The Disneyland Traveler Starts to Worry About Christmas

By nature, I am a worrier. Now I certainly have far bigger worries than Christmas at Disneyland, many in fact, but still... I have a fear that they are taking my favorite time of the year at the park in a direction that I'm not very happy about.

Of course Al Lutz chronicled in great detail last week in his MiceAge column (link) how Disney finally made the move and did away with cast member after hour Christmas parties at the park, instead passing out cast members some extra passes for themselves and their families to enjoy Disneyland at Christmas - with the regular park guests. Disney's excuse was the parks are now so popular that they can't afford to take extra hours away from paying guests by closing down early for cast member parties. There are all kinds of holes with this reasoning but you can start with they closed the place down early a week or so ago for a private event. Anyway, instead of cast members filled with holiday spirit Disney is taking one more step into turning cast member's overall outlook towards "it's just another job".

And then there is this half baked idea of 20 nights of the Candlelight Processional instead of the traditional weekend event. Stripping the away festive aspect, it comes down to this (as always) - $$$$$. Disney is hoping that pairing Candlelight Processional event seating with expensive dining options (as they do at WDW) then a new holiday revenue stream gets created. But those in the know kind of feel that this may be first step towards having separate admission Christmas events similar to the very nice but very expensive Mickey's Merry Christmas Parties at WDW. Disneyland has done it for Halloween, Christmas is right around the corner and the thought of paying guests coming up with an additional $60 - $70 each to enjoy special Christmas events is an idea ripe with potential profits. Sleazy.

The last concern has to do with something I previously mentioned - turning the experience of wondering around Main St. at Christmas and making an eyesore with visible Processional seating areas and making foot traffic at the park entrance during the 20 nights of the Candlelight Processional virtual gridlock. Not something I'm looking forward to.

Where's Charlie Brown when you need him to call it for what it is - a commercial sham.

Now You Can Have A Beer In WDW's Magic Kingdom

The Dining Room at Be Our Guest in WDW

The soon-to-be opened lavish Be Our Guest restaurant within the confines of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Fantasyland expansion is set to open pretty soon. The restaurant will be a counter service operation by day but at night for dinner it transforms into a lovely sit-down table service dinner setting. Don't bother to try and get a reservation for the rest of this year, the place is booked up.

But with the dinner table service menu a door has been ever so slightly cracked open. For the first time ever, a domestic Disney signature park (which is Disneyland in CA and Magic Kingdom in FLA) will offer the sale of beer or wine to the general public. Disneyland does serve alcohol in its exclusive Club 33 but that restaurant is restricted to members and invited guests. No alcoholic beverages have been sold in either Disneyland or Magic Kingdom up until now.

Now this little announcement is not earth shattering. Be Our Guest (kind of a dumb name for a restaurant if you ask me) will only offer beer and wine during its dinner service and alcoholic beverages will still not be available in other MK park locations and Disneyland still remains alcohol free to the public but you have to admit, the door has been opened even if it is just a tiny bit.

It would be one of my predictions that alcohol sales will be commonplace with Disneyland and Magic Kingdom within 10 years or so. Disney tends to look less on past traditions these days and more towards the future in ways to generate the revenue shareholders demand. The profits made on alcoholic beverages, espcecially at Disney prices, is enormous. One of the primary purposes of the ElecTRONica and Mad T street parities in DCA is to serve high priced adult beverages. It's a revenue stream that I believe Disney will not turn its back. Instead, though it might be slow and subtle, the presences of alcohol in Disney parks will continue to grow. Just too much money to be made,

Disneyland and a Most Disturbing Trend

It may be small but there is a disturbing trend that is beginning to surface around Disneyland and DCA (and other Disney parks) - a trend so disturbing that this week's park updates in both MiceAge/MiceChat (Andy Castro) and MousePlanet (Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix) felt compelled to write about it. When Buena Vista Street opened in June, it was hailed a masterpiece in imagineering and design projecting the bygone era of Hollywood in the 1920's and 30's. Great detail went in to making the architecture and the storefronts really look like something Walt Disney may have seen when he first stepped off the train in southern California. Great care was used installing the window displays for each of the shops on Buena Vista Street. Disney went so far as to post YouTube videos on just how much effort went into finding just the right period pieces for the windows that came from that era. The windows on BVS were works of art.

That is until now.

For Disney, there was a problem. The storefronts and windows on Buena Vista Street have so much detail that they really don't look like Disney retail stores whose primary goal is to sell you things. The window displays looked so good that it possibly couldn't reduced to something like "shopping" for casual park visitors. It doesn't help that Disney wants the doors to the stores closed for a green initiative aimed at energy conservation and costly air conditioning doesn't collide with summertime heat. For casual park visitors, the storefronts look like the fake facades that have existed over in the neighboring Hollywood Backlots area for the last decade. Of course, most people only give a cursory look at Buena Vista Street as the race by on their way to Cars Land. You see, the stores on Buena Vista Street just haven't been raking in the dough that Disney had hoped. So what does Disney do?

They have now taken the artistic windows and began stuffing them with Disney merchandise and not necessarily the good unique collectible type of Disney merchandise but stuff they peddle around a dozen other places in the parks. Beautiful period props have been removed and replaced by displays or shirts, hats, kitchen utensils, and other dreck. 

The windows still look nice because care is taken to display the merchandise creatively but again, the object here is to get you to walk into the store and buy something rather than present the detail that Disney parks are noted for. The same type of thing is going on over in Disneyland where the fun Holloween decorations in the Main St Store windows is being deluded with an ever growing display of retail items.

But it gets worse as being reported by MiceAge/MiceChat's Dateline Disneyland.

You see those soft drink cups at the top of this page - they are cups from Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebration. What currently is happening is "Disney" logo cups used for soft drinks are in the process of being replaced by the generic red and white Coca-Cola cups that are served up at thousands of other places that don't serve their drinks in Pepsi cups. The new cups don't say Disneyland or Disney Parks or have any references to Disney whatsoever. Things like Disney vended turkey legs and hot dogs are now served in something labeled as a "Hot Food Bag" And to take it a step further, after that $12 Disneyland lunch you may have just enjoyed you now get to wipe off your  face with a plain brown napkin - yep, napkins with Disney Parks printed on them also appears to be a thing of the past. 

So why is the question. Generic cups and napkins are just plain cheaper in the quantities that Disney deals with. Cheaper dispensing items leads to higher profit margins and that seems to be what it is all about these days. Admission and pass holder prices have gone up enormously over the last few years and Disney seems compelled to give less even if the less that is being given is just minor details. Details are what separate a Disney park from the rest of what's out there. The gap may be closing.

Walt Disney World vs. The Home Office

Walt Disney World in Florida is near the top of the list of most sought after tourist destinations in the world and with good reason - deluxe accommodations, fine dining experiences, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a sports complex, golf, and many other activities. Grand and spacious, you could spend weeks there and still not take it all in. Fans of Walt Disney World sometimes have an air of smugness about them simply because in their world - size matters. One thing that WDW has in spades is size.

And fans of WDW have a tendency to get defensive when you bring up the Disneyland Resort compared their park. After all, compared to WDW, Disneyland is down right puny. But the last few years, WDW fans have had to take it on the chin a bit and they don't like it.

I think it started with the lush World of Color and the plans for Disney California Adventure expansion. WDW was expanding too - expanding Fantasyland - but DCA got Cars Land (and Buena Vista Street). How come DCA gets the good stuff, never mind the fact it flat out needed something to bring it to life after years on life support? And the hot topic (or hot button topic depending on who you ask) is the bringing in of the Marvel brand into the theme park realm - something that can be done in Disneyland but cannot be done in WDW due to contractual agreements with Universal that are in place.

But there's other things too. D23 - Disney's exclusive "fan club" primarily caters to the Southern California contingent. Expo number 3 is slated for next year in Anaheim and grand plans to bring the show to Orlando seem more like wishful thinking.

There's a reason why Disney pays so much attention to its little park in Anaheim. Despite it size, WDW is not "the home office". Disney corporate offices are in Burbank along with its film and TV enterprises (excluding Northern California's Pixar and Connecticut's ESPN). Disneyland sits in their backyard (or about 30 miles away or so). When Disneyland has a major project, company execs like Bob Iger, Tom Staggs, and John Lasseter tend to be around front and center. True, Meg Crofton runs both U.S. Disney Resorts along with Disneyland Paris and she is headquartered in Orlando but compared to Bob and Tom and John, Meg is a minion. Disney has the bulk of its resources in Southern California both people and things so its easy for them to trot out celebrities and movie memorabilia without much logistical effort.

And then there is one thing that fans of Disneyland can always hang their hat on - Disneyland is the only Disney park Walt Disney himself ever stepped foot in. You can see Walt's presence every time you walk by the Main St. firehouse and see the light on in his upstairs apartment. You can go on the rides that Walt personally oversaw the construction. There are pictures of Walt in the Tiki Room, in the Golden Horseshoe, walking through Sleeping Beauty's Castle, having coffee in the Cafe Orleans, riding the Mark Twain or his beloved steam trains. Walt Disney also conceived Disney World and EPCOT but the most visibility you see with his involvement with those endeavors is pictures or TV clips of him standing around maps.

Yes, Disneyland is Walt's park. The corporate types that run the place now basically use Walt as a marketing tool but the fans of Disneyland know better. 

The fans of WDW in Florida have the crown jewel of resort destinations. The fans of Disneyland have a man of very large dreams and imagination. Its been that way for almost 60 years now.

Blue Sky Questions & Comments For Disney

So while I have a few minutes, here are a few questions and comments for Disney (while I'm thinking about them).

• Your parks are great. You know it. Your fans know it. Can we please get a break from price increases for awhile?

• I'd love to get an Annual Pass again but its gotten really expensive. Can you at least make the meal & merchandise discounts permanent? It's really an important factor in the consideration process

• I love staying in Disney owned hotels but $$$$. Can we get some discounts? I mean real discounts.

• Note to California Adventure. It's summer. You need more shade.

• Can you please stop beating me over the head trying to sell me something by passing it off as something that I really need to have? No... I don't need a glow in show hat, vinylmation dolls, Duffy the Bear, or even pins for that matter. I can make my own decisions. Thank you.

• Can you please post scheduled ride refurbishments when you have the dates set and not when you feel we have a right to know? Because of the cost of major refurbishments, closure dates are known for months if not years in advance.

• Here's an idea, add two more entree items to every table service and counter service dining facility. 

• Disneyland is a spectacle at night. Stop selling things that light up and annoy people trying to enjoy the view.

• Do something with Tomorrowland - tomorrow!

• It's getting better but can you have Disneyland and DCA keep the exact same hours? 

• I'm old school. No more garish outdoor street parties like Mad T Party. DCA does have some unused buildings you can stick them in, granted you would have to seek out the spots selling outrageously priced alcoholic cocktails rather that having them planted in plain view for everyone.

• Captain EO has got to go. Bug's Life and Muppet's 3D just need some new state of the art films.

• Speaking of films, can we get a new one for Soarin' Over (and it doesn't just have to be California)?

• Toy Story Mania really does need a fast pass distribution machine.

• No more balloons! Sorry kids.

• A couple of specialty food vendor trucks is actually a good idea in select locations.

Well, Disney has gotten back to me with my thoughts and questions. They pretty much said NO.

The Dog Days of a Disneyland Summer

August is one of the two months of the year that I have never been to Disneyland as I recall (the other being January). There's something unappealing about August. As a kid I remember hitting August was the start of  a countdown for going back to school as summer vacation came to an end. Nothing new happens in August. It defines the old expression of "the dog days of summer". It's flippin' hot outside and laziness hits a high note, at least for me.

Yes, when I got out of the movie theater yesterday, the Disneyland Traveler's gas sucking SUV said it was 106 degrees outside. Today is supposed to be 107. Good day to lay low. It's suppose to be 94 degrees today in Disneyland. Ninety-Four degrees probably feels like a 107 if you are inside Disneyland itself with the crowds and the smog filled moisture laden air of coastal Southern California. At least Disneyland has trees and shade. DCA's got almost nothing of the sort. So they build Cars Land, an area perfectly themed to the desert Southwest and now its hot. Nice. 

I wrote about ways to beat the heat in Disneyland last year. I won't repeat it again but you can read about it here - The Heat Is On

Disneyland slows down this time of year as well. Not a lot of news, what there is isn't very exciting. This is the end of the summer blackout period. In another week or so, the Southern California annual pass holders will once again hit the parks as the summer vacationers move out. Disneyland will begin the transformation into the Halloween season which has become big business. I don't like Halloween but at least things change in the park. 

And there will be refurbishments aplenty, small ones (Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion overlays) and big ones (the rumored Thunder Mountain Railroad and Alice in Wonderland - both closed for several months). 

And what big new announcement is out there waiting for Disney to get the word out and spike new interests in the parks going into the end of this year and into next year? Disney does a good job of keeping the fans interest running in high gear waiting for the next great thing. 

For me, I'm here to ride out the summer, lay low, and try and keep cool.

Pirates Running Amuck In The Court of Angels

The photo above found on the internet is of the Court of Angels, a lovely semi-secluded area tucked into New Orleans Square in Disneyland. On a busy day, people seek a respite here where generally it is more tranquil and serene, away from the pulsating throng of the crowds. People have been known to propose marriage in this spot. If I had it to do all over again, its a thought worth considering.

So Disney, in its never ending quest to use every square foot of its Disneyland park as an opportunity sell you something, now has a better idea for the Court of Angels. Fill it full of kids sitting in chairs getting made up as pirates. It's called Pirate League and has been very successful with its run in Walt Disney World. Think of it as the pirate companion of the Bibbidi-Bobbidy-Boutique where young girls get made up as princesses. Now young boys (or even young girls) can get a pirate makeover at about $30 - $35 a pop.

From what I gather, this is mostly a test run as Disney tries to determine the popularity of kids wanting to get made up as pirates (duh!) and perhaps find which of the little shops in New Orleans Square might have just the right amount of space should Pirates League go permanent (duh!). 

So another piece of Disneyland charm gets lost in the never ending pursuit of Disney sucking every available dollar from one's bank account or added to one's credit card bill. Charm out - Profits in.

Disney Profits - Just Whistling A Happy Tune

To no ones surprise, when Bob Iger announced Disney's 3rd quarter profits last week he was forced to deliver the typically boring numbers data with a smile that would rival the best day of any of his cast of Disney characters. Yes, Bob is a happy man these days as Disney profits set records and looks off into a very bright future.

Of course Bob, in the last quarter had The Avengers, a Disney released movie that pulled in somewhere around 1.4 billion dollars in box office receipts at last look. He also had a moderate success with Pixar's Brave - not the usual Pixar box office powerhouse but still a film that will turn over a profit. And both of these movies shape up well for their second lives when home video versions are released in various packages over the next few months. Home video sales is sagging badly as a national trend. Not when it comes these two movies. 

And all the investment into Disney Parks and Resorts is paying off. Attendance at the Disneyland Resort has been record setting this summer with the opening of Cars Land. A new cruise ship recently launched increasing Disney's fleet to four and the ships are booked to 94% capacity through the rest of this year. And with an improving economy, people are flocking to Disney parks and hotels without having to go the route of discounting which has been prevalent the last few years as Disney tried to keep the parks and hotels buzzing in a floundering economy.

For Disney fans there was a note of fear delivered by Iger as he made his rounds in the financial news media circles. Things are going so good that he made the remark (paraphrasing) "we believe there is room for some additional price elasticity". Basically, Disney believes there is room to implement additional price increases across the board without affecting the demand for the Disney products he delivers. He's probably right.

Bob can point to a bright future. Now that DCA is pulling in people, you can expect Disney to turn its attention to Disneyland itself with new attractions and minor improvements. Walt Disney World is finally starting to get some much needed buzz and attention as it prepares to open its new and improved Fantasyland with Animal Kingdom's Pandora (Avatarland) standing next in line. Iger's decision to purchase Marvel has turned out to be the gift that keeps on giving with a full slate of powerhouse movies in production scheduled to be released ahead of the return of Joss Whedon and his direction of Avengers 2 in 2015. Whedon will also develop a Marvel TV series for ABC in his spare time.

So its a great time to be Bob Iger as he closes out his tenure as Chairman and CEO at The Walt Disney Company. One can only hope that the next guy is taking good notes. 

The Razor's Edge Of Disneyland's Admission Pricing

Tilly at the Main St. Cinema Ticket Booth

Two feature articles came out this week on the two Disneyland websites I most often follow that seem to be such complete opposites of one another that it is hard to reconcile the two.

Author, Disneyland insider, and MousePlanet contributor David Koenig writes that Disney, delighted with the crowds this summer at the resort, are quickly formulating plans to increase admission prices to capitalize on the great reception of their recent park enhancements. They are possibly pointing to another increase by Christmas this year and another one before next summer's prime vacation season. You can read David's article here.

Yesterday's weekly In The Parks feature on MiceChat spent some time discussing that while Cars Land in Disney California Adventure continues to pull in huge amounts of guests, the crowd levels throughout the rest of DCA and especially over at Disneyland are quite manageable and seem to be a little flat. The comments seem to be based mostly on observation but since they are in Disneyland on a weekly basis, who am I to argue? MiceChat went further by putting up a poll as to the reason why the attendance would appear to be lackluster. The overwhelming majority point to high prices.

So which is it? "We're doing fine, let's raise prices" or "Uh-oh, maybe that last hefty price jump has bitten us in the rear". The one thing that is for certain is that Disney has a pretty good idea. All the data collected from survey takers, online surveys, and even in depth surveys taken of guests in the park in special rooms is not done just for the heck of it. Disney also has their hotel capacity and bookings well mapped as well as keeping tabs on the area hotels and motels (they are called "Good Neighbor" hotels for a reason). Disney also tracks the buying habits of various pass holders - those food and merchandise discounts are not given out to be nice. Disney wants to know how much you are spending along with where and what.

If I were a betting person (and I'm usually not) I would tend to go on the side of David Koenig. He is not someone prone to wild speculation or rumor in his Disneyland writings. On the MiceChat side pointing to flat attendance and manageable crowds, I think back to the trip my family made in July 2005 during Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebration. You would have thought the place would have been packed during that time but it really wasn't. The blocking out of Southern California pass holders during several weeks of the summer just makes the crowd levels more bearable. We were certainly surprised.

One thing is for sure - the prices on annual passes will not go down. If there are additional price increases coming, I suspect the jump on AP's will be in smaller increments going forward. Same with daily admission price (does anyone take their family to Disneyland for one day anymore?) and the popular multi-day tickets. And I would guess that if things do slow down because of over-pricing, Disney is really good at various discounts on admission tickets as well as accommodations in their hotels.

I also know that if there is another increase before Christmas, the screams will be long and loud. Go out and read the Disney website message boards if you don't think so.

"It's All About the Kids"

As promised - as my friend Bill says about his trips to Disneyland - "it's all about the kids". It got to be a reoccurring joke between us when his kind were younger (ages 4 - 6 let's say). "You mean you didn't ride on California Screamin'" - "nah, the trip was all about the kids". 

"You mean you went all the way to Disneyland and didn't ride Space Mountain?" "Nah, the trip was all about the kids". 

"You mean you didn't go in and see It's Tough To Be A Bug? That's for kids." Nah, a little too scary, it's all about the kids".

You get the picture here.

I remember bits and pieces of Disneyland when I was a kid. I vividly remember being on Pirates of the Caribbean with my parents and making the first drop. I remember sitting in the Tiki Room with mom and dad. I remember standing in line for the Matterhorn with my older brother, my first roller coaster ride. I treasure those memories. Disneyland is for kids. 

Or is it?

Certainly Walt Disney didn't envision a park just for kids. His whole deal was creating a park that parents and their children could enjoy together. He succeeded grandly. But there is that awkward age when children just aren't quite old enough or big enough for the larger rides. Does the parent just skip those like my friend Bill did on a couple of his trips?

Some rides do have something called ride swapping where one waiting parent stays with the child who cannot ride at the loading platform while the other parent rides, then they switch. Parents can also use single rider options. Then you can do what my friend Bill eventually did - bring grandma along.

Disneyland is mostly about kids, but its about the kid in all of us. For families its about compromise, good planning, and a balance of activities (no coloring though). Fun for all can be found. And I think about my friend Bill when he is able to take his kids to Disneyland, now that they are old enough, get in line for Space Mountain as a family. "You kids, you know when you were younger there were times we came down here and we couldn't go on this ride". 

Hopefully they are thinking "yeah, but we can go on together now, all of us". Disneyland is the building of memories from one trip to the next, each one a new adventure, a new experience. What is taken for granted at the time will become a special memory. Kids grow up and become adults who eventually remember what it was like to be a kid again, a kid in Disneyland. It's all about the kids.

Main St. Ponderings

I'm a morning person in general unlike Mrs. DisneylandTraveler who is still sawing logs in bed. I especially love Disneyland mornings. It doesn't have to be about a mad dash to get to your favorite ride as soon as you make it through the turnstile. Sometimes you go and grab a cup of coffee, find a nice bench and soak in the atmosphere as people file in. The picture above is the Disneyland Railroad station. At the top the stairs before entering the station there are some nice benches that overlook Main St. It's a good place to sit, enjoy your coffee and ponder all things Disneyland. I'm not there but I can pretend. Here are a few ponderings.

Man did I get tired of the Cars Land beat down. Yes, the opening of a new "land" is a special event but the hype got tiresome after awhile. Can't wait to see it and ride Radiator Springs Racers but I also know that it is probably a place Mrs. DLT and I aren't going to spend a lot of time. We're grown-ups and maybe not the best candidates for a land themed for kids.

I'm still struggling with dill flavored popcorn, especially if you have to wait a half hour to get it from one of the cozy cones.

A lot of the exclusive merchandise sold at Cars Land is sold out until later on this summer. Stuff was gone in a week. Not sure if they guys that run Disney Consumer Products are happy about this or kicking themselves in the pants.

Disney shopping. I don't get it. Not everything is a collectible. Some of it is junk. But I guess it keeps a lot of people in China employed.

Over at Disneyland, the Matterhorn looks great and the list complaints about the new sleds grows every day. Why did they change to a new seating design? Oh yeah, mandated safety. Apparently wedging people in theirs seats so tightly that it would be nearly impossible to fall out is a good safety measure.

Next time you go to Disneyland with a group, start a pool as to what attraction breaks down first. Indiana Jones is a smart bet. It's due to have a major refurbishment. If it happens during a time for one of our trips, it may be a deal breaker for Mrs. DLT. She loves that ride.

How can Disneyland enforce fast pass return times when its a 50 - 50 chance that the attraction will be temporarily closed when you return for your window?

I sure miss not seeing Billy Hill and the Hillbillies for awhile now. Of all the crap we have bought at Disneyland, why didn't we ever buy one of their CDs? 

What's a great day? A corn dog from the Little Red Wagon, a safari skewer from the Bengal BBQ, and a Pineapple float from the Tiki Room stand - that's a great place to start.

There are so many new places to eat and menu items to try that it would probably take a two week stay to get to them all. Exactly what Disney wants.

Will I ever beat Mrs. DLT at Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters? Short answer - No.

Well my coffee cup empty. That's enough pondering for now. Time to move on to other things.

It's Good To Be Bob Iger These Days

Disney Chairman & CEO Bob Iger and Friends
A MiceChat / Dateline Disneyland Photo

Why is the man in the picture above smiling? That's Bob Iger the Chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, the big man over all of it and he has every reason to be smiling.

On March 9th, Walt Disney Studios released the movie John Carter a movie that was already known to be a bomb. Iger had already called the Chairman of Disney Studios Rich Ross into his office then in a probably a stone cold business like fashion, showed Ross where the door was. Right after the release of John Carter, Disney issued a press release saying Disney would take a $200 million dollar write off for the epic failing of John Carter, the most expensive movie ever made, and a huge financial failure. 

But Iger didn't lose any sleep over it even though he still had to go before his shareholders at the annual public meeting and facilitate the quarterly profits conference call with the business media. He confidently pointed to Disney's success with other aspects of the Walt Disney Company (notably the huge money maker that Disney's ESPN is along with the Disney Channel) and also held a couple of aces up his sleeve. Who else had reason to smile after releasing the biggest movie flop of all time?

May 4th, the Disney owned Marvel Entertainment and Studios releases the movie The Avengers. It becomes the 3rd highest grossing movie ever, kicking the pants off that Harry Potter kid and delivering a beat down to the Dark Knight. Only the James Cameron movies of Avatar and Titanic have made more money than The Avengers. Iger smiles all the way to bank as the movie, still in release, has made some $1.4 billion dollars and just wait till the DVD / Blu-ray release comes out somewhere around September. Yep, The Avengers, a reason for Iger to smile since buying Marvel was pretty much all his idea. Ever the standard bearer of cross-promotion, Iger is determined to get Avengers attractions in his theme parks where he his permitted to do so (sorry WDW fans, you're going to be left out on this one).

And then with hype and fanfare second to none, Iger re-opens the new and improved expanded Disney California Adventure yesterday which caps off about 5 years of planning and effort to remake the Disney Park that fell flat on its face when it opened in 2001. Yesterday the people came and came. The people will continue to come this weekend, this summer, and what Disney hopes is well into next year and beyond. It's going to be the biggest summer ever for The Disneyland Resort. More smiling from Iger.

Man of the people, Iger mixes with the public at the opening
of Cars Land. A MiceChat / Dateline Disneyland photo

Iger along with Chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts Tom Staggs and Pixar boss (along with about a half a dozen other Disney titles) John Lasseter have been quite visible in DCA this past week, and especially for Iger, that is a sight not often seen. These guys have been like expectant fathers about to give birth to a child. Yesterday Iger, Staggs, and Lasseter were seen talking to regular park guests. Last week they were riding the rides of Cars Land along with a group of annual pass holders. Yep, Bob Iger, just like Walt Disney, a man of the people. Well, not quite.

Storytellers Statue - Buena Vista St. - Disney California Adventure
A MiceChat / Dateline Disneyland Photo

The just unveiled statue of Walt and Mickey on Buena Vista Street represents Walt when he first came to California in 1923 (we'll ignore the historical fact that Mickey came along about 5 years later). According to Walt himself through interviews, he stepped off the train in Hollywood with about $40 in his pocket and a brain stuffed with imagination and dogged perseverance. I don't know if Bob Iger has $40 in his pocket. He probably doesn't need any cash at all. Through assorted compensation from Disney, Iger is estimated to make around $30 million dollars a year. Man of the people? Iger doesn't need to be. He is one smart business man. Not bad for someone who started his career in media as a TV weatherman.

Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln...Vampire Hunter

Disneyland Opera House Theater Lobby

What has happened here? 

It wasn't too many months ago where I found myself sitting in Disneyland's Main Street Opera House listening to the wisdom of the great President, Abraham Lincoln. The spacious seating at the Opera House was probably about 20 percent full. Since I make it a point to see Lincoln once on every trip, that 20 percent in the audience seems about average sad to say. Like I have said before, most people race by the Opera House and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln without a glance on their way to Space Mountain which most likely would have broken down by the time they get there.

I love the animatronic Lincoln and all that goes with it, the beautiful theater lobby, the stirring pre-show before Lincoln takes the stage, and the haunting music. It's a wonderful way to spend 20 minutes or so (and guess what? no line at all). Better than my fondness for the Lincoln attraction was Walt Disney's fondness for it. He built the original Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln for the New York's World Fair in 1964 then moved it into Disneyland following its run at the fair. Through the years it has been changed a few times. For periods of time, they have removed the attraction completely. But Lincoln always comes bank thanks to imagineers like Tony Baxter who won't let it die (though many wish it would go away). There's a history with Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, and Disneyland that needs to stay alive. With the shear commercialism of a trip to Disneyland where you pay through the nose to get in then they try and sell you everything under the sun, Disney doesn't make a cent off the Lincoln attraction. There are no Lincoln toy models, t-shirts, or stovepipe hats sold in an adjoining store. The Lincoln attraction is a labor of love and respect for the President who was assassinated in office.

Respect. I bring all this up now because a new movie hits the theaters soon with the title of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. How sad is that? How can taking a fallen hero in real life and put him in a cheesy horror movie be a good idea? Who sees this sort of thing? I tend to think its the same group of people who race by Disneyland's Opera House and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln on their way to Space Mountain only to find out the ride has broken down by the time they get there.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, I urge you take your family, friends, whomever, and stop by and see the Lincoln attraction in Disneyland. You'll be glad you did since the animatronic is amazing (just watch the subtle movement of the hands and fingers) and what Lincoln says still needs to be heard today. And I also urge you to stay far away from Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter the movie as possible. Fallen heroes deserve far more respect.

One Year As The Disneyland Traveler

Happy Memorial Day everyone. Before you move on to your holiday activities, don't forget to stop a minute and remember those who serve in the armed forces and those who have served and sacrificed in the preservation of our freedom. It's easy to overlook. Don't.

This is the one year anniversary for The Disney Lands. The first post was made on May 28, 2011. Are Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I planning to go out and celebrate? Nah, I may go out and get a pizza for dinner. Half price night at the local Round Table.

To those who have read and spent some time with this blog over the last year, a sincere 'Thank You' is expressed to all. I don't know who all of you are but hopefully something in here gives you a few moments of enjoyment or provides something of interest. The good folks at Google (where this blogging tool comes from) provide some background statistics of how many people visit this site and its continued growth gives me some momentum for going forward. During the first month of its existence about 350 visitors stumbled on this blog, half of them I probably either knew or was related to. In this last month, there were about 3500 visitors to this blog and more than 14,000 views during the year. Wow! Again, I have no idea who reads this stuff but I am appreciative.

The whole purpose of the blog was to provide an outlet to share some thoughts about something that interested me - Disneyland and Disney as a whole. Not sure why as I do have other interests but Disney just seemed like a fun thing to write about. It also helps keep me young as the end of my life is much closer than the beginning now. Imagine, at my age, anytime I want I can write about a cartoon mouse or an ill tempered duck. My hope is to provide some information, some entertainment, some food for thought, if there is something in here you haven't agreed with what I may have said, I am perfectly OK with that. Sometimes I read something I wrote some time back and even I don't know where I was coming from. I have written a lot of things and I'm sure missed the mark many times but every once in awhile, I make a hit. I guess all of this is an exercise in writing skills and style and I'm not even getting graded for it.

I hope you continue to enjoy the adventures of The Disneyland Traveler. There's more to come. 

The Week 'The Happiest Place' Wasn't So Happy

I guess you could call this Part 3 at our look at Disneyland's latest price increase that was announced one week ago today. Forums and discussions boards lit up with shock then slowly but surely turned ugly. Rough stuff can be expected from MiceChat.com - there are some highly opinionated people in there and not afraid of expressing opinions. I think MiceChat is also the largest forum site for Disneyland so there are no shortage of opinions.

MousePlanet.com on the other hand is much smaller and tends to be a more kinder and gently discussion board. Not this week as one of the price increase threads had to be shut down for 24 hrs for a "cooling off period". I bailed out on the discussion about a day ahead of the cooling down period simply because the nastiness and condescending attitudes of some of the more prolific posters got the best of me. Now I'm not perfect when it comes to posting to discussion boards and forums because I don't take it all that seriously and I sometimes shoot from the hip. Sometimes I post something contrary to the grain just to get a discussion going. Sometimes I use discussion boards and forums to put up a piece of writing from this blog that I might like and want to place it in a different audience. Whatever - this is Disneyland and not a discussion of the fall of mankind and civilazation. But some out there are so into themselves, their opinions, their dogma that anyone who comes from a different perspective is well, an "idiot" or at lease made to feel that way. Sad.

Disney brought this upon themselves. Simple need to grab profits while they are hot (and reduce the number of passholders) fueled the fire and turned fan against fan. Not that they care as they crunch their numbers. Well, people have to crunch their numbers and are finding the numbers for their usual Disneyland experiences no longer make sense. People have been priced out. Some people have got fed up and just walked out giving Disney the middle finger salute has they turn their backs.

But many people will pay and continue pay as Disneyland mirrors the society we live in and "The Happiest Place on Earth" is something only a shrinking segment of the population as a whole can afford. 

A man trips on falls on Main Street and is shaken up and slightly injured - someone yells out "Is there a doctor around?". The shaken man immediately adds "And a lawyer...." . Doctors and lawyers come from every direction.... the only people who may be able to afford to get in at some point in the future.

Is Walt Disney Being Marginalized?

Here is my preface to a few thoughts about Walt Disney and is status within the company he founded. A few years ago Mrs. DisneylandTravel and I went to the Carnation Cafe for the very first time. The wait to get in was short and we were hungry on this particular day. We hadn't gone to the Carnation Cafe before because, well, not sure but it may be because it is the very first place to eat when you get into the park. Maybe it was a little to far up front. Anyway, we enjoyed our meal thoroughly to the point where we make it a point to go to the Carnation Cafe on every one of our trips since that first visit. So during our first Carnation Cafe meal we got a visit from the Chef. His name was Oscar. He asked how our meals were and if we were having a good day and enjoying our time at the park. We felt honored and privileged to be visited by the Chef and watched as he visited other tables. 

In this particular year, we went back to the park about a month later for our next trip and visited the Carnation Cafe once again. I think it was December and a nice bowl of the baked potato soup would do nicely. Once again Chef Oscar came out to ask if everything was good and how we doing. ????? That Chef sure seems to spend a lot of time with the dining guests. On that trip when I would pass Carnation Cafe I would take a look, most of the time I would see Chef Oscar charming the guests. So I read up about the Carnation Cafe and Chef Oscar when I got home and found out that the nice man was Disneyland's longest tenured cast member (now at something like 55 years of service). He really wasn't a Chef at all. Of course he wasn't a chef, the Carnation Cafe with its limited menu selection is just like any other food place in Disneyland, its meant to serve food quickly without a lot of time and preparation. And the more I thought about it, Chef Oscar, with white coat and tall white chef's hat, could be considered a host or greeter but more than that, he was a character just like any of the many who roam the streets of Disneyland. He is part of the atmosphere, part of what make Disneyland special. But Chef? He may have been, but not anymore.

Has Walt Disney become a version of Chef Oscar? Walt Disney gave his heart and soul to the company he founded. He provided imagination, talent, and vision in the creation of his characters. He built an entertainment company for all to enjoy. He had money problems on and off for almost his entire career only because he continued to reach where no one in Hollywood had tried to reach before. He needed his brother Roy's help to run the company but together the succeeded in building the Walt Disney Company.

And he built Disneyland. He had to beg, barrow, and probably steal to get it done but he did it and charted new territory in the theme park business by providing a place that could be enjoyed by young and old equally. Walt opened Disneyland in 1955. He had a hand in every ride, every attraction, every show, every character, every restaurant that went into the park until his death in 1966 just before Christmas. He had help with a staff of "imagineers" that continued his work and vision in both Disneyland and the new Walt Disney World long after his death. Those parks will built on the ideas and imagination of Walt Disney. But are the now?

The imagineers left over from Walt's time have either retired or passed on. There are very few left in the company. Well, "company" may not be the right word. Disney is the largest media corporation in the world covering the spectrum from network and cable television, films, theme parks, gaming, cruise ships and resorts, and consumer merchandise. There's probably a few more enterprises Disney is in. 

Disneyland is now run by a real corporation. It's not run on imagination or creativity or vision so much anymore. It is run as a business with the theme park just an extension of all the other Disney brands and franchises. Disneyland continues to change, grow, delight, and prosper just as it did in Walt's time and just as Walt wanted but somehow, when taking a step back you see the work of corporate executives and accountants. Disney is a very profitable company and the theme parks need to hold up their end of the company pie.

You see Walt Disney as you walk around the park. There's the firehouse that contains the apartment he and his wife Lillian lived in while the park was under construction. You see Walt's statue in the Main St hub. You can ride on the rides and see some of the attractions he personally saw brought to life. And Walt appears in company artwork, and advertising, in books, on DVDs. Come see Walt, the man who built the Walt Disney Company and Disneyland. But somehow I get the feeling that the corporate executives that run Walt's company never ask the question, "What would Walt do?" anymore.

Now dead for 45 years, and none of the Disney family involved with the running of the company anymore, it seems that Walt has been reduced to the status of a character, a historic icon that actually has some financial value to the current Disney company. Walt still sells even if Walt isn't doing the selling. 

Some think that the way the current company operates would have Walt rolling over in his grave. I don't think so. Walt may have some argument with some of the direction the company is headed. He may have some issues with how a much of the imagination and quality once associated with Disney have been removed from various aspects of the company. He may have a little different vision for the future but overall, I think he would be happy with the outcome. Most of all, Walt wanted his company to be a successful innovator. And on that count, Disney has succeeded big time. 

What about the executives and accountants that now run the company? Well, Disney first sold stock on the New York Stock Exchange 10 years before Walt died. Walt and Roy sold stock off market even years before that as means to stay out of debt and finance future projects. The fact is that Disney is the best at what they do would probably please Walt even if he is being portrayed as every bit the iconic founding character as his Mickey Mouse.

Chef Oscar and Walt Disney. The visible surface of things is one thing, the reality is another.

Disneyland Raises Ticket Prices - Part 2

Well the angst is over. Disneyland fans have spewed their piece over the "astounding", as Al Lutz called it,  ticket price increase. Of course there are the Disney apologists who will maintain Disney always raises prices and that's perfectly fine because everything Disney does is good and because, well, it's Disney! It appears income has a lot to do with being a Disney apologist. On the other end of spectrum I have read about people saying they have officially been priced out, especially in the annual pass categories. One fan said she cried over how the price increase seriously impacted in a negative way a reunion trip she had scheduled in June. Some stories out there were down right sad. I feel bad for them. The apologists make me angry.

After thinking about it for a couple of days, I can honestly say that the latest price increase will most likely have altered my future plans with trips to Disneyland forever. Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I, over the last several years, would buy a park-hopper package, go on our trip, then convert the park-hoppers to annual passes before we left. And once you have that annual pass in hand, you immediately begin thinking about your next trip, and maybe the next trip after that to gain maximum value from the expense of the purchasing the annual pass. Three trips to Disneyland in a twelve month period? Disney would have loved us since we always ate at the park and Mrs. DLT loves to....shop Disney. The annual pass we normally buy is now $469.00, up over $200 from when we first got into the annual pass routine. I don't plan on spending $469.00 for an annual pass unless, as they say, my ship comes in or I win the lottery or something (hard to do when you don't play though).

I think from this point forward, Mrs. DLT and I will park-hopper our trips. We will not convert them to annual passes. We will plan a trip for a select number of days. I think we will also take the option where if you just visit one of the parks on given day instead of "hopping" you can save a bit more. Disneyland loses out on this. Instead of 2 or 3 trips in twelve month period, we may be good with just making one. The pressure is off to "need to go to Disneyland to use of our annual passes". We'll go when we are good and ready.

Does Disney care that our trips may have been cut back because of the latest price increase? All depends on how many others there are like me. 

Sticker Shock - Disneyland's Jaw-Dropping Price Increase

I'm still trying to digest the news. I'm still in shock. I'm still running numbers trying to make sense of the math. As expected, Disney today announced a price increase ahead of their big summer season and the relaunch of the new and improved Disney California Adventure. I knew it would be big but somehow the actual news trumped the anticipation. Consumers of Disneyland just took one in the shorts, especially if you are an annual passholder.

Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and I bought our first annual passes in November 2008. The price then was $269. Since we exchanged our parkhopper tickets, the annual pass price was pro-rated. Now here we are less than four years later and effective Sunday, May 20, the price of a deluxe annual pass is $469.00. Staggering. Even more staggering is the single day admission for a park hopper ticket - $125.00. For kids up to 10, it's $119.00. Kids! A three year old paying $119.00. This is madness. People will pay it.

What's really sad is Disneyland is no longer a park for Disney fans. Disneyland is a park for the upper middle class that still have a disposable income. Many of us don't. Every year, more and more children will never know what a visit to Disneyland is all about simply because mom and dad can no longer afford it.

MousePlanet posted this chart comparing last years price with the new price increase.

Ages 10 and older			Ages 3 - 9
Ticket	Old Price	New Price	% increase	Old Price	New Price	% increase
5-Day Park Hopper	$266	$290	9%	$246	$270	10%
5-Day 1-Park Per Day	$251	$260	4%	$231	$240	4%
4-Day Park Hopper	$249	$275	10%	$231	$255	10%
4-Day 1-Park Per Day	$234	$245	5%	$216	$225	4%
3-Day Park Hopper	$224	$250	12%	$208	$235	13%
3-Day 1-Park Per Day	$209	$220	5%	$193	$205	6%
2-Day Park Hopper	$173	$200	16%	$161	$188	17%
2-Day 1-Park Per Day	$158	$170	8%	$146	$158	8%
1-Day Park Hopper	$105	$125	19%	$99	$119	20%
1-Day 1-Park	$80	$87	9%	$74	$81	9%

Annual Pass	Old Price	New Price	% increase
Premier (DLR/WDW)	$749	$849	13%
Premium	$499	$649	30%
Deluxe	$379	$469	24%
Southern California*	$269	$329	22%
Southern California Select*	$199	$269	35%
Annual Parking Pass	$99	$129	30%