Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[PhotoDave219]

That doesnt help the hangover.

 

[COProgressFan]

I understand and appreciate the skepticism of anyone when talking about TDO. But I also can't help but feel that many fans aren't excited by the size and scope of these changes.

If WDW was not such a stale product, then I might understand that 'tude. But considering the lack of major changes at the parks, I don't get it.

For myself, and probably others, I just think I have such a strong skepticism of anything that goes on at WDW these days, that it's tough to get excited over something with still so much uncertainty. For a few reasons, really:

1) A part of me doesn't necessarily believe this will happen, that budgets will be slashed, and the end we will end up with another half-hearted, value engineered, soulless land like FLE (oooh, an idea...Could the refurb at DHS include a giant portait of Dan Cockerell like the one Phil got?!). You have to admit, neither TDO nor WDI has a really good track record in Florida in the last 10 years. Execution is crucial, nothing is a sure bet. And another drawn out 5 or 6 year construction timeline seems crazy.

2) As wonderful as a major overhaul of DHS might be, is it going to fix things that desperately need help like GMR or Fantasmic? Or even the rest of WDW? What about the fact that all 3 other parks still have major issues in terms of upkeep of attractions/entertainment? The completely outdated CoP at the MK or the terrible Stitch show, or Ellen or EO or RoE in Epcot, or broken Yetis at DAK. Or one of the multitude of other small (poor entertainment) and large (monorail and other transport infrastructure) problems the resort faces?

I'm cautiously optomistic, but again, the track record of hits and misses at WDW in recent years speaks for itself.

 

[truecoat]

Tell him I've stayed there. Completely not worth it. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice hotel...but he can get the same room and walk the hotel at night and do everything there outside of swim in the (rather neat) pool. The light up fireworks headboards (actually rather cheesy) and minor Disney touches are not worth the extra cost considering how close partner resorts can be.

EM hour benefits are not worth it at that resort...nor is the "third gate" to California Adventure.

More importantly, the room was small, Mousekeeping was average, the shower water wasn't hot or of great pressure (a pet peeve of mine), the wifi was spotty (didn't work around the pool, firepit or at the bar), and the hotel has incredibly thin walls (I won't get into that in too much detail...lets just say I heard water creaks and other noises...and leave it there)...

Just...not worth it.

Just an fyi and you guys probably know this, if you buy a three+ day Disneyland ticket, you get one Magic Morning early entry regardless of what hotel you stay at.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Regarding Man of Steel, did anyone else feel it was tone deaf? It seemed liked they were setting up emotional scenes, but it never seemed like the payoff came.

I sort of felt that with the flashbacks.

 

[WDWFigment]

Spirited anecdote: a friend recently asked for advice for his first visit to DLR. I almost choked (no Spurs jokes, please) when I heard he wanted to stay at the DLH and what it would cost. I explained how he could likely save well over $1000 on a four night stay by opting for a non-Disney choice. But said friend, who I will bet you anything winds up at the DLH, asked what the 'emotional value' was of spending his first visit on property. This is the mentality that Disney goes for. Intelligent people acting like they are under the influence.

We've stayed at several hotels in the Disneyland area, and my favorite remains the Anaheim Desert Inn, which is literally across the street. I can regularly snag rooms there for ~$100/night.

The nicest hotel we've stayed at in Anaheim is the Hyatt (although its theming obviously doesn't compare with the GCH). We paid ~$100/night for that, too, and received a free upgrade to a suite. The downside is that it's just outside of a reasonable walking distance, so I doubt we'll stay there again.

My sole criterion for Disneyland hotels is whether they're walking distance or not walking distance--not whether they're off-site or on-site.

We've done GCH and I would not say it offered good value for money. We'll probably do Disneyland Hotel for a couple of nights at some point, too, but I similarly expect it to be poor value for money.

 

[lazyboy97o]

That crap is so dumb. If regular guests without FP+ lose the option of skipping that through that short line, I will be so sad. Of all the attractions that didnt need an interactive queue (as well as Pirates). I honestly don't mind a decent portion of the Next Gen stuff, but I will never ever be sold on FP+.

The "skip" is is the FastPass+ line, despite what fans of the gimmicks have said. That's why the interactive stuff was added, because The Haunted Mansion is expected to be one of those attractions where more crowds will be shifted towards with MyMagic+ and the Stand By line will slow down and grow.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

The "skip" is is the FastPass+ line, despite what fans of the gimmicks have said. That's why the interactive stuff was added, because The Haunted Mansion is expected to be one of those attractions where more crowds will be shifted towards with MyMagic+ and the Stand By line will slow down and grow.

... but it doesn't even NEED it. The longest I waited in line for HM was 10 minutes- and that was the smack middle of the afternoon, on a weekend. On Mother's Day, no less.

The interactive que is cute, for sure, but after seeing it once you're kinda done and over it.

 

[tracyandalex]

I understand and appreciate the skepticism of anyone when talking about TDO. But I also can't help but feel that many fans aren't excited by the size and scope of these changes.

If WDW was not such a stale product, then I might understand that 'tude. But considering the lack of major changes at the parks, I don't get it.

Amen!! We are super excited. I will even give them the 5 years to complete it (yes I know this is waay too long) if it's awesome!

 

[Funmeister]

I love the analogy, even if most WDW guests can't fit into Abercrombie clothing (yep, even with their beloved baked buns gone from MSUSA). I've said it many times, but there is a strong mental illness component in the fan community (much like the social media/Disney Lifestyle contingent) and people absolutely feel better and more special when they can associate themselves with TWDC.

Spirited aside: I finally joined D23 because they finally priced it at what I felt it was worth.

Spirited anecdote: a friend recently asked for advice for his first visit to DLR. I almost choked (no Spurs jokes, please) when I heard he wanted to stay at the DLH and what it would cost. I explained how he could likely save well over $1000 on a four night stay by opting for a non-Disney choice. But said friend, who I will bet you anything winds up at the DLH, asked what the 'emotional value' was of spending his first visit on property. This is the mentality that Disney goes for. Intelligent people acting like they are under the influence.

Tell him to go to WDW and go use Disney transportation to/from Downtown Disney (DS) to/from All Star Resort and see how "emotional" he will be!

 

[bubbles1812]

The "skip" is is the FastPass+ line, despite what fans of the gimmicks have said. That's why the interactive stuff was added, because The Haunted Mansion is expected to be one of those attractions where more crowds will be shifted towards with MyMagic+ and the Stand By line will slow down and grow.

I know But I will be certainly sad if/when it happens. I don't think I've ever waited more than 15, maybe 20 minutes for HM in my life. Have I told you how much I dislike FP+?

 

[71jason]

... but it doesn't even NEED it. The longest I waited in line for HM was 10 minutes- and that was the smack middle of the afternoon, on a weekend. On Mother's Day, no less.

That's kind of LazyBoy's point. There are no lines now--there likely will be once the new system is implemented. The act of adding Fastpass Plus will likely result in the ride routinely having longer lines; the cutsey interactive stuff (which as of now I see 90% of guests skip) was added as a preemptive measure for when that happens.

 

[tracyandalex]

The MM+ app was updated yesterday I believe so that now we can add our new passes. I went on and added ours and this is what happened:

I just added out tickets on the app and we have a blue magic card, a black magic card, and one that just says card. Two of the 3 have numbers that I did not enter (only my number is correct)! When I choose one it says this band is activated and asks if I want to deactivate or report the band as lost.
When I choose the Manage Friends MagicBands, both DH and DD have all 3 of ours listed under them (2 blue MagicCards and 1 black MagicCard). On these screens only that person's number is correct of the 3 that are listed. This is really confusing! It looks like it will let me deactivate the incorrect numbers, but I do not want to do this because I have no idea what the consequences will be.
Wow, I have my sister added as a friend (she does not have a MM+ account) and it looks like it will let me deactivate hers too! I have no idea if that is even her real card number though.

EDIT: BTW we don't have bands so . . .

 

[Fractal514]

... but it doesn't even NEED it. The longest I waited in line for HM was 10 minutes- and that was the smack middle of the afternoon, on a weekend. On Mother's Day, no less.

The interactive que is cute, for sure, but after seeing it once you're kinda done and over it.

The fact that the line is so short is precisely why Disney wants to add FP+ to it. Most guests would consider the Haunted Mansion a "must do" therefore they are likely to schedule a time to do it, not realizing they probably don't need to do so.

Also, while the interactive queue might be one and done for your, it holds a lot of repeat value for kids and some adults.

Both points might not benefit you, but then again Disney probably isn't trying to attract you, or me, or any one specific person, but rather, the largest common denominator.

 

[Lee]

The MM+ app was updated yesterday I believe so that now we can add our new passes. I went on and added ours and this is what happened:

Nice...
Good to know they finally got all the kinks worked out.

 

[Goofyernmost]

That's kind of LazyBoy's point. There are no lines now--there likely will be once the new system is implemented. The act of adding Fastpass Plus will likely result in the ride routinely having longer lines; the cutsey interactive stuff (which as of now I see 90% of guests skip) was added as a preemptive measure for when that happens.

Wouldn't one line or the other not really matter? It still consumes the total amount of bodies that it always did and if everybody was getting in in less then 15 minutes before...what would be different? The difference between FP+ and standby ends at the door. It takes in a lot of people all at once. It's not like others where they split up a few at a time. They all get in. The same way and I find this funny, are the fastpass lines for shows like Philharmagic or LMA. Really? One way or the other we are all going to get in for the show. The only thing that might be beneficial is better choice of location, but unless they relinquish the standard all the way to the end of the row the first in will get what is considered the worst seating. Ha!

 

[Nemo14]

Wouldn't one line or the other not really matter? It still consumes the total amount of bodies that it always did and if everybody was getting in in less then 15 minutes before...what would be different? The difference between FP+ and standby ends at the door. It takes in a lot of people all at once. It's not like others where they split up a few at a time. They all get in. The same way and I find this funny, are the fastpass lines for shows like Philharmagic or LMA. Really? One way or the other we are all going to get in for the show. The only thing that might be beneficial is better choice of location, but unless they relinquish the standard all the way to the end of the row the first in will get what is considered the worst seating. Ha!

No, they'll sit down in the middle anyway!

 

[tracyandalex]

Nice...
Good to know they finally got all the kinks worked out.

That was my thought the whole time I was messing with it. I'm afraid to even open it now, I don't want to accidentally cancel someone's anything!

 

[Funmeister]

I understand and appreciate the skepticism of anyone when talking about TDO. But I also can't help but feel that many fans aren't excited by the size and scope of these changes.

If WDW was not such a stale product, then I might understand that 'tude. But considering the lack of major changes at the parks, I don't get it.

I think feelings would be different if they made an announcement with projects of this scale for not only the Studios but Epcot and DAK (beyond or in replacement of Avatar).

The entire resort is stale including the new Fantasyland. New Test Track...it is ok but not something on the scale of Springfield, Transformers or HP2.0.

I'll never forget working on impact studies for PI that contributed to part of the ultimate closure of the clubs. They measured the value of the square footage per club and then compared that to the revenue generated by food and merchandise locations near by. That is the very basic model but it was more complex than that. I was not involved with the direct numbers but involved in other ways. There was such momentum from the opening of West Side that there was supposed to be a pretty quick transformation of PI to help the entire DD complex flow. This was part of building the bridge under the bridge by PH. Only to close it then open it then close it again. I am not aware of what the exact themeing or plans were at that time but I do know they were looking to move quick... Then it sat and sat and sat with finally DS.

Point of bringing up this story is sometimes doing something...ANYTHING...is better than nothing. The temporary Diana exhibit in the old Virgin spot was brilliant. Did it appeal to majority of guests? No probably not. I can say it did bring people in and gave the area a little bit of energy versus an abandoned building sitting there.

The parks may or may not be truly stagnate by various definitions of posters here. For instance some may see that FW at EC is booming with activity because all of the pavilions are open for business. I see it as giant geographical head stones of creativity and wonderment that used to be. Even Seas with the Nemo layover is a shell (no pun intended) of what it used to be. Take Soarin' away and what do you have? LESS than what you had before Soarin'!

I think for people to get truly excited would be the Studios expansion, an overhaul of Future World (Project Gemini? or Discovery World?) plus a country enhancement (added attraction NOT a restaurant or shop) and DAK needs another land or country such as South America or Australia (both were once seriously under consideration per Bob Lamb 1999) in addition to Avatar.

Most important....I am going to call BS on the "pride ourselves on service" line until they upgrade the transportation infrastructure when it takes guests sometimes hours to get from one place to another. How is that service? The longer guests are on benches waiting for buses, watercraft or monorails the longer they are not spending $$ on food, merchandise or how about being in a great mood experiencing the shows and attractions they already paid for but have yet to receive....anything.

 

[Yensid1974]

I understand and appreciate the skepticism of anyone when talking about TDO. But I also can't help but feel that many fans aren't excited by the size and scope of these changes.

If WDW was not such a stale product, then I might understand that 'tude. But considering the lack of major changes at the parks, I don't get it.

I'm excited! As long as they don't blow it again.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'm excited! As long as they don't blow it again.

Dont Worry, I'm sure they'll blow the whole neighborhood again.

Make sure to give that neighbor what for.

:lookaroun