- Joined
- Jan 7, 2005
Did anyone happen to read the article "Disneyland: An Irreverent Guide" in this month's Travel + Leisure Family magazine? It was so devoid of useful information and filled with inaccuracies, I couldn't resist sending in this letter in to the editor:
Your magazine does not have a letters-to-the-editor section, but maybe it
should. To describe Jonathan Gold's article on Disneyland as a "guide,"
"irreverent" or not, must be one of the most generous uses of that word
ever. Despite Mr. Gold's claim that he visits Disneyland "every chance" he
gets, he has apparently not been there since the Blue Bayou reopened and the
Café Orleans transformed itself from counter- to table-service restaurant,
or he would have directed readers to the latter restaurant for the
traditional Monte Cristo sandwich. Nor was his description of a monorail
boarding guests from California Adventure to neighboring park Disneyland
accurate; there are no monorail terminals within the former park.
Furthermore, instead of admitting that he forgets to make dining
reservations, he should have advised your readers that the best way to avoid
hour-long waits at the most popular restaurants, if not be turned away
altogether, is to make that advance priority seating reservation by calling
714-781-DINE 60 days in advance, thereby alleviating the need for a
high-priced, concierge-level hotel room.
Finally, he might have referred readers who might not be admitted Disney
geeks but just trying to thoroughly plan for their vacation to
disboards.com, a World-heavy site (as in Walt Disney World), to be sure, but
one in which the moderators have wisely doubled the boards devoted to
Disneyland and the West, and where readers will get much of their travel
planning questions answered by many patient and well-informed regulars.
Your magazine does not have a letters-to-the-editor section, but maybe it
should. To describe Jonathan Gold's article on Disneyland as a "guide,"
"irreverent" or not, must be one of the most generous uses of that word
ever. Despite Mr. Gold's claim that he visits Disneyland "every chance" he
gets, he has apparently not been there since the Blue Bayou reopened and the
Café Orleans transformed itself from counter- to table-service restaurant,
or he would have directed readers to the latter restaurant for the
traditional Monte Cristo sandwich. Nor was his description of a monorail
boarding guests from California Adventure to neighboring park Disneyland
accurate; there are no monorail terminals within the former park.
Furthermore, instead of admitting that he forgets to make dining
reservations, he should have advised your readers that the best way to avoid
hour-long waits at the most popular restaurants, if not be turned away
altogether, is to make that advance priority seating reservation by calling
714-781-DINE 60 days in advance, thereby alleviating the need for a
high-priced, concierge-level hotel room.
Finally, he might have referred readers who might not be admitted Disney
geeks but just trying to thoroughly plan for their vacation to
disboards.com, a World-heavy site (as in Walt Disney World), to be sure, but
one in which the moderators have wisely doubled the boards devoted to
Disneyland and the West, and where readers will get much of their travel
planning questions answered by many patient and well-informed regulars.
