Today’s post continues the topic of “5 Disneyland Details We Love (and 5 we hate!)” from the EarzUp Podcast. Yeah, I know…it was more than just 5. They’re overachievers!
7. The way the tap water tastes. According to Jason, it tastes like a combination of blood and dirt at the Park water fountains. That’s one way to sell more bottled water! Not that Dasani is much better…
8. The PeopleMover tracks in Tomorrowland. They are a sad reminder that we will never see a vehicle riding on those tracks again. Kind of like having a bunch of broken cars on the front lawn of a mansion. It would help foot traffic in that area to just remove them.
9. The replacement of the Market House coffee shop with Starbucks. The coffee was fine…and it wasn’t $5+, and you could get free refills, making it (for some) the last souvenir before you leave.
Not being Starbucks, it differentiated the experience from going to any town in America (or even Downtown Disney). The coffee should hit different, like the churros. Admittedly, there was a dispute on the podcast over whether the previous coffee was actually good/bad, though. I’m not a coffee drinker, but typically my friends who went to the Park with me stated it was a step above caffeinated water.
10. The trolley tracks on Main Street. They appreciate the authenticity, but so many times have almost broken an ankle, gotten a stroller wheel stuck in there…just give us a more modern version of a trolley! NOTE: This one, I have to respectfully disagree on. While I myself have tripped over the tracks before, a stroller is no reason to make ANY changes at the Park. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I have an aversion to the abundance of strollers (which are as big as mobile homes) found there.
11. Buena Vista Street. It looks bland and not nuanced enough to reflect Los Angeles in the 1930s; kinda’ like tract homes. Also full of boring window treatments. Compared to Main Street, it’s night and day. Thoroughly unimaginative. NOTE: at first, I was surprised by this one. When Buena Vista Street first opened, I thought it was the coolest thing. But…it was the vintage façades that I loved and the fact that it was SOOOO much better than its predecessor, Sunshine Plaza (which wouldn’t have taken much). I would argue that over the years, Main Street’s shop interiors have become less imaginative, too, as they have devolved into repositories of plush and uninteresting vendors.
12. Pointless warehouse and backstage areas in DCA. There’s a rarely used stage (formerly for Electronica) and empty buildings that they are doing NOTHING with. Or at least nothing that enhances the guest experience.
13. The non-working parts of the Indiana Jones Adventure queue. The bamboo trick to lower the ceiling has not worked in years. I can’t begin to count how many times I twirled that big piece of bamboo around hoping so hard that it would actually work again. But no…
14. The Paradise Garden Park. The most jumbled non-themed area in any part of Disneyland. Just throw stuff in there, and people will go. This area stinks - spend some actual dollars on it!
15. The lady that hangs out in front of Carthay with the fake dog. Hey lady, don't ever talk to me! Notice that the Disney Corporation didn’t miss an opportunity for cross-promotion; the name of the dog is “Lady.” The typeface police would have to shoot the person that used all-caps with the decorative font. Ugh.
16. I don't like Batuuese…hearing cast members speak the forced new language just feels like bad dinner theater (like the lady in front of Carthay with the fake dog). Imagine hearing Cajun Creole in New Orleans Square? We all know we’re at Disneyland…let it go. NOTE: I have never been to Star Wars land, so this 2016 construction shot is the closest thing that I have. I’m not upset about it, either.
17. The entirety of the Esplanade; groups of teens meeting at the compass rose drinking their Starbucks drinks. Devoid of basic design elements and shade; drop some green! Add a few trees! So much space to do SOMETHING with!
Another chance to catch the entire ball of wax in advance:
