Eliminate the Park Reservation Requirements

[BrianL]

I’m one of them. And tbh, I couldn’t tell ya. I started calling it that when I was a kid way too many decades ago and it stuck for me (maybe I heard it from someone or made it up).

Huh. Actually, when I first went to Disney World, my Dad had gone over some of the attractions and he referred to it as just "Thunder Mountain" so I never knew "Big" was part of the name until many years later. I guess it just happens - probably because it is similar to other rides of the type. It's funny though because a friend of mine who still thinks of it as "Runaway Train" was VERY confused when I started talking about "Runaway Railway" at HS. He thought I had gone insane!

 

[jkh36619]

You know, I've known so many people who call it that - "Runaway Train" or "Runaway Mine Train" - why is that exactly?

I used to call it Runaway Mine Train however I was conformed by these very boards to call it BTMRR.

 

[mercuryvenus]

Just another reason not to go back. I will never return until it is back the way I like it. I expect to be able to buy APs, see fireworks and shows, get my picture taken while hugging characters, eat, etc.

I am fine without WDW. I won't pay for the crap that they are selling right now. I am stunned that people who know how much they are being ripped off are.

Funny how you’re posting on a Disney board then.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

You know, I've known so many people who call it that - "Runaway Train" or "Runaway Mine Train" - why is that exactly?

Which is why I called it RMT. I have no idea why. I couldn't tell you. I have been to Disney well over 100 times at least over the last 40 years. I could navigate most of MK with my eyes closed by sound and smell alone. I mean I am sure there are CM's and Local's who know it better than I do, but I am no slacker when it comes to WDW. And yet, I have been calling that ride "Runaway Mine Train" for all those 40+ years even though that's not it's name.

If you ask me to list all the rides in MK, I will call it Runaway Mine Train until someone points it out to me. Then I will think for a moment and go "yeah. Your right. It's Big Thunder". I KNOW it's correct name if I stop and think about it, but it doesn't roll off my tongue that way.

Where that name came from, I just don't know. SOMEONE must have planted that into my head many years ago.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Just another reason not to go back. I will never return until it is back the way I like it. I expect to be able to buy APs, see fireworks and shows, get my picture taken while hugging characters, eat, etc.

I am fine without WDW. I won't pay for the crap that they are selling right now. I am stunned that people who know how much they are being ripped off are.

Funny how you’re posting on a Disney board then.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but for the record, I have no problem at all paying more for less. I don't mind it at all. Personally, I hope it weeds out some of the crowd that wants to get more for less money and boycotts. Disney can happily increase what I pay to make up for them and keep it at that higher level.

All kidding aside, I recognize that Disney has been facing a difficult dilemma. How do you run a business whose entire purpose is gathering crowds in a world where you can't gather crowds? How do you do shows in a world where you can not do shows? How do you entice people to travel in a world where travel is strictly prohibited? They have done a heck of a job trying to navigate very uncertain waters and bringing back experiences in ways that even the regulators can't argue with. They have tried to support their CM's as much as they could (granted it's not as much as some would have liked). They have tried to be a good Samaritan to those in need while still trying to maintain a viable company for their shareholders.

PERSONALLY (and speaking only for myself, and I don't care if I am the only person in the world who believes this; so go ahead and beat up on me as you will), I respect the challenges they have faced and the job they have tried to do in the face of those challenges. I am someone who believes in paying for effort - I donate to software that I use which is freeware. I believe in paying for movies I watch and things I consume. I believe that Disney deservers my support for what it is trying to do, and the CM's deserve my support for the efforts they are doing. As such, I will continue to support Disney as long as *I* believe their hearts are in the right place (and I do) and I will continue to give generous tips to CM's who try to go above and beyond and deliver magic - if that pixie dust doesn't fall on me; the fact that they are spreading pixie dust is in itself worth it.

In any event, I will get off my soap box now. If I am the only person who believes, then so be it.

 

[BrianL]

Which is why I called it RMT. I have no idea why. I couldn't tell you. I have been to Disney well over 100 times at least over the last 40 years. I could navigate most of MK with my eyes closed by sound and smell alone. I mean I am sure there are CM's and Local's who know it better than I do, but I am no slacker when it comes to WDW. And yet, I have been calling that ride "Runaway Mine Train" for all those 40+ years even though that's not it's name.

If you ask me to list all the rides in MK, I will call it Runaway Mine Train until someone points it out to me. Then I will think for a moment and go "yeah. Your right. It's Big Thunder". I KNOW it's correct name if I stop and think about it, but it doesn't roll off my tongue that way.

Where that name came from, I just don't know. SOMEONE must have planted that into my head many years ago.

Right - and you are far from the only one. I was just wondering why exactly. I mean, I have friends who still call it "MGM" but at least it was at one time called that. Just a weird thing I guess.

 

[shawthorne44]

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but for the record, I have no problem at all paying more for less. I don't mind it at all. Personally, I hope it weeds out some of the crowd that wants to get more for less money and boycotts. Disney can happily increase what I pay to make up for them and keep it at that higher level.

I agree with your basic premise based on one thing. I don't think it was ever meant to be an annual vacation for the middle-class. When Disney World was built, even destination vacations were a luxury for the middle-class. Flights were expensive. I get grumpy about flying in cattle-class, but I remind myself that if I paid in adjusted dollars for my parents paid for my first flight, I'd be in first class. As a kid in the 70's, none of my friends and classmates had ever been to Disney. People visited family and/or visited a lake. Later childhood, we moved and were upper-middle class. Kids weren't as interested in Disney, so that is probably why I didn't know anyone who travelled to Disney. Multiple ski trips were the norm.

 

[cakebaker]

I have no problem at all paying more for less

I think it's a good bet not many people would agree with that. I'm willing to pay more to get more no doubt. I'll pay for FP. I have no issues with an upcharge event or paying for a dessert buffet. I want a better experience and I don't mind paying for it.

What I don't like is paying more to get less. That makes no sense at all to me. I do understand their issues with staffing but they can't claim health reasons for not having shows and parades when they can increase capacity with people standing for long periods of time in indoor lines and crammed in to watch fireworks. What they don't have now is either based on stafffing issues or $$$$.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I agree with your basic premise based on one thing. I don't think it was ever meant to be an annual vacation for the middle-class. When Disney World was built, even destination vacations were a luxury for the middle-class. Flights were expensive. I get grumpy about flying in cattle-class, but I remind myself that if I paid in adjusted dollars for my parents paid for my first flight, I'd be in first class. As a kid in the 70's, none of my friends and classmates had ever been to Disney. People visited family and/or visited a lake.

You make an excellent point. When I was a kid, we certainly did not make annual trips to Disney when we lived in Seattle. We went skiing. It was an hour or so drive and a day trip. Trips that we took to destinations were mostly to see family around the country. I really didn't go to WDW until we moved to Florida and it was in driving distance.

I think it's a good bet not many people would agree with that. I'm willing to pay more to get more no doubt. I'll pay for FP. I have no issues with an upcharge event or paying for a dessert buffet. I want a better experience and I don't mind paying for it.

What I don't like is paying more to get less. That makes no sense at all to me. I do understand their issues with staffing but they can't claim health reasons for not having shows and parades when they can increase capacity with people standing for long periods of time in indoor lines and crammed in to watch fireworks. What they don't have now is either based on stafffing issues or $$$$.

Yeah, but to clarify - I really do believe that Disney is going to bring those things back when they can safely do so. In the meantime, I gladly support the company and if that means we have a reduced experience for a time but have to pay higher prices to increased cleaning, sanity, and so on - that is the price we pay. I am not one who is going to sit here and make up every excuse or conspiracy about how this is just a ploy and toss empty threats about taking my .00000000000000000001% of their annual budget elsewhere. I will pay the increase, even though it includes no fireworks, or that we have to add another hoop, or whatever we have to do as long as I believe Disney is doing it for the right reason. I recognize that some of their attempts may be misses. They do not have any better crystal ball than I do as to what will work and what won't. Actually, they probably have a better crystal ball than I do.

Again, not expecting everyone to agree with me. I am just replying to the outcry of people pounding their fists about how they refuse to pay when they feel Disney has taken away a few things.

 

[ironz]

Which is why I called it RMT. I have no idea why. I couldn't tell you. I have been to Disney well over 100 times at least over the last 40 years. I could navigate most of MK with my eyes closed by sound and smell alone. I mean I am sure there are CM's and Local's who know it better than I do, but I am no slacker when it comes to WDW. And yet, I have been calling that ride "Runaway Mine Train" for all those 40+ years even though that's not it's name.

If you ask me to list all the rides in MK, I will call it Runaway Mine Train until someone points it out to me. Then I will think for a moment and go "yeah. Your right. It's Big Thunder". I KNOW it's correct name if I stop and think about it, but it doesn't roll off my tongue that way.

Where that name came from, I just don't know. SOMEONE must have planted that into my head many years ago.

My theory is that people are using the name from the long time 'similar' attraction at Six Flags (over Texas, not sure about their other parks) called the Runaway Mine Train. Similar in that it is a western 'themed' steel track coaster, where you sit side by side in a sort of boxy shaped ride-vehicle. It's been there forever (since 1966). My family used to go to Six Flags every year when we were kids. Haven't been in ages. Just watched a video of the ride-- I forgot how little theming Six Flags does.

 

[jade1]

My theory is that people are using the name from the long time 'similar' attraction at Six Flags (over Texas, not sure about their other parks) called the Runaway Mine Train. Similar in that it is a western 'themed' steel track coaster, where you sit side by side in a sort of boxy shaped ride-vehicle. It's been there forever (since 1966). My family used to go to Six Flags every year when we were kids. Haven't been in ages. Just watched a video of the ride-- I forgot how little theming Six Flags does.

Sorry OT

History[edit]
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was designed by Imagineer Tony Baxter[3] and ride design engineer Bill Watkins. The concept came from Baxter's work on fellow Imagineer Marc Davis's concept for the Western River Expedition, a western-themed pavilion at the Magic Kingdom, designed to look like an enormous plateau and contain many rides, including a runaway mine train roller coaster.

A mine train roller coaster is a steel roller coaster whose trains often depict a set of mine carts, with the forward-most car or portions of it sometimes resembling a small steam locomotive. Most mine train roller coasters are themed in the style of a mine, a Western scene, or simply a mountain range.

Traditional mine train roller coaster track elements include several banked turns and helices. There are sometimes level straightaway sections, but few large drops. Most include more than one lift hill. Often, a mine train roller coaster will make its way through trees, tunnels, rock formations, and over small bodies of water. Some feature scenes with animatronic figures.

The first mine train roller coaster of its kind was Runaway Mine Train (Run-A-Way Mine Train until 1995) at Six Flags Over Texas. Built by Arrow Development in 1966, Mine Train is the oldest roller coaster in the park. With Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland (built in 1959 also by Arrow), it is one of the first roller coasters with tubular steel tracks.

Other notable Mine Trains are Colorado Adventure in Phantasialand, the Big Thunder Mountains in various Disney parks, Thunder Run in Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Creek Mine Ride at Cedar Point, and Thunderation in Silver Dollar City near Branson, Missouri.

 

[cakebaker]

I forgot how little theming Six Flags does

Not to go too far off the rails, but I go way back and I remember when they actually did theme- all 6 lands were unique and were quite separate and distinct. They lost that years ago and now it's just a thrill park. LaSalle's River Adventure in France, loved it!

 

[ironz]

Not to go too far off the rails, but I go way back and I remember when they actually did theme- all 6 lands were unique and were quite separate and distinct. They lost that years ago and now it's just a thrill park. LaSalle's River Adventure in France, loved it!

When I was looking up the Six Flags attractions, I totally thought of LaSalle's River Adventure! It was a classic! (my peak years of visiting that park were from around 1969 to 1985--lol)

 

[ironz]

But to be on topic--I would like the park reservations to go away, or at least allow hopping before 2 pm.

 

[jade1]

But to be on topic--I would like the park reservations to go away, or at least allow hopping before 2 pm.

And at a minimum allow EPCOT hopping sooner, at least for lunch and maybe even all day (breakfast).

 

[smeg3030]

I don't have an issue with the park reservations, I hope it helps to alleviate the congestion.

 

[cakebaker]

I don't have an issue with the park reservations, I hope it helps to alleviate the congestion.

They aren't using park reservations to limit capacity though.

 

[smeg3030]

https://www.latimes.com/business/st...lifornia-adventure-capacity-masks-annual-pass

"In some ways, the parks will never return to pre-pandemic operations. Disney executives say the 15-month closure helped them rethink how best to manage one of the biggest headaches at the resort: the enormous throngs of Disney-loving visitors.

That includes keeping in place a reservation system that was adopted to manage visitor numbers under the state-imposed capacity limits and the continued use of a virtual queuing system that was designed to give all parkgoers a shot at visiting the most popular attractions."

 

[monstermash23]

And at a minimum allow EPCOT hopping sooner, at least for lunch and maybe even all day (breakfast).

Yea agreed. I feel like Epcot should be exempt from the park hopping requirements now that covid is over, especially with food and wine festival coming up

 

[TiggerBouncy]

And at a minimum allow EPCOT hopping sooner, at least for lunch and maybe even all day (breakfast).

Even though I do not have a problem with park reservations, I would agree with you here. EPCOT has a lot of food opportunities, and the 2pm restriction for hopping makes that difficult to utilize.