News Round Up 2017

[rteetz]

And I guarantee you there will be no animatronic walking around.

I think its quite likely that we will see driods, and stormtroopers out and about. A wookie maybe not.

 

[jaxonp]

Why not just have Storm Troopers directing traffic in star wars land... They can still use two fingers to direct traffic. Total immersion .

 

[rteetz]

News

Roaring Rapids at Shanghai has opened after being closed for 3 months.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Photo update

Disneyland has MSEP once again, diamond decor is back on the castle, and Disneyland could be without a daytime parade!

Seeing the MSEP back at its original home tonight was amazing. I was surprised that Mickey's Soundsational Parade hasn't returned. Was it announced before Christmas that they weren't going to bring that back? I guess Disneyland and Walt Disney World traded experiences. Disneyland gets the nighttime parade and WDW gets the daytime parade.

 

[rteetz]

Seeing the MSEP back at its original home tonight was amazing. I was surprised that Mickey's Soundsational Parade hasn't returned. Was it announced before Christmas that they weren't going to bring that back? I guess Disneyland and Walt Disney World traded experiences. Disneyland gets the nighttime parade and WDW gets the daytime parade.

No word on soundsational but the rumor in that photo update I posted says that soundsational might be moving to DCA instead.

 

[Q-man]

They may not be making a lot on the Big data side yet, but they are turning a profit on the additional sales side. I can personally confirm that if it weren't for the piece of plastic on my arm I probably would have saved an extra $200 on my last trip. If they can get each family to spend $100 bucks extra because they don't think about pulling out their card, it's a win. I bet it pays for itself in 10 years just on the sales side. It's probably depreciated over 7 years anyway.

I'd be interested in first time guests' satisfaction and return rates before and after Magic Bands. How has magic bands changed the experience for those that arrive without a clue they needed to plan and book 180 days before they got there? Also, have Magic Bands/FP+ redistributed crowds any via what parks have FP+ available? For example, when all the tier 1 FP+ are already booked at MK do guests pick another park for that day?

 

[Reddog1134]

I'd be interested in first time guests' satisfaction and return rates before and after Magic Bands. How has magic bands changed the experience for those that arrive without a clue they needed to plan and book 180 days before they got there? Also, have Magic Bands/FP+ redistributed crowds any via what parks have FP+ available? For example, when all the tier 1 FP+ are already booked at MK do guests pick another park for that day?

I've read that it's helped redistribute crowds within each park. They said it can be evidenced by the slight decrease in overall wait times for E ticket attractions and the increase in wait times for lesser attractions.

I don't know about redistributing from park to park. I would think most people would base that decision on park hours and projected crowd levels. Also, with dining reservations being made 6 months out, I don't think many people would want to change their park plans based on FP which is booked 1-2 months prior.

 

[Spacedog1975]

I'd be interested in first time guests' satisfaction and return rates before and after Magic Bands. How has magic bands changed the experience for those that arrive without a clue they needed to plan and book 180 days before they got there? Also, have Magic Bands/FP+ redistributed crowds any via what parks have FP+ available? For example, when all the tier 1 FP+ are already booked at MK do guests pick another park for that day?

I suspect that it's the rare guest that gets left out in the cold on this one.

First, a first time guest is likely to book in one of 3 ways:

1) Travel Agent - who should tell them what they need to know.
2) Disney Travel Line - will tell them what they need to know.
3) Booking themselves - probably research everything thoroughly.

In each of these 3 cases they get a welcome packet with pertinent dates for FP, Dining, ETC.

I think the idea of someone being surprised by the planning is relatively remote when it comes to reality.

 

[eXo]

I think its quite likely that we will see driods, and stormtroopers out and about. A wookie maybe not.

The key words there are *walking* and *animatronic*. Costume characters walking? Sure thing. Animatronic droid rolling around via remote control, yea, easy enough. Animatronic walking around? No way.

Robotics have only recently gotten to a point where a 4 leg robot can maintain balance, and even then they are unwieldy and dangerous around people (especially tourists). If there is an animatronic wookie I expect it to be stationary.

 

[rteetz]

The key words there are *walking* and *animatronic*. Costume characters walking? Sure thing. Animatronic droid rolling around via remote control, yea, easy enough. Animatronic walking around? No way.

Robotics have only recently gotten to a point where a 4 leg robot can maintain balance, and even then they are unwieldy and dangerous around people (especially tourists). If there is an animatronic wookie I expect it to be stationary.

It's just a rumor, and I know Disney is working on new technology for this land. It could've very well been an idea that was floated around imagineering and got out but might not happen.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I suspect that it's the rare guest that gets left out in the cold on this one.

First, a first time guest is likely to book in one of 3 ways:

1) Travel Agent - who should tell them what they need to know.
2) Disney Travel Line - will tell them what they need to know.
3) Booking themselves - probably research everything thoroughly.

In each of these 3 cases they get a welcome packet with pertinent dates for FP, Dining, ETC.

I think the idea of someone being surprised by the planning is relatively remote when it comes to reality.

Oh geez, we've had a few CM's who work ticket booths comment on these forums about how utterly clueless some of the guests are. They DO sell a lot of day-of tickets and those people would NOT have made fastpasses ahead of time. However, I imagine those people also wouldn't be able to know before they walk through the gate what fastpasses are available, since I doubt they have MDE set up already if they're buying single day tickets.

 

[rteetz]

I suspect that it's the rare guest that gets left out in the cold on this one.

First, a first time guest is likely to book in one of 3 ways:

1) Travel Agent - who should tell them what they need to know.
2) Disney Travel Line - will tell them what they need to know.
3) Booking themselves - probably research everything thoroughly.

In each of these 3 cases they get a welcome packet with pertinent dates for FP, Dining, ETC.

I think the idea of someone being surprised by the planning is relatively remote when it comes to reality.

I'd argue for a 4th option of people booking themselves with not researching everything.

 

[eXo]

I suspect that it's the rare guest that gets left out in the cold on this one.

First, a first time guest is likely to book in one of 3 ways:

1) Travel Agent - who should tell them what they need to know.
2) Disney Travel Line - will tell them what they need to know.
3) Booking themselves - probably research everything thoroughly.

In each of these 3 cases they get a welcome packet with pertinent dates for FP, Dining, ETC.

I think the idea of someone being surprised by the planning is relatively remote when it comes to reality.

First, even of the people you list above, I doubt the majority of "first timers" book over 180 days in advance. So they have already been put into a difficult situation with dining reservations and popular places like Beast's Castle.

Second, you are leaving out people who don't do any of the above. I think you may be underestimating the number of people who just get in a car, drive to Disney World, plan to stay offsite, and buy tickets at the gate. That was how my first visit went. Hell, it's how my second visit went as well.

Third, you are forgetting people who go to Orlando for other attractions (Universal, short drive to the beach, family, etc) and decide to just drop in to Disney for 1 or two days.

All of the above scenarios put people in the situation where they can easily not know how important dining reservations are or how to go about obtaining fast passes. It all seems obvious once you've done it the first time, but both times I have eaten at Beast's Castle, and multiple times at other restaurants such as the T-Rex Cafe at D-Springs, I have seen people walk up and ask for a table with no reservation. And then seem shocked when they are told they needed a reservation.

And as for the FP+, the next time you go to one of the parks look over at the ticket booths and tell me how long the lines are for people who are buying tickets when they arrive. Much longer than you expect, I guarantee you.

This notion that everyone, or even a majority of people, book their vacation in advance is silly. To many people Disney World is still just a theme park. However those people aren't on these boards.

Anytime someone asks me about our trips to Disney and I mention making reservations 180 days in advance and booking rides 60 days out, they look at me like I am insane. It is *not* a normal thing to do. The fact Disney has convinced anyone that it is normal is even more insane. It's a bloody themepark people. It shouldn't require more planning than a wedding.

 

[skier_pete]

I suspect that it's the rare guest that gets left out in the cold on this one.

First, a first time guest is likely to book in one of 3 ways:

1) Travel Agent - who should tell them what they need to know.
2) Disney Travel Line - will tell them what they need to know.
3) Booking themselves - probably research everything thoroughly.

In each of these 3 cases they get a welcome packet with pertinent dates for FP, Dining, ETC.

I think the idea of someone being surprised by the planning is relatively remote when it comes to reality.

I would bet a higher percentage of first timers are informed nowadays than they were 20 years ago - but I am sure there are still a lot of people that call up three weeks before their trip to book a room. Or book through a travel agent and have the travel agent do all the work and go in completely clueless. You still certainly see it in the parks.

 

[Roxyfire]

Oh geez, we've had a few CM's who work ticket booths comment on these forums about how utterly clueless some of the guests are. They DO sell a lot of day-of tickets and those people would NOT have made fastpasses ahead of time. However, I imagine those people also wouldn't be able to know before they walk through the gate what fastpasses are available, since I doubt they have MDE set up already if they're buying single day tickets.

Yeah that reminds me of a few coworkers that I talked to before I went in October. Of course I'd been on here for a year before that due to postponing a trip. It was interesting hearing what advice people would give. One said I needed to be sure I bought the tickets that included the fastpass. Our director told me never to buy the tickets before arrival! I would smile and nod thanking them for their insight. It's not worth starting an argument over min-maxing a vacation experience.

 

[rteetz]

News

Reservations are now open for Planet Hollywood Observatory

http://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/plan...-observatory-and-a-first-look-at-the-menu.htm

 

[rteetz]

News

Disney Springs now offering one on one fashion experience

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...hopping-services-with-top-fashion-adviser.htm

 

[danikoski]

Is it too cold or just storming? I suspect Southern California doesn't handle storms, especially with lots of rain and thunder, well. They tend to flash flood easily, get mudslides (at least LA and between LA & San Diego), and have wildfires from lightning strikes. I don't know about flooding in Orlando from normal rain.

SoCal has had record rain this month. And it was both windy and cold...I was in Dana Point last night and thought, oh, I will go watch the ocean. I lasted 15 minutes, and I'm from Iowa. Granted, I only had a light jacket on, but some of the folks I saw were in full on winter gear.
Streets in the LA area have also been flooding pretty bad, and they got dumped on last night again.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

First, even of the people you list above, I doubt the majority of "first timers" book over 180 days in advance. So they have already been put into a difficult situation with dining reservations and popular places like Beast's Castle.

Second, you are leaving out people who don't do any of the above. I think you may be underestimating the number of people who just get in a car, drive to Disney World, plan to stay offsite, and buy tickets at the gate. That was how my first visit went. Hell, it's how my second visit went as well.

Third, you are forgetting people who go to Orlando for other attractions (Universal, short drive to the beach, family, etc) and decide to just drop in to Disney for 1 or two days.

All of the above scenarios put people in the situation where they can easily not know how important dining reservations are or how to go about obtaining fast passes. It all seems obvious once you've done it the first time, but both times I have eaten at Beast's Castle, and multiple times at other restaurants such as the T-Rex Cafe at D-Springs, I have seen people walk up and ask for a table with no reservation. And then seem shocked when they are told they needed a reservation.

And as for the FP+, the next time you go to one of the parks look over at the ticket booths and tell me how long the lines are for people who are buying tickets when they arrive. Much longer than you expect, I guarantee you.

This notion that everyone, or even a majority of people, book their vacation in advance is silly. To many people Disney World is still just a theme park. However those people aren't on these boards.

Anytime someone asks me about our trips to Disney and I mention making reservations 180 days in advance and booking rides 60 days out, they look at me like I am insane. It is *not* a normal thing to do. The fact Disney has convinced anyone that it is normal is even more insane. It's a bloody themepark people. It shouldn't require more planning than a wedding.

I full agree with this, but they would have had those similar issues before magic bands, correct? Or just waited standby anyway

Magic Bands and FP+ work for us and how we tour and the level of research I do - I know I am not the majority. That said, I do think Disney had to do something to address the crowd issue that has been growing for a while and the problem of people not getting on a number of big attractions without huge waits and complaining. No systems is perfect and definitely this penalizes people who don't know/want to plan - but is it worse than before for them? For most?

 

[rteetz]

News

Possible changes coming to WDW housekeeping?

http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/01/housekeeping-disney-world-reorganized-due-degrading-service-quality/