The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

The Florida Castle is a big, nice-looking fake castle that serves as a welcoming sight upon arrival. But as the day wears on, one discovers that it is mainly functioning as:

1) An overpriced character meal.
2) A backdrop for loud character stage shows.
3) The reason people are lining up DOWN THE CENTER OF MAIN STREET so they can get the “perfect photo” taken by a professional. I hate this! HAAAATE it!!!! (And I bet the Main St. vehicle drivers hate it too)
4) A huge, obnoxious roadblock between Fantasyland and Main Street that you often have to detour around (and it’s a loooooong detour) because of Point 2.

It took me less than one half-day to start resenting everything MK uses that huge fake castle for. Still looks pretty and surreal from a distance, though.

I will say the castle is awe inspiring upon first seeing it in person and the size/scale of the MK hub area in general is much more accommodating and accessible for fireworks viewing from a sheer accessibility perspective.

But I agree the scale at times does dwarf the surrounding area and with the absence of a walk through feels a bit like “all flash, no substance”.

 

[Rich T]

I will say the castle is awe inspiring upon first seeing it in person and the size/scale of the MK hub area in general is much more accommodating and accessible for fireworks viewing from a sheer accessibility perspective.

But I agree the scale at times does dwarf the surrounding area and with the absence of a walk through feels a bit like “all flash, no substance”.

The very pleasant, relaxed festival vibe of the hub area, especially in the morning and early afternoon, was a big surprise for me, and ended up being one of my favorite MK features.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I actually agree with this, wholeheartedly. Washington State doesn’t even have In-N-Out. Then there’s the western states and Canada. They deserve easier access, too.

I agree with your agreement.

As Raven has declared, so it shall be done. Bring thee to Washington state, then forward to BC.

If this is not complete within a timeline of 65 days, In-N-Out will thusly be cancelled.

 

[Brer Oswald]

I feel we are more deserving here on the West Coast of Canada than the east coast of the US... gimme gimme.

Eastern Canada too please

 

[Disney Analyst]

Eastern Canada too please

I will add you to the queue.

 

[PiratesMansion]

The Florida Castle is a big, nice-looking fake castle that serves as a welcoming sight upon arrival. But as the day wears on, one discovers that it is mainly functioning as:

1) An overpriced character meal.
2) A backdrop for loud character stage shows.
3) The reason people are lining up DOWN THE CENTER OF MAIN STREET so they can get the “perfect photo” taken by a professional. I hate this! HAAAATE it!!!! (And I bet the Main St. vehicle drivers hate it too)
4) A huge, obnoxious roadblock between Fantasyland and Main Street that you often have to detour around (and it’s a loooooong detour) because of Point 2.

It took me less than one half-day to start resenting everything MK uses that huge fake castle for. Still looks pretty and surreal from a distance, though.

In fairness, absolutely none of those flaws are the fault of WED or the original planners of WDW.

In terms of In-N-Out discourse: Tennessee seems like an odd choice for expansion. Not against it-more power to them, I suppose-but it's quite a haul from Texas, the next closest state with In-N-Out.

Eventually, we're going to get to the point where there's no such thing as regional fast food. While I'll appreciate being able to get food from places like Bojangles, Wawa, and Braum's in Illinois-maybe we'll even get a Buc-ee's within the next five years or so-there's a certain specialness that's lost when chains are everywhere.

But it all seems too easy. I want a chain to really stretch itself. None of this easy, slam-dunk-national-expansion nonsense. I want companies that want to do something daring. If they want to show some true chutzpah, they should put a Runza in the middle of Venice Beach-you know, the sort of move that would take REAL courage. DO IT, YOU FAST FOOD CORPORATE COWARDS!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Cinderella Castle’s murals are so beautiful, and charming, indeed. I did really enjoy looking out at the castle and admiring its structure.

I do agree that it feels like the castle is used to compensate for the lack of a bunch of other things (substance for sure).

 

[PiratesMansion]

At least Cinderella Castle doesn't look like a Fisher-Price playset from certain angles.

(Although the sheer amount of things in that castle make up for its looks a tad.)

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Yea but wdw still has Peoplemover and country bears

 

[Rich T]

Yea but wdw still has Peoplemover and country bears

And Carousel of Progress… which they need to take much better care of…

 

[Centauri Space Station]

And Carousel of Progress… which they need to take much better care of…

Fair but it’s still a must do to me

 

[Rich T]

At least Cinderella's Castle doesn't look like a Fisher-Price playset from certain angles.
View attachment 691420

(Although the sheer amount of things in that castle make up for its looks a tad.)

…and Hong Kong’s new castle looks like a transporter malfunction… or architectural sarcasm.

 

[SuddenStorm]

In-N-Out is expanding, and quite far, too.

In-N-Out Is Headed East After Years of Insisting It Wouldn’t

The California burger chain is opening a territory office outside of Nashville to oversee expansion.

www.eater.com

I know 5 families that have moved from California to Tennessee. I wonder if they aren't alone- and there's enough west coasters in Tennessee now to justify expanding there?

 

[Californian Elitist]

At least Cinderella Castle doesn't look like a Fisher-Price playset from certain angles.
View attachment 691420

(Although the sheer amount of things in that castle make up for its looks a tad.)

I’m so glad our castle is unique again.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I know 5 families that have moved from California to Tennessee. I wonder if they aren't alone- and there's enough west coasters in Tennessee now to justify expanding there?

I have no clue what their reasoning was. Could be a number of different reasons.

 

[Californian Elitist]

And Carousel of Progress… which they need to take much better care of…

Add PM in there as well. Very clunky, dirty, and just not maintained very well in general.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Add PM in there as well. Very clunky, dirty, and just not maintained very well in general.

You could extend this to most of the rides in WDW. Maintenance over there is not very good at the moment. It doesn’t detract from the rides being good, but it’s unfortunate knowing how much better they should be when you’re paying this premium price to ride them.

 

[Californian Elitist]

You could extend this to most of the rides in WDW. Maintenance over there is not very good at the moment. It doesn’t detract from the rides being good, but it’s unfortunate knowing how much better they should be when you’re paying this premium price to ride them.

I agree. The lack of maintenance is something I have heard continuously from folks here, but until you see it for yourself, you can’t really grasp how severe it is. I never saw a custodial CM once during my visit, for example, which I found strange. Maybe they were understaffed when I went.

It doesn’t help that I’m a previous CM and, therefore, things like random trash and maintenance issues stand out to me more. To be fair, it was one day, so maybe I caught things at a random bad time.

 

[Rich T]

I agree. The lack of maintenance is something I have heard continuously from folks here, but until you see it for yourself, you can’t really grasp how severe it is. I never saw a custodial CM once during my visit, for example, which I found strange. Maybe they were understaffed when I went.

It doesn’t help that I’m a previous CM and, therefore, things like random trash and maintenance issues stand out to me more. To be fair, it was one day, so maybe I caught things at a random bad time.

I was there several days a few months ago, and there were places where the “Magic” just vanished in grunge and neglect.

For me, the most sad, repulsive, and baffling thing was the entry experience to the TTC for anyone parking at MK…

I’m talking about the walkway underpass between parking and security— The Avenue of Chewed Gum. It’s not a good first impression. Or last impression at the end of the day.

Other lowlights were the condition of CoP, PeopleMover, Tomorrowland Speedway, Little Mermaid, Pirates, Small World, and ESPECIALLY Splash, which was the most dismal ride experience I think I’ve ever had at a Disney park.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I was there several days a few months ago, and there were places where the “Magic” just vanished in grunge and neglect.

For me, the most sad, repulsive, and baffling was the entry experience to the TTC for anyone parking at MK…

I’m talking about the walkway underpass between parking and security— The Avenue of Chewed Gum. It’s not a good first impression. Or last impression at the end of the day.

Other lowlights were the condition of CoP, PeopleMover, Tomorrowland Speedway, Little Mermaid, Pirates, Small World, and ESPECIALLY Splash, which was the most dismal ride experience I think I’ve ever had at a Disney park.

Yikes. I didn’t notice any nasty leftover gum during my visit. What I did notice, however, was trash. Lots of it.

Definitely agree with you about CoP, PM, and small world. I saw various static dolls in small world, and my boat was dirty. The static dolls bothered me more. Besides trash in the queue, I didn’t notice anything for Pirates. Mermaid was fine during my visit. Didn’t do Splash, but given ours is in pi$$ poor shape, I wouldn’t doubt MK’s is in bad shape, too.