Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Superman

One of the classic Disneyland (Anaheim) rides is Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Fantasyland. 

It opened at Disneyland on July 17, 1955 and refurbished in 1983. It was closed at Walt Disney World and was replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Speaking of Disneyland's opening day of July 17, 1955, here's Walt Disney chatting with Adventures of Superman star George Reeves:

Disneyland and Disney World: “The Most Expensive Place on Earth”

Above, Disneyland's Mark Twain steamboat in Frontierland in 1988. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There was once a time when a visit to Disneyland in Anaheim, California or Walt Disney World in Florida didn't require taking out a second or third mortgage, or even a co-signer. 

Not anymore. 

I used to go to Disneyland quite often with family or friends from the 1960s to the 1980s. The last two times I was there were both in 1988. The admission price for one day in 1988 was $28.00. 

The last Disney theme park I visited was Tokyo DisneySea in Japan in 2015. Since it seemed like half of Tokyo's population was there, we didn't go on any rides. The wait times were excessively long.

Today, the powers-that-be of the Walt Disney Company has seen fit to raise their prices again for Walt Disney World and Disneyland, practically to the stratosphere, and people are raising hell.

The New York Post reported:

“The Most Magical Place on Earth” is being rebranded as “The Most Expensive Place on Earth” by angry customers who slammed Disney for price hikes at its Disney World and Disneyland theme parks.

Disney customers took to Reddit over the past week to rip the Mouse House’s theme parks over higher admission fees, as well as a subpar experience that includes more expensive, lackluster food and staffing shortages.

Disney, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, has been increasing prices in order to make up for the loss of business.

Late last year, Disney said it would increase ticket prices at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, Calif., this year, noting that its popular single-day ticket price would jump 6.5% to $164 for admission to one park, while a two-day park hopper pass would cost $319, up nearly 9 percent.

That's not all, the food concessions and souvenirs at Disneyland has also become more expensive, but you'll have to read the full article to see just how expensive they've become.

Just to bring a date to Disneyland, for a halfway decent time for two, one should at least have $600 in their wallet. Imagine what a family of four would cost!

Walt Disney would probably spin in his grave if he knew how expensive it is to spend a day at Disneyland.  

To read more, go here.

RV Customer “Experience” In Demand: More Amenities

Above, Route 66 RV Resort in Albuquerque has everything I want in a campground. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

People seem to want their amenities in life, and that includes campgrounds and RV parks.

Using Walt Disney World in Florida as an example, RV Travel takes a look at what campground and RV park owners are hearing. People are telling them that they want more glitz and more wow at their RV parks.

Well, to provide what the people want, the owners will have to lay out some capital to include those amenities in demand. Eventually, people are going to pay the price so that owners can recoup their investment. Who wants to pay $200/night+ at a campground with extravagant amenities?

The article begins with:

To get a sense of where the commercial campground industry is heading, it’s helpful to know what campground owners are hearing. Like any other business owner, they want to know how to keep up with the competition. They want to stay on top of “best practices.” Most of all, they want to know what the market wants and expects.

That’s how campground Wi-Fi became ubiquitous over the past decade, as providers like TengoInternet and CheckBox pounded their products relentlessly at conventions and in industry publications. It’s how online booking and check-in are now following the same adoption curve, for better and worse, pushed by a dozen different online reservation systems scrambling for market share with innovations like dynamic pricing and site-lock fees. And it’s why electric-car charging stations and metered electric service are on the horizon, with pedestal manufacturers just starting to gear up new product lines.

It’s instructive, therefore, to note the increasingly prominent role among campgrounds played by the Walt Disney Company – not directly, but by example. As inspiration. Camping ostensibly may be about the outdoors, while Disney is unabashedly about manufactured environments, but both claim to be in the hospitality business and both are heavily focused on families as their primary customers. But because Disney is also developmentally decades ahead of the campground industry, and because the industry’s thought leaders frequently extol Disney as the gold standard for hospitality, a growing number of campground owners are afflicted with a serious bout of mouse envy.

For me, if an RV park has a fire pit, picnic table, swimming pool/jacuzzi and a handy store, I'm satisfied. I don't need all that other stuff and will not go to places that have them. I don't want to pay the price. If you want that stuff, YOU pay for it.

To read more, go here. 

Next Year's Trip?

Above, The Beast at the Elk City, Oklahoma KOA. It would be along the way home. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since this year's long trip will be going north to see the eclipse in Idaho, I am already thinking about next year's trip.

I was reading an article at Do It Yourself RV on Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World in Florida and that started me thinking.

They wrote:

Disney World’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground in Orlando, Florida might be one of the most unique places to camp in the U.S. Not only is this resort massive (it takes up more than 700 acres of the park), but it’s close to all the action while feeling like it’s in the middle of a pine forest, complete with non-animated deer and raccoons. 

The campground has private sites and features all the amenities of most resorts, as well as a few Disney specialties. This includes two heated pools that are open 24 hours a day, rental cabins, several restaurants and stores, a marina, playgrounds, tennis courts, horse and pony rides, a petting zoo, fishing, bike rentals, private carriage rides, and even Segway tours.

Actually, I started thinking about going there about a year or so ago. But situations change, along with travel focusing.

In looking over the map book, I figure on heading east along Interstate 10 with stops along the way including Carlsbad Caverns National Park, San Antonio (to see if there's a basement at the Alamo) and New Orleans (to try out some good Cajun foods) before reaching Florida. There seems to be a lot of nice RV parks along the way to enjoy.

For the return trip home, I will probably take Interstate 40 and see some attractions along that route including Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis (this time to see the new entertainment complex at Graceland) and Tombstone (I was last there around 1989).

Since I won't be in a hurry, I plan to confine each day's drive to around 350 miles or less as much as possible.

I have a while before deciding. 

Walt Disney Must Be Spinning In His Grave

Above, 1958 Disneyland ticket book backs.  Note the prices.

If Walt Disney saw what is being charged for admission to either Disneyland in California or Walt Disney World in Florida, he'd be spinning in his grave.

MyFoxNY.com reported:

When you wish upon a star, be sure to bring your wallet. Disneyland and Disney World have raised their ticket prices. 

Disney said in a statement that starting Sunday, a one-day adult ticket to one park at Disneyland will cost $92, a $5 increase. Kids' tickets also jumped $5, to $87. 

The prices apply to either Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park. Buyers of annual passes will see similar increases.

Walt Disney once said:

"What this country really needs is an amusement park that families can take their children to. They've gotten so honky tonk with a lot of questionable characters running around, and they're not to safe. They're not well kept. I want to have a place that's as clean as anything could ever be, and all the people in it [his park] are first-class citizens, and treated like guests."

It looks like people would have to be rich in order to take their families to either park or get a co-signer. I remember the days when $8.00 (in the 1960s) would get you a day's admission with the various tickets at different levels (the 'E' ticket would get you on the more popular (and better) rides.

Now, the cost for a family of four would be $355, and that's just to get in.  Add to that food and souvenirs, the price would likely be over $500 (you can almost fly to Japan for that amount).

Yep, ol' Walt would be spinning in his grave if he saw how the Walt Disney Company is gouging people.

To read more, go here.