Tony

Tampa has Cigar City brewery which consistently wins awards for their beers, plus we have about another 30 in the surrounding area.
All of them would probably be large enough to fill any orders that Disney would place.

IMHO my visit to Star Wars:Galaxy's Edge felt like buying a cheap knockoff Star Cluster:Spiral Universe toy at a local Flea Market. You know what it's supposed to be but somethings missing. The whole place felt like a total outlet mall experience of the real thing. Like PGHFiend I'm in no hurry to go back. I don't think the new ride is going to salvage the overall "meh" overpriced land perception. Disney just learned just because you build it doesn't necessarily mean they will come. There's more to it than that. They misguidingly gave us the fake when we wanted the real thing.

I've said it before but I just dont get it.  Why are they so surprised that people aren't running down to an incomplete land? You've already been closing parks early and charging for special parties, milking everyone for everything, blowing up ticket prices, exponentially increasing APs, charging for parking. At some point things will level off....and they've found that point. 
I can't wait to see it. 
I wont make a special trip.  

Thank you much! I'd hate to pay $67 for a cart and just see a lot of dark! LOL

There should be plenty going by then.

Heads up that with all the resort stops, it's a fairly slow ride, so I wouldn't go that route if you're in a rush.
We've walked it and beat the boat more than once. 

Here in Tampa a cold front came thru, high today is only going to be 89.

In and First!! I'm ready for the ride, thanks for sharing

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed but WDWNT has been posting some artist renderings of the new Reflections resort.  They have been rolling them out a little at a time, like they do everything else to get more clicks, but that got me to thinking, where are they getting this info.  So I did a little digging and the first thing I found was this:
Permit Plans
I'll let you click through and look at the details in that post, but some highlights are a new dock next to the existing one at the Fort, parking right next to Pioneer Hall, I mean that literally, look at the handicap spots, and their appears to be more cabins than we first thought that are not right on Bay Lake.
Oh and if you want to see what the inside of the rooms and new building look like check out WDWNT.
WBI

I recorded this while we were checking off an item on the bucket list and staying at the Grand Floridian recently. It's relaxing but long. Enjoy!
 
 

Are we there yet!!! I am so stoked for this trip!!!
and bumping?? anyone else gonna be there for Halloween??

I hope they are convicted on all counts. There is no excuse for this type of behavior no matter where you are.

Train, bumper cars and walking more our speed, and I joined the brew club on fathers day so there’s always a stop there.

Busch Gardens has committed to staying open late every summer night till 10 thru 8/11 with fireworks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Not sure if it's the heat, rain or economy, but every time we've gone on a weeknight it's been like a ghost town.
Tigris, the newest ride had a 30 minute wait last night.  Some of the other big (usually long wait time) rides have been 5 to 20 minutes.
Don't know if they are adjusting workers hours, etc, but I can foresee them not doing this again next year if attendance doesn't pick up.

Interesting article, lets see if they predicted correctly come September after the big unveiling.
 
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/even-with-galaxys-edge-open-disneyland-feels-deserted-but-that-doesnt-mean-batuu-will-be-barren-when-orlandos-version-debuts/Content?oid=25621048
 
 
I predicted this summer would be the theme park industry's most dramatic season in half a decade, but I've proved prescient for reasons I never anticipated. In Orlando, multi-hour waits persist at Islands of Adventure's new Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure a month after its heavily attended opening, due as much to the coaster's severely limited carrying capacity as its popularity. The Wizarding World's latest thrill has struggled to stay running in the face of recent rainstorms, and the promised "virtual queue" hasn't yet materialized, so your only hope of waiting less than three hours is to enter the queue between 5 and 6 p.m. and pray for clear skies. Simultaneously, Walt Disney World's publicity machine engaged in an uncharacteristically public spat with the fan site WDWNT.com, publishing snarky official statements on the Disney Parks Blog rebutting the website's rumors that the Magic Kingdom's vintage Enchanted Tiki Room and Country Bear Jamboree shows are being retired, referencing "unscrupulous sources" without mentioning them by name.
However, none of this summer's Floridian attraction angst compares to the aftershocks accompanying the debut of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, which ended its reservation-only period on June 24 and opened for the general public to shockingly soft attendance. Instead of the Jedi hordes expected, the entire Anaheim resort was eerily empty throughout the typically busy Fourth of July week. Wait times for the headline Millennium Falcon simulator averaged below an hour (often a walk-on for single riders), and other E-tickets had unusually short lines. Meanwhile, Universal Studios Hollywood up the street started technical rehearsals of its reimagined Jurassic World raft ride, and approached maximum capacity on multiple days.
Disneyland's bizarrely low attendance caught most insiders (and Mouse management) off guard, and while it's a blessing for tourists, many are questioning what it means for the nearly identical Star Wars expansion opening at Disney's Hollywood Studios Aug. 29. Here are my two Spirian Credits on why I think Disneyland feels deserted lately, and why it doesn'tmean that Batuu will be barren when Orlando's version debuts in about six weeks.
· Die-hards drained early: The most hard-core fans booked expensive on-site hotel rooms so they could visit Galaxy's Edge a month ago, and already bought Black Spire Outpost out of much coveted merchandise. By definition, guests who waited until reservations ended were less eager. WDW has announced no similar previews to manage demand.
· Force fatigue: Disneyland remained open for 60 hours to handle demand when Star Tours first opened in 1987, but that came during Star Wars' darkest era between trilogies. Since purchasing Lucasfilm, Disney has pumped out new product non-stop, but box-office receipts from the Asian audiences that travel to California attractions imply that this franchise can't be endlessly milked like Marvel. However, Orlando's foreign visitors hail from Europe and South America, where the series is more popular.
· Attack of the passholders: Currently, most annual passholders are blocked out of the Disneyland Resort entirely, or banished to Disney's California Adventure. Disneyland's correlating drop in wait times demonstrates what a large percentage of those parks' population locals represent. Floridian passholders make up a far smaller proportion of WDW's visitor base, and most will be allowed in when Galaxy's Edge opens.
· Hotel Hell: Disneyland only has 2,490 hotel rooms across its three on-site resorts, and their guests aren't getting special perks inside Galaxy's Edge. WDW has 36,077 rooms across dozens of properties, and every one of those guests will be cramming into "Extra Extra Magic Hours" at 6 a.m. in a doomed attempt to beat the rush.
· Waiting for the chosen one: The Millennium Falcon is getting mixed reviews, and reactions to blue milk are meh, so some are delaying their visit until the Rise of the Resistance (rumored to merge several rides into one epic package) is ready sometime later this year. Orlando's version may emerge hot on Anaheim's heels, minimizing any attendance lag.
· FOMO > FOMO: Despite price increases, Disneyland attendance has been steadily climbing, and Mickey's marketeers – aided and abetted by experts like myself – emphasized what a mob scene Galaxy's Edge's opening months would likely be. Far from fueling most tourists' Fear of Missing Out, such apocalyptic predictions inspired Fear of Massive Overcrowding, creating a self-defeating prophecy: Like Yogi Berra said, nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded. News of California's low crowds could incite the opposite issue in Orlando.
· Nothing to do at DHS: Disneyland is Disney's densest theme park, with more rides than Epcot and Animal Kingdom combined, so Galaxy's Edge's 14 acres just gives it more breathing room. Once Star Wars opens, Hollywood Studios will still have barely a half-dozen E-ticket attractions, and adjustments to its FastPass distribution ensure guests will have few options outside Black Spire Outpost.

My wife made one that has a golf cart on it and the words "loopin' life" lol

I overheated the camera, but managed to get all the carts, marching bands, cast members, police cars and firetrucks.  There is even a unicycle and a potbellied pig!  Enjoy!
 
I have the fireworks for 4th of July as well and they are taken from the Poly, where I partied with the rockstars!  (old, old joke)  I am going to put them on another thread.
 

I've realized that a big reason I love the Fort so much is the boats. 
Boat to Magic Kingdom? Yay!
Boat to dinner?  Yes Please!

Two boat pics today💜💜💜

Fear not, Jamboree fans!
https://wdwnt.com/2019/06/breaking-disney-states-country-bear-jamboree-will-not-close-at-walt-disney-world/?fbclid=IwAR1eg2lzRNupDeLWQDAIkmSZx5Kh4suG3EaNpbxd4yB_4BtyHCuFFdBZaJo
 
BUT... there seems to be this strange thing happening recently where even-more-outlandish-than-usual rumors are hitting the interwebz - often from the very site I quoted that from - and they of course go uber-viral and people go bananas.  That part isn't all that unusual - except maybe for the frequency that such "insider info" rumors hit that particular site, but what IS unusual is that Disney has actually made public posts refuting some of these lately - most notably this one and one the other day about the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. Disney usually lets these things play out.  Not sure why they've jumped into the fray recently, except that maybe that the rumors involve attractions that have been around for ages and that longtime Disney fans really would go bonkers over if they changed them drastically or removed them altogether.
Meanwhile, the site publishing the rumors is likely getting a BOATLOAD of traffic off these.
As our fearless leader says, things that make you go hmmm.....

Not sure if this one has been shared before but I don't recall seeing it.
 

They pulled out the big guns for the grand opening.  Love Harrison Ford's shout out to Peter Mayhew.  🙂
 
 

You would think so,  but most of these are unpainted. I say it's to make way for freestyle cart parking 😂

If they made those ornaments in tiny tree version, maybe.
I do like the shirt, but my days of buying $35 t-shirts is long gone. I'll wait until they land in the outlet for $8.
Seriously though, it seems like Disney has tripled the size of their merchandising division based on all the new stuff that's come out.  Pick a theme, any theme, and there's merchandise.
I'd be willing to bet the Star Wars division alone is as big as the entire department was 10 years ago.