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Disney Vacation (4 Viewers)

I remember reading Disney was considering some derivative of fast pass preference “at a price“ (for $$ or onsite 5* hotel) for 2021 But Covid got in the way.  It’s a “bad look” to offer a white glove experience for $$ But it’s already happening in a lot of other ways.
 

I slum it when I go but I live right up the street.  I’d have no issues if someone paying $750 a night got 10 fast passes starting at 120 days out or other preferences.
Unfortunately I think that is the answer...want to guarantee a spot?  Okay $50 per person and you walk on.  

The no FP system they're going with right now really wasn't bad.  I'd always set a separate timer when we got in line and actual wait times were always about 30% less than the posted wait time.   We never waited more than 65 minutes, and that was for the new Runa Away train ride.  It was a 90 minute posted wait time.  That ride was pretty cool too, just seemed to end very abruptly.  Seems like they could have added another scene or 2.  

Hollywood is definitely the park to be at now.  Funny how fast this stuff changes.  3 years ago HS was a half day park, unless you take in all the shows.  Now with Toy Story and Star Wars its a 2 day park at a minimum.  We only did all the attractions just once in 2 days. 

We almost made it a 3 day park just to try and get on Rise again.  We went to AK on a Monday morning and were supposed to go back on Friday, but figured 1 day was enough there.  Just not much to do there anymore it seems?  

 
This week there was another round of massive layoffs for WDW. This round cuts pretty deep and most of the Equity Entertainment performers have been let go. This means entire entertainment/show casts have gotten pink slips. Staffs including

• Hoop Dee Do Review
• Finding Nemo
• Festival of the Lion King
• Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
• Citizens of Hollywood
• Citizens of Main Street
• Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage
• Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show
• Turtle Talk with Crush
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

Now its no real surprise as these are mostly entertainment performed in theaters to large audiences that just cannot be held right now. I do in part applaud the WDC for keeping them on as long as they have. However it does call into question if we will ever see some of these shows again even if things return to normal soon. Attractions like Indiana Jones and Beauty and the Beast have been around a long time and there was already speculation on them closing, if only for the real estate they take up (Indy).

Since the 1st round of mass layoffs, the Disney Fan community has been coming together to help in a few ways. 
Cast Member Pantry: This is a food bank run by and for WDW cast members who were laid off. Food drop offs are welcome but they also accept donations through amazon 

• Many CM's have opened shops or sell goods that you might be interested in. This spreadsheet lists links to Etsy stores and other ways to purchase items from laid off CMs. We are heading into the holiday season so you might consider spending some of your gift budgets on these stores. 

Ear for Each Other FB Group:  A FB Group where laid off CMs can share their side jobs and talent. 
 

I'll update as I find out about any more opportunities. 

If you have ever been in a Disney park (obv since I'm posting in this tread) I can assure you that you have crossed paths with many of these laid off CMs. I know times are tough for everyone but if you can find a few dollars to give back to those who entertained your family it would be awesome.  
 

 
Disneyland Paris is looking at another possible closure as cases in France begin to climb. 
New guidelines are expected today from the French gov't which could impact this. 
 

 
Disneyland Paris is looking at another possible closure as cases in France begin to climb. 
New guidelines are expected today from the French gov't which could impact this. 
 
Update: DLP will close on Oct 30 and run through December 1, however it will be reevaluated every two weeks.

 
Unfortunately I think that is the answer...want to guarantee a spot?  Okay $50 per person and you walk on.  

The no FP system they're going with right now really wasn't bad.  I'd always set a separate timer when we got in line and actual wait times were always about 30% less than the posted wait time.   We never waited more than 65 minutes, and that was for the new Runa Away train ride.  It was a 90 minute posted wait time.  That ride was pretty cool too, just seemed to end very abruptly.  Seems like they could have added another scene or 2.  

Hollywood is definitely the park to be at now.  Funny how fast this stuff changes.  3 years ago HS was a half day park, unless you take in all the shows.  Now with Toy Story and Star Wars its a 2 day park at a minimum.  We only did all the attractions just once in 2 days. 

We almost made it a 3 day park just to try and get on Rise again.  We went to AK on a Monday morning and were supposed to go back on Friday, but figured 1 day was enough there.  Just not much to do there anymore it seems?  
Yeah I enjoyed HS more than AK myself.  It would have been better if we didn't pick like the coldest day in January to be there as well.

 
Disney Springs was fantastic tonight. Not crowded (we were there from 3-7:30) and you could move about freely without bumping into someone. Got two awesome cocktails,  walked into every shop with no wait and walked into House of Blues for a burger. Wish every day on Disney property was this smooth. 

 
Twitter is a cesspool IMO, but if there is anyone there to follow, its user @bioreconstruct. He posts some amazing aerial photos of the parks and resorts often giving us a great look into the backstage areas. This week he's posted some great stuff:

• Current state of the old fountain/Innoventions area in Epcot. Link, link, link and link

• HUGE Barges being built for the new Epcot fireworks show HarmonioUS. Link, Link, Link and Link (Stargate??) Link. This staging area is on the other side of that bridge you walk over between China and the refreshment outpost. 

• Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser hotel progress  Link and Link

• Progress on the new Swan Reserve resort being built between the Swan and Dolphin. Link and Link

 
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Deranged Hermit said:
Disney Springs was fantastic tonight. Not crowded (we were there from 3-7:30) and you could move about freely without bumping into someone. Got two awesome cocktails,  walked into every shop with no wait and walked into House of Blues for a burger. Wish every day on Disney property was this smooth. 
Consider yourself lucky GB.  We were there the Saturday before and it was a complete ####show.  It was an hour just to get into the Disney store.  In our restaurant it was great though.  We basically met our friends and their kids for dinner, ate and left.

 
Consider yourself lucky GB.  We were there the Saturday before and it was a complete ####show.  It was an hour just to get into the Disney store.  In our restaurant it was great though.  We basically met our friends and their kids for dinner, ate and left.
I'm told by one of the families at the pool that it turned into a ####show after the parks closed that night. Apparently they hit capacity shortly after we left. 

 
I'm told by one of the families at the pool that it turned into a ####show after the parks closed that night. Apparently they hit capacity shortly after we left. 
Ah...that would make sense.  I keep hearing stories like yours and wonder WTF!  That's NOT how it was for us and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong :D   We were there for dinner...it was slammed and that WAS after AK and Epcot had closed...don't think MK or HS had closed yet though...maybe by the time we were leaving.

 
Consider yourself lucky GB.  We were there the Saturday before and it was a complete ####show.  It was an hour just to get into the Disney store.  In our restaurant it was great though.  We basically met our friends and their kids for dinner, ate and left.
I was supposed to meet out of town friends the night of the 14th at Raglan Road, but we backed out. I want no parts of that place for the foreseeable future. 

 
My wife and oldest son were just in the Orlando area "safely" visiting family. While they didn't try to go to the parks, or even Disney Springs, they did head over to the Polynesian for some Dole Whip. I'm surprised it was open, but they said they weren't the only ones there enjoying the most delicious treat.

 
Got to Coronado today. Really impressed with the rooms in the tower. Not so impressed with the dining options. Everything is closed for quickserve meals.

 
Just got back. 

First off, MK was fantastic. Nothing except Mine Train was more than a 15 minute wait. Peter Pan was actually 5 minutes. It was great. Just wish more quick service locations were open.

Epcot, not so much. Lots of construction made it tough to get around so everyone funneled to the World Showcase and it made it tight. I did get to talk to Pete Werner of The Dis podcast fame as I was eating lunch and he was a cool dude. Very nice.

Disney springs was on and off, attendance wise. We got to see the Christmas trees on the last day. They didn't do the trail this year,  instead spacing them throughout the park. 

 
I told my wife when we went, when we go back we are not doing lunches that the snacks are fine.  The lunch food to me was pretty bad anyway.  I'd rather just do the snacks and then eat dinner.
The thing that kills me is the horse#### food the Disney parks offer. We’ve watched several Youtubers showing all the fantastic food that all the other Disney parks on the planet offer, and we’re hoping Florida upped their game since last time we were there. NOPE

 
The thing that kills me is the horse#### food the Disney parks offer. We’ve watched several Youtubers showing all the fantastic food that all the other Disney parks on the planet offer, and we’re hoping Florida upped their game since last time we were there. NOPE
Are you talking about counter service, table service or both?

 
As great as this looks, I can not justify $13,200 for a 2 day vacation for my family of 4

And without sounding too much like a jerkwad, I am very lucky to say that we are not hurting in the money department right now. Im no Chet, but I can afford it. I just wont. Who is their target with that price point
No idea...we could do it to, but not only do I not care for SW all that much (wife and kids think I'm a whacko...just never got into it for whatever reason) but I can't think of a single thing I'd spend that sort of money on....I'm just not wired that way I guess

 
The thing that kills me is the horse#### food the Disney parks offer. We’ve watched several Youtubers showing all the fantastic food that all the other Disney parks on the planet offer, and we’re hoping Florida upped their game since last time we were there. NOPE
Seriously, I think the best lunch by far I had was a hot dog and tater tots the last day we were there.  Of course how hard is that to screw up?  The rest of it was the same old food everywhere.  

 
Finally went back and "did the math" on buying food and drinks out of pocket or going with the dining plan (thats not currently an option).   We came out about $700  ahead just paying as we go.  We certainly didn't eat as good, or nearly as much, but thats a substantial chunk of cash.  Plus with the mobile ordering there was a never a tip to be paid,  I sort of assume thats about $50 a day in savings for us too.  

I'm truly guessing it saved my family about $1000 by just eating when hungry.

 
We were really disappointed in the food offerings when my wife and I were in Disney two weeks ago. Disney Springs was fine, Epcot was ok and MK was borderline awful. 

If you go, I'd recommend a big breakfast on MK days and go offsite for dinner. Maybe Whispering Canyon or somewhere in the Grand Floridian.

Plenty of places in Epcot for Dinner. I noticed not a lot of Quick Service options but, with food and wine going on, there are options.  

IMO, Disney Springs was the best spot for dinner. Most places were open, and I enjoy all of them not named Rainforest Cafe.

 
We were really disappointed in the food offerings when my wife and I were in Disney two weeks ago. Disney Springs was fine, Epcot was ok and MK was borderline awful. 

If you go, I'd recommend a big breakfast on MK days and go offsite for dinner. Maybe Whispering Canyon or somewhere in the Grand Floridian.

Plenty of places in Epcot for Dinner. I noticed not a lot of Quick Service options but, with food and wine going on, there are options.  

IMO, Disney Springs was the best spot for dinner. Most places were open, and I enjoy all of them not named Rainforest Cafe.
Epcot was the best of the group including MK, AK, and HS to me.  As mentioned upthread, the lunch quick service offerings are pretty awful.  I've made it abundantly clear to my wife, next time we go we don't need to waste lunch quick service meals, we can just do snacks and dinners.

 
Shula-holic said:
Epcot was the best of the group including MK, AK, and HS to me.  As mentioned upthread, the lunch quick service offerings are pretty awful.  I've made it abundantly clear to my wife, next time we go we don't need to waste lunch quick service meals, we can just do snacks and dinners.
Our last pre-COVID trip to Disney, we stayed at Beach Club and basically ate all our dinners in Epcot.  We'd hit the parks in the morning, come back early afternoon for pool/naptime (4 yr old and 8 yr old), then walk over to Epcot Int'l Gateway for dinner in a different country each night.  

Favorites:  Le Cellier (obv), and also the Mexican sit-down restaurant whose name I'm forgetting at the moment.  Eat there late and ask for a window seat, you're overlooking the water and can catch the firework show from inside, great views. 

 
2 big nuggets of news today: 

A Brightline Rail Station will be built at Disney Springs. 

Today, Brightline and Walt Disney World Resort announced they have entered into an agreement to construct a train station at Disney Springs, the popular shopping, dining and entertainment complex.  The Brightline station is intended to provide a convenient travel option between Walt Disney World Resort and Brightline stations at Orlando International Airport (OIA), Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and planned stations in Aventura, Boca Raton and Port Miami. Brightline’s expansion from West Palm Beach to OIA is on track to be completed in 2022.  The agreement is conditioned upon Brightline’s satisfaction of certain obligations including obtaining all necessary government approvals.  


Famous Imagineer Joe Rhode has announced his retirement from Disney

 
My sister in law and her family is in WDW today. She said it was absolutely insane. The line for the Jungle Cruise went back to Crystal Palace.

 
My sister in law and her family is in WDW today. She said it was absolutely insane. The line for the Jungle Cruise went back to Crystal Palace.
I was reading someones blog the other day. They showed the line for something that extended forever, but said it was only a 40 min wait. I wonder what the wait was for jungle cruise

 
I was reading someones blog the other day. They showed the line for something that extended forever, but said it was only a 40 min wait. I wonder what the wait was for jungle cruise
They didn't wait to find out. That que is really tight though, literally like a maze. they probably just straightened it out.

She said the average wait time has been 40 minutes for the popular rides. That doubles the time my wife and I had when we were there just last month, so I have to believe they are drastically upping capacity in the last few weeks.

 
Jungle cruise is going to be long. They are only loading the boats at less then 1/2 capacity and there is only so many boats they can put on the river. Plus I'm sure that is even down with the reduction in cast members. 

Plus the queue is very serpintine, so they need to close at least every other row which—when you add distancing— would push the line out of the main building pretty far. 

 
Jungle cruise is going to be long. They are only loading the boats at less then 1/2 capacity and there is only so many boats they can put on the river. Plus I'm sure that is even down with the reduction in cast members. 

Plus the queue is very serpintine, so they need to close at least every other row which—when you add distancing— would push the line out of the main building pretty far. 
Yeah. The boats have plexiglass dividers and loading by party does take longer as well from what I remember over the summer when capacity was 25% (the parks, not the boats)

 
My sister in law and her family is in WDW today. She said it was absolutely insane. The line for the Jungle Cruise went back to Crystal Palace.
I was reading someones blog the other day. They showed the line for something that extended forever, but said it was only a 40 min wait. I wonder what the wait was for jungle cruise
The lines are "long" but the wait times are pretty reasonable.  We were at Animal Kingdom several weeks ago and the line for Avatar wound through the Avatar land, all the way back to where the Lion King show is.  It was an hour wait, and it really wasn't that long.

My wife and youngest son were at Magic Kingdom on Tuesday too.  They got to ride everything he wants to ride but we run out of time to do because waiting in line for other kids for other rides.  They had a blast.  She felt that Magic Kingdom was "crowded" compared to Animal Kingdom and the only real problem areas were places to get food.

 
Got to Hollywood Studios yesterday about 330 pm.....we rode everything there (sans the new SW ride needing to be in a queue).  Park was NOT crowded...longest line was slinky dog at 30ish minutes.  New Mickey/Mini Railroad ride is pretty cool...needed something like that for younger kids.  

 
Got my flight moved from first thing in the morning to later in the afternoon so now we're flying up a day early.  Shot in the dark, but any tips/tricks on one night stays as close to the property as possible?  Willing to wait til last minute and book something else as a backup as well.

Thanks

 
Got my flight moved from first thing in the morning to later in the afternoon so now we're flying up a day early.  Shot in the dark, but any tips/tricks on one night stays as close to the property as possible?  Willing to wait til last minute and book something else as a backup as well.

Thanks
Weekend or weekday? If it’s weekend, forget it. The Hilton across from Disney Springs isn’t bad and there’s others over there. 

 
Tiger Fan said:
Got my flight moved from first thing in the morning to later in the afternoon so now we're flying up a day early.  Shot in the dark, but any tips/tricks on one night stays as close to the property as possible?  Willing to wait til last minute and book something else as a backup as well.

Thanks
Any of the hotels on the entrance to Disney Springs are nice. I really like the Wyndham Lake Buena vista, its the closest hotel to the springs with just a simple overpass bridge to walk over.

Otherwise what about one of the All-Stars for the night? They will move your bags free of charge to the other resort for you. 

How late are you coming in? We did the Orlando airport hotel one night and it was fine.  

Would you consider popping over to one of the universal resorts for a night? 

 
Any of the hotels on the entrance to Disney Springs are nice. I really like the Wyndham Lake Buena vista, its the closest hotel to the springs with just a simple overpass bridge to walk over.

Otherwise what about one of the All-Stars for the night? They will move your bags free of charge to the other resort for you. 

How late are you coming in? We did the Orlando airport hotel one night and it was fine.  

Would you consider popping over to one of the universal resorts for a night? 
Thanks.  We're getting there in the morning so we can keep our options open on different things to do (or if they change our flight again)...so I think all options are open instead of the airport hotel.  Universal is intriguing, although I don't want to add another $500+ (family of 4) on top of another hotel night.  But you never know.

 
Thanks.  We're getting there in the morning so we can keep our options open on different things to do (or if they change our flight again)...so I think all options are open instead of the airport hotel.  Universal is intriguing, although I don't want to add another $500+ (family of 4) on top of another hotel night.  But you never know.
There’s a DoubleTree at the entrance to Universal (across the street from the parking structure) that’s solid. It’s also not that expensive. You can actually walk to CityWalk from it as I have done a few times. 

 

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