Al Lutz Mega-Update - DCA Magic Mornings?, Lots of Refurbs, PFF Moving, Tiered Prices

[pattyduke34]

POTC is my favorite ride of all!!! I am going right after Thanksgiving...I hope it is back up and running..it would break my heart not to ride it during the Holidays!

 

[smile4stamps]

Did anyone else notice that he didn't even get his dates right for last week? Monday was the 13th, tuesday was the 14th. I know this because my birthday was the 14th! It was very busy those 2 days. In fact I was happy I had been there the previos week as well as it was much more pleasant!

 

[BeccaG]

FWIW, a few of my thoughts...

Bummed about what seems to be the eminent closure of Blue Ribbon Bakery

Known about it for a long time, but sad about the Matterhorn bars going in. It will make it all but impossible for Pooh side riders and visiting Rose bowl teams to ride the ride, and I can't imagine going on it now with my kid separated from me by a seat making it so I can't hold on to them in addition to the lap restraint. I think it would freak them out not having that reassuring arm around them...

Wondering if this long POTC rehab will bring about the addition of Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner since there were rumors of them being added eventually back when Sparrow was brought in.

 

[OregonMickeyLover]

Super bummed about POTC: ( It's my favorite ride, and I was looking forward to my kids riding it for the first time.

POTC is my favorite ride of all!!! I am going right after Thanksgiving...I hope it is back up and running..it would break my heart not to ride it during the Holidays!

It's a good thing this trip is a surprise for DD, because if she knew in advance that POTC was going to be down during our trip, she would be pretty disappointed. When I told DH, he too was disappointed, as it is our families favorite ride. I am praying that by some chance he is wrong, but not likely I am sure that the surprise will be so exciting, that she will be just fine. I guess you can't ride everything everytime!

Traci

 

[specialks]

I've learned to always expect something to be down, so I'm not that bothered with the supposed closures. It will be interesting to see the firm/official CS refurb dates bc it is my older DD's fave. I think I am more bothered by the "entry/exit" plan for DCA. The atmosphere of the parks is so big for me. Seeing no real welcome or exit and instead walking the gauntlet of walls to enter the parks really will be a bummer.
I'm not sure how I feel with the tiered ticket plan. I think it will create even more subjection to the famous question "when should we visit"; not to mention the complete recalculation of touring plan crowd predictor...
Ahhh, with all that, I still LOVE DLR and I'm thankful for all the work they do to try and keep impressing me!

 

[Sherry E]

I must say that Al is way behind the times on learning the info about Blue Ribbon Bakery & Carnation Cafe! I will explain that in a second.

For any of you who are old enough to remember Carnation Cafe the way it used to be way back when, it always had indoor and outdoor seating, as well as a much more extensive menu. Why they ever cut off the indoor seating is beyond me because that is one place where you could end up waiting a long time for a table. Carnation needs extra tables. I am glad to see that they are reclaiming their territory and taking back the indoor spot they used to occupy - it was ridiculous to make it outdoor only.

Now I can only hope that they will re-expand the menu at Carnation Cafe along with the seating! There used to be many more items on the menu for all meals!

It sounds like Blue Ribbon is just finding a new home at the end of Main Street, so I don't think we are losing it.

Anyway, this is why Al Lutz is late in getting the scoop -

deejdigsdis - one of our wonderful DIS'ers - revealed in her Trip Report quite a while back that on her recent visit to DLR she had a chat with the famous Oscar (the Chef) at Carnation Cafe, and he told her all about the plans to reclaim the indoor spot for more tables and about how Blue Ribbon was relocating on Main Street.

And the sad news - Oscar told deejdigsdis that he will most likely retire from or leave Carnation Cafe when this happens, as he thought it seemed like the right timing.

So all of you Oscar fans out there - and there are many of you - if you want Oscar to stay, start your campaigns now, because from what he told deej (read her TR in the TR section of the DIS), it sounds like he is planning on moving on as soon as Carnation expands and Blue Ribbon moves! Maybe if he gets an outpouring of love, he will stay?

 

[BeccaG]

...For any of you who are old enough to remember Carnation Cafe the way it used to be way back when, it always had indoor and outdoor seating, as well as a much more extensive menu.

Sherry E, now that you mention it, that makes sense, when did they change it? Do you recall?

 

[BeccaG]

Sherry E, now that you mention it, that makes sense, when did they change it? Do you recall?

So I think I found the answer to my own question, it looks like the change was made in 1997..according to yesterland

 

[Sherry E]

So I think I found the answer to my own question, it looks like the change was made in 1997..according to yesterland

You're too fast for me! I had only just read your post and was trying to reply and you had already found the answer and posted it!

I couldn't recall that it was 1997 specifically, only that it was in the late '90s. I was thinking more along the lines of 1999, so I'm surprised to hear that it actually closed (the indoor half) 2 years earlier than I remembered!

Anyway, yes, it never made any sense to me to hack off a chunk of the seating like that. It's great that they are putting it back (with, hopefully, a bigger menu again!). I think it's a shame that Oscar plans to leave, though, but I'm happy for the re-expansion. And I'm glad that it sounds as if Blue Ribbon will still be a part of DL.

 

[TeddiBarra]

I can handle all of those things except the seasonal pricing.

I honestly thing that will cause a big push back. STOP it DLR, you don't need to make things even more complicated. WDW is almost a joke in how freakin complicated they make things.

 

[SeansMom]

My heart sunk when I read about the POTC refurb. during the time we will be there, and Indiana Jones! Hopefully IJ is back up before the end of Oct. It's a good thing there are a million other reasons to love DL!

Ditto. I am now

Have briefly considered a summer trip, but the expense, the expense!

*sigh*

 

[Sherry E]

I wonder exactly how steep the peak season pricing will be (says the person who always goes during the holiday season)??


Anyway, here is a link to the specific post in deejdigsdis' TR from May, in which she talks about Oscar's status with Carnation Cafe and his desire to leave when the expansion takes place:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=41225192&postcount=550

 

[Flynn_Rider]

My friends are taking me to Disneyland for my birthday on Sept 16th. It will be nice to see the Halloween themed Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain, but very sad to see Indiana Jones, Screamin' and Pirates to be closed.

No one in my party has ever gone on Screamin' (except me). Those are three pretty big rides to all have down at once.

 

[johde]

A note here about the refurbs. I know it does not matter what I say here in the OP because there will be howling complaints in this thread about all the ride closures Al is reporting. If you want to avoid ride refurbs as much as possible, plan your trip for high season. Any off-season trip risks a larger number of refurbs. Yes, it is disappointing to miss a favorite ride because of a refurb. But rides must be maintained to keep them operating safely and looking good. DLR chooses to do these refurbs when it makes most sense - when there are less people at the parks - off-season - to impact less people.

I've gone to WDW several times in the "off season" so I've come to expect something to be down for refurbishment. But the potential is there for some seriously mad guests if things line up wrong. You could have.

Haunted Mansion
Space Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Indiana Jones and
California Screamin'

All closed on the same day. That's a pretty hefty E-Ticket lineup to all be closed at the same time.

Fortunately, Except for HM, I think my vacation hit the transition period between the summer refurbs and the Fall refurbs. I'm planning on being in California from Sept 3rd to the 13th with 4 of those days at DL.

 

[tykayausjake]

I've gone to WDW several times in the "off season" so I've come to expect something to be down for refurbishment. But the potential is there for some seriously mad guests if things line up wrong. You could have.

Haunted Mansion
Space Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Indiana Jones and
California Screamin'

All closed on the same day. That's a pretty hefty E-Ticket lineup to all be closed at the same time.

Fortunately, Except for HM, I think my vacation hit the transition period between the summer refurbs and the Fall refurbs. I'm planning on being in California from Sept 3rd to the 13th with 4 of those days at DL.

I hope you're right. Our trip is Sept. 4th through the 11th. There will be some pretty unhappy mouseketeers at my house if all those are closed at the same time. DD has been waiting 2 1/2 yrs to ride Screamin' as she was just barely too short last time. Mr. Lutz also has Matterhorn closed to Labor Day weekend and if that date is accurate or goes longer that's just too many big rides to be closed all at the same time. I guess we will just have to wait and see what shows up on the schedule in a few more weeks. *Curse you 6 week calendar!*

 

[GrandBob]

when the Mary Poppins themed version of the charming old Plaza Pavilion opens in the space currently occupied by the Annual Passholder processing center. Now that Disney has gotten rid of the need to take a picture of every person who buys an AP and turned it into a process that can largely be handled over the Internet or at any ticket booth, the elaborate setup for photos and processing is no longer needed.

I don't understand this part of Al's update. I thought that the plan was that your picture would no longer be printed on your AP. But that your picture would still pop up on the CM's monitor at the entrance gate. If this is true, they still need to take your picture when you get an AP, no? So they still need an AP processing center somewhere.

What am I missing?

-Bob

 

[PinkBudgie]

I can handle all of those things except the seasonal pricing.

I honestly thing that will cause a big push back. STOP it DLR, you don't need to make things even more complicated. WDW is almost a joke in how freakin complicated they make things.

I think I have to agree with you here. Overall, I don't mind construction and rides down because I know they are done to make it better, even if I do miss a favorite ride. I'm concerned about what changing the ticket prices will do to the APs. If they did go to the new pricing, I wonder how it would affect the deluxe APs. Cost even more? Increase black out days?

 

[brenda1966]

I don't understand this part of Al's update. I thought that the plan was that your picture would no longer be printed on your AP. But that your picture would still pop up on the CM's monitor at the entrance gate. If this is true, they still need to take your picture when you get an AP, no? So they still need an AP processing center somewhere.

What am I missing?

-Bob

I'm guessing they may have the means to use a web camera at the turnstyles to take your picture when you first activate your AP? Or you can upload a picture from your computer at home?


I'm stunned too at the number of high profile rides that are set to be down in the fall. All of them at once? It's really too many headliners all at the same time. Will be interested to see how it plays out. I still want to go back some fall to see the HM overlay again.

 

[rowan1813]

Like a previous poster said, I too have known about the refurb of the sleds on the Matterhorn but am extremely sad to see that it will actually happen. I had hoped that enough people had said that no one over the height of 5'5" will be able to write it. It's not just the Pooh-sized guests who won't be able to ride, but my whole entire extremely tall family won't be able to as well (DM is the shortest of all of us and she is 5'10"). There goes one of my favorite rides.

 

[cmwade77]

I think the overlooked item is probably one of the most important in his update about Matt Ouimet (sp?) becoming CEO of Cedar Fair. Perhaps he can save Knott's from it's current path toward having to shutter it's doors (bad customer service, only building thrill rides, etc.), which would be bad for DLR as well as it would mean more locals and tourists going to DLR, making it even more crowded.

Right now the only thing that is saving Knott's is Halloween (over 80% of their revenue are from Halloween, which is only about 1 month or 1/12 of the year).