News Round Up 2018

[The Pho]

I get that but as Joe obviously has been asked about many times Disney fans still want to see it fixed and Joe wants it fixed himself.

The ride itself hasn’t seen even a short refurb in a very long time so I’ve got to think even a short one is coming in the next few years.

I just doubt how much he actually wants to fix it. It's been broken for years and I know they've tried things, but if they really wanted it fixed, it would've been fixed by now. Whenever somebody asks the easiest answer is to say he wants to fix it.

Whenever the major refurbishment comes along they'll actually be able to repair the Yeti frame and concrete issue that caused it all though. Repairing all that won't be cheap either, so with the Fox purchase even that could get pushed to another refurbishment.

I'd love to see it working again, so hopefully before the 50th.

 

[rteetz]

I just doubt how much he actually wants to fix it. It's been broken for years and I know they've tried things, but if they really wanted it fixed, it would've been fixed by now. Whenever somebody asks the easiest answer is to say he wants to fix it.

Whenever the major refurbishment comes along they'll actually be able to repair the Yeti frame and concrete issue that caused it all though. Repairing all that won't be cheap either, so with the Fox purchase even that could get pushed to another refurbishment.

I'd love to see it working again, so hopefully before the 50th.

Joe wouldn’t respond to these messages and proclaim he wants to fix it in public settings in front of Disney fans if he didn’t want to fix it. Joe isn’t a giant Disney fluff artist.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Joe wouldn’t respond to these messages and proclaim he wants to fix it in public settings in front of Disney fans if he didn’t want to fix it. Joe isn’t a giant Disney fluff artist.

Didn't he even bring it up recently either around the time of Pandora opening or the AK 20th Anniversary Celebration? Maybe I'm just dreaming this.

 

[rteetz]

Didn't he even bring it up recently either around the time of Pandora opening or the AK 20th Anniversary Celebration? Maybe I'm just dreaming this.

It was brought up last when he tweeted that someone at security at MCO asked him about it. He is asked about it by Disney fans all the time though.

 

[hakepb]

I was bummed to have missed out on the gourmet grilled cheeses they were selling a few years back. It never seemed open when we tried

They’ve had a few interesting items there .... but I never think of that location when I’m hungry.
If that food was sold in the Odyssey (to at least have an indoor lunch A/C seating area,) it could do well.

 

[skier_pete]

I just doubt how much he actually wants to fix it. It's been broken for years and I know they've tried things, but if they really wanted it fixed, it would've been fixed by now. Whenever somebody asks the easiest answer is to say he wants to fix it.

Whenever the major refurbishment comes along they'll actually be able to repair the Yeti frame and concrete issue that caused it all though. Repairing all that won't be cheap either, so with the Fox purchase even that could get pushed to another refurbishment.

I'd love to see it working again, so hopefully before the 50th.

I am certain Joe would like to get it fixed - but it's a financial and operational decision. I am sure Disney management argues that it does not effect the rider experience in a significant way since the average rider does not even notice there's a problem. I have talked to imagineers that said it could be fixed with a six week shutdown, there is a plan in place, but they just have to be given the OK to do it. I agree that eventually it will happen. That ride has not had significant downtime since it opened in 2006, so eventually they will need to do a refurb on it, and likely will fix the yeti at the same time

 

[Spaceguy55]

When I had lunch with him at the Tiffins talks back in April we asked him about it..His answer was yes he wanted to fix it bit his demeanor suggested it would not be done ..mainly because of the cost to take most of the mountain apart in order to do it right.
Also gave me a funny look when I told him that was the only ride at WDW that I had never rode..

 

[Dentam]

There may be something to this. My 60 day window opened at 0700 this morning. At 0701, ZERO FPs were available for SDD on any of the days we will be there. Every other ride in every park was available for at least 1 of our 4 days on property. Grabbed FOP, no problem.

j

Interesting... my 60 day window opened at 7am on July 4th and there were FP's for SDD available for the final three days of my trip. And that was even until 8am and after since I continued to tweak my plans for over an hour. Like you, I was also able to get FP's for every other ride - they pretty much all showed plenty of openings for every day of my trip. I'm hoping it's a sign of low crowds for Labor Day week again this year! Last year was awesome, though partly due to Irma.

 

[Farro]

I get that but as Joe obviously has been asked about many times Disney fans still want to see it fixed and Joe wants it fixed himself.

The ride itself hasn’t seen even a short refurb in a very long time so I’ve got to think even a short one is coming in the next few years.

Maybe they will refurb it once Star Wars opens to ease the pain....
My luck it will be down when we go in 2020. Arghh!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I do find it fascinating that the TSL lines are so (relatively) short. Even if you were to say that people aren't going out of their way for it, it STILL seems strange that the lines for NEW rides are shorter than for existing rides. (I just looked at ToT is at 65 minuts, RnRC at 90 mins, while SDD is at 70 minutes, TSMM is at 60 minutes, and AS2 is 40 minutes. (Maybe the AS2 makes sense, because no ones going to wait two hours for THAT ride.)

The first thought that occurs to me is:maybe they aren't getting crowds in the summer anymore?? FOP is at 130 minutes but even space mountain is only at 70 minutes. We had longer lines back in February when we were there. So either they are running rides with more capacity, or the crowds just aren't as bad.

The second thought is - maybe these new rides they decided not to give out so many FP for them. It's not uncommon for WDW to use 80% FP on rides...but perhaps they decided to try and hold back long lines by not handing out a bazillion FP. Especially with the fact that each person coming into the park can only get ONE FP for each of those 3 rides - by holding down the # of FP, they are in fact holding down the standby lines as well.

I think the “number of FP” theory holds water. They could just be starting conservative and plan to release more as they fully determine how many FPs the ride can handle.

 

[Teamubr]

Interesting... my 60 day window opened at 7am on July 4th and there were FP's for SDD available for the final three days of my trip.

I suspect part of the availability for my trip is I arrive on Tuesday after Labor Day and am only staying 4 days. (Heading to the beach for a week after WDW). Everyone's trip that starts on Saturday or Sunday got a 2 or 3 day jump on SDD FPs for the week.

j

 

[crazy4wdw]

D23 will be presenting two panels at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego; Celebrating 90 Years of Mickey Mouse and 25 Years of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas during the weekend of July 18-22.

 

[OSUZorba]

I also think that as well with the caveat that the "spaceship bus" will have a dedicated port at the hotel that may not be have any visibility to the outside. Perhaps it can be an all-electric vehicle given the short distance and no real concerns on toxic fumes, etc.

I don't see how it could have an internal combustion engine and stay in the theme at all. No matter what you did, people would be able to feel/hear/smell the fact there was an ICE.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Disney extremes be booking for Free Dining offer from July 7th to August 1st

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/walt-disney-world-extends-free-dining-offer-to-book-by-august-1/

So does the mean even with free dining they aren’t selling well for the fall or just trying to reinvigorate attention?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Disney extremes be booking for Free Dining offer from July 7th to August 1st

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/walt-disney-world-extends-free-dining-offer-to-book-by-august-1/

So does the mean even with free dining they aren’t selling well for the fall or just trying to reinvigorate attention?

Could be both. Fall has become very busy (October is completely blacked out for the offer too and nearly all of November) and at the same time Irma scared people.

However, I'm also wondering if possibly they've given a look at TSL and wanted to amp up bookings. It's only been just over a week but maybe they decided it needed more furvor attached to it. IDK just thinking out loud.

 

[rteetz]

Disney extremes be booking for Free Dining offer from July 7th to August 1st

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories/walt-disney-world-extends-free-dining-offer-to-book-by-august-1/

So does the mean even with free dining they aren’t selling well for the fall or just trying to reinvigorate attention?

I really think people are waiting. A slow down before the Star Wars storm...

 

[Iowamomof4]

I really think people are waiting. A slow down before the Star Wars storm...

I hope, I hope, I hope.... Just maybe we can have a lower crowd time whenever we get our trip done next year (definitely BEFORE Star Wars opens). Also, I hope that leads to decent discounts for our trip!

 

[dlavender]

We are on our way back from another quick WDW weekend.

Thoughts on TSL:

• Land is more attractive at night
• SDD is a really fun family coaster
• AS2 was surprisingly fun
• Both rides, however seemed to lack that Disney feel. They seemed more like universal rides.

Crowds this weekend were about the lowest we’ve experienced over the last 9 months. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to navigate the parks and how low waits were. (Do not tell anyone, as next year this same weekend will be packed )

 

[jpeterson]

We are on our way back from another quick WDW weekend.

Thoughts on TSL:

• Land is more attractive at night
• SDD is a really fun family coaster
• AS2 was surprisingly fun
• Both rides, however seemed to lack that Disney feel. They seemed more like universal rides.

Crowds this weekend were about the lowest we’ve experienced over the last 9 months. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to navigate the parks and how low waits were. (Do not tell anyone, as next year this same weekend will be packed )

Been here since Friday. I agree crowds are low. However ride wait times get real spikey since 100-200 "15"s will get in standby at a time. I saw Dinosaur jump up to 70 minutes today and then drop down to 15 an hour later. All of standby was color coded groups.

 

[ICTVgrad07]

They do this at Universal already. My center console is filled with comp value receipts. I assume its a sort of 'inventory' tracking tool.
I've never tried reentering parking on the same day though, so no clue if they would rescan my pass to confirm the receipt is actually mine

Doesn't this go against the Disney motto of trying to be environmentally friendly? Let's use more paper. There's gotta be a "green way" to do this