We are most decidedly a Disney family. My wife takes the kids to the parks once a week, on average, and factors in the dates when our annual passes are blocked. I join them when I can.
Despite – or perhaps because of – my Disney loyalty, I see something I’d like to change every time I go to the resort. So here are a few ways I would “plus” the Disney Resort experience, with the caveat that my suggestions arise from a place of deep respect for Walt Disney, Imagineers past and present, and all the people who make our experience so amazing.
1. Streamline the entrance to the parks. Add a single “no bags to check” line at security and adequately identify it as such. This would allow the many who travel light to just walk through, which in turn would shorten the other lines for the majority with backpacks, strollers, etc. At the gates, make separate lines for pass-holders – who take little time to scan compared with those who have tickets – new pass-holders who need to be photographed and others getting in my way.
2. Retire the Song of the South characters that populate Splash Mountain. Kids don’t know the film, which has long been relegated to the vaults for racism. Sure, we’d miss “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,” but let’s make room for “Up” or “WALL-E” inside the caves and caverns. Or how cool does Marvel Mountain sound?
3. Add fast, casual breakfast options in the morning. Beyond beignets, there really isn’t much that’s easy to eat when you’re past the front gates. Breakfast burritos from Rancho del Zocalo would be a good start.
4. Help provide easier public-transit access to the parks. Now that the Anaheim streetcar system proposal looks like it has limited federal funding support, it’s time to study the idea of a public-privately funded (yes, Disney should contribute) monorail or other form of elevated mass transit from the ARTIC station with direct connection to the parks. That way travelers and tourists, as well as local families, can ride the always-expanding train and transit system in the region, something that’s made difficult today. There are buses and shuttles already, you say? The ART and OCTA buses don’t travel directly from the station to the resort and aren’t timed for the arrival and departure of trains.
5. Go locavore. Start by getting rid of Craisins, the official fruit snack at the parks. Ocean Spray is a grower-owned cooperative based on the East Coast, and cranberries aren’t a big California crop. Raisins are, and they should be sold here.
6. Serve alcohol at Disneyland. Blasphemy, I know. So start with the full-service restaurants only, and continue the prohibition on to-go drinks or open containers allowed elsewhere.
7. Expand early entry. Guests at the resort hotels get an hour extra on given days, but it’s a bit of a bait and switch, as surprisingly few rides are open in the first hour. Fix that, and/or add a perk like allowing multiple FastPasses to be obtained during that hour for use throughout the day.
8. Keep the Main Street bypass alley open at all times, but especially after parades and at closing time. Being part of the gridlocked crowds at night is starting to feel hazardous.
9. Let the characters speak. It’s just odd that the ones with costumes and covered heads like Mickey and Woody have to pantomime, but the princesses, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins and Cruella de Vil can carry on conversations.
10. It’s time to permanently park Autopia. The car ride takes up valuable real estate, and this is Southern California – why should we stand in line to sit in traffic?
Contact the writer: Kedric@coastmagazine.com
