Sunday, December 23, 2012

WDW Mismanagement of Disneyland


Walt Disney World Mismanagement of Disneyland
to Ruin Christmas at DLR Starting 2013
Disneyland Candlelight 2012
In front of the Main Street Train Station as it should be.
WDW Candlelight 2011.
Indoors and 1/6th the size.
Rumors have it that Disneyland Resort is going to have the same style pay Christmas Party as WDW. While some of this is good there are major flaws with the idea. This would be the same type of party as the Mickey’s Christmas Party at WDW.
            It is said the plans are to move Candlelight into the Fantasyland Theater. The Christmas Fantasy Parade would no longer be done during the day but only during the party. The Christmas Fireworks show would be part of the paid party event.
            Let’s start with the positives of a paid Christmas program at DL.
1.     Candlelight will be expanded from the original 2 nights only to 30 beautiful nights. Candlelight would also have more and better seating.
2.    You will be able to get a seat for Candlelight if you pay.
3.    Fewer people in the park for an evening of fun.
4.    Easier time finding a spot to view the fireworks and parade from.
 Now let’s talk about the negatives.
1.     DLR has 2 parks on .8 of a mile. If you close down one park there is no place for the guests to go. With Disneyland closed early for the party Disney California Adventure will pack out after DL closes. Many non-ticket holding guests were upset when DL closed early for Halloween and it will only be worse for Christmas because the crowds are higher during the Christmas Season.
2.    Nighttime shows would be limited to World of Color and Mad Tea Party (they do play some Christmas), neither have a complete Christmas theme. With the limited viewing area for World of Color and it not being Christmas themed people will feel lower value for their money.
3.    Those with single day park tickets that choose DL on a party night will feel cheated. They will pay for a full day at the park and will find the park closing at 5 or 6 pm shortening their time in the park by 5 or 6 hours.
4.    People travel from all over the world to see Christmas at DLR they will miss major portions of the fun.
5.    While there are beautiful decorations there are not many major Christmas/Holiday themed shows or experiences to be had at DLR and taking the three biggest and locking them down seems greedy to me.
6.    Candlelight at DL up to now is MUCH bigger than at WDW. Because it is held outdoors in front of the Main Street Train Station (where Walt Disney planed it to be since 1958) you can have a choir of 600 singers with an orchestra of 50. The Processional use to go all the way from the Train Station on Main Street down the complete Parade Route to Its a Small World. Now it only goes down Main Street and they will take that away. This will greatly limit the size and scope of this amazing show!
7.    All of the beautiful Christmas shows would be paid/ticketed events leaving non ticket holding guests feeling cheated out of the Christmas spirit.
My suggestions:
1.     Do NOT go to paid “Christmas Party” nights.
2.    Leave Candlelight where it is keeping the size and scope the same. Sell dining packages for some seats leaving others open for Club 33 and Annual Passholders (do the drawing again. Just make sure enough APs win tickets to keep us happy!)
3.    Continue to allow people to “campout” to stand around the back and sides to see Candlelight.
4.    Continue the Christmas Parade and Fireworks as they are.
5.    IF Disney does go through with this REDUCE the ticket price for those days for non-ticketed event guests! (This is NOT the best option!)
What Disney does not seem to understand is the great difference between the two USA Disney Park Resorts. WDW is HUGE with 4 parks, 2 water parks, Larger Downtown Disney with Disney Quest (another indoor ‘park’) along with many many resort hotels that are resorts in and of themselves. With the size of WDW there are so many fantastic Christmas themed evening events you can’t possibly do them all. From looking at lights to shows there is always something to do.
At DLR there are just 2 parks and a much smaller Downtown Disney with 3 hotels. The hotels are not resorts in and of themselves as they are at WDW because of the limited space. The hotels do not have much in the way of “entertainment”. There are restaurants and some of them have Character meals (mostly breakfast). The Grand Californian has Carolers but that does not compare to the Fireworks, Candlelight or Parade.
WDW is more of a tourist destination with most guests coming from outside the area to visit. This leaves them more willing to spend extra to not have to ‘campout’ or wait for special events. While there are Annual Passholders there are not as many as there are at DLR.
DLR has more locals with Annual Passes. There are also many locals that come pay to come for a day or two a year. Many don’t mind finding a spot for the fireworks or other shows and camping out for hours at a time (costing Disney little to nothing and making money on the pass along with food). A good number of us Annual Passholders don’t spend all day at the parks. We go in to see a special event/show and don’t do much more.
Once again I say if you close one park there is not much to do and it greatly reduces your value of your park pass, Annual or day.
I have sent the above post to Disney. If you agree I ask you write a letter to Disneyland sharing how you feel about the change. Feel free to copy parts or all of what I’ve written and add to it. Maybe if they hear from enough fans they will not make this bad change. 
Here is where to send your message to Disneyland:

1 comment:

  1. Disney = Making dollars before making sense!

    ReplyDelete