A Spirited Perfect Ten

[RSoxNo1]

Should I feel guilty that I have a FP active for Soarin right now when I am sitting at home that I have no intention of canceling? Do I care?

I have four books full of unused paper fastpasses, this is nothing new. I'm guessing they still factor in "no shows". Having said that, you should still cancel it. You're not spiting Disney, you're spiting other guests.

I recall when the WDW Marathon started that it wasn't meant as a profit center for the company. Wouldn't it be nice if RunDisney events proceeds all went to a charity like ... since Disney loves playing them up ... Make a Wish? Of course, they are a typical cold, heartless count every tenth of a penny corporation, but just imagine the good they could do.

Wasn't the intent to fill hotel rooms and therefore make a profit?

One thing I will give to UNI's BRAND advocates online is that Antojitos has amazing food and drink at reasonable prices. I'll go even further. They have the best Mexican food I've had in FL in the 21st century and it compares favorably with some great Mexican restaurants I've dined at in California and Arizona.

My wife and I went in September and we're going back with my family later this month. It was great.

 

[WDW1974]

How about we talk about Christmas in the parks?

First, a very public apology to Angie who may never see this. I spent over a month convincing her to not spend the money on us going to MVMCP. I hate, hate, hate that TDO extorts Christmas entertainment from guests until Dec. 20th. I have gone to the party about 6-7 times over the years, but haven't paid for the event since 1997 when I vowed that was it. Well, after talking her out of it over a period of weeks, I then spent a few days of our cruise talking her back in because, frankly, I needed a LOT of Christmas. I needed anything that would help me out of my funk and not focus on all the bad things happening.

So, the very day we got off the ship, as we had Starbucks at EPCOT on a beautiful early December afternoon, we got the tickets with a 'huge' (do I need a sarcastic smiley?)DVC discount.

We had a great time at the event, her first. So, I guess it was worth it from that viewpoint. It wasn't the cookies or the hot chocolate (the ONLY item with chocolate in it that I hate!) It was the music and lighting and cool weather.

I thought the parade was sorta strange this year. You could see that about 2-3 months ago they realized that Frozen had to be a major component (let's not talk about how the film, the highest grossing animated feature of all time, opened before Christmas of 2013 now) and stuck characters every/any where. It was weird seeing the parade start with so many foamheads just walking on the pavement. Weirder that Mrs. Claus apparently was left at the North Pole.

I like Holiday Wishes. But I still think it seems a bit low key compared to Hallowishes.

Well it was also the first time I got to experience the Jingle Cruise (well, in general, as I had ridden it the day before too!) What? No fanboi/ defenders of TDO going to about all the vacations ruined for the huge amount of once in a lifetimers (how do they even know what they are missing and why would they care if this is truly their only trip ever? Yeah, that sorta always stops the inane argument dead in its tracks). I actually quite liked it. No, not as much as the Mansion and Small World overlays in Anaheim and Tokyo (SW in Paris and HK too). But it was fun and different and in keeping with the mood of the current attraction.

For those fanbois who say the attraction wasn't meant as a stand up audition for skippers with no senses of humor (think about my old Hokie pal!), that Marc Davis and Old Dead Guy Walt himself had other visions. Well, that may have been true back in the 50s and 60s. But as long as I've been riding, and we all know I'm ancient, corny jokes have been the stock in trade. So, Jingle Cruise gets a thumbs up from me.

I thought EPCOT was more/better decorated than I have seen it in many years. Angie wanted to see the individual holiday storytellers and we spent one afternoon watching 4-5 in a row. Quite entertaining, especially enjoyed Norway and Mexico. You can tell that Disney and VP of the Month Sam Lau are desperate to turn this into Holidays and Food and Wine Festival Around the World.

That brings up something that sorta bothered me ... as you'll read in the next post.

 

[BatStang2000]

Dear Mr wdw1974, RE: post # 258, paragraph 4. I was the father of an eight year old special needs child. I say was, because she died 2-1/2 years ago. I assure you her wants and desires to visit WDW were not any different than any other 8 year old. She wanted to see the sites, visit any character she could and laugh and smile the entire time. She may not have been worth two cents to you, but to everyone who knew her, she was the sweetest and yes, most magical thing ever. Can you please stop insulting everyone?

 

[FigmentJedi]

Something about this commercial for the Disneyland Frozen invasion just makes me think the Arendelle princesses have gone mad with power and are forcing all these Park OCs to sing at gun/freeze-point and telling them if they don't cooperate, their chilled corpses are gonna be put next to the frog and the three headed troll.

 

[Mike S]

Last I heard, the big guy will be there at least once in the new attraction (but possibly only that ...) But the attraction will be ''heavily reliant'' on screens. I actually didn't even ask about it recently when talking to a friend who would know because I still think the attraction isn't what should be built on that pad and what I've heard about just doesn't excite me at all.

BTW, you all do realize the Moscow UNI park project is pretty much dead, right?

Other people who are trusted are saying there will be more AA's in the ride than just King Kong himself. The same people that I first read about the Jimmy Fallon attraction from before you mentioned it. I'm still excited for it either way. Universal hasn't disappointed me yet with their recent additions.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirited Christmas/Holiday Musings II:

When did Disney decide it was all about selling Pixie Dust and Booze?

I ask because pushing alcohol sales is clearly a top TDO directive, likely from George Kalogridis (remember Disney's top manager in the swamps comes from a food and beverage background!) himself.

I might expect pop up bars at a food and wine or arts fest on SoBe, but you couldn't seem to walk 20 feet in any WDW park without MAGIC in its name without bumping into one. From the trails of DAK to the alleged 'backlot' of the Studios to anywhere at Drunkcot, booze (especially weak drinks with glow cubes for $10-15) is being pushed heavily. And it is in a way that you'd never see even a decade ago. I guess this is part of Bob Iger and Tom Staggs vision for the parks. Because dumbing down all other offerings in the parks to appeal to special needs children sorta drives many adults to ... well, need a drink or six.

Usually, I like to tour many resorts to see the Christmas decor, but since we were on the go quite a bit, we only managed to see Contemporary, BW, FW, WL and SS. They were all very nice, but BW and WL were the most impressive, not surprisingly.

Two wonderful friends took Angie and I to the Hoop De Doo Review, something she had never been to and I hadn't been since last century, and it was an absolutely great experience. I don't know what they do to their fried chicken (bathe it in Pixie Dust, I guess), but it is some of the best. I don't like ribs (yes, I know ... I'm a Commie and proud of it!) so I ordered the pasta primavera and they brought out a huge portion of that, which was terrific as well. Everything was really ... from the salad to the sangria to the shortcake. And going on a cold, drizzling December day with all the Christmas decor just made it even more MAGICal.

Just an FYI, if you have cast pals, but there was (hopefully still is) a 50% discount available for the late show and some of the earliest show (they do three a night) so if you have a cast friend or two ...

What I loved most about the HDDR is that it very much reminded me of the show I first saw back in the late 1970s as a child. It's one of the only pieces of the amazing Vacation Kingdom of the World that still largely exists intact in the same form. It hasn't been neutered or ruined. It hasn't been Walmarted. Prices have gone up. But that's about it. Go see it.

When I think about UNI and Christmas, I think about seeing Grinchmas for the first time. A truly wonderful show. The best Christmas-themed show in O-Town. I can't believe I haven't seen it before. I didn't see the Macy's Parade because it didn't impress me at all in 2012. Grinchmas was another story. Go see it. Next year.

 

[TalkingHead]

When I think about UNI and Christmas, I think about seeing Grinchmas for the first time. A truly wonderful show. The best Christmas-themed show in O-Town. I can't believe I haven't seen it before. I didn't see the Macy's Parade because it didn't impress me at all in 2012. Grinchmas was another story. Go see it. Next year.

And Grinchmas is included with park admission. That's not very magical of them.

 

[WDW1974]

Spirited Christmas/Holiday Musings III:

Let's talk crowds. Real crowds. Not people who went to EPCOT today and swear it's the busiest they have ever seen and, therefore, it is actually ... you know ... busy.

I said after my nightmarish October visit that I'm done visiting that month because Disney and UNI have made it so popular that it is not at all pleasant to visit. I'm done, for now, with Food and Wine and HHNs. Having crazy crowds and/or wretched weather just don't make me feel like I want to visit.

Well, thankfully, the first few weeks in December are still relatively uncrowded. No, the parks are not dead as they were in the 70s, 80s and 90s during that period. But they are close.

Largely, we had no waits. One wait of 30 minutes since they ruined PotC (an attraction that needs closing for a year for a top to bottom redo) with FP PLUS not loading the back row on the boats due to Legal giving them the finger about the finger (really!), a few waits of close to that for SDMT (Angie agrees with me that it is a nice D-Ticket) and that's it.

The only park that ever felt crowded was MK on a Saturday night (that is the result of having the park close at 7 four nights a week for the hard ticket party). The other parks didn't even approach moderate crowd levels, except perhaps EPCOT on a Saturday night with Whoopi Goldberg in the house for the story of Baby Jesus Plus Dining Packages.

BUT ... if Disney felt uncrowded, then you should have spent Dec. 10th at UNI/IOA. They were empty. Completely. In a way that will have the Parkscope Bois wetting their keyboards. Every attraction was a walk-on. We arrived later than we wanted (about 10:30) and stayed until the parks closed at 7. No one was there. The longest posted wait was for Forbidden Journey (20 minutes) and everything else including Gringotts generally were listed at 10. If you have been to UNI and IOA, then you know that just walking most of those queues to load can take you 10 minutes. And that is what we encountered on everything in both parks. It was one of my best days ever at UNI/IOA as it was also about 68, sunny and California-like. I can't recall the last time I had a day like that at UNI's parks and it was great, especially since it was only Angie's second visit to that resort ever.

BTW, I don't extrapolate anything about the various healths of the business at the respective resorts. I'm just telling it like it was ... WDW was uncrowded but no park was close to empty, even the mess undergoing a giant hatactomy. Both UNI parks were damn near empty on the tenth.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Spirited Christmas/Holiday Musings II:

When did Disney decide it was all about selling Pixie Dust and Booze?

I ask because pushing alcohol sales is clearly a top TDO directive, likely from George Kalogridis (remember Disney's top manager in the swamps comes from a food and beverage background!) himself.

I might expect pop up bars at a food and wine or arts fest on SoBe, but you couldn't seem to walk 20 feet in any WDW park without MAGIC in its name without bumping into one. From the trails of DAK to the alleged 'backlot' of the Studios to anywhere at Drunkcot, booze (especially weak drinks with glow cubes for $10-15) is being pushed heavily. And it is in a way that you'd never see even a decade ago. I guess this is part of Bob Iger and Tom Staggs vision for the parks. Because dumbing down all other offerings in the parks to appeal to special needs children sorta drives many adults to ... well, need a drink or six.

Usually, I like to tour many resorts to see the Christmas decor, but since we were on the go quite a bit, we only managed to see Contemporary, BW, FW, WL and SS. They were all very nice, but BW and WL were the most impressive, not surprisingly.

Two wonderful friends took Angie and I to the Hoop De Doo Review, something she had never been to and I hadn't been since last century, and it was an absolutely great experience. I don't know what they do to their fried chicken (bathe it in Pixie Dust, I guess), but it is some of the best. I don't like ribs (yes, I know ... I'm a Commie and proud of it!) so I ordered the pasta primavera and they brought out a huge portion of that, which was terrific as well. Everything was really ... from the salad to the sangria to the shortcake. And going on a cold, drizzling December day with all the Christmas decor just made it even more MAGICal.

Just an FYI, if you have cast pals, but there was (hopefully still is) a 50% discount available for the late show and some of the earliest show (they do three a night) so if you have a cast friend or two ...

What I loved most about the HDDR is that it very much reminded me of the show I first saw back in the late 1970s as a child. It's one of the only pieces of the amazing Vacation Kingdom of the World that still largely exists intact in the same form. It hasn't been neutered or ruined. It hasn't been Walmarted. Prices have gone up. But that's about it. Go see it.

When I think about UNI and Christmas, I think about seeing Grinchmas for the first time. A truly wonderful show. The best Christmas-themed show in O-Town. I can't believe I haven't seen it before. I didn't see the Macy's Parade because it didn't impress me at all in 2012. Grinchmas was another story. Go see it. Next year.

Given the outrageous prices, I'm fine with the alcohol. Takes the edge off from all the hoops guests are made to jump through. All the ridiculous nonsense that has sprung up in the past five years, a stiff drink keeps things in check.

Ironically, disney still doesnt utilize its resort bars as profit centers. Else they wouldnt close at 1130.

 

[WDW1974]

I would argue that Cars Land was designed to cater to John Lasseter. It was one of many pitchers for DCA, it was just the one that targeted at John. Having said that, the execution is excellent.

And what's wrong with that? John Lasseter is the closest thing to a Walt that exists at TWDC and he's the only one in a position of considerable power. I get that many fanbois have issues with John favoring his creations, but they'd do the same damn thing in his shoes. He also happens to be right as Pixar properties have been immense successes across all business units.

I absolutely love hanging out in the cutest little town in Carburetor County. The execution is damn near perfect.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Spirited Christmas/Holiday Musings III:

Let's talk crowds. Real crowds. Not people who went to EPCOT today and swear it's the busiest they have ever seen and, therefore, it is actually ... you know ... busy.

I said after my nightmarish October visit that I'm done visiting that month because Disney and UNI have made it so popular that it is not at all pleasant to visit. I'm done, for now, with Food and Wine and HHNs. Having crazy crowds and/or wretched weather just don't make me feel like I want to visit.

Well, thankfully, the first few weeks in December are still relatively uncrowded. No, the parks are not dead as they were in the 70s, 80s and 90s during that period. But they are close.

Largely, we had no waits. One wait of 30 minutes since they ruined PotC (an attraction that needs closing for a year for a top to bottom redo) with FP PLUS not loading the back row on the boats due to Legal giving them the finger about the finger (really!), a few waits of close to that for SDMT (Angie agrees with me that it is a nice D-Ticket) and that's it.

The only park that ever felt crowded was MK on a Saturday night (that is the result of having the park close at 7 four nights a week for the hard ticket party). The other parks didn't even approach moderate crowd levels, except perhaps EPCOT on a Saturday night with Whoopi Goldberg in the house for the story of Baby Jesus Plus Dining Packages.

BUT ... if Disney felt uncrowded, then you should have spent Dec. 10th at UNI/IOA. They were empty. Completely. In a way that will have the Parkscope Bois wetting their keyboards. Every attraction was a walk-on. We arrived later than we wanted (about 10:30) and stayed until the parks closed at 7. No one was there. The longest posted wait was for Forbidden Journey (20 minutes) and everything else including Gringotts generally were listed at 10. If you have been to UNI and IOA, then you know that just walking most of those queues to load can take you 10 minutes. And that is what we encountered on everything in both parks. It was one of my best days ever at UNI/IOA as it was also about 68, sunny and California-like. I can't recall the last time I had a day like that at UNI's parks and it was great, especially since it was only Angie's second visit to that resort ever.

BTW, I don't extrapolate anything about the various healths of the business at the respective resorts. I'm just telling it like it was ... WDW was uncrowded but no park was close to empty, even the mess undergoing a giant hatactomy. Both UNI parks were **** near empty on the tenth.

The only park hat has felt busy to me in December was MK. I absolutely loved Epcot on the cold nights; they were empty.

 

[WDW1974]

When did D-a-m-n become unusable here?

 

[tigger1968]

When did D-a-m-n become unusable here?

Hmmm...**** if I know....

 

[Ariel1986]

I legitimately don't understand that pricing. For comparison, the Little Palm Island resort in the Keys, which is an ultra-luxurious resort on a private island, can be had for $1000-1100/night during some times of the year.

I mean, a bungalow overlooking the dredged-up Seven Seas Lagoon costs twice that much?

My honest reaction to that wouldn't get past the filter here.

It is Apples and Oranges. Little Palm Island is an amazing 5 Star world class resort at fraction the price of a "Deluxe" at an amusement park.

TDO's Mantra: "Thank God for CRAZY people."

The Poly is closer to the Cocoa Beach Hilton than Little Palm Island. Even Cheeca Lodge blows The Poly out of the water.

The people who want to stay in 5 star luxury on the beach over crystal waters... Are going to book their hotel on the beach over crystal waters. The same way the people who want to go to Hawaii for a tropical Hawaiin vacation book to actually go to Hawaii... I don't think anybody has ever booked to stay in the Poly because "Oh hey, why go to Hawaii when for 4 x the price I can stay in a Disney hotel themed to Hawaii!"

The people who book to stay in Disney do so because they want to stay... In Disney. They are there to visit the parks. They then have a choice of hotels to stay in onsite, if they choose to, all of which have a theme. The deluxe offering here is that you have a private pool & unobstructed view of the fireworks, and one of the larger accommodations on property. In Disney. Not the entire vacation options of the world. Disney. In the same way that on planes "luxury" and "first class" seats in reality if you sat them next to a Lazyboy chair, or any other larger comfortable chair, well they aren't really "luxury" and are probably ten times the cost. But you're on a plane. And on the plane those seats are the deluxe option. You don't have to pay it, but you can if you want.

All of this "for half the price you could get this and stay in the real bla bla bla..." Is like saying why would you stay in The Venetian or Paris hotels in Vegas when in the REAL Venice and Paris you can stay in an authentic Venetian or Parisian hotel for a cheaper price and have a much better experience!
Well... I'm pretty sure those people in those hotels in Vegas are staying there and paying the prices available to them because... they wanted to go to Vegas. And they simply chose a hotel in Vegas that they liked the look of and they chose to spend their money on.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

When did D-a-m-n become unusable here?

Probably when sexual innuendos became unusable...

 

[WDW1974]

This past cruise there were less problems with kiddies up front.. last year it was noticeable. On Concierge... the benefit is all in the pre-cruise phase.. early access, someone handles it all for you, check-in, etc. Of course there is the lounge and deck area, but the bulk of it is the pre-cruise phase.

I think that's still insane. Oh, and FWIW, Angie and I were pulled out of line and escorted to an empty concierge line for check in anyway. I wondered if Karl had noticed me and was trying to keep me off the ship (I have lots of words to describe the head of DCL, but none that Mom would like!), but instead we just had a CM doing nothing who opted to move us to the head of the line ... likely because she could sense we were VIPs!

On the forward deck... what I like about it is you are out in the open, but still have lots of shade opportunities and almost zero contention for space. I've found the waiter coverage quite reasonable. On the pool, yes, its one of those 'dipping' pools but lets you cool off if needed.

I'm more of an 'escape the commotion' guy.. so that's why I prefer the forward deck. And I don't need a hottub... I'm completely sold on the rainforest experience. Buy the week pass and escape to the steam rooms and hot tub up there. I spent nearly all my 'deck time' in the spa this cruise.

Here's a 1%'er tip for you... the spa locker rooms have a GREAT simple steam room in them. Head into the spa to 'goto the gym' and instead just hit the steam room in the locker room

We only spent one day in the rainforest, but would do more in the future. So peaceful and relaxing ... and a definite upgrade over the older ships. And, yep, know all about the steam room too!

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 With the nearing completion of Shanghai, have you heard any rumblings of Giant Pandas coming to AK? I heard a while back that it was part of the agreement for Disney building a them park in China

That's pure 'net conjecture. I know people involved with the deal on the Chinese side and pandas were never on the table. I'm not even sure that Disney ever broached the subject. It's more of a would like to have them from some fans online.

I have nothing against pandas. I love animals of all kinds. And they can be cute. But having seen plenty of them various times in China,well, I'll say that I think they are overrated as an animal to observe in a park.

You may see them one day at DAK, but it won't have anything to do with SDL.

 

[WDW1974]

But I have to acknowledge when acknowledgement is due, right? You know, golfer's talk about their dream foursome (no jokes here, please) and mine would consist of Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, and my Grandfather ( a tee time that will have to wait until we hit the Heaven's Links as two of those individuals are already playing with John the Baptist). . . I digress, the point is, my dream WDW Magic Dinner Party would be @Lee, @marni1971, @WDW1974, and @wdwmagic Steve himself with @whylightbulb showing up late with a delicious rumor. I wonder if Mr Ruby would comp us at one of his many fine establishments here in the 'Nati????

So long as I don't get stuck with the tab, I'm open to it. But I have spent time with all the individuals in question except for MAGICal Steve. I hope we rectify that some time ...you just have to realize that @Lee is a hillbilly with questionable taste in TV, but excellent taste in women and a newly built mansion ...and that @marni1971 can rattle off all the specs of the new RoE lasers ... as well as any laser ever used at WDW since the 70s and explain how the turntable in the original Journey Into Imagination worked and draw it up on a cocktail napkin... and that @whylightbulb is a very old 150 watt bulb that has superhuman powers and is being hunted down by the green police who want to replace him with a crappy LED. And me ... well, I'm just bringing booty back by rockin the jorts!

 

[WDW1974]

I pointedly asked Joe Rohde this question at the 2013 D23 Expo. He basically said that as a "for profit" institution it creates additional hurdles for them.

I would never point anything at Joe myself ...

 

[PhotoDave219]

When did D-a-m-n become unusable here?

A few months back. Before i got suspended for a week after falling for a few troll's bait.