fladogfan aka Gretchen

I am glad that y’all got to ride, but your experience confirms the point I’ve been trying to make in this thread- the roll out of this attraction is a fail and Disney should be ashamed of itself.
How is it fun to have to be at a park an hour before it opens and hope that you’re one of the lucky few to be assigned a boarding group before they’re all gone in less than 3 minutes?  And even with a boarding group, the ride is broken down when you’re called, causing a 90 minute wait in the queue when it finally reopens?  And this is the best they can do with 50,000+ castmembers and retirees blocked out of the park?
Absolutely ridiculous.
TCD 

Sorry, can't turn down the Grand Marnier Slushie at Epcot

Retired cast are blocked out of HS through April and I won't be surprised if the blocking goes all summer.  I want to give a big THANK YOU to the WWz who got together and bought me a ticket to HS so I could join them last Saturday.  I had a really good time and was thankful for the ones with experience and fast phones so we were able to ride.  I look forward to the days when WDW gets the ride working consistently and has something newer to draw people away from HS.

One more thing about how crappy it is for Disney to pack the parks with cheap tickets-
Going all the way back to December, castmembers have been blocked out of Hollywood Studios, and remain blocked out until April. So, they only way for any of them to enter the park is to buy a ticket or use a comp ticket they may have earned. 
So, castmembers are completely blocked out of the park, and Disney turns around and sells that extra space with these cheap Florida Resident passes. Greedy bastards. 
TCD

We renewed our passes 1/20, beat the increase.

One thing though, is if you do online checkin and get your site number sent to you, Camper Rental Adventures will go ahead and set up once you give them the site number. That's what we did last year when the Womenz rented from them. I was at Wal-Mart picking up groceries when I got my text, and I let Camper Rental Adventures know my site number, and they had it set up before I arrived.
 

Can't agree with this more.  Add the town of Keystone and spend some time there.  Also, Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks are great. The crafts being sold at Crazy Horse and the people selling them are terrific.  As a side story, my wife's family used to take their camper from NJ to South Dakota to take clothes collected at their church to an episcopal priest named Father Two Hawk.  The clothes were for the Native Americans there.  While visiting, my wife and her siblings would ride horses and play with the children on the reservation.  Several years ago when we were at Crazy Horse, my wife was talking to a woman who was making a dream catcher for our daughter.  In the course of the conversation, my wife mentioned her trips to Father Two Hawk and why they came.  the woman, who was my wife's age, stopped what she was doing and said, "I got my clothes from Father Two Hawk when I was a child."  Here she was at the same reservation at the same time my wife would visit.  And they met almost 40 years later.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it thanks!

What we really need is a diagram that shows all of the companies that make the various parts for these manufacturers. I think almost everything is made by 2 or 3 companies.

We were lazy and said screw it....we'll catch it next time

When I was work traveling to Orlando extensively, I learned quickly that my work was all the way over by UCF, and any company I would want to work for was over there by UCF. When traveling for work, that was a lot of miles and tolls across 417 to get to Disney.
We seriously considered relocating to the I-4 corridor about 3 years ago. Did some house hunting, and tiny lots (meaning a two story house to get any SF), with high prices, and high HOA fees, high property taxes, (plus too much stucco and no brick), really turned us off. Plus the salary being offered were less than here in N. Alabama with larger lots, lower home prices, low property taxes, etc. Yes, we have a state tax, but everything else offsets that.
We decided to stay put.

I'll be able to work from home in June when I retire!

It seems like the majority of new sub-divisions being built still don't make anything walkable.
To me, it would seem like the developer would offer space within the development for grocery stores, gas stations, etc, to make it easier for the residents to get what they need instead of having to drive a mile to get out of the sub-division then another couple of miles to get to a store along overcrowded streets.
 

I saw that. The Pontiac Aztec had one too and by comparison the Cybertruck actually makes it look stylish. 
I think a practical electric pickup for towing and as a work truck is a ways off so I will wait for Rivian and the traditional Detroit automakers to come out with theirs. IMO they have  a better idea of the requirements for a working pickup than Tesla.  

That's a ridiculous "I just don't want to deal with it" answer.  First of all, they absolutely can, BY LAW, ask if a dog is a service dog. Under the ADA you can ask  if the dog is a service animal that is required due to a disability, and what type of work or task the dog has been trained to do. The ADA only prohibits them from asking about a person’s disability. 
And in the case of dogs in tents, their own website says this right now...
"Please note: Pets are not allowed in pop-up trailers or tents."
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/rooms-packages/camping-pet-friendly/
So.... either the guests lied (even by omission) at check-in, which is easy enough for Disney to confirm since everyone checking in with a pet has to sign something, or someone at check-in screwed up. Either way, Disney should deal with it and not let one guest impact all the other guests around them.
And I can't lay my hands on it at the moment, but I could swear that piece of paper you sign at check-in addresses dogs misbehaving.
I really hate "those dog people" that ruin it for the rest of us that are responsible, but I hate it even more when Disney doesn't enforce it's own rules and lets it happen. (argh)
 

We try to rectify that later in the saga.
I also picked up a limited edition Santa Jack Skellington with a toy bag full of jack o lanterns

The Poly ones have to be the worst.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone at any of the cabins.
Either going into or out of them, or sitting on the porch.
If I spent that much $$ on a room, you wouldn't see me getting more that 5 feet away from it.
My butt would be parked in the room or on the porch until the last click of the clock at checkout time.

My family arrives 12/23.  I should arrive late on 12/24, unless God grants a miracle.  There will be 9 of us - 6 in a rented camper and 3 in a tent.  We leave 12/28.
 
Can't wait to see everyone!!

The Fiesta has offered to put us in a lot, farther out, for the $40..... but after talking to so many, the North VIP sounds like one to take.  However, we did a day at the MK this past trip and hate to say it:  we missed the parks.   So, I think we'll use the money we would have used to go to the balloon fiesta, to save for tickets (probably not APs, but regular tickets).
Honestly, this would have been more for Tom and I;  I think the kids would have liked it, for a couple of hours.  Plus when I asked them if they'd rather do the fiesta or a couple days at the parks... the Mouse won.  LOL
We are doing another cross-country trip next summer so, that will be huge adventure.  On the list for this trip:   Glacier, the Oregon coast, Crater Lake, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore (plus lots in between, including fantastic family time) ❤️

I remember this! What a throwback. The magic bands are problematic and a waste of an investment Disney isn't seeing a return on. Such a shame. And besides all of the issues, they're creepy and collect way to much of our data for my liking. 

What gripes me is the kid or kids getting on and off the cart between every site that is ridiculous....if they are that lazy they should just stay at home...

Or, IF you have a car, Publix and Walmart are just 15 minutes away ☺️

Just stopped in at the Meadows and took a peak in their cooler:  $5.50 for a 20oz bottle of “Smart” water.  Mercy!😳
 
Tom laughed and said, “you wouldn’t be very smart, if you bought that” 😂

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. 

We are renting a 7 bedroom, 3 bathroom house for $535 for 2 nights for NYE in Ocean City, NJ. For $15 each we are getting their “first night buttons” which gives us entry to a ton of things (string bands, Harlem wizards, dueling pianos, imagination movers, inflatables, ice skating, Fireworks etc etc). The house is being split between a bunch of us. I’ll take my cheap NYE over their $350 per person events any day.