A friend of mine joyfully jumped with family on a plane and entered the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. When I ran into him a few days later, I asked him, “Was it packed?” He said, “Oh yeah,  three hour waits for Indiana Jones and most rides for that matter.” I was shocked with the economy in shambles. Then I figured its stay-cation time not va-cation time. Families are staying closer to home for one day trips, rather than migrating away from home, breaking the bank.

How has Disney’s competition been doing? Turn on the news and you will find out the converse for Six Flags.

Six Flags did not escape lower than expected attendance. Bankruptcy is the headline today for Six Flags amusement park. I’m certain they’ll re-emerge bigger and better. The airlines seem to pull it off.  

I absolutely appreciate Six Flags for their careful attention to treating animals with respect. I’m sure PETA would pimp slap me for saying that, however, I’ve spoken to some of the trainers at the park directly and know the measures they take to protect all the animals from harm.  Ethics do not seem to impact how many or how often families visit Six Flags.

Did you know Disney out performs Six Flags 6 to 1?  Meaning Disney attracts 6 times the amount of traffic than Six Flags, so combine that with the economy issues and it all adds up. That’s the bad news.

Good news. Disney has saved some major money by going green as my research revealed one very teeny tiny downside. Some visitors have complained the smell of the trains now isn’t the way they remember it: the biodiesel smells somehow like French fries and they miss the diesel smell. Oh what a sacrifice huh? Kids will have to grow up making memories with the French-fry smell.

Autopia was opened at Disneyland 52 years ago to honor America’s auto fixation. For years, the cars were powered by lawn motor engines using gas.
Seven years ago, the theme park retrofitted  them with pedal starters to reduce idling and new engines. I guess Chevron jumped in to help and that reduced emissions by two thirds. But they still run on gasoline.

I’m sorry but I just can’t be that green yet.  I need the feel of the engine running. I need the sound of the engine running. Are you rolling your eyes at me? C’mon…can’t I hang on to one old school traditional engine rumbling, butt vibrating experience? Yes, I know we both know that one day, Autopia will not use an internal combustion engine and we’ll find some way to replicate that part of  the experience. Did I just lose my badge for being the social green trendsetter? As Donald Trump says, “Hart, Your Fired!”

Disneyland Monday re-launched one of its oldest attractions, the submarine ride, nine years after it emptied the lagoon. The original submarine ride was launched at Disneyland in 1958, and the gunmetal gray submarines ran on diesel. The steam kept the submarines going for four decades until 1998, when the Cold War-themed attraction lost its appeal.

“But at Imagineering, we wouldn’t let it die. We love the submarines, it’s a classic attraction. It’s Walt’s attraction,” said Kathy Mangum, a vice president at Disney Imagineering.

Disney’s imagineers finally found a story around which the submarines could re-emerge: Finding Nemo, the Oscar-winning 2003 animated film about the world under water.

The ride still uses all eight original submarines, but the engines are now powered by clean and quiet magnetic coils.

The fake coral reefs under water are not colored with paint anymore, but with recycled glass sprayed on with an organic epoxy.

“We used 30 tons of it, and it’s going to last forever. It gave us color we couldn’t get with paint,” said Dela Vara.

Other parts of the park have changed too. Trains now run on 100 percent biodiesel, including the EP Ripley, the same train Disney himself rode on the theme park’s opening day.

Disneyland says it buys 150,000 gallons of biodiesel each year, and prices are currently competitive with regular diesel. Seemingly nothing gets thrown away around here, just greened up.

But where do you draw the line between environmental friendliness and running a successful business?

Disney claims it’s saved about $60 million over 10 years on environmental programs, mostly through reducing the amount of paper used. They also re-use TV sets and installed a “reusable mug  program,” which alone saved a half million dollars.

Disney is in the middle of having all of its hotels declared “green lodging” in the Florida Green Lodging Certification Program. Six are already certified.

The goal is that by 2013, Disney will cut solid waste to landfills by half of what it produced in 2006, which Ecorazzi reports, was a staggering 300,000 tons of garbage.

Disney has led the way in banning trans fats and limiting in-park smoking. Expect Disney to back up its eco-friendly words with eco-friendly actions in the coming years.

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