southernview -- Ray

I assume this was back in the time when they issued KTTW cards.  I haven't seen or heard of them using a MB reader at the Fort pool.

 

They are vigilant about using the MB readers at the Yacht and Beach Club pool- every guest has to have one.  And, they scan each one before issuing a paper wristband to the guest to wear.

 

TCD

Sitting outside at Beaches & Cream, we noticed that they seem to be extra diligent about checking those that use that pool.  I wonder why that is true?

I got checked once at Wilderness Lodge, just sitting around the pool.  The DW had gone inside the lodge to look for something in the store and I was just waiting on her to come back out.  The lifeguard that was doing the checking asked me to leave the area although I wasn't even wearing a bathing suit and the pool was only about half full at the time.  I just chalked it off as more Disney Magic in action.

Why don't they enforce rules for the large groups that cause so many problems?  How about overcrowded individual sites? How about phantom sites? Groups taking over the pool? etc etc etc.

 

It seems to be a Disney policy to take the money and run...... especially at the Fort.

I wonder how many people here have ever been asked for their guest card when sitting around another resort's pool, and how many times have you ever seen anyone check the people at the Fort's pool?  Other tnan on special holidays of course.

I actually don't hate it yet. Funny thing is airplane flights are truly the only time, I can unplug, and turn off the constant beep, beep of email. I can put the phone on airplane mode, turn on my Nook app, and lose myself in a junk book. I can sleep on a plane at the drop of a hat, and so far, haven't found a hotel in my preferred chain that was bad.

In full disclosure I should have mentioned that I have allergies that have adversely affected my sinuses over the years.  Most airplane rides leave me with stopped up ears for at least 12 hours and sometimes a lot worse.  My company insisted I fly even though it sometimes meant an in-state trip--once had to fly from Birmingham to Mobile and made several trips from Birmingham to Tupelo, Mississippi.  I could have driven to Tupelo in less than 3 hours (would be much faster now with the advent of I-22) and to Mobile in a little over 4 hours. 

As for the hotels, I always had good luck with them also, but after several years it did get very tiresome living out of a suitcase.

On behalf of Mayor Kaseem Reed and all the politicians who have friends running the ATL concessions, baggage, and ground transportation, I apologize for the delays.

 

Personally I have not flown since 1995 and plan to make that my final flight.

I'll second that; I had enough flying before I retired and I believe my last flight was in 1998.  Carol's episode is just one of the reasons that I detest flying and I'm sure that it is worse now than it was back when I was flying so much.

Kristie has came up with my next worst thing.  I hate Disney's buses and will only get on one if I have no other possible way to get to where I want to go.  I'll bet that there is a lot of people here that could tell some horror stories about being on a crowded Disney bus, some of my stories came about when the bus wasn't even crowded, as was the case when we got on one at Downtown Disney and when we arrived at Wilderness Lodge we were informed that the bus does not go to the Fort.  When I asked the driver why the bus was displaying "Ft. Wilderness", he couldn't come up with an answer and decided that he would go back through the Fort just to accommodate us.  He never admitted his error and I never pushed him, but as he was preparing to leave the Fort, he was seen changing the sign.

I was stuck on the Monorail just past The Polynesian for over 45 minutes in the middle of one of the most severe thunderstorms that I have seen at Disney.  For the first 30 minutes they kept repeating on the intercom that we were "holding for further traffic."  It was only in the last few minutes of the episode that they mentioned they were having technical trouble.

Reminded me of the time I was on an airplane at Atlanta when the pilot kept saying that we were going to be cleared for takeoff in about 15 minutes.  Problem with that was when we turned from the tarmac to enter the lane for the runway I got a glimpse of what was ahead of us and it looked like half of the U.S. Air Force was there.  Needless to say, the 15 minutes turned into an hour.

Most businesses that treat their customers like this will quickly be forced to shut their doors.  But Disney is making more money than ever.  I don't get it.  

Were it not for the uniqueness of WDW, this would have caught up with Disney a while back.  Thing is, where else can one go to have the Disney experience and what other place has the mystique of Disney going for it, and has the national, and even global draw, that Disney enjoys because of this?  There is a lot of truth in what lightbikes says:

 

I don't get it either -

 

but they get away with it - and I think it's because at the end of the day they've got us (and/or our kids) hooked on "the idea of Disney" - the ephemeral, nostalgic, vague, goodness, trust in others,  we all so desperately want to believe exists somewhere - we still believe in pixiedust.

 

It's just my opinion, but I think that Disney can give the poorest service possible and raise rates at the same time, and still have their business increase.  There are so many people in this country, and abroad, that have never been to WDW, that those alone will provide a lot of business, not to mention those that may come every five years or so. that Disney doesn't have to be too concerned.  This doesn't take into account those that receive poor service, but just choose to overlook it because---well, where else are they going to experience Disney?  What chance does this have to "catch up with them?"  I put the chances of that as slim to none.

The only thing that might possibly create a problem for them in the future is overcrowding.  So called Fast Pass lines will soon be, if not already, just another line like it was before.  Adding a small addition to each park may may help some, but nothing short of very large additions will be an answer.  The ability to increase attendance through a method to finance tickets has already increased the crowds and will continue to do so.  The only thing that could hurt attendance would be the increase in rates which, while it might squeeze people like myself out, will have a negligible effect overall.  People such as myself, if we still want to go, only have to hope for discounts during their "slow" times, which are becoming less and less with passing time.

I might like to entertain the thought that they really care if I come or not, but I am not delusional.  

Have to tell you this story ...

 

Many years ago I was setting the table for dinner and asked him what he would like to drink.  As usual, he said "whatever's easiest."  So I poured milk for the kids, made myself a nice tall glass of iced tea, and gave him a glass of tap water with no ice.

 

He got very angry even though I did what he asked for.

Dang, I hope my DW doesn't read this.

Yup, it's deep pockets Disney.

 

He probably has a line of lawyers waiting to talk to him

 

No one cut him off and he had one too many  (liver damage, embarrassment)

 

The manager startled him and he fell off his bike (road rash)

 

He jumped thru a windshield (cuts from sharp objects)

 

He drove onto the pier (no barricades to stop the cart, no warning signs that it was dangerous)

 

The golf cart went into the water (it should have automatic deploying flotation devices allowing it to float safely)

 

He was in dirty water (sinus infection, athletes foot, fungal infection)

 

Avoided the boat  (was afraid they were going to run him over)

 

Avoided rescue (was afraid they would harm him)

 

Any lawyer worth his law degree will find another dozen points easily.

X2 on the above.

I suspect that what discounts are in play and how busy the time of year typically is are factoring into what weekends they're blocking out for longer stays, vs just doing it across the boards.

 

Although I do wonder if this varies from resort to resort or not.  We all know that the Fort is a very different animal than the other resorts, although I expect based on how things have generally worked in the past, that the reservation system (and the new changes) is the same across the boards.

 

It's also starting to sound like they're not so much trying to eliminate short stays period, just during particular times of year when longer stays are more prevalent.

 

I would expect that during slower times, short stays (even one night) will still be able to be booked.

You are probably correct and that really mixes things up even more.  Who would make this determination?  Would it just be at the whim of some manager?  Perhaps the whole new reservation system is not a system at all, it's just a way to stop some activity that was going on in the past and can be modified without notice if they desire.  Bottom line, Disney needs to get a handle on this and produce a schedule or some way that one could know what to expect when attempting to make reservations.  The way it's working now makes them look like a bunch of plain idiots.

The next time we go I'm going to let Jason front for me, at least they can't  BS him, by that time he should have a handle on it.

One thing is for sure--this company does not have to be concerned with any complaints unless they just want to do so.  Understand that I am not anti-Disney, but what I am saying is that the average patron shouldn't be surprised by poorer service or ever increasing prices. 

Looks like I need to call my broker and see about getting in on the fun.

I think this is a good way to go if it's just noise and not completely out of hand.

 

If it's 2am and the carrying on is ridiculous and showing no signs of dying down, I'm probably calling the front desk.

 

We've been lucky.  The only time we were disturbed by neighbors was when some campers checked in late across from us, then proceeded to slam car doors for an hour.  I got up in the morning expecting to see a vehicle with 28 doors. 

We had this same thing happen to us one year at the Fort and every time that they shut the doors they would push the keyless lock and toot the horn. 

This has got me wondering just how many televisions that the average camper has.  My camper came equipped for two sets and I thought that would be about the average.  On second thought, I forgot about my outside connection that I added, so maybe three is the average.

Another thing to keep in mind, if you are using a digital converter it has to be HD capable or you will view only in SD.  Most of the converters on the market were only capable of SD.

Well stated. It will be interesting how all this fast pass plus thing works out when the parks are getting full and they are paving the way to enlarge the capacity the park can hold. This past weekend was the worse for Fast passes. This was actually going to be my next and final disappointment of the trip. We waited over 40 minutes in the FP line at Space Mountian, 30 minutes at the jungle cruise FP line and a reasonable 15 minutes at BTMR. I guess this really isn't such a big complaint since the other schmucks were waiting in line with standby under a sign that said 200 minutes. Next I could see Disney charging for the FP option like Busch Gardens and Dollywood does. I think with more people in the park,FP will get longer and longer until going to Disney becomes a $105 dollar a day people watching experience vs a park where you can ride the experience

That expresses my sentiments very well and I thought it was ironic that the next day after my post I see where Disney is raising the prices again.  You may be more of a prophet than you think with that last line.

In general nowadays people demand everything to be perfect in their day to day lives, and they don't want to be bothered with details, excuses or logical explanations as to why something didn't go their way

 

Disney Magic hype, their print/TV advertising and mailers, and promises, just make it worse once people drive under those welcoming arches.

 

They were promised Disney Magic, and damn it, they are going to get it no matter how many other people they have to screw over or how many crying kids they have to drag thru the parks!

I cracked up on that last line, but the whole post is very accurate.

I know the CMs are just doing their job and it's not their fault. It's managements fault for letting so many people into the park.

 

 

BINGO!!  We have a winner!

 

If you can't expand the park/amenities to handle the crowds, then start closing the gates.

 

We couldn't get near any places to eat a week ago Friday at lunch time (as late as 1:30) so we left and walked to the Contemporary.

This was a predictable situation from quite sometime ago and this is why I also think that FP+ is also just a means to an end.  Sooner or later the lines for FP will be just like the regular lines always were.  When you have finite space and ever increasing crowds who will be taking advantage of FP, how can it not be?  When the attractions are not increased and everyone is trying to get on the same popular rides it appears to me that the situation can't get any way but worse.

Have you ever wondered why the campground is never enlarged?  By Disney standards of building new resorts and the such, it would appear that spending a comparatively small sum to add a few campsites would be chunk change.  Again, we have to look for the money trail which brings us to what was built right out from the entrance to the Fort.  Of course, this is the American way of doing business so who can blame them.  Disney is no longer, if they ever were, primarily interested in building something for family entertainment, rather they are looking at how they can produce the most profit. 

I'm sure there will be many that will disagree with me on this and maybe Disney will expand the campground in the near future.  Perhaps they will decide to properly train and supervise their CM's so they can regain the standards they had a few years ago.  I ask myself why they should when those of us that love the place will continue to come anyway and the newer crowds won't know the difference so they will continue to come primarily because it is a "one of a kind" place that can't be duplicated anywhere else.  Disneyland duly acknowledged.

Get ready. You ain't seen nothing yet.

 

 

 

BINGO.

I witnessed a confrontation at the MK on Saturday night that almost escalated to a fist fight.  The hub area in front of the castle is total chaos at fireworks time now because they have taken away a huge area where guests used to stand to watch the projection show on the castle and fireworks. Since Disney is so cheap, they have done nothing to anticipate the problems they are causing, or to have more CM's on hand to alleviate the crowds that are gathering in the few remaining open spots.  This was not a particularly busy night, but there was an area that had become total gridlock.  Guests with their giant strollers were simply stopped in what should have been open walkways, and there were no CM's around to tell them to move along.  So, guests started yelling and pushing. It was a very bad scene, and one which could have been avoided with proper planning, training and staffing.

 

TCD

I have about given up trying to watch the fireworks from that area just because of the rude crowds.  The last time I was there, having arrived a tad early to get a decent spot, just before the fireworks start a man comes running through the crowd, steps in front of me and raises his child up on his shoulders, totally blocking my view.  It was just more than I could take, so I tapped him on the back and told him that he was blocking my view and probably others behind me.  He gives me a dirty look and moves over to the side where he was doing the same thing to people there.

On that same trip we were right at the front of the crowd waiting entry to Fantasmic and when the CM's gave the highball for entry, we were literally pushed aside, bumped over and were almost trampled by people almost running to get in.  That will be my last time for that unless they come up with a decent way to handle that herd of unruly animals.  I would rather wait until the very last and stand if I had to.

I wish I had kept a journal over the years of all the episodes like these that we have experienced.  It's a miracle that there is not more trouble caused by this than there is.

During the time that we stayed on the 2000 loop, we found that it is a roll of the dice situation, meaning that, at times it can be very crowded and noisy, or it can be normal like any other loop.  We were there last October 10th thru the 17th, staying in another loop and we biked through the 2000 loop several times during our stay and found it to be very calm and not at all crowded.  If you stay on the 2000 loop the best sites are the ones near the center of the loop as you come into it.  There is a bus stop on the loop near its exit and it can be noisy on that side.

As with the others here, I would choose the 1500 loop if available.

Hope you have a great experience, we may be back in October ourselves.

Board names added :)

Thanks Carol, I appreciate that.

First names doesn't help us people that don't know anyone.  How about adding their board user names along with them so some of us can visualize what a person looks like when they post.  It would take a mighty long time for me to meet all of those face to face.

All the talk about removing the Sorcerer's Hat and changing the view in a park has reminded me of a favorite view that I always liked in Epcot that was changed over the years.

This picture is a scan of a slide that I took at Epcot in 1987.  The picture was taken at twilight without a tripod, so it could be a little clearer, but I am wondering if anyone remembers that lighted glass prism in the foreground.  I always really liked that view, it really looked good viewing back toward Spaceship Earth.  Anyone know about when it was removed?

Yep for this very reason our next trip we will be at SSR.

I was not paying $130.00 per night for a campsite. I love the Fort at $65 a night I like the the Fort at $90 a night and couldn't care less about going to the Fort at $130 per night at least not for a quick 5 day trip.

I could not have said it any better.  As much as we love the Fort, we can stay at plenty of nice places two nights for $130 per.

Probably not worth renting a car just for the mall. Guessing a bus or taxi may work although I just heard about the Mall at Millenia and may go there instead.

 

Golf cart wins....

It's going to be quite a bit further to go to Millenia than it would Florida Mall.  Might be worth it though if you have never been.

The sway and bounce control of this hitch is superior to others. It does distribute weight. In my case, my trailer is light, and no problem for my Ram. It does distribute the weight but I don't need much. It is very easy to set up and hooking up is a breeze, and it is light. If your tow vehicle squats a lot under the tongue weight of your trailer, this wouldn't be for you; get an Equalizer or similar design. 

 

The durability is excellent. I have about 6000 miles on mine and it is still like new. There is a lifetime warranty though.

From what I have read the owners of this hitch give it positive reviews to the tune of at least 90 percent..  The only really bad report that I have seen came from someone that did have a heavier TT and had trouble with the weight distribution feature on it.  For any new hitch to be as well received as this one seems to be, it would have to be good.

I've been using the same EQ hitch for 10 years now and have no complaints against it.  Once it is set up properly, I don't think I could ask for any better performance than it delivers.  As with anything new to the market only time will tell if this Andersen will stand the rigors of towing over the years.

I've read a ton of reviews on this hitch on several forums and it gets good reviews for the most part.  From what I can gather there may be a problem using this hitch on heavier trailers with tongue weights of over 400 lbs, or so, due to what may be a problem with weight distribution on heavier rigs. 

 

I have never used a WDH and have only read about them (I'm a geek, what can I say?); but it's my understanding that these end up only being good for smaller trailers because they have a hard time pushing enough weight back to the tow vehicle's front axle. It can push some weight back up there, but not a lot.

 

OOOOORRRRRR... I'm confusing it with another. :)

That seems to be the main question about the hitch, that along with some concern about wear and tear with use.  Other than the noise made by some other hitches, I can't see a great deal of gain by using this hitch.  It is lighter and supposedly reduces "bounce" of the TT going down the road, something with which I have never had a problem with.  This may be a perfectly good hitch, but I don't see myself changing from my EQ over to it.

One thing that would concern me is that these generators are manufactured in China, not known for their quality and serviceability.  While they say that they have automatic voltage regulation I wouldn't count on them producing clean enough current for use where sensitive electronic devices are used.  keith_h is correct when he suggest that any generator you purchase be an inverter generator which will have better regulation technology than those that are intended for use where better regulation is not an issue.

I would also be concerned about the engine on imported generators as many of them are not the best quality.  The better known brands such as Honda and Mitsubishi and the like are your best bet.  Of course these usually cost a great deal more than the others, but if you search around you can probably find some other brands that are also of the inverter type that are not quite as expensive.  It does depend upon what you intend to use the generator for and how much wattage you need.