The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[Parteecia]

In addition to people not feeling as safe and trusting people/ strangers candy less, there wasn’t a two month buildup to Halloween in the past. By the time Halloween evening arrived this year we already did Oogie Boogie, my sisters Halloween party and saw my son walk in his Halloween parade at school. So we were burnt out on Halloween and have bags of candy.

Traditional trick or treating going away isn’t something I’d really lament for my kids. I still have nightmares of the neighbor who used to give us raisins in a used toilet paper roll wrapped with tissue and rubber bands on the ends.

I loved trick or treating and now I love being on the other end.

Only 96 this year, one of my lowest ever. A few princesses, I think a bunch of video game characters, lots of make yourself gruesome, only one Marvel- a tiny Hulk. Not very much Disney at all. The most common bought costume was some kind of ¿scary rabbit?

I considered chasing down the kids who skipped my house but ethically I could not count those towards my total.

 

[mickEblu]

I loved trick or treating and now I love being on the other end.

Only 96 this year, one of my lowest ever. A few princesses, I think a bunch of video game characters, lots of make yourself gruesome, only one Marvel- a tiny Hulk. Not very much Disney at all. The most common bought costume was some kind of ¿scary rabbit?

I considered chasing down the kids who skipped my house but ethically I could not count those towards my total.

Haha. I’m sure where and when you grew up has a lot to do with it. It’s never really been great in my neck of the woods minus 2-3 good years. Very few people trick or treating and few houses participating.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Some neat IASW bts while it is closed:



(https:// vm.tiktok.com/ZMFDRCHph/)

Eta: found the video from the actual segment

Exclusive behind-the-scenes look at holiday preparations at Disneyland

When the Disneyland Resort transforms from one holiday season to the next, it seems like it happens overnight. It turns out, a lot of work is done to pull it off.

abc7.com

 

[drizgirl]

I loved trick or treating and now I love being on the other end.

Only 96 this year, one of my lowest ever. A few princesses, I think a bunch of video game characters, lots of make yourself gruesome, only one Marvel- a tiny Hulk. Not very much Disney at all. The most common bought costume was some kind of ¿scary rabbit?

I considered chasing down the kids who skipped my house but ethically I could not count those towards my total.

I thought we'd hit record numbers this year. Covid fears down and beautiful weather, sunny and 70. We had half the trick or treaters we normally do. No idea at all why. Damn them all for leaving me with so much candy!

 

[SuddenStorm]

I made it out to Disneyland for the second time this year about a week ago. Here's a few observations-

Nemo was in outstanding condition. Looks absolutely incredible, and is easily a 'must ride' in my book.

Splash honestly made my depressed (still rode it like 14 times ha- most of which by myself or single rider- my group is not in the 'die hard' Splash camp like I am).

Indiana Jones was also depressing. It's ridiculous to run an attraction where every single major effect is broken. And I hate that they got rid of the Eye on the Globe stuff in the preshow.

Between Splash and Indy, the show quality on some of these rides is the worst I've seen at Disneyland.

I noticed a lot of trash in the queues- it makes me wonder if custodial is severely short staffed.

Riverbelle terrace was mediocre and not worth it... And the interior needs work. I've never actually eaten at Riverbelle- both when it was cafeteria style or now when it's table service. The dining room felt like something was missing, and when I pulled up old photos on Daveland, sure enough there was this beautiful oval booth with a planter that had been removed.

Storybook land canal boat has had almost all of the grass throughout the attraction replaced with turf which is heartbreaking. Seems strange to remove the grass in areas that's actually part of the attraction- and it takes the charm level down considerably. I also noticed turf in planters that frankly don't need grass- like the raised planter outside the Pinocchio queue. It just seems like they took the easy way out, when integrating various flowers, shrubs, and different ground covers in some of these planters throughout the park would have been far more tasteful and appealing.

I remember reading that the new CM guidelines had restrictions on tattoo size- but the amount of full sleeves I saw makes me think that's not being enforced at all. I wouldn't care as much if the service quality was actually decent- but I continue to be amazed at how downright grumpy some of these cast members are. And some of the ones I noticed that do care don't have the proper service training to know how to execute. That said, I did have a few excellent interactions. And with mobile order I didn't really need to interact with very many cast members- but my goodness I asked for help locating a candy item once and the lady was not helpful at all and basically blew me off.

So if the service sucks, and the Disney look is all but gone, and the world renowned horticulture department has resorted to astro turf, and the maintenance is atrocious- what exactly is the Disney Difference?

 

[drizgirl]

So if the service sucks, and the Disney look is all but gone, and the world renowned horticulture department has resorted to astro turf, and the maintenance is atrocious- what exactly is the Disney Difference?

The price?

 

[DrAlice]

Re: Trick or Treating

I don't know about the rest of you, but illness is running rampant in my area. LOTS of people were stuck home sick this year. (Not Covid, but other respiratory viruses.) It's going to be an interesting cold/flu season.

Other than that, in our area, trick or treating is just as popular as ever.

 

[TP2000]

Trick Or Treat! I'm still recovering from an unexpectedly busy night!

This was the first time I'd ever spent Halloween at the old beach house in La Jolla, and I didn't know what to expect. According to the neighbors I talked to last week, we would get "quite a few", but I thought it surely couldn't compare to the hordes of kids and families I used to get in Villa Park.

I was wrong. Things started mellow and slow with all the littlest ones with mommy/daddy around 5pm, but by 6:30 the older kids were out in packs and they were coming fast and furious until 9pm! I nearly ran out of the several bags of candy I bought, thinking I'd have plenty left over to give me sugar highs through Christmas.

Cultural Observations of Halloween 2022 - Coastal San Diego County Edition

• Marvel & Superheros are HUGE! I lost count of the superheros by 7pm.
• Star Wars is dead and out of style. A complete 180 from seven or eight years ago.
• Princesses and cutesy things are still big with girls under 10
• Sports stars and horribly gory monsters are the go-to for the teen boys
• 1980's are big with kids. To a 12 year old, the 1980's must seem like Lost Ancient Rome.
• Perky mom chaperones in San Diego like to dress up as witches. Make of that what you will.

Funny Story: A group of junior high aged girls showed up at my door, except they were dressed as boys in dark suits with black wigs. I thought quickly "Uh... transgenders???" and I summoned the polite courage to ask what they were, while avoiding any use of pronouns. It turns out they were going as their favorite Korean pop boy band I've never heard of, whose name already escapes me, and I laughed at myself for thinking they were doing some transgender political statement. They got extra candy for being good sports and explaining the world to me.

 

[mickEblu]

Now I like this “popcorn bucket” a lot (although the Orange rims throw me off) but Disney if you’re going to make popcorn buckets that don’t even hold popcorn why can’t you give us nice high quality replicas of ride vehicles? Why do they have to come in the form of an ornament, popcorn bucket, Funko POP or Jim Shore piece with folksy patterns all over them?

 

[Practical Pig]

I almost never get any trick-or-treaters. I live at the end of a short, dead-end lane in a tiny subdivision of eight homes surrounded by redwood forest on three sides, and the entrance to the lane from the main road looks a lot like a private driveway, so we don't get foot traffic or vehicular through-traffic. It had been around a dozen years since the last time we'd had a trick-or-treaters, but I still bought a bag of candy every year just in case ... until last year when I decided not to bother. Sure enough, I had one duo of kids to disappoint.

So this year I bought the bag of candy ... annnd nothing.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Fantasmic! is back at WDW. New multi-IP sequence to replace the Pocohontas scene, some new lighting and choreography and re-recorded Mickey dialogue. The soundtrack is the same as 1998 (except for new scenes obviously). Dragon is also unchanged.

Full video of cast preview:

 

[mickEblu]

I made it out to Disneyland for the second time this year about a week ago. Here's a few observations-

Nemo was in outstanding condition. Looks absolutely incredible, and is easily a 'must ride' in my book.

Splash honestly made my depressed (still rode it like 14 times ha- most of which by myself or single rider- my group is not in the 'die hard' Splash camp like I am).

Indiana Jones was also depressing. It's ridiculous to run an attraction where every single major effect is broken. And I hate that they got rid of the Eye on the Globe stuff in the preshow.

Between Splash and Indy, the show quality on some of these rides is the worst I've seen at Disneyland.

I noticed a lot of trash in the queues- it makes me wonder if custodial is severely short staffed.

Riverbelle terrace was mediocre and not worth it... And the interior needs work. I've never actually eaten at Riverbelle- both when it was cafeteria style or now when it's table service. The dining room felt like something was missing, and when I pulled up old photos on Daveland, sure enough there was this beautiful oval booth with a planter that had been removed.

Storybook land canal boat has had almost all of the grass throughout the attraction replaced with turf which is heartbreaking. Seems strange to remove the grass in areas that's actually part of the attraction- and it takes the charm level down considerably. I also noticed turf in planters that frankly don't need grass- like the raised planter outside the Pinocchio queue. It just seems like they took the easy way out, when integrating various flowers, shrubs, and different ground covers in some of these planters throughout the park would have been far more tasteful and appealing.

I remember reading that the new CM guidelines had restrictions on tattoo size- but the amount of full sleeves I saw makes me think that's not being enforced at all. I wouldn't care as much if the service quality was actually decent- but I continue to be amazed at how downright grumpy some of these cast members are. And some of the ones I noticed that do care don't have the proper service training to know how to execute. That said, I did have a few excellent interactions. And with mobile order I didn't really need to interact with very many cast members- but my goodness I asked for help locating a candy item once and the lady was not helpful at all and basically blew me off.

So if the service sucks, and the Disney look is all but gone, and the world renowned horticulture department has resorted to astro turf, and the maintenance is atrocious- what exactly is the Disney Difference?

The news on Storybookland is heartbreaking. Last time I rode a couple months ago I thought cooler heads prevailed when I saw the grass around the little miniature houses was still real. It’s just so unnecessary. It’s not a lot of grass at all.

Yes I remember that planter/ booth. I believe it was still there when i ate there the first time after it transitioned from a quick service to table service restaurant. Undoubtedly they took it out to fit in two more tables for Operation Monetize Every Square Inch of the Park. Remember the planter photo shoots in the hub? Glad that didn’t last and that I never saw it in person.

Nemo and “Must Do” in the same sentence? You mean like once every 7 years? Hahah. Would you do it again if you came back to the park next month? Maybe it’s just nice to go on an attraction where everything is working especially after riding Indy and Splash.

 

[Nland316]

Fantasmic! is back at WDW. New multi-IP sequence to replace the Pocohontas scene, some new lighting and choreography and re-recorded Mickey dialogue. The soundtrack is the same as 1998 (except for new scenes obviously). Dragon is also unchanged.

Full video of cast preview:

Such a great update for the east coast version.

While ours is still good, it makes me miss our OG version! Definitely was the superior show. You can’t beat Peter Pan on the Columbia and the OG vocals/soundtrack. Everything now just seems too projection heavy/bright/visually cluttered.

I still am hoping one day they make some changes back!

 

[Practical Pig]

The news on Storybookland is heartbreaking. Last time I rode a couple months ago I thought cooler heads prevailed when I saw the grass around the little miniature houses was still real. It’s just so unnecessary. It’s not a lot of grass at all.

I agree. It's Disney passing off maintenance cost-cutting as environmental virtue. As long as the fountain shows are aerosolizing a gumpazillion gallons of water a year, the fake grass water savings here is a very small drop in a very large bucket.

Storybook Land was one of my highlights of childhood nostalgia.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Nemo and “Must Do” in the same sentence? You mean like once every 7 years? Hahah. Would you do it again if you came back to the park next month? Maybe it’s just nice to go on an attraction where everything is working especially after riding Indy and Splash.

I love the Nemo ride! It's the perfect amount of classic Disneyland for my taste. I'm sad I never got to ride the original subs, but I'll take what I can get. When I worked there I rode it a couple times a week for 3 months.

 

[mickEblu]

If anyone is planning to go to DL for MMRR’s opening day/ weekend, reservations just became available recently and are still available. Cautiously optimistic for the new fireworks show too. It’ll be nice to see some of the forgotten movies get some love.

 

[tcool123]

Fantasmic! is back at WDW. New multi-IP sequence to replace the Pocohontas scene, some new lighting and choreography and re-recorded Mickey dialogue. The soundtrack is the same as 1998 (except for new scenes obviously). Dragon is also unchanged.

Full video of cast preview:

It was a great time, I really enjoyed the show as it continues to be the best nighttime show in Orlando. Plus we didn’t have any broken effects that I could notice - Jafar’s eyes didnt light up but not sure if they’re supposed to still in the current iteration.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Fantasmic! is back at WDW. New multi-IP sequence to replace the Pocohontas scene, some new lighting and choreography and re-recorded Mickey dialogue. The soundtrack is the same as 1998 (except for new scenes obviously). Dragon is also unchanged.

Full video of cast preview:

So, Disney World has a better version of Fantasmic than Disneyland now. Mostly because the WDW show is more faithful to the '92 original than Disneyland's.

A lot of the WDW additions/alterations and the new stuff is bleh, but this version of the show actually knows how to build- whereas Disneyland's is at 100% from the get go.

Doing what they did to Fantasmic in 2017 is probably one of the biggest mistakes Disneyland entertainment has made, right behind getting rid of the MSEP for Light Magic.

 

[TP2000]

So this year I bought the bag of candy ... annnd nothing.

Eat it yourself! You deserve it!

I always overstock, and then snack on them when I need a sugar rush to prep the house for parties in November/December, or to wrap Christmas presents with.

But this year, the dang kids cleaned me out right at the stroke of 9pm. By 9pm I only had two Reese's left, so I turned out the lights and sheltered in place with my remaining supplies.

 

[drizgirl]

Trick Or Treat! I'm still recovering from an unexpectedly busy night!

This was the first time I'd ever spent Halloween at the old beach house in La Jolla, and I didn't know what to expect. According to the neighbors I talked to last week, we would get "quite a few", but I thought it surely couldn't compare to the hordes of kids and families I used to get in Villa Park.

I was wrong. Things started mellow and slow with all the littlest ones with mommy/daddy around 5pm, but by 6:30 the older kids were out in packs and they were coming fast and furious until 9pm! I nearly ran out of the several bags of candy I bought, thinking I'd have plenty left over to give me sugar highs through Christmas.

Cultural Observations of Halloween 2022 - Coastal San Diego County Edition

• Marvel & Superheros are HUGE! I lost count of the superheros by 7pm.
• Star Wars is dead and out of style. A complete 180 from seven or eight years ago.
• Princesses and cutesy things are still big with girls under 10
• Sports stars and horribly gory monsters are the go-to for the teen boys
• 1980's are big with kids. To a 12 year old, the 1980's must seem like Lost Ancient Rome.
• Perky mom chaperones in San Diego like to dress up as witches. Make of that what you will.

Funny Story: A group of junior high aged girls showed up at my door, except they were dressed as boys in dark suits with black wigs. I thought quickly "Uh... transgenders???" and I summoned the polite courage to ask what they were, while avoiding any use of pronouns. It turns out they were going as their favorite Korean pop boy band I've never heard of, whose name already escapes me, and I laughed at myself for thinking they were doing some transgender political statement. They got extra candy for being good sports and explaining the world to me.

They were likely dressed as BTS. That’s funny!