Tri-Circle-D

Hey @OutdoorsNY I popped by the Fort yesterday and took this photo: There's a utility trailer parked at a cabin. There was a golf cart parked on the other side of the truck. Plenty of room. This weekend, as I'm sure will be the case for the rest of this month, they were using the field next to the hitch/unhitch area for overflow parking for the overflowing overflow parking lot. I'll bet management would prefer that guests not take up parking spaces with utility trailers. TCD

Like all the interactive experiences we were supposed to get with Magic Bands, this was just more pie in the sky that was promised but not delivered. It's not happening now, and I've heard it's no longer on the drawing board. TCD

That Skyliner time isn't early enough if they're opening DHS at 7. The Minnie Van adjustment is a direct response to the lost revenue that was going to the other ridesharing competitors. Distinctly absent from this announcement is that buses will start rolling earlier. That apparently ain't happening- they need to drive business to the Minnie Vans. TCD

I understand and respect that you have far more knowledge than I do in regard to engineering and technology, but can you recall any other recent major attraction at a Disney park that was not preceded by at least a month or more of previews and soft openings? And, can you recall any Disney major attraction that was opened to guests and then had multiple breakdowns of an hour or more every single day after it opened? TCD

Wow. You had better head over to DHS to get in line as soon as you park the bus. It's going to be insane. MTFBWY! TCD

I don't disagree with your points about rolling out a new product, but IMHO a theme park ride is different. Disney announced Star Wars Land at the 2015 D23 Expo. Here we are more than 4 years later, and they opened the major attraction in this new land with no CM previews, no AP previews, and no soft openings. These pre-opening opportunities with actual humans on the ride are traditionally where "problems in operational use that never showed up in extensive testing" could have and should have been identified. Instead, this ride has now been open for 8 days, and has had multiple and frequ

I fall in between you two. I don't think Smuggler's Run is awful- but it's not anywhere near my favorite ride. The masses seem to agree, as wait times have been very low for what was supposed to be a blockbuster attraction. I hope that you both get to ride ROTR soon. The big problem I see is that there are so many components to the attraction, and it relies so much on technology, that it is bound to have problems operating efficiency. That was and still is a problem with FOP. TCD

With online check-in, predistribution of magic bands, and the elimination of parking passes, they don't have a way to track how many cars are being used by the guests. TCD

In my experience, they only charge one parking fee for the cabin. We always end up with extra vehicles, and park them in the overflow lot most of the time, but have on occasion had more than one car at a cabin overnight, and still only one parking fee. Have you ever had clients charged more than one parking fee? I don't think Disney does at any resort- it's one fee per room. TCD

Whelp, the TCD Gang rode ROTR today. Its amazing. we agree that it's the best ride in a Disney park. And the TCD twins have been to Tokyo and Hong Kong. I stand by my statement that they opened it too soon. We had to be evacuated half way through our fiirst attempt to ride and were given paper fastpasses, which we were able to use about an hour later, and the second time was a charm. Disney has had to mobilize hundreds of extra CM's, and they're having guest relations CM's from other parks getting paid double time to deal with guest recovery. So stupid and wasteful.

We've spent a couple Thanksgivings and Easters at the cabins- there's room to park two or three cars at most, and people do. There's plenty of room on either side of most of the cabin parking pads. TCD

As we all know, rules are malleable at the Fort. Things are crazy in late December. I think they'll let a small utility trailer be parked at a cabin. TCD

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

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.

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:

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