News Round Up 2018

[bbmassey]

News

VIDEO: Disney Releases New Sneak Peek For “Ralph Breaks The Internet”

"She's from the "other" studio."

I love the fun they are having with the Princess so far. I just hope it's not a trailer only thing. I think this has the potential to be a great movie.

 

[j2thomason]

News

REVIEW: Disney’s Pop Century Introduces Brick Oven Pizza to Shake Up Quick Service Dining

I was so sad to see that this pizza took away the ice cream offerings that had been there for so long. Most nights after a long day at the parks I would stop there to grab a milkshake on the way back to my room. They still have the regular pizza just a few feet away across the food court. So sad

 

[Farro]

Oh man it sounds like buying tickets is going to get to be a giant headache. I can only imagine the glitches this will spawn in MDE and at the gates. Wonder how many people would just take the upcharge for any day of your trip tickets? Which I imagine is what Disney is banking on.

I totally get the idea of charging more for more popular parks (would have been nice if they had that in place during the construction on DHS so it would be cheaper than the other parks).

But the part that concerns me is "The people I've spoken to say that the new ticket ordering process is very complicated - something like 7 to 9 steps per ticket." .... already see people complaining about how complicated a visit to WDW is - this is not going to help!

I could also see this creating more levels for annual passes as if they are going to charge more for EPCOT during F&WF - which is mostly an issue on the weekends when locals go

I'm pretty forgiving and "oh well" about a lot of stuff that goes in at Disney World, but this has the potential to make me nuts.

I can't possibly buy park tickets based on what day I will be in each park. I will not do it. Fast pass fine, I'm not locked in. This, no.
And we hop, every day. Especially staying in the Epcot resort area.
So we will have to buy the super-uber- top of the line tickets where you can go to any park, any day and the hopper option.
We will definitely not be buying a dining plan on top of that.
They wouldn't get rid of the hopper, would they?

My stomach is hurting.

 

[j2thomason]

I just saw on Facebook that multiple rides are down at MK.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I just saw on Facebook that multiple rides are down at MK.

Thunderstorms, looks like. All outdoor rides across all 4 parks appear to be closed right now.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm pretty forgiving and "oh well" about a lot of stuff that goes in at Disney World, but this has the potential to make me nuts.

I can't possibly buy park tickets based on what day I will be in each park. I will not do it. Fast pass fine, I'm not locked in. This, no.
And we hop, every day. Especially staying in the Epcot resort area.
So we will have to buy the super-uber- top of the line tickets where you can go to any park, any day and the hopper option.
We will definitely not be buying a dining plan on top of that.
They wouldn't get rid of the hopper, would they?

My stomach is hurting.

I can’t imagine them getting rid of the hopper as it is just extra $ to them for not real additional expense.

Maybe it would work that you can only hop to parks at the level of ticket you have or lower

Also I can see them having packages advertising “free range tickets and hoping” or something that bake in the cost of highest range ticket while there but structure it/market it so it looks like a “deal”

 

[OKW Lover]

I just saw on Facebook that multiple rides are down at MK.

Yes, thunderstorms in the area. We live 2 miles from the castle and there was a brief period just before noon. Right now though (12:30 pm) it suny.

 

[PolyRob]

Also I can see them having packages advertising “free range tickets and hoping” or something that bake in the cost of highest range ticket while there but structure it/market it so it looks like a “deal”

Agreed. I have had a Platinum Pass the past three years since I go at least two times and the renewal (while also expensive) has been less money. I could see Disney making a "platinum hopper" or something with a catchy name that hides the fact that it is gouging you while allowing access to all the parks at any level. I could also see guests just purchasing it for "convenience" like the dining plan and not caring about the additional cost.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

The parks were profitable in the 80s and 90s with much lower crowds, and without upsell hard ticket events and dessert parties.

1) there WERE ticketed events back then
2) the Parks were not profitable at that time, they went through a serious decline and were only barely sustainable. Michael Eisner was brought in to figure out what was wrong, and he basically implemented the idea, "If my kids think this would be awesome, we're gonna do it!" I guess his kids must have been seriously awesome because the rest of us ALSO loved the new changes and brought Disney back from the brink of bankruptcy.

 

[danikoski]

I can’t imagine them getting rid of the hopper as it is just extra $ to them for not real additional expense.

Maybe it would work that you can only hop to parks at the level of ticket you have or lower

Also I can see them having packages advertising “free range tickets and hoping” or something that bake in the cost of highest range ticket while there but structure it/market it so it looks like a “deal”

There computer system is sooooo not going to handle all of these permutations. FP is bad enough. They should just tier according to season and be done with it. Around the time SWGE opens, charge more for any multi day ticket. I'm not sure their current plan will make it through beta testing in their computer system.

 

[circus4u]

1) there WERE ticketed events back then
2) the Parks were not profitable at that time, they went through a serious decline and were only barely sustainable. Michael Eisner was brought in to figure out what was wrong, and he basically implemented the idea, "If my kids think this would be awesome, we're gonna do it!" I guess his kids must have been seriously awesome because the rest of us ALSO loved the new changes and brought Disney back from the brink of bankruptcy.

I remember going to the Christmas Parties when they started. At that time, you could buy the tickets in the grocery stores in the Tampa Bay area. You also got a free 5x7 family photograph which had to be mailed to you since there were no digital cameras then. Tables were set up throughout the park with the free cookies and hot chocolate.

 

[disneymath]

I thought Disney removing the “no-expiry” ticket option was a low blow to their repeat customers. (For international visitors, those tickets were golden ... you could pick them up when your exchange rate was good and save them for future trips ... the 10 Day ones were good for 2+ trips for us.) Now this multi-day tiering stuff just seems like it will be a huge annoyance ... especially if your trip crosses tiers and your dates aren’t flexible. Also agree with others that it sounds like an issue waiting to happen with Disney IT.

 

[UncleMike101]

I thought Disney removing the “no-expiry” ticket option was a low blow to their repeat customers. (For international visitors, those tickets were golden ... you could pick them up when your exchange rate was good and save them for future trips ... the 10 Day ones were good for 2+ trips for us.) Now this multi-day tiering stuff just seems like it will be a huge annoyance ... especially if your trip crosses tiers and your dates aren’t flexible. Also agree with others that it sounds like an issue waiting to happen with Disney IT.

Well.......
Never let it be said that Disney ever allowed a little thing like a potential IT disaster stop them from diving headlong into a money grab...............

 

[Spaghetti Cat]

Regarding multi-day tiered admission. Sure an IT issue is a risk, but I think another issue will be confusion on the part of the ticket holders. Can I use this ticket today? Can I hop? What happens to my other three days next week if I use one now? It's going to be a constant headache for CMs that have to answer questions because many park goers won't be sure what they can do. Some may give up and move back to Iowa.

 

[rteetz]

News

New Kids' Area, Events at Epcot 2018 Food&Wine Festival

 

[rteetz]

News

Menu and Merchandise Highlights from Food&Wine 2018

 

[rteetz]

 

[rteetz]

News

RUMOR: Splash Mountain Funko Pop! Vinyl Figures Coming to Disney Parks

 

[BigRed98]

News

RUMOR: Splash Mountain Funko Pop! Vinyl Figures Coming to Disney Parks

I NEED THIS!!!!!!!!

 

[skier_pete]

I need to chime in on the ticket thing. First off people are reacting to a rumor - and a rumor by not the most reliable of guys.

2nd - if they put in some sort of tier pricing for multi-day tickets, I am SURE they will not make it THAT complicated. For those saying "How will they do hoppers?" for instance - my bet is exactly the way they do it now - by paying $75 per person - you now can hop from park to park. THere won't be a bunch of different options, it'll be a single adder, just like it is now.

My guess is the single park multi-day will work like this: Days at MK will cost maybe $10 so if you want a six day pass with 2 days at MK it will be $380, for 3 days at MK it will be $390. The point will be basically to try and discourage people from so many days at MK - the park that has the real crowd problems. The seasonal pricing will likely be fairly simple too...if any of your park days are during the higher season - the whole ticket will be at the higher season price.

This is all conjecture of course, just like everyone else - but I just don't believe that they are going to make it so complicated that the guests will have to plan out every single day to buy their tickets. ("Well, Tuesday at Epcot is cheaper - so we'll go there on Tuesday...")