Originally Posted By sjhym333 Decided to run out to Disney today. Was planning on going to the MK but the parade is filming all morning and didn't want to deal with what was sure to be a mad house and opted to go to EPCOT. Theses are some random thoughts on my quick visit. 1) 8 CM's in the parking lot. 2 lanes of traffic backed up and they were only parking one lane at a time. Why? It made for a tense moment when someone attempted to change lanes into the one that was moving. The guy he cut off got out of his car and yelled at him. Fun. 2) Just after opening and the lines to get in were looonnnng. They could have really used several more gates open. It was the longest line I stood on. There were 2 CM's and a guest relations person at every turnstile. The CM's moved people thru the MyMagic System and the Guest Relations person dealt with problems including anyone who had the old paper/magnetic strip ticket. 3) I don't care what anyone says. Disney CM's are for the most part incredibly friendly and helpful. I was greeted everywhere I went and several times it went beyond a quick hello. I was met with smiles everywhere and I thought what a happy place to work (though having worked there a long time at one point I know the reality) but I can see how guests feel that it would be great to work there. 4) MagicBands were EVERYWHERE. Lots and lots of guests were wearing them. Struck up a conversation with a couple behind me waiting to get into the park. They have loved the experience. Loved that they didn't have to carry a room key, loved that their credit card was attached to it so they didn't need to carry cash or credit cards and loved the FP+ system which they found amazing. 5) There were several FP+ Kiosks and one MyMagic help center in the park. I spoke to a guest relations CM at one of the kiosks and asked about AP holders getting MagicBands. At first he gave the stock answer about testing but after some chatting admitted that there doesn't seem to be a concrete answer about timing. He did share that Disney knew the AP holders would be the hardest to please and also told me that CM's were going to be the last people to get them. 6) Overheard a kid say to his dad "When are we going to ride the golf ball?" Made me laugh. 7) Rode Test Track again. Like the graphics, still think the story line is shaky but as always the real reason people ride is for the speed. On an unrelated to Disney subject. I drove past the new Cabana Bay Beach Resort that is being built on Universals property and all I can say is that it is going to be a huge resort. From the highway it looks like it goes on forever and its close enough to I-4 to make a statement. I am looking forward to staying there at some point. I also spoke to a friend who deep into testing at Universal on the new Harry Potter stuff. He says it is going to be amazing and Universal is pushing to be open by the summer.
Originally Posted By LuvsDsnyTrips You lucky person.....I was just thinking about how at this time last year.....I was getting ready to go to Disneyworld.... I agree... CM's are nice...
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Yeah.. me and the other half went to DAK and DHS last night.. after three hours there, seeing how badly maintained the Jingle Jungle parade cars are, and how loud and overdone the Osborne lights can be, we left for dinner outside the resort. I guess this is better enjoyed by those infrequent visitors from Brazil and the UK, but for locals..APers without those stupid wrist bands.. what's the point? Same xmas crap they have been doing for over a decade. Thumbs down.
Originally Posted By dizneed << I guess this is better enjoyed by those infrequent visitors from Brazil and the UK, but for locals..APers without those stupid wrist bands.. what's the point? Same xmas crap they have been doing for over a decade. Thumbs down. >> Why keep going back if you're never satisfied? Life is too short, not worth the aggravation.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros When I was at Epcot a few weeks ago (the final day of F&W), my Orlando-based friends had similar troubles in the parking lot. I was staying onsite, so we took the bus without any issues, but it took them over 30 minutes to get from the toll plaza to the park entrance. We got to the park just before they got to the toll plaza, and they had our tickets, so the wait was that much more noticeable. I wonder what's going on there, and if they thought that would be a good place to save some money on staffing And I don't know too much about Cabana Bay, but I believe it will have a similar number of rooms as one of Disney's Value resorts (~1,800), but on a site that is much more confined and visible from the road
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>Why keep going back if you're never satisfied? Life is too short, not worth the aggravation.<< Because I CAN. That's why.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN And speaking of thumbs up... the xmas finale to Illuminations (an old boring and tired lagoon show that should've been retired back in 2005) is worth watching and makes this old tired show watchable, if only for the big bang and solemn sentiments expressed by Walter RIP Cronkite. It's a small sample of what WDW does better than any other Disney Resort on Earth: pyro. Also.. for those who might want to head to DTD this holiday week..BEWARE. Get there before 11AM or deal with WDW's biggest parking disaster in it's 42 years history. The partial closure of some parking areas due to Disney Springs construction, plus the poorly planned and ill conceived traffic flow of that parking lot since West End was added, will make this a most trying and exasperating experience. Not that anyone really needs to go to that horrible collection of non-disney shops and restaurants in the firsdt place so save your pennies and go to the millenia mall.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: We keep telling you ducklings to trade in your fiendish metal contraptions for broom sticks. But nobody ever listens to us...
Originally Posted By Alltwelve I think you witches are onto something; but will the brooms be parked in a garage or with all those hideous rows of strollers! ;-)
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: I always keep my broom stick with me at all times--to sweep up the trash a certain nasty old biddy is always leaving behind. ORGOCH: Yer one ta talk!! Yer the one who's always leavin' a trail a donut crumbs a mile long wherever ya goes!!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>And speaking of thumbs up... the xmas finale to Illuminations (an old boring and tired lagoon show that should've been retired back in 2005) is worth watching and makes this old tired show watchable, if only for the big bang and solemn sentiments expressed by Walter RIP Cronkite. It's a small sample of what WDW does better than any other Disney Resort on Earth: pyro.<< I agree that the Peace On Earth finale is one of the best things that Disney does, period. I don't think I've seen it in person since the days of Holiday Illuminations, but it has stuck with me the whole time; from videos online, it seems like it still has the epic grandeur that made it stand out to me 15+ years ago But why should ROE have been retired in 2005 (the first year they added the holiday tag), rather than at the end of the Millennium Celebration in 2000? It seems like that would have been a much more appropriate time to end the show and switch to a new version; instead we got to watch a great show from a specific event get whittled down until it's barely recognizable, much like DL's Remember. I agree at the very least that it could use some technological upgrades and tweaks (like DL's Fantasmic! has gotten in recent years), but 2005 seems like a rather arbitrary point in the show's history
Originally Posted By TDLFAN No live show at any Disney park should have a life period of more than 5 years. Arbitrary or not. Just my opinion. This is why guests today are seeing the 20++ yrs old Belle/Beast show at ex-MGM, with little changes or improvements since the day it premiered (I was there that day, Only pacing of show sequences have been altered). That I find to be quite pathetic. And you may argue the popularity of the show merits the long run. I will argue back that is a lazy lack of effort from management. You will never agree with me even when you know improvements are vastly needed. You know you are on the "it's cool to disagree with him" van wagon, so I won't bother much. But will say this much.. for a show that celebrates mankind and the arrival of the 21 century.. it is still quite stuck in the 20th. Oh and BTW Afros...HUGE SHAME ON YOU for not taking the time to see the holiday finale ROE since that "arbitrary" and most pivotal Earth shattering year they actually changed the show for a couple of weeks. The shame the shame...
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>No live show at any Disney park should have a life period of more than 5 years. Arbitrary or not. Just my opinion.<< That's fair. There are some shows that remain very popular that have long since lived their life out. I think that the BATB show, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, MK's sad little parade, and DCA's Aladdin all should have been retired years ago, despite large numbers of guests going to see them. All of those shows have their charm, but feel incredibly tired at this point However, I do think that some shows should be allowed to live on past the 5 year date if they continually have updates. DL's Fantasmic! is a great show, and could use some changes here and there, but manages to still be great after 20+ years of running the exact same thing with very few changes. ROE still has the potential to be great (especially when all of the effects are working, which seems increasingly rare these days), but it needs some serious upgrades to reach its former glory. With the new fountain technology they use in WOC, I would think they could really put some life into the duller parts of the show without changing the basic premise of it. It would be great if they could use a larger globe, but I'm not sure that's possible with the infrastructure that it would require. Add in some good maintenance to make sure the torches around the lagoon and the Inferno Barge are always working, and that sounds like a pretty solid show to me. But if we're saying that shows have a 5-year life span, shouldn't ROE have been retired in 2004 then? It premiered in October 1999, so by that metric the show should have been retired for more than a year before they added the holiday tag in >>You will never agree with me even when you know improvements are vastly needed. You know you are on the "it's cool to disagree with him" van wagon, so I won't bother much.<< I really respect your opinions, and think it's great that you get to travel to the various parks as much as you do. However, I rarely post to simply agree with anybody. It seems odd to say something like "Oh yah, I really agree with post #44" and just leave it at that. When I do agree (which is more often than you may realize), I tend to keep it to myself since simply agreeing without adding anything does little for the discussion at hand. For what it's worth, you seem to have a similar posting style; I rarely see you agree just for the sake of agreement either. We're actually quite similar in that respect >>Oh and BTW Afros...HUGE SHAME ON YOU for not taking the time to see the holiday finale ROE since that "arbitrary" and most pivotal Earth shattering year they actually changed the show for a couple of weeks. The shame the shame...<< Yes, shame on me for not spending $500+ on flights, hotel room, and park tickets to get myself to Florida so that I could watch a <5 minute finale to a fireworks show, during the time of year that is most difficult for me to travel. I feel really guilty about that one. When I do eventually make it down there at the right time, Illuminations will be my #1 must-do (heck, it's easily in my top 3 the rest of the year). But with my now-annual trips in early January for Marathon Weekend (and more recently added trips in early November for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon), it seems increasingly unlikely that I'll be in WDW between Thanksgiving and New Years in the forseeable future. Until then, I'm okay with watching YouTube videos, since that's as close as I'll get within reason
