News Round Up 2019

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I would add 7DMT and Slinky Dog to that list - at least that has been my experience. (and also depends on size of your group)

It's all about expectations. If you want to ensure you get on as many attractions as you want at the times you want, and eat at as many of the places you want at the times you want as possible, then yeah, you need to do quite a bit of pre-planning.

If you are ok with not getting to everything you might want to and eating at maybe slightly off times, etc. then you can go with little to no planning.

I do think at least a little bit of planning to set up a few key things can be a big help - but definitely don't need to plan every minute of every day. I know a few people who went for the first time and refused to do any pre-planning and then were upset that they didn't get to what they wanted, when they wanted - but they went in with the expectations they could do everything without any planning
Yes .. You can get away without planning if you already know the parks or if you do NOT want to go on those big attractions. The thing is .. that is the draw . that is why people want to go there. I never rode TSMM when there was paper Fast Passes because I never "planned ahead" -- but once FP+ came about I go on it every trip because I can plan ahead for it knowing I need to get there early or get a FP+

For me .. i don't like having to plan IF you want a big ticket ride.
Okay -- if I want to skip the line for Slinky Dog Dash (which I want to do with an impatient 6 year old and 2 year old waiting with mommy).. I need to be online right a 7am and plan my DHS day on Day 4 or beyond in order to even have a chance. Otherwise, SDD just has to be skipped, which is sad to have to essentially skip an attraction due to really high wait times.

I can't imagine someone going there for the first time (having only experienced a Six Flags park) and thus not planning a thing, but hearing all about the excitement of Flight of Passage and Slinky Dog Dash, and leisurely walking up to the ride at about 10:00 am and going .. "WHAT? 100+ minute wait already?"No way!.. and then going to the next ride (TSM or Navi River) and go .. "wuh? 70 minute wait? No way! And then spend another 20 minutes leaving those lands and getting to next attraction . .and then all of sudden being there for an hour or two having ridden nothing and then looking around for lunch and be asked "do you have a reservation?" and then having to grumpily wait 45 minutes just to eat.
You'll have a very grumpy Dad whipping out his "I didn't pay all this money to wait in lines!"
 
I would add 7DMT and Slinky Dog to that list - at least that has been my experience. (and also depends on size of your group)

It's all about expectations. If you want to ensure you get on as many attractions as you want at the times you want, and eat at as many of the places you want at the times you want as possible, then yeah, you need to do quite a bit of pre-planning.

If you are ok with not getting to everything you might want to and eating at maybe slightly off times, etc. then you can go with little to no planning.

I do think at least a little bit of planning to set up a few key things can be a big help - but definitely don't need to plan every minute of every day. I know a few people who went for the first time and refused to do any pre-planning and then were upset that they didn't get to what they wanted, when they wanted - but they went in with the expectations they could do everything without any planning
I think there should be a fair balance of planning and whimsy. At least that is what works for me and my family. I do all the planning but plan for down time. I wasn't always like this but the art of planning is not making your family think everything is being planned out when a lot of it really is. There is no way an infrequent vacationer can see most everything in a week's time at WDW. Last fall I planned a girlfriend's getaway and there were 7 of us. More than 1/2 of the group had never been to WDW. I really wanted to show them as much as I could without them being overwhelmed. It was a challenge and everything fell into place perfectly. But that really wasn't by happenstance!
oh yeah, I think it is a great addition and love that it is more of a family coaster. and 1000000% agree it is great that it is a physical coaster with physical sets and not screens

Guess I was just expecting to be blown away based on reviews and that video didn't blow me away
I think a big part of this ride is the queue as well.
 
I think there should be a fair balance of planning and whimsy. At least that is what works for me and my family. I do all the planning but plan for down time. I wasn't always like this but the art of planning is not making your family think everything is being planned out when a lot of it really is. There is no way an infrequent vacationer can see most everything in a week's time at WDW. Last fall I planned a girlfriend's getaway and there were 7 of us. More than 1/2 of the group had never been to WDW. I really wanted to show them as much as I could without them being overwhelmed. It was a challenge and everything fell into place perfectly. But that really wasn't by happenstance!
That's an important thing that a lot of people forget. Based on your group you have to prioritize and try to ignore the hype. They want to rigorously plan their morning, afternoon and night getting everything that is super popular and talked up on this website and others.

I think it's super important with fastpasses to also have flex time. Annual passes and park hoppers make this easier but it really isn't that bad to plan one block of time and leave some others open. Sure make a dinner reservation or have something in mind. But there's a lot more stress and anxiety in thinking you must do a certain dinner or show because you planned it at 180 days. This last trip we definitely did more resort dining and decided more last minute where we wanted to go in the evenings and it worked out just fine.
 




Hagrid’s is at capacity for the day.

Ok started with a 10 hr wait and the park was open 12 hours right? And it doesn't fill to capacity until almost 7pm? I guess everyone that wanted to ride it got in line at opening, but seems kinda fishy....
 
The Hagrid coaster looks really cool, but I felt like some of the animatronics were kind of stiff in movement...? Maybe I'm off base. They probably look better in person.

I would imagine it's better in person because on video they didn't stand out as amazing...although pretty much anything is better than Disco Yeti. :rotfl:

And I'm not picking on Universal, I thought Navi River Journey looked lame, even for a slow boat ride. But then I rode it and I absolutely love it. Beautiful ride. :)
 
Ok started with a 10 hr wait and the park was open 12 hours right? And it doesn't fill to capacity until almost 7pm? I guess everyone that wanted to ride it got in line at opening, but seems kinda fishy....
Kind of like what happened with Slinky Dog opening day. Line hit 8 hours early. 5 hours later it was only 4 hours long. The next day stayed much more reasonable.
 
Awhile back I saw him move up to the ceiling and they had a high school band on the stage that came up and they performed and then Sonny came back down. I honestly don't remember which year it was but I thought it was really cool at the time. Maybe they moved him up for the event and the stage got stuck.

One of my Disney jobs was working as a Host for the visiting groups that performed. I was based at Magic Kingdom. (The other office was at Epcot backstage between Italy and Germany.)

Whenever we got jazz bands, we hoped they were performing at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. Aside from marching down Main Street right before a parade, that location was the theatrical, in my opinion. Seeing the band come up from below while the group was playing their opening number was really exciting.

That said, it was a logistical nightmare to get to that location. We'd take a bus to the parking lot behind Main Street (on the Tomorrowland side) and access the tunnels via elevator. Everything except chairs and music stands had to be brought in via hand trucks/dollies. That meant amps and a full drum set had to be wheeled through the tunnels.

Finally, we had to make sure the kids didn't do anything stupid while the stage was rising. At least when I was there, that meant having a stage tech on the lift to make sure no one got hurt.
 
oh yeah, I think it is a great addition and love that it is more of a family coaster. and 1000000% agree it is great that it is a physical coaster with physical sets and not screens

Guess I was just expecting to be blown away based on reviews and that video didn't blow me away
I feel like we have to give it high praise if it deserves it more vocally so that Universal sees the benefit of having more physical set rides.
 
For those that don't want to wait 10 hours ;)


Loved every second of that.

Are there any rumblings about plans for this to come to Universal Studios - Hollywood at some point? I know Hollywood is totally strapped for space, but I’d just love to see this there.
 
Yeah, but they just announced another delay ... Long day for some folks
Wait...But didn't Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run open without any issues? :lmao:

Looks like Disney handled their opening for a new land much better than Universal did for a new ride. Yes, I know the real test is June 24th for Disneyland and who knows what it will be like Opening Day at WDW. However, waiting 10+ hours and not having the opportunity to ride would seem like a much bigger PR nightmare.
 
Wait...But didn't Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run open without any issues? :lmao:

Looks like Disney handled their opening for a new land much better than Universal did for a new ride. Yes, I know the real test is June 24th for Disneyland and who knows what it will be like Opening Day at WDW. However, waiting 10+ hours and not having the opportunity to ride would seem like a much bigger PR nightmare.
There were a lot of issues with FOP when it opened. SW:GE also opened minus it's main ride.
 
There were a lot of issues with FOP when it opened. SW:GE also opened minus it's main ride.
Minus it’s main ride? Yes Disney has said that Rise of the Resistance is going to be the biggest attraction they have ever built. However, SW:GE isn’t going to be like Pandora with one premium ride and one ride that is “ok” at best. Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is actually a really great attraction and I personally think it could stand on its own.
 
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