News Round Up 2020

[tlmadden73]

News

Hasbro Disney Princess Comfy Squad Comfy Castle Now Available Exclusively on Amazon

Neat!

That is pretty much identical version of a "Princess dolls" castle my daughter has (that we bought from someone else .. so I would guess this design has been around for a while.) In other words, same toy, different coat of paint ... (toy companies do that all the time). If she didn't have it already, it's a fun themed, simple and not overly large dollhouse she plays with almost daily! Highly recommend for your little princesses!

 

[wareagle57]

Yet, no comp for APs that include waterparks.

Edit: And I stand corrected.

So they are comping people for water parks, but not for the loss of park hopper or the difference in pass tiers

 

[rteetz]

So they are comping people for water parks, but not for the loss of park hopper or the difference in pass tiers

I think there is still some hope that park hopping can return sooner than later.

 

[wareagle57]

I think there is still some hope that park hopping can return sooner than later.

That would be great, though I don't see how until they can increase availability significantly. And to do that they will have to seriously up the throughput on most rides.

MK, AK, and Epcot are fine during the week, but on the weekends and DHS any day, I don't see how you can have many more guests in the parks without it being pretty bad experience as far as rides go. Some rides already have no where else to go with their queue. I'm always shocked how often Small World is using every inch of the extended queue which takes over half of the Tangled area. Peter Pan doubles back at times through the most crowded walkway in MK. Maybe they will switch to more VQ?

 

[scrappinginontario]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1306701633536045056

While not great news it really makes sense. BB was already scheduled (prior to Covid) on Sep 13, 2020 ('unofficially' as no hours were listed after Sep 12, 2020) and be closed for it's annual refurbishment plus extra weeks. With weather 'iffy' in the winter and the WP's closing for colder days, it really does make sense to keep them both closed until the weather improves. Since they were already closed during the heat of the summer, it makes sense to keep them closed fall/winter.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I dunno...$55 is $55, and I don’t have to sit on hold for hours to request it. Since we can’t get to the parks anyway, at least until the Canada/US border reopens, I’ll take the minuscule token gesture gladly.

And as a fellow Canadian, we both know this $55 US is worth almost $200 CDN right now!

 

[rteetz]

That would be great, though I don't see how until they can increase availability significantly. And to do that they will have to seriously up the throughput on most rides.

MK, AK, and Epcot are fine during the week, but on the weekends and DHS any day, I don't see how you can have many more guests in the parks without it being pretty bad experience as far as rides go. Some rides already have no where else to go with their queue. I'm always shocked how often Small World is using every inch of the extended queue which takes over half of the Tangled area. Peter Pan doubles back at times through the most crowded walkway in MK. Maybe they will switch to more VQ?

You are never guaranteed entry to any park as an AP. Look at pre-COVID times. APs were not guaranteed entry then either. Say if a park was at capacity you were subject to that. Obviously that was pretty rare but I dint see this much different. If DHS is full you have to choose a different park.

 

[atricks]

Over at Universal, Test runs of the daytime houses are going on today at Universal, and there are other new things, like a "Skeleton Bar" in the Hollywood area, a Scarecrow Stalk scavenger hunt thing at studios that gets you candy, and Trick or treat spots in Islands of Adventure.




Skeleton Bar:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1307000535459991553

They are doing thee two houses with virtual queus and giving out glow sticks to make it obvious how far the next party is in front of you.

Islands has trick or treat spots for the kids, marked with Pumpkins.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So they are comping people for water parks, but not for the loss of park hopper or the difference in pass tiers

I thought part of the reason they gave everyone an extra month for their pass was to compensate for the loss of park hopping

 

[tlmadden73]

I think there is still some hope that park hopping can return sooner than later.

That would be great, though I don't see how until they can increase availability significantly. And to do that they will have to seriously up the throughput on most rides.

MK, AK, and Epcot are fine during the week, but on the weekends and DHS any day, I don't see how you can have many more guests in the parks without it being pretty bad experience as far as rides go. Some rides already have no where else to go with their queue. I'm always shocked how often Small World is using every inch of the extended queue which takes over half of the Tangled area. Peter Pan doubles back at times through the most crowded walkway in MK. Maybe they will switch to more VQ?

I am sure they CAN do park hopping safely, they just don't have a lot of incentive to do so. You have to figure that if a park's capacity is X, the number of the people in the park at any given time is usually under X .. especially as you get closer to the end of the day.

Not everyone can and will want to hop. So if 2000 AP holders wanted to hop from DHS to Epcot at the end of an evening to get a bite, I don't think that would put Epcot over capacity, because it will probably be well under capacity by the evening.

But, at this point, I feel it is probably less about safety and more about trying to run the minimum amount of transportation as possible (to save money). They are probably saving a ton of money not having to run park-to-park buses, or the friendship boats or the Epcot loop .. etc. etc. No park hopping means the people who ARE coming are forced to buy at least 4 days of tickets to do it all (let's be honest .. with the reduced crowds, and reduced attractions, you could probably do a lot in one day with hopping. Plus with no park hopping, Disney can more easily staff to the minimum needed in each park.

More to your point about the queues -- there is a tipping point where Disney can't increase capacity without ditching the social distancing on rides (like Universal did) .. otherwise, like you said, the queue lines become more of a bottleneck and social distancing "hazard" than the rides themselves. But I don't think park hopping will make the queues overflow any more than they are (or will).

 

[Tiki Birdland]

That would be great, though I don't see how until they can increase availability significantly. And to do that they will have to seriously up the throughput on most rides.

MK, AK, and Epcot are fine during the week, but on the weekends and DHS any day, I don't see how you can have many more guests in the parks without it being pretty bad experience as far as rides go. Some rides already have no where else to go with their queue. I'm always shocked how often Small World is using every inch of the extended queue which takes over half of the Tangled area. Peter Pan doubles back at times through the most crowded walkway in MK. Maybe they will switch to more VQ?

I'd like to get in on some of that 23cent tickets to Typhoon Lagoon. Pretty lame compensation, frankly.

 

[only hope]

I thought part of the reason they gave everyone an extra month for their pass was to compensate for the loss of park hopping

Four extra weeks doesn’t make up for no park hopping imo, especially with the limited reservations. One extra month may be one or two more visits, if you’re not in the Orlando area. If you’re not within a day trip distance, it could mean zero extra days in the park.

 

[rteetz]

News

Electric Umbrella demo begins

https://www.wdwmagic.com/attraction...mbrella-demolition-gets-underway-at-epcot.htm

 

[Tiki Birdland]

News

Electric Umbrella demo begins

https://www.wdwmagic.com/attraction...mbrella-demolition-gets-underway-at-epcot.htm

As if FW doesn't look lop-sided now, they go and pull down EU, My favorite lunch spot in all of Epcot.
(not gonna listen to the EU haters; haters gonna hate )

 

[jlundeen]

As if FW doesn't look lop-sided now, they go and pull down EU, My favorite lunch spot in all of Epcot.
(not gonna listen to the EU haters; haters gonna hate )

I liked it too...

 

[tlmadden73]

Over at Universal, Test runs of the daytime houses are going on today at Universal, and there are other new things, like a "Skeleton Bar" in the Hollywood area, a Scarecrow Stalk scavenger hunt thing at studios that gets you candy, and Trick or treat spots in Islands of Adventure.

They are doing thee two houses with virtual queus and giving out glow sticks to make it obvious how far the next party is in front of you.

Islands has trick or treat spots for the kids, marked with Pumpkins.

I know Universal (playing catch-up to Disney) needs to take risks to cut into Disney's market share, but bravo to them to stretch the limits of their offerings and offer some "normal" Halloween attractions that can be still somewhat safe.

The more the competition safely moves toward normal, the sooner Disney may do it as well. Either way .. just great to see steps in that direction from ANY park.

 

[rteetz]

As if FW doesn't look lop-sided now, they go and pull down EU, My favorite lunch spot in all of Epcot.
(not gonna listen to the EU haters; haters gonna hate )

I liked it too...

It was fine for what it was. I had eaten there many times when I was in the mood for simple things. If I wanted something different thats what World Showcase is for.

 

[Farro]

I know Universal (playing catch-up to Disney) needs to take risks to cut into Disney's market share, but bravo to them to stretch the limits of their offerings and offer some "normal" Halloween attractions that can be still somewhat safe.

The more the competition safely moves toward normal, the sooner Disney may do it as well. Either way .. just great to see steps in that direction from ANY park.

I don't know anymore. I'm losing confidence that any changes towards normalcy will even happen this spring since it seems now even if we have a vaccine, the narrative has changed to it still won't be enough.

So...Spring 2024? Maybe the Moana water feature will be finished.

 

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1307040880365375495

 

[skeeter31]

I know Universal (playing catch-up to Disney) needs to take risks to cut into Disney's market share, but bravo to them to stretch the limits of their offerings and offer some "normal" Halloween attractions that can be still somewhat safe.

The more the competition safely moves toward normal, the sooner Disney may do it as well. Either way .. just great to see steps in that direction from ANY park.

I don’t thinks Disney will be pushed by anything UO is doing. They are going follow their own path, as they have done this entire time. UO and SW will continue to be the “innovators” so to speak in that they’ll be the first to reduce restrictions. But Disney will not feel the need to rush into reducing just because the other 2 are. Just like Disney waited a month and a half after UO opened to open themselves. They have their plan in mind and they are going to follow it.

They don’t need to innovate in this sense to draw visitors. They are still the GO TO destination in Florida and will continue to be so regardless of whether they start dropping restrictions a little earlier than they normally would have. UO and SW have to enhance things in order to draw people away from Disney. Disney is always going to err on the side of caution and savings in this, and yes, it is going to stretch much longer than some on here are going to think is necessary.

My thoughts (and they have been this way from the beginning) are that Disney will keep social distancing, masks, and reduced offerings and hotel accommodations until at least 4-6 months after there is a vaccine. They are not going to rush anything and they’re not going to reopen closed restaurants, hotels, and attractions until they can safely bring back the CP. And CP isn’t coming back until there’s a vaccine. Unfortunately.