News Round Up 2016

[jade1]

A little perspective is in order I guess. With all the angst and anger thrown at Disney, my Twitter feed pops up with a Universal Orlando post - park hours are 8-6 today... Wait what?

Go and check and yes - 8-6 for both parks. IoA is only open at the latest 7pm all week. That is insane. Pay Disney ticket prices. Pay to stay in an onsite hotel. And on a Saturday you are told to leave the parks before its dark.

Maybe some of the frustration needs to be directed to Disney competitors who are showing you can charge $100+/day and close 3-4 hours earlier!!!

Yep, early closing hours at US/IOA is exactly why we head back to WDW after our US/IOA visit, and stay at WDW and take advantage of FP+ that same evening-plus WDW night shows. It is one awesome day though.

 

[luisov]

Film and TV

Walt Disney Studios seems unstoppable as The Jungle Book crosses $500 million and Zootopia over $900 million worldwide. After the massive success of 2015's The Force Awakens, and with a very promising summer roster that includes Civil War, Alice, Finding Dory among others, it seems like this will be a massive year for the Walt Disney Studios.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/box-offi...e-book-crosses-500m-zootopia-900m-139068.html

And here we are worrying about cost cuts and price increases at the American parks lol

Also important: after the huge success Walt Disney Animation Studios has had with Zootopia, they are preparing their next big project Moana, and they've announced a new short film that will premiere at the Annecy Film Festival and that will play with Moana on November 2016: It's called Inner Workings, and “it is the story of the internal struggle between a man’s Brain—a pragmatic protector who calculates his every move, and his Heart—a free-spirited adventurer who wants to let loose.” It will feature the same 2D/3D blend used for Paperman and Feast, and apparently it is really good.

https://ohmy.disney.com/insider/2016/04/22/inner-workings-debut/

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Rumor

Skipper Canteen's menu is going to be changing soon for the less adventurous...

Not unexpected but disappointing - I was really hoping to try out the current menu when go in July

Maybe the can just add a few less adventurous items without scrapping the current offerings.

Personally I'd like them to switch to a "small plates" format so you can try a few things and not have to commit to something a little pricy that you might not like

 

[rteetz]

Maybe the can just add a few less adventurous items without scrapping the current offerings.

That's what I'm hoping.

 

[rteetz]

News

Road expansion happening north of MK

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2016/04/road-expansion-coming-north-of-magic.html

 

[rteetz]

News

The Trading post in Canada offers new selection of beer and wine

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2016/04/epcots-trading-post-now-offers.html

 

[rteetz]

Photo update

Magic Kingdom Castle Stage update

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2016/04/magic-kingdom-update-castle-stage-rehab_24.html

 

[rteetz]

News

Legoland Florida adding solar panels to parking lots.

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2016/04/legoland-florida-to-install-solar.html

I feel like this should come to all Florida parking lots.

 

[Spacedog1975]

Rumor

Skipper Canteen's menu is going to be changing soon for the less adventurous...

Boo. Before I could try it too.

 

[pepperandchips]

Universal is fun and we'll spend 2 days there on our next trip, but there's no fireworks or shows to keep people there late. I also don't think there's as much to do there. We'll hop between the 2 parks both days and most likely eat dinner at city walk on our way out. Where at Disney we'll be hopping but to maximize our time and see all the night time shows.

Hi one note Melinda here banging the Universal drum again - there actually is a night-time/fireworks show, called Cinematic Spectacular. I have not seen it myself (I have all the entertainment I need in CityWalk with the delicious food offerings) but have heard it is nowhere near on par with Disney nighttime entertainment. Nevertheless, just wanted to add that tidbit for posterity. Diagon Alley kept us late on our last trip - there is something magical (har har har) about the Wizarding World after dark with all the glowing windows and the general change in feel/ambiance at night. I feel the same way about Animal Kingdom after dark (Everest after dark is particularly cool - it's irritating to me that this is being plugged as "new" since I did this in October last year but I digress...) I agree that two full days park open to close is enough to see the major highlights at Universal. But I also want to keep coming back, so they've got that going.

For anyone on the fence, I would offer this: come over to the dark side. We've got candy... Butterbeer fudge!

 

[wareagle57]

Rumor

Skipper Canteen's menu is going to be changing soon for the less adventurous...

Count me among the few that like this. Is this really such a bad thing? Surely they can have a balance. I am a certified adult picky eater. I physically can't eat many foods without my gag reflex kicking in. Because of this, there are very few TS restaurants I can enjoy. Skipper's Canteen is such a fun theme, I thought it was a shame to make such an unappealing menu to children....and WarEagle57.

I don't actually expect Disney to cater to my food needs. I am the one on the fringe, not other guests. Fortunately I don't go to Disney for the food and I'm find eating QS. But I don't see any harm offering chicken fingers and pizza at most restaurants so adventurous people can eat wherever they want without having to worry about their kids or friends/family like myself. I hope they do not remove many dishes from the Canteen that were enjoyed by a lot of people.

 

[afan]

Hi one note Melinda here banging the Universal drum again - there actually is a night-time/fireworks show, called Cinematic Spectacular. I have not seen it myself (I have all the entertainment I need in CityWalk with the delicious food offerings) but have heard it is nowhere near on par with Disney nighttime entertainment. Nevertheless, just wanted to add that tidbit for posterity. Diagon Alley kept us late on our last trip - there is something magical (har har har) about the Wizarding World after dark with all the glowing windows and the general change in feel/ambiance at night. I feel the same way about Animal Kingdom after dark (Everest after dark is particularly cool - it's irritating to me that this is being plugged as "new" since I did this in October last year but I digress...) I agree that two full days park open to close is enough to see the major highlights at Universal. But I also want to keep coming back, so they've got that going.

For anyone on the fence, I would offer this: come over to the dark side. We've got candy... Butterbeer fudge!

Thanks for the info! We are going for Wine & Dine and staying after so the park won't be open too late. I think we may do the golf and dine package and play mini golf in the dark

 

[Travis B]

Rumor

Skipper Canteen's menu is going to be changing soon for the less adventurous...

Boo! I didn't even get to try it yet!

 

[Travis B]

Yep, early closing hours at US/IOA is exactly why we head back to WDW after our US/IOA visit, and stay at WDW and take advantage of FP+ that same evening-plus WDW night shows. It is one awesome day though.

I wish we would have done this. I was at Universal, pining for WDW. Being able to go back to our WDW resort and even having some more evening park time would have been so much better. I was so underwhelmed and felt 'stuck' at Universal, wishing we had just done 3 more Disney days. Visiting Uni and returning 'home' would have been ideal, I think.

 

[UncleMike101]

Ah, nuts. I was looking forward to trying a few of those "more adventurous" items. Looks like the chicken nugget brigade wins another one.

We were planning to have lunch there next month because of the interesting menu.
If they change it too much we'll have to have the normal "stuff" that the counter service places call food.
You can probably guess what I'd like the Chicken Nugget Brigade to do with their nuggets....

 

[zaccaglin]

News

Legoland Florida adding solar panels to parking lots.

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2016/04/legoland-florida-to-install-solar.html

I feel like this should come to all Florida parking lots.

Would be great for WDW... Plenty of real estate and worth the investment. They're premium parking would make sense then..

 

[circus4u]

For those interested, the Free Dining offer is now available on line.

 

[Flyerjab]

Rumor

Skipper Canteen's menu is going to be changing soon for the less adventurous...

Hopefully it does not change too much. I have eaten there 2 times and we have enjoyed it both times that we went. There already are less adventurous things there for kids and I didn't find the menu that 'daring'. I suppose if people consider pho noodle bowls as too adventurous well then I suppose they should add some other options. I just hope that they don't take too much away. I really like that location for dining, 2nd only to BoG in Fantasyland as far as MK TS locations are concerned. They need more (and better) choices than their current lineup, and the Skipper Canteen was a great addition.

 

[beer dave]

Not unexpected but disappointing - I was really hoping to try out the current menu when go in July

Maybe the can just add a few less adventurous items without scrapping the current offerings.

Personally I'd like them to switch to a "small plates" format so you can try a few things and not have to commit to something a little pricy that you might not like

I was there already-- don't worry about committing-- the plates are already small.

 

[eXo]

Maybe they think they're Animal Kingdom lol. That's interesting I've never looked at that. I wonder why both parks would close so early on a Saturday.

private events is my guess. When I was there last, USF closed early (7pm) on the day we were there. As we were leaving a megaton of people wearing corporate shirts were streaming in.