The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[Too Many Hats]

It’s helpful late afternoon (when the line is out the queue) or 2-3 hours after the park opens (when the interior queue is still walking in but pulsing is giving the out door line a 30 min wait.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this happen, though admittedly I try to steer clear of Adventureland when the park is super busy. But sure, I can see how a FP/LL/MP would be helpful when it’s that crowded.

Typically I find the wait for Indy significantly less than what is posted (if 45 minutes is posted, I’ll wait 15-20 — only half of which is outside), so anecdotally Multi-Pass seems like even less of a deal to me. But yeah if it’s actually, say, a 90 minute wait, I can see how skipping the outdoor queue would be worth it.

 

[TP2000]

Postal Thought....

I spent all afternoon and evening writing/addressing my Christmas cards to friends and family. I'm late this year with them, but I'm blaming it on Thanksgiving being late in November this year too. They'll go out in tomorrow's mail.

And as I'm putting the stamps on the cards tonight, I thought... Does Disneyland still have mailboxes in the park?

They always had them on Main Street attached to a few lamp posts. Plus at least one in Frontierland near the Cigar Store Indian Chief, one in New Orleans Square, etc. But my favorite, for no good reason, was the mod sky blue one in Tomorrowland just under the Skyway station near the Mod Hatter/Hatmosphere shop.

Are any of those still there? Do they even still sell postcards at Disneyland any more? Can you still buy a stamp at City Hall?

 

[SuddenStorm]

Postal Thought....

I spent all afternoon and evening writing/addressing my Christmas cards to friends and family. I'm late this year with them, but I'm blaming it on Thanksgiving being late in November this year too. They'll go out in tomorrow's mail.

And as I'm putting the stamps on the cards tonight, I thought... Does Disneyland still have mailboxes in the park?

They always had them on Main Street attached to a few lamp posts. Plus at least one in Frontierland near the Cigar Store Indian Chief, one in New Orleans Square, etc. But my favorite, for no good reason, was the mod sky blue one in Tomorrowland just under the Skyway station near the Mod Hatter/Hatmosphere shop.

Are any of those still there? Do they even still sell postcards at Disneyland any more? Can you still buy a stamp at City Hall?

Yes they do. And 5 years ago, I would mail postcards to my sister who lived out of state from them when I was working at the park. If only to rub it in that I was at Disneyland every day.

A few years ago I bought some awesome postcards from that art shop in Downtown Disney, they were old school Disneyland sketches. I think they still sell postcards at the 'newsstand' outdoor shop thing by the VIP tours but the selection is limited.

Who knows if they still sell stamps. They should. Fun off the wall stuff like that is what sets Disneyland apart.

 

[waltography]

Yes they do. And 5 years ago, I would mail postcards to my sister who lived out of state from them when I was working at the park. If only to rub it in that I was at Disneyland every day.

A few years ago I bought some awesome postcards from that art shop in Downtown Disney, they were old school Disneyland sketches. I think they still sell postcards at the 'newsstand' outdoor shop thing by the VIP tours but the selection is limited.

Who knows if they still sell stamps. They should. Fun off the wall stuff like that is what sets Disneyland apart.

When I was in Hong Kong earlier this year, I sent out postcards from World of Frozen as a cheap souvenir for folks at home. It was like maybe $5 a postcard (foiled artwork + free international postage), and Arendelle had a custom HK Post stamp you could only get by mailing in the park. Wish they'd do stuff like that more stateside.

 

[TP2000]

Yes they do. And 5 years ago, I would mail postcards to my sister who lived out of state from them when I was working at the park. If only to rub it in that I was at Disneyland every day.

A few years ago I bought some awesome postcards from that art shop in Downtown Disney, they were old school Disneyland sketches. I think they still sell postcards at the 'newsstand' outdoor shop thing by the VIP tours but the selection is limited.

Who knows if they still sell stamps. They should. Fun off the wall stuff like that is what sets Disneyland apart.

Oh, that's good to know that the mailboxes are still there!

Thinking about it more, I have purchased a few "postcard" type art prints in recent years at Wunderground Gallery (or whatever we're calling it now). But I was mainly thinking of those big revolving racks of postcards you used to see all the time at Disneyland, or any tourist place really. You rarely see these types of displays any more.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Oh, that's good to know that the mailboxes are still there!

Thinking about it more, I have purchased a few "postcard" type art prints in recent years at Wunderground Gallery (or whatever we're calling it now). But I was mainly thinking of those big revolving racks of postcards you used to see all the time at Disneyland, or any tourist place really. You rarely see these types of displays any more.

Disney really should bring those back. They're easy to manufacture, take up limited space, and offer a low cost souvenir. Even if they charged $3 each or something outrageous, it'd be awesome to get some modern Disneyland postcards.

I really should revive and continue expanding my vintage Disneyland postcard collection...

 

[SuddenStorm]

I've been thinking- I think this year has really shown us how deep the rot is at WDI.

We had hints of it- SWGE could have been better, Pixar Pier should have been better.

They've started really going nuts with nickle and dime price gouging. The new Lightning lane is ridiculous. Food is more expensive, lower quality, and smaller portions. Service at the resort is rock bottom. They continue to raise prices for admission.

And the parks posted their lowest profit in years, according to Forbes despite the increased upcharges. https://www.forbes.com/sites/caroli...-division-reports-lowest-profit-in-two-years/

This year with Tiana on both coasts and the Mansion gift shed, it feels like we're at a boiling point where more people are starting to be vocally critical of this stuff online. Something is going to have to change. My hope is that after the 70th, Disney starts to clean house and revamp their service across the resort. I want the 75th to be great.

 

[Phroobar]

I've been thinking- I think this year has really shown us how deep the rot is at WDI.

We had hints of it- SWGE could have been better, Pixar Pier should have been better.

They've started really going nuts with nickle and dime price gouging. The new Lightning lane is ridiculous. Food is more expensive, lower quality, and smaller portions. Service at the resort is rock bottom. They continue to raise prices for admission.

And the parks posted their lowest profit in years, according to Forbes despite the increased upcharges. https://www.forbes.com/sites/caroli...-division-reports-lowest-profit-in-two-years/

This year with Tiana on both coasts and the Mansion gift shed, it feels like we're at a boiling point where more people are starting to be vocally critical of this stuff online. Something is going to have to change. My hope is that after the 70th, Disney starts to clean house and revamp their service across the resort. I want the 75th to be great.

Why would they do that? They are making money except internationally. Domestic has to take up the slack. They think they are doing great. Nothing changes until there is creative leadership and that won't happen any time soon. It's the same old story we had for 25 years.

 

[Parteecia]

Disney really should bring those back. They're easy to manufacture, take up limited space, and offer a low cost souvenir. Even if they charged $3 each or something outrageous, it'd be awesome to get some modern Disneyland postcards.

I really should revive and continue expanding my vintage Disneyland postcard collection...

I've seen postcards at Off the Page but $3 isn't even close.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

I've been thinking- I think this year has really shown us how deep the rot is at WDI.

They've started really going nuts with nickle and dime price gouging. The new Lightning lane is ridiculous. Food is more expensive, lower quality, and smaller portions. Service at the resort is rock bottom. They continue to raise prices for admission.

And the parks posted their lowest profit in years, according to Forbes despite the increased upcharges. https://www.forbes.com/sites/caroli...-division-reports-lowest-profit-in-two-years/

WDI has nothing to do with any of that.

 

[Architectural Guinea Pig]

And the parks posted their lowest profit in years, according to Forbes despite the increased upcharges. https://www.forbes.com/sites/caroli...-division-reports-lowest-profit-in-two-years/

I would recommend not sourcing articles from Forbes on theme park entertainment. While they seem presentable and professional on the outside, all the articles are written by the same person (Caroline Reid), and their value is about the same as an ITM article. Their sources are pulled from YouTube comments with 5 likes, WDWmagic articles, and bits of financial evidence twisted and skewed to fit the article's narrative of how the theme park industry should be reduced and Disney should capitalize on its movie aspects. I'm frankly disgusted by many of the articles because the solutions proposed by the author are even worse than what Disney has done. This is the same person who suggested Splash Mountain should have been rethemed to Moana because it had water and the tree looked like a volcano. To cap it all off Forbes is branded as trustable and its articles are thoroughly quoted on different websites- that $142 "estimate" for TBA is quoted all around- ugh.

 

[SuddenStorm]

WDI has nothing to do with any of that.

Obviously that part of my comment was referring to Park Ops/TDA.

 

[mickEblu]

Looks like a new and improved Cheshire Cat is back outside Alice. Looking more vibrant and less fiber-glassy.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Looks like a new and improved Cheshire Cat is back outside Alice. Looking good and less fiber-glassy.

View attachment 829909

Does this mark two things they've done right this year? This and the Treehouse?

 

[Misted Compass]

Does this mark two things they've done right this year? This and the Treehouse?

Treehouse was last year, maybe you can count the Mansion queue instead

 

[mickEblu]

Does this mark two things they've done right this year? This and the Treehouse?

Ummm. I like the new loaded fries at Hungry Bear? lol.

Yeah that sounds about right. Unless you are able to view the HM queue as its own project and forget about the ugly shop and the likely destruction of the charming hitchhiking ghost effects.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Of note regarding the treehouse... I was out in Palm Springs this weekend and visited the Living Desert zoo...

While watching the giraffes, near one of the feeding stations, there was a sudden random act of ostrich head that popped up and looked at us from behind the fence... then dropped down. It did it again a couple times and I was just chuckling as it was the exact thing that the ostrich does at the Swiss Family treehouse :-D

 

[Consumer]

Customer service really sucks nowadays. Went to get a pizza and I wasn’t greeted nor asked for my name, just stared at until I told them why I was there. The cashier mumbled the entire time and then didn’t even offer a receipt. This behavior is a trend in most service jobs it seems. People with no work ethic or sense of etiquette. I know Disney often gets the brunt of these criticisms, but it really is across the board.

 

[Parteecia]

Customer service really sucks nowadays. Went to get a pizza and I wasn’t greeted nor asked for my name, just stared at until I told them why I was there. The cashier mumbled the entire time and then didn’t even offer a receipt. This behavior is a trend in most service jobs it seems. People with no work ethic or sense of etiquette. I know Disney often gets the brunt of these criticisms, but it really is across the board.

What timing! I had lunch at Knott's chicken restaurant today and the service was uniformly excellent. Ditto for any employees we talked to in the park.

 

[Consumer]

What timing! I had lunch at Knott's chicken restaurant today and the service was uniformly excellent. Ditto for any employees we talked to in the park.

That's because Knott's is great.