News Round Up 2016

[TheMaxRebo]

I think it would be a quite convenient system. Assuming the system doesn't require advance booking, this will prevent people from running across the park to get a FP for their favorite attractions. Some kiosks will be necessary to make it easier for people with low-end phones (since most mid-high end phones are powerful enough these days), but overall it seems like this could save you some time from running from Tomorrowland all the way to Critter Country for a FP. As I said before, the major concern for me would be the wifi at the parks and also the boundaries within which you can book your FPs inside the park. The latter could be solved with precise GPS location, but you know, technology can be unpredictable.

I agree with this positive side - plus potentially being able to see what FP are available and at what times. Was always frustrating to run across the park for a FP only to find there are none left or are for a return time that conflicts with an ADR or something

 

[crazy4wdw]

25th anniversary brochure for Disneyland Paris:

http://media.wix.com/ugd/21bb56_bacc604f65e74717960e483959475d99.pdf

 

[osully]

I know most disneyland regulars don't like the idea of FP+ coming - but we loved using it on our trip to WDW in September. There are still good FPs available in the afternoon or morning even for a lot of rides! Plus in my mind its not much different than having someone in your group run to get FPs like so many people here post that they already do at DLR...

 

[twebber55]

I know most disneyland regulars don't like the idea of FP+ coming - but we loved using it on our trip to WDW in September. There are still good FPs available in the afternoon or morning even for a lot of rides! Plus in my mind its not much different than having someone in your group run to get FPs like so many people here post that they already do at DLR...

dont let the haters read this
i ve never had trouble working the system, which allows much greater flexibility

 

[McKelly]

Pandora to open in May 2017?

http://ridevine.io/2016/10/21/pandora-the-world-of-avatar-open-may-2017/

I hope this is true! We are planning for a June Vacation. We were going to go at spring break, but decided to wait - in the event Pandora would open and we could experience it!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I know most disneyland regulars don't like the idea of FP+ coming - but we loved using it on our trip to WDW in September. There are still good FPs available in the afternoon or morning even for a lot of rides! Plus in my mind its not much different than having someone in your group run to get FPs like so many people here post that they already do at DLR...

A lot/most of the hate I see is with the "having" to book 60 days out to get on popular rides and how that ruins more casual or short notice trips and just those that don't like to plan out every minute

If the system were electronic but Day-of reservations I think most would be ok

I mean, I am sure people would complain because some people complain about anything

 

[rteetz]

News

The new name of the villas at Wilderness Lodge will be in place his week.

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2016/10/the-villas-at-disneys-wilderness-lodge.html

 

[eXo]

Pointless Rumor

"Unnamed" park developer looking to purchase the Artegon Mall along with 70 acres just south of it. This is the third time in 5 years that a company has tried to develop that land into an entertainment complex.

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2016/10/23/rumored-theme-park-operator-eyeing-artegon.html

Looking at the area on a map, I noticed several homes just south of it in an area called Tangelo Park. I was curious to see what it cost to live in the "heart" of Orlando entertainment, only to find an amazingly high percentage of foreclosed homes in the area. I'd be surprised if Universal hadn't looked at buying out the development, as that would allow them to connect their lockheed martin acreage with the Artegon acreage, giving them a fairly large swath of land, but more importantly, giving them an easy way to connect their existing parks to their new land further south.

Oh, and this made me laugh. There was one home for sale with a price that seemed higher than everything else in the neighborhood, so I clicked on it and saw this... lol

FOR SALE BY OWNER
$220,000
Zestimate®: $52,445

 

[rteetz]

Photo update

Christmas is coming at Disneyland

http://micechat.com/141958-disneyland-update-halloween-christmas/

 

[rteetz]

Photo update

Christmas is coming at WDW too...

http://wdwnt.com/blog/2016/10/photo...-disney-characters-hits-shelves-disney-parks/

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Photo update

Christmas is coming at Disneyland

http://micechat.com/141958-disneyland-update-halloween-christmas/

I saw pictures posted online that they already have the Christmas decorations up in Bug's Land ... which seems a bit early to me while there are still Halloween parties going on (though I guess not in that park, but still)

 

[a4matte]

Photo update

Christmas is coming at Disneyland

http://micechat.com/141958-disneyland-update-halloween-christmas/

Thank god it looks like they got rid of those really ugly Christmas years they've had for the past few years. The red ones with the glitter polkadots. It seemed like no one liked them and you'd constantly hear people in the stores comment on how the older ones were better.

 

[MichiganScott]

Photo update

Christmas is coming at WDW too...

http://wdwnt.com/blog/2016/10/photo...-disney-characters-hits-shelves-disney-parks/

Super hidden mickey

 

[Iowamomof4]

View attachment 202881

Super hidden mickey

I'm not worthy!

 

[skier_pete]

I'm seeing that Epcot parking was at capacity today (Saturday). I'm hearing it was really nice weather in Orlando. I can't imagine being in that park with a crowd like that.
We made the mistake of scheduling Epcot on a Saturday during Food and Wine and we'll never do it again. It was super hot on the day we were there and the people were just sloppy drunk - running into you, spilling drinks on you, people throwing up, etc. It was a miserable day for us and we left very early. We'll drink, but we're not "LET'S GET OBLITERATED DRUNK!" people.

I was at the bar in Sanaa talking to the bartending CM Saturday (10/22) evening (about 6 PM). He was saying he had heard that Epcot was completely insane crowds that day. The first nice weather day of the fall combined with the weekend apparently brought out the locals in droves. (The whole week was mid-eighties until that Saturday was mid-seventies.)

We did F&W on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. The latter was the lightest crowd-wise, but none of them were really drastically bad. (Lines at food booths were mostly 4-8 people deep.) In short - love F&W but won't go near it Sat or Sun.

While we are talking about crowds - while the crowds have clearly grown over the last ten years - I didn't notice that they significantly different from 2 years ago when we went the same week. There is also in my view ZERO signs of people not showing up this fall.

A final crowd point - I was terribly nervous about the crowds on Saturday at MK when we went. Park had hours from 8 AM to 12 AM, and Thurs, Fri, and Sun were all Halloween party nights. Turned out based on our plans we need not worry. We got to the park for rope drop and the park was basically empty until about 10:30 AM. Did HM, JC, Pirates and Splash Mountain before 9:30 AM with no wait on any of them. Even at Noon it was not terribly crowded yet. However, we left the park at 2 PM and people were STREAMING into the park. Came back at 8 PM and the wait times were mostly insane (105 minutes Space Mountain, 70 minutes Haunted Mansion, 135 minutes 7DMT.) We ended up leaving and went over to watch the fireworks from Top of the World instead. So clearly on these longer hour days - people wait until late to show up and stay into the evening.

 

[skier_pete]

A lot/most of the hate I see is with the "having" to book 60 days out to get on popular rides and how that ruins more casual or short notice trips and just those that don't like to plan out every minute

If the system were electronic but Day-of reservations I think most would be ok

I mean, I am sure people would complain because some people complain about anything

Yeah - it's good as long as you don't want to ride Frozen/7DMT.

There's things I miss about the old system, but overall I prefer the new one - especially now that you can book directly from your App. We had a FP+ for Splash Mountain on Saturday at 1:30 PM, but our plans changed, so we move it to the morning, when we got there there was no wait - so we switched it to IaSW at 12:30 PM, but then we did that with a walk-on, so I moved it again to 9:45 PM on Space Mountain. We didn't really like the time so I kept checking, and ended up with an 8:15 PM Space Mountain, which we used to beat a 105 minute wait. And I made all these changes while on the move from ride-to-ride. So - yes to FP+ for me.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yeah - it's good as long as you don't want to ride Frozen/7DMT.

There's things I miss about the old system, but overall I prefer the new one - especially now that you can book directly from your App. We had a FP+ for Splash Mountain on Saturday at 1:30 PM, but our plans changed, so we move it to the morning, when we got there there was no wait - so we switched it to IaSW at 12:30 PM, but then we did that with a walk-on, so I moved it again to 9:45 PM on Space Mountain. We didn't really like the time so I kept checking, and ended up with an 8:15 PM Space Mountain, which we used to beat a 105 minute wait. And I made all these changes while on the move from ride-to-ride. So - yes to FP+ for me.

yeah - fully agree ... we definitely prefer the new one especially since they added the "bonus" pass and that it can be at a different park and, like you said, the ability to do it on the app - we used that a lot last trip and it worked great

I do think it would be great if they held a portion of the FP+ for day of or even more than they do now to make it possible to get one for 7DMT or Frozen if you are doing an ad-hoc trip

 

[mikepizzo]

yeah - fully agree ... we definitely prefer the new one especially since they added the "bonus" pass and that it can be at a different park and, like you said, the ability to do it on the app - we used that a lot last trip and it worked great

I do think it would be great if they held a portion of the FP+ for day of or even more than they do now to make it possible to get one for 7DMT or Frozen if you are doing an ad-hoc trip

The last trip my fiancee and I took in June, she was determined to be a Galactic Hero at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. We decided to take advantage of the 4th fast pass and skipped about a 20 minute wait. The first couple of times she, unfortunately, did not reach her goal. We were getting the FP as soon as we exited the ride for 5 minutes later. We must have rode about 5 or 6 times in a row, all using bonus fastpasses and all skipping a pretty healthy line (the line wasn't out the door, but it was definitely a full queue inside the building).

I never really used the old system (our family vacations mostly consisted of trying to figure out a compromise for 15 people as opposed to actually doing anything). The first solo trip I did was just as FP+ was in "beta" so I got to "test it out" before it was officially a thing. I guess I don't know any different.

Also, during our Disneyland trip back in 2015, I can say that I wasn't a fan of the paper fastpasses. Getting to the park early to get in line for the Radiator Springs Racers FP was just a drag.

 

[danikoski]

I'm seeing that Epcot parking was at capacity today (Saturday). I'm hearing it was really nice weather in Orlando. I can't imagine being in that park with a crowd like that.
We made the mistake of scheduling Epcot on a Saturday during Food and Wine and we'll never do it again. It was super hot on the day we were there and the people were just sloppy drunk - running into you, spilling drinks on you, people throwing up, etc. It was a miserable day for us and we left very early. We'll drink, but we're not "LET'S GET OBLITERATED DRUNK!" people.

We did an evening at Epcot the Sunday of F&W marathon... not doing that again...enjoyed F&W, but drunk Epcot was a bit much. Ran across at least two completely passed out people. I had never seen the completely wasted side of Epcot However, people watching was entertaining.

 

[mcd2745]

While we are talking about crowds - while the crowds have clearly grown over the last ten years - I didn't notice that they significantly different from 2 years ago when we went the same week. There is also in my view ZERO signs of people not showing up this fall.

I think someone would need a pretty detailed analysis (which I'm sure Disney is always doing anyway) of demographics, time of year, and other factors for the crowd levels and when they have been down vs stable. It may well be that the "F&W crowds" (I'd guess a higher concentration of locals, maybe a higher concentration of empty-nesters, etc) are less likely to stop showing up. I'm sure one portion of the those who are no longer showing up are the visitors from South America, given the economies down there. Weren't there particular months they were more prevalent? It wasn't during F&W, I believe. I think overall, crowds have been down more than just a tiny bit simply based on the discounts/promos they have been offering. However, that doesn't mean there are not times when crowd levels are still stable year-over-year.