News Round Up 2018

[rteetz]

I lurk here and rarely comment, I haven't been on in a while and know it's not disney news or rumor but what did happen to LockedoutLogic ?

Can't be discussed here and I would prefer to leave it at that.

 

[nkmorgan87]

Can't be discussed here and I would prefer to leave it at that.

oh.. now I am even more curious......

 

[skier_pete]

The DDP takes advantage of people who "don't care" what the price is. Once you just "bundle" in dining, the price of each individual meal no longer matters even if you don't get your "$X" a day worth of food in real dollars. I doubt a lot of the DDP users even notice what the price of any given meal is (just like if you just "charge it to your room" you probably notice less what the actual price is).

This is so true. The DDP started out at $35 per person a little more than 10 years ago and is now $75 per person. It was originally designed to fill restaurants that were rarely full, but it was a loss leader (Disney lost money on it.) It was SOO successful though that they've gradually shifted the monetary value to the point that people don't even realize that they are paying more than the costs of their meals AND they are forced to eat in particular ways to use it. It almost never makes "sense" to use it. (I always tell people if you have kids under 9 and are doing several buffets then sure - otherwise forget it.) But people still get it because they love the idea that their meals are prepaid and they don't have to "worry about what they are spending".

We are past the character buffets, but still do one per trip, but beyond that we save a TON of money versus the DDP. Our Party of 3 averaged $159 across 7 days in February - DDP would've been $225+tax. (I do think most people on THIS board are wise to the DDP though.

There used to be a guy on this forum that often predicted Disney would finally hit a boundary someday. What was his name? It seems to be locked out of my memory, which defies logic, as I’m usually pretty good with names…

Snark! I actually miss him - his point was good, but Disney seems to be unable to push things too far for tourists to say "no" - (Though it seems like the Cabana's within Magic Kingdom were a bridge too far - that seemed like a complete bust.) But he was pretty negative. I just wish guests were a little more discerning myself, they are the greatest enemy against the prices rising in Disney. What I would agree is that there's a good chance there will be an economic wall that Disney runs into someday. The economy is booming along pretty well the last 5 years, and even in 2008 the downturn hit certain people hard but not really everyone. If we have a truly bad world economic downturn, I feel Disney has priced itself to be very poorly suited to handle something like that without turning on some DEEP discounts.

 

[skier_pete]

What, no more Beast?

Sorry I don't consider one character a character meal.

 

[FoxC63]

Sorry I don't consider one character a character meal.

That's not what I'm asking, are they still having him there? With the changes I'm not sure if the Beast will still be available.

 

[rteetz]

That's not what I'm asking, are they still having him there? With the changes I'm not sure if the Beast will still be available.

He hasn't been removed as far as I know.

 

[Helvetica]

That's not what I'm asking, are they still having him there? With the changes I'm not sure if the Beast will still be available.

I've called in the past and the cast members have said he's still going to be at dinner service. That may have changed, but I'm pretty sure he's still there.

He's not mentioned on the website anymore, so if you're going soon I may just call them and see.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Is....is Disney trying to patent....umbrellas?

From the article: "The patent was filed under the title “Deployable Shading Structure”, and it outlines the use of canopies that could be deployed and retracted dependent on when the parks feel they are needed, allowing unobstructed views when not in use, and able to be themed as the parks see fit."


tl;dr Yes, Disney is trying to patent umbrellas.

Either that or the Monty Burns sun blocking machine

 

[tlmadden73]

This is so true. The DDP started out at $35 per person a little more than 10 years ago and is now $75 per person.

A lot of that is just the rising food prices too (everywhere, not just Disney).

I mean a Tusker House character lunch I am pretty sure I paid around $35/adult for in 2014 for my son's first trip will probably cost me near $50/adult this November only 4 years later. That type of inflation seems crazy to me .. but the ticket prices have gone up around the same amount as well in the past 4 years, so it shouldn't be that shocking.

Without resorting to fast food (or subway), I can't even get a decent lunch in my small town for under $10-12 nowadays. A sandwich or burger at a non-fast food joint are easily $8-12 without a drink (maybe it comes with fries, maybe not).

Luckily Disney has a wide variety of price options to suit everyone, it is just a shame that so many of the meals cost half as much as a ticket into the park.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

News

The cast of Star Wars: Episode IX has been announced and the movie will begin filming next week!

Quotes from the article:

"Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian."

"The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Source: https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-ix-cast-announced

 

[rteetz]

"The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

This is interesting...

 

[TheMaxRebo]

News

The cast of Star Wars: Episode IX has been announced and the movie will begin filming next week!

Quotes from the article:

"Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian."

"The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Source: https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-ix-cast-announced

Interesting that Mark Hamill listed - though could just be as a Force Ghost

Glad the figures something out for Leia

 

[rteetz]

Interesting that Mark Hamill listed - though could just be as a Force Ghost

Glad the figures something out for Leia

Yeah I don’t think there was any doubt Mark wouldn’t be in this film in some form.

 

[Becky Mouse]

The DDP takes advantage of people who "don't care" what the price is. Once you just "bundle" in dining, the price of each individual meal no longer matters even if you don't get your "$X" a day worth of food in real dollars. I doubt a lot of the DDP users even notice what the price of any given meal is (just like if you just "charge it to your room" you probably notice less what the actual price is).

You'd be surprised how many people out there "don't do the math" for this and all sorts of things.

"Plans" like this is meant to obfuscate the true price and get you to spend more money than you normally would if just spending cash. They can be a "savings" IF and only IF you were planning on using it to its full extent (which most people don't)

Sure -- there are some who do the math AND can take advantage of it (getting more dollar's worth of meals than you spent), but I am sure that is the minority of users.

My sister was planning on getting the dining plan just because it could be conveniently bundled in their package. I told her even if you would save a LITTLE money by getting the plan, just buying meals ala carte gives you the freedom and flexibility to do what you want. She didn't seem to even care to do the math. She just knew she wouldn't have to "worry" about two meals a day.

I disagree. We're staying 2 nights at Disney and added in a deluxe dining plan. Each of us will get 6 table service credits and 4 snack credits to use over 3 days (check-in day, a full day, and check-out day). The cost is $625 for our family of four.

For that cost, we plan on going to CRT for dinner which would have an out of pocket cost of $225. We plan on going to Hoop De Doo for dinner another night, which would have an out of pocket cost of $200. Finally, we plan on going to Mickey's Backyard BBQ the last night, also about $200 out of pocket. Those aren't the best use of dining credits, but it's what we want to do and still completely pays for our meal plan. In addition, we'll get those 4 snack credits each, and that's 16 snacks all together! We'll get the refillable mug, which we actually don't use except me for coffee (we're not pop drinkers). So, by purchasing the dining plan, we basically get 16 free snacks. The dining plan can be worth it! Imagine if I actually tried to make the best use of the credits. It would be a steal.

 

[jlundeen]

I disagree. We're staying 2 nights at Disney and added in a deluxe dining plan. Each of us will get 6 table service credits and 4 snack credits to use over 3 days (check-in day, a full day, and check-out day). The cost is $625 for our family of four.

For that cost, we plan on going to CRT for dinner which would have an out of pocket cost of $225. We plan on going to Hoop De Doo for dinner another night, which would have an out of pocket cost of $200. Finally, we plan on going to Mickey's Backyard BBQ the last night, also about $200 out of pocket. Those aren't the best use of dining credits, but it's what we want to do and still completely pays for our meal plan. In addition, we'll get those 4 snack credits each, and that's 16 snacks all together! We'll get the refillable mug, which we actually don't use except me for coffee (we're not pop drinkers). So, by purchasing the dining plan, we basically get 16 free snacks. The dining plan can be worth it! Imagine if I actually tried to make the best use of the credits. It would be a steal.

I agree that you can do well with the dining plan - we have on past trips.

Sometimes, though, as I've stated every time this topic rears it's head, it's not about the money...

Sometimes, people want to just not mess with figuring out costs of everything every time. Sometimes, they don't want to mess with gift cards or credit cards or anything else. Sometimes they just want to order what they want and not worry about it. Do they sometimes lose money? Probably. But sometimes it's not about the money.

And just like politics and religion, no matter how loudly or how many times you preach your beliefs, you are just not going to convert people. And that's OK.

Can we all just agree to disagree on this once again, and move on?

 

[Irish_Mike]

This is interesting...

My only guess for the use of unsued footage would be below - otherwise, it kind lacks sense in terms of concluding her arc.

Spoiler

Leia was set to pass in TFA, it was changed after scenes were filmed. Those scenes would then be used now?

 

[rteetz]

News

Bing Bong keeps changing his hiding device...

https://twitter.com/scottgustin/status/1022927724938252288?s=21

 

[rteetz]

News

Be Our Guest new dessert trio

https://twitter.com/blog_mickey/status/1022953800418689024?s=21

 

[rteetz]

News

Kids get to create their own Chip dessert at Be Our Guest

https://twitter.com/blog_mickey/status/1022959312136753153?s=21

 

[crazy4wdw]

Interesting that Mark Hamill listed - though could just be as a Force Ghost

Glad the figures something out for Leia

Definitely interesting that Mark Hamill will be returning. I'm glad they found a way to include Carrie Fisher.