Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[Funmeister]

I know why it's important, but I'm just numb now-waiting for the monorail to get taken out and cement in the lagoon at this poimt

More of a reality than most can imagine. I remember back in 2000 or around that time a basketball sized piece of concrete from the beam falling into the 7SL. It was between the MK and GF.

 

[JimboJones123]

I liked SHIELD. I think many people were expecting to see super heroes such as Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, etc. They should have a read the description of the show before watching and perhaps they would have appreciated it more. Sleepy Holow, Black List, and SHIELD are gonna be great for the fall season. And of course...The Walking Dead!!!

My exact Hour Long DVR list with of course The Mentalist.

 

[JenniferS]

So, here's a few thoughts, as promised, on the Magic Bands, FP+, refillable mugs, etc.

We finally made it home, good travels, but a long trip, especially after a lackluster but busy week.

I can reiterate, that in the future, I'm far less likely to return to WDW if the rule of the day is Magic Bands, Fast Pass Plus (with no regular FP system), and the continued decline in foodservice offerings (including the new 'rapid fill' program). The only good use I found for the MB was when swimming at the resort, we didn't have to worry about bringing the room key with us.

My individual Magic Band had a very tiny RFID chip, that was NOT located in the area of the Mickey head. How would I know? Well, after a week of trying to get the damned thing to activate the Mickey heads, or the security resort gate, or the laundry room door, you learn how to work it. Many times, especially at the resort, I had to take it off, and forcefully hold it up against whatever sensor I was trying to get it to activate. Not the case at the parks for entry or for FP+ use, as those went more smoothly. Definitely the most awkward part of the band is trying to use it to buy things (for the record, mine NEVER worked for room charging). Trying to rotate your wrist, or get the band positioned just perfectly, is nothing more than a ridiculous hassle. Took out the RFID KTTW card, and had NO issue whatsoever. Didn't have to even touch the readers in many instances...which leads me to feel that the bands are a step backwards, not forwards.

Not in all, but in many, CM encounters, it was clear that there has been a serious lack of training, and some of these folks hated the band as much as I did. They simply can't do their jobs as well. It adds unnecessary time to transactions at registers, whether food or merchandise. My band did finally (after getting some help at the resort) for the dining plan. However, since it wouldn't work for room charging, I couldn't use it to tip the servers. After a couple of days, I learned to tell them up front that they should know that they would need my KTTW card, and to not even try to use that with the handheld scanner (yep, even my KTTW card wouldn't work for charging anything unless it was swiped at the register...you know, the way they've done it for years?).

CMs seem very frustrated and overwhelmed, both from a system that is just not working properly, the ever-expanding test of them, and the lack of training. Asked a lot of pointed questions, and I was able to get some very candid responses along the way. I certainly won't give any specifics here, as I don't want anyone to have any repercussions, but one of the most interesting replies I got (and not that it's news to any of us), was when I struck up a conversation about the bands, and the CM discussed how they'd recently been through some basic training and were advised that the core of the system was so that they could gather data on guest patterns and behaviors. Or, at least that's what they got out of the training.

Oh-just thought of one neat, but creepy use we experienced...got an email with a 'special' FP+ for Be Our Guest for lunch. Took advantage of it, and bypassed the 1 to 1 1/2 hour line, went in, ordered our food, and did NOT get a rose to put on the table. 10 minutes or so later, our food rolled up to the table and we were served. Yep, they do know exactly where you are.

On to FastPass plus...a limit of three is crap. I felt ok with it, as the parks weren't super busy (but much busier than I thought they'd be), and I could use the legacy FP system. But, I can't see liking the limit of 3 at the MK. The other parks...well, there's not that much to do at them anyway. HS, for instance, it was really nice to be able to book TSMM ahead of time. We got to the park mid morning, and the FP for the day were gone already. Had also booked RNRC and Fantasmic, but the rain was so horrendous that we left and didn't go back that day. EPCOT FP+ was nice for TT and Soarin'...but here's the impact that we all knew would accompany the new system...there was a wait, almost all day, for Spaceship Earth in the Standby line. A wait for a people eater ride. During a less than busy time of year. Not just any wait...15 to 20 minutes almost all day. As the afternoon wore on, it quieted down, as everyone was riding Maelstrom (again, though, FP+ is artificially inflating the ride times there).

Enough on that for now...refillable mugs...well, we were at PORS, and I'm not sure if they changed the volume that's dispensed, but I could have overflowed all of our mugs. If they weren't free as part of the dining plan, there's no way I'd spend the money to buy them. But, to each their own. Asked a CM how they were being received (after watching an interaction with a guest that had a paper cup that had 'expired'), and said overall no big impact to them. There really wasn't a big problem with soda theft there, in their opinion. Values are a different story...said that's where all the money was being lost. Also, thought they might not get rolled out to all the Deluxe resorts.

And, one last tangent...I was really disappointed with the quality of the food everywhere this year. And, with the quality of service in several locations. Like many, I've seen the decline over the years, but this year it really just smacked me in the face, and it's so disappointing. Even the expensive character meals are, well, just not that good anymore.

I did complain (mostly about terrible housekeeping towards the end of our time there), and did get comped some, but even with that, as I explained to the 'mgmt' CM...I knew I was going to have a hard time coming home to friends (2 different families of 5), and tell them that they should still go to WDW.

Oh-and as for the 'increased' guest spending...it was such a hassle, that we just didn't buy any of the generic merchandise this time to speak of. Spent about 60% less than we usually do on property. Came home with a happier wallet.

So, @WDW1974 thanks for the warnings way back when...you were right. And, for @alissafalco and @Soarin' Over Pgh I apologize for the delay in getting my thoughts on here.

I too, have just returned from 10 days in the World - 9/23 - 10/02.
Many of my experiences were similar to your's, although it would appear that I enjoyed my trip a little more.

My MB worked great at park entry and to open my resort room door, but almost never at the entry gate unless I removed it and held it JUST right. It also never worked for charging or for dining, which pleased my 11 year old nephew immensely, as he got to pick up the tab everywhere we went.

I used Josh's website to plan my trip and my park days, and was never steered wrong. I found crowds to be almost non-existent, except for Saturday. If the so-called "magic number" for attraction experiences is between 9 and 13, then I reached that threshold most days before 2:00 p.m. FastPass+ meant that we didn't have to rush to make rope drop, but still managed to ride TSMM 3x, Soarin' 2x, TT 2x, and was done with DAK in 3 1/2 hours including lunch at FTBBQ. I only double dipped using my KTTW card twice in 10 days.

Zero issues with the Rapid Refill mugs. My SIL and I used our's for coffee at least once per day. My nephew used his multiple times/day for lemonade. FYI - After finally getting used to the Nescrappe last year, I found the Joffrey's to be bitter. Not an improvement, surprisingly.

I also found that the food generally was lower quality than previous years - most notably the QS meals. Almost nothing from the Counter Service locations was hot. I am not a fan of luke-warm food. Lunch at BOG was pretty decent, except for dessert, which was NASTY! Even perennial favourite Columbia Harbor House was meh! this year. We had an outstanding lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, and dinner at The Wave was a grand slam. Almost as good were dinners at 'Ohana and Via Napoli, and brekkie at Kona.

I was ecstatic to find many parts of the park to be pristine again. The washrooms were generally cleaner than last year. The new ones were spotless, the older ones were okay.

Stayed at POP Century. Housekeeping was okay. No praise. No complaints.

And finally, my MagicBand was so uncomfortable. It just didn't fit my wrist properly. No one else had any complaints.

The trip started out rough, my GPS sent me on a really round-about way to POP. I sort of ran an unmanned coin-only toll booth (didn't accept US bills or Canadian coins - which is all I had); a box flew off the back of a truck and bounced off my windshield on the highway; the rain was absolutely torrential, and oh yeah, some jerk backed into my rental car - ALL ON THE FIRST DAY! Everything got better after that.

Dole Whips still rock!

 

[JenniferS]

P. S. - We rode Haunted Mansion 7x, Pirates 7x, and SSE 6x; everything was a complete walk-on, with only one wait of 15 mins at HM, and one 20 min wait at PoC.

 

[misterID]

Here's me, the lone wolf....still digging SHIELD.

Gotham Central would destroy SHIELD if done properly.

 

[GoofGoof]

P. S. - We rode Haunted Mansion 7x, Pirates 7x, and SSE 6x; everything was a complete walk-on, with only one wait of 15 mins at HM, and one 20 min wait at PoC.

Interesting. Magic bands don't seem to be having a big impact on those standby lines, at least not yet.

 

[stevehousse]

Interesting. Magic bands don't seem to be having a big impact on those standby lines, at least not yet.

To be fair, this is the slower season so who knows what could happen Ina busy Xmas week or middle of July, but as of now there really hasn't been to bad of an impact so to speak...also it's only resort guests testing and we all know just how "full" all of the resorts are right now!

 

[GoofGoof]

To be fair, this is the slower season so who knows what could happen Ina busy Xmas week or middle of July, but as of now there really hasn't been to bad of an impact so to speak...also it's only resort guests testing and we all know just how "full" all of the resorts are right now!

Agreed on both counts. However, others have implied that the lines are already being significantly impacted.

 

[1023]

Not very long ago, I did a study of homes (foreclosures, short sales, etc.) in the area near Disneyland. I wanted to see if it was feasible to buy a few to turn into income properties and perhaps tear down at some point to build a vacation home. I came across so many homes for sale that I started to see if blocks could be "assembled". Many of the homes near Disneyland are built in the old "4 homes per acre" format. Right now, I could purchase four homes for around $1.2 to $1.5 million dollars.

Basic decision making in real estate is that the land is being utilized by the "best and highest use" principle. (Cases of imminent domain are based on that idea, which I am not suggesting). If I were an executive at Disney, I would be purchasing what homes I could through "placeholders" and slowly assembling acreage. They can keep them as "rentals" (stealthy approach) or twist some arms and raze them (scorched earth). (Honestly, through the downturn they should have been buying everything nearby that went distressed.)

I can't think of a reason why some of the funds from a proposed stock buyback shouldn't be committed to acquiring more land. In fact, I believe they recently purchased a mobile home park nearby. A billion dollars can go a long way towards laying the ground work for future expansion and DVC (ducking and laughing now). Anaheim has bent over backward accommodating DLR so I see no reason in blocking the ultimate "assembly" of large tracts.

One square mile is 640 acres, EPCOT is 300 acres. I think you get the land you need over time. DLR isn't going anywhere.

Just some random thoughts.

*1023*

 

[71jason]

I don't have a clue what it is.

An 80s era A-Team show "re-imagined" for the next generation. How good or bad you find that probably depends on what you thought of the original A-Team. Still mark me down for cheesy and predictably dumb but fun, almost entirely due to Agent Coulson.

But it doesn't hold my attention like something like Revolution has (Elizabeth Mitchell helps!)

With you on this. Second season premiere reinvigorated a show that had lost its way.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Interesting. Magic bands don't seem to be having a big impact on those standby lines, at least not yet.

It has not fully rolled out. Its one or two resorts at a time.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'm not sure how I'd know if I was on or off. Is it your understanding that they send some sort of communication when they drop you? If so, I haven't received one. But I never got a "welcome to the club" communication either when we started getting invites. I suspect that invites may be a largely ad-hoc process.

As for the past communications, I don't recall the specific thing they didn't like. It's been a long, long time. They objected by contacting Bob (Sehlinger) through their Media Relations, with an email chain. I explained my side. We didn't change our coverage. Everyone moved on. We've got media invites and lots of cooperation since then. A couple of minor disagreements are not going to damage a long-term relationship.

That would be me who heard it from a good source.

I heard it was in retaliation for you/your company holding Disney's feet to the fire with pointed questions. (New Fantasyland, My Magic Plus, Labor Relations, Avatarland, etc.)

My apologies if I'm wrong.... my respect and props for asking the tough questions of the mouse if that is the case.

Speaking of tough questions..... Word on the street, you made staff changes here in Orlando. I'd love to hear your side of the story.

 

[Longhairbear]

Here's me, the lone wolf....still digging SHIELD.

I'm loving that plane they have!

 

[PhotoDave219]

Spirited Lunchtime Musings:

Speaking of weak, anyone watching old pal Tom Amity's meltdown in the Twitverse? Apparently, he hates Andy Castro and @lentesta ... someone needs to 'splain to him a very basic of social media and that is if you place something out for the world to see then it is not private in the least.

More importantly, been sitting on this for a while, but word is that Touring Plans ed the folks at CP/TDO off and they are no longer being credentialed for anything. Any comments @lentesta?

Not much here of interest going on really and I can't make it up to make folks happy ... I suppose I could go back and forth with the defenders of (blank) on that thread regarding Disney requiring a CC depo for any meal anywhere that is full serve. But I do feel like if they don't get it now, they never will.

Tom is rather angry towards Touring Plans for his own reasons. They underwent a staffing change that I'll DM you about.

You two may not agree on much nor care for one another, but I think you'd both be on the same side on this one.

 

[Longhairbear]

Not very long ago, I did a study of homes (foreclosures, short sales, etc.) in the area near Disneyland. I wanted to see if it was feasible to buy a few to turn into income properties and perhaps tear down at some point to build a vacation home. I came across so many homes for sale that I started to see if blocks could be "assembled". Many of the homes near Disneyland are built in the old "4 homes per acre" format. Right now, I could purchase four homes for around $1.2 to $1.5 million dollars.

Basic decision making in real estate is that the land is being utilized by the "best and highest use" principle. (Cases of imminent domain are based on that idea, which I am not suggesting). If I were an executive at Disney, I would be purchasing what homes I could through "placeholders" and slowly assembling acreage. They can keep them as "rentals" (stealthy approach) or twist some arms and raze them (scorched earth). (Honestly, through the downturn they should have been buying everything nearby that went distressed.)

I can't think of a reason why some of the funds from a proposed stock buyback shouldn't be committed to acquiring more land. In fact, I believe they recently purchased a mobile home park nearby. A billion dollars can go a long way towards laying the ground work for future expansion and DVC (ducking and laughing now). Anaheim has bent over backward accommodating DLR so I see no reason in blocking the ultimate "assembly" of large tracts.

One square mile is 640 acres, EPCOT is 300 acres. I think you get the land you need over time. DLR isn't going anywhere.

Just some random thoughts.

*1023*

Way back in the early 2000's we hung around with some pretty well connected people at DLR. They knew all the good stuff of upcoming projects etc., and all of it actually happened. It was mentioned several times about the expansion, lack of land etc. They insisted that Disney already owned several places nearby, or adjoining the parks. I have no proof of that, only someone's word that it was true. However, it is also true that these land holding have since never been used by Disney. They are all still motels, hotels restaurants etc. run by other companies. While we don't see this crew very often, or at all, they were spot on about everything else.

 

[lentesta]

That would be me who heard it from a good source.

I heard it was in retaliation for you/your company holding Disney's feet to the fire with pointed questions. (New Fantasyland, My Magic Plus, Labor Relations, Avatarland, etc.)

No one's said anything to anyone here or the home office. Our coverage of NFL has been generally positive, especially BoG. We think MMP gives more advantages to Disney than to consumers. We've not commented on labor relations. I don't see the appeal of Avatarland but I'll be thrilled if I'm wrong. This isn't Greenpeace-circling-the-Zodiacs territory.

 

[ParentsOf4]

As a result of the "Free Dining" promotion, the Slow Season largely had disappeared for a few years.

After several years of the same "Free Dining" promotion, numerous price increases (e.g. tickets are up 25% in 3 years), and declining food quality, it sounds like Slow Season might once again be returning to WDW. "Free Dining" simply isn't pulling them in like it used to.

Weekends appear to be busy but the many reports of short waits in September during the week sound like the WDW of old.

With the price increases in recent years, a "Free Dining" vacation today costs just about as much as a fully priced vacation only a few years ago. Domestically, pay simply hasn't kept pace with WDW's price increases.

Luckily for both WDW and Uni, inflation in South America is up, while the cost of living in urban areas is just as high as major U.S. cities. As a result, guests from that part of the World continue to visit Orlando. If not for the economic conditions in South America, I suspect WDW's and Uni's business would have been appreciably down this year.

Uni has adopted an aggressive strategy to capture a larger share of the tourist market no matter which way the economy heads. WDW has been more passive, looking to sustain profits through gimmicks, not by providing real value for its "guests".

Despite a poor economy, WWOHP was wildly successful in 2010, demonstrating that consumers are ready to spend even in challenging times if offered something of true value. Uni's plans for the next several years should keep that trend in place.

In 2010 and 2011, WDW managed on Uni's spillover along with WDW's own special promotions which, it seems, are simply no longer as effective as they once were. WDW could be in for some poor financial times if the economy sours. WDW has got to get out of this "we're Disney" mentality if it wants to succeed long term yet with management changing in 2016, one has to wonder if anyone high up the corporate Disney food chain cares.

 

[flynnibus]

Just some random thoughts.

*1023*

Buying property piece meal would just cause all property values to skyrocket now... driving up Disney's ongoing and future costs. If Disney were buying every 10th home.. the writing would be on the wall and speculation would run rampant.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

As a result of the "Free Dining" promotion, the Slow Season largely had disappeared for a few years.

----------------

With the price increases in recent years, a "Free Dining" vacation today costs just about as much as a fully priced vacation only a few years ago. Domestically, pay simply hasn't kept pace with WDW's price increases.

---------------------

Despite a poor economy, WWOHP was wildly successful in 2010, demonstrating that consumers are ready to spend even in challenging times if offered something of true value. Uni's plans for the next several years should keep that trend in place.
------------
.

I think these are the most important parts of Po4's post. They continue to raise costs, but the average American pay stays the same. It's pricing a lot of people out. They don't care. Raise 'em again. To hell with the public.

Universal built a crazy successful land. They invested a lot of money in a time when more and more companies were collectively tightening their budgets (and sphincters) and approaching with caution- Disney included. Again, they don't care. To hell with them, we're number one and... wait, they're building a part two now?

Yeah.

Disney stopped caring about it's fans. Or, at least, the ones who pay the bills, and have been dedicated for many years. The ones they should be embracing the hardest, they are pushing away.

 

[michmousefan]

Here's me, the lone wolf....still digging SHIELD.

You're not the only one!