@ Mitlik:

Thank you sir. :D

@ GermanPete:

The Florida parks don’t do the language pins, but a lot of the recorded announcements or security messages are done in both English and Spanish back to back which is nice I guess. This is especially evident on the little trams that take you from the parking lots to the park entrance. You have to sit through the “while we are moving don’t stand the fuck up” message twice.

Which reminds me of another thing – Disney even manages the traffic flow on their parking lots. When you enter one of the extremely vast parking lots, you will be directed and told where to park. Disney has people constantly funneling incoming cars ensuring that every space is filled, no one fights over parking spots, and no one drives around in circles looking to swoop in when someone leaves. You get in, park where they tell you and there is already a tram there waiting to take you to the park. Pretty impressive – I have never seen anything like this anywhere else.

Oh, and the gift store thing – I would say that roughly 80% of the crap in all the generic gift stores is the same trinkets. The remaining 20% is usually crap that is specific to the adjacent ride, attraction or the theme they are going for with the particular store and that shit is usually very prominently displayed making sure you don’t miss it.

Granted, some of the stores are unique. I think there was one in the Magic Kingdom where they were actually making the glass doodads in front of you. So you could stand there and watch a guy melt glass with a blow-torch (behind a protective screen of course) and make it into mickey ears or what not.

The stores in Epcot pavilions were a bit more varied. For example the gift stores in the British pavilion are all like “British pop rock music, soccer and medieval shit”. Norway section is all “Vikings and Trolls” but their stores sell… Jackets, hats and sweaters from Norwegian brands… :P

Yeah, was one of the first things I noticed there, too. You look great, Luke!

I’ve never been to any of the US Disneys -most likely because I’m not living in the US- but I can say that the one in France is as impressive as you described. Clean, tidy and you only have to step out of a toilet with slightly wrinkled brows to have a janitor show up… (Really happened. There were no paper towels and as I stepped out rubbing my hands… guess you can imagine the rest.)
Most waiting lines are near gift shops and there will be the ocassional food/drink vendor nearby helping you pass the time until the next ride starts allowing you to inch a bit closer to the start…
I’m not sure about this in the US since I guess most people there are speaking one language but here the employees all have tiny pins showing flags of the countries which language they speak. Very nice!

I was able to take two trips in a rather short timespan and one thing I did notice happily on the second was that they seem to listen to customer concerns.
On the first trip it was virtually the same in every gift shop. The same plushies, the same mugs and the only difference was if the shelves were fake future or retro wild west.
I was a tad bit annoyed by that and didn’t hesitate to mention while being asked about my stay by a friendly member of the staff.
Imagine my surprise on the second visit when the interior of the stores didn’t only look different in design but also the contents were different.

I don’t imagine in the slightest that it was my comment alone, rather that I was one of several voices saying the same.
And yes, they most likely did it to get that extra cash you wouldn’t spend on the same mug in a different store…

As ever, I may be off the main point… but it’s good to see the life hack still seems to be treating you well; looking trim in those vacation pictures.

@ Chris Wellons:

Yeah, the attention to detail in the atmosphere building department is quite amazing. Disney rides are engineered not as much as rides, but as experiences. I especially liked the Yeti ride in Animal Kingdom. When you get in line, first you go through the little travel agency building, then through the courtyard of a Tibetan monastery, enter the monastery itself, which turns into a Yeti museum of sorts, that then morphs into a tiny Himalayan train station where you finally get onto the roller-coaster. :)

This past spring marked 10 years since I’ve been to Orlando. It was for a week-long high school marching band trip, and I had a lot of fun because I got to roam the parks with just my friends all day. I don’t know if I’d enjoy it as much today. Like you, my wife and I are immune to buying trinkets and souvenirs, so we wouldn’t bleed money too badly. However, in the past decade since that last trip I spent four grueling summers (60-hour weeks) working at a local amusement park. I feel I’ve had a lifetime’s worth of parks.

They really do a great job with the atmosphere and mood of the sights and rides. No one else can compete with them on that. If I were to return I think that would be the most enjoyable part, absorbing the atmosphere of the place.