Yay!
--Mickey's Halloween Party was just incredible and exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. The music, the lighting, the candy, the entertainment... The short wait times alone would've made it worth twice the ticket cost.
--Buena Vista Street and Cars Land were equally amazing, especially at night. It was surreal and wonderful to finally walk through those areas after viewing thousands of construction photos for the past five years.
--Radiator Springs Racers was totally worth all the hassle of waiting in a fast pass line that stretched to the ocean.
--Mater's Jamboree was surprisingly fun. I pity the poor CMs who have to hear Larry singing all day though.
--The Jolly Holiday Bakery & the FF&P Cafe were awesome places for a quick breakfast.
--The dinner menu at Carnation Cafe is superb.
--Haunted Mansion Holiday is always delightful.
Meh
--The new sleds on the Matterhorn are just... not good. I didn't hate the ride exactly, but it was the bumpiest, jerkiest roller coaster ride I've had in a very long time. Why must we sit on the floor with only a couple inches of hard plastic between our butts and the track? They need to add padding ASAP. Lots and lots and lots of padding.
--The new entertainment offerings at DCA are... tolerable, but they were lurking behind every corner every single time we went anywhere. Buena Vista Street? The Jonas Bros. Newsie Boys singing their NSync version of "California Here We Come." Cars Land? The loud, loud, loud DJ car thing and his equally loud female human leader. Paradise Pier? Phineas and Ferb singing some "Carpe Diem" song on a float that creepily seemed to go wherever we went, following us, like a couple of giant cartoon stalkers. Also, I like the concept of the Goofy orchestra water show thing, but when we were on the other side of the Pier and heard that "Ha! Ha! Ha!" music, we wanted to jump into the water just to make it go away.
--My favorite spot in DCA to cool off and relax, the animation building, had been hijacked with an exhibition about Frankenweenie.
Ugh
--The cost of everything, but that pretty much goes without saying.
--I was a little surprised by the lack of variety in the Halloween merchandise. There was tons of Nightmare Before Christmas merch all over the place in almost every store, but the DL "Mickey-ish" Halloween merchandise mostly consisted of a glowing lantern, a glowing necklace, and some grocery store bags with led lights in them. Of course, I bought all of this stuff.
--Cell phone usage, talking, and flash pictures on dark rides. Just once I would like to ride through the Blue Bayou section of Pirates and listen to the crickets and the banjo strumming without hearing people talking, full voiced, to whomever they are with. Wait until the ride is over, I'm sure it can wait. Also, you're in Disneyland, most likely either on your vacation or enjoying some time away from the drudgery of the real world. Is it really necessary to text and update your Facebook status while you're on a ride? During one of our Haunted Mansion rides, we were backed up in the portrait gallery and a lady was in front of us with her two girls who looked to be about 5 or 6. They were excitedly pointing out the portraits changing and the lightning and asking their mom questions, and she spent the entire time texting with someone and completely ignoring them.
--And finally, Luigi's Flying Tires was a joke. We waited only 30 minutes, and the CM who taught us how to operate the tires was quite entertaining with an obviously fake Italian accent. We hopped in our tire and threw all of our body weight to one side as the air was turned on... and then... glacially... we moved about two inches. The glacial pace lasted the entire time, and we covered maybe 20 square feet. It was a lot of physical work with no payoff. Also, there is absolutely no feeling of impact when the tires collide. Isn't that supposed to be the point? Kind of like bumper cars on an air table? If the point isn't to bump into the other tires then... what is it? Such a missed opportunity.
--Mickey's Halloween Party was just incredible and exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. The music, the lighting, the candy, the entertainment... The short wait times alone would've made it worth twice the ticket cost.
--Buena Vista Street and Cars Land were equally amazing, especially at night. It was surreal and wonderful to finally walk through those areas after viewing thousands of construction photos for the past five years.
--Radiator Springs Racers was totally worth all the hassle of waiting in a fast pass line that stretched to the ocean.
--Mater's Jamboree was surprisingly fun. I pity the poor CMs who have to hear Larry singing all day though.
--The Jolly Holiday Bakery & the FF&P Cafe were awesome places for a quick breakfast.
--The dinner menu at Carnation Cafe is superb.
--Haunted Mansion Holiday is always delightful.
Meh
--The new sleds on the Matterhorn are just... not good. I didn't hate the ride exactly, but it was the bumpiest, jerkiest roller coaster ride I've had in a very long time. Why must we sit on the floor with only a couple inches of hard plastic between our butts and the track? They need to add padding ASAP. Lots and lots and lots of padding.
--The new entertainment offerings at DCA are... tolerable, but they were lurking behind every corner every single time we went anywhere. Buena Vista Street? The Jonas Bros. Newsie Boys singing their NSync version of "California Here We Come." Cars Land? The loud, loud, loud DJ car thing and his equally loud female human leader. Paradise Pier? Phineas and Ferb singing some "Carpe Diem" song on a float that creepily seemed to go wherever we went, following us, like a couple of giant cartoon stalkers. Also, I like the concept of the Goofy orchestra water show thing, but when we were on the other side of the Pier and heard that "Ha! Ha! Ha!" music, we wanted to jump into the water just to make it go away.
--My favorite spot in DCA to cool off and relax, the animation building, had been hijacked with an exhibition about Frankenweenie.
Ugh
--The cost of everything, but that pretty much goes without saying.
--I was a little surprised by the lack of variety in the Halloween merchandise. There was tons of Nightmare Before Christmas merch all over the place in almost every store, but the DL "Mickey-ish" Halloween merchandise mostly consisted of a glowing lantern, a glowing necklace, and some grocery store bags with led lights in them. Of course, I bought all of this stuff.
--Cell phone usage, talking, and flash pictures on dark rides. Just once I would like to ride through the Blue Bayou section of Pirates and listen to the crickets and the banjo strumming without hearing people talking, full voiced, to whomever they are with. Wait until the ride is over, I'm sure it can wait. Also, you're in Disneyland, most likely either on your vacation or enjoying some time away from the drudgery of the real world. Is it really necessary to text and update your Facebook status while you're on a ride? During one of our Haunted Mansion rides, we were backed up in the portrait gallery and a lady was in front of us with her two girls who looked to be about 5 or 6. They were excitedly pointing out the portraits changing and the lightning and asking their mom questions, and she spent the entire time texting with someone and completely ignoring them.
--And finally, Luigi's Flying Tires was a joke. We waited only 30 minutes, and the CM who taught us how to operate the tires was quite entertaining with an obviously fake Italian accent. We hopped in our tire and threw all of our body weight to one side as the air was turned on... and then... glacially... we moved about two inches. The glacial pace lasted the entire time, and we covered maybe 20 square feet. It was a lot of physical work with no payoff. Also, there is absolutely no feeling of impact when the tires collide. Isn't that supposed to be the point? Kind of like bumper cars on an air table? If the point isn't to bump into the other tires then... what is it? Such a missed opportunity.
Comment