ThreeThousand
Footballguy
You're going to need to call them, but I think I remember an announcement that they would waive cancellation fees for the room(s) and any dining plan.
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Disney Vacation (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter DOVCommish
- Start date
CR69
Footballguy
ghostguy123
Footballguy
My vacation house for next week in orlando gave me a full refund today. Kinda surprised actually
Punxsutawney Phil
Footballguy
Have rooms booked for Wyndam Bonnet Creek in April. I'm wondering if the shark move is to cancel and re-book when rates are lower. They inevitably go down because of this right? If we closed still may have to cancel anyways.
glvsav37
Footballguy
All college program CMs and international CM (Epcot) just received word that their programs are being suspend, and need to vacate Disney supplied housing by the 18th. The were also told that they would all be given "Successful completion" status (Important if you want to work for the company again). But thats also bad b/c many programs just started and that would indicate a closure that would last well past the end of the month. No word on if they will all them back once this is over, but as for now, all CP CM's are bering sent home
AAABatteries
Footballguy
I forgot to follow up in here. So here’s what happened - we got up Thursday morning for me to drive my wife and daughter to the airport - we got 2 miles from the house and she gets the call the gym isn’t going - decided till pull the plug before the competition decided anything. Complete #### show - several families were already down there, while others had started driving earlier in the morning and were halfway between Atlanta and Orlando. I was happy given everything that was going on but my daughter was pretty upset - she not only didn’t get to go to Disney but that was their last chance to get a invite to the big competition later in the year. I’m assuming now it’s not a big deal as they will most likely cancel it to I would think or at least push it out.Brother! We need to install some bat phones between our households. First year experiencing this stuff and it's crazy. Headed to Jax this weekend for one. I don't think these cheer groups will cancel ANYTHING unless forced to. In fact, I am confident they will have 8 ounce bottles of hand sanitizer on sale for $50 a bottle. What a racquet that whole scene is.
To your overall point, I haven't heard any major reports on even a reduction in traffic at the parks. We are planning to go a couple days next week during the kids' spring break. Guess I need to pay more attention. Was kind of hoping this would be the time things thin out and we can get on the SW ride at HS....we took advantage of the hurricane bearing down on us last year to get on Smuggler's Run.
Overall - we should talk, these cheer Moms are nuts and it’s unreal how much money I’m paying for all this. Good luck!
The Commish
Footballguy
DUDE!!! It's a group of bat#### crazy @#)()#@ @#)(*)(# @)#()#($(#$(*)(*# crazy ### group of crazy and I don't even want to talk about the costs. I'm pretty sure I have to pay the gym something for typing out these replies to you about cheer!
The Commish
Footballguy
Rates have already dropped at the Hilton Bonnet Creek....they were down by 2/3 yesterday....not sure about today.
Punxsutawney Phil
Footballguy
Ftr, my wife's friend is a VP of a hotel company, and they said they are already laying off people including managers. Going to skeleton staffs. The entire tourism industry is getting decimated. Maybe there will be some kind of tourism stimulus like a 4th fast pass!
glvsav37
Footballguy
More sad blowback from the WDW closures.
the drummers at Japan are ending their 25 year run playing at the pagoda stage
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9vOesAFtU1/?igshid=1irj34dmo6308
Also the UK’s British Invasion band is also being released
the drummers at Japan are ending their 25 year run playing at the pagoda stage
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9vOesAFtU1/?igshid=1irj34dmo6308
Also the UK’s British Invasion band is also being released
glvsav37
Footballguy
Speaking to a friend about it, and while none of us are economy experts, he feels that this will be over by late spring and people will still have their vacation funds burning a hole in their pocket. Once the pandemonium dies down, they will be like “damn or vacation was canceled bc of this virus, let’s get the f outta here and go show where”Punxsutawney Phil said:
fingers crossed
AAABatteries
Footballguy
My daughter begged my wife to still fly down there Thursday even after their gym decided not to go. I’m so glad they didn’t do it but we know some families that did. With the way things have been blowing up since Thursday I would have been worried sick.
Osaurus
Footballguy
-OZ-
Footballguy
Both.
Full picture - we have 5 kids. At that point they'll be 6G, 10B, 12B, 15B, 17B. Grandma and Grandpa will come, so we might be able to escape for a little while as they watch the littles. The teens will be fine on their own for part of the time.
glvsav37
Footballguy
Well so much for the lack of guests helping speed up construction progress at WDW
Disney suspends all construction projects over CV-19
Disney suspends all construction projects over CV-19
AcerFC
Footballguy
jb1020
Footballguy
Thats awesome, but I can't believe they announced it like that.
I got bamboozled on Frozen 2. I went ahead and paid $20 on Amazon last Saturday night for the girls. Woke up Sunday morning to the email that it was available now.
GroveDiesel
Footballguy
If you want to feel even worse about it, I hopped on Saturday night to watch something else with the family, saw it, and sure enough it actually went live Saturday night and we watched it.
glvsav37
Footballguy
If you've never seen YeHaa Bob's show at Port Orleans, now's your chance to get a taste of it. Bob just did a live FB show and while he's not in his usual element, its a small example of how great his show is.
https://www.facebook.com/717063327/videos/10158178792918328/ (ignore the 1st 10+ minutes of him setting up).
Bob is a fantastic showman, and his show is so much better in normal setting with his (literally) rocking piano and the audience participation. But hope this gives you a small taste of one of the best non-park entertainment shows IMO.
https://www.facebook.com/717063327/videos/10158178792918328/ (ignore the 1st 10+ minutes of him setting up).
Bob is a fantastic showman, and his show is so much better in normal setting with his (literally) rocking piano and the audience participation. But hope this gives you a small taste of one of the best non-park entertainment shows IMO.
GroveDiesel
Footballguy
If you buy a policy, make sure it’s from a good company and that you know exactly what is and isn’t covered. For instance, I’ve read that the vast majority of travel insurance has exemptions for cancelations due to pandemics, so most policies aren’t covering what’s going on now unless the travel agency you booked through goes out of business. The pandemic is not covered, but travel agency going out of business is.
And what is and isn’t covered if you have flights canceled or delayed can get really complicated. Some policies may require some kind of documentation from the airline that are basically impossible to get. So know exactly what you’re paying for and what the procedures are for making a claim.
The Commish
Footballguy
Gonna be pissed if this isn't resolved by end of May....it took me months to get reservations at Beaches and Cream...got them for the Saturday after school was supposed to end and now this.
glvsav37
Footballguy
glvsav37
Footballguy
IDK about you, but I get a big boost for my WDW fix from podcasts.
So while things are slow I figure i'd share my top list of podcasts that I regularly listen to.
1. WDW Radio: Prob one of the top Disney specific podcasts out there. The host Lou is a really cool and likable guy (and a friend and client of mine), and has so much knowledge and love for the parks that his show is just dripping with pixie dust. Granted you will never hear a bad word directed at the company, so that gives him a slight knock. But if you want history, restaurant reviews and just good theme park attraction talk, it's a great podcast. Produced mostly weekly
2. DisUnplugged: Kinda the polar opposite of WDW Radio, these guys don't have a problem calling Disney out on stuff—but can also get a bit cranky at times. Their show is actually a youtube show, but they put the audio up as a regular podcast. They have a really big network and include shows on Universal, the cruise lines, and other travel (they are a travel agency). Main podcast produced weekly, but they put new content up almost everyday.
3. Retro Disney World: If you love history and the way the parks use to be, this is a great listen. These guys are super knowledgeable about obscure history. Monthly they take an old location or attraction and really dig deep into it from a historical perspective. Plus one of them runs a film restoration business (I think) and they are always putting up old, restored footage that is so fun to watch. Produced monthly
4. Park Stop Podcast: A rather new entry into my rotation, Alicia seems to have a really good handle on future projects and things happening in the area...almost like fortune teller like. She covers WDW and Universal and while the show def rambles and does not have a real set format, the info is usually spot on, esp if you are intro forecasts and rumors. Unfortunately episode posting is generally not on regular basis, so you have to keep an eye out for it.
Here are some others that I listen to that are good, but on my second tier (in no order)
• Welcome home Podcast: A DVC (Disney Vacation Club timeshare) focused show
• Enchanted Tiki Talk: Hit or Midss, but general WDW Chat
• Radio Harambe: Animal Kingdom and AKL focused. I love the theme song though, brings me right back to AK
• Creating Disney Magic: Lee Cockerell's (Former president of WDW), more business oriented but talks about how they would use management principals in the parks and in business
• Disney History Institute Podcast: I just started getting into this one, but some really good history info and not all theme park based.
Wild Cards: Ok, so I do have a warped sense of humor and there is a collection of Disney themed podcasts I listen to that are def not PG rated. Of this collection, some of the hosts are on multiple shows and they reference each other's shows often. But are usually funny, dont mind throwing F bombs and are not selling pixie dust. As one of them says in their open, "Not for little mouse ears"
• WDW Kingdomcast: Frat boy humor and general joking around about the parks and company
• Marty Called: Some of the same guys, a little less rambling and more focused on the park, business and guest experience.
• The E-Ticket report: Same as above, joking and light hearted, but underlying serious conversation about the parks.
None of these 3 publish on a regular basis so you need to keep an eye out for new content.
Post any others that you might listen to
So while things are slow I figure i'd share my top list of podcasts that I regularly listen to.
1. WDW Radio: Prob one of the top Disney specific podcasts out there. The host Lou is a really cool and likable guy (and a friend and client of mine), and has so much knowledge and love for the parks that his show is just dripping with pixie dust. Granted you will never hear a bad word directed at the company, so that gives him a slight knock. But if you want history, restaurant reviews and just good theme park attraction talk, it's a great podcast. Produced mostly weekly
2. DisUnplugged: Kinda the polar opposite of WDW Radio, these guys don't have a problem calling Disney out on stuff—but can also get a bit cranky at times. Their show is actually a youtube show, but they put the audio up as a regular podcast. They have a really big network and include shows on Universal, the cruise lines, and other travel (they are a travel agency). Main podcast produced weekly, but they put new content up almost everyday.
3. Retro Disney World: If you love history and the way the parks use to be, this is a great listen. These guys are super knowledgeable about obscure history. Monthly they take an old location or attraction and really dig deep into it from a historical perspective. Plus one of them runs a film restoration business (I think) and they are always putting up old, restored footage that is so fun to watch. Produced monthly
4. Park Stop Podcast: A rather new entry into my rotation, Alicia seems to have a really good handle on future projects and things happening in the area...almost like fortune teller like. She covers WDW and Universal and while the show def rambles and does not have a real set format, the info is usually spot on, esp if you are intro forecasts and rumors. Unfortunately episode posting is generally not on regular basis, so you have to keep an eye out for it.
Here are some others that I listen to that are good, but on my second tier (in no order)
• Welcome home Podcast: A DVC (Disney Vacation Club timeshare) focused show
• Enchanted Tiki Talk: Hit or Midss, but general WDW Chat
• Radio Harambe: Animal Kingdom and AKL focused. I love the theme song though, brings me right back to AK
• Creating Disney Magic: Lee Cockerell's (Former president of WDW), more business oriented but talks about how they would use management principals in the parks and in business
• Disney History Institute Podcast: I just started getting into this one, but some really good history info and not all theme park based.
Wild Cards: Ok, so I do have a warped sense of humor and there is a collection of Disney themed podcasts I listen to that are def not PG rated. Of this collection, some of the hosts are on multiple shows and they reference each other's shows often. But are usually funny, dont mind throwing F bombs and are not selling pixie dust. As one of them says in their open, "Not for little mouse ears"
• WDW Kingdomcast: Frat boy humor and general joking around about the parks and company
• Marty Called: Some of the same guys, a little less rambling and more focused on the park, business and guest experience.
• The E-Ticket report: Same as above, joking and light hearted, but underlying serious conversation about the parks.
None of these 3 publish on a regular basis so you need to keep an eye out for new content.
Post any others that you might listen to
GroveDiesel
Footballguy
Obviously everything is a guess at this point, but TouringPlans is bumping up all of their park projection crowds through the next year once the parks re-open reasoning that a substantial number of people who had trips lost will re-schedule rather than cancel.
FreeBaGeL
Footballguy
In the mixtures of closure and quarantine and only bad news surrounding Disney, I figured I'd lighten things up a bit (as much for myself as you all) with a trip report from our one day visit to Hollywood Studios a few weeks ago. Back when the world was still semi-normal. This is going to be long because wtf else am I going to do while sitting around?
As a bit of background we are a family of four with a 5 year old son who absolutely LOVES Star Wars and a 3 year old daughter who loves Frozen and thrills.
We arrived at the parking pay booth at around 7am for an 8am opening. Our goal was to get a spot in the virtual queue for RoR and to sign my son up for the Jedi Academy show. At 7am there was already a long line at parking, and it took a good amount of time to get through it. By the time we paid, parked, and walked over to the park with two small kids and a grandma in tow then got through the bag check line it was about 7:52am when we got in line to scan our tickets and we were sweating. There were only 5 people in front of us but 3 of them had problems with their magic band and couldn't get it to scan. Ultimately we got through at literally 7:59am just in time to do the virtual queue thingy for RoR.
PROTIP (skip this paragraph if you don't care about virtual queueing): One thing a lot of the guides leave out in the RoR planning is that when you click the button to join the virtual queue by default it selects ALL USERS linked with your My Disney account as part of your group, not just the ones that have a ticket. That means if you've had people in your My Disney group before that aren't with you on that day it will select them for your virtual queue group and then throw an error when you try to join because they don't have tickets. It cost me an extra 10 seconds to go through and unselect them which doesn't sound like much but it was the difference between the people next to me getting boarding group 20 and me getting boarding group 57 (just outside of the guaranteed range and technically on the standby list). So the pro-tip here is to remove everyone linked to your Disney account that is not part of your group on that day so you don't have to spend an extra 10 seconds choosing which people are a part of your group when inside the virtual queue section. I can't believe none of the guides mentioned this.
From there we made a bee-line to the Jedi Academy sign-up. 3 shows were already full but we signed up for the noon show.
After the 10 minutes that took, every big ride was pretty much full to the brim. RoR virtual queueing means the usual show up early and ride without lines strategy doesn't work here. In fact it's the opposite as the park is busiest right on open so the busiest lines are right off the bat. Slinky, Smuggler's Run, etc were all 120+ minute waits already. So instead we did a few laps on the old Star Tours which my Star Wars loving son thought was pretty much the coolest thing ever.
After that we did a quick Olaf meetup for our 3 year old and then headed over to Galaxy's Edge to explore and build a droid.
My first thoughts on Galaxy's Edge itself are kind of 'meh'. I read a lot of reviews that mentioned how interesting just walking around the area is so I budgeted time for it. They mostly make mention of the cool details, sounds, character interactions. etc. The problem is these things are a lot more difficult to notice with 80 bajillion people walking around. Same with the character interactions as there are so many people that the characters get lost in there, although we did manage to corner Rey at one point and my daughter had a pretty cool interaction with her. But stuff like we were excited about getting my son to interact with the storm troopers (he was wearing a Darth Vader costume) but the storm trooper actors were just too overwhelmed all day.
At 10:30 we went to our droid building appointment. Note that it is only one adult per child building which makes sense because it's crowded in there. I didn't realize there was a standby option availabe but with our appointment we were able to skip the line and go right in to wait in the other lines. All in all it took about an hour to move through all the queues but it was way worth it. My son had been excited to do this for a long time and he loved it. They have one small area where you can play with the droid out front but other than that they have to stay boxed up the rest of the day. We bought a personality chip because we heard the droids then react differently to things within the land, which is a cool idea and I'm sure was great for the people that got to early review it without real crowds, but again there were so many people there that you literally couldn't hear the droid at all while walking around so it was pretty useless. Ultimately we ditched the box and loaded the droid into an empty backpack we had brought to save the $49 backpack fee. This was one of our best moves as the $49 backpack honestly looks terrible and the box the droid goes into is huge and a major pain in the ### to carry around. So another PROTIP, bring an empty backpack to put your droid into.
PROTIP #2 on the droids here, my son built a BB unit which is very cool but it's worth noting that, and again I don't know why this was mentioned in any of the reviews, in order to turn the unit on/off or wake it from standby mode you have to COMPLETELY DISASSEMBLE IT EVERY TIME. This isn't the end of the world and doesn't take long but opening the main compartment requires some muscle and isn't something a 5 year old can do on their own. So I get like 3 calls into my son's room every day to help him wake his droid up from sleep mode.
By then it was time to head over to get ready for the Jedi Academy show for my son as they were clear that if we weren't 30 minutes early they would give our spot away to someone else. This was the highlight of the trip for us. The 20 or so kids wear jedi robes, get marched through the park to the stage, get trained how to use a lightsaber, and then ultimately get to fight either Darth Vader or Kylo Ren depending on which group they are in. They make a big deal introducing Vader/Ren and the Jedi Master then asks who is brave enough to be the first to fight Darth Vader. This proud papa was over the moon when my normally very cautious/shy son jumped up and shot his hand into the air to volunteer before anyone else. Then he kicked Darth Vader's ###.
This was pretty much the highlight of my son's year and I think this gets looked over a lot. If your kid loves Star Wars, he will freaking love this.
We then hit lunch at Hollywood and Vine. We weren't on a dining plan so the price was pretty steep for what it was. It was fine but our group of 5 came out to like $350 after tip and it definitely wasn't a $350 meal, but whatever it's Disney it was a nice break. From there we headed to the Frozen show which was great and my daughter freaking loved. Another underrated attraction if you have a Frozen loving family member and even my son was really enjoying it. Lots of good humor as well for the adults.
RoR must have been running pretty smoothly because our boarding group got called at this point. Apparently we were enough to jinx that because when we arrived they told us it had just broken down. They told us at this point we could just come back at any time when it was up and running again even if it was past our boarding group.
We saw it back up and running again later and headed back but it was broken down again. We decided to wait this time and it was up and running again soon which ended up being perfect because normally there is still a line (usually about an hour long, apparently) even after your boarding group is called which was much shorter now. Another PROTIP here, our 3 year old wasn't big enough for the ride so we got to use rider swap for her. Unlike other rider swaps where you still wait in the regular line they then let us go through the fastpass line (for both our 1st ride and our 2nd rider swapped line). Since there is no actual fastpass for the ride yet that is literally a trip straight to the ride with no waiting.
The ride was OK, pretty cool overall but not the world changer I'd heard about. One cool thing was because the ride had just re-opened and there was no one in front of us, this SIGNIFICANTLY increased the realism factor as there were no lines in front of us. The 2nd time through when everything was filled back up it felt much more like a Disney ride when we were walking through the ship, etc. Compared to the 1st time where it was just us in the empty ship with the resistance guards giving us their full attention.
Anyway on the main part of the ride my wife and I might have oversold the realism factor to our a son a little too much. We realized this when, as he clung to my arm he asked me "daddy, are we really going to die?". At that point we abandoned the show and told him it was just a ride and everything was safe and he calmed down.
After two rides on that it was Toy Story Land for our Slinky Dog fastpass. Our 3 year old is a daredevil and this was her first rollercoaster and she did not disappoint. Not an ounce of fear in her body, she giggled with shear delight the entire ride.
From there we made the rounds on some older rides we could walk onto until it got late. Just before close the Smuggler's Run line got down within 35 minutes or so and we finally got a chance to hit that. Very fun ride that again my son loved though it was odd the height requirement was only 38" when our 38" daughter couldn't reach any of the buttons on the ride. Regardless we were glad we could all go together and my son got a kick out of being inside the Millennium Falcon and still brags to this day that he shot downmore bad guys than his sister. Weeks later it's still "Hey dad remember at Star Wars land, I can't believe Ashley only shot down THREE bad guys! That's crazy I shot down so many.".
That was it for the rides as they were all closed and things were emptying out. It was nice to have even a few minutes in an emptied out Galaxy's Edge before the park workers started funneling us towards the park entrance.
Our plan at this point was to leave and beat the crowds but of course when my son got wind of a Star Wars themed fireworks show we had one last thing to do. The show was honestly pretty crappy. Barely any fireworks, it was really basically just an (honestly pretty bad) Star Wars tribute/trailer up on a big screen with a few poorly timed sparklers going off every once in a while. But my 5 year old thought it was cool so whatever, was worth braving the crowds on the way out for that I guess.
In the end it was every bit the magical Disney experience they sell in the commercials. Both the kids had the time of their lives and can't stop talking about it.
One last quick PROTIP for our 5 year old instead of doing the crazy $200 (albeit really cool) lightsabers we just had him do the old lightsaber building that's been around for years. The sabers are much crappier and don't even make noise but it was $30 bucks and collapses down to small size for easy travel and my 5 year old still thinks it's pretty much the coolest thing ever.
As a bit of background we are a family of four with a 5 year old son who absolutely LOVES Star Wars and a 3 year old daughter who loves Frozen and thrills.
We arrived at the parking pay booth at around 7am for an 8am opening. Our goal was to get a spot in the virtual queue for RoR and to sign my son up for the Jedi Academy show. At 7am there was already a long line at parking, and it took a good amount of time to get through it. By the time we paid, parked, and walked over to the park with two small kids and a grandma in tow then got through the bag check line it was about 7:52am when we got in line to scan our tickets and we were sweating. There were only 5 people in front of us but 3 of them had problems with their magic band and couldn't get it to scan. Ultimately we got through at literally 7:59am just in time to do the virtual queue thingy for RoR.
PROTIP (skip this paragraph if you don't care about virtual queueing): One thing a lot of the guides leave out in the RoR planning is that when you click the button to join the virtual queue by default it selects ALL USERS linked with your My Disney account as part of your group, not just the ones that have a ticket. That means if you've had people in your My Disney group before that aren't with you on that day it will select them for your virtual queue group and then throw an error when you try to join because they don't have tickets. It cost me an extra 10 seconds to go through and unselect them which doesn't sound like much but it was the difference between the people next to me getting boarding group 20 and me getting boarding group 57 (just outside of the guaranteed range and technically on the standby list). So the pro-tip here is to remove everyone linked to your Disney account that is not part of your group on that day so you don't have to spend an extra 10 seconds choosing which people are a part of your group when inside the virtual queue section. I can't believe none of the guides mentioned this.
From there we made a bee-line to the Jedi Academy sign-up. 3 shows were already full but we signed up for the noon show.
After the 10 minutes that took, every big ride was pretty much full to the brim. RoR virtual queueing means the usual show up early and ride without lines strategy doesn't work here. In fact it's the opposite as the park is busiest right on open so the busiest lines are right off the bat. Slinky, Smuggler's Run, etc were all 120+ minute waits already. So instead we did a few laps on the old Star Tours which my Star Wars loving son thought was pretty much the coolest thing ever.
After that we did a quick Olaf meetup for our 3 year old and then headed over to Galaxy's Edge to explore and build a droid.
My first thoughts on Galaxy's Edge itself are kind of 'meh'. I read a lot of reviews that mentioned how interesting just walking around the area is so I budgeted time for it. They mostly make mention of the cool details, sounds, character interactions. etc. The problem is these things are a lot more difficult to notice with 80 bajillion people walking around. Same with the character interactions as there are so many people that the characters get lost in there, although we did manage to corner Rey at one point and my daughter had a pretty cool interaction with her. But stuff like we were excited about getting my son to interact with the storm troopers (he was wearing a Darth Vader costume) but the storm trooper actors were just too overwhelmed all day.
At 10:30 we went to our droid building appointment. Note that it is only one adult per child building which makes sense because it's crowded in there. I didn't realize there was a standby option availabe but with our appointment we were able to skip the line and go right in to wait in the other lines. All in all it took about an hour to move through all the queues but it was way worth it. My son had been excited to do this for a long time and he loved it. They have one small area where you can play with the droid out front but other than that they have to stay boxed up the rest of the day. We bought a personality chip because we heard the droids then react differently to things within the land, which is a cool idea and I'm sure was great for the people that got to early review it without real crowds, but again there were so many people there that you literally couldn't hear the droid at all while walking around so it was pretty useless. Ultimately we ditched the box and loaded the droid into an empty backpack we had brought to save the $49 backpack fee. This was one of our best moves as the $49 backpack honestly looks terrible and the box the droid goes into is huge and a major pain in the ### to carry around. So another PROTIP, bring an empty backpack to put your droid into.
PROTIP #2 on the droids here, my son built a BB unit which is very cool but it's worth noting that, and again I don't know why this was mentioned in any of the reviews, in order to turn the unit on/off or wake it from standby mode you have to COMPLETELY DISASSEMBLE IT EVERY TIME. This isn't the end of the world and doesn't take long but opening the main compartment requires some muscle and isn't something a 5 year old can do on their own. So I get like 3 calls into my son's room every day to help him wake his droid up from sleep mode.
By then it was time to head over to get ready for the Jedi Academy show for my son as they were clear that if we weren't 30 minutes early they would give our spot away to someone else. This was the highlight of the trip for us. The 20 or so kids wear jedi robes, get marched through the park to the stage, get trained how to use a lightsaber, and then ultimately get to fight either Darth Vader or Kylo Ren depending on which group they are in. They make a big deal introducing Vader/Ren and the Jedi Master then asks who is brave enough to be the first to fight Darth Vader. This proud papa was over the moon when my normally very cautious/shy son jumped up and shot his hand into the air to volunteer before anyone else. Then he kicked Darth Vader's ###.
This was pretty much the highlight of my son's year and I think this gets looked over a lot. If your kid loves Star Wars, he will freaking love this.
We then hit lunch at Hollywood and Vine. We weren't on a dining plan so the price was pretty steep for what it was. It was fine but our group of 5 came out to like $350 after tip and it definitely wasn't a $350 meal, but whatever it's Disney it was a nice break. From there we headed to the Frozen show which was great and my daughter freaking loved. Another underrated attraction if you have a Frozen loving family member and even my son was really enjoying it. Lots of good humor as well for the adults.
RoR must have been running pretty smoothly because our boarding group got called at this point. Apparently we were enough to jinx that because when we arrived they told us it had just broken down. They told us at this point we could just come back at any time when it was up and running again even if it was past our boarding group.
We saw it back up and running again later and headed back but it was broken down again. We decided to wait this time and it was up and running again soon which ended up being perfect because normally there is still a line (usually about an hour long, apparently) even after your boarding group is called which was much shorter now. Another PROTIP here, our 3 year old wasn't big enough for the ride so we got to use rider swap for her. Unlike other rider swaps where you still wait in the regular line they then let us go through the fastpass line (for both our 1st ride and our 2nd rider swapped line). Since there is no actual fastpass for the ride yet that is literally a trip straight to the ride with no waiting.
The ride was OK, pretty cool overall but not the world changer I'd heard about. One cool thing was because the ride had just re-opened and there was no one in front of us, this SIGNIFICANTLY increased the realism factor as there were no lines in front of us. The 2nd time through when everything was filled back up it felt much more like a Disney ride when we were walking through the ship, etc. Compared to the 1st time where it was just us in the empty ship with the resistance guards giving us their full attention.
Anyway on the main part of the ride my wife and I might have oversold the realism factor to our a son a little too much. We realized this when, as he clung to my arm he asked me "daddy, are we really going to die?". At that point we abandoned the show and told him it was just a ride and everything was safe and he calmed down.
After two rides on that it was Toy Story Land for our Slinky Dog fastpass. Our 3 year old is a daredevil and this was her first rollercoaster and she did not disappoint. Not an ounce of fear in her body, she giggled with shear delight the entire ride.
From there we made the rounds on some older rides we could walk onto until it got late. Just before close the Smuggler's Run line got down within 35 minutes or so and we finally got a chance to hit that. Very fun ride that again my son loved though it was odd the height requirement was only 38" when our 38" daughter couldn't reach any of the buttons on the ride. Regardless we were glad we could all go together and my son got a kick out of being inside the Millennium Falcon and still brags to this day that he shot downmore bad guys than his sister. Weeks later it's still "Hey dad remember at Star Wars land, I can't believe Ashley only shot down THREE bad guys! That's crazy I shot down so many.".
That was it for the rides as they were all closed and things were emptying out. It was nice to have even a few minutes in an emptied out Galaxy's Edge before the park workers started funneling us towards the park entrance.
Our plan at this point was to leave and beat the crowds but of course when my son got wind of a Star Wars themed fireworks show we had one last thing to do. The show was honestly pretty crappy. Barely any fireworks, it was really basically just an (honestly pretty bad) Star Wars tribute/trailer up on a big screen with a few poorly timed sparklers going off every once in a while. But my 5 year old thought it was cool so whatever, was worth braving the crowds on the way out for that I guess.
In the end it was every bit the magical Disney experience they sell in the commercials. Both the kids had the time of their lives and can't stop talking about it.
One last quick PROTIP for our 5 year old instead of doing the crazy $200 (albeit really cool) lightsabers we just had him do the old lightsaber building that's been around for years. The sabers are much crappier and don't even make noise but it was $30 bucks and collapses down to small size for easy travel and my 5 year old still thinks it's pretty much the coolest thing ever.
glvsav37
Footballguy
awesome write up @FreeBaGeL....in the end, the kids are what we do it all for, right? I tell my wife I give me kids things and experiences so that in 20 years it keeps my name out of their therapy sessions. lol
That Rey was pretty spot on....and the kid is cute too.
The Jedi Academy is a very cool (and free) experience. I'm bummed my kids are too old for it now.
Great shot of the little dude at the end of the night, a rare empty park photo
As much as i'm over Frozen, the sing along is pretty fun. There are 2 cast members specifically that are hilarious. I'll try and dig up their youtube compilation.
BTW, love the kid on the far right giving the "what 'chu talkin' about Willis" look in the Jedi lineup photo .
That Rey was pretty spot on....and the kid is cute too.
The Jedi Academy is a very cool (and free) experience. I'm bummed my kids are too old for it now.
Great shot of the little dude at the end of the night, a rare empty park photo
As much as i'm over Frozen, the sing along is pretty fun. There are 2 cast members specifically that are hilarious. I'll try and dig up their youtube compilation.
BTW, love the kid on the far right giving the "what 'chu talkin' about Willis" look in the Jedi lineup photo .
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glvsav37
Footballguy
In an email sent out today, new CEO Bob Chapik said that all senior leadership will take a pay cut for the near future.
all senior leadership will take at least a 20-30% pay cut
chapek will take a 50% pay cut
and recently stepped down CEO but new chairman bob iger will take a 100% pay cut.
all senior leadership will take at least a 20-30% pay cut
chapek will take a 50% pay cut
and recently stepped down CEO but new chairman bob iger will take a 100% pay cut.
AAABatteries
Footballguy
I like Lou and his podcast is good but I completely zone out sometimes for 10-15 minutes and realize I have no clue what he said.
And I have no clue how that guy doesn't weigh 4 bills with the way he eats.
glvsav37
Footballguy
Deranged Hermit
Not cool & Pissed
I was listening to the DIS podcast on my jog today. They seem to be much more optimistic about the first few months of foot traffic than I am. I'm thinking with all the layoffs, coupled with a natural fear of travel, it might be a slower turnaround than Disney is anticipating.
Of course, I could be underestimating the die hard Disney fans though.
Of course, I could be underestimating the die hard Disney fans though.
glvsav37
Footballguy
they have to be optimistic, behind the podcast they own a Disney-focused travel company. But regardless of the intent, its still good to hear.
Obv I belong to a lot of Disney groups and boards, and I am kind of purposefully avoiding much of it because of the wild speculation (its just too damn early) and flat out craziness of some Disney fans.
But my prediction is kind of like this:
• Phased Openings: Without the college program there is no way they can fully staff every park and resort on day 1. For the parks, I think you are going to see 2 of the parks open at first, say MK and Studios (Epcot is under construction, AK is unofficially the 4th park in priority, and Studios has the big SW draw right now). And even then I expect some attractions still shut down—esp entertainment like parades and shows. I don't believe the entertainment contracts that are still in place would require some form of warm up or practice after being down for so long, there is personal injury factors to consider.
• Same for resorts, you'll see forced limited capacity for a while. Rooms cant sit around for 2 months without needing to be cleaned from top to bottom. As far as I know, housekeeping is not working and while no one is staying there, rooms would still need to be cleaned and linens washed. Plus I would assume they would want to institute some form of new sanitation guidelines—if only for PR reasons.
• Think of the amount of food they would need it bring in immediately to restock every restaurant and quick service location. Restaurants would open on a rolling basis.
• As for guests: I think they will be slow for about 3-4 months once open. You have the die hards, but that number decreases when you start to separate out the group cautious about germs and such. Already you had groups of guests with gallon jugs of hand sanitizer for years before this. Their fears will outweigh their need for Disney. Add to that people will just not be able to afford it. With unemployment so high and who knows where the economy will go, people will need to dip into their vacation funds (if they even had one) or need to pay down expenses incurred from not working. The fact that WDW trips are more expensive than ever before , they will need to come up with some serious discounts to attract people. You will still have those with discretionary income, but again, you still need to divide that group by those who feel safe in crowds once this is over.
• Aulani will suffer hard: A large percentage of Aulani's guests are from Asian countries b/c of the proximity. The stigma from this will last for a while beyond the all clear when it comes to dealing with large groups directly from asian countries. Not trying to sound racist, but just my thoughts.
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
glvsav37
Footballguy
some other announcements today:
AP holders were told Disney would be extending their AP expiration as many as out as the parks were closed. Today they announced that AP holders can opt for a partial refund instead.
DCL had canceled all cruises though April 28th embarkment, however Canada has closed its ports to anything over 500 people though July 1st, so that impacts any DCL Alaskan cruises. Only bright side is that DCL is offering the choice of a 125% future cruise credit (use within 15 months of the original sail date) or a full refund for anyone effected.
AP holders were told Disney would be extending their AP expiration as many as out as the parks were closed. Today they announced that AP holders can opt for a partial refund instead.
DCL had canceled all cruises though April 28th embarkment, however Canada has closed its ports to anything over 500 people though July 1st, so that impacts any DCL Alaskan cruises. Only bright side is that DCL is offering the choice of a 125% future cruise credit (use within 15 months of the original sail date) or a full refund for anyone effected.
Capella
Footballguy
Capella
Footballguy
Wish they’d cancel my May cruise already. No way in hell it happens, give people their money back.
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
hopefully Universal does the same since I am planning to hit both (Flight, hotel and tickets already booked). Would suck if one park opened earlier than the other
should be fun trying to reschedule everything, although I did go through a travel agent so hopefully once I pick the new dates they can do all of the legwork
still hopeful things are back to normal much sooner
Punxsutawney Phil
Footballguy
Temperature checks? Only 50% of the people have symptoms. I would hope someone feeling under the weather would decide not to go to Disney, but I'm sure they catch a few idiots, or idot parents. This seems like a 100% optics move. I called and got a refund for my tickets I bought. It was the FL res ones that you have to use the days before June 30th. They pushed it back a month, but I figured I'd just buy them again when I want to go.
GroveDiesel
Footballguy
No clue when or if things return to normal, but crossing my fingers that our November trip still happens.
Question about linking accounts for those that may know:
We’re going with my parents and my MIL who both have their own rooms/reservations. I’m linked to them on my Family and Friends List, but it lists them as “People I Do Not Have Plans With”. Does that mean that I can’t make reservations and fast passes that include them?
If I can’t, what do I need to do in order to be able to do that?
Question about linking accounts for those that may know:
We’re going with my parents and my MIL who both have their own rooms/reservations. I’m linked to them on my Family and Friends List, but it lists them as “People I Do Not Have Plans With”. Does that mean that I can’t make reservations and fast passes that include them?
If I can’t, what do I need to do in order to be able to do that?
ghostguy123
Footballguy
Anything involving larger gatherings of people will be on hold until there is a widely distributed vaccine.
Guys, your disney plans for this summer and fall are not happening.
Guys, your disney plans for this summer and fall are not happening.
Capella
Footballguy
You really think Disney is going to shut down for the next year and a half until a vaccine is found and mass distributed? Come on. That’s not even slightly realistic.
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