A Spirited Dirty Dozen ...

[ford91exploder]

I've seen so many people gushing about the new burger place, but I looked at the menu and was disappointed. Usually, these types of places have a "build your own burger" option. Here in Colorado we have Smashburger, H Burger, Five Guys, and one location of Burger Fi. Since I found out about Burger Fi thanks to this forum, my Dad and husband have been all over i. I think if I'd ask them, they'd rather just drive the 20 minutes to the one in Windermere. Plus, my Dad just avoids eating at WDW on general principle.

Remember the burgers INSIDE the park are more money than the so called 'D-luxe' burger one wonders if the D-Luxe burger is better quality than Disney's standard frozen burger patties from the winner of todays lowest bidder frozen meat product supplier to Disney.

I expect only the PRICE to be deluxe...

 

[seabreezept813]

It would be ridiculous to mix your personal and professional lives but even if you dont? You're going to be scrutinized to death nonetheless. Best not to have it in order to cover your self.

Either that or you're going to have to be anonymous.... because anyone can hide behind a screen name and be an ***.

I am a high school teacher and have a facebook. I keep it under my maiden name and private. I use it to keep up with family. I have also never had a problem or been friend requested by a student. If you are smart, you won't have these problems. Our school of course has had incidents where teachers were asked to monitor their pages or make them private.
The hardest part for me is that I see students everywhere..the beach, the gym, restaurants, etc. So your life is never quite private and you have to conduct yourself in a respectable way , which I think should be the norm anyways.

 

[hopemax]

I don't see a "build your own burger" option at Burger Fi either. I'm sure you can ask for any kind of topping on any burger they have at the D-Luxe.

Were you just looking at the website? Because in the restaurant, there is a large amount of real estate on the menu board devoted to the toppings you would like, and which ones are free and which ones come with an additional cost. I have read several reviews of D-Luxe and no one has shown or given any indication that you can build your own.

 

[HM Spectre]

A $9.99 burger is the least of my WDW food price concerns. That's actually reasonable if the burger is decent.

Now... if you want to talk about how reasonable it is to pay $30+ for eggs and Mickey shaped waffles because there's a character walking around the building...

 

[Nj4mwc]

Swear to goodness, @wdwmagic posted the opening of the lime parking garage on its Facebook page this morning and someone commented with unrestrained glee how wonderful the orange garage is and how everything is magical at WDW. LOL

Yes, loyal fans, Disney parking is the greatest and spending your money on Disney property as opposed to outside the perimeter will magically transform your anxieties of credit card debt and financial uncertainty into thoughts of rainbows and lollypops, err. Mickey ice creams and Goofy gumdrops . . . until your Magic Bus returns you to MCO!

All joking and sarcasm aside for a moment, there are some cool new experiences at the Disney Springs shopping area. Watching the old cars drive into the lake is fun if you've never seen it, and all the better to be a passenger for that motor cruise if someone else is picking up the tab (it's not inexpensive). That is the one that comes to mind.

Still, and I'm sure most will agree, for north of $100 per person per day, it would be better to see the never ending construction at the Animal Kingdom park get done and the World of Avatar attractions come to life already, plus Studios, Epcot, etc., instead of new shopping options but now I'm just parroting what everyone else has already been saying for months. Reminder: The entire Disneyland park was built in a year and that was at a time when Disney was a much, much smaller operation. It isn't like Disney couldn't afford to pay the extra expenses to expedite construction if wanted those attractions to be open for the Summer of 2016 but it didn't happen. If fate allows, there's always 2020 for the exciting new Star Wars attractions, right?

Citywalk puts Disney Springs to shame. Just spent a weekend at universal and found City Walk to be an enjoyable time compared to Disney Springs which kinda feels like a death march for my wallet. I spent at citywalk too but i had a much better time

 

[choco choco]

I assume you're referring to the various parking lots? They would each present their own set of issues. What they have in common is (if they are to be included as part of an existing park) how are you getting people there in a seamless (and less expensive) manner?

Imagination? I mean, it's not undo-able. Disneyland, on opening day, had a built-in transportation system that is still running. And here you have a franchise where inter-planetary space travel is one of its defining features. You couldn't adapt that idea to shuttle people to a more remote location?

Is the road you're talking about Disneyland Dr. (formerly West St.)? It was already re-routed during resort expansion, and those lanes going into and out of the parking structure are necessary at peak times. I don't see Disney and Anaheim reducing lanes or re-routing the road in the near future.

The lanes are necessary because of the tollbooths. But with today's technology, there's no need for tollbooths. Guests can pay via smartphone. A roving attendant with a moneybag and Square on a tablet collects money when guests park.

There's always a way to design out of problems, as long as you don't hold on to an outdated method (i.e. we can only collect money for parking via '50's style tollbooths). Disneyland Operations, Imagineering and City of Anaheim should have worked together to design a holistic solution that would have benefited all parties.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

Northern California is a great option. Plenty of choices, like the Redwood Forest, the Sequoias, Yosemite, San Francisco (plenty to do in that city alone), etc.

I'll be doing a driving trip to Washington, Oregon and Northern California as well this summer! Going for 15 days. In 2012, we drove the Pacific Coast Highway from the LA area to the Oregon Border.

 

[TP2000]

I dunno. DL acknowledged it with a new parade (while a second gate was being built)...

Disneyland's 45th Anniversary kickoff in February, 2000 also introduced Steve Davison's very first attempt at fireworks; Believe There's Magic In The Stars. That show suddenly reinvented fireworks at a Disney theme park, and immediately made the old Fantasy In The Sky staple on both coasts seem boring and lame. There was no looking back after that 45th show in Anaheim.

Is the road you're talking about Disneyland Dr. (formerly West St.)? It was already re-routed during resort expansion, and those lanes going into and out of the parking structure are necessary at peak times. I don't see Disney and Anaheim reducing lanes or re-routing the road in the near future.

Correct. Disneyland Drive is the main north/south thoroughfare leading to 13,000+ parking spaces and the three Disneyland Resort hotels. And it can barely handle the load at busy times of the year.

Disneyland Drive on a Friday evening. Honk if you like Wookies!

Reducing a few of its lanes to gain 20 or 30 feet for Star Wars Land that sits beyond it is not a design option.

And finally, I might as well place this here. It's a 90 minute long walk-thru video of Shanghai Disneyland, or at least the half they are now letting people visit while the rest remains off limits. From 20 feet away it all looks great. But then look up close and you see flowerbeds in Fantasyland that are just mud and dirt (3:35), unwired firxtures and exposed ceiling light fixtures in the Castle walk-thru that haven't had fixtures installed or sheetrock finished (1:20:30), construction walls in front of unfinished steel in Tomorrowland (1:11:00), lots of incomplete landscaping, etc., etc. And is it just me or does that Fantasyland canal boat ride kind of suck? Compared to StorybookLand Canal Boats or Small World it's flat and charmless and rather pointless. (39:50) So if this is the areas of the park and rides they are letting folks into, what does the rest of it look like 30 days from opening?



On a positive note, that Pirates ride looks absolutely fantastic! Wow!

And the little Chinese boy that Dad follows around through this entire video is adorable. He's more polite and more courteous than 90% of the 21st Century Special Snowflakes we have to put up with now in America, and he even rivals the perfectly polite Japanese children I see in Tokyo Disneyland. Way to go Chinese Dad! Perhaps the future generation will break the stereotype that adult Chinese tourists have today.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

If you're willing to go off property check out Shake Shack on I-Drive (or Winter Park location of you don't like all the tourists). Probably the best burger joint in existence.

Back to Disney, I don't think 9.99 is too terrible of a price for a burger. You're more than likely getting what you pay for - an upscale burger. If they were the same burgers they're serving in the parks, I'd totally understand. I'm happy they're offering a new selection.

And Ladies and Gentlemen... price comparisons!!
Shake Shack in Green and D-Luxe Burger in Blue

Cheeseburger
Single $5.29
Double $8.09
Classic $9.99

Bacon Cheeseburger
Single $6.84
Double $9.64
$11.99

Vegetarian Option
'Shroom Burger $6.99
Veggie Burger $9.99

Chicken Option
Chick'n Shack $6.29
Cluck Burger $10.99

Fries
Regular $2.99
Cheese Fries $3.99
Small $4.99
Large $7.49

Milkshakes
Small Concrete $4.59
Regular Concrete $6.79
Artisanal Gelato Shake $7.00

D-Luxe burger is clearly a MAGICAL version, read knock off, of Shake Shack so it clearly deserves to be compared against them. Excluding alcohol, everything at D-Luxe is more expensive than Shake Shack. I cannot speak to the quality of D-Luxe's burgers, but Shake Shack offers a level of quality and value I used to expect from Disney.

Menus
Shake Shack I-Drive
D-Luxe Burger via Disney Food Blog

 

[Andrew C]

And Ladies and Gentlemen... price comparisons!!
Shake Shack in Green and D-Luxe Burger in Blue

Cheeseburger
Single $5.29
Double $8.09
Classic $9.99

Bacon Cheeseburger
Single $6.84
Double $9.64
$11.99

Vegetarian Option
'Shroom Burger $6.99
Veggie Burger $9.99

Chicken Option
Chick'n Shack $6.29
Cluck Burger $10.99

Fries
Regular $2.99
Cheese Fries $3.99
Small $4.99
Large $7.49

Milkshakes
Small Concrete $4.59
Regular Concrete $6.79
Artisanal Gelato Shake $7.00

D-Luxe burger is clearly a MAGICAL version, read knock off, of Shake Shack so it clearly deserves to be compared against them. Excluding alcohol, everything at D-Luxe is more expensive than Shake Shack. I cannot speak to the quality of D-Luxe's burgers, but Shake Shack offers a level of quality and value I used to expect from Disney.

Menus
Shake Shack I-Drive
D-Luxe Burger via Disney Food Blog

And why does this matter again?

 

[the.dreamfinder]

And why does this matter again?

Because Disney has chosen to rip off a well known product and charge more for it. So the bill at WDW quick serve restaurants continues to climb while the competition offers a product of equal quality at a better value.

 

[Andrew C]

Because Disney has chosen to rip off a well known product and charge more for it. So the bill at WDW quick serve restaurants continues to climb while the competition offers a product of equal quality at a better value.

oh, ok.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I'll be doing a driving trip to Washington, Oregon and Northern California as well this summer! Going for 15 days. In 2012, we drove the Pacific Coast Highway from the LA area to the Oregon Border.

Fantastic!

It's nice to see people going to real places in this country. There's a lot to see and do.

 

[bhg469]

Because Disney has chosen to rip off a well known product and charge more for it. So the bill at WDW quick serve restaurants continues to climb while the competition offers a product of equal quality at a better value.

I would love to compare the two because I had my first shake shack burger a few weeks ago in DC and it was pretty amazing. I didn't expect it to be so delicious. It was at a stand in a ball park as well so there is some room left for higher quality when its cooked to order as opposed to a small period that it was sitting under a heat lamp.

Aside from quality I think the Disney menu is a little tame as well. Nothing is really out there like cow fish has. Heck, red robin is more inventive than this. I will definitely try it but knowing there is a shake shack in Orlando, I'd definitely go to which is better.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

Fantastic!

It's nice to see people going to real places in this country. There's a lot to see and do.

I've been to every state in the lower 48. Last year, for my honeymoon we toured National Parks for 15 days and my annual pass is still good through August. We did Custer's Battlefield, Yellowstone, Tetons, Badlands, Devil's Tower, Custer State Park, Grand Canyon, all the Utah parks and some state parks there as well as a bunch of the Native American owned parks and monuments. Trying to see all of them in my lifetime

 

[evilzorac]

And Ladies and Gentlemen... price comparisons!!
Shake Shack in Green and D-Luxe Burger in Blue

Cheeseburger
Single $5.29
Double $8.09
Classic $9.99

Bacon Cheeseburger
Single $6.84
Double $9.64
$11.99

Vegetarian Option
'Shroom Burger $6.99
Veggie Burger $9.99

Chicken Option
Chick'n Shack $6.29
Cluck Burger $10.99

Fries
Regular $2.99
Cheese Fries $3.99
Small $4.99
Large $7.49

Milkshakes
Small Concrete $4.59
Regular Concrete $6.79
Artisanal Gelato Shake $7.00

D-Luxe burger is clearly a MAGICAL version, read knock off, of Shake Shack so it clearly deserves to be compared against them. Excluding alcohol, everything at D-Luxe is more expensive than Shake Shack. I cannot speak to the quality of D-Luxe's burgers, but Shake Shack offers a level of quality and value I used to expect from Disney.

Menus
Shake Shack I-Drive
D-Luxe Burger via Disney Food Blog

Plus the have their very own Brooklyn Brewery beer named ShackMeister Ale

 

[Mike S]

Never tried Shake Shack yet but at my favorite Buger place I can spend about $10 and get fries and what could be considered a large size soda (they only have the one size) with my amazing Burger. Way to give people value Disney.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I wasn't impressed with Shake Shack, but then again, I'm from and live in California.

 

[hopemax]

I've been to every state in the lower 48. Last year, for my honeymoon we toured National Parks for 15 days and my annual pass is still good through August. We did Custer's Battlefield, Yellowstone, Tetons, Badlands, Devil's Tower, Custer State Park, Grand Canyon, all the Utah parks and some state parks there as well as a bunch of the Native American owned parks and monuments. Trying to see all of them in my lifetime

This is our goal, as well. Alaska, will be, uh...difficult. Are you trying for ALL NPS sites or just the 58 designated "Parks?" We're going for parks as the first goal, but trying to hit as many of the rest as possible.

 

[FigmentJedi]

I've been to every state in the lower 48. Last year, for my honeymoon we toured National Parks for 15 days and my annual pass is still good through August. We did Custer's Battlefield, Yellowstone, Tetons, Badlands, Devil's Tower, Custer State Park, Grand Canyon, all the Utah parks and some state parks there as well as a bunch of the Native American owned parks and monuments. Trying to see all of them in my lifetime

I think I'm just Vermont short of doing the whole lower 48 myself.