The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[Mike S]

speaking of the Dwarf Mine..
Did anyone read that post, where they mentioned how the animatronics are failing already?
one poster claimed the DOC animatronic was down (stuck but with the projector still working), the clock was also not working and the cottage dancing animatronics were not moving.

You've got to be kidding me If they're still not working when I finally ride it I'll be really mad

 

[The Mom]

I have a mini-discussion ... more like a question: Has @The Mom been to any exotic lands recently? (No, Sanford and Lake Nona do not count!)

Still waiting for the last bill from my daughter's wedding in May so I can tally up the total cost - it felt like I was hemorrhaging cash! And the start date on my kitchen redo is in August - just paid the first draw. And finally, my youngest has one more year of college. So no, no big trips this year.

But a trip to Oxford, England (my daughter and son-in-law's new home) is definitely in the planning stages.

 

[The Mom]

Actually, you could buy individual tickets. That's why every land had ticket booths. I think the only one remaining is the Tomorrowland one, which is now a DVC sales kiosk.

We always had B-Tickets leftover (even now, I have dozens and dozens) for some reason, yet I recall hitting the parents up to buy us another ride on C-D-E Tix. I vividly recall me having a Spirited meltdown until I got another Fantasyland dark ride on one early trip!

Thanks. Going to DL (or anyplace) on vacation was not the sort of thing my family could afford, so I wasn't able to experience any magic until I was an adult - and the ticket system was long gone.

 

[ureich11]

Part of this may depend upon what time of year you visit, but my experiences at Tokyo Disney Resort (especially Tokyo DisneySea) couldn't be further from this.

For starters, kids and teens often wear their school uniforms to the parks as a sign of pride, and these school uniforms are usually reminiscent of New England prep school outfits. Try to find kids dressed like this in the US parks.

During the spring/summer season, I observed fewer guests dressed in school uniforms or business attire (e.g., suits and dresses), but people were generally well-dressed (excepting for those guests who dress as characters or in "interesting" character-motiffs--a small minority).

During Christmas-date season, almost every guest was sharply dressed, and I'd wager that 30%+ were wearing suits, sport coats, or dresses. Of course, all of these outfits were paired with ridiculous novelty hats, but those hats actually work as a 'whimsical touch' when the rest of your outfit looks nice.

My wife and I both felt very under-dressed during our Christmas visit, and we aren't the 'XXL and gym shorts' type of guests.

I've also never experienced anything close to rudeness by other guests, unless you want to count the morning run for FastPasses, but that's not rudeness, it's just good sport!

I do have to say that there are lots of girls in TDR who go over the top clotheswise. They look like it's Friday night and they're going to a club. It doesn't matter how nice high heels are, don't wear them if you are running around in a theme park all day

 

[tahqa]

Interesting thing to ponder here as well: For a guy that is basically trained as a graphic artist, I've found that his business website is odd in that it's incredibly generic, poorly put together, and loaded with stock art. Based on being in commerce and on both the B2B and B2C side, I've always guessed that he's purely the middleman here and he isn't actually producing the products. I'd bet rather heavily that other financial resources keep up his lifestyle.

And this matters how...? People here are singularly fascinated with Mr Brigante and it's a bit obsessive IMO.

 

[alphac2005]

And this matters how...? People here are singularly fascinated with Mr Brigante and it's a bit obsessive IMO.

Sorry, I used to consume his product. He hawked his lanyard business endlessly and I looked at what he offered. Those are the observations that I made. My observations about eCommerce come to me because doing such analysis work is what I do for a living. Fascinated isn't the word and certainly not obsessive. I found it interesting to see how the guy morphed from where he started and I was a regular listener of every show for the first few years, plain and simple.

 

[SJN1279]

If you went on Monday and used an E-Ticket to ride Splash Mountain, and then on Tuesday used one to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, wouldn't you feel gypped? The attraction is simply not of E-Ticket caliber, and was designed with that intention very much in mind. They did not set out to build an attraction of the most exciting level, and they didn't. Just because people are excited and there are long lines does not mean it's among their 'best in show'. Dumbo and Peter Pan were known in their histories to have lines just as long.

IMHO, Splash Mountain is the most complete ride in Orlando. No other attraction lives up to it for me personally. I will ride the Mine Train this Saturday and I'm hoping for a good ride. Anyone know the wait times?

 

[doctornick]

I desperately hope the day of an official announcement for this atrocity never comes. That ride is part of my childhood. I can't tell you how many times the line "disappear, disappear!!!" was repeated in those early days by me and my family

My 6 year old just the other day was playing with his brother and said "disappear, disappear, back back over the falls". I cracked a smile, but was sad thinking that our next trip will probably be the last time we get to enjoy Maelstrom.

 

[tahqa]

Sorry, I used to consume his product. He hawked his lanyard business endlessly and I looked at what he offered. Those are the observations that I made. My observations about eCommerce come to me because doing such analysis work is what I do for a living. Fascinated isn't the word and certainly not obsessive. I found it interesting to see how the guy morphed from where he started and I was a regular listener of every show for the first few years, plain and simple.

I understand the feeling that ITM is not a great brand advocate and that maybe they're not un-biased because of the freebies. But all the continuing talking about him here (along with Lou Mongello and countless others) is really doing is driving traffic their way. How many people here are subscribing to these sites just to look for reasons to bash them? By going to their sites or following their feeds you're giving them money. Those metrics are the things that they are using to justify their existence to Disney.

If you feel that these guys are the scum of the earth then honestly the best thing you can do it ignore and not bump their numbers.

 

[71jason]

Well it all depends on who you're plotting against. If its the Turnpike Authority, I'm completely with you on that. Same with FDOT.

True facts, I was kind of friends with Dorworth a lifetime ago, when I was president of the Volusia YRs and he was president of the Seminole YRs. If you would have made people bet on which of us would be indicted first, could have have won a lot of money.

I will ride the Mine Train this Saturday and I'm hoping for a good ride. Anyone know the wait times?

Seems to hover around 75. Might get a break if you do rope drop or can stick around until late.

 

[fosse76]

Did I mention that I met the GM of Knott's, who has been on the job for only a few years, and was VERY impressed by his candor and commitment to quality and improving the park?

I hope that committment includes smoothing-out Ghost Rider, which is probably the most excruciatingly painful roller coaster on the planet!

The new admission system at DLR isn't smooth and efficient at all. In order to curb ticket fraud and selling unused days, they take photos for multi-day tix and then you have to have them scanned by what looks like an iPhone and then have them scanned again at the turnstile. It takes way longer than it should and was a royal PITA when we were there.

It's absolutely horrendous. Add to that the security line, which everyone must go through whether or not they have a bag.

Have I mentioned how great single rider lines are? I know, as WDW visitors you probably have very little experience with them.

Those lines make it so easy to get throught the parks on even the busiest of days. I wish they could find a way to add one to Space Mountain...it constantly dispatches with less-than-full vehicles. I remember going quite a bit after work last summer when I had a trial in Southern California, and the parks were packed. But in the four or five hours I was there, I was able to hit-up every E-ticket. It was great!

OK, I can deal with being at DL and having three E-Tix (Pirates, Small World, Subs) and one C-Ticket (Alice) down for rehab since the place isn't the MK and there is plenty of capacity ... BUT ... every day we were there BTMRR and or Space and/or Indy would go down as well for various amounts of time and that is just too much. I don't know what the deal is. I do see from reading the Micechat updates (and seeing pics of the wait boards) that this has become typical under Michael 'Disco Yeti' Colglazier's leadership. It is not acceptable at all, even if we actually took advantage of it by walking onto attractions just as they were coming back up.

This is my biggest complaint about Disneyland Park. The rides go down frequently. I had one trip where they went down in succession, which meant I was going from ride to ride for almost two hours but not actually getting on anything because they would go down. Finally I had enough and went to City Hall, where I was given some FPs for my trouble. I had calmed down, so I decided to head over to Splash Mountain, and guess what? It went down as I walked over to the single rider entrance! I had to leave. At that point I was livid. There is just no excuse for that. People can trash Six Flags all they want, but when I worked at the park near Chicago, my coasters went down maybe three times over the course of a week. Disney's attractions seem to go down three times a day!

Biggest DLR disappointment: that I somehow never made time for the Aladdin musical.

That sometimes happens to me. I also am always missing my FP return time for Tower of Terror. There's just nothing really in that area for me to do to wait out my return time, so I rarely make it back in time.

I became addicted to Mint Julep's on this trip. Not sure why as they never impressed me much before.

I finally had one my last trip in April. I thought it was ok. I think was a little too sweet.

Napa Rose still sets the standard for fine dining at Disney resorts stateside (excepting V&As). I think I have had nightly fantasies about my last dinner there since.

Really? I didn't think it was anything special. I thought Carthay Circle was better.

Funny how WDW likes to pretend that nothing else, especially UNI, exists in FL, yet the DLR hotels have racks of brochures for UNI, SW, Knott's and even the San Diego County casinos.

It's funny because when I wear my Universal or Six Flags jackets, no one bats an eye. When I wear something WDW-related, the CMs look offended. LOL

 

[fosse76]

On the subject of getting treated specially, you can see DLR is struggling with the new DAS replacing the GAC. Folks got very used to gaming the system in Anaheim with make believe ailments and mildly autistic children being a golden front of the line pass. I haven't talked with folks in Guest Services, but it's apparent to me with the multiple satellite kiosks set up that Disney is largely caving in. And to those 30-something women standing in line behind me to get into City Hall on May 21st, you could show me a letter from the surgeon general and I still wouldn't believe you have any illness that isn't mental.

During my February trip when I was in City hall trying to fix the problem with my Premier Pass, a woman came in and got a DAS for her son. She was there for about ten minutes trying to find a ride she could could get on relatively soon (most she had requested were all about 10 minute waits. To me that proved that she simply didn't think she should have to wait in line for anything. It was ridiculous.

Oh, and those block out day tickets that Disney has been selling? They no longer exist. You go on a day that your AP isn't available, then you pay full price.

I would almost agree with this. If they want to go on blackout days, they should get the premium pass.

 

[GoofGoof]

Well it all depends on who you're plotting against. If its the Turnpike Authority, I'm completely with you on that. Same with FDOT.

Or were you thinking of robbing the Bellagio, The Mirage and the MGM Grand?

I'm in. I've been itching to get back out to Vegas. This would be a good excuse. I'd be going for "work". I could drive the getaway car or carry the bags of cash out if you need but I would prefer a lesser role. Perhaps the guy who gets drunk and plays craps.

 

[doctornick]

Those lines make it so easy to get throught the parks on even the busiest of days. I wish they could find a way to add one to Space Mountain...it constantly dispatches with less-than-full vehicles. I remember going quite a bit after work last summer when I had a trial in Southern California, and the parks were packed. But in the four or five hours I was there, I was able to hit-up every E-ticket. It was great!

Yeah, I'd love to see more single rider lines in WDW. Even if one doesn't personally use them, they can benefit because it allows capacity to be fully utilized.

Space Mountain is an obvious candidate for a single rider program given the ride vehicle layout, but I have heard there are issues with creating a queue for that. I dunno.

Dinosaur is another ride that would be a reasonable option (much line IJ in DL has it with the same vehicles) though the ride doesn't get too long of waits.

I have read that M:S and Soarin' have had single rider lines in the past, but were removed. Soarin' in particular would seem to be a good idea, maybe if/when they open the third theater. The only other rides I can think of that might benefit would be Kali and Primeval Whirl, and I guess maybe Splash.

 

[Cesar R M]

I understand the feeling that ITM is not a great brand advocate and that maybe they're not un-biased because of the freebies. But all the continuing talking about him here (along with Lou Mongello and countless others) is really doing is driving traffic their way. How many people here are subscribing to these sites just to look for reasons to bash them? By going to their sites or following their feeds you're giving them money. Those metrics are the things that they are using to justify their existence to Disney.

If you feel that these guys are the scum of the earth then honestly the best thing you can do it ignore and not bump their numbers.

Hmm.. what you said about metrics do not fit other "lifestylers" sponsored by disney imho.

I remember someone (unsure if it was @WDW1974 or someone from here) provided a link to a youtube video page of one (of the many invited) "blogger moms" that was invited to the event at disneyland.

Her movies were horrible, had zero substance and had like 20-40 views.. mostly from viewers of this forum who were curious.
Yet, they were sponsored by Disney big time (with their private party and park time).

(edited for clarity)

 

[wdisney9000]

Hmm.. what you said about metrics do not fit other "lifestylers" sponsored by disney imho.
I remember @WDW1974 or someone from here provided a link to one(of the many invited "blogger moms" ) to the event of disneyland.
Her movies were horrible, had zero substance and had like 20-40 views.. mostly from viewers of this forum who were curious.
Yet they were sponsored by Disney big time with their private party and park time.

Awwwww, you remember Fadra. It was @TP2000 that linked her videos with a whopping 24 views that jumped to around 250 within 24 hours of him dropping her name here.

 

[twebber55]

IMHO, Splash Mountain is the most complete ride in Orlando. No other attraction lives up to it for me personally. I will ride the Mine Train this Saturday and I'm hoping for a good ride. Anyone know the wait times?

been consistently around 90 to 110 minutes

 

[tahqa]

Hmm.. what you said about metrics do not fit other "lifestylers" sponsored by disney imho.
I remember @WDW1974 or someone from here provided a link to one(of the many invited "blogger moms" ) to the event of disneyland.
Her movies were horrible, had zero substance and had like 20-40 views.. mostly from viewers of this forum who were curious.
Yet they were sponsored by Disney big time with their private party and park time.

The mommy bloggers are a slightly different beast. They were somebody's pet project (AFAIK) at Disney and got invited to a lot of things they shouldn't have been.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I understand the feeling that ITM is not a great brand advocate and that maybe they're not un-biased because of the freebies. But all the continuing talking about him here (along with Lou Mongello and countless others) is really doing is driving traffic their way. How many people here are subscribing to these sites just to look for reasons to bash them? By going to their sites or following their feeds you're giving them money. Those metrics are the things that they are using to justify their existence to Disney.

If you feel that these guys are the scum of the earth then honestly the best thing you can do it ignore and not bump their numbers.

The person in question has also done "work" for Fox news.

 

[WEDWAY100]

This is my biggest complaint about Disneyland Park. The rides go down frequently. I had one trip where they went down in succession, which meant I was going from ride to ride for almost two hours but not actually getting on anything because they would go down. Finally I had enough and went to City Hall, where I was given some FPs for my trouble. I had calmed down, so I decided to head over to Splash Mountain, and guess what? It went down as I walked over to the single rider entrance! I had to leave. At that point I was livid. There is just no excuse for that. People can trash Six Flags all they want, but when I worked at the park near Chicago, my coasters went down maybe three times over the course of a week. Disney's attractions seem to go down three times a day!

This ^^^. I live in FL, and took a trip to DL in early May. I will never go back. While the rides are superior, they don't work half the time. When I was there, there were 6 attractions (4 headliners) under rehab. Then Space Mountain, Indy, Matterhorn, and HM went down as we walked around the park. To add insult to injury, they had closed one side of the Matterhorn and autopia which added to the waits. I even tried to get a corn dog at the red wagon and it was closed. Oh yeah, and it was 100 degrees when we were there. Based on that experience I will take MK any day.