Brief news updates: June 17

[jakeman]

Just got back and noticed a few minor things that I haven't seen mentioned here:

They are introducing a new mug shape. It is basically the same diameter at the top but tapers straight down now without the "divot" in. It seems to hold more and the tops still work with the older mugs.

At Kilimanjaro Safaris they have reverted back to the original ride path near the cheetahs (no more going over the hill to the kopje) They have left the road intact though.

The Nile Crocodiles are off show as they work on the bridge. Just as an aside (a "back in my day" observation) the amount of barriers they have put in place in the hippo area over the past 10 years is ridiculous. When I drove there you had a bush and the metal bar on the bottom of the bridge to keep the truck on the ride path. I'm sure that 99.99% of the people don't notice or care since the new barriers don't really affect site lines, but, too me, the area is starting to look cluttered.

Otters were off show in Discovery Island as well.

Sanaa (pronounced Sa-NAH) was outstanding. I would highly recommend it for the adventerous eater. I'll be posting a review of it later today. The ginger garlic pickle bread dipper thingy was unlike anything I have ever had before. The wife didn't care for it, I loved it.

Lastly, the thermostats in the Jambo House DVC rooms are unable to be overridden like SSR, leading to some rather uncomfortable nights. I didn't really see the need to complain about it at the time, since short of changing resorts there was nothing they could do, but they did get a letter from me this morning.

***Edit***The thermostats could be set to a temperature but they are motion sensing. I reread my post and it is confusing, even to me!

 

[bgraham34]

That is not nice if you can't change the temp in your own room. Some people prefer it cold when they slept or warm. I had a hotel room in North Carolina and the air was broke. I did not sleep at all. It was i think 97 in the room. I fought and could not even get my money back.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Are animals on the savannah next to Sanaa yet?

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Thanks for the update! Glad to hear Sanaa was good.

 

[jakeman]

That is not nice if you can't change the temp in your own room. Some people prefer it cold when they slept or warm. I had a hotel room in North Carolina and the air was broke. I did not sleep at all. It was i think 97 in the room. I fought and could not even get my money back.

You can change the temp no problem, you just have to thrust your arm up in the air or some such nonsense every few hours to keep it on.

I like it very cold when I sleep and that was just not possible with the motion sensor thermostats. We kept the temperature set at 65 the whole time but could never get it below about 74 at night.

We stayed at the hotel one full day and was able to get the room to about 70, but no lower.

Are animals on the savannah next to Sanaa yet?

Yes they are. Our room acutally faced Kindani Village and it really added to the theming.

It does seem that the savannah between Kindani and Jambo house is closed in the morning. We never saw animals first thing in the morning and always saw animal care out at that time. Plenty of animals the rest of the time though.

 

[Scooter]

I've heard some people go to extremes to keep the motion sensor air on...

...like bringing a small fan and a mylar balloon when they check in.

 

[NewfieFan]

I've heard some people go to extremes to keep the motion sensor air on...

...like bringing a small fan and a mylar balloon when they check in.

Oooooh, good idea!

or just leave your children in the room running around! (joke)

 

[MousDad]

This new temperature control thing going on at Disney Resorts is infuriating.

To make matters worse, they claim it's to be environmentally conscious, when in reality they are doing it to cut costs.

Neither one (environmental concerns or cost cutting) is justification, IMO, for guest discomfort at a premium resort destination.

Way to go, TDO!!!

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

This new temperature control thing going on at Disney Resorts is infuriating.

To make matters worse, they claim it's to be environmentally conscious, when in reality they are doing it to cut costs.

Neither one (environmental concerns or cost cutting) is justification, IMO, for guest discomfort at a premium resort destination.

Way to go, TDO!!!

Yeah, it's really foolish. I like my room cold.:shrug:

Anyway...Interesting TR, Jake. Doing the other parks?

 

[Disneyson 1]

That IS kind of stupid. Let the guest change their temperatures the way they see fit!

 

[MousDad]

I've heard some people go to extremes to keep the motion sensor air on...

...like bringing a small fan and a mylar balloon when they check in.

Customers of any kind (let alone Disney guests) who drop 20k for a dvc or 4-5K for a week vacation should NOT have to resort to cockamamie schemes to keep the air conditioning running in the room in 95-100 degree Florida.

This gets a triple MousDad :fork::fork::fork:

 

[GothMickey]

It is all about the theme. Don't you know Africa is super hot? By doing what they did with the temperature, they are just adding to your Africa experience. This is what spearates Disney from the others. The small things like this. :lol:

 

[macsmom]

It is all about the theme. Don't you know Africa is super hot? By doing what they did with the temperature, they are just adding to your Africa experience. This is what spearates Disney from the others. The small things like this. :lol:

I like the coolness of the Yeti!

danna

 

[ryno1982]

The safari ride path has been changed back since at least August 2008. :wave:

 

[jakeman]

This new temperature control thing going on at Disney Resorts is infuriating.

To make matters worse, they claim it's to be environmentally conscious, when in reality they are doing it to cut costs.

Neither one (environmental concerns or cost cutting) is justification, IMO, for guest discomfort at a premium resort destination.

Way to go, TDO!!!

Customers of any kind (let alone Disney guests) who drop 20k for a dvc or 4-5K for a week vacation should NOT have to resort to cockamamie schemes to keep the air conditioning running in the room in 95-100 degree Florida.

This gets a triple MousDad :fork::fork::fork:

I agree. I wouldn't mind it not being on while we are out of the room, but at night is unacceptable to me.

It is but a minor trouble to override it once at SSR and be done with it, but at DAK Lodge where that option is not available, they got a complaint from me.

Yeah, it's really foolish. I like my room cold.:shrug:

Anyway...Interesting TR, Jake. Doing the other parks?

Yeah we went to all of them, nothing really going on that hasn't been commented on or were just opinions of the trip report nature. But since you asked!

Magic Kingdom is tarp city. Small World, HoP, and half the Emporium all having external work done. I think I'm missing a building too (Diamond Horseshoe maybe). We ate at El Pirate (split a taco salad) and while good, is horribly overpriced even by Disney standards. Almost $6 for two tacos no bigger than what you would get at a standard mexican restaraunt. Met David Doss and got the very last Oswald DVD in the Art of Disney store.

Did Epcot, finally drank around the world. Took us nine hours to do it. We did every show except America and France. It was fun but I probably won't do it again. I'm not a big drinker. On a seperate (sober) visit, we spent the whole afternoon doing the Kim Possible stuff. This thing is a winner all the way around. It helps you notice the World Showcase and is unobstrusive. I had more fun with that than the drinking.

Also did Star Wars Weekends at DHS. Not sure what to say here. I was looking forward to a book signing and had resigned myself to not finding out until we got there, since that happens every year, only to find out it was some guy signing Potato Heads. Wicket's Warehouse had a better selection of merchandise this year so that was a good thing. Overall Star Wars Weekends is just more of the same every year, but I think that is a franchise problem more than a Disney problem.

Went to DTD. Paradisio 37 was really good. We got the crazy corn and the 3 dip thingy. Also did the balloon and that was great. The gaps in the area are noticable but not as devistatingly so as they were in October of last year. I think 37 goes a long way to tempering that. Starbillas was noticably light on the merchandise with most of it 40% off. Tren-D is a pretty neat store. I could see the wife dropping some coin in there if we were less budgeted this trip. Oh and that little party thing they do is kind of awkward.

That was the trip in a nutshell.

 

[jakeman]

The safari ride path has been changed back since at least August 2008. :wave:

Sorry for the double post, but I just saw this one.

That is interesting. I could have sworn we went over the hill to the kopjes last October. No worries though, I could definately be wrong. I'm just glad it is back to the original ride path.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I agree. I wouldn't mind it not being on while we are out of the room, but at night is unacceptable to me.

It is but a minor trouble to override it once at SSR and be done with it, but at DAK Lodge where that option is not available, they got a complaint from me.

Yeah we went to all of them, nothing really going on that hasn't been commented on or were just opinions of the trip report nature. But since you asked!

Magic Kingdom is tarp city. Small World, HoP, and half the Emporium all having external work done. I think I'm missing a building too (Diamond Horseshoe maybe). We ate at El Pirate (split a taco salad) and while good, is horribly overpriced even by Disney standards. Almost $6 for two tacos no bigger than what you would get at a standard mexican restaraunt. Met David Doss and got the very last Oswald DVD in the Art of Disney store.

Did Epcot, finally drank around the world. Took us nine hours to do it. We did every show except America and France. It was fun but I probably won't do it again. I'm not a big drinker. On a seperate (sober) visit, we spent the whole afternoon doing the Kim Possible stuff. This thing is a winner all the way around. It helps you notice the World Showcase and is unobstrusive. I had more fun with that than the drinking.

Also did Star Wars Weekends at DHS. Not sure what to say here. I was looking forward to a book signing and had resigned myself to not finding out until we got there, since that happens every year, only to find out it was some guy signing Potato Heads. Wicket's Warehouse had a better selection of merchandise this year so that was a good thing. Overall Star Wars Weekends is just more of the same every year, but I think that is a franchise problem more than a Disney problem.

Went to DTD. Paradisio 37 was really good. We got the crazy corn and the 3 dip thingy. Also did the balloon and that was great. The gaps in the area are noticable but not as devistatingly so as they were in October of last year. I think 37 goes a long way to tempering that. Starbillas was noticably light on the merchandise with most of it 40% off. Tren-D is a pretty neat store. I could see the wife dropping some coin in there if we were less budgeted this trip. Oh and that little party thing they do is kind of awkward.

That was the trip in a nutshell.

Yeah, the KPWSA looks quite good.


Glad you had fun!:wave:

 

[RSoxNo1]

In some hotels in Europe they will use the keycards in a similar way as the motion sensors on the AC. You have to put the keycard in the wall near the door, otherwise nothing in the room will work. This keeps people from leaving lights on, leaving things plugged in while they're out, etc. I would think this would be a much more effecient cost compromise for Disney - sure, it'll frustrate some people that want to leave their laptop on all day, or perhaps leave their cell phone charging while they go out, but it's better than having things not working while you're in the room.

 

[MousDad]

^Yea, but what does your room feel like after you been at the parks for 12 hours, it's 98 degrees outside and the AC hasn't been running all day?

 

[jakeman]

^Yea, but what does your room feel like after you been at the parks for 12 hours, it's 98 degrees outside and the AC hasn't been running all day?

Having experience just this occurance I would have to say...not horrible. It stayed about 75 degrees while we were gone. I'm not sure if there is a default minimum, but it was not as warm as you would expect it to be after a day in the park.

However, it was not awesomely cold like I would want it either.