News Round Up 2018

[Roxyfire]

I think it could go either way but they could easily have the Opening day as Saturday or Monday and this event wouldn't change things too much. Galactic Nights are probably pretty lucrative so I can see them wanting to do them whenever possible.

 

[rteetz]

I think it could go either way but they could easily have the Opening day as Saturday or Monday and this event wouldn't change things too much. Galactic Nights are probably pretty lucrative so I can see them wanting to do them whenever possible.

Not that this means anything but if they have press in town for the opening already they can see Galactic Nights while they are there to sell the event in the future.

 

[skier_pete]

This makes me feel that it’s HIGHLY unlikely TSL opens Memorial Day weekend... would that be a correct deduction based on this or do people think it’s still possible?

I agree that this diminishes the likelyhood of it open THAT weekend. I suppose it's possible, but yeah I would expect when it opens they would anticipate crowds clamoring to ride, so why would you open something new and then close the park early two days later. Of course, it's quite possible they insisted the Galactic Nights be on that weekend, and the TSL press events will be a week before that, so I don't think its a guarantee, but it definitely reduces the likelyhood.

Helping confirm the rumor of earlier Mickey's Not So Scary this year the August schedule released for this year has Festival of Fantasy moving to 2PM starting 8/19.

Where are you seeing this? Just curious cause I was looking today on the website for end of August, and they still don't have all of July posted.

 

[Roxyfire]

Not that this means anything but if they have press in town for the opening already they can see Galactic Nights while they are there to sell the event in the future.

That's a good point too. Hopefully this one is received a little better than the last one. I know from reading a few things it got some mixed reviews.

 

[rteetz]

Where are you seeing this? Just curious cause I was looking today on the website for end of August, and they still don't have all of July posted.

https://www.wdwmagic.com/calendar.htm

 

[BigRed98]

I am starting to wonder although we didn't hear about Pandora until February.

I believe February 7th is the day Disney announced Pandora’s opening date.

 

[BigRed98]

News

Star Wars: Galactic Nights Returns to Disney’s Hollywood Studios May 27

Will there be another Galaxy Edge Panel?

 

[rteetz]

I believe February 7th is the day Disney announced Pandora’s opening date.

Yeah it was during the first quarter earnings call.

 

[rteetz]

Will there be another Galaxy Edge Panel?

It doesn't sound like it.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

We really don't know. I have heard there were some possible issues with Alien Swirling Saucers.

I am surprised WDW would open their land 1-2 months after Shanghai opened theirs. Shanghai's opens in April. Yes I know different in terms of attractions but still the same in principle and complexity.

So, should Disneyland wait to open Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge until WDW is ready to open theirs? I know these lands are not the same based on excitement, but I think Disney opens lands when they are ready due to several reasons. The main one being Disney will lose more money the longer the lands don’t stay open.

 

[rteetz]

So, should Disneyland wait to open Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge until WDW is ready to open theirs? I know these lands are not the same based on excitement, but I think Disney opens lands when they are ready due to several reasons. The main one being Disney will lose more money the longer the lands don’t stay open.

I'm not saying they should open at the same time although Star Wars is a whole other ball game and they are the same land (for the most part). Toy Story land is a more simple land in its complexity and scale. It doesn't have major e-tickets or anything. I am just saying I am surprised Shanghai would open more quickly than DHS if that indeed does happen.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

It's the same policy in effect as when they stop running the boats and shut down the pools. The major difference being that the boats and pools have no additional fee that guests pay to use them. They should have provided some sort of "rain check" or a voucher to use for snacks, merchandise, etc.; I believe that was the one major complaint that people had.

Agreed. We were just told we had been warned that it was weather permitting.

The difference with boats is twofold to me: 1) the money we paid as you say, and 2) when you plan around a shorter gate-to-gate time and the service is down, you need to cab/uber to get to your location on time if you have an ADR or FP booked. Not being able to count on the service means that you'd have to leave enough time to use a different form of transportation just in case -- cuts out a major benefit they were selling: saving time!

 

[dina444444]

Media event for Pandora ended on Thursday night and it opened to the public Saturday morning. I could see a similar instance for Toy Story and this event is just a kickoff for the summer for Star Wars updates in the park.

 

[PaintsWithAllTheColors]

Agreed. We were just told we had been warned that it was weather permitting.

The difference with boats is twofold to me: 1) the money we paid as you say, and 2) when you plan around a shorter gate-to-gate time and the service is down, you need to cab/uber to get to your location on time if you have an ADR or FP booked. Not being able to count on the service means that you'd have to leave enough time to use a different form of transportation just in case -- cuts out a major benefit they were selling: saving time!

It seems to me that those who paid and actually got to use the service (myself included) loved it. Those who paid but didn’t get to use the service hated it.

This seems to be an issue with Disney customer service, not the Express Transportation itself. If Disney offered other perks when weather issues occur, there wouldn’t be an issue. To your point about the service being a time-savings, if Disney offered extra FP when the ET is down, that seems like it would be a fair way to compensate for it being down.

 

[rteetz]

Media event for Pandora ended on Thursday night and it opened to the public Saturday morning. I could see a similar instance for Toy Story and this event is just a kickoff for the summer for Star Wars updates in the park.

Yep that's what I was thinking too. They always have media in town that weekend to showcase what is new around the parks.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

It seems to me that those who paid and actually got to use the service (myself included) loved it. Those who paid but didn’t get to use the service hated it.

This seems to be an issue with Disney customer service, not the Express Transportation itself. If Disney offered other perks when weather issues occur, there wouldn’t be an issue. To your point about the service being a time-savings, if Disney offered extra FP when the ET is down, that seems like it would be a fair way to compensate for it being down.

I don't agree with this part. Something that unreliable is something I would never pay for again. An extra FP is great, but if I have to pay for Uber to make my ADR on time or miss it, that's not going to fly for us.

I think this service was fundamentally flawed -- unless they could magically fix the lightning/CM shelter issue.

 

[crazy4wdw]

First Look at run Disney’s new Star Wars Half Marathon - Dark Side Medals

http://www.starwars.com/news/get-a-...-star-wars-half-marathon-the-dark-side-medals

 

[PaintsWithAllTheColors]

I don't agree with this part. Something that unreliable is something I would never pay for again. An extra FP is great, but if I have to pay for Uber to make my ADR on time or miss it, that's not going to fly for us.

I think this service was fundamentally flawed -- unless they could magically fix the lightning/CM shelter issue.

Oooh yes, that’s fair. I didn’t factor in the ADR issue.

 

[Roxyfire]

I don't agree with this part. Something that unreliable is something I would never pay for again. An extra FP is great, but if I have to pay for Uber to make my ADR on time or miss it, that's not going to fly for us.

I think this service was fundamentally flawed -- unless they could magically fix the lightning/CM shelter issue.

Oooh yes, that’s fair. I didn’t factor in the ADR issue.

I don't want to continue beating this express transport dead horse (but I'm gonna do it anyway). I think the value of it is so different to various people. On these boards it got a lot of positive press mainly because it made travel between the parks a lot easier and more predictable for a less than expected price. I think how people use it and what their expectations were going into it might have colored things a whole lot. They did tell us going in that if it was bad weather they would not run the buses. That's why I never really scheduled anything important for right after I planned on using the bus because you never know if you'll be able to use it. Thankfully, we never got turned away or experienced bad weather.

I just liked that it had a set time of departure and inside park drop-off point. But I did end up trying to find excuses to use them, as well. I think the fact that we like to swim in the afternoon makes it easier to use our resort as the break point between parks and keep it simple.

 

[iamfathom]

https://www.wdwmagic.com/calendar.htm

Looking at the times for Epcot it's a 9pm close throughout August until the 31st when it closes at 10pm, could this be an indication of when Food and Wine starts again?