The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[Mr. Sullivan]

Maybe the Disney Cruise Line is bad, actually.

I wouldn’t say this is a fault of DCL. These sorts of things (unfortunately) happen at large businesses/places of work all the time. They’re not even the first cruise line to see this happen.

It’s a sad reality that this stuff is happening, but it rarely if ever is a reflection of these people’s employers. These rings can and do develop anywhere that there’s a large staff of people.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

I'm staying far away from any cruises after the hantavirus story.

Please don’t get caught up in the media frenzy over this.

It was a small ship owned and operated by a small company and of the 190 something people aboard only 6 were infected.

Hantavirus is not new, we have known about it for over 40 years. It is not airborne, it dies very quickly in sunlight, and is incredibly difficult to transmit from person to person.

Hantavirus is a strain of Andesvirus, a kind of virus that is very common in South America (hence it’s name), and as such there is mountains and mountains of study and research on it. This cluster (because that’s what it is, it is NOT an outbreak which the media is incorrectly calling it) is quite typical of the virus. It has been demonstrated for years to appear in small clusters of people located in the same general area, meaning they were all likely exposed to the same source (and as such, almost certainly did not infect each other).

The odds of this happening on a Disney or Carnival or Royal Caribbean etc ship is very, very low. Not only that, but seeing as this is not new, it has ALWAYS been a possibility and yet has not happened on those vessels.

The lead here is this was a small, older ship run by a smaller company.

 

[mickEblu]

How have I never seen this before? LOL

 

[Parteecia]

Please don’t get caught up in the media frenzy over this.

It was a small ship owned and operated by a small company and of the 190 something people aboard only 6 were infected.

Hantavirus is not new, we have known about it for over 40 years. It is not airborne, it dies very quickly in sunlight, and is incredibly difficult to transmit from person to person.

Hantavirus is a strain of Andesvirus, a kind of virus that is very common in South America (hence it’s name), and as such there is mountains and mountains of study and research on it. This cluster (because that’s what it is, it is NOT an outbreak which the media is incorrectly calling it) is quite typical of the virus. It has been demonstrated for years to appear in small clusters of people located in the same general area, meaning they were all likely exposed to the same source (and as such, almost certainly did not infect each other).

The odds of this happening on a Disney or Carnival or Royal Caribbean etc ship is very, very low. Not only that, but seeing as this is not new, it has ALWAYS been a possibility and yet has not happened on those vessels.

The lead here is this was a small, older ship run by a smaller company.

Bio major, took epidemiology, understand all of that. It's about the bigger reminder of how illness can spread on ships and how I'd rather not vacation in a Petrie dish. My microbiology major friend is even more leery.

 

[PiratesMansion]

This was sort of inspired by talking to some actual DL CM friends and they were the ones who originally brought it up. They have no insider knowledge of anything or anything like that they just have noticed being present at work every day that year over year, it keeps having more and more issues.

And I mean we’ve kinda seen that from the outside two. It’s gone into unplanned emergency refurb twice in the last three years. If nothing else, it’s needs are becoming more frequent.

And so far Disney’s been committed to keeping it and doing the work with it. I just wonder if it’s starting to go into this pattern of issues springing up big enough to send it into unexpected refurb and the windows between planned refurbs seemingly getting shorter if there’s gonna be a time in the near future where they can’t patch it up anymore and have to make some decisions.

I don’t know, I’m not in the park as often as some of you are. I just thought it was interesting that some of my DL CM pals were commenting on it’s increasing maintenance needs and themselves wondering if it may be approaching its twilight years. It is after all essentially a prototype coaster and is one of the oldest steel coasters operating in the world (top 15 oldest for steel I think). I would not be shocked if it’s lifespan is hitting it’s final years. Like you said they’ve replaced what can be replaced, but what are they gonna do if and when it becomes something that can’t be replaced, or at least not without having to essentially rebuild it?

On one hand, there have definitely been some unplanned refurbs and closures that have just sprung up in the last few years.

But all it takes is for a few people to formulate and spread an idea and before you know it, that idea becomes common knowledge, even if it's not true, or not entirely true.

Given that it's a very old ride that has some comparative strikes against it (running every train through water each cycle, an older/more primitive structure and ride system than those coasters that followed, etc), it's only natural that it requires more maintenance. What is unclear to me is whether or not these refurbs are continually escalating in scope/need or if it just appears to be so because there's such a difference in documentation of things by fans then and now.

I suppose we're unlikely to get a definitive answer, but a lot of these Matterhorn assertions seem to me to be based on suppositions and received wisdom rather than definitive fact. Of course, I may well be in the minority at this point, as there have been several such suppositions over the past few years from several different posters.

 

[SuddenStorm]

How have I never seen this before? LOL

This is shortened and is missing some of the best jokes!

 

[StarWarsGirl]

How have I never seen this before? LOL

The problem is when the skipper said to reach out and give the croc a pat, some people would think they could actually try that on the ride today...

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Bio major, took epidemiology, understand all of that. It's about the bigger reminder of how illness can spread on ships and how I'd rather not vacation in a Petrie dish. My microbiology major friend is even more leery.

I have a known immunodeficiency which causes me to get upper respiratory infections more easily than others and get wayyy sicker. This is a major reason I don't go on cruises. Sure, I can and have gotten sick at both DL and WDW (although less frequently than you would think), but worst case scenario, if I have a bad asthma attack due to a virus (which have accounted for my ER trips lately due to asthma), I can easily get to an ER for treatment both places. Not the case on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

Between that and the sea sickness...yeah, no thanks. I'll stick to land. I do enjoy short day cruises on harbors with a sea band.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Apparently those pin people will no longer have a home? Phew.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Disneyland/s/rhsGnbPp4U

 

[Distorian]

I had a robin nesting on my windowsill for the past week. She had laid four eggs. This morning a crow came and took all of them. I hate crows and I hope every single crow dies.

 

[Parteecia]

I have a known immunodeficiency which causes me to get upper respiratory infections more easily than others and get wayyy sicker. This is a major reason I don't go on cruises. Sure, I can and have gotten sick at both DL and WDW (although less frequently than you would think), but worst case scenario, if I have a bad asthma attack due to a virus (which have accounted for my ER trips lately due to asthma), I can easily get to an ER for treatment both places. Not the case on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

Between that and the sea sickness...yeah, no thanks. I'll stick to land. I do enjoy short day cruises on harbors with a sea band.

As an immunosuppressed asthmatic I understand.

Looks like the Andes strain is a little more transmissible.

..."Consider the history of the Andes strain of the hantavirus. According to a paper in The New England Journal of Medicine, in 2018, a hantavirus outbreak with this strain — the same strain linked to the Hondius cruise — began in Epuyén, Argentina. It started after one infected person attended a birthday party with about 100 guests. He had a fever and was feeling tired, and he left after about an hour and a half. Five people who were in the room — but not necessarily all even sitting right next to him — later sickened.

One of those five partygoers most likely went on to infect six more people, including his spouse, and died 16 days after he became ill. During his wake, 10 more people became infected, from the spouse. It was about then that the public health authorities, realizing how dangerous the situation was, started enforcing strict quarantine measures. That seems to be how it finally died out."...
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/...le_code=1.iFA.vZSC.R-mVn7w_wBiP&smid=em-share

Oh and the CDC eliminated the program that tries to keep cruise ships healthy.

CDC's cruise ship inspectors laid off amid bad year for outbreaks

The steep cuts to the cruise ship inspection team baffled officials in the program, which is not paid for by taxpayer dollars.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[waltography]

Apparently those pin people will no longer have a home? Phew.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Disneyland/s/rhsGnbPp4U

The area across from Westward Ho still going to be a pin trading spot, but kids-only as part of Kids Rule Summer according to some flyers I've been seeing online. (Although I wouldn't be surprised if this was a soft launch/excuse to get rid of them permanently!)

 

[StarWarsGirl]

As an immunosuppressed asthmatic I understand.

I have something fairly uncommon (because of course I do) called IgA deficiency. There's no treatment for it, and it just means when they'd tell most people to let their body fight something off, I get hit with antibiotics (or when I had the flu, they didn't test; they just prescribed antivirals via telehealth). My immunologist lets me keep a doxycycline prescription on hand. A lot of times, if I'm starting, one dose is enough to just make it stop. Annoying and absolutely NOT what I would tell anyone else to do, but he's been treating me 20+ years, and when my rheumatologist picked up on it and we brought it to immunologist's attention, he was like "yeah, you don't take stuff unless you need it; here ya go." He told me he wants to retire in like three years; I'm like "you'd better train a replacement on me REALLY well."

I try not to worry too much. With COVID, it turned out that all the allergic asthmatics had BETTER outcomes than the general population with COVID. When I had it, I was prepared to nail it with steroids, nebulizer treatments...I needed NONE of it. My lungs were irritated, but never inflamed. For some reason, allergic asthmatics produce a coat on their lungs that protects from severe respiratory symptoms from COVID. Flu has always been 10x worse for me.

I think DL being primarily outside is helpful. WDW I seem to pick up more illnesses (that's where I got COVID in spite of masking and being fully vaccinated). DL...my last trip I got sick, but before that? I went in October 2024, people were coughing all around me, and I thought "great, I'm gonna get sick." Nope. I was shocked.

 

[mickEblu]

Ok Hauntavirus AND a Pedo sting? Maybe I should cancel that Disney Cruise I have booked.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Heading out west, uh, right now.

I asked a while back about airports. I ended up booking coming in via Ontario because the flight times worked better than LAX. Going out, I'm going via LAX, which was partially to mess with airline points. I am coming in via Southwest and out via United. I can get the lounge at LAX for United, but we don't have one at BWI, and I paid like $50 to get enough United points for that flight and had enough Southwest points for this flight. Only one bag on each, so no bag fees with credit cards. Also didn't feel like battling with LAX's Uber pickup to get in. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

FYI, this is a good option for anyone who may decide to go to DC from SoCal. This flight was under $200, and BWI is way easier than Dulles (Dulles I think is worse than LAX). Via BWI, you can take the bus to the MARC train (Amtrak station), which is $8 down to Union Station in DC, and then you can transfer to the metro, unless you decide to take Lyft (our traffic is WORSE than LA, though, so...plan accordingly) or you decide to stay in Maryland near a Metro station (Bethesda or Rockville are my two picks). Just be aware when bringing luggage that there's a step up onto the train. MARC has enough space for a large suitcase in certain rows. But the only flights that are non-stop here via Southwest are via Ontario and LAX, and then United via LAX. Seasonally, Southwest apparently goes via Long Beach non-stop. That would have been my pick if available, lol, but it wasn't sadly.

 

[Adventureland Veranda]

We flew from Boston to LAX for our last trip and had a great experience with American Airlines. Terminal 4 at LAX is currently ripped apart and is quite the maze! Logan is still the worst airport anywhere in the country, maybe on the planet. I'd use Manchester Airport in NH instead which is the complete opposite of Logan and stress-free, but sadly there are no nonstop flights to LA.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Logan is still the worst airport anywhere in the country, maybe on the planet.

Good lord, I agree on that one. I got there two hours before my flight and ended up running to my gate. Why? A bus broke down on the terminal loop and blocked all the traffic. Then they decided to close TSA precheck early for no reason, and I encountered the rudest TSA agent I've ever met. I had never been so happy in my life to see a Baltimore based Southwest crew after all the rudeness because we just don't do that.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Landed at like 4:15 local time. I give Ontario airport five stars. That was super easy. Probably about the size of Charleston International in SC I'd guess.

For those who need a reference, I'd say BWI is comparable to San Diego International in terms of size and passenger traffic.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Logan is still the worst airport anywhere in the country, maybe on the planet.

Dulles is also pretty bad, but I think in part because of the traffic around it and those stupid little vehicles that look like sand crawlers in Star Wars. Like, just put in the train like for every other terminal and be done...

BWI, in spite of being smaller, is the busiest airport in the region in terms of passenger traffic. Dulles is busier for International traffic.

But the employees there? Five stars, even TSA.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]