Lights of Winter - EPCOT archway ??

[bikinpunk]

Wow. If this is true, then it's incredibly sad. I was looking forward to seeing them this year, though I have no idea what the typical dates for them to be up are.
We are going next Thursday and coming back on 11/24. Someone tell me that if they were (are) still part of the Epcot celebration, that we would have missed them anyway.

Please, for the sake of my sanity tell me that I would have missed them anyway.

 

[jrbarnes]

Honestly, does it cost THAT much to erect some lighted archways?

The cost is not in putting them up, the cost is running them all the time. If you put up christmas lights on your house, you see a significant increase in your electric bill each year during this time.

Granted I dont like this idea of saving money, just wanted to put into persepctive that the cost savings can be significant for not running the lights.

I am sure they could find a way to save this money in a different area that didnt affect the visitors so much. Hopefully they will see the "light" and change their decision.

 

[lvdis]

Wow. If this is true, then it's incredibly sad. I was looking forward to seeing them this year, though I have no idea what the typical dates for them to be up are.
We are going next Thursday and coming back on 11/24. Someone tell me that if they were (are) still part of the Epcot celebration, that we would have missed them anyway.

Please, for the sake of my sanity tell me that I would have missed them anyway.

You would have missed them! I was under the impression they wouldn't start until the Friday after Thanksgiving (Nov 27, 2009).

 

[bikinpunk]

You would have missed them! I was under the impression they wouldn't start until the Friday after Thanksgiving (Nov 27, 2009).

Good.

I had heard the same in other threads, but I've never really gotten a clear answer on it. Given that, I'm a happy camper. But, if they wind up having them, I'm gonna have to drive my butt back to Orlando in December.

 

[civileng68]

You would have missed them! I was under the impression they wouldn't start until the Friday after Thanksgiving (Nov 27, 2009).

Yeah me too. Honestly I've been to WDW too much to believe CM rumors. Yes, some have ended up true, but many have not. In fact MANY MANY have not. Many if not Most times, CM's are not privy to information such as that, which have little if any bearing on their jobs.

I'm not saying it's going up this year but honestly, I think any setup delay could be due to short staffing possibly. Its still a bit early to worry I think but, lets hope.

If they decide NOT to have it, that doesnt make much sense considering they do the Osbourne LIghts. Sure it brings people in, which makes money but seriously, doesnt anyone else see a bit of conflict there when you consider that the cost is just so different (just obviously by looking at it).

I'd say I'm more positive than most that it will in fact happen. At WDW rumors tend to become a beast of their own.

 

[danissmart]

I have just been lurking on the boards for a little while, but seeing this has gotten me very fired up. I think we need to join our fellow disney fans from that other site and inundate the disney parks blog with our LoW comments...here is the link to follow.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2009/11/disney-parks-blog-weekly-recap-3/#comments

 

[gary403]

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Attractions...9-Lights-of-Winter-confirmed-as-cancelled.htm

Sorry if this is already posted. It's a total bummer they're gone. Maybe they'll be back better than ever!

 

[civileng68]

Wow. I'm surprised.

I guess the money just is never enough. I mean a zillion parties making money, and they cut stuff like this. Doesnt make sense to me.

 

[Colleen27]

If they decide NOT to have it, that doesnt make much sense considering they do the Osbourne LIghts. Sure it brings people in, which makes money but seriously, doesnt anyone else see a bit of conflict there when you consider that the cost is just so different (just obviously by looking at it).

Oh, I think it does make sense from a strictly bottom-line perspective. Cutting the LoW will mean they'll have exactly and only one marquee evening holiday event at each park - MVMCP at MK, Candlelight Processional at Epcot, and Osbourne Lights at DHS. Even better, they can charge extra for two of the three.

 

[civileng68]

by the way, people have said they see them sitting in their area just growing weeds. Where is this? Where are they stored? I'm surprised they are stored outside. If so, that leads me to believe they're not functioning maybe? Just throwing it out there that maybe there's an issue. Seriously. Stored outside? where?

 

[Colleen27]

by the way, people have said they see them sitting in their area just growing weeds. Where is this? Where are they stored? I'm surprised they are stored outside. If so, that leads me to believe they're not functioning maybe? Just throwing it out there that maybe there's an issue. Seriously. Stored outside? where?

They're always stored outside, as I understand it, along a service road backstage. Usually, they're moved out of storage in mid-Oct for cleaning & testing in preparation for installation; this year, they're still sitting where they're stored.

 

[PNO4TE]

here's my post to the blog:

No LOW? I couldn’t believe it when I heard this rumor – this was one of the highlights of our 6+ trips. I am running out of reasons to visit during the holidays. Disney World was always my favorite vacation spot because it was a truly magical experience for my family and me. The magic is being replaced by what appears to be thinly veiled corporate greed. Short term profit in exchange for fierce customer loyalty seems like a bad business strategy. This economy won’t last forever and people may start looking elsewhere for their vacation destinations. As someone else posted, social networking brings with it a responsibility to interact with your users, and as of yet, we have heard nothing.

They may not approve the post, we'll see

I too am waiting for approval for my post there:

To say I am disappointed in Disney right now would be an understatement. We are Annual Passholders and make at least 2 trips per year. We have been coming to WDW for 14 years to celebrate the holidays. Our children grew up having Santa visit them in the Disney resorts. We bring our Christmas tree and stockings and he always manages to find us there. Part of the holiday celebration for us has always been the spectacular shows and displays that still manage to bring tears to my eyes.

Our children are now grown and still come to join us at WDW for Christmas. We spend 90% of our time in one park during our Christmas trips. Epcot is where we choose to be. First "Cast in Bronze" was eliminated, then the tree-lighting ceremony. And now the substantial rumor is that Lights of Winter will not be installed.

These are the reasons we return. This is what makes WDW our choice of location for celebrating The Season. We might as well go to a house at the beach. We could choose New York City, or Boston or Arizona and receive more holiday spirit than you are leaving us.

I believe things need to evolve. But this is more than that. This is the elimination of what makes the celebration of The Season at WDW so unique and spectacular. Is Christmas and all its trappings no longer an acceptable holiday to celebrate? Are the enormous displays that Disney is known for no longer politically correct?

This is not Good Show.

 

[PNO4TE]

The cost is not in putting them up, the cost is running them all the time. If you put up christmas lights on your house, you see a significant increase in your electric bill each year during this time.

Granted I dont like this idea of saving money, just wanted to put into persepctive that the cost savings can be significant for not running the lights.

I am sure they could find a way to save this money in a different area that didnt affect the visitors so much. Hopefully they will see the "light" and change their decision.

One suggestion would be in having the doors to their shops close after you enter so that Disney doesn't try to air condition all of central Florida!

 

[Shannalee724]

I hope this rumor is untrue! I would be very disappointed!!!

 

[civileng68]

They're always stored outside, as I understand it, along a service road backstage. Usually, they're moved out of storage in mid-Oct for cleaning & testing in preparation for installation; this year, they're still sitting where they're stored.

Maybe Robo or someone has a google earth map of this? Just curious. I'd like to know where these are stored.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I was just on wdwinfo.com and looking over all of the Holiday happenings for this year. One of the things that they mention is the LoW and it also gives the dates which are November 27th to December 30, 2009. It sounds like this rumor is untrue. In addition to the LoW, it talks about the tree lighting ceremony with Mickey and Friends, the Storytellers, CP, and the Holiday Illuminations. The link is at the bottom.


http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/christmas_world.htm

 

[reeveha]

Last year was our families first visit to WDW for the Holidays. LOW was one of our favorite spots (and family photos). It's a shame that Disney in its infinite wisdom decided it cut it as a cost saving measure. Our DGD's were more impressed with it than the Candlelight Procession.

Last year, I believe the D'Vine choir performed at the Fountains during our visit. They only performed once a night and during their performance every other decorative element around the Fountains was turned off (LOW, the snowflakes, even the Fountain). We stopped and listened to their performance but they were not up to 'OLD' Disney standards.

How much more could the LOW cost to run than the Osborne Lights in HS? Let's remember that the Osborne Lights are also FREE with park admission.

Just my two cents.

 

[VeroBeach]

I was just on wdwinfo.com and looking over all of the Holiday happenings for this year. One of the things that they mention is the LoW and it also gives the dates which are November 27th to December 30, 2009. It sounds like this rumor is untrue. In addition to the LoW, it talks about the tree lighting ceremony with Mickey and Friends, the Storytellers, CP, and the Holiday Illuminations. The link is at the bottom.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/christmas_world.htm

The Tree Lighting Ceremony was canceled last year.

disneyworld.com used to have the Lights of Winter mentioned on their site and in press releases in previous years, no one has seen either this year.

 

[budbeerlady]

The Tree Lighting Ceremony was canceled last year.

disneyworld.com used to have the Lights of Winter mentioned on their site and in press releases in previous years, no one has seen either this year.

Really... we enjoyed that! If all my favorite things keep going away I might go elsewhere next December. We were really looking forward to sharing these items with my cousins on their first trip. It would be really disappointing and eventually it comes down to whether its worth it or not for me to come from MI.

 

[ktlm]

Other than the Castle lights, LOW was my favorite of all the Holiday decorations at WDW. I'm really starting to be sorry we booked a trip this year. No Mickey's Twas the Night Before Christmas, No Epcot Lights. I'm looking at the MVMCP map thinking I wasted my money on that one. There are already reports on here from last night that the new Stitch show (which apparently went on at least for the 1st showing before the rain out) was as bad as everyone expected it would be. If our MVMCP is anything like last year we still won't get the pictures with characters we wanted. Last year, we weren't able to get pictures with the characters in their Christmas outfits because it was a sold out night and the lines for Mickey and Minnie were 1 1/2 hours each (yes 3 hours just to get pictures with both Mickey and Minnie). This year, I can see it being even worse because the crowd that was tied up in the Twas theater for an hour ahead of each show are all going to be loose and looking for something else holidayish to do. We were at WDW during the Christmas season 1999-2000 and it was absolutely magical. We went back during the season for the 1st time last year, and noticed that there was so much missing in terms of decorations etc., but it was still nice. The Osborne lights are still nice, but they have definitely lost much of their wow factor since they had to be moved from the Backlot to the Streets of America. Now Epcot, is not really going to be any different than it is the rest of the year. This is so disappointing. We were planning on coming back during the holiday season next year, but now I'm not so sure we will do that. It's getting less and less different than any other time of the year.