Originally Posted By tashajilek This move is also pretty much just a money grab! Who really needs to reserve a spot for F? I got suckered into the WOC dining package when the show was new and I would never do it again.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "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." Hahaha!
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I got suckered into the WOC dining package when the show was new and I would never do it again." I've only seen WOC twice, and both times I booked our seating through the dining package. I figured I'm going to eat dinner anyway, might as well uplevel it with preferred seating. The problem with DL and Fatasmic though is that the restaurant options aren't nearly as good as DCA's.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Hans, I wouldn't have minded the dining package if I didn't almost get screwed over. I showed up at my reserved time to find out they were running behind, so we had to eat quickly and almost run to stand in line. After that experience I have no desire to try again and would rather just grab a free FP.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt OK, I can see how that would be irritating. Luckily I had the opposite experience.
Originally Posted By hopemax "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." I hear that all the time from my Dad about WDW breakfasts. The funny thing, is some of the breakfast sandwiches come with thick, bacon, and when I showed up with that, he wondered how the heck I got it! But RBT is a tradition for us. One of the things I remember from my childhood trips in the 80's was watching them make the Mickey pancakes and thinking this was the best place ever.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Someone posted this over on MiceAge today: "Starting December 12th Fantasmic! goes FASTPASS. Say goodbye to the homeless camp that normally clogs up the Rivers of America HOURS before the show. I think the FASTPASS is a good idea, and it’s long overdue. Those annoying people who plop down their big ass blankets and basically “own” the viewing area won’t like it though. That means out of town visitors or guests taking the day off from work will scoop up all the tickets in the morning. Those you always show up after work and do nothing but camp out for the show will be out of luck. No tickets left…no camping allowed…what are the arrogant self entitled locals going to do now?" It wasn't me. I swear.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It wasn't me, but I certainly agree with the sentiment. I hope that they still make it easy to get a decent view with last-minute planners, since not everybody will be able to grab a FP early in the day (I know I've skipped WOC because of this several times), but I don't feel bad for the people who usually spend hours parked on a blanket by the river. And I feel even less bad for those who just drop their blankets off mid-afternoon and assume that their spots have been claimed I've noticed that poster commenting on MiceAge before. It's fun to watch everybody get riled up over her comments, since she doesn't fit the mold of the typical MiceAge members ; )
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I've noticed that poster commenting on MiceAge before. It's fun to watch everybody get riled up over her comments, since she doesn't fit the mold of the typical MiceAge members" LOL... she definitely caused a bit of a stir with that post, and I can see why! Good for her though. The whole notion of a family going to DL and spreading a blanket down on concrete hours in advance to see a show they've seen dozens of times is absurd.
Originally Posted By berol I bet people will still camp somewhere. If there's a spot, there's a blanket.
Originally Posted By tashajilek What I don't get is why on earth are locals camping out? I'm pretty sure these people have seen the show so often they have it memorized. I usually see Fantasmic once every few years.
Originally Posted By leemac TDR has a perfect good policy - no plastic mats/blankets until 1 hour before showtime. You can wait before but your entire group must be present throughout. Guest control turf guests that leave their stuff. I still can't see how guest control will be able to police the FP policy when it is such an open venue.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I agree that the 1-hour rule at TDR works really well. Even for popular shows, it allows you to get a decent view with a reasonable wait assuming you just go to your spot at the 1-hour mark. It wasn't super busy during our visit so we were still able to find spots for the parades and big shows about 20 minutes before they started, which is entirely reasonable On busy days do they have trouble with people 'hovering' around the area waiting for the 1-hour mark? I suppose it would still be pretty orderly since everybody knows what they're there for (and the Japanese audience is typically well behaved) but I could see that creating some problems defining exactly when you can camp out
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ Guests know the rules and follow them in the vast majority of cases. The Guest Control CMs at TDR are exceptional - they can be very polite and very firm at the same time. Sure Japanese society is more about rule following rather than rule breaking but you get the occasional guest that will try to push it. It was the same when they banned pin trading when TDS opened and when they banned tripods for cameras. Some grumbling but otherwise policed well. DLR would have been better off creating a No Waiting policy and having F! guest control out all day to manage it rather than trying to add FP. It is bad enough getting to Critter Country and HM in the run up to F! and I can only guess it will be worse as the walkways get gummed up as CMs check FPs.
