ThemeParkCommando

Wow.  I don't think I could have dealt with a surprise concert weekend.  My husband would have disconnected or turned off the unattended music.  

While I love the current Splash Mountain theming, I am ok with this change.  Most kids today have never seen or heard of Uncle Remus and the Brer Rabbit stories, and cannot connect.   Like Mr. Toad,  Uncle Remus' time has passed.  The Princess and the Frog also has great songs, and I'm hoping to be able hear 'Gonna to take you there" with Raymond.  I got so attached to that bug.  

While I love the current Splash Mountain theming, I am ok with this change.  Most kids today have never seen or heard of Uncle Remus and the Brer Rabbit stories, and cannot connect.   Like Mr. Toad,  Uncle Remus' time has passed.  The Princess and the Frog also has great songs, and I'm hoping to be able hear 'Gonna to take you there" with Raymond.  I got so attached to that bug.  

While I love the current Splash Mountain theming, I am ok with this change.  Most kids today have never seen or heard of Uncle Remus and the Brer Rabbit stories, and cannot connect.   Like Mr. Toad,  Uncle Remus' time has passed.  The Princess and the Frog also has great songs, and I'm hoping to be able hear 'Gonna to take you there" with Raymond.  I got so attached to that bug.  

While I love the current Splash Mountain theming, I am ok with this change.  Most kids today have never seen or heard of Uncle Remus and the Brer Rabbit stories, and cannot connect.   Like Mr. Toad,  Uncle Remus' time has passed.  The Princess and the Frog also has great songs, and I'm hoping to be able hear 'Gonna to take you there" with Raymond.  I got so attached to that bug.  

They are pushing to remove "The Eyes of Texas' song from University of Texas because the phrase 'the eyes of Texas are upon you' came from a UT leader, who heard 'the eyes of the South are upon you' from another leader... and that is racist.  Also, it's possible that the song 'the Eyes of Texas' was originally sung by a group of students in blackface. 
While there's nothing that can be confirmed, I'm ok with changing the song.  In fact, I am in for drastically changing many of the traditional songs / chants out there to new ones.  
We need to create a new culture in the USA, one that can be a new culture for all races, and is uniquely the culture of the USA, so that people coming here to live can be happy and proud of their new culture, and not want to bring along their old one, just because they are comfortable with it, and try to introduce the bad parts of that culture in the name of 'tradition'. 
 

That'll give a bit of humor to the grim situations.  If you see a doctor or nurse wearing a poncho with the mouse, you can honestly say: " what kind of Mickey Mouse operation is this?!"

Well at least they can paint the castle during the day and have it done before they re-open.
And catch up on maintenance for all the rides that keep breaking down!

I will miss riding SE when I visit this December, but I am excited for the new version.  EPCOT has always been the park that I don't mind them changing.  It almost always brings on amazing and fun new content. With the exception of  Frozen.   RIP Maelstrom.

So for WDW, what would the best solution have been?  Considering the difficulties in getting this ride online, on both coasts, should they have waited until they could have done the CM previews in order to run high demand stress tests?   Even if the ride at DHS was operating at full capacity, the BP option is still better than opening with all standby lines.  Not having to wait 2, 4, 6 or more hours in line is a good thing, to my way of thinking.  It doesn't matter if the ride is running perfectly.  Because it is new, it will still have a huge demand on it for a number of years.  Look at 7DMT.  That's a kiddie coaster.  In any other park it would never have generated a 20 minute line, much less the 3 hour lines it had the first year of operation. 
I don't believe there is any scenario where the opening of RotR would not have been some sort of s**t show.
I apologize for the error of thinking the CM's, both current and retired, got preview rides. 

I'll bet you anything that $40 is their normal rate per night, and the $100 rate is for special events.   Someone forgot to put the special event rate into the system, for the dates of the Balloon Fiesta.   I would speak to someone there in management, to try to hold onto that rate.  I know that when the hotel chain I worked for forgot to enter their event rates in time, they honored the rates as long as the reservation had no changes.  If you changed the reservation at all,  even to just cancel some days, the event rates would apply.  
I am pretty sure it is legal for them to change the rates this far in advance and with the number of days notice they have given you.  However, if you bring in bad publicity, or insist upon keeping the rate, they may hold for you. It really all depends upon how many people booked at that rate, and how many will not complain and pay the new rate. 

And I lost it for both. 

Nice!  My husband is the big Star Wars fan, and he is happily tucking away money for his lightsaber.  He'll be happy to know it's going to be worth it.  I get attached to the ships, so I expect I'll be crying when I see the Millenium Falcon for the first time.
For instance, in the Star Trek universe, I did not shed a tear when Spock died.  But when they blew up the Enterprise, I jumped up, shouted "NO!" and broke down crying in the theater.  
Thanks for the up to date reporting, it's very helpful!!

This is such a sad statement of how people are being trained to accept intrusion by officials into their lives.  That you WANT to have your personal space invaded, and expect it, is terrifying. 
No one is ever safe from a person or persons that want and seriously plan to do major harm.  Allowing officials to search you as a requirement for entry is a necessary evil these days, but actually feeling unsafe because you were not searched is just wrong. 
I hate having to submit to searches.  I do it because it's required.  It makes people feel 'safe'.  But it's a lie.  There is no way to be safe.  All you can do is practice situational awareness, and stay away from big crowds of people.  If you want to participate in high profile events, you are always taking a risk that you may be involved in an attack. 
I always feel safe at Disney.  Heck, I always feel safe wherever I go, because I know my chance of being caught in a random attack is pretty damn low. That being said, I do always know the best exit, and the paths of highest risk. 

This is such a sad statement of how people are being trained to accept intrusion by officials into their lives.  That you WANT to have your personal space invaded, and expect it, is terrifying. 
No one is ever safe from a person or persons that want and seriously plan to do major harm.  Allowing officials to search you as a requirement for entry is a necessary evil these days, but actually feeling unsafe because you were not searched is just wrong. 
I hate having to submit to searches.  I do it because it's required.  It makes people feel 'safe'.  But it's a lie.  There is no way to be safe.  All you can do is practice situational awareness, and stay away from big crowds of people.  If you want to participate in high profile events, you are always taking a risk that you may be involved in an attack. 
I always feel safe at Disney.  Heck, I always feel safe wherever I go, because I know my chance of being caught in a random attack is pretty damn low. That being said, I do always know the best exit, and the paths of highest risk. 

I'll also suggest a few hours be spent at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.   They have some seriously historic rides there, that are hard to find still running in this country.
This is the boardwalk featured in the movie "The Lost Boys".   They have a 1911 Louff Carousel,  and it still has the brass ring machine for you to pluck a ring, and try to throw it into the clown's mouth as you go round and round.   I don't think there are more than 3 of the 'brass ring' carousels still running in the country.   They also have the 'Giant Dipper' roller coaster,  built in 1924.  
Another old time ride is their haunted house.  It rivals Disney's haunted mansion for history.  It's tradition for everyone to yell at the top of their lungs as they go through the first door.  The ride is built under the boardwalk, so is nice and dark.   It's a cheesy old carnival haunted house, so no dancing ghosts or hitchhikers,  but it's still a very memorable ride.
And, their metal coaster ( not the newest one, but it's like a mouse coaster), has a surprise in it that made even a jaded coaster junkie like me squeak when I saw it.

I also start people at Lowe's or Home Depot.   They are dog friendly ( in most places), have a decent amount of space in the aisles,  lot's of different, distracting scents and sounds to work with,  and friendly people to greet but fewer chances of running into an unruly dog, such as you would find at a pet store.   Also, as you say,  no treats at snout level.    A good place to practice! 
My second favorite place to practice is around dog parks,  where the trainee can see other dogs, but has to learn that they cannot interact with the other dogs until given permission.  Helps a lot with dogs that have leash aggression or other dog related issues. 
I agree with your trainers methods,  I've trained long enough to have started with the old choke chain methods, moved to the playtraining methods and then to the positive reinforcement only.   Of all the methods I've trained in,  the positive reinforcement methods have been the most successful.

I also start people at Lowe's or Home Depot.   They are dog friendly ( in most places), have a decent amount of space in the aisles,  lot's of different, distracting scents and sounds to work with,  and friendly people to greet but fewer chances of running into an unruly dog, such as you would find at a pet store.   Also, as you say,  no treats at snout level.    A good place to practice! 
My second favorite place to practice is around dog parks,  where the trainee can see other dogs, but has to learn that they cannot interact with the other dogs until given permission.  Helps a lot with dogs that have leash aggression or other dog related issues. 
I agree with your trainers methods,  I've trained long enough to have started with the old choke chain methods, moved to the playtraining methods and then to the positive reinforcement only.   Of all the methods I've trained in,  the positive reinforcement methods have been the most successful.

I'm really happy with the way this story is turning out, and I think it's great that this dog has a lovely new home with a good job to keep her occupied.   ETA:  -  your first training session looks super!   I am really enjoying reading all of this, and I hope my comment below won't stop you from sharing.   I promise I'm just trying to be helpful to the community at large, when thinking about bringing dogs to the fort.
However, I do want to comment on the issue of separation anxiety in this dog.
The reason the dog acted out at the Fort,  was not because she thought she was alpha of her family  No 8 month old puppy challenges for alpha spot in a pack.   The reason this pup ate the camper, was because she was 8 months old, in a new place with new sounds and smells, and her family had all left.  To a dog, this means abandonment.   She ate the trailer because she wanted out, and wanted to be with her family in this scary new place.   This could happen to anyone traveling with a puppy when camping out.   Until the puppy has some experience of camping and moving around from place to place,  it's very nerve wracking for them.
She also could be in the middle of one of the 'fear stages' of growing up.    Please ask your trainer about fear stages.  In GSD's, they are significant.   If you are not being encouraged to take your dog out into public places to practice your training around other humans and animals, please start doing this, under your trainer's direction.
If you are wondering about my credentials, I have been training dog classes for basic obedience, manners and obedience competition since 1984.   I'm a certified Canine Good Citizen and Star Puppy evaluator, as well.

I'm really happy with the way this story is turning out, and I think it's great that this dog has a lovely new home with a good job to keep her occupied.   ETA:  -  your first training session looks super!   I am really enjoying reading all of this, and I hope my comment below won't stop you from sharing.   I promise I'm just trying to be helpful to the community at large, when thinking about bringing dogs to the fort.
However, I do want to comment on the issue of separation anxiety in this dog.
The reason the dog acted out at the Fort,  was not because she thought she was alpha of her family  No 8 month old puppy challenges for alpha spot in a pack.   The reason this pup ate the camper, was because she was 8 months old, in a new place with new sounds and smells, and her family had all left.  To a dog, this means abandonment.   She ate the trailer because she wanted out, and wanted to be with her family in this scary new place.   This could happen to anyone traveling with a puppy when camping out.   Until the puppy has some experience of camping and moving around from place to place,  it's very nerve wracking for them.
She also could be in the middle of one of the 'fear stages' of growing up.    Please ask your trainer about fear stages.  In GSD's, they are significant.   If you are not being encouraged to take your dog out into public places to practice your training around other humans and animals, please start doing this, under your trainer's direction.
If you are wondering about my credentials, I have been training dog classes for basic obedience, manners and obedience competition since 1984.   I'm a certified Canine Good Citizen and Star Puppy evaluator, as well.

I think 3D was worth it.  I really enjoyed the movie.  In my rankings of all Star Wars movies,  this is my 4th favorite now.  " A New Hope", " Return of the Jedi", " The Force Awakens"  and the "Rogue 1"  is how I list the first 4.
The theater I went to had a contingent of the 501st  in the lobby,  interacting with the customers.   I danced with an Imperial Pilot,  talked to BB8  and I got a lot of fist bumps and compliments on my "Emperor Mickey" t-shirt.   After the movie, there was a fully mobile, life sized R2-D2 in the lobby.   I had a nice conversation with him and showed him my R2-D2 purse.

Hi Fiends!  This is my first post.   I've been lurking here for about a year, and always thought I should join, but since I don't camp, I don't usually have a lot to offer.  ( I do visit the Fort every trip, though.. ever since Minnie Moo was there)
Now, I have a bit of information concerning Florida rental laws as they pertain to hotels,  and I think campsites might fall into the same boat, since they are rented out as occupied spaces on a daily basis.  
Basically, once a guest has paid for and taken occupancy in a hotel room,  that room is theirs under standard rental laws.   As long as they continue to pay the going rate,  they may stay for as long as they desire.  Now,  a hotel has the ability to charge MORE for unexpected stays, if they wish, but no more than the maximum daily rate that is posted to the state of Florida.   This is to prevent hoteliers from gouging during peak times,  or during a hurricane crisis.    New rates have to be posted every year.  I would bet that if you check the Fort's check in station,  there is a small posted 'Maximum daily rate' form, somewhere.  
I used to fill out those forms for my hotel chain, and Florida had laws about how high a rate you could legally charge, too. ( if I remember, it was no more than 3 times the standard daily rate for the season.)  Yes, you can change the standard rate by season,  and generally, we posted the 'standard' rate as the highest rate we would charge for the season.  Then, guests would see the 'standard' rate in the room, and think they were getting a great deal. 
So,  if a guest refuses to leave,  you can increase their rate to the legal maximum.   As long as they pay it, there is nothing the hotel can do to make them leave.   If they choose not to pay the rate,  or try to pay the same rate they booked at,  you can start eviction proceedings.   But, as you know,  evictions require about a month to even get to court.