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:
Disney = Making dollars before making sense!
ReplyDelete