Tri-Circle-D

1 hour ago, DaveInTN said:

Scroll down to Steakhouse 71 Lounge here and it’s mentioned.  
 

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/contemporary-resort/steakhouse-71/

Yes, but THAT menu with prices is not online, is it?  I need to prepare for my visit.

TCD

58 minutes ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

The pricing is on the online menus. Still seems to be Disney standard Table Service pricing vs. Signature. 

Breakfast
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/contemporary-resort/steakhouse-71/menus/breakfast/

Lunch

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/contemporary-resort/steakhouse-71/menus/lunch/

Dinner
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/contemporary-resort/steakhouse-71/menus/dinner/

Slow down there a minute. 

I don’t see the PB&J Chicken Wings on the menu?

What’s up with that?

TCD

2 minutes ago, PghBob said:

We had a meal or two at the Wave.  But, personally, I never liked eating in the basement.  Always seemed a bit gloomy to me.

I loved it when it was the arcade and quick serve restaurant for the Contemporary. I am glad that I got to enjoy that with the TCD girls when they were kids. 

TCD

1 hour ago, DaveInTN said:

Yes this ^^
And this Buffalo raised guy is always willing to check out the wing offerings on a menu. I’m intrigued by PB&J wings.  Looking forward to a first hand account of those.  Since I’ll likely never have them, one of y’all will need to report back on them.  

Thanks for the idea- I’ll go and try those wings whenever this place opens. I’ve never heard of PB&J wings, and there’s probably a good reason for that. 

TCD

12 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

Looks like another moderately priced dining option is out, replaced by $$$$.  But honestly not surprising.  The Wave always seemed to have tables available.  And this will fill up, and the average check will probably be 3x what the Wave was bringing in.  

Exactly. They can’t miss with this location. I had to laugh when I saw that the cowards didn’t post the prices with the menu. It doesn’t matter, guests will be lined up to drop $60 for an 8 oz sirloin and $100+ for a fatty filet. Disney always wins. 

TCD

14 hours ago, fortpartyof4 said:

- for those that may remember me - my 2 boys are now 19 and 21!  One is a senior at UF, the other a sophomore at UCF.  

Go Gata and Go Knights. 

TCD

I wonder how much Disney paid for that ranking?  Don’t get me wrong, I love DCL, but their newest ship is 9 years old, and their competitors have much newer, nicer, and technically advanced ships. Something is fishy about this award. 

TCD

23 minutes ago, keith_h said:

Updated your post to modern business theory. While shareholders might get to ride along I think most modern corporations are designed to do nothing more than to enrich the executive corps. If you need proof look at the number of companies where shareholders lose value but executive pay increases. 

Good point. I would add, however, that hedge fund managers and insiders are also raking it in, while Joe Sixpack shareholders twist in the wind. 

TCD

31 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

Don't worry.  Sure, we are just 3 weeks from the actual 50th anniversary, and not much new is ready for guests to enjoy.  But Disney has planned a celebration lasting at least 18 months, and they will slowly trickle out new rides, shows and attractions throughout that 18 months to keep the diehards repeatedly coming back.  People that want to be there in October for the anniversary will be there regardless of whether they can ride Tron, Guardians, or see the new nighttime shows.  And then when these things are introduced, one at a time, they'll return, over and over, to get their pockets picked by the greedy little rodent. 

Yup. That’s the plan. I certainly heard a lot of interesting shop talk when I was on the DCL Castmember cruise a couple of weeks ago. Disney has an army of analysts whose sole purpose is to devise schemes to extract the maximum amount from each guest while providing the absolute minimum in guest experience.  Not one of these folks seemed the least bit concerned about their ability to pull it off. Why should they be concerned?-Disney always wins.

TCD

3 hours ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

Ugh... I know this in my head... but it's still hard to hear 

Here’s something that will make you even madder- Disney is once again siphoning off profits from WDW to balance out the losses from their other parks. At WDW, even with the 50th anniversary approaching, they shut down everything during the pandemic. So Epcot still is a torn up mess, and the completion of the new Tron attraction and the reopening of the railroad have been delayed indefinitely. Meanwhile, at Disneyland they completed a refurbishment of their Snow White ride, made a bunch of improvements around both parks, and opened a whole new land- Avengers Campus.  The Disneyland Halloween party at California Adventure includes a complete parade, fireworks, and much better decorations. Disney knows WDW guests will accept a watered down experience while paying premium prices because that’s what they’ve always done. Disney always wins. 

TCD 

On 9/5/2021 at 8:45 AM, Starbuc71 said:

Hey all, I usually do not post here anymore for a few reasons. Mostly because we are not campers any longer and as I am not anti Disney, we have been saddened by the changes (even pre Covid) the mouse has made.  Our daughter is now 15. We started camping at the fort when she was 2. Unfortunately, Disney priced us out of the fort around 2016/2017.  Our daughter is still a huge Disney fan and will stay up to date with all things Disney at the parks. She wants to go back so bad, and honestly, the wife and I wouldn’t mind a little bit of happy place after this past 15 months working in the medical field. Now here is where I get frustrated.  I know everyone has suffered somehow through this pandemic and every business that survived is trying to figure out how to recoup their losses.  My plan was to possibly purchase Epcot after 4 passes for Christmas. With the latest announcement of AP last week, I don’t see the after 4 pass. This irritated me but didn’t get me mad yet. As I looked at the new passes, it started to get me more mad. To get a decent pass that allows you access on weekends or when school is out will run you close to $1000 each and for the poor out of state people, your looking over $1200.  This is just plain crazy.  Don’t make me quote the famous Walt speech about creating a place EVERYONE can enjoy. So, this got me mad, but this last one got me pissed. So now I figure I would get tickets for this new Christmas party special event ticket. Mind you, it’s 9pm to 1am with letting you in at 7, not 4 like previous hours. To my holy surprise, a November ticket was $189 and a December ticket was close to $230 each…. Sorry but WTF.  THIS IS TOTALLY INSANE.  I’m not buying these. If it were not for the love of Disney from our kids, I would ban these morons for life.  They might as well do a credit check at security and only let certain income people in.  They are doing this hypothetically by charging what they do.  And don’t get me started on Disney cruise line prices. It’s something WE WILL NEVER AFFORD. Thanks Disney for absolutely nothing

Dave-  I can’t believe your daughter is 15! Wow!  If it’s any consolation, you are making a good choice to not give your money to Disney.  Even without the price increases, the current parks experience is awful.  Hardly and shows, no parking lot trams, poor crowd control, long lines, price gouging on food, no Fastpass.  It’s just not nearly as fun as it used to be. It’s very sad- especially for anyone who remembers how things used to be. If you need a fix, wait for one of those Florida Resident three day pass deals. They always pump those out and probably still will when attendance lags. 

TCD

On 9/5/2021 at 12:49 PM, LONE-STAR said:

Congratulations on your daughter's job TCD

Thanks Michael. So far so good, but if I were a betting man, I doubt either of the twins will have long careers at Disney. I wouldn’t have said that two years ago, but if things continue in the current direction, don’t see them sticking around. 

44 minutes ago, shoreline99 said:

Congrats to your daughter, TCD. We too loved our time spent at the fort, but I don't see us going back for quite a while. The last annual passes we bough (ca. 2017?) were about $800. As you said, though, Disney always wins. 

We've been traveling around the country more lately looking at colleges, and taking in the national parks. Looking at maybe a trip to Ireland next year if the world doesn't fall apart before then. 

Sad, but good for you. Disney used to be “worth it,” but there are so many more interesting and better priced options in this world. Enjoy your travels!

TCD

2 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

It's always amazing to me to hear that Disney, the company with the magical background and family-friendly reputation, has treated these employees so poorly.  It would be like finding out that Alice was secretly beating the Brady kids.  Just seems divergent with the behavior you would expect. 

The sad thing is that when they began the college program 5 years ago, the old traditions and mindset were mostly intact. The girls met a lot of people who had long and happy careers at Disney.  That all was slowly eroding before the pandemic, and then Disney decided to just get all the niceties over with and blame it all on the pandemic. So what?  The executives and shareholders are happy, and at least for now there will continue to be an oversupply of college kids who don’t have any better options than to work as slaves for 6 to 9 month contracts with no benefits.  Disney always wins.

TCD
 

10 hours ago, Travisma said:

Glad she got a good job offer.  Is the other one still trying for a Disney job?

No. She has received job offers from Disney, but has been working for another company in addition to doing some freelance work, and her eyes have been opened to how poorly she was treated by Disney.  Both girls have a lot of friends that have returned to working for Disney, and Disney has magical powers to suck these kids back in where they will be mistreated and taken advantage of again. As I mentioned, the DCL job comes with some extraordinary perks. There may be another job like that that will suck the other twin back into the company, but not so far. 

TCD

1 hour ago, BradyBzLyn...Mo said:

That's great to hear - congrats!!

Thanks. We will hope for the best. Both of the girls were treated poorly by Disney during the pandemic, and both had previous offers to return to lesser roles that they rejected. Working for DCL, though, comes with some next-level perks and opportunities, so this will hopefully go well for her. 

TCD

2 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

That's the important point, right there.  I love when pictures from our many trips to the Fort pop up, with all of my family together.  Sometimes I like to go back and read my old trip reports and relive those moments.  As much as I enjoyed writing those reports for all of you to read, and bantering back and forth about things on here (and the DIS before)...and I very much DID enjoy that!....I also wrote the reports in part to memorialize the trips for my own enjoyment in the future.  I'm sure others who have written reports have also enjoyed re-reading their own reports from time to time, and most everyone at least has photos of their trips to go back and look at.  The point is, while our Disney days are behind us, I'll cherish those memories for a lifetime, both for the memories of fun times with my family as well as the valued friendships I shared with all of you knuckleheads. 

Right back at you friend. This place (and the Fort) really were a lot of fun back in the day. My Disney days would also be behind me but for the fact that the TCD twins still live right outside WDW and one of them just landed her dream job in DCL HR. We all just arrived back yesterday from the first Fantasy test cruise with guests (albeit all DCL CMs and their friends and family) and the twins are heading back out on Saturday for another test cruise. So our Disney journey will continue. 

TCD

6 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

The fact that it sounds even remotely reasonable for the price to have doubled in 6 years is proof that we’ve lost our collective minds.  Housing prices have doubled.  The price of a steak has doubled. The price of a Disney vacation has doubled.  Has your income doubled?  If it has, good for you.  But I bet most people would answer no.  I know we all make decisions and prioritize spending based on what’s important to us, and I am not criticizing anyone for choosing to spend their money at WDW.  I just don’t see how this is sustainable in the big picture.  

Very valid points. 

And I missed two big points: these new passes do not include fastpasses or photo pass. To make them equivalent to the old passes would require a guest to pay for the Genie Pass and Photopass, which are significantly priced.  And the Genie Pass doesn’t even include the best rides- those are subject to surge pricing.  Ouch!

TCD

46 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

That was so 2009.  Prior to the onset of the Year of a Million Schemes.  The Mouse was a kinder, gentler rodent then.  Not to mention, the high rolling guests of the Lodge didn't appreciate the ring of scum us campers left in their pool.  That's why the purchase contracts for the new Lodge DVC resort have a "no campers will be allowed in the pool" clause.  Maybe.  

You’re so right.  The thing is that these knuckleheads have more than a year and a half to plan for this, and the best they can come up with is for the entire campground to use the small cabin pool?  During Spring Break?  That is next level stupidity.

TCD

35 minutes ago, DaveInTN said:

So if you are not a Florida resident or DVC owner, your only option is $1300 + tax?

That pricing is actually not very much more than the only option out of state guests had to pay under the old AP structure.  I personally am surprised that it isn’t more.  People know how to stretch an AP for almost two years’ worth of travel, and these things are going to sell well.

TCD
 

So they are announcing a 2023 closure now?  A four month closure for “maintenance work” seems excessive.  When the Meadow pool was closed for the removal of the deep end and addition of the slide they let Fort guests use the Wilderness Lodge pools. Now everyone in the campground is supposed to use the cabin pool?  During Spring Break? Sounds right. 

TCD

2 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

I bet when you return to the cabin in the evening, there will be a QR code on your bed to scan and see pictures of towel animals. 

Lol. Someone should go back and see how many of the jokes you have made in the past have become realities.  A DCL bean counter would love this idea. 

TCD

2 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

I can't get any answer anywhere, but my biggest concern is that it seems to be based on having to use a guest-provided smartphone to use the system. I REALLY hope that they revamp the FP kiosks to use the system with a card or Magic Band. I HATE using my phone in the parks, and have gone so far as to telling Guest Services and CMs that I don't have one. In the three or four times I've tried, I have NEVER even been able to get my phone to recognize the RoR queue. I've tried all the tricks. It merely goes from not time, not time, not time, not time..... full.

It really started rubbing me the wrong way, when we started dining out again and restaurants wanted us to use our phones to see the menu, and when we went to Disney, them trying to say we had to use mobile order, or using our phone to get a text for seating. I want a menu, I want a beeper to be called to my table, and I want to order in person.

I feel the same way, but the days of enjoying Disney without a smart phone are gone. The TCD gang is about to sail again on DCL very soon. Currently on the ships, everything is on the app. No paper Navigators, no paper menus, and you have to join a virtual queue to get a time to disembark on Castaway Cay.  And did they upgrade the ship wifi?  Of course not. Unfortunately, no amount of complaining to guest services is going to change any of this. The elimination of all the printed materials is a huge money saver.  And those savings are not passed on to the consumer- the executive bonuses will be obscene again this year. 

TCD

Lol. I love how they’re afraid to say what a Fastpass for a good ride will cost. Greedy b*stards. 

TCD

4 hours ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

I am wondering too if it has to do with kitchen staffing and capacities. Rotisserie chicken is easier to keep up with than fried chicken. When Trails End has made it in the past for the buffet it was also for Hoop Dee Doo.  It suggests to me the set up is massive for cooking it and it doesn’t hold up well for long. 

I think you’re right- easier to keep everything in the skillet at the same temperature and probably also easier to cook in the first place. Plus I’m sure it’s cheaper. What I am wondering is whether there will still be take out fried chicken. I’m afraid that will be cut now too. 

TCD