Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

Status
Not open for further replies.
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yes, the Spirit's Faux Top One Percent Spring Holiday has concluded after over a month of fun, sun and food and more food and yet more food.

The trip consisted of a beach vacation that will not be mentioned here, a 5-night DCL voyage on the Wonder, 11 nights in WDW DVC villas (10 at my beloved DAK Lodge) and visits to all four WDW parks, both WDW water parks, both UNI parks, Sea World, Aquatica and -- for the first time since the mid-80s -- BGT too.

All of that will be discussed, dissected, compared and contrasted. I welcome all discussion, but this thread will not be run off the rails so discuss the subjects we talk about and not rantings on why unions are evil and Big Business is great. Start your own thread for that, please.

Lots of news came out of my visit, so we could talk about Wishes going bye-bye in a few years or MSEP staying for a few more. We could talk about the DAK parade leaving for good after Christmas. We could talk about what Disney will be announcing in August (and not on a late Saturday night, Mr. Brigante) ... We could talk about the sheer number of new attractions coming to UNI and how one area of IOA is not long for the earth (and, no, is not the one with Spidey and the Hulk. We could even discuss whether BGT is actually better than DAK.

But I think I'm going to go experience/park/attraction/resort and talk about what I liked and what I didn't ... Finally, I must apologize to the fanbois I was unable to meet, greet I was with a very special friend (sorry, she's a girl -- but a fanboi at heart) and I kept a lower profile than Georgie K has been.

The trip was great and I enjoyed all of it. Yes, I enjoyed the MK largely least of all ... But we'll get to that.

Thanks, as always, for reading.
 
the.dreamfinder

the.dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/legendary-warner-bros-likely-to-split-exclusive-1200472600/
While sources close to the matter stress that there is no clear frontrunner amongst rival studios should the partnership with Warner end, many industry insiders are betting that Legendary and Universal wind up together. Legendary’s films could easily translate into theme park attractions at Universal Studios properties around the world and could be cross promoted across all of NBCUniversal’s media assets, including NBC. Universal will need to replace the massive hole that will be left once its outside production funding from hedge fund Elliott Management dries up at the end of the year.
Click to expand...
 
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
While the top highlight overall was not running into any insane (is that even required or just understood?) Disney Lifestyler, taking a trip on a DCL ship shows you what true Disney guest service is, was and should be at WDW.

I was worried going into the cruise that five nights wouldn't' be enough. I admit I have been spoiled by taking 14-night transatlantic cruises every other spring (befitting a top one percenter) but DCL provides an amazingly high quality product even on shorter voyages like ours. Even on a ship where 65% of the guests had never been on any cruise before and wouldn't have known better if corners were cut (but this isn't WDW where the buildings are noticeably warmer than they should be to save $$$).

If anything, DCL continues to improve. In just the last three years, DCL has improved in those small ways like furniture on deck or having DCL specific bags (no more Disney Parks).

I don't really have much more to say on my WONDERful cruise because I literally didn't have one complaint. Not even a small one. How this product is run out of the Florida swamps yet so different than what one experiences at WDW continues to astound me.

The food was good to phenomenal (brunch and dinner at Palo).

The ports were great. Castaways Cay always is (Except for the idiot tourist who swam out into an area with a giant manta ray we were all approaching slowly and quietly and splashed and immediately chased it off). Cozumel was amazing. Some of the most beautiful waters for diving anywhere. Getting an extra 90 minutes on our shore excursion since it was Disney's last call of the season (with the Wonder) made it even better, so did all those free margaritas and Pepsi.

The ship was amazingly clean (someone ought to give a tour to the folks at Celebrity since they believe vacuums are simply props for hallways and not meant to be used).

Entertainment was the top at sea as one would expect. Golden Mickeys were a good 70% different from HKDL's show. But watching Iger ''acting Eisner' was beyond bizarre. Michael could pull off interaction in that way, Bob simply can't fake it.

So much of the show was different from Hong Kong that it is near impossible to compare them.
 
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Actually, in thinking about it, I lied ... a little.

There was one weak thing on the cruise and it was something I had been warned about: Toy Story The Musical. Very bad idea (and recall this show was planned to replace Aladdin at DCA) ... now, I can tell they spent money on it. I have no doubt they wanted it to be good. It's just you can't make a musical out of anything ... This baby makes DAK's Nemo show look like a Tony candidate. There is one song in Toy Story (let's all sing together) and trying to create music for this just didn't work.

Oh, I also saw Oz the Great and Powerful onboard and liked it a lot. First 3D film I've seen where 3D enhances the experience and isn't a distraction.

Also, saw Cars2 for first time on stateroom tv and while one of Pixar's weakest films, it is still a lot better than many folks give it credit for.

Finally, fireworks at sea are always a treat even if you have to endure characters dancing to Cher's music prior.
 
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
I'm glad you had a nice vacation.

What is this about Wishes? Will fireworks be combined with these CTM-type shows for a less good night show? If not, everyone can yell at me again for being so dumb and I will be DELIGHTED to hear how dumb I am!!! :)
 
tissandtully

tissandtully

Well-Known Member
luv said:
I'm glad you had a nice vacation.

What is this about Wishes? Will fireworks be combined with these CTM-type shows for a less good night show? If not, everyone can yell at me again for being so dumb and I will be DELIGHTED to hear how dumb I am!!! :)
Click to expand...

I'll take the DLP show with the glowing Mickey ears over Wishes! Hell, just bring the Mickey ears to WDW!
 
  • Like
Reactions: luv
WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Probably should talk a bit of news regarding NGE/MyMagic+ ... Things remain largely a disaster as the price tag on this thing is either just below or just above the $2 billion mark depending on who you talk to. They still have issues that should have been dealt with before they ever got close to going live. But this is Disney and the company has always been known for its arrogance.

They are telling some leaders that the system will go live for all the first week of January, but the real target is now next summer and there is a possibility (as some Spirits have been telling you for months) that some of Disney's plans will be greatly scaled back.

I now possess an RFID AP and while it is kewl to see Mickey's head spin and turn green, it isn't enough kewl for $10 million let alone billions.

A friend allowed myself and another Spirit to play with the new interactive queue elements for BTMRR and Disney finally has impressed me with one of their attempts to make ADD suffering guests more able to cope with actually standing in a line. What can I say? I love 'splosions and at night it was really kewl to blow a shaft when the train was passing (yes, I know what I just typed ... Grow up!!!) Of course, these games in line simply wind up being a distraction and also slow things down with the 'do I pass them or not?' conundrum that we saw in Space Mountain and Pooh.

As to the whole idea of FP, well, I still think it is one if those things that may be needed 25% of the year and not at all the other 75%. Never waited more than 15 minutes for anything and can only recall getting a FP three times in parts of 15 days in WDW parks (never more than five hours in one day, I believe).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom