All New Game - Disney Answer and Question

bison74 · Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 7:42 pm Post subject:

OMG - so I'm watching the newest episode of DSNY episode on Youtube and he just announced Villain's nights - an after hours party with Disney villains starting in June.

I swear when I made my "there's an executive somewhere" comment, I honestly had no idea this was coming. Honestly not something I wanted to be right about, but I couldn't help but chuckle all the same.

kraysister · Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2019 2:43 pm Post subject:

Alas, no, I don't think the era of money grabs is over at this time. It's something of a vicious circle when you think about it - Disney creates cool stuff that people get crazy obsessive over, so they know we'll spend the money - I say this because my wife and I are crazy obsessed with Nightmare Before Christmas (growing up, my daughter's friends were always somewhat distressed coming over because we had "skeleton statues" all over the house).

I know there's talk of selling exclusive fastpasses (ugh!). I'm also sure there is an executive somewhere trying to figure out some way to do a Mickey's Not-so-Scary party sometime in April/May, and I don't want to think about the kind of exclusive, one-of-a-kind Star Wars experiences they're about to unleash.

This is more of a generic question, but it's something my wife and I have been discussing a lot since we go to WDW with some frequency: Is the Disney Vacation club really worth it? It seems like an extremely expensive down payment for occasional vacation. Thoughts?

This one dropped b/c I have no first hand knowledge, but I do like the topic.

Shinkus, do you? If not, Bison, did you want to ask another question?

schinkus98 · Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:13 am Post subject:

The DVC program is something my wife and I have talked about, but we are pretty well priced out if it being a possibility for us. We both agree it would be pretty cool, though. Maybe when we retire and can make our trips more than once every year or two, we might look at it a bit more seriously. Still got to age another decade or so for that, though.

bison74 · Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 8:04 pm Post subject:

My wife and I have also talked about joining the DVC and we came to the same conclusion - maybe when we retire. I'm not sure if there's much of a cost savings over all, but we look at it like this: We already tuck money away to save up for vacations, this would allow us to put it toward some unique experience. The problem is the initial down payment (choke!).

We've recently taken to having Saturday breakfast with this older couple who has become something like surrogate parents - they're a sweet couple, they adore our daughter, and they give us free dinner in return for me being their on-call IT guy for themselves and their neighbors. The point: They were DVC'ers for almost a decade. The only reason they stopped is because their kids grew up and they weren't going as frequently as they used to.

They loved it though. They talked about staying in villas, and all sort of perks. It sealed it for us. The other reason to hold out is we still sometimes talk about moving back to the West Coast.

Switching gears: My wife is dying to see the Lion King this weekend. I'm just excited because movie popcorn is one of my favorite food groups, but I'm sadly not as jazzed about the movie as I thought I would be. I thought Jungle Book was fantastic, but some of the live action movies have just left me flat (we didn't see Aladdin or Dumbo) - has this trend run it's course? Or is the best yet to come? What live action movie could Disney do to turn the tide?

Bear in mind ... my opinion could change after I see the movie. I'll go in with an open mind.

schinkus98 · Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 6:43 am Post subject:

I hope you enjoyed The Lion King. We saw Aladdin and thought it was phenomenal! However, I too am having a hard time getting really geeked up about the Lion King. A big part of that for me us that I'm just not a fan of Beyonce. I can't help but feel that she believes they were lucky she accepted the part, instead of being humbled by having it offered to her.

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is coming soon! What are your thoughts on the Cruella De Vil event (Cruella's Halloween Hide-a-Way at Tony's)?

kraysister · Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2019 8:52 am Post subject:

I'm not a big fan of the precedent this might (will) set. You've already shelled out to get into the Not-So-Scary Halloween party & now the park restaurants can have their own separate ticketed event? I wouldn't do it, but plenty of other people will.
Also, Tony's isn't the most convenient of locations I don't think. You want to be out & about and isn't Tony's right by the Park entrance? How many times realistically would you go there during the Halloween party?

So, Disney recently filed paperwork to build a walkway from Grand Floridian to MK. I take Disney buses when there, so difficult for me to judge proximity. Would it be worth it to build walkways to connect other parks/resorts. I'd suggest bike paths but the liability would probably be too high and who wants to carry a bike helmet around?

(There's also a plan floating around that removes the Fountain of Nations from EPCOT, but not sure if that's a final plan. But if it is, Crying or Very sad

)

schinkus98 · Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:30 am Post subject:

I personally would use a walkway like this, if we're only talking a mile or so. Takes me about ten minutes to walk a mile, and I've spent twice that much time waiting for a bus that I'm probably going to stand up riding anyway. I'll bet that Disney is hoping to ease the crunch at the bus queues at park closing.

I've heard as well about Fountain of Nations being removed (for a beer garden, of all things). Hoping it's going to be moved to another location, at least!

On our last trip we saw something very cool. We were in Frontierland, near Country Bear Jamboree, waiting for Festival of Fantasy to start. We go in August/September, so it was quite hot and humid. Across the way from us was a mother with a young girl in a wheelchair. The kid was having a rough time, and crying. A couple of the bears came out to mingle, Big Al among them. He noticed this young girl in short order, and proceeded to try and get this girl to smile. What finally did the trick was when he hit the ice cream treat cart that was nearby and brought just about everything he could carry to this kid! The smile that this little girl had getting to share her treasure of ice cream with people around her was pretty much the best thing I've ever seen!

Have you ever witnessed a CM, character or otherwise, doing something beyond the call to completely turn a bad time around for a guest?

kraysister · Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 7:07 am Post subject:

Personal experience. With my niece, she was a toddler at the time. Having one of her extremely rare breakdowns. It was very hot and humid to be fair.

My sister carrying my niece and I just walked into EPCOT through Int'l Gateway. Niece is crying. Cinderella walks out (glides really) from somewhere behind the gift shop.

"Oh princess, whatever is the matter? Come over to my favorite spot and tell me all about it."

Carries my niece over to a spot under a nearby tree and just totally focuses on her. Spent 5min (maybe more?) with my niece.
Clearly, that wasnt her meet & greet spot. She could have stopped for just a moment next to my sister & niece.

Nope, Cinderella scooped up this poor crying, hot, sweaty toddler, and had her calmed down and enthralled in milliseconds. Honestly she had my niece at hello.

With all the new rides, park reconfiguration & other construction all timed to be complete for the 50th anniversary, would you plan a big trip for 2021 or wait until 2022 in the hope that the crowds have decreased from the insane level?

bison74 · Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:42 am Post subject:

Before I answer, I want to comment on the experience thing: My daughter (age 7 at the time) met and took pictures with Aurora. About 30 minutes later, we were walking through Fantasyland and we passed Aurora, who not only said hi, but called my daughter by her name. My daughter was tickled pink, and I was blown away given the number of kids that Princess probably saw that day!

We've been talking about whether or not we want to go in 2021 or not. We're probably going to abstain due to the expected crowds, but we haven't decided fully yet. Our feeling has been - if we do go - we're going to accept the fact that it's going to be crowded and we'll deal.

The reason we're still on the fence: The last two times we've gone it was generally more crowded than we experienced in the past. We're not sure if we should really expect anything different even if we wait for 2022. Now we don't go during off-season, and we're not there for peaks (though, we've done a Food & Wine on more than one occasion, but we expect crowds then). Still, crowds are definitely a factor.

In truth, I suspect we're going to go. The crowds will be there, but they'll always be there. I just wish we weren't so addicted ...

Laughing

Not sure if you're all DSNY followers, but I watched his video on The Youtube about his upcoming predictions on D23 at the end of the month. Even if you didn't see it: What do you think we're going to hear? You expecting any surprises? Are there any rumors you hope aren't confirmed?

kraysister · Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2019 8:51 am Post subject:

I'll have to look up that YouTube channel. Always looking for a Disney fix!

I'm not really expecting a lot of new things b/c of all the major things going on right now. They have to have at least one though.
Disney has spent a lot of time denying various rumors though. (Not sure, maybe they do it all the time or it just ramps up prior to D23?)

To expand on my "Thing or Thing" question...
How long of a line is too long to wait? Does it depend on the ride/attraction? How new? How invested you are in it? How do you decide?

schinkus98 · Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:19 am Post subject:

If the standby time is over 60 minutes, we'll usually pass. If it's listed at 45-60 minutes, the queue needs to be one we enjoy looking at all the details in,or at least inside and air conditioned! Obviously, we would be more inclined to wait for a favorite (Tower of Terror) over some others. On a side note, one of our worst experiences waiting for a ride was in Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. The noise level once we got inside to the switchbacks was unbelievable. I really felt for the CM's who work in there, to have to deal with that for a whole shift. Guessing it had something to do with the acoustics of the "mine", but it was intense!

Do you think the motivation behind Disney doing away with plastic straws and bags is truly a move inspired by environmental ideals, or is it all financial, and them trying to cash in on the guests buying the various reusable bags?

kraysister · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 6:57 pm Post subject:

I think it's both really, although being cynical I'd say financial wins every time for Disney.

Still, it's a win-win for all concerned. Lots of cities/towns have already banned plastic bags. Disney as a huge consumer of plastic bags should have done this years ago. The straw thing may be less of a money maker. At this point in time, how many people who go to Disney are going to buy a reusable straw as opposed to just doing without?
Maybe they could use all those plastic bottles to make recycled, reusable plastic bags. Don't know what the financials are on that though.

(Full disclaimer, KRAY bought each family member a set of reusable straws with a cleaner (like a long pipe cleaner)).

Behind the scenes, they are adding to their already huge solar panel farm, so not too bad. They could be doing so much more.

Disney is taking up all the metal etched family portraits from in front of EPCOT, also removing the memory pavers. What would you like to see in their place? What do you think would make the EPCOT entrance what it should have been from the beginning?