Davey Jones II
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2008
I just came back from a Cali/Vegas vacation, and of course DLR had to be part of that equation. I met up with my pal Crazee4mm, and we did a worldwind 6-day tour of the various Halloween events, including Knott's Scary Farm, Universal Horror, two Disneyland Halloween Parties and one day at DCA. I don't have pics yet (long story) but here are my impressions.
Halloween Party: I've been to the Halloween parties at both WDW and Disneyland. Up 'til now, the WDW event was superior because of the great Boo To You parade. Now Disneyland's event has its own, original parade, and it almost matches the East Coast one. I particularly liked the Haunted Mansion float, with great window effects that suggest active haunts inside!
There are also some events unique to Disneyland's version, including The Cadaver Dans, a spooky version of the Dapper Dans, who sing on a raft along the fog-covered Rivers of America, and some freewheeling projection effects on the castle and It's a Small World.
The treat trails are well structured, since you don't wait a long time for one handful of treats; you satisfy your cravings at multiple treat spots, one after the other. After a few such trails, our trick or treat bags were already piled pretty high, so it behooved us to dig in!
New goodies: Last year, I had visited for five days (plus one Halloween Party) at Disneyland's 60th (Diamond) anniversary, so the new stuff for me included Star Wars Launch Bay. I loved the meet and greets with Darth and Chewie, which are nearly as amazing as meeting Talking Mickey at WDW. I couldn't help giving Chewie a big ol' hug, which I imagine nearly everyone does. For an ape-like creature who towers above my 5'5'' frame, he was cute and adorable. I could've adopted him!
Two of the "Enchanted Windows", spectacular, morphing dioramas on Main Street, were new to me; if you've never seen these, don't miss them. They are in the windows at the top of the street, on your left when you're walking toward the castle. They depict scenes (which seamlessly transform into a second scene) from Peter Pan, Cinderella, Frozen, Toy Story, The Princess and the Frog, and Aladdin. The most stunning practical effects since the late, lamented Toy Story Zoetrope.
Over at DCA, the Frozen stage show and Luigi's reimagined ride (in Cars Land) were new to me. The Frozen show, while not comparable to the even more lamented Aladdin, is solid entertainment, with some spectacular stage effects I've never seen before. The new Luigi's ride is fun and cute, certainly more fan friendly than its predecessor. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to experience the new version of Soarin', as the fast passes were long gone by the time we got to the park, and I wasn't willing to brave 85 min. wait times. Oh well, next year in Orlando.
Unfortunately, when Disneyland closed for the Halloween party, everyone poured into DCA, swelling wait times at that park all night. That's when we paid the price for all the negligeable waits we had enjoyed during the Halloween Party! I mean, we waited 35 minutes for Mermaid! (no, that's not a typo).
Breakdowns: It looks like cost cutting at DLR is now manifesting itself as less regular maintenance of attractions. At various times, we were confronted by breakdowns at Indy, RSR (granted, those two have always been chronically unstable), Mermaid, Space Mountain, Alice, and Matterhorn. Thankfully, I was able to ride all of these at other times, particularly Matterhorn, making copious use of the single rider line (for the record, for those of you who find this ride a bit rough...the Fantasyland side is a little smoother).
Overall, it was a great trip, and we had a blast at DLR. Thanks to Crazee4mm for helping me enjoy another fantastic Cali visit!
Halloween Party: I've been to the Halloween parties at both WDW and Disneyland. Up 'til now, the WDW event was superior because of the great Boo To You parade. Now Disneyland's event has its own, original parade, and it almost matches the East Coast one. I particularly liked the Haunted Mansion float, with great window effects that suggest active haunts inside!
There are also some events unique to Disneyland's version, including The Cadaver Dans, a spooky version of the Dapper Dans, who sing on a raft along the fog-covered Rivers of America, and some freewheeling projection effects on the castle and It's a Small World.
The treat trails are well structured, since you don't wait a long time for one handful of treats; you satisfy your cravings at multiple treat spots, one after the other. After a few such trails, our trick or treat bags were already piled pretty high, so it behooved us to dig in!
New goodies: Last year, I had visited for five days (plus one Halloween Party) at Disneyland's 60th (Diamond) anniversary, so the new stuff for me included Star Wars Launch Bay. I loved the meet and greets with Darth and Chewie, which are nearly as amazing as meeting Talking Mickey at WDW. I couldn't help giving Chewie a big ol' hug, which I imagine nearly everyone does. For an ape-like creature who towers above my 5'5'' frame, he was cute and adorable. I could've adopted him!
Two of the "Enchanted Windows", spectacular, morphing dioramas on Main Street, were new to me; if you've never seen these, don't miss them. They are in the windows at the top of the street, on your left when you're walking toward the castle. They depict scenes (which seamlessly transform into a second scene) from Peter Pan, Cinderella, Frozen, Toy Story, The Princess and the Frog, and Aladdin. The most stunning practical effects since the late, lamented Toy Story Zoetrope.
Over at DCA, the Frozen stage show and Luigi's reimagined ride (in Cars Land) were new to me. The Frozen show, while not comparable to the even more lamented Aladdin, is solid entertainment, with some spectacular stage effects I've never seen before. The new Luigi's ride is fun and cute, certainly more fan friendly than its predecessor. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to experience the new version of Soarin', as the fast passes were long gone by the time we got to the park, and I wasn't willing to brave 85 min. wait times. Oh well, next year in Orlando.
Unfortunately, when Disneyland closed for the Halloween party, everyone poured into DCA, swelling wait times at that park all night. That's when we paid the price for all the negligeable waits we had enjoyed during the Halloween Party! I mean, we waited 35 minutes for Mermaid! (no, that's not a typo).
Breakdowns: It looks like cost cutting at DLR is now manifesting itself as less regular maintenance of attractions. At various times, we were confronted by breakdowns at Indy, RSR (granted, those two have always been chronically unstable), Mermaid, Space Mountain, Alice, and Matterhorn. Thankfully, I was able to ride all of these at other times, particularly Matterhorn, making copious use of the single rider line (for the record, for those of you who find this ride a bit rough...the Fantasyland side is a little smoother).
Overall, it was a great trip, and we had a blast at DLR. Thanks to Crazee4mm for helping me enjoy another fantastic Cali visit!
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