Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Where is the central light tower by the way? I'm guessing centered somewhere.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros ^^It's roughly in front of Café Orleans, near the NOS-end of the bridge over the POTC queue. There are show techs who oversee everything set up below the tower with huge mixing boards and controls, so that area is roped off and fairly easy to find in the sea of people
Originally Posted By FerretAfros In other news, FP for Fantasmic! is official, and beginning on December 12: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/fantasmic-dining-packages/">http://disneyparks.disney.go.c...ackages/</a> It's interesting that they're starting so soon, and that there appears to be a relatively heavy emphasis on dining packages. Blue Bayou will be dining package-only for dinner, and River Belle Terrace will now serve breakfast until 2pm(!?) and convert to table service for dining package dinners. They're also replacing the current dessert option with a dessert buffet at Hungry Bear, and grab-and-go options will be at Aladdin's Oasis (which is nowhere near any extra seating to actually consume the meals) It does say that there will be limited standby viewing areas available, though I suspect that they'll be in front of the Haunted Mansion and by the petrified tree; those views are decent, but not the best It also seems odd to me that they're distributing the FPs for this on Big Thunder Trail, rather than resurrecting the old FP machines for Splash (still in place, I believe) or Pirates, or converting the seldom-used Haunted Mansion ones. It seems like they're working way harder than they need to for this element of it And as previously mentioned, I'll be really curious to see how the crowd control works for this, since there are active walkways throughout the viewing area. It's going to be next to impossible to police this, and I'm sure there are going to be 'wasted' spaces that would have been filled if the entire thing were standby-only. Given how..."passionate" the DL regulars are, I'm really curious to see how this turns out and what tweaks (if any?) they'll make as things go on. Starting this right before Christmas is a bold move!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros One of the most confusing aspects of this to me is the River Belle serving breakfast until 2pm. I know that it's a fairly well-regarded breakfast spot (because honestly, there aren't many other options), but the pancakes really aren't all that great; I can't imagine there being a huge demand for them after around 11am. I haven't eaten lunch of dinner at River Belle since they redid the menu circa 2008 so that it was only cold pre-made sandwiches which have very little appeal to me. Before then, my family tended to go there most trips, but I've avoided it like the plague since the switch (I honestly forget it's there most of the time). I guess from that perspective it's not a big loss, but it just seems like an odd operational choice. It will also be interesting to see how the table service works on the river-side patio, since it always looks like those tables are crammed really close together. I can't imagine having a relaxing meal there, and I suspect that servers will have a tough time navigating through there with trays full of food
Originally Posted By Bellella If they're going to show Fantasmic more often they'd better get the Mark Twain up and running stat. This actually might not be a bad idea. I remember with the World of Color FastPasses there was never a period of 3+ hours waiting around for the show to start. You'd just show up at the window and still get really good front-row seats. Every time my best friend and I went to D-land together, we saw Fantasmic, but it required running around like mad trying to get on all the rides we wanted before snagging a spot right in front of the Rivers of America about 4 hours before the show started. We'd rest our feet and grab some gumbo-in-a-bowl and hot chocolate from the Royal Street Verandah, but sitting against the fence at the water's edge or lying down on a blanket gets really damn uncomfortable. So we'll just grab Fantasmic FastPasses as soon as we get in the park and have a more relaxing time in general.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>If they're going to show Fantasmic more often they'd better get the Mark Twain up and running stat.<< I believe that the Twain's refurbishment is scheduled to end pretty soon so that shouldn't be an issue. Regardless, they have an alternate finale that they can do without the Twain, where all the characters come out and do their ribbon dance on the island stage. It's not quite as grand as using the boat, but it's a good substitute when they have no other option >>I remember with the World of Color FastPasses there was never a period of 3+ hours waiting around for the show to start.<< But with the WOC FPs, you almost always needed to be there an hour before the show to get a decent view, even with the reserved viewing. I don't think I've ever waited longer than 30 minutes to see F!, and I typically only wait 10-15 minutes. I fear that using FPs will actually require *more* time now, similar to how the FPs for shows in WDW typically work (though they usually have slightly better views for the extra hassle). Judging by how the crowds grow, the majority of guests currently wait less than an hour for the show; with WOC, nearly everybody is there at the 1-hour mark and spends a lot of time waiting for the show. Granted, F! doesn't have the limited 'good' spots that WOC has (need to be centered on the show, front row of your terrace to see over people), but the new logistics add another kink in the process. I also fear that the best spots will all go to dining packages, leaving the just-okay ones for FPs and the bad-ish views for standby
Originally Posted By monorailblue That didn't take long! I don't like the idea of River Belle becoming table service on F! days because it is not equipped to handle it really in any way except simply plating food cooked elsewhere. They don't have the kitchen or space for individual cooking.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "One of the most confusing aspects of this to me is the River Belle serving breakfast until 2pm. I know that it's a fairly well-regarded breakfast spot (because honestly, there aren't many other options), but the pancakes really aren't all that great;" They aren't. I've always wondered how it got such a good reputation. Must be the location.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Yep. It's a lovely spot. Just like the Hungry Bear, even back in the day when the burgers tasted like cardboard. It was still an immensely pleasant place to eat the terrible burger, share the half-decent fries with the ducks, watch the boats and canoes go by and listen to the sounds coming from TSI. I've never been a breakfast eater at DL, because the early morning hours are the best for beating the crowds and getting in a 10 minute line that a few hours later will be 45 minutes or more. The one time I did do breakfast at the River Belle, my basic reaction was "pancakes not as good as advertised. Atmosphere wonderful."
Originally Posted By leemac I feel sorry for the Guest Control CMs that will need to police this policy - it will be an absolute nightmare. I've no idea how they will handle the crush of people prior to showtime. River Belle isn't exceptional by any stretch but it is one of the few hot brekkie spots in the park. You just need to handle the dive-bombing finches on the terrace!
Originally Posted By Yookeroo Maybe I need to bring my own breakfast to the River Belle. Do La Brea or Earl of Sandwich have decent breakfast offerings?
Originally Posted By tonyanton Will the current Dessert viewing spot (the one that used to be up in the Gallery) continue? I assume, as it is more money than the one proposed for the Hungry Bear.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros The breakfast sandwiches from Earl are really good, and at ~$4 are a pretty decent bargain within DLR. I've never done breakfast at La Brea (not a coffee drinker, so it didn't seem worth it to wait in the crazy long line) but it seems like it's pretty popular
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Do La Brea or Earl of Sandwich have decent breakfast offerings?> La Brea has good pastries, and Earl has halfway decent bagels that you can make a more substantial breakfast sandwich out of.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Will the current Dessert viewing spot (the one that used to be up in the Gallery) continue? I assume, as it is more money than the one proposed for the Hungry Bear.<< According to the comment responses on the Blog post, the current dessert spot is being discontinued. Although I'm sure they charge more per head than the Hungry Bear dessert, they can get a lot more people in the Hungry Bear. Even if they only use the same viewing area, they can squeeze in a lot more people without the chairs and service equipment
Originally Posted By leemac <<I've never done breakfast at La Brea>> Best breakfast on property. Very good food indeed.
Originally Posted By doombuggy breakfast at RBT is a must do for us. The Mark T, dive bombing birds, ducks nibbling my toe nails.
Originally Posted By tashajilek "One of the most confusing aspects of this to me is the River Belle serving breakfast until 2pm. I know that it's a fairly well-regarded breakfast spot (because honestly, there aren't many other options), but the pancakes really aren't all that great;" They aren't. I've always wondered how it got such a good reputation. Must be the location. " every single time My husband and I walk by the RBT I have to hear how the bacon is so paper thin you can see through it lol.
