A Spirited Perfect Ten

[CDavid]

I hardly consider a Disney polo shirt or a "Mickey In Paradise" collared shirt business dress.

Never could understand why Americans dressing like a slob is considered comfortable..., As for long pants well it keeps the sunburn and insects away.

Thank You. Finally know I'm not the only one.

I really want to know how many people who film fireworks shows ever watch them back, and how many times. My guess is zero. It's a colossal waste of time, blocks other people's views, and if you really must watch that fireworks show again somebody else is bound to have put a better quality version than yours up on YouTube.

Today yes - don't watch the show on a small screen - you can do that back home right now.

Now, my 1981 copy of Fantasy in the Sky is a different story, and certainly I've watched that. If I wanted a copy, we had to tape it ourselves.

 

[Nubs70]

I dunno. Getting logged in on my account, remembering the password, making sure I have the app on my phone, setting an alarm so I can be on the computer 180 days out so I can get that FP+.... that seems like more of a PITA than showing up 45 mins early.

Do not forget your wife calling you an A-hole 180 days out because of the difficulty of explaining MM+.

 

[BrerJon]

Again, that's just as much on you as it is them. We will never let a restaurant rush us. Please always remember to tell your server that you would like to take your time. Heck, just order your drinks and appetizer at first, not everything all at once. Then wait to order your entree when you are ready. It's not like they can say no to you if you want to wait. We have also done that many times to slow down a meal. Works like a charm.

It's the servers dilemma, and it's compounded in a theme park when people have Fastpass reservations to get to, or simply are trying to cram a lot of attractions in to a day (although that's becoming less of an issue now that Disney closes things regularly).

If the guest gets the food quick, they'll complain they're being rushed. If it takes a while, then guests complain service is slow, so they can't win.

My tip is if you're in a hurry always then before you've even ordered ask the waiter what takes quick to cook, or let them know if you want to take your time, as then they can try and pace the meal.

Most theme park guests want to be in, get fed, and get out, and coincidentally Disney makes more money the more tables it crams in, so I'm sure they've been pro-actively encouraging a faster service, so don't blame the waiters, blame the other park guests who complained things were too slow!

 

[Nubs70]

First, a note. But due to time issues, if you wanted my attention from before Page 410 or wanted to accuse me of anything heinous or explain to this simpleton Spirit that 'Disney is a business', then I won't be responding. I'm starting here and moving on up as the Jeffersons did (pop culture reference likely lost on approximately 71% of readers here!

To a deluxe DVC in sky

 

[BrerJon]

I only wish Disney gave us something optimistic to talk about

I've said it before... it's interesting experience - to be a loyal customer for over 40 years and slowly feel that your business is no longer wanted (or needed). I want to be WOWed again. I'm waiting for that same feeling I had going on Splash Mountain just after it opened (same goes for Big Thunder, Alien Encounter, Original Imagination, World of Motion, Horizons, SSE, TOT). When does that happen? Star Wars land in 2020?

This is exactly me. I don't think I'm asking for much, I just want Disney to impress me as much as it did as a kid, and it's not just nostalgia speaking because Universal (and Tokyo Disneyland) continue to this day to do so.

To be constantly told that if you're not a kid or don't have kids Disney has no interest in your custom, or that you need to 'wait-and-see' for things to turn around when you've been waiting and seeing for over a decade with little to show for it, you eventually reach a point where you feel the need to call them out on it.

And if more and more people seem to be espousing a doom-and-gloom opinion, I think it's blaming the messenger to complain about their negativity. Maybe there's just more to be doomier and gloomier about these days?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Staph is a commensurate bacteria on your skin, I'd avoid aspirating it, cutting yourself with it, or sticking it up your urethra... but nothing is going to happen "staph"-wise by sitting on it.

Contact dermatitis could be a concern for people, but real grass causes plenty of people allergic reactions too. I'd hazard a guess that this stuff is far more hypoallergenic.




Real grass is slippery, concrete retains a heck of a lot of heat and people sit on that all the time for the parades (I definitely had a too-hot curb experience in HKDL, but it eventually settled into a toasty bum). I don't think the grass retains more heat than concrete, but I'm basing that on all of the pictures of people happily rolling around on the stuff in the middle of the day.




I'm not trying to defend the fake grass by the way, hate it for aesthetic reasons, but the train of thought that it's going to harm people is a little over-the-top sensationalist.

I've worked on natural grass & sports turf in the godawful August heat before at Buttes-Mehre at UGA. Thinking back, thats where I burned my knees on the sports turf. Ive worked many a football game on wet, slippery sports turf. I've tweaked a knee and seen people fall on that stuff. I'll take the real grass any day, nowhere near as slick.

So when I say that "there could be cause for concern" is not over-the-top sensationalism rather it is my experience.

 

[Phil12]

Staph is a commensurate bacteria on your skin, I'd avoid aspirating it, cutting yourself with it, or sticking it up your urethra... but nothing is going to happen "staph"-wise by sitting on it.

Contact dermatitis could be a concern for people, but real grass causes plenty of people allergic reactions too. I'd hazard a guess that this stuff is far more hypoallergenic.




Real grass is slippery, concrete retains a heck of a lot of heat and people sit on that all the time for the parades (I definitely had a too-hot curb experience in HKDL, but it eventually settled into a toasty bum). I don't think the grass retains more heat than concrete, but I'm basing that on all of the pictures of people happily rolling around on the stuff in the middle of the day.




I'm not trying to defend the fake grass by the way, hate it for aesthetic reasons, but the train of thought that it's going to harm people is a little over-the-top sensationalist.

I think that urethra theory could really be a problem for some pixie dusters.

 

[bhg469]

Exactly. If they raise prices again, we can keep out the riffraff.

God for bid any of them take pride in the personal parents. Some of them walk around in a tank top & Jorts looking like they just got hit in the face with a shovel....

I firmly believe that the vagrants will always find a way because credit cards are a thing. I see price hikes stopping people who spend their money wisely from going.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Do not forget your wife calling you an A-hole 180 days out because of the difficulty of explaining MM+.

Even worse was explaining it to my 62 year old mother.

 

[PhotoDave219]

You can't say "savages" anymore. Didn't you get the memo?

Well, all my other adjectives and euphemisms are now on the forbidden list.

 

[ParentsOf4]

That is exactly why the statement "Disney is a business" keeps coming up. It's OK to imagine Disney as more then a business, and I understand that feeling, but, when we start to lose grasp of reality to the degree that this implies then it calls to be asked, how much income would you be comfortable depriving a Disney Park of? How would you explain to the Board of Directors that this will be a long term way to maintain the status quo of the organization that relies on income for survival? How much would you cut it back? A quarter, half or more? Other than you like trees, what would you use for a reason to make that sacrifice?

The problem with the "Disney is a business" argument is that it pretends that Disney wasn't a business during what many consider to be its Golden Age.

Looking at Parks & Resorts Operating Margin since the opening of WDW:

If "Disney is a business" now, it sure was a better business back when it focused on quality more.

 

[Nubs70]

How dare you speak ill of the bread pudding. It is absolutely fantastic.

It helped me discover I was diabetic.

 

[BrerJon]

Are you saying that there is no information out there to back up these claims of the concept of the original hub? Can anyone shed light on this?

I don't know about the concept of the hub, but there are plenty of pictures out there that show it how it was in the Swan Boat days.

Or, ya know, we could just look at it now. From swan boats to sidewalks.

 

[Cesar R M]

I dunno. Getting logged in on my account, remembering the password, making sure I have the app on my phone, setting an alarm so I can be on the computer 180 days out so I can get that FP+.... that seems like more of a PITA than showing up 45 mins early.

it depends your point of view.
Example.. someone who has never seen the new years eve version of fireworks.. the place is packed and you want to make SURE you see it in all its glory with NOBODY blocking your way with a nasty Ipad or a kid in shoulders.. a FP+ is the way to go.

 

[Cesar R M]

Restaurant point for all those people saying how they are speeding you out and not giving you time to enjoy that sometimes comes down to the guest.

I have establishments that we nicely after extended times at tables or eating us out of house and home where we place the check to send the message.

Now this is a rarity but in the establishments that I have had to do this I have lines to the door and 2 hour waits for a table but it is common practice in this industry as a tech to speed the group along or get them to stop eating.

I have never been rushed at any Disney restaurant as I am very concious of the meal time I have picked and that others need my table and they need the turn. I feel 2 hours at one of the fine dining establishments is fair and the character dining buffet setting or low level sit down is an hour.

That would be the schedule for most reservation spots.

you know how they could fix the issue?
put trees big trees only in the outer ring of the hub. very tall trees, with branches that partially block the view from Main Street.. but only blocking the areas that are of "walkways".

This gives shade, prevents aholes who stop and try to record in the areas that are supposedly exclusive for walking and gives the same feel.
besides, almost every castle in disney movies, are sort of enclaved near or in a dense forest.

 

[BrerJon]

Also note the Skyway, and the Main Street Cinema actually playing movies.

And not a stroller or ECV to be seen... ah, happy days.

 

[Cesar R M]

Here is a picture from opening day at MK. The view of the castle is able to be seen immediately fully when you walk in.

If they wanted it blocked like the later pictures they would have planted bigger trees day one right? Roy was not going to cut corners on this project as he was honoring his brother.

Now the tree lined Main Street is wonderful but over time those trees got to big and they should have replaced them and repeated cycle.

Oh and benches would be nice.... I understand the logic for removing them in hub but they would be nice somewhere.

but theres still 4 big trees blocking the sides of the castle.
It doesnt look like a concrete highway.

 

[BrerJon]

honestly, I think part of the issue is the other parks not being open as late. It would be nice to see the other ones open later than 9pm or the occasional 10pm (not talking about EMH) especially when MK has hours going until 12am. If it were only an hour difference between closing times, the hassle of switching parks would mitigate the benefit.

Definitely. In the olden days, staying in EPCOT Center til midnight wasn't some amazing $200 upcharge with tapas, or even 'Extra Magic', but just a normal hours thing on a busy day. With a fully developed Future World, many people were still working their way around World Showcase by the time the park started to wind down. Funnily enough, crowds were far more evenly split between the two parks in those days.

 

[Cesar R M]

Stop talking all that mumbo jumbo! What we need is a second peter pan, buzz track, a third dumbo and another tomorrow land speedway. That will definitely fix things.

you forgot turkey legs too.

 

[Goofyernmost]

The problem with the "Disney is a business" argument is that it pretends that Disney wasn't a business during what many consider to be its Golden Age.

Looking at Parks & Resorts Operating Margin since the opening of WDW:

View attachment 88779


If "Disney is a business" now, sure was a better business back when it focused on quality more.

Those were golden economic years as well though. Prices were still relatively low, energy prices were as well, wages were lower too. I don't think that the margins have anything to do with the quality issue. If it did how would one explain the over crowding of the parks now as opposed to then. I'm not saying that this is the case, but, if they have cut back so much on spending, slashing expenses everywhere all the while increasing income by boat loads, what would be the real reason for the smaller margins. Might it be because their over all income has increased so much along with the cost of doing business that the percentage of margin would automatically be smaller without the actual dollar figure decreasing at all, in fact, increasing?

I'm thinking it was a better business margin wise, but, you don't pay bills with margin, that takes real dollars and that has been at record highs and it doesn't matter how they got those dollars, whether it be through raised prices or improved quality... it is the spendable amount that matters in the long haul. At least it would to me and apparently does to the financial institutions as well. If given the choice of 30% of $1000.00 or 15% of $4000.00 I would go with the 15% every time. I know that you are pretty wise about those things so perhaps you could tell me what I am missing from that equation.