News Round Up 2016

[rteetz]

Rumor is that they will take Honey I Shrunk the Kids and turn it into A Bug's Life play area to re-purpose it with a better known property in the animation universe.

I actually don't think that rumor will come true.

 

[KilroyWasHere]

It's really something. These cuts are Disney acting like they are going out of business yet they are doing quite well.

Cuts are a normal part of any business regardless of how profitable it is. The object is to always increase profitability and the easiest way to do that is cutting costs. It should not be viewed negatively. It may even be a way to not pass the cost of all the new construction to the end customer.

 

[rteetz]

Cuts are a normal part of any business regardless of how profitable it is. The object is to always increase profitability and the easiest way to do that is cutting costs. It should not be viewed negatively. It may even be a way to not pass the cost of all the new construction to the end customer.

That is true but a lot of these cuts aren't necessary. Disney also is very profitable and can afford to keep these things they are cutting. I have not seen anything that says this is to pay for upcoming projects but rather pay for projects that have already happened and went over budget.

 

[KilroyWasHere]

That is true but a lot of these cuts aren't necessary. Disney also is very profitable and can afford to keep these things they are cutting. I have not seen anything that says this is to pay for upcoming projects but rather pay for projects that have already happened and went over budget.

They wouldn't have to announce that. I'm not sure any of us can say what is necessary. One thing I'm sure of is they did their due diligence and found the things they are cutting where not cost effective.

 

[luisov]

Photo update

Disneyland Paris continues its massive refurbishment.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2016/02/disneyland-paris-update-whats-new-whats.html?m=1

Wait, I didn't even know the new show was open already. That's a nice surprise. It looks like there's a lot going on in Paris. The park should look beautiful once they're done.

 

[Ursula's Apprentice]

Will it also be a Tier 1 selection? I'm not a fan of long queues, but no standby seems unreasonable to me. Perhaps this is how they are dealing with limited space.

Of course, if it's FP+ only, the FP queue will hardly be "fast".

Pretty sure that's the definition of irony right there. Gotta love it.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Wouldnt be surprised at all ... and this will generally be terrible.

Rumor

Frozen ever after will be FP only...

So, this is really "special" standby only with people feeling good they scored a ticket to be one of the ones to wait in the hour+ line...and giving day trippers and last minute trippers (and offsiters who lost at 30 days and onsiters who lost at 60+ days) even less reason to choose EPCOT for the day...yeah...

 

[rteetz]

News/Rumor

Looks like a new ice cream shop could be coming to the Boardwalk.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/shopping/se...ars-ice-cream-coming-to-disneys-boardwalk.htm

 

[Eoghann]

Yes three showings a night. I'm assuming that will stay initially but then after the opening rush it will go down to two shows a night.

If it's three a night, I assume Expedition Everest is staying open during the shows?

 

[Eoghann]

Will it also be a Tier 1 selection? I'm not a fan of long queues, but no standby seems unreasonable to me. Perhaps this is how they are dealing with limited space.

Of course, if it's FP+ only, the FP queue will hardly be "fast".

I don't think Disney would care about the length of the queue except that there's nowhere in that area for people to stand...

FP would solve that problem, they could just limit the number of passes to control queue length.

 

[Eoghann]

Different people have different priorities. Your problem isn't so much that lol thinks they are silly and unnecessary, it's that Disney has decided that they are no longer important. There is so much varied space in the hub now, I suspect you'll still be able to find a great spot.

I am a little baffled by the apparently popularity of FPs for Wishes (or Illuminations for that matter), which can be watched and enjoyed from so many places in the park. It's a bit easier to make a case for a parade FP in my mind because prime viewing (without random people or children on top of people) blocking your view is much more limited.

Personally though I'm inclined to think Disney should offer FP+ for every attraction in the park and then it's up to the visitors to decide how they waste them...

 

[Eoghann]

Cuts are a normal part of any business regardless of how profitable it is. The object is to always increase profitability and the easiest way to do that is cutting costs. It should not be viewed negatively. It may even be a way to not pass the cost of all the new construction to the end customer.

That's a rather narrow view. Cuts that affect customers for example should be viewed negatively.

 

[Ursula's Apprentice]

Personally though I'm inclined to think Disney should offer FP+ for every attraction in the park and then it's up to the visitors to decide how they waste them...

I concur with this.

 

[dkellumw]

If it's three a night, I assume Expedition Everest is staying open during the shows?

I hope so, because if each show is approx. 20 minutes and the time to get people in/out of each show Everest would be not operating for the last couple hours of the evening. Unless they do one of the shows after the park closes.

 

[Eoghann]

I hope so, because if each show is approx. 20 minutes and the time to get people in/out of each show Everest would be not operating for the last couple hours of the evening. Unless they do one of the shows after the park closes.

That's the basis of my assumption. Before we were looking at 1, maybe 2 shows in a night and possibly not shows every night. Then closing EE seems fairly practical.

But with three shows you're looking at what, 90-120 minutes?

 

[skier_pete]

SO many things to comment on I can't even bother to quote. Here's some of my opinions - for what little they are worth.

Rteetz: Ignore the haters - you do an awesome job. I do think the News/Rumor in bold is a nice touch - but whatever. People seem to forget this is a discussion board, so even though it's a news thread - we are here to discuss the news.

FP+ for Wishes: While I agree LOL that using a FP for a fireworks show seems like a waste to me, I can see reasons for using it. In general I loathe the idea of having to show up 2 hours ahead of time for a parade or fireworks show. Sure, maybe 30-40 minutes, but anymore than that forget it. The fireworks for wishes we've never had a problem getting prime spots 15 minutes before the show. However, with little kids I can maybe see it, and to each his own. I'd rather have other people using their FP+ on Wishes, leaving me a better chance to get that fourth Splash Mountain FP. (Off-topic: I also hate the idea of using my FP+ on a character meet - but I've never really grasped the idea of spending 1000s of dollars on vacation to stand in line to meet people in costume. Happy our daughter has outgrown this. Love meeting characters, hate waiting for them. Disneyland is the way to go if you want to meet characters with no waits...they just kind of stand around and sometimes have a 5 minute queue. We met Goofy in Toontown last week - and when we were done there was no-one waiting. My mom messed up her picture so we went back and reposed. We asked Goofy to come ride Roger Rabbit with us, but I think he couldn't leave his station. Its somehow just a WDW obsession to have massive character lines.)

ROL showtimes: This makes a LOT of sense for Disney to schedule 2 or 3 show a night. Initially there will be a LOT of interest in this show - I picture this being in place for a year or so, and then reducing to 2 or even 1 show a night eventually.

However - the 3 shows a night AND the dinner package tell me there's a REALLY good chance that we will see a Disneyland-ESQUE solution to this show - where they give out FP a special machines in the park. Perhaps they will allow a portion to be pre-booked, but my guess is that you will have to get the FP for the show the day of, and they will hand them out by section and by showtime. (All the 8 PM show ones, followed by the 9 PM, followed by the 10 PM)

Frozen Ever After as FP only: I doubt this will happen, but also you have to remember how FP actually works. Rides like TSMM and Soarin' have massive standby lines because they give out typically at least 80% of the rides to FP people, and sometimes for popular rides its 90%. Most likely Frozen Ever After will be a 90/10 split in favor of FP+. In this case, if the ride has a 1500 rider capacity (and the old Maelstrom is listed on Wikipedia at 1000 per hour, so I'm guessing they will manage to increase that) that means only 150 people per hour are getting on via standby. So you can bet that FP+ will be gone quickly, there WILL be a standby line, but it will frequently exceed 3 hours long.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Well...it's been awhile so here goes:

Fastpasses for fireworks and parades are the DUMBEST idea I've seen them roll out in years. But apparently quite tasty to lemmings

AGREED! I never understood why people would want to waste a Fastpass on something you can watch from, basically, ANYWHERE in the park. It's silly. I can't believe people are actually using it!

I am a little baffled by the apparently popularity of FPs for Wishes (or Illuminations for that matter), which can be watched and enjoyed from so many places in the park. It's a bit easier to make a case for a parade FP in my mind because prime viewing (without random people or children on top of people) blocking your view is much more limited.

Personally though I'm inclined to think Disney should offer FP+ for every attraction in the park and then it's up to the visitors to decide how they waste them...

Just offering a (friendly) different perspective

I've never used a FP for a parade or for IllumiNations but I have used one for Wishes.

First of all, I get the Wishes FP when I've been at Universal/Disney Springs during the day and I'm just at MK for the evening. So maybe two of the mountains and Wishes. I also visit in September, so I can often ride headline attractions with a <30 minute wait.

But primarily, I'm 5'5", and I don't think I've ever watched a show from Main Street without someone taller stood a couple of inches in front of me. Usually that means that I can see the fireworks, but the centerpiece of the show (the castle) is blocked, and I miss Celebrate the Magic completely. So if using a FP means I can have this view, then I'll take it

I respect your opinions, and I understand all of the shortcomings of a Wishes FP. Yes it can be viewed from a large portion of the park, I love to watch it from behind the castle in Fantasyland also. But just once on my trip I like to have space to sit down with a Nutella waffle and have a good view of the show. I think it's a nice option for an evening visit to MK and I'll be sad to see it go.

 

[rteetz]

If it's three a night, I assume Expedition Everest is staying open during the shows?

I haven't heard one way or another on that yet.

 

[rteetz]

That's the basis of my assumption. Before we were looking at 1, maybe 2 shows in a night and possibly not shows every night. Then closing EE seems fairly practical.

But with three shows you're looking at what, 90-120 minutes?

We are probably looking at what shows at 9 10 and 11 at least in the summer months.

 

[Spacedog1975]

I haven't heard one way or another on that yet.

I vaguely remember the speculation on this, but I can't for the life of me remember why.
Noise?
Pyrotechnics?

I'd personally be thrilled to have access to Everest in the dark while xx% of the park guests are sitting down for a show.