Tri-Circle-D

What a disappointment. The TCD twins have a friend who worked on the drones for the media event. Those x wing fighters that the media VIP's got to see are the size of VW Beetles, but there are no plans to fly them for the paying customers to see. This same friend has kept them informed of the scrapped plans for CM and passholder previews. The attraction is not ready for regular operation, but WDW management plowed forward with the December 4 opening date because this was used to fill resort rooms when reservations were down. I feel sorry for all the guests who were suckered in to booking rooms for this weekend. TCD

Good job on the start of your report. You picked the right weekend for the weather- the first cool weather we've had around here for six months! TCD

This is the system they use in Disneyland. Works fine there. We have the finger scanners because we have Magic Bands, and after all the money they spent forcing that on us, they won't back down and admit there's a better way. And don't worry, they DO take a photo every time a guest scans in. What do you think those CM's with iPads that stand a bit back from the scanners are looking at? If you don't believe me, look up and smile the next time you scan in to a park. TCD

If your dog has to go to a Kennel, the Best Friends is a good choice. The TCD dog, Rocky, stayed there a few years back and loved it. Very clean. Nice facility. Great staff. Make sure that your dog's shots are up to date. They require proof before they will confirm your reservation. That's a good thing. Congratulations on your cruise! There are some DCL experts amongst the Fiends. I ran into a Fiend on our July cruise and I know he's taking another one for Thanksgiving. The TCD gang will be taking our third DCL cruise for this year in a couple of weeks- so seriously ask away. TCD

Interesting. When they announced they were going to build Galaxy's Edge, I wondered what would happen to Star Tours since it's not located in that land. Apparently, it's going to stay open. I think the story CM's have been fed is that Star Tours exists as a Space Port independent of the planet of Batuu. And Space Ports can be located anywhere in the universe, so both of these things can exist in the same park. TCD

Sounds right. They've only know the beach was going to be fenced off for a couple of years. No need to build the new playground before the old one closed. They can do whatever they want and there will still be enough dummies to fill the campsites TCD

Geez that looks bad. It's pretty crappy on Disney's part to just shut down a playground and tell guests to go use others that are not convenient to the Settlement area. That playground was always busy in the evenings while guests were waiting to be seated at the HDDMR or Trails End. Did they at least buy some new hula hoops for the kids to throw on the roof or up in the trees? TCD

Kristie isn't crazy. The 300 loop playground used to have swings. And one of those roller slides that would pinch your fingers if you weren't careful. Those things got trashed a few years ago during an "upgrade." Actually, that upgrade happened 11 years ago according to this post I made on another site in September 2008: So, I heard that there was some work being done on the playground near the 300 loop. Sure enough, there is new equipment, but there are some important things missing! First of all, the swings are gone. This mulch area is where they used to be: My DD's are going to miss the swings here. Here is a shot of the new equipment. Nice, but no lumberjack log roller, and no hand glider: TCD

Kristie isn't crazy. The 300 loop playground used to have swings. And one of those roller slides that would pinch your fingers if you weren't careful. Those things got trashed a few years ago during an "upgrade." TCD

If you watch the loading/unloading process long enough, you'll see that all it takes is one group fumbling around with strollers, kids, or whatever, and they have to stop the whole line. Hopefully that will get better as guests learn what they need to do. But I doubt it. TCD

I really think you need to take into account who you are stuck in the gondola with. On the trip where we got stopped for a few minutes, there were three of us on one bench, and four large people across from us. The guy across from me was definitely crossing the imaginary line of demarcation into my foot space, and the four of them were annoying to listen to as they griped about the delay. I would not have made it to the first hour with that group. If I wasn't able to push them out, I guess I'd have to McGiver something to rappel out of there. TCD

But your point about them doing too much at the same time is valid. They went a LONG time just taking our money, closing down stuff and raising prices. Now they're playing catch-up. Dumb. TCD

All of the construction walls have created giant pinch points in Epcot for crowds trying to exit after Illuminations. They should have thought about that when scheduling the debut of the new fireworks show. TCD

There is lightning in the cars, under the benches dimly lighting the floor. I saw the call boxes. I assume all of that is run by some low voltage electricity. TCD

Been there done that. When its busy, they load 8-10 guests in each car, so you get to ride in a confined space with strangers. There's no music or engine noise so there are no private conversations. On one of our rides we got to witness some horrible parenting with a mom saying horrible things to her little 3-4 year old boy who was justifiably antsy, and the hen pecked dad sitting there and pretending nothing was wrong. On another ride we got to hear a 40 year old man mansplain everything about the changes coming to Epcot, the Riveria Resort and the Skyliner. I thought the twins' eyes would roll out of their heads- this guy got so much wrong. They got a huge laugh out of him. On yet another ride, a 60+ year old dude answered his flip phone and had a 10 minute conversation with an equally hard of hearing buddy. We all loved that. TCD