad you had fun..

I couldn't agree more about Space Mountain. It's a top 10 coaster for me. (THe new one, not the old one or one at other Disney Parks)

1 month till I go to Disneyland again :)

Jeffrey: Tell me you sat in front of the castle and watched Remember, Dreams come True. That is the single greatest thing I've ever seen at a park in my life....if you didn't see it SHAME ON YOU!!! :)

You went to DL Paris and to DCA is the same day? ;)

Kidding, nice brief TR. :)

...and yes, Space Mountain is indeed the best indoor coaster since well, my Mummy...only it really is a better ride, argh! ;)

Damn initials... I always thought this meant Disneyland "PARK." I will hand my enthusiast credentials back and retire in shame! :-)

Dude, so did you see "Remember, Dreams come true"?

^^ Are you kidding, you get to go through life with the initials of Judge Roy Scream... ;)

:)

Did not see it...I'm sorry! :-(

Noooooooooooooooo..... :(

Next time make sur eyou see it. I had no idea it wasany good until I happened to see it last year. It was 20 times better than any fireworks show I've ever seen. Makes WDW's look like total crap. Absolutely blew me away....no pun intended.

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Jeffrey R Smith said:
Bottom Line: Disney is still among the best at what they do unless you like to eat and drink!

*** Edited 5/21/2006 4:49:31 PM UTC by Jeffrey R Smith***

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OMG...you took the words out of my mouth. I was at Disneyland proper on Friday also, and yes the lines for food were worse than the rides.

Funny story for those familiar with Disney parks' counter service restaurants...

Most Disney park counter service works the same. There is a podium/cash register with a line on each side that then feeds to a serving window. Its the same at Disneyland and Disney World for the most part. Hell, for the first part of my WDW College Program I worked Quick Service Foods.

So we get in line at the Hungry Bear Restaurant. The girl goes to take our order and a woman starts yelling "THATS NOT FAIR HE CUT". And the girl is like..."THERE ARE TWO LINES MA'AM".

She's still yelling, "THATS NOT FAIR, WE'VE BEEN WAITING". I'm like "If you have ever been to a Disney park you would know there are always two lines at counter service". So then the girl at the podium is like "can i just serve her first". I'm like its cool, I'll just go somewhere else.

So for the rest of the day my friend and I would just randomly yell out "THATS NOT FAIR".