Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[Taylor]

If this doesn't get Disney's Donald Duck tail feathers in the fire then nothing will. I hope that this the start of the biggest theme park war in the history of theme parks.

 

[englanddg]

If this doesn't get Disney's Donald Duck tail feathers in the fire then nothing will. I hope that this the start of the biggest theme park war in the history of theme parks.

Disney will respond by allowing you to book your Summit Plummit FastPass+ 60 days out at 3p on an August weekday during hurricane season. (anyone remotely familiar with standard FL weather will get that...CA execs from Disney who seem to be making these decisions, won't)...

 

[Calvin Coolidge]

Well, last year when I stayed at Royal Pacific, they had the Water Taxi (which rarely ran due to weather, and was problematic), the hotel shuttle bus (which we never took, but they did offer due to weather...though, only through a sign after you walked all the way down to the Water Taxi to find out it was out of service), the walkway (which we did most days) and Rickshaws (which were a ton of fun!) along the walkway which were tip only.

Those water taxis are a mess. It shouldn't take longer to wait for a water taxi than it does to walk that path. Not a fan of the guessing game of how long it'll take. When I stayed at Royal Pacific we waited longer in that line than any other at Universal. (It was water taxis, then Despicable Me, then Poseidon's Fury. Nothing else longer than 25 minutes or so)

 

[Calvin Coolidge]

I wonder what kind of park it will be. Not animals, I don't think. That's been done twice now. Not marine life. Sea World is all over that.

So...what? Giant water park, maybe? Another theme park?

Uni is so exciting these days. All this cool, new stuff. Woo Hoo!

I'm expecting an assortment of franchises, grouped around nothing in particular. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Still holding on to some hope that one of them is Amity, but not expecting much there.

 

[misterID]

I wonder what kind of park it will be. Not animals, I don't think. That's been done twice now. Not marine life. Sea World is all over that.

So...what? Giant water park, maybe? Another theme park?

Uni is so exciting these days. All this cool, new stuff. Woo Hoo!

I'm wondering if they have the guts to have their own princess castle (Fiona) like their Asian counterparts. There's only one reason to do it, really, and that's to give the finger to WDW.

I'm really interested in their future resorts - That could be the game changer.

 

[englanddg]

Those water taxis are a mess. It shouldn't take longer to wait for a water taxi than it does to walk that path. Not a fan of the guessing game of how long it'll take. When I stayed at Royal Pacific we waited longer in that line than any other at Universal. (It was water taxis, then Despicable Me, then Poseidon's Fury. Nothing else longer than 25 minutes or so)

Yeah, in a 3 day stay, I think I saw them running a few times, we only used them once. The Rickshaws were fun though, even though I had to pay! With a slightly older kid than 7, the walk was fun too, and quite pretty. We did the walk several times and enjoyed it...but many days we (I) just decided to take the Rickshaw.

 

[Turtle]

I saw on Twitter that Epcot guests are receiving surveys about which Future World attraction needs an update the most. Could this be a possible Imagination/Eo or Soarin' re-do?

And on a side note about surveys, my brother went to DAK two weeks ago and received a similar survey

 

[Taylor]

I don't mean to be the downer here but, there will be a time when Comcast will get tired of spending this much money on theme parks and in this day and age might be sooner then what'd we like it to be. So I say we enjoy this building hike while we can

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'm wondering if they have the guts to have their own princess castle (Fiona) like their Asian counterparts. There's only one reason to do it, really, and that's to give the finger to WDW.

I would go to this castle and give my finger salute to WDW, too! If they build one, I vote we arrange a group salute! LOL!

 

[englanddg]

It's easy to hate on Disney.

 

[englanddg]

Why is it so easy to hate on Disney?

 

[englanddg]

I would go to this castle and give my finger salute to WDW, too! If they build one, I vote we arrange a group salute! LOL!

And yet, a few years ago (and I loved your trip reports) you loved it!

 

[misterID]

I saw on Twitter that Epcot guests are receiving surveys about which Future World attraction needs an update the most. Could this be a possible Imagination/Eo or Soarin' re-do?

And on a side note about surveys, my brother went to DAK two weeks ago and received a similar survey

These surveys used to get me excited, but nothing ever happens with them. I remember that there was a survey people were given after they got off Imagination about their thoughts on the ride. From what I remember, they weren't exactly glowing, and STILL nothing has happened at that place.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

And yet, a few years ago (and I loved your trip reports) you loved it!

Tis true. We all have our revelations in life. I grew weary of the work of it all. Got tired of going thru so much year after year to plan the trips, spend obscene amounts of money, all to have a declining overall experience. But I am evil incarnate because I don't drop everything & run back with open arms to entertain others. I've started working on my cackle. Might as well play the part right.

 

[crispy]

I saw on Twitter that Epcot guests are receiving surveys about which Future World attraction needs an update the most. Could this be a possible Imagination/Eo or Soarin' re-do?

And on a side note about surveys, my brother went to DAK two weeks ago and received a similar survey

This is good news only if they are looking for honest feedback. We stayed at AoA in the Little Mermaid rooms within the first week of opening last October. They had cast members taking surveys of guests who were checking out. The only problem was that the survey was set-up in such a way that real feedback wasn't possible. We actually had a great stay, but there were a few areas that needed improvement and/or tweaking and there was no way to mention it on the survey. For example, our room keys didn't work properly the first couple of days and they had to be replaced eventually. There was nowhere to mention this type of feedback. There were a couple of other small things I would have liked to have mentioned, but couldn't because of the way the survey was structured.

All that to say, I wouldn't be surprised if the survey is set-up to tell them exactly what they want to hear - and who knows what that is.

 

[TowerOfTerror]

I don't know if anyone's heard, but Universal just got a big chunk of land by Wet N Wild:

http://www.parkscope.net/2013/06/universal-acquires-wet-and-wild-in-full.html

@WDW1974 was right, a third park is coming (at least it's likely in that area)

That area is way to small to fit a park in there. They still would need to acquire the rest of the properties to the east of the Wet N Wild parking lot to have the sufficient space to put a park there. The easiest way to obtain the most land for Universal would be to buy Festival Bay and the rest of the land to the west of it or the Lockheed Martin site.

If anything comes out of this deal, I would imagine Universal would rebrand Wet N Wild to a Universal themed property now that they own the land. It would be a true competitor with Aquatica or Disney's water parks if that happened.

 

[Taylor]

That area is way to small to fit a park in there. They still would need to acquire the rest of the properties to the east of the Wet N Wild parking lot to have the sufficient space to put a park there. The easiest way to obtain the most land for Universal would be to buy Festival Bay and the rest of the land to the west of it or the Lockheed Martin site.

If anything comes out of this deal, I would imagine Universal would rebrand Wet N Wild to a Universal themed property now that they own the land. It would be a true competitor with Aquatica or Disney's water parks if that happened.

Maybe it might force Disney to actually put something NEW in there waterparks

 

[englanddg]

These surveys used to get me excited, but nothing ever happens with them. I remember that there was a survey people were given after they got off Imagination about their thoughts on the ride. From what I remember, they weren't exactly glowing, and STILL nothing has happened at that place.

I have yet to be asked for a survey at WDW...

While at DLC, we were asked 3 times before we hit the front gate...right before the park was about to close...

At WDW, I'd be more than happy to give my last minute daily thoughts...

At DLC, go away disruption men. Almost as bad as DVC salesmen...

As someone into IT, or rather the application of it, I did note they started with your email...

And, to me, it was downhill from there...though I did give honest answers.

 

[misterID]

Tis true. We all have our revelations in life. I grew weary of the work of it all. Got tired of going thru so much year after year to plan the trips, spend obscene amounts of money, all to have a declining overall experience. But I am evil incarnate because I don't drop everything & run back with open arms to entertain others. I've started working on my cackle. Might as well play the part right.

Disney fans should learn a lesson from Microsoft and Xbox fans. Loyalty shouldn't be another word for pushover.

 

[englanddg]

Maybe it might force Disney to actually put something NEW in there waterparks

I'm not sure the need to do something new there. The WPs are amazing.