Spirited Spring Break News, Observations & Thoughts ...

[wdisney9000]

In his defense, he says he lives in Southern California. In SoCal, you are what you drive, especially if you are a man. Personally I thought it was brave of him to even admit that there was a minivan in the family. I value his diversity.

LMAO. My brother has a pretty sweet Toyota minivan and is very proud of it. I pull up next to him in my GMC Yukon and crack all the soccer mom/pink panty wearing jokes I can think of. He breaks out the mpg argument, and rightfully so, he kills me in that area. "Flex Fuel" is a bigger scam than MM+. smh

 

[MichWolv]

Sometimes it's very hard to read this forums and see the same groups of people going to WDW -who don't live in Florida- every couple of months, several times a year. What kind of jobs do you guys have where you can afford this? Or, as I suspect in several cases, what kind of job does your husband have?

I'm an accountant. I don't have a husband, just a wife. She's also an accountant.

 

[MichWolv]

We just use our tax return every year. Paid in full!

Your savings plan is to give an interest-free loan to the US government? On behalf of all taxpayers, thank you!

 

[sporadic]

Your savings plan is to give an interest-free loan to the US government? On behalf of all taxpayers, thank you!

My salary comes from taxpayers so I'm good with it We live comfortable and debt free. That's how us middle-class peoples roll!

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I posted this on the last spirited thread, but I just learned his next project is "Dream BIG: The Lou Mongello Story".

 

[Stevek]

In his defense, he says he lives in Southern California. In SoCal, you are what you drive, especially if you are a man. Personally I thought it was brave of him to even admit that there was a minivan in the family. I value his diversity.

When you are a 47 year old father of 2 girls, what you drive no longer matters. It's all about functionality and with my everyday car, being economical.

 

[Stevek]

I posted this on the last spirited thread, but I just learned his next project is "Dream BIG: The Lou Mongello Story".

The title has recently changed to "Have Faith: The Mongello Story or how to travel the world on Disney's dime"

 

[Cesar R M]

So, fanbois basically operate the same way as the Piers Morgan show

or Bill O'Reilly and others?

OK how does ANYONE keep up with these threads! lol. There should be crib notes ever 5-8 pages.

there are other threads that are way worse lol.

 

[Cesar R M]

I think you're at least on the right track. When it's all going on the VISA card anyway, people tend to spend more freely, and it is easier to fall into the trap of overpaying for accommodations ($500 rooms). If you pay cash for a vacation, you are obviously limited and can't spend more than you have (so they formerly stayed over at the All-Stars for closer to $100).

I suspect there are some other factors at play as well. For one thing, many guests who could afford a $500 room have realized they're being grossly overcharged at Walt Disney World for resorts which just aren't worth the prices charged. They've since migrated off-site (or to lower WDW resort tiers), and a decrease in the numbers of higher socioeconomic level (and perhaps better dressed) guests mean the so-called Wal-mart crowd gets noticed more. People who know what a $500 resort should look like aren't enamored with the Polynesian anymore.

Of course, many families who once stayed in a Disney deluxe resort now stay in a DVC resort instead. I don't understand the wisdom of moving some of your most freely spending customers out of your highest-priced resorts and into timeshares

maybe the reason for that is... by having them purchase DVC, they ENSURE and SECURE that they will AT LEAST ATTEND or make other people attend Disney World?
Ie, the resorts might be a "he might return, he might not".. but with DVC its a "They either visit, pay the maintenance, rent their points OR lose their points" mindset.

 

[Fe Maiden]

In his defense, he says he lives in Southern California. In SoCal, you are what you drive, especially if you are a man. Personally I thought it was brave of him to even admit that there was a minivan in the family. I value his diversity.

I actually considered this when posting which is why I went easy on him. I know the car culture is a lot different in SoCal than where I am in the suburbs of Philly.

That being said, my wife and I looked at and climbed into almost every 3rd row SUV at the Philly Car Show to see if there was an acceptable alternative. I'd imagine a coffin is roomier.

 

[WDW1974]

Ah, the weekend has arrived. ... What did I miss? ... Are the UNI fanbois still whining because you can't make even the slighest criticism of those parks? ... Did Disney raise the price of a Coke to $5.25 yet to cover for NGE shortcomings (yes, folks, Tom Staggs lies ... this is surprising to anyone?)? How is Gary Buchanan doing with all those drunk Mommies alone at DLR sans the Daddies and the Brats? Anyone find a Captain America merchandise section at the Emporium? ... C'mon, it's the weekend ... let's have some fuuuuuuuunnnnn!!!

 

[WDW1974]

I'll give you half and half on this one. The very nature of the often times wildly off-topic, inciting and emotionally charged call outs of a Spirited thread certainly meets the criteria. You are very, very, very good at it though, and that's what keeps butts glued to the screens.

It's easy to create an emotionally charged thread and to wind people up, but it's a different sort of skill to have some of the masses prevent one from being chased off or burned at the stake, which merely mortal trolls tend to fall into.

How about this, you are a master manipulator for getting your way - which is discussion (and maybe page views).

I find that partly true and partly insulting.

I guess that's because I hate manipulators in life and I have a fair share of them on a weekly basis. It's a very negative trait.

I'm not looking to manipulate anything beyond getting people to think and open their minds and, perhaps, look at a situation in a way they wouldn't have before.

I've said my piece on page views many times, but I'll say it again. I don't profit from them, the site does. Do I want people to read what I write? Of course, who wouldn't? If you feel your words have merit, then you want eyes to gaze upon them. And if you don't, then you shouldn't be posting them to start with!

 

[WDW1974]

It was wisely pulled from the MK, Epcot, and DAK because it doesn't belong there. I've heard it's been reduced in the Studios to avoid leading Guests to ask where the Marvel attractions are...(Hint: at Universal). That leaves DTD.

That is what I have long suspected. If you are traveling to Orlando and not an expert on what parks have what rides, let alone what IP, I can see folks wondering why they can buy Spidey, Hulk and Iron Man toys at the MK, yet there are no attractions.

I just recall how fast they moved the stuff in. When I was living in HK in 2010, I was shocked to walk into the Storybook Shop at HKDL and find an entire section of Marvel items ... in HK ... in Fantasyland.

 

[WDW1974]

Is there any plans for a Marvel store in the revamped DS? Seems to me to be a no brainer and I don't see how it would be a violation of the agreement with Universal if it was just a store selling merchandise.

I dunno. They are already loaded with the stuff at places like D Street.

I do wonder how so many of their 'special' tenants will be. I was talking to a friend about Shake Shack opening there (recently tried it on SoBe for the first time, excellent burgers, lousy fries, overpriced) and I get the idea many places will get that Disney 'overrated' popularity that Earl of Sandwich gets.

 

[WDW1974]

As usual it descended into a food fight between the twitter and the magic. Though it started with so much potential.

Never thought I would see poor EE thrown under the bus though.

EE isn't being thrown under any bus. He's a friend and I would go to battle for him. But he IS a Lifestyler. Tweeting about Disney 28 hours a day, blogging about it and appearing on podcasts tell the tale. He says he doesn't want to be one and I believe that he believes that. I don't believe it is reality. And finding what he thinks is a niche, history of WDW, really isn't as folks like Michael Crawford and that Passport to Dreams dude have been doing that for years. But nice of you to try and stir things up, JT.

Just like your cheap shot post that disappeared ...

 

[WDW1974]

''If you're coasting, it means you are going downhill.''-- Walt Disney.

Just quoted by 'Crazy' Gary Buchanan of The Disney Parks Blog at the giant Mommy Bloggers Whorefest at the DLR.
Does he even get the irony in that?

 

[WDW1974]

Was this line about 7DMT being "the first Disney ride you can walk all the way around" from an official Disney source? A blogger? Who exactly said such an idiotic thing? Anyone have a link to where that started?

And yeah, Matterhorn has been an easy walk-around ride since 1959. In Anaheim there's also two Carousels that qualify, plus Dumbo, Teacups, Astrojets, Grizzly River Run, Jumpin' Jellyfish, and Silly Symphony Swings (on the lower level boardwalk).

I'm pretty sure it was in the WDW AP Mickey Monitor (their quarterly newsletter), if I remember correctly. I saw the PDF - I'm sure the neighbors thought I was having a tea party on the ceiling.

Yes. That is exactly where it came from. How stupid can you be, really? Just think of the freaking carousel and go no further ...

 

[TP2000]

Just quoted by 'Crazy' Gary Buchanan of The Disney Parks Blog at the giant Mommy Bloggers Whorefest at the DLR.
Does he even get the irony in that?

Probably not.

What I don't get is why Tom Staggs would host the Mommy Bloggers conference at Disneyland, flying moms and their families in from around the country for four days of events at Disneyland and DCA. Don't they know Disneyland is just a little locals-only park with a very small castle? Oh, wait...

 

[RSoxNo1]

That's the main reason I am suggesting a pathway from RNR to Animation Courtyard. When F! lets out, everyone goes stright down Sunset Blvd and it is massively crowded. Having an alternative pathway where you can go to RNR and go around would be nice for crowd control.

Of course, it would probably be most helpful to have a direct exit gate from F! straight out of the park. Given it's location, it would be easy enough to do and you could place a small part time merch shop there to entice people as they leave since they aren't going out the main entrance.

Also, I think youmisunderstood what I was saying. I was not saying that DHS needs more crowds, I was saying that DHS already is crowded (despite being the least attended park at WDW) because of the small footprint and lack of pathways in the park. The layout is a mess, so I hope that when/if they do a large scale refurb and additions that they will address the park flow. If they build a Star Wars expansion and don't improve the layout, it will be chaos with the increased crowds that will come.

I'm on board with a connection between RNRC and Animation Courtyard. I know this area is pretty E-ticket heavy, but it also could provide access to other areas. In theory you could retheme the Animation Courtyard to something like Production Central and have it be movies and television production, then RNRC would fit in thematically moreso than it does on Sunset Boulevard.

 

[WDW1974]

These are how people are paying for those $500/night rooms who don't have a lot of money to begin with and are vacationing at WDW.

There is no "saving" or "putting aside" or "vacation funding" for anyone who is middle-lower class (can we get a new name for this? I really hate the term "poor", even if it's so suiting for a great deal of us) and people are doing what they can to live, and trying to "live a little" with a vacation. Sad fact, but true. Unfortunately there is an all-American mindset of keeping up with the Joneses and making sure their young children get to WDW every year because they want their kids to have a happy childhood, nevermind Mom and Dad never being home because they're always at work and there's a lot of stress and tension in the household because of bills and lack of money. People want the best for their kids. It's become ingrained and beaten into our heads that above all else, the kids have to have everything they want. Including vacations, money and affording it be damned.

Sometimes it's very hard to read this forums and see the same groups of people going to WDW -who don't live in Florida- every couple of months, several times a year. What kind of jobs do you guys have where you can afford this? Or, as I suspect in several cases, what kind of job does your husband have?

And of course, this is all IMHO. But FWIW, that's my take on your statement, @WDW1974

Gotta disagree with the blaming it all on credit. You may have been able to say so a decade ago, but the credit market dried up in 2008. Many folks with excellent credit saw it taken away or reduced considerably. I know people who had $50K lines reduced to $5K and those with $5K reduced to $500. Things have opened up slightly since then, but you'll never convince me that the Walmart shoppers I see spending $500 a night have AmEx Black cards (or even regular AmEx Cards because many don't).

Again, I'm quite convinced that all those government jobs (funny how so many people who rip the big government have no problems taking paychecks from it), most in the defense sector have allowed many very poor folks to suddenly be able to pay $500 a night (they're still rubes so they don't know better).

It isn't people simply using credit cards. It isn't 1994 or 2004. Many don't have them, have maxed them out or don't use them.