Tri-Circle-D

I cannot believe that they’re going to serve rotisserie chicken and not fried chicken. And ribs and shrimp are add ons? Sad. TCD

You were visiting the Black Spire Outpost on the planet of Batuu. I think they were too lazy to figure out how to explain how you arrived on another planet at the edge of another galaxy simply by walking down a path. My daughters disagree with me that they are intentionally bypassing the elaborate pre-show scenes on Rise of the Resistance to increase capacity. But whatever the reason, it’s bad show to rush guests into a giant room full of stormtroopers with no explanation of where you are or how you got there. It ruins the ride. The fact that this is still frequently happening is just

I’m in. So far so good. I hate to tell you, but if the first thing you saw on Rise of the Resistance was the stormtrooper room, then you missed three important elements of the preshow that explain what you are experiencing from that room to the end. That is a crying shame. TCD

This is a belated Happy Armed Forces Day to Dave and Ray and all of the other Fiend vets. Thank you for your service. TCD

But the CM’s who coordinated these events for the DCP have not been rehired. I have no doubt that Disney management will be deploying the Special Event CM’s to staff dessert parties and other cash grabs as soon as they possibly can, but that’s all separate from DCP. TCD

This is not great news for anyone. Note this key sentence: “Those students whose programs ended early or were suspended last year due to COVID-19 are being asked to reapply.” There are at least 20 former castmembers who worked in management positions for the DCP (about 80% of the management crew) who were canned by Disney who have not been rehired- or even been contacted with the prospect of being rehired. I know one of them personally. They also have not rehired 100+ other CM’s who worked screening and training the applicants. What they do have is a few thousand college kids

On Sunday, May 2, 2021, early in the morning, I took a stroll down the pedestrian path behind the 300 loop and found a dad back there with his kids and golf cart. What’s the big deal about that? For one thing, this guy had to drive past several signs telling him that no golf carts are allowed back here. For another, zoom in on that photo so you can see that this genius and a kid who can’t be more than 5 years old are on the other side of the alligator fence with their fishing poles. WTF? TCD

Yet the Frozen sing-along has been open in Hollywood Studios since early October. You have a gift for finding the silver lining in everything. TCD

You’re both welcome. I am always interested in seeing what movies they have playing, and I have many great memories from the campfire program. Something encouraging that I noticed from the May schedule is that they have returned to having a movie every night. That was not the case when we were at the Fort in March and earlier in the pandemic. Something discouraging is that the sing-along and Chip and Dale have not returned. I am beginning to wonder if those features will be permanently cut. I hope not, but it wouldn’t surprise me. TCD

Agreed. While I always felt that I got my money’s worth eating at Trail’s End, it has been a treat getting to use the seating to eat take out food. I won’t miss the dinner buffet too much, but I will definitely miss breakfast. TCD

Like always, there must be loopholes and glitches that people are exploiting to game the system. This garbage went on with the infamous “throw away” campsite reservations that people used to circumvent Fastpass and Dining Reservation limits in pre-COVID times, and Disney looked the other way. Lately, I have noticed that all of the parasite vloggers have been in the MK for the past several days to stalk the opening of the People Mover. If all of them were playing with the limit of 3 park reservations at a time, it’s very suspicious how all of them were able to score multiple consecutive

Dave, you have not lost your touch. You have once again hit the nail on the head. Turning the Main Street Bakery into a Starbucks was the beginning of the end. And here we are. TCD

Nice straw man argument there, Dave. No, that is not what I think, and it is not what I said. Yes, that is bad. But those kind of stunts went on before the pandemic, and have been continuing throughout. I’m sure there was national coverage of some of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visiting WDW after the Super Bowl, and more recently Aaron Rodgers and his fiancée. All of them were doing things that a regular guest would not be able to. These stunts don’t make me angry as much as they make me marvel at the thought processes of those in charge of Disney marketing. TCD

May is typically a slower month than April and the summer months. But let’s look at what’s available to passholders for the remainder of April: I just looked. There are 12 days left in the month. Of those 12 days, there are 4 with no availability. None. For any park. For four days. There are 7 that have limited availability- with no availability in at least one park each day. And there is one day where all parks are available. When I purchased my platinum annual pass in February 2020, I paid a premium price for unblocked admission to all 4 parks for 365 days, with unlimited park hopping. Whe

The corruption and malfeasance has been from the Governor’s office and Legislature more than it has been from local governments. So we now have horrible roads, schools, and our environment is a disaster. But at least we don’t have a State income tax, and you can go wherever you want without a mask. Paradise. TCD

Congratulations you got what you paid for. Guests with more expensive passes that are supposed to have no block out dates and weekend admission don’t. TCD

More poor treatment of castmembers and reneging on retirement benefits. Park entry is part of the compensation and retirement packages that castmembers were promised. Except when Disney reneges so they can sell tickets to day guests. Pure greed. TCD

You’re lucky to be away from Florida and WDW at this time. It’s not good here at the moment, and I don’t think that things will ever go back to where they were. I certainly understand the love/hate relationship you had with Disney. Both girls have connections and paths that can get them back to Disney at some point, but I doubt that either will return because the career paths they were on are gone. I don’t think people fully understand the long-term changes that will follow from the bridges Disney chose to burn. People will eventually accept Disney’s lower standards, but that doesn’t m

All of the above plus unmitigated government corruption and malfeasance. It is absolutely shocking to see the amount of unchecked development that has been allowed along the I-4 corridor with no improvement in infrastructure or provision for the astronomical traffic that logically flows from the unchecked development. But if you have enough cash and know the right crooked politicians, you can build a toll road going to nowhere on or near land that you own and then build all kinds of residential units that will dump out onto the overcrowded interstates. TCD

Wow! A post from a former giant on this board. I’m glad to hear that the retirement plans worked out, and I hope that you and Gail are enjoying it to the fullest. TCD

Good to hear that you’re doing well. Thanks for the book recommendation. I am going to check it out- very interesting topic. TCD

LOL. It’s great to see a post from DIT. I have nothing but great memories of you, brother. I hope that all is well with the DIT gang. I hate to ask, but how old is little Anna now? TCD

Good to see you here, Dave. I bought my camper when my oldest daughter was 8, and the twins were 4, and those first 10 years were the best. Like you, we made many last minute weekend trips, and never had a problem getting a site or feeling ripped off. I didn’t like what came next, but I accepted it, and we just camped less, but still enjoyed it when we did. What finally did it for me is seeing how opportunistic and greedy Disney has been during the pandemic. The park pass system blocks out passholders so they can sell those spaces to day guests at a higher price. Even though park atten

Mark- thanks for starting this thread. You asked a good question, and this thread gives me a good place to share some thoughts. Yes, this message board is in decline. It has been for a long time. Message Boards are not popular any more. They’re all fading away. As for this one, I agree with the others about how Disney and the Fort have lost a lot of magic lately. The dealbreaker for me personally has been how poorly they have treated passholders and castmembers as a result of COVID-19. I understand that they are a business, but Disney has relentlessly focused on making huge profi