News Round Up 2018

[rteetz]

Just wanted to mention AllEars Deb Wills is retiring after being one of the very first Disney planning websites on the internet. 23 years of covering Disney related travel!

 

[DIS-OH]

Just wanted to mention AllEars Deb Wills is retiring after being one of the very first Disney planning websites on the internet. 23 years of covering Disney related travel!

I had the good fortune to attend several of Deb’s events over the years. She is a special lady! Wishing her a happy retirement!

 

[rteetz]

 

[skier_pete]

I always like how the star wars stuff shows an area with almost no people in it. Seems pretty unlikely to me.

 

[jtwibih]

Ugh late fall 2019.....maybe I should change my annual trip dates. I do not want to be anywhere near that place for the first 3 months minimum.

 

[umichigan10]

I always like how the star wars stuff shows an area with almost no people in it. Seems pretty unlikely to me.

Well they wanna give you a unique perspective of what it looks like empty, because they know you’re never gonna see it that way

 

[Tigger's ally]

Ugh late fall 2019.....maybe I should change my annual trip dates. I do not want to be anywhere near that place for the first 3 months minimum.

We will just go to the other three parks next fall like we have the last two years. We do plan to hit HS this fall and next spring to see TSL.

 

[jknezek]

I always like how the star wars stuff shows an area with almost no people in it. Seems pretty unlikely to me.

They do the same thing with the castle. How many commercials show a small child on an empty main street pointing excitedly to the castle pulling the parent's hand to go in the empty theme park with no lines, roving characters, and empty boulevards? Or they are watching fireworks with no one around them? It's just how marketing works.

 

[Fantasia79]

I hope that people aren’t booking Disney thinking that’s the experience they’ll have. There’s moments where that happens, but that’s not reality.

 

[jknezek]

I hope that people aren’t booking Disney thinking that’s the experience they’ll have. There’s moments where that happens, but that’s not reality.

Like most marketing, it works on an sub-conscious level to make the product more attractive, even if logically the target audience knows it is unlikely. Same thing with pictures of food on menus and just about anything else.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

They always picture these things without crowds. Can’t imagine anyone going to a theme park thinking that’s actually what they’ll find there.

 

[sachilles]

Pleasantly surprised with the wait times in Toy Story land, but I don't know what to make of it. Also looks like Flight of Passage has seen a drop in wait times after the opening of Toy Story land. Wondering if it's attendance, or just a general WDW capacity upgrade with Toy Story Land being in operation. There are probably many variables factoring in to it.
I can't help but wonder if because it's the summer "busy" season, they are staffed to hilt and running all the attractions at full capacity. I felt like my last few visits, many attractions were moving at an intentional reduced capacity.
Certainly seems like the wait times are less than our trip in late Feb/early March, and that surprises me.

 

[jlundeen]

Like most marketing, it works on an sub-conscious level to make the product more attractive, even if logically the target audience knows it is unlikely. Same thing with pictures of food on menus and just about anything else.

as the old saying goes, "Sell the sizzle, not the steak..." In other words, "how can we make their mouth water?"

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I always like how the star wars stuff shows an area with almost no people in it. Seems pretty unlikely to me.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

They do the same thing with the castle. How many commercials show a small child on an empty main street pointing excitedly to the castle pulling the parent's hand to go in the empty theme park with no lines, roving characters, and empty boulevards? Or they are watching fireworks with no one around them? It's just how marketing works.

my favorite one is the family with the small child running up to Cinderella on a grassy area near the Castle

Like, a) Cinderella is never just out on a grassy field by herself, and ii) you aren't even allowed on that grassy area they show

 

[hakepb]

Pleasantly surprised with the wait times in Toy Story land, but I don't know what to make of it. Also looks like Flight of Passage has seen a drop in wait times after the opening of Toy Story land. Wondering if it's attendance, or just a general WDW capacity upgrade with Toy Story Land being in operation. There are probably many variables factoring in to it.
I can't help but wonder if because it's the summer "busy" season, they are staffed to hilt and running all the attractions at full capacity. I felt like my last few visits, many attractions were moving at an intentional reduced capacity.
Certainly seems like the wait times are less than our trip in late Feb/early March, and that surprises me.

I think many have changed an extra AK day to a DHS day

DHS is now running TSMM and TOT at full capacity (which was not the case recently)

I think guests with fewer height restrictions, FoP still merits multiple rides, while Slinky is cute a couple of times.

 

[Ambehnke]

Pleasantly surprised with the wait times in Toy Story land, but I don't know what to make of it. Also looks like Flight of Passage has seen a drop in wait times after the opening of Toy Story land. Wondering if it's attendance, or just a general WDW capacity upgrade with Toy Story Land being in operation. There are probably many variables factoring in to it.
I can't help but wonder if because it's the summer "busy" season, they are staffed to hilt and running all the attractions at full capacity. I felt like my last few visits, many attractions were moving at an intentional reduced capacity.
Certainly seems like the wait times are less than our trip in late Feb/early March, and that surprises me.

Wait times are only going to be as long as people are willing to wait. People have said slinky is a nice, cute ride. And most have said they are willing to wait about an hour or so for it. And what do you know... that’s around where the wait times are sitting. Flight of passage on the other hand is worth more than that. Even my husband who refuses lines most of the time says he would wait as long as he had to in order to be able to ride it once and that’s what he tells anyone we know who is visiting. So I think this has something to do with it too. If I have to wait longer than I want to I will just come back a different time or day or skip it if I have to. Not a must do.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wait times are only going to be as long as people are willing to wait. People have said slinky is a nice, cute ride. And most have said they are willing to wait about an hour or so for it. And what do you know... that’s around where the wait times are sitting. Flight of passage on the other hand is worth more than that. Even my husband who refuses lines most of the time says he would wait as long as he had to in order to be able to ride it once and that’s what he tells anyone we know who is visiting. So I think this has something to do with it too. If I have to wait longer than I want to I will just come back a different time or day or skip it if I have to. Not a must do.

I think that is the biggest part of it - the fact that much of the queue for SDD is outside vs the amazing queue for FoP (which is almost an attraction in itself)

So even taking the actual ride out of it, I would rather being in the FoP queue for 2 hours than the SDD one for 1 hour I think

 

[sachilles]

I believe I understand your points in regards to Slinky Dog. Yet, we are seeing a drop in waiting times for many other attractions around WDW. Wondering if it's a side effect of having 2 new attractions online, reduced attendance, or increased capacity at other attractions....or a combo of any of the 3?

I think FOP really skews what we expect. Looking at 7dmt as an analogue, I think Slinky Dog is a really long wait time....it just seems much lower compared to FOP's new standard of long wait times.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I believe I understand your points in regards to Slinky Dog. Yet, we are seeing a drop in waiting times for many other attractions around WDW. Wondering if it's a side effect of having 2 new attractions online, reduced attendance, or increased capacity at other attractions....or a combo of any of the 3?

I think FOP really skews what we expect. Looking at 7dmt as an analogue, I think Slinky Dog is a really long wait time....it just seems much lower compared to FOP's new standard of long wait times.

Just was checking wait times
- Mine Train: 80 mins
- Space Mtn: 75 mins
- Peter Pan: 65 mins
- Test Track: 80mins
- Soarin: 60 mins
- Slinky Dog: 90mins
- AS2: 35mins
- FoP: 180mins
- Na'Vi River: 80mins

So yeah, FoP really is the outlier - I think just how good it is and how good the queue is (and all indoors) helps people justify waiting longer

Of side note, Frozen Ever After was only 30 mins, so that really has come down


Also, I have started plotting FP strategy for our upcoming trip - end of August, staying off site, so only 30 days out, 11 people total in group. Just randomly checking what has been available and seems like FoP, SDD, AS2, and Mine Train are the only ones I couldn't get, even like 20 days out for a group of 11. Though even trying smaller groups (breaking us up) those 4 had no availability