The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

does DA have a single rider line?
EDit for stupidity..

does Gringotts have a single ride line?

Yes it does!

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Spirited Late Night Musings (Red, White and YOU TOO!!! Edition):

I have to admit that this was probably the best June 30th network programming in history (or at least this century) with the Diagon Alley special on NBC, the 8-9 p.m.hour (only two hours left) in 24: Live Another Day on FOX, and the season two premiere of Under the Dome on CBS.

I have to admit that maybe it's the fanboi in me (that sounds so wrong, yet so right!), but I enjoyed the shows in that order.

The NBC Potter special was largely cobbled together, yet the new and old footage blended seamlessly and got me even more psyched about the new project. Watching folks from the films talk about working on DA and HE made you realize that this is the old WED way. This is the 21st century equivalent of Walt taking his amazing artists and giving them an entirely foreign medium to them and telling them 'Have at it, boys!' ... You don't see that almost at all with Disney, beyond John Lasseter on Cars Land and, yes, James Cameron on Avatar. What folks from the WDFA Studio worked on New Fantasyland? I must have missed it.

24 is simply 24, although this shortened summer season is just non-stop action and implausibilities instead of being spread over 22 episodes. So all those twists, turns and double crosses (did anyone think the world was safe last week when Jack saved the Prez and tossed Margot out the window to join her splattered son on the pavement?) Nah, now we have the Russians and Chinese and the threat of war being set in motion by cyber terrorists.

Inside the Dome will always have a special place in my heart because it fundamentally altered the way the networks view summer. So, the fact it went from fun and intriguing as hell to crap by the end of its run last summer gets a bit of a pass. Tonight's episode was penned by Stephen King and he had an awkward cameo. But everything he does well (and everything that also makes him overrated) was on display in the episode. But it at least kept my attention off of reading Tweets about folks lining up at UNI.

Somehow this gem wasn't mentioned here and almost missed my attention. It talks about Bland Tommy Smith speaking to a group of PR pros about his work with the DBP that largely involves having every word of every post go before Disney Legal (hey, Tommy, this is just yet another reason why you and your company fundamentally do not get social media and should get the f--k out of the business!)

I loved this quote especially: ''We’re using the Disney parks blog to humanize the brand.”

Again, this is the company of Uncle Walt's founding, the company that routinely makes grown and mature adults tear up ... and you need to humanize the BRAND. Nope, you all need new jobs ... You are absolutely out of your minds.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...gging-legal-oversight-20140626,0,4894940.post

So, the Club 33 redo anger has heated up and there was a story on the angst (I do agree with Fidel's little bro, Andy, on this). I'd love to link to it, but I never read it because I won't pay the LA Times for content until they deserve it on a daily basis.

How many MAGIC Bands does on Spirit need?

At the risk of turning this to food again (although that apparently is a big topic here), I had another one of those 'no, this isn't normal' moments on Sunday when I attempted to act like a Millennial and dine at my local Chipotle, where the line routinely stretches out the door and no one under 28 believes they have to pay for Coke when a water cup holds it just fine. Well, went to mine and the line was huge, but I was undeterred and ready to eat socially conscious raised chicken (I think they make the chickens listen to NPR and Rachel Maddow before they butcher them!). Problem was on a 95-degree day in paradise, the AC was clearly not working and watching the workers sweat above the food didn't make me feel good. So ...

... I went to the one in the next town over. Only to see the same line and a sign on the door saying that they were out of soda/lemonade etc and were very sorry. We started to leave when a Coke truck pulled away and a worker took the sign off the door. Indeed, it had been repaired. So, in line we go ... and we start feeling ... well, warm. Very warm. Yes, I'll grab a piece of tinfoil and place it on my head and suggest the local ownership was playing games with their units seeing just how far they could push their customers before they walked. I walked. I also couldn't help but notice how many folks were sitting with bottles of water, water that wasn't comped. I don't get that sheep mentality where people just accept whatever a situation is. I know 9/11 is responsible for Americans largely giving up on any/everything. Just not me.

Oh, in case you were wondering, I wound up having a great King's Hawaiian Roast Beef and Swiss at Arby's. Yes, I am not at all too good to eat at Arby's!

Have any of you bought $35 iPhone covers at WDW or DLR? I ask because the local outlet always has them for $3.99.

Transformers opens to mega-numbers and yet again proves there is no accounting for taste and children have too much money today. I'd sooner pay to see the Planes sequel.

Has Falcon's Fury opened yet at BGT? Not that I'd ever ride, but that sounds like a disaster. Not that anyone outside of Tampa likely pays attention.

Anyone have a link to pics of the new Wilderness Lodge Villas units? I have a feeling I'll be staying there in the near future.

Nine pounds. Yes. That is how much a Faux Top One Percent Spirited Spring Holiday adds to your weight. I really didn't need all that bread that 'Angie M' force fed me ... and the steaks ... and the chicken ... and the creme brulee and etc ..'

This is going to be an interesting summer season for O-Town theme parks as most of the domestic visitors tend to visit from May-July. August can be dead, especially as it drones on (hence Disney and Georgie K coming up with free dining a decade ago). With the UNI expansion not opening until the second week of July and with Disney hastily throwing together a Frozen promo at its weakest gate that starts July 5th, I wonder if that will actually change things.

Apparently, crazy obsessed blokes who turn red as soon as the FLA sun hits them (right @marni1971 ?)from the UK have officially been passed by Brazil as the top foreign contingent to hit O-Town annually. Anyone who has seen the numbers of tour groups skyrocket over the last 15 years had to see this coming.

@Weather_Lady posted before and after pictures of the WL villas:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...-updated-with-a-refurbed-villa-review.880219/

 

[BrianLo]

New MiceAge update...

-Marvel mini land for DCA (walk throughs/meet and greets only). I have to assume this is a precursor to Star Wars kicking them out of Innoventions.
-Monstropolis still on, which Spirit informed us of already.
-60th includes castle show, fireworks, night parade (the bypass specifically due to the night parade).
-And obviously Soarin' HD + Fantasyland dark ride upgrades still coming.
-Paradise pier place making, whatever that entails.
-A better parking structure being built in conjunction with Anaheim street cars.

The article implies all of the above are greenlit financially, although it's a bit fuzzy when they refer to Monstropolis as still 'simmering'.

Also the gem that is price increases leading to increased ticket sales. This is why they keep charging more people!

All in all not bad news for DLR, but I expect some strong reactions to this Marvel proposal... (I don't mind it as long as a proper attraction follows in a somewhat reasonable timeframe).

 

[bhg469]

,

New MiceAge update...

-Marvel mini land for DCA (walk throughs/meet and greets only). I have to assume this is a precursor to Star Wars kicking them out of Innoventions.
-Monstropolis still on, which Spirit informed us of already.
-60th includes castle show, fireworks, night parade (the bypass specifically due to the night parade).
-And obviously Soarin' HD + Fantasyland dark ride upgrades still coming.
-Paradise pier place making, whatever that entails.
-A better parking structure being built in conjunction with Anaheim street cars.

The article implies all of the above are greenlit financially, although it's a bit fuzzy when they refer to Monstropolis as still 'simmering'.

Also the gem that is price increases leading to increased ticket sales. This is why they keep charging more people!

All in all not bad news for DLR, but I expect some strong reactions to this Marvel proposal... (I don't mind it as long as a proper attraction follows in a somewhat reasonable timeframe).

Other than monstropolis, it feels underwhelming. It is looking like I will be visiting some family in So Cal in January so I will probably be going to Disneyland for the first time then as well. Hopefully my experience with isn't diluted because of massive construction.

 

[71jason]

I still wonder.. who the hell told the rumor about soft opening in the diagon alley?
seems it spread like a wildfire.

The other WDWMagic member who has his own thread. Although with Twitter, it doesn't really matter, stuff like that goes viral in seconds.

And to be honest, this is nothing new. I remember the Sunday after the first Hogsmeade soft open--guests spontaneously formed a line that ended up stretching well into JP, had to be a couple thousand people long. And of course Universal yellow shirts swore up and down we were wasting our time, Potter would never open that day ... right up until they opened the gates around 1.

 

[Mike S]

New MiceAge update...

-Marvel mini land for DCA (walk throughs/meet and greets only). I have to assume this is a precursor to Star Wars kicking them out of Innoventions.
-Monstropolis still on, which Spirit informed us of already.
-60th includes castle show, fireworks, night parade (the bypass specifically due to the night parade).
-And obviously Soarin' HD + Fantasyland dark ride upgrades still coming.
-Paradise pier place making, whatever that entails.
-A better parking structure being built in conjunction with Anaheim street cars.

The article implies all of the above are greenlit financially, although it's a bit fuzzy when they refer to Monstropolis as still 'simmering'.

Also the gem that is price increases leading to increased ticket sales. This is why they keep charging more people!

All in all not bad news for DLR, but I expect some strong reactions to this Marvel proposal... (I don't mind it as long as a proper attraction follows in a somewhat reasonable timeframe).

They should just do a whole Marvel land in DCA instead of Monstropolis and that Marvel mini land M&G thing. Then again this does come from a little bit of selfishness that if we can't have the door coaster in Orlando no one can

 

[CinematicFusion]

And if Iger thinks his little Pandora/Avatar area will have any buzz that even remotely approaches this, he's out of his ever-loving mind.
Look, it's not that I hated "Avatar". I went into it really buzzed about it, but came out feeling that it was just basically "Pocahontas" with blue people. And it's not that I doubt that Joe Rohde and the rest of WDI can make something really amazing here. I'll bet they will. It's just that I think they could have done something equally stellar without having to pay for an IP that I feel won't bring a lot to the table. If they could assure me that not one brass farthing was spent acquiring the "Avatar" rights, I'd be all for it. But the thought of wasting scads of money that could have gone into the actual attractions in the misguided hope that "Avatar" would be some sort of Potter-swatter just sticks in my craw.

Your letting the feelings on one movie cloud your judgement of a land that fits perfectly into AK.
If this wasn't called Avatar...people would be flipping out over the new fantasy land with mystical creatures coming to Ak. It will bring in 1 million new guests to the park. Bank on that. The synergy and marketing arm of Disney will see to that.
Movie story line was average, had a preachy feel to it that no one likes. Copy of dances with wolves.
The world created is amazing and will be awesome to explore.
Who is to say the trilogy Cameron is working on won't be awesome. Cameron is a smart filmmaker, he might of felt he needed a story that everyone could relate to in order to get his franchise off the ground. It worked.
What if the new trilogy works with the audience...there will only be one place to go to explore Avatar...that is Disney.

Many don't like the rides Disney creates and don't like the ideas for the avatar rides. Great news...universal is right down the street. No worries. Enjoy Disney for what it is.

I'm excited. I see a new cars land to explore( going in February 2015 ), a new potter land, new fantasyland, ( going Christmas 2015) , new Avatar land ( going in 2017)and soon in the themepark far far away, Star Wars will be coming... Well, soon from a certain point of view.

It's a fun time to enjoy theme parks. Don't get upset with what isn't, appreciate what is.

 

[TeriofTerror]

Your letting the feelings on one movie cloud your judgement of a land that fits perfectly into AK.
If this wasn't called Avatar...people would be flipping out over the new fantasy land with mystical creatures coming to Ak. It will bring in 1 million new guests to the park. Bank on that. The synergy and marketing arm of Disney will see to that.
Movie story line was average, had a preachy feel to it that no one likes. Copy of dances with wolves.
The world created is amazing and will be awesome to explore.
Who is to say the trilogy Cameron is working on won't be awesome. Cameron is a smart filmmaker, he might of felt he needed a story that everyone could relate to in order to get his franchise off the ground. It worked.
What if the new trilogy works with the audience...there will only be one place to go to explore Avatar...that is Disney.

Many don't like the rides Disney creates and don't like the ideas for the avatar rides. Great news...universal is right down the street. No worries. Enjoy Disney for what it is.

I'm excited. I see a new cars land to explore( going in February 2015 ), a new potter land, new fantasyland, ( going Christmas 2015) , new Avatar land ( going in 2017)and soon in the themepark far far away, Star Wars will be coming... Well, soon from a certain point of vie
It's a fun time to enjoy theme parks. Don't get upset with what isn't, appreciate what is.

Not at all. If you told me Disney paid absolutely nothing for the Avatar rights, I would be 100% on board. And as I said, I'll bet the area will be great, and there's no doubt that AK needs it. But to think that good money got spent on this IP... (Sigh) It's no Harry Potter. It's no Star Wars. Those are going to provide cachet to whatever attractions they are themed around. Avatar just doesn't have that level of fan base or loyalty. I'm very excited to see what Joe R and WDI create for AK, but the fact that it's Avatar-based doesn't up the excitement level one iota for me, the way HP or SW would.

 

[Travel Junkie]

New MiceAge update...

-Marvel mini land for DCA (walk throughs/meet and greets only). I have to assume this is a precursor to Star Wars kicking them out of Innoventions.
-Monstropolis still on, which Spirit informed us of already.
-60th includes castle show, fireworks, night parade (the bypass specifically due to the night parade).
-And obviously Soarin' HD + Fantasyland dark ride upgrades still coming.
-Paradise pier place making, whatever that entails.
-A better parking structure being built in conjunction with Anaheim street cars.

The article implies all of the above are greenlit financially, although it's a bit fuzzy when they refer to Monstropolis as still 'simmering'.

Also the gem that is price increases leading to increased ticket sales. This is why they keep charging more people!

All in all not bad news for DLR, but I expect some strong reactions to this Marvel proposal... (I don't mind it as long as a proper attraction follows in a somewhat reasonable timeframe).

They also mention an update to World of Color. Hopefully they create a more cohesive flow to it. Having Olaf host the winter version could be a clue in how they retool the regular show.

The Marvel stuff is definitely the most controversial in the piece. Here you massive film franchises and he best you can muster are meet and greets. In addition to theme concerns, the location creates problems because there is no room to expand if they decide to put in rides at a later date. Since they are thinking of putting it in DCA, I can’t wait to see Avengers 2 set in California.

The parking structure is way overdue. They can’t build it fast enough. There have long been rumors that Disney owns a lot more land in Anaheim thru 3rd parties than what is officially known.

I don’t know why TDA expected a sudden drop in AP sales. Of course there was going to be an initial surge in AP renewals and upgrades after stopping new sales of So Cal AP’s. If they truly want to cut down on the number of AP’s they would eliminate the monthly payment option at 0% interest. I don’t think they want to cut down on AP sales though. They just want to alter their visiting patterns. They have played around with different ways over the last few years in trying to get AP’s to visit a certain way. Some of have been more successful than others. I hate to say this as an AP myself, but they may look at My Magic + as a way out of the Friday and Sunday crushes of AP visitors. Instead of scheduling your Fastpass +, AP’s may have to plan or not plan to visit on a particular day. Once a day reaches its reservation limit, no more AP’s will be allowed in. They could also manage how many visits AP’s get per tier in a given year.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Also the gem that is price increases leading to increased ticket sales. This is why they keep charging more people!

The article fails to mention why it doesn't matter how expensive APs are - the monthly payment plan. Their AP numbers would drop like a rock the moment they stop offering that.

 

[Jeffxz]

Honestly, how can they open a soft opening to the general public?

Have all these guess who just paid a premium so they can go into diagon alley. They were given a two hour window when they can get a sneak peek. To turn around and then let it be a free-for-all? Ridiculous. You're going to insult and and probably have to refund all these people that just big-money.

Conversely… Begrudging respect for monetizing a soft opening. Those packages are here soft opening folks.

Short version? You want in, you pay the man.

I don't think the vacation package was ever marketed as a "preview" package. I believe the only exclusive benefit marketed to package guests was the early admission to DA.

I don't see why opening this up to the public after a 2 hour "package only" preview would cause any problems.

 

[Rodan75]

My DVC home base is Wilderness, and I saw pictures of the remodel in the latest issue of Disney Files magazine. Not impressed. They sucked all the theming out of the villas, and made them look more like all the others. One Disney hits DVC I guess.

Was there in June, the remodel works, they did remove some of the flavor to modernize the rooms, but didn't suck all of the theming out.

 

[71jason]

As @PhotoDave219 predicted, Twitter reports that no one is being allowed to stop in front of London today. I will give Universal credit, they've always been quick to adjust their policies on the fly when safety requires.

Down I-Drive, Sea World has a new promotion: $15 off weekend tickets, $30 off weekday tickets, if you buy online. That seems close to desperate.

 

[Nemo14]

As @PhotoDave219 predicted, Twitter reports that no one is being allowed to stop in front of London today. I will give Universal credit, they've always been quick to adjust their policies on the fly when safety requires.

Down I-Drive, Sea World has a new promotion: $15 off weekend tickets, $30 off weekday tickets, if you buy online. That seems close to desperate.

Actually didn't SW have similar promotions last fall for weekday tickets? And I know this winter they had a passholder discount of 50% off for guests of a passholder.

 

[Mike S]

As @PhotoDave219 predicted, Twitter reports that no one is being allowed to stop in front of London today. I will give Universal credit, they've always been quick to adjust their policies on the fly when safety requires.

Down I-Drive, Sea World has a new promotion: $15 off weekend tickets, $30 off weekday tickets, if you buy online. That seems close to desperate.

Glad I went before all this craziness started. I was able to spend some time just taking in the scenery of London without a mob of people expecting a soft opening. Are people being allowed to take pictures as long as they move on after?

 

[WDF]

Spirited Late Night Musings (Red, White and YOU TOO!!! Edition):

Watching folks from the films talk about working on DA and HE made you realize that this is the old WED way. This is the 21st century equivalent of Walt taking his amazing artists and giving them an entirely foreign medium to them and telling them 'Have at it, boys!' ... You don't see that almost at all with Disney, beyond John Lasseter on Cars Land and, yes, James Cameron on Avatar. What folks from the WDFA Studio worked on New Fantasyland? I must have missed it.

THIS.

I completely agree that WED was successful because it had creative professionals who were trained in other fields and then forced to adapt things into "themed design." They were not people obsessed with theme parks.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I don't think the vacation package was ever marketed as a "preview" package. I believe the only exclusive benefit marketed to package guests was the early admission to DA.

I don't see why opening this up to the public after a 2 hour "package only" preview would cause any problems.

Because these people just paid for an exclusive benefit to get into DA. You're gonna make them very angry and then have to refund money if you then turn around and open the flood gates to steerage.

 

[71jason]

Actually didn't SW have similar promotions last fall for weekday tickets? And I know this winter they had a passholder discount of 50% off for guests of a passholder.

Fall is the off-season. Summer is Summer. And they just cut their prices by like a third for smart guests.

 

[71jason]

Are people being allowed to take pictures as long as they move on after?

Word on Twitter is no, but, it's Twitter ...

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I don't think the vacation package was ever marketed as a "preview" package. I believe the only exclusive benefit marketed to package guests was the early admission to DA.

I don't see why opening this up to the public after a 2 hour "package only" preview would cause any problems.

They never directly promised early admission to DA either. It said the WWoHP. Never said Hogsmeade or DA, so guest who booked this took a huge risk.
The package has multiple 2 hour windows. Some guest were in 5 -7 other 7 - 9 and etc. So the package guest are taking all day to explore DA.