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Joe writes: Dear Al, I'll be visiting Disneyland and DCA over the holidays. My family and I will be there from Dec 29-Jan 2nd...we're staying at the Grand Californian, and I have a few questions.

1. Can you tell me which of those days would probably be the best to visit the parks, as I'm sure they'll be packed.

2. Do you have to buy a special ticket to get into Disneyland on New Years Eve?

3. Can you give me a little more info about the Grand Californian?
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Joe, 1] It will be busy on all those days - with the 2nd a possible lighter day. Just arrive at opening and head for the big rides first thing - you can usually do two or three of them before the biggest crowds of the day arrive from 11 AM to 1 PM.

2] You used to have to buy a special ticket back in the old days, but now Disneyland operates on New Year's Eve just like any other day. If you plan to be there to see the new year in, just keep in mind crowds will be huge. Most people on multi-day visits tend to make this the day for people watching, shopping and nibbling. In other words just enjoy the atmosphere, do the rides on another less stressful day.

3] We have two articles here on MousePlanet that may help you with the Grand Californian - first take our Photo Tour, then read Sue Kruse's review of a stay she made just after the opening.

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Boy, did I get a lot of mail about the Flick's Fantasy Faire (a new addition to DCA) in the last update I did. Here's a sampling:

AT writes: It would seem that at the IAAPA tradeshow they simply bought the entire Zamperla catalog. :)

In fairness, Zamperla built all of the Dumbo Mark III and Aladdin's Magic Carpets. If the camels spitting at the carpets look familiar... they're from the Aladdin parade from Disney- MGM 10 years ago. It's time to recycle the magic...

Bill writes: Hey Al, Love reading your column each week. Hope you have a good holiday season. I saw your report on the the new Flick's Fantasy Faire, and I thought you were a little hard on it. Although I don't enjoy spending a lot of time in ToonTown, something like that is very needed at DCA.

I have 3 small kids, 6, 4 and 2, who love going to DCA even though there is not much for them to do, so a new district where just kids can play, that I don't have to go on every ride with so I can sit and rest, is what is needed in my view. I can't wait for it to open. Thanks to the new annual pass I will be renewing for next year and will still enjoy our times at both parks. Keep up the great work.

Promotional art © Disney / Pixar

Jerry writes: Al: I read your report on the bugs area for DCA and I believe that you sell Knott's short. First, the balloon ride is a first class theme park quality ride for families. If you compare it to other balloon rides at amusement parks you will find that it is both larger in scope, much more detailed and well themed.

I also believe that you sell the of Camp Snoopy short, especially when you compare it to the other Camp Snoopys at Cedar Fair parks and the children's oriented areas of the Six Flags parks. It's only weak point is a small and poorly running roller coaster. Indeed, if you were to put in the Vekoma Rollar Skater coaster that Disney has in Toontown and is popular in other parks, Camp Snoopy would be the equal of Toontown in activities for families and in themeing. Certainly, it is better maintained than Toontown.

I suggest that you revisit Camp Snoopy, which was designed by the one person in the Knott's organization who could have worked at Imagineering. He has since left. Take a look at the landscaping, the pavement, the use of timber to recreate the feel of a national parks visitors center. And note the additions and modifications to several of the "off the shelf rides." Even the Snoopy store is the best example of merchandising within the Cedar Fair company.

Your criticism of DCA is for the most part correct, but don't forget that many of the Disneyland rides, including Dumbo and the Matterhorn are modified rides systems purchased from "off the shelf" carnival rides. The problem is not in getting existing ride systems, it is in buying the wrong ride systems - compare Maliboomer to Supreme Scream - and then failing to retheme them to tell Disney stories.
 

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Putting in what amounts to the Fantasyland type area they pretty much blew off in the initial design of the park is a step forward I guess - but those family- together rides are still missing. People seem to forget Disneyland was built because Walt Disney himself was wondering why he had to sit on a bench while his daughters rode the Merry-go-round at Griffth Park. He wanted a park where families could enjoy attractions together.

It was one of those most basic of human observations, which paid off tremendously when he opened Disneyland. Parks head Paul Pressler and his minions didn't follow that game plan with DCA, and now they are paying the price.

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John writes: At WDW they have a promotion for Florida Residents where you get an extra 100 days when you buy an annual pass. The promotion is good until the end of the year but if your pass doesn't run out until next year you can still get in on the deal. You can buy your pass now and have it activated after your current one expires.
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TJ writes: Thanks for the excellent updates and continuous "insider" information. Your site is a fun way to start the day each morning.

Publicity photo © Disney

My question for you is in regard to the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - Play It!" attraction. I was at DCA last week (as were a fair number of others, surprisingly), and found my way into the hot seat at Millionaire. Is there a number to call or anyone to write to to get a copy of the videotape of even a still photo from my time in the hot seat? I was in a daze when I left and forgot to ask - and with their ban on all photography in the studio, I don't have any record. It was major highlight of my stay at the resort and I'd love to have it captured on film. Any tips you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
 

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Bret writes: We're going to be at the Disneyland resort on December 5th, (Walt's 100th Birthday) are you aware of any planned ceremonies or anything commemorative happening that day?

I thought you might find this interesting; With a little help from none other than Michael Eisner himself, I was able to secure park-view accommodations at the Grand Californian at the rate of $129 a night! We'll be stylin' this trip.
 

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For Mickey's Birthday they always have a little character parade, they may try something of that nature in Disneyland proper on the 5th too. Best bet is to call Guest Relations the day before and see what they have on their computer screens, as these things kind of always just get thrown together.

I hope Eisner does a better job in booking you hotel rooms than he does in designing parking structures...  ;)

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Mark writes: Al - Now that they have eliminated the "Regular" annual passport, it will cost our family of four close to $600 (instead of $400) to renew our APs. At regular admission prices, I used to figure that we would recoup our investment if we visited the park more than three times a year. Now with the reduced Southern California promotions, I wonder where the break-even point is.

Do you have any idea what promotional pricing is in store for 2002? If we can get in for $25 we'd have to go six times to break-even, which is not as easy as it used to be as the kids get older. Care to do the break-even analysis for me?

Matthew writes: In reference to the following clip from [a recent] update: The new prices are $149 for Deluxe level (some blackout days) and $99 for Southern California (more blackout days).

When you say "more blackout days" for the SoCal pass do you mean more than last year or simply more than the Deluxe. I'm inclined to believe the latter.

Ken writes: Hi Al - Having just renewed our premium annual passes about two weeks ago, with an upgrade to the $299 two-park pass, we were slightly annoyed to hear about the new pass set-up. We would have preferred to keep that extra $100 for now, or at least have gotten 6 months extra for that $100 instead of 4 months. But beggars can't be choosers - there are people who bought two-park passes on July 31 who don't get any benefit, so we're grateful for getting 4 months!

Part of our annoyance is leftover bad feelings - a couple of months before the passes expired we tried to do a two-park upgrade, but at that point they no longer would give a pro-rated refund on existing one-park passes. Actually, at first they said we couldn't upgrade at all, but when we complained they said as a special favor we could upgrade that day, but we would just have to forfeit the remaining time on the old passes. Needless to say, we passed!

The explanation was that the pro-rated discounts had been "too hard to figure out". Give me a break! Their software could be programmed to do that in a fraction of a second. I asked the woman if they just didn't want people to go to DCA, and she just seemed very embarrassed.

What really prompted me to write is give you our theory of what will happen now: all those annual pass holders will go to DCA long enough to do Soaring over California and the big roller coaster, and then hop back over to Disneyland. This will just make for long lines at the few worthwhile DCA attractions, making the experience that much worse for those unfortunate out-of-towners who just have a one-day pass for DCA!

What a mess they've gotten themselves into! Oh, for the days when you could just park you car and walk up to the front gate of Disneyland!

Thanks for all your info!

David writes: About the new pricing on annual passes. If I already have a two-park deluxe annual pass (previously $199) am I automatically upgraded to the premium level now? Or did I just waste $50 last week?

Jeffrey writes: Hello there, Al! Looks like I missed the boat AGAIN! I renewed our families annual passes two weeks ago to beat the Christmas renewal crowds of all the people who bought them when the DCA upgrade became available. (Walked right in and had our pictures taken, versus almost a 2 hour wait last year).

Now you are telling me that Disney will give us 4 months in lieu of a $100.00 refund. According to my calculations, I should be getting an additional 6 months, not 4. Or are they charging me a "2 month" fee for the "hassle" of keeping my $300.00 ($100 x 3 passes) for an additional year?

If they were going to pour the money into making DCA a much better attraction (a la Disney Seas), I wouldn't mind them keeping my money!

Any retail store would cheerfully refund the $100.00, no questions asked. Even the airlines do that! So, it really galls me when my renewal doesn't even take effect until December 6th. So do I just ask for a complete refund and then buy new passes? Let me know!

Bil writes: As a Premium annual passholder of many years I applaud Disney for finally waking up to the worth of DCA. On the other hand, we were at Disneyland this past weekend and renewed Premium passes for my daughter and son-in-law on Saturday. It would have been nice if they had known about the change and issued the new passes.

Erik writes: Al, What about us who paid $199 for our 2-park Deluxe APs? Do we get our passports extended like the Premium passholders? Or can we upgrade to Premium passes? I'm going to Anaheim this weekend, so I'd really like to know what's happening. p.s. I noticed on DL's web page that the 2002 ticket prices are up, though the only change I noticed was the multi-day passes went up 3 or 4 bucks.
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Matthew: Yes, the latter.

Everyone else: Disney acted on this price change rather quickly - so quickly as a matter of fact that the huge full color full page ad in last Sunday's Los Angeles Time Magazine pushing Annual Passes still listed the old pricing structure.

The word I got for the rush was that they were looking at numbers that said 30% of attendance on any given day at DCA was APs, and surveys told them most Passholders were most likely going to renew starting in December for just the one park (Disneyland). So just like last year, when they swore up and down they weren't going to sell any APs at all for the new park, they then changed their mind at the last minute, they twisted around again last week.

I'm going to be blunt here - the four month offer for those that renewed early (especially within the past month) to beat the crowds is highway robbery. They simply do not want to refund people the money, nor take the extra work to prorate the passes to accurately reflect the actual value of the things.

If you just renewed in November - and when you speak with them they only want to offer you the four months you do have several options open to you:

1] If you paid with a credit card, such as American Express, call and ask the card company if they have a price protection policy. You may qualify for an adjustment on your bill.

2] Again, if you paid with a credit card, ask to cancel the charge since Disneyland did not honor their part of the deal with you.

3] Report the Disneyland Resort for its deceptive and dishonest business practices to the Better Business Bureau online - the link above will take you right to the complaints page.

4] If you choose to deal with the issue at the park, be sure to ask for a supervisor, and be patient in explaining the situation to them. Don't yell at or demean the person, as they are just trying to enforce a very customer hostile policy. Be patient and cool, and if things bog down suggest that you will have the credit card company cancel the charge and that you will report Disneyland to the Better Business Bureau.

While I fully understand people who have had passes for longer times should not qualify for a full refund or extension, those who renewed their premium passes within the past month should not have to be penalized so harshly for their timing.

This is what happens when accoutanteering runs amok, it's sad to say. If passholders are saving their rear end with the new park, they should be treated as the valued customers they are.

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Steve writes: Hi Al, First of all, thanks for the great updates and information. I always look forward to your fantastic insights and opinions.

Anyways, onto my question. I have not been unfortunate enough to view the new LuminAria show yet but it sound as if there are once again problems with a DCA attraction. To your knowledge, did Disney ever consider doing a water / music show like they do at the Bellagio in Las Vegas? The fountains timed to Classic Disney music would be a great show if it was done with the same quality as the Bellagio... and NO smoke!
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Since LuminAria has nothing like this that could be salvaged for a new show - we may not get something that nice in the future at Paradise Bay. I keep hearing that now they may delay the summer lagoon show until another year from now, to try and build something right. Let's hope Steve Davison gets the time and money to do something worthwhile.

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Ryan writes: Dear Al, I'm writing you to tell you that the team that developed all the live shows for the new Tokyo Disney Sea's park has been let go from Disney. I have a good friend who was part of the group and he informs me that the entire group has been disbanded and released from the company's employ.

I had the fortunate experience of visiting the new park in September. I arrived shortly after Mr. Eisner's visit for grand opening. The shows are far superior to the shows being presented in the US parks (not all - but most). Staff tell of Eisner's ecstatic reaction to the quality of the shows (I would have to agree and would love to submit a review to MP.com - how do I do that ?). I wonder if Ann Hamburger has even seen these shows?

I guess the question is: Doesn't Mr. Pressler see what is happening? Why is letting such a valuable resource slip away? Tokyo show designers indicate that Eisner thought that the caliber of the Disney Sea's shows should be brought to the US parks. Guess that is going to have to wait.

Thought you would want to know. Thanks and great site!
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I keep hearing nothing but good things about what is going on at the new Tokyo park - but much of that success is a commitment by Oriental Land Co. to spend serious money, and some very acute business judgment, both of which are seriously lacking here in the states as far as the Disney parks go.

As far as Anne Hamburger seeing the shows - I understand she has a hard time finding anything in any Disney park (as I mentioned recently, she couldn't even locate Tom Sawyer's Island here at Disneyland). She may have an even harder time finding Tokyo. ;)

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John writes: Hey Al, I noticed [in a past update] that you pictured the patriotic wreath featured in the Small World Mall. Interesting, because my family made notice of it on our last trip to Disneyland. We thought it was a little strange. What is the flaming torch supposed to symbolize? The Olympics maybe? Happy Potter and the Goblet of Fire? Who knows?

While I enjoyed the patriotism of the red, white and blue ribbons, I was distracted by the symbolism that reminded me of a Harry Potter book more than anything.

P.S. Keep up the good work!
 

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JPM writes: If Walt were alive, he would have fired Eisner & Associate Accountants a long time ago. He could have saved Disney Corp. over a billion + dollars. Lets hope Eisner & Co. do not butcher Disneyland like they destroyed a parking lot.
 

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They paved paradise and put in a parking lot.

I miss that old lot all the time - especially when they park us at the farthest corner from the escalators of the new parking structure.  ;)

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