A Spirited Valentine ...

[CJR]

These angles are the most damning.

It's looking more and more like modern California every day.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I mean lots of really nice buildings, near areas I really don't want to step foot in, but probably will.

 

[Mike S]

http://micechat.com/156005-marvel-land-news-extra-construction-update/

The colors are better than they appeared in the concept art, I'll give it that.

Still should have been built at a third Anaheim gate.

My god. It looks like a child's cheap plastic playset blown up to 199ft. What the hell were they thinking?

 

[Thanks phoenicians]

Anybody know what else is rumored for IOA that spirit was referring to? I know Dragon challenge was rumored to close for another HP expansion but that's all I'd heard for that park. Then obviously nintendoland in USF (which I'm sure they want by 2020 or 2021 to compete) as well as F&F though that didn't seem as impressive as it could be.

 

[Rteetz]

Anybody know what else is rumored for IOA that spirit was referring to? I know Dragon challenge was rumored to close for another HP expansion but that's all I'd heard for that park. Then obviously nintendoland in USF (which I'm sure they want by 2020 or 2021 to compete) as well as F&F though that didn't seem as impressive as it could be.

An avengers ride has been rumored for the marvel area for some time.

 

[Thanks phoenicians]

An avengers ride has been rumored for the marvel area for some time.

That would be good for that area. I was at uni for the first time the other day and thought MSHI could use some work. As it is it felt kind of tacky which maybe what they were going for I'm not sure. Still though I hope uni keeps the pressure up and Disney keeps responding it's a win win that way.

 

[RoysCabin]

These angles are the most damning.
https://twitter.com/21royalstreet/status/842906959644844032/photo/2
View attachment 197071
Photo Credit: Andy Castro

Oh wow; that picture on the right is just awful. An angle obviously designed with the CA version of the Hollywood Tower Hotel in mind, and now guests will see that? Ouch.

 

[Travel Junkie]

My god. It looks like a child's cheap plastic playset blown up to 199ft. What the hell were they thinking?

In the DL forum thread, some claim to actually like it.

It's only the tallest building in the city of Anaheim. No one will see it.

 

[RobbinsDad]

I could be wrong but doesn't Buzz have a way lower capacity than other omnimovers? Like 900pph or something?

But to your general point though, yes absolutely. These days you need a FP to get on the Haunted Mansion or Pirates without waiting 30+ minutes. Sad!

When I was a kid in the 80s, hour waits for both of these rides in peak season was not out of the ordinary. The difference is EVERYONE waited, not just those without a FP+.

 

[Thanks phoenicians]

Am I the only one that thinks buzz and laugh floor should be shut for tomorrowland revamp? Toy story will have plenty of representation now and if they want they should move laugh floor over to one of the theaters in DHS.

 

[truecoat]

Anybody know what else is rumored for IOA that spirit was referring to? I know Dragon challenge was rumored to close for another HP expansion but that's all I'd heard for that park. Then obviously nintendoland in USF (which I'm sure they want by 2020 or 2021 to compete) as well as F&F though that didn't seem as impressive as it could be.

Bond....James Bond. Or Trek.....Star Trek. Wait, Rings....Lord o' the Rings.

 

[flynnibus]

I could be wrong but doesn't Buzz have a way lower capacity than other omnimovers? Like 900pph or something?

900 per hour would mean 1 pod every eight seconds. I don't know the number, but I bet it is 2 to 2.5x that

It was a lighter crowd yesterday... a lot busier today. The capacity boosts at tsmm and soarin have seemed to really help get those attraction wait times back into reasonable bands. Tsmm was even down to 35mins on Tuesday around 630pm

 

[Rodan75]

My god. It looks like a child's cheap plastic playset blown up to 199ft. What the hell were they thinking?

I've been trying to keep an open mind on this one..but dang. This may have been an instance where less decoration would have been better for the theme. Heck...set the dang ride on earth and say the bad guy has a holo-projector hiding the building in plain sight.

 

[Mike S]

When I was a kid in the 80s, hour waits for both of these rides in peak season was not out of the ordinary. The difference is EVERYONE waited, not just those without a FP+.

Buzz didn't exist in the 80's...

 

[RobbinsDad]

When I was a kid in the 80s, hour waits for both of these rides in peak season was not out of the ordinary. The difference is EVERYONE waited, not just those without a FP+.

Buzz didn't exist in the 80's...

I was referring to HM and Pirates.

 

[WDW1974]

Very telling Op-Ed in the SCMP on the proposed HKDL expansion:

http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2083649/time-stop-great-disneyland-rip

 

[WDW1974]

Looks like Disney is playing a similar long term game with HKDL as it did with DLP. http://www.investopedia.com/news/disney-offers-share-cost-hong-kong-expansion

Yeah, except the SAR officials seem more than willing to bulldoze the entire resort for housing. No, that's not going to happen. But Disney can't simply bully at will, which is what 'Walt's Company' does all the time. ... DLP was a waiting game and they knew they could win it. Here, their big hope rests of ego of HKers vs. Mainlanders. ... Unfortunately, when it comes to Disney parks, I'm not sure as many people are passionate about it as they are. But we shall see...

 

[MisterPenguin]

My god. It looks like a child's cheap plastic playset blown up to 199ft. What the hell were they thinking?

About selling lots of cheap plastic playsets...

 

[WDW1974]

Okay Spirit... I'm wading into one of your 900 page threads.

Me?!?! 900 page threads? Hah. Not so much these days, but I am good for a few page clicks here and there. And the trolls and BRAND advocates love me. But welcome!

I was at SDL a couple weeks ago. I didn't see them charging for FP's, although admittedly I had tickets already so I wasn't at the booths but once. And I also didn't see the option on any of the various park maps and show guides and so forth. That being said... At least right now, I can't see why in the world they would even bother OFFERING this as an option. Unless of course the point is less about the revenue it brings and more about the principle of starting the program. Like when they added wine to the MK.

This was introduced VERY recently. Like within the last two weeks. Was either when you were there and missed it or, more likely, right after you and the family left. ... It is ridiculously pricey. Either one FP attraction whenever you want for $22 or one go of every FP attraction (seven, right?) for something over $80. No, I won't be availing myself of this.

But you mentioned selling FP's in the parks. I saw this happen a handful of times.

First, on the walk to the park from the taxi drop off area, we were approached by three different men (separately) who mumbled something to us in Chinese. We just did the "no thank you" thing and kept walking, but I know at least one was trying to sell us FP's because I saw them in his hand.

But I'm not sure I agree with your comment that Disney's not doing anything about it. We used FP I think three times total over all three days, and each time, when we handed them our FP tickets at the entrance, they requested our park tickets and checked each FP against the serial numbers on our park tickets. And not just one ticket. They would check all 5 tickets. They did that each time we used FP. It was cumbersome, but I felt a fairly effective way of detering.

And we witnessed at least one example of a family getting caught. As we approached Soarin', there was quite the hubub going on at the FP entrance. There were a few security people and a couple of the suits from the park. They were in a fairly heated argument with who I assume was the father of the family. Even though we couldn't understand a word, we knew what was going on. They were blocking the FP entrance, so we had no other option than to stand there and take it all in. The argument went ON and ON... Eventually the family started walking somewhere with security. We went in the entrance, so I'm not sure if they were kicked out, or what have you.

I'm very glad to hear that. I had heard by friends who have visited that they never saw CMs doing anything about either the sellers (and how are they getting in the park?) or the FP scammers. Checking serial numbers though is not going to work. That slows things down and I would hate to imagine that on a busy day.

I'll add, too, that arguments were VERY common. VERY. It was clearly a cultural thing, but we probably saw 15 heated arguments in 3 days. A person in the wrong line to get into the park that was told she had to go to a different place put up a fight for a good 3 or 4 minutes (in front of us, of course) to the point that she was let in through our gate when she shouldn't have been, for example. Parents arguing with cast when their kid wasn't tall enough. And not just for a little bit. They just didn't let up. That sort of stuff.

Part of it is cultural. I witnessed this quite a lot when living in the Mainland. Hell, you'll have it with people putting hands on then police (think about that in a nation where we routinely have police kill children for doing likewise). There's always heated discussions going on, although I've never seen anyone throw a punch or anything. Just yelling gesticulating and sometimes pushing and shoving too.

As for counterfeit stuff being sold... We got a LOT of that. Every single time, it was an old lady. She would walk up usually with a number of headbands with minnie's bow on them and stuff like that. The first time she walked up to my oldest daughter and said something (we don't speak Chinese) and held out a minnie bow. My daughter had no idea what was going on, so she put her hand out. Then the lady said a number (it was around $2USD) and my daughter started laughing and said "oh, no thanks". From then on, these ladies were pretty noticeable. And they seemed to have territories.

One in particular was quite smart. They have a pirate ship docked called The Siren's Revenge that you can board and it has paintings that move and puzzles and so forth. And to access it there's a bridge. Well, this lady would stand on the ship, to the side of the bridge, behind a wall on the ship. So she only had to watch that bridge to ensure she wouldn't get caught. When a worker would come toward the bridge, she'd stuff her wares in a little bag she had. But when there was nobody around, she would have them out like a concessions guy at a baseball game. It was rather funny.

Like I said, I am wondering how these people are getting in. They can't be buying daily admission. There are no APs. They have a limited seasonal pass (good now through the second week in July, but has all sorts of restrictions) and I would guess they could easily confiscate that if someone was using it to do business, so no clue how that isn't going on without some help (graft?) on the inside.

 

[WDW1974]

This is super interesting. I noticed absolutely none of this when I went. Everything was orderly and I don't recall any major instances of bad behavior. If anything, I had two of the most offensive situations at Hong Kong Disneyland.

I have a theory on why this is happening in a greater abundance recently. When I went, Shanghai Disneyland had just barely started offering seasonal passes. Before season passes, entering Shanghai Disneyland to sell 2 dollar bows would have been ridiculous. You'd have to sell more than 25 per day just to break even on admission, and that doesn't factor in transportation or cost of the goods.

A season pass comes out and the whole equation changes. A weekday pass starts at $120. Selling FastPass redemptions and peddling goods becomes much more reasonable. You now have to sell only 60 bows to break even on a ticket that can access the park for months.

You can also use that same ticket to add additional revenue by reserving Fast Passes and selling those. Imagine your livelihood revolving around mastery of the FastPass system.

I personally think this abuse of the system should not be tolerated and unfairly impacts the experience of everyone else. With that said, you have to appreciate the brilliance of their strategies. I imagine this will be a problem that Shanghai Disneyland will continue to contend with for years to come.

Disney is just going to have to learn how to outsmart them. I wish them luck!

Edit: @Buried20KLeague, yeah it's not on the official site. I actually realized me and my traveling companion could have saved a little money had we bought these:
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201610/5314/

Was a page behind and didn't see this, but, yeah, a seasonal pass makes it more do-able, but still difficult. ... I also wonder why they are testing them and not going to an AP system, like every other park. They appear to be doing well at pulling Guests in, but they are not pulling in the crazy numbers people were saying they would. Don't know what this means yet because it's just too early!

 

[IanDLBZF]

Checking serial numbers though is not going to work. That slows things down and I would hate to imagine that on a busy day.

What could work are scanners like what we have here at WDW. Could cut down on FP Fraud.