Originally Posted By CaptainMichael Paging Spirit: Bloggers are back on the Dream for the "Inaugural Cruise" Surely these rubes can't afford to go on it less than a week after the free one? The Mouse sure is generous.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<The new M&G is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. That would be somewhere July-September of next year. If they stick to schedule, SWSA will have to close sometime late this year/early next.>> <<Baloney. Dismantling a simple dark ride like SW takes no time at all, like one week, two weeks tops. Then adding the new sets (which will be built offsite), as well as lighting, queue rails, etc, will take about another two weeks. This will not be an elaborate set-up like another dark ride, with AAs to tweak and sound levels to adjust, but more like the M&G sets at Mickey's House in DL's ToonTown. SWSA can operate for most of the summer season next year, then close in August for a September opening, after Labor Day. >> Actually, I have seen 'official' documentation and it indeed backs up what Lee says (of course, with Disney anything is suject to change). And even if Leewhattheeffdoeshecallhimselfhereillbetthedudehasanicknameforhisjunk is wronng, I'd still say he was right because I REALLY like Mrs. Lee!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 >>>As for DSP, I do agree with Dave. I really love some of the attractions. There's a lot of quality, but it is the ugliest, most thrown together Disney park ever created.<<< <<I wouldn't argue with that point. But I will say this, it was designed to be a Movie Studios park, and it does feel like being on the WB lot. And the attraction quality (and the shows and streetmousphere it used to have) means that it gets beaten down far more than it deserves. It is still one of the best parks in Europe, and more enjoyable to me than DHS. Also, as you say, you can be in the most beautiful MK park on the planet in minutes, so most people treat it like a new land.>> I don't disagree at all, but I think the whole studios conceit allows Disney (or UNI) to take cheap shortcuts in theming and place everything in large soundstage buildings (much worse in Paris than Orlando). But I will still say I enjoy the Paris attraction 'menu' (I HATE that Leemac has got me using the very WDC vernacular that takes the magic out of the equation!) much more than I do at TPFKaTD-MGMS.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<You did walk out to the HKDL ferry terminal, didn't you? The one that was built to service the regularly-scheduled ferries from Central and perhaps elsewhere to handle the hordes of guests that would otherwise overwhelm the MTR's capacity? Instead, we have a "ghost town" attraction at HKDLR, which as far as I know has never serviced a single revenue ferry in its 5+ years of existence. Occasionally, a Security CM will ride through it on a bicycle to make sure that nobody is out there vandalizing it, but other than that, it's empty. And even the MTR line usually runs only one train total, instead of its designed capacity of one train in each direction.>> What is the exact deal with the HKDL Ghost Ferry Terminal? I recall Leemac talking about it a few years ago when I first traveled to HKDL, but can't recall. Is it simply a question of not enough demand to warrant service? It is a bizarre little place. I've never walked right down to it ... can you go right up to it? I seem to recall seeing a dude fishing from it back in 2008 and wondered if it was a CM.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Paging Spirit: Bloggers are back on the Dream for the "Inaugural Cruise" Surely these rubes can't afford to go on it less than a week after the free one? The Mouse sure is generous.>> To be fair, they aren't all rubes and some of them certainly can afford to pay their way (they don't all sponge off of government aid/disability checks, ex-spouses, parents, charities etc). And I don't know which bloggers are back on board. I will say that I am sure that Disney in the past would offer media deals (and bloggers are now considered media in this mad world in which we live) and that could cut the price of a cruise in half. Since my posts attract more viewership than many bloggers' sites, perhaps my good buddy Karl Holz would like to set me up ;-)
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Any specific questions? must see- must do land items on western cruise.>> Not trying to avoid the question, old tiara-wearing soon-to-be seafarer, but I am much more comfortable giving eastern advice since it's been a while since I've done western ... I think Dave has hit some highs here already. But I'll give it some thought and will come back to this topic on the DCL board soon ... and you should start a thread over there as well once you book or if you're looking for advice on doing so. You will LOVE IT!
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< What is the exact deal with the HKDL Ghost Ferry Terminal? I recall Leemac talking about it a few years ago when I first traveled to HKDL, but can't recall. Is it simply a question of not enough demand to warrant service? It is a bizarre little place. I've never walked right down to it ... can you go right up to it? >>> I think that just about sums it up. You can indeed walk right up to it, and onto it at least partially. If you do so, you can see it's rather sparse. The pier itself is fully built out, but as for secondary infrastructure, there's only a single (empty) room/office built out. You can imagine how it would be if the pier were in use for revenue service, with additional railings to channel passengers, turnstiles to collect fares, etc, but none of those are or ever were installed. So, this tells me that the decision to build the pier was made early on, in the more grandiose phase of resort planning, but that at some point prior to opening, it was decided that actual ferry service would not be started - otherwise, you would have seen more build-out installed.
