A Spirited Perfect Ten

[wdisney9000]

So FP+ was down resort wide again this morning? Is that 3 times its crashed now?

 

[Cesar R M]

I just noticed something...

Michael Eisner did a lot of good things for the theme parks, but stunk at being a CEO...
Bob Iger has done a lot of good things for the company, but jack-diddly-squat for the parks...

solution.. hire M. Eisner as head of parks with a carte blanche and "free for all". Leave Iger as the "lets buyback stocks" Wall Street Golden boy.

 

[Cesar R M]

All I'll say to that is I would place DLP circa summer 2013 squarely in last place. Marks for originality, beauty and "potential" aside, that was truly the ghetto kingdom. 90 minute waits to get walk up quick service while locations were shuttered, a kid actually fainting in line due to lack of AC, the place was covered in a thick smog of tobacco... Not to mention the general state of maintenance. Of course, Disney at the time was in the active process of running the place to the ground in order to buy it out...

Hopefully both it and MK change for the better sooner than later.

Isnt this kinda usual at MK? I mean, shuttered quick service restaurants while the others are exploding to the seams.. replacing the tobacco with selfie sticks and strollers.

 

[Ariel1986]

Isnt this kinda usual at MK? I mean, shuttered quick service restaurants while the others are exploding to the seams.. replacing the tobacco with selfie sticks and strollers.

It's not the same- honestly half the reason I personally think people are being over the top here about MK and why I can't take it seriously, is because I've been to DLP and WDW in the last few years, WDW just last year- and DLP is so, so much worse. I feel like you guys complaining don't know how lucky you are with the quality compared to in Europe.
And if you want to talk about sky rocket prices, 2 nights at the New York hotel in DLP (which really is a run down, insanely overpriced hotel) with 3 day park tickets ( I recently checked as thinking of visiting) would be $1800!! For just 2 nights and park tickets.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Spirited Quick Hits:



EPCOT looks beautiful. But really, when are they just going to have food booths year round? We all know that they want to.

AC temps are absurd. Warm and clammy pretty much everywhere that isn't a shop. UNI doesn't do that. Disney just shows outright contempt for its consumers ... I won't dignify it by using Guests since I'd never invite Guests to my home and turn the AC up to 78 and shut it off completely at night.

Tomorrowland preview opened today. I got a pin. A friend said I could eBay it for $500. I got excited knowing how many crazies there are out there. Then, I saw $19.99 prices. Not worth my time. The movie looks very good -- I have faith in Brad Bird and Damon Lindeloff to deliver.

The whole WDW experience has become so 'industrial' to use the word of a colleague. The layers are constantly removed for efficiency ... efficiency in packing people in and taking every last cent. From the Hub disaster to the third bus loop to the total removal of greenery around TSSTFBKaDD. You can now see clear to I-4. But that is the plan, right? That's why Old Dead Guy Walt bought the land: because he loved traffic and urban sprawl. I'm just not seeing the MAGIC, but again I have been a regular since the 70s and an APer since 1982, so clearly my perspective means nothing.

Couple thoughts...... I can see the food booths staying up year-round. Or some of them anyways.... No tapestry, no DCOH. No reason they cant clog up the promenade with booths every six feet to sell you overpriced appetizers....

eBay is the devil. Its filtered over to Record Store Day (today) wherein they're trying to draw support for your local record shoppe. So the record companies will do limited releases that become collectors items. And naturally, theres someone who will come and buy all the limited stuff and put it on eBay. Much in what happens at Disney, happens elsewhere. Its why we cant have nice things... because there is an element of society that just wants to always make a buck off someone else.

Industrial is a good word. Profiteering is another.

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

Spirited Quick Hits:

The MK #HubBub is as bad in person as it is in photos, maybe worse. It would be nice somewhere else, but not where it is.

WDW is still operationally deciding to force Guests to MK, where they'll spend money, by keeping it open until 11 or midnight nightly the rest of April despite the fact that all Spring Breaks are long over, while closing all the other parks at 6-9 p.m.

Brooks Barnes. You gotta love him doing PR for the WDC again $DIS in the NYT. Now, they fly him to Anaheim to gush over the way Lucasfilm treats its fans and puts in a plug for D23 at the same time (I read this at midnight while sitting on a wall, since benches are verbotten in the MK, in the new Hub.)

Show quality at MK is as bad as ever. Splash Mountain, which looked great just a year ago, has serious issues and the logs have mold growing in them -- again. So many effects not working. Missing AAs. AAs moving, but no audio. ... Pirates ... when you can spot dozens of things wrong before you even hit the burning town, well that speaks volumes. Mermaid has gotten the DCA upgrades, but is missing a Scuttle AA in the queue. Buzz is filthy and ghetto-like.

Florida's wretched summer has decided that May is way too late to start, so April has 90-plus degree temps, 80% humidity and rain. Truly I understand why you crazies from other states love it here so much.

Prices on food went up at some point since I last visited in December across the board. Disney now actively wants a per person charge of $15 and above at QSRs.

Yes, I stole soda. Yes, I am proud. Yes, I know no-lifers care about this. If they didn't, then I wouldn't write it.

So, with all the Lifestylers and bloggers in O-Town, you'd think they'd photograph and note changes. Like the conveyor belt of candy in the Confectionary that hasn't worked since W's first term was removed entirely. Yes, that's how Disney fixes things.

EPCOT looks beautiful. But really, when are they just going to have food booths year round? We all know that they want to.

AC temps are absurd. Warm and clammy pretty much everywhere that isn't a shop. UNI doesn't do that. Disney just shows outright contempt for its consumers ... I won't dignify it by using Guests since I'd never invite Guests to my home and turn the AC up to 78 and shut it off completely at night.

Tomorrowland preview opened today. I got a pin. A friend said I could eBay it for $500. I got excited knowing how many crazies there are out there. Then, I saw $19.99 prices. Not worth my time. The movie looks very good -- I have faith in Brad Bird and Damon Lindeloff to deliver.

The whole WDW experience has become so 'industrial' to use the word of a colleague. The layers are constantly removed for efficiency ... efficiency in packing people in and taking every last cent. From the Hub disaster to the third bus loop to the total removal of greenery around TSSTFBKaDD. You can now see clear to I-4. But that is the plan, right? That's why Old Dead Guy Walt bought the land: because he loved traffic and urban sprawl. I'm just not seeing the MAGIC, but again I have been a regular since the 70s and an APer since 1982, so clearly my perspective means nothing.

Spent part of today on the fourth floor of the Beach Club walking in about 20 rooms that had been renovated and had the doors left open. I like them, but the workmanship is so damn shoddy. Doors that were painted a few weeks ago, already have chips in rooms that are in inventory. They all were never sanded down, just more paint thrown on top. Have any of you actually looked at the wood on the baseboards in that place -- dirty, gouged out chunks, places where you can tell they've painted 11 times without ever sanding it. You see that's what separates a typical Marriott from a Disney luxury resort.

Of course, I watched as a group of managers (not one who looked like they made more than $35K a year) came up to do a check and all I could think is ''No, they wouldn't be managing a Hilton in Tulsa.''

There's no doubt that the Dolphin (new home to the @EPCOT Explorer family with those great teacher rates) is a much more upscale and classier place. It too is in the early stages of a massive renovation.

I get the whole 'why MM+ lovers' believe it is the greatest thing since Dole Whip. They;re the ones who complained about crisscrossing the MK 21 times a day to get FPs. But that is the entire problem with the old and new systems: They make the lands meaningless. You don't visit the MK as it was designed, as it was intended. You don't spend hours in Tomorrowland and then move to Fantasyland. Nope, you ride the rides. Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, Little Mermaid, Dumbo, Pirates and meet characters and eat at meals you booked with a credit card six months ago. You don't get transported to different times and places. The entire FP system, both old and now high-tech (not really!) MM+, is antithetical to what a WDW vacation was all about for the resort's first 30 years. THAT is a story that @AustinC won't be writing. How technology is destroying a WDW vacation.

I can get the fanbois love for EPCOT, even now, as I have it. ANd for DAK. But MK?!?! From people who have visited DL? DLP? The very lucky few like myself who have been to HKDL and TDL? I don't get it. I'm not done with WDW, but very close to being done with the Ghetto Kingdom. Packed all the time. Rides that show no care, no showmanship. A feeling that the place has had the MAGIC sucked out of it. Why bother? Oh yeah, it's the only park that I can be in at 12:30 a.m.

Can you believe Phil Holmes has two E-Tix closed at the same time (both Small World and Jungle Cruise)? I was thinking that fanbois should start leaving tooth brushes, dental rinse and floss under his pic in Not So New Fantasyland.

Is it just my rose-colored view of the past or has drainage at the MK become a huge issue?

Favorite Fanboi Pickup line I've heard this week in O-Town: You're Like Hub Grass ... I Just Want To Sit On You!

Time for a weekend of MAGIC ... will catch up with y'all next week. No stalkers please.

I agree 100%. I've visited mk and Epcot (today) both within the last month. Both have large areas of chipped paint, multiple rides with AA non functioning.MK floods with a short shower. While walking around world showcase today, I heard multiple people say "where are the rides? There is nothing to do over here". The two things I enjoyed so far today was seeing Voices of liberty (twice) and watching my niece try Beverly. Can't wait to see RoE.

 

[asianway]

It's not the same- honestly half the reason I personally think people are being over the top here about MK and why I can't take it seriously, is because I've been to DLP and WDW in the last few years, WDW just last year- and DLP is so, so much worse. I feel like you guys complaining don't know how lucky you are with the quality compared to in Europe.
And if you want to talk about sky rocket prices, 2 nights at the New York hotel in DLP (which really is a run down, insanely overpriced hotel) with 3 day park tickets ( I recently checked as thinking of visiting) would be $1800!! For just 2 nights and park tickets.

The hotel rates at DLP are insane and the tickets are too cheap. I know they just raised them but an AP is still around 200Euros

 

[Cesar R M]

The hotel rates at DLP are insane and the tickets are too cheap. I know they just raised them but an AP is still around 200Euros

aren't all hotels in Paris insanely priced?
I remember when my mother was invited for a week.. she said the prices of food, beverages and entrances to certain stuff were beyond outrageous.

 

[asianway]

aren't all hotels in Paris insanely priced?
I remember when my mother was invited for a week.. she said the prices of food, beverages and entrances to certain stuff were beyond outrageous.

Drinks for sure, TS kinda, QS is ok. The Marriott is a good place to check for deals

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Looked at a 5-night package for Newport Bay Club at DLP the other day using the 2-day free EBO. For hotel, park tix and breakfast the rate was $250CDN/night with tax.

Booking DLP is all about when and where. The discounts and free meals run pretty constantly.

As for New York, it's next in line for a major refurb after Newport.

I don't know how anyone could ride Peter Pan, Space Mountain or Pirates at DLP and think the MK versions in 2015 are better. Or that crowd levels and strollers are worse.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Buying 1 or 2 nights at a DLP hotel is like buying a 1-day ticket for WDW. Disney WANTS you to balk at the price. That's why they're willing to give away free nights if you stay for 4 or longer, or why APs are so (comparatively) cheap. Like your local Six Flags/Cedar Fair, they want you to keep coming back so that you'll spend more on food and merch.

It may not be the best strategy, but it's the one they are using.

 

[Ariel1986]

Looked at a 5-night package for Newport Bay Club at DLP the other day using the 2-day free EBO. For hotel, park tix and breakfast the rate was $250CDN/night with tax.

Booking DLP is all about when and where. The discounts and free meals run pretty constantly.

As for New York, it's next in line for a major refurb after Newport.

I don't know how anyone could ride Peter Pan, Space Mountain or Pirates at DLP and think the MK versions in 2015 are better. Or that crowd levels and strollers are worse.

It wasn't that crowds were bad or the versions of the rides were worse- it was the dirty conditions of restaurants & restrooms, the smell of smoke (not just tobacco) everywhere, bad show with unnecessary visible construction, very rude staff, poor quality food, run down buildings, a very tacky looking Disney Village ... I could go on. I went to WDW 6 months later and then when I found this site and was reading the complaints it just made me wonder what people were talking about as what they were describing sounded like DLP to me not Orlando.

I'm from the UK and I grew up going to DLP- I loved it. I was disappointed after returning in 2011. It may have improved since then and I hope so. It doesn't make the hotel prices any less ridiculous- I have checked more than once and for different times of the year. It just seems silly to me when I can get two weeks in WDW on site plus tickets for similar prices (that include travel) to DLP's prices when there's also a lot more to do at WDW.

I'm sure I will visit DLP again but as a day trip alongside a Paris visit.

 

[Ariel1986]

Buying 1 or 2 nights at a DLP hotel is like buying a 1-day ticket for WDW. Disney WANTS you to balk at the price. That's why they're willing to give away free nights if you stay for 4 or longer, or why APs are so (comparatively) cheap. Like your local Six Flags/Cedar Fair, they want you to keep coming back so that you'll spend more on food and merch.

It may not be the best strategy, but it's the one they are using.

Only problem is there's not enough to do at DLP to buy more than 2 maybe 3 nights there, so that doesn't really work.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I was disappointed after returning in 2011. It may have improved since then and I hope so.

Yes, it has. In a big way.

And it's only going to get better by 2017.

I'm much more of an "apologist" when it comes to DLP because I know of the circumstances of it's fananicals, ownership and recent history, along with what Disney is doing to make things better (most of which I am quite pleased with). That and it likely won't take forever to fix up the place, unlike WDW where things are d-r-a-g-g-e-d out forever.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Only problem is there's not enough to do at DLP to buy more than 2 maybe 3 nights there, so that doesn't really work.

But if it costs the same to go for 4 nights as it does for 2, then why not stay longer? You'll at least be able to tour the parks at a more leisurley pace and enjoy the hotel pool and amenities more (IMO).

 

[Ariel1986]

Yes, it has. In a big way.

And it's only going to get better by 2017.

I'm much more of an "apologist" when it comes to DLP because I know of the circumstances of it's fananicals, ownership and recent history, along with what Disney is doing to make things better (most of which I am quite pleased with). That and it likely won't take forever to fix up the place, unlike WDW where things are d-r-a-g-g-e-d out forever.

I look forward to seeing it restored and improved if so- it's so easy to get there it would be great to hop over again and enjoy it like I used to. I was really put off 4 years ago.

 

[PhotoDave219]

This is probably sacrilege, but if i'm going to Paris there's no way in hell I'm going to Disney. Arc de Triumph, the Louve, Eiffel Tower, drinking on the left bank, vineyards... thats more my speed.

And that castle on the mediterranean. Plus Normandy.

So much to do in Europe and frankly, Ive seen Disney enough in my life. Havent seen any of Europe.

 

[Ariel1986]

But if it costs the same to go for 4 nights as it does for 2, then why not stay longer? You'll at least be able to tour the parks at a more leisurley pace and enjoy the hotel pool and amenities more (IMO).

Well the last time I visited the amenities were very lacking, but I get your point. With Paris being so near though, a visit tends to be a weekend thing for me, not somewhere I would take extra time off work for. I prefer to save those days up for long haul trips!

 

[ABQ]

Spirited Quick Hits:.....


WDW is still operationally deciding to force Guests to MK, where they'll spend money, by keeping it open until 11 or midnight nightly the rest of April despite the fact that all Spring Breaks are long over, while closing all the other parks at 6-9 p.m.
......

Which age group's Spring Break are you referring to? I know the grade schools in New England are still in their April vacation, with some ending this weekend and Massachusetts just beginning theirs Monday.

 

[Ariel1986]

This is probably sacrilege, but if i'm going to Paris there's no way in hell I'm going to Disney. Arc de Triumph, the Louve, Eiffel Tower, drinking on the left bank, vineyards... thats more my speed.

And that castle on the mediterranean. Plus Normandy.

So much to do in Europe and frankly, Ive seen Disney enough in my life. Havent seen any of Europe.

Other way around for me, I've seen plenty of Europe, and once I've seen all of the other places I want to see in the world I plan to spend most of my time at Disney!