Topics from 8/16/16 DIS Unplugged WDW episode

[beastlyprince]

1) Drones

Here is some information on Disney's drone plans:

http://www.regulations.gov/contentS...mber=1&disposition=attachment&contentType=pdf

On pages 8 and 9 you can see the safety requirements of the distance
between park guests and the flight of the drones.

On page 10 there's a diagram showing the drones' flight ceiling (150 ft.)
and the different areas of the show (show area, safety trigger zone, trajectory
zone (in case of drone failure), and safety margin zone).

On page 31 there's a diagram and explanation of what happens if a drone malfunctions.

Here's an example how drones can be used to entertain:

Drone 100 A Magical Experience (100 Dancing Drones Set World Record)

2) Animal Kingdom at night

Temperatures in Florida during the winter can drop to freezing. When Disney announced
that the Animal Kingdom would become a night time park, I thought that this would be
seasonal due to the possibility of cold temperatures. For the animals' safety they would have to be returned to their housing close to sunset. What Disney could do during the winter is
keep the park open to 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.; close all animal attractions; close Kali River Rapids;
close "Rivers Of Light"; keep all of the other attractions open; have evening performances of
"The Lion King" and "Nemo"; show "Tree Of Life Awakenings"; have a seasonal version of
Discovery Island Carnivale (or equivalent type of entertainment).

When Pandora opens there will be plenty to do at night during the winter even with the above closures.

During spring, summer, and fall Animal Kingdom can return to an 11 p.m. closing with all attractions and shows available.

 

[MikeTaylor]

That was cool.

 

[k8Davies]

2) Animal Kingdom at night

Temperatures in Florida during the winter can drop to freezing. When Disney announced
that the Animal Kingdom would become a night time park, I thought that this would be
seasonal due to the possibility of cold temperatures. For the animals' safety they would have to be returned to their housing close to sunset. What Disney could do during the winter is
keep the park open to 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.; close all animal attractions; close Kali River Rapids;
close "Rivers Of Light"; keep all of the other attractions open; have evening performances of
"The Lion King" and "Nemo"; show "Tree Of Life Awakenings"; have a seasonal version of
Discovery Island Carnivale (or equivalent type of entertainment).

If they are closing the park for Animal welfare then I'm full behind that. I'm only a bit bummed as with AK stopping nights and the Electrical Parade moving, it just limits the nighttime activity for my Nov trip.

 

[disneysteve]

Temperatures in Florida during the winter can drop to freezing. When Disney announced
that the Animal Kingdom would become a night time park, I thought that this would be
seasonal due to the possibility of cold temperatures. For the animals' safety they would have to be returned to their housing close to sunset.

True. I hadn't even thought about that. We've been to Disney when it was in the 40s or even 30s. Can't have a safari in that weather.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

1) Drones

Here is some information on Disney's drone plans:

http://www.regulations.gov/contentS...mber=1&disposition=attachment&contentType=pdf

On pages 8 and 9 you can see the safety requirements of the distance
between park guests and the flight of the drones.

On page 10 there's a diagram showing the drones' flight ceiling (150 ft.)
and the different areas of the show (show area, safety trigger zone, trajectory
zone (in case of drone failure), and safety margin zone).

On page 31 there's a diagram and explanation of what happens if a drone malfunctions.

Here's an example how drones can be used to entertain:

Drone 100 A Magical Experience (100 Dancing Drones Set World Record)

Thanks for sharing - for those that haven't seen the document, below are two diagrams from it showing that the drones would only fly over areas where people aren't and they have even calculated the maximum arc the drones could fall out and then still a safety zone before there would be people (in this case, EPCOT is shown)

 

[disneysteve]

That all makes sense. I couldn't imagine they would fly them over guests' heads. That would be a disaster, or at least a lawsuit, waiting to happen.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

2) Animal Kingdom at night

Temperatures in Florida during the winter can drop to freezing. When Disney announced
that the Animal Kingdom would become a night time park, I thought that this would be
seasonal due to the possibility of cold temperatures. For the animals' safety they would have to be returned to their housing close to sunset. What Disney could do during the winter is
keep the park open to 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.; close all animal attractions; close Kali River Rapids;
close "Rivers Of Light"; keep all of the other attractions open; have evening performances of
"The Lion King" and "Nemo"; show "Tree Of Life Awakenings"; have a seasonal version of
Discovery Island Carnivale (or equivalent type of entertainment).

When Pandora opens there will be plenty to do at night during the winter even with the above closures.

During spring, summer, and fall Animal Kingdom can return to an 11 p.m. closing with all attractions and shows available.

as for Animal Kingdom at night, I just can't imagine they completely abandon it so until the time comes when actual days happen with a 5pm close, I don't fully buy it

They aren't just going to abandon Rivers of Light ... even a 9pm close makes it more of a full day park with some evening entertainment

Temperatures in Florida can get cold, though not too typical for long stretches so they could plan to have things open and then if a cold stretch comes close the safari, etc. on a day by day basis

 

[rteetz]

2) Animal Kingdom at night

Temperatures in Florida during the winter can drop to freezing. When Disney announced
that the Animal Kingdom would become a night time park, I thought that this would be
seasonal due to the possibility of cold temperatures. For the animals' safety they would have to be returned to their housing close to sunset. What Disney could do during the winter is
keep the park open to 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.; close all animal attractions; close Kali River Rapids;
close "Rivers Of Light"; keep all of the other attractions open; have evening performances of
"The Lion King" and "Nemo"; show "Tree Of Life Awakenings"; have a seasonal version of
Discovery Island Carnivale (or equivalent type of entertainment).

When Pandora opens there will be plenty to do at night during the winter even with the above closures.

During spring, summer, and fall Animal Kingdom can return to an 11 p.m. closing with all attractions and shows available.

My opinion on this is people and websites are reading too much into closing times right now. It was like a week or two ago that Disney finally updated their calendar for AK to 9PM closing. Disney has been slow to update their calendars lately especially for AK. I think we see October and November extended to a 9PM. Even Epcot closes at 9 in the fall and winter. Disney is not giving up on AK at night despite what some say.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

My opinion on this is people and websites are reading too much into closing times right now. It was like a week or two ago that Disney finally updated their calendar for AK to 9PM closing. Disney has been slow to update their calendars lately especially for AK. I think we see October and November extended to a 9PM. Even Epcot closes at 9 in the fall and winter. Disney is not giving up on AK at night despite what some say.

I fully agree with you - funny how for this one though the rumor or thought has really spread. It's like one entity picked it up and then another referenced it/followed the same thoughts, etc. etc, ... and then now people think there are 5 different sources when it is all stemming from the same thing

 

[KingLlama]

I agree.

 

[beastlyprince]

If they are closing the park for Animal welfare then I'm full behind that. I'm only a bit bummed as with AK stopping nights and the Electrical Parade moving, it just limits the nighttime activity for my Nov trip.

I don't know if AK closing early is due to the animals' welfare. That's just my assumption. I don't know what the real reason is. I can guess it's
partly financial. How busy has AK been at night? Is it worth keeping the park open late? Or is it not worth keeping the park open late until Pandora opens?

As far as night time activity if you're finished with the parks you may want to go to Disney Springs, Boardwalk, or have dinner at a favorite resort or one you've never been to.

 

[beastlyprince]

True. I hadn't even thought about that. We've been to Disney when it was in the 40s or even 30s. Can't have a safari in that weather.

I wouldn't want to be watching "Rivers Of Light" (or "Fantasmic") on a 30F or 40F night. I wouldn't want to get wet from the wind blowing water from the water screens.

 

[beastlyprince]

My opinion on this is people and websites are reading too much into closing times right now. It was like a week or two ago that Disney finally updated their calendar for AK to 9PM closing. Disney has been slow to update their calendars lately especially for AK. I think we see October and November extended to a 9PM. Even Epcot closes at 9 in the fall and winter. Disney is not giving up on AK at night despite what some say.

I agree.

 

[disneysteve]

How busy has AK been at night?

We were only there at night once during our trip. It was July 23. That was a Saturday night but I can tell you that the park was absolutely packed. And it seemed to get busier the later it got. I don't know how it was on the weeknights, though.

 

[Sean91]

Not seeing AK at night is something I regret immensely, I so hope that it's reopened later again by our next trip. Rivers of Light is going to be amazing, I can feel it!

 

[beastlyprince]

We were only there at night once during our trip. It was July 23. That was a Saturday night but I can tell you that the park was absolutely packed. And it seemed to get busier the later it got. I don't know how it was on the weeknights, though.

That's good to hear. Disney will eventually get all of the pieces together (Pandora, "Rivers Of Light") and AK will be a night time destination. During colder months the park can close earlier. With daylight savings time Disney can run the night time shows earlier.

 

[disneysteve]

That's good to hear Disney will eventually get all of the pieces together (Pandora, "Rivers Of Light") and AK will be a night time destination. During colder months the park can close earlier. With daylight savings time Disney can run the night time shows earlier.

I was thinking the same thing about the time issue. It gets dark a lot earlier in October and November than it does in July.

They definitely need to improve their game, though. We encountered a couple of major logistical failures regarding crowd control when we were there at night. It was very un-Disney-like in how poorly things were being handled.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We were only there at night once during our trip. It was July 23. That was a Saturday night but I can tell you that the park was absolutely packed. And it seemed to get busier the later it got. I don't know how it was on the weeknights, though.

We were there on a Tuesday and it was pretty crowded - huge lines to get into the Jungle Book Show - but not too bad ... definitely could still walk around and fairly short lines for Everest etc. Actually, outside of the JB lines it was that good crowd level where enough people to keep the party-ish vibe going but low enough to do stuff

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I was thinking the same thing about the time issue. It gets dark a lot earlier in October and November than it does in July.

They definitely need to improve their game, though. We encountered a couple of major logistical failures regarding crowd control when we were there at night. It was very un-Disney-like in how poorly things were being handled.

we thought the crowd management was pretty good - they had all these light-up signs that CMs were holding telling people where to go and what side of the road to be on, etc. depending on where they wanted to go and that seemed to work pretty well


But maybe that is the difference between a weekday and weeknight night ... with the higher crowds it didn't work as well

One area that I think can be an issue is the front of the tree of life and people are hanging out waiting for one of the events/actions so it can be a bit of a crowded area of people milling about and then others rushing over when something is happening

 

[disneysteve]

we thought the crowd management was pretty good - they had all these light-up signs that CMs were holding telling people where to go and what side of the road to be on, etc. depending on where they wanted to go and that seemed to work pretty well

But maybe that is the difference between a weekday and weeknight night ... with the higher crowds it didn't work as well

One area that I think can be an issue is the front of the tree of life and people are hanging out waiting for one of the events/actions so it can be a bit of a crowded area of people milling about and then others rushing over when something is happening

The whole Tree of Life thing was definitely a problem. There was no control of that at all. No designated viewing areas. No attempt to maintain a walkway through the area. And the Photopass photographers were still stationed smack in the middle surrounded by all of the guests waiting around to view the show. People were crammed in everywhere and trampling through the foliage to get in and out since the paths were blocked.

As for Jungle Book, that was a total fiasco. We asked 3 different CMs where the line would be and got 3 different answers, all of which turned out to be wrong. Then we tried to line up early and the CMs chased us away and told us to go enjoy the park and come back at 8:15 (for a 9:00 show). We circled back 2 more times and kept being turned away. We finally went back around 8:00 only to find the queue still not open but a massive line of people had formed stretching back to Flame Tree BBQ. When the queue finally opened, it was a bit unorganized because it was a wide queue and at the turnaround point, people from the back were sneaking ahead since there was so much open space.

In the end, none of it mattered because shortly before showtime, they cancelled the performance because there was lightening in the area.