Duane

I'm with you on this Carol... We attended a MM short that is now playing now in HS in a small theater beside the Frozen Sing-A-Long, and wasn't impressed at all. It was the new animation format and to me, just left a lot to be desired...

I'm with Blake on this, Disney should be able to keep these rides up and running on a fairly regular basis. Its not like new owners have taken over and began a maintenance program from scratch, Disney has been working on and maintaining these rides for a long time. My feelings is that Disney has shifted its focus on the newer and shinier things that tend to bring in the masses and have started to neglect the things that brought them where they are today. The statement that this Sage guys said in the article is about the stupidest things I have ever heard: "Due to Walt Disney World’s size, there are far more facilities at Walt Disney World to maintain than at Disneyland, and spread out over a vastly larger area," says Sage. "That makes the effort infinitely more difficult to accomplish in Disney’s Orlando resort." The size of the place should have absolutely nothing to do with anything. You know what you have in front of you to maintain, you staff it up properly to keep it going. Bottom line as far as I see it (which is not much) Disney is trying to do too much at once. There is some sort of "major" construction going on all over the property. One of my favorite sayings is: "I would rather do a few things well, than many things poorly".

I'm waiting for Disney to really get creative... When we took our first Disney cruise, it was right after 9/11 and the travel industry had gone into a slump. Disney was offering a BOGO sale... Buy one cruise and get a 3 day cruise later on for "free"... we just had to pay the taxes on the "free" cruise.

Even though I prefer camping the mountains versus the beach, Holiday Trav-L-Park in Emerald Isle, NC is a good place. We camped there right after the hurricane this past year. Its not cheap, but they really keep the place clean and well maintained. Its not crazy like Myrtle Beach. Has a great family atmosphere with plenty of good places to eat and things to do. Holiday Trav-L-Park Resort

It wasn’t that bad of a wait... we were off at about 9:15. Not to spoil it, but the ride premise is a lot like the RotR and the trackless system it uses. I think they could have stayed with the Great Movie Ride theming and had a real winner!

Got here at 7. We were herded down Sunset Blvd to the end of the line that turned back just before the entrance to R&RC and ToT. The line made its way back up and toward the entrance. It’s now 7:40 and the line is queued up for park opening. I’ll let you guys know how we make out later.

Like TCD, we used to go to the Halloween Party all the time... now, its turned into just another "park day" disguised as a "special event". I wonder if they are going to start putting up the fall or Halloween decorations in August?

Ashleigh and I are down here now. We got up early this morning, and was at the park at 7:15. They started letting everyone in at around 7:20-ish. The herd was gathered and held in the area just before the entrance of the Star Wars "tunnel". At 8:00 sharp, we managed to grab boarding group 19. We were off the ride by 9:30. All in all it was a cool ride, and Disney did a great job of immersing you in the story. I'm glad I did it, however, I still think Flight of Passage in Pandora is a better experience. I guess I don't have to get up before dawn anymore to try to snag that coveted boarding group. Maybe in about 2 years, or the next new and shiny thing comes along, I'll get to ride RotR again.

I think those old foot massaging barrels from the Fort would fit in really well to the left of those restrooms!

When we were there at the beginning of November, we were issued parking passes for our car, our tow dolly (which we always park in the overflow lot) and one for our friend's car who were on our reservation...

I guess I don't have an issue with this as long as the check-in agent in the "lane" still has the power, knowledge and ability to override what the Central folks have done. This last trip, I used the fax option for the first time and was assigned to one of my loop choices (800 loop). When the agent told me the site number, I wanted to see exactly where we were physically in the loop, so he handed me the infamous "site book". After seeing we were kind of close to the main road, I asked if there was anything open in the loop I really wanted to try (1300), he said "let me check". I was still holding the "site book" in my lap. He gave a couple of sites to choose from in the 1300 loop and I asked him how deep they were. He said he would have to have the book back to check that information. I looked really quick and promptly gave him the site I wanted. No problem, a few key clicks on the computer and we were off to the 1300 loop to our site of choice. I guess my fear with this going "off site" (no pun intended), is that the new "breathing bodies" will have no clue as to any knowledge of RV's or camping equipment, or how to assign sites on length, equipment, or possible obstacles. Not that the current group has that knowledge now, but I do hope they have some idea of what they are doing based on the information given to them through the reservation and check-in information. We shall see how this all shakes out...

We were at the Fort last week and an "empty" carriage (no passengers in the back) came through the 1300 loop on two separate days... Not sure if they were just out exercising the horse, the carriage and/or the driver, but they were out...

I read somewhere that the Wilderness Lodge has a gingerbread log cabin for Christmas this year. Maybe someone can venture over there and take a look...?

Boma at the Animal Kingdom resort has always been our favorite. It is not a character b'fast, so you're safe there. It is a buffet with a good selection of b'fast items.

We found out the “hard way” last night coming back. 2 busses were queued up behind us and had to wait while we backed up and turned around. Disney needs to put up some sort of sign...