VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023

[sleepydog25]

Wire money Sleepy, in need now!! Dip into the Groupie inititaion processing fee, in Dire Straights down here in FL.!!!!

Dad, so true about staying the course and realizing there is more good than evil in this world. Sometimes we find it in the smallest of gestures, sometimes huge. I told Tammy, no matter what, it will not ruin, under any circumstances, our vacation. We have moved on, not looking back. And I can tell you, being in a bonafide Disney resort does make things settle a lot quicker. Let the good times roll(in my best Figment voice)

How much you need, JT? I think I can spare about a buck fifty. Will that work?

 

[jimmytammy]

How much you need, JT? I think I can spare about a buck fifty. Will that work?

That should get me 1/3rd of a bottle of Dasani water. Send it on, its toasty down here

 

[jimmytammy]

Granny
Glad to share, now that I finally learned how
I agree on the GOG ride. Glad they aren't just gutting and reusing, but willing to go the extra mile to make use of space beyond to make the ride more exciting. If the festival center weren't in the way, I could show you more, and the building is quite big, which tells me, they are investing some big bucks into it.

 

[jimmytammy]

The days have been quite hot(not complaining)so we have been doing a lot more ducking in and out of places we normally don't frequent. But good thing is, we see things we haven't seen before. So we grab a couple shots, 1st one is in Japan in the little Art area, some sort of Anime(sorry, not up win this stuff), 2nd one is in China where they show things from Shanghai Disney. Its a mock up of a ride vehicle from the Tron cycle ride. Thought his may interest some here, knowing the same ride will be soon at MK.



We like to pick on Tammy around our house. One of the funny things we like to do is tell folks how she likes Chinese food, but there is only one place she will eat at. Its a little place thats about a 600 mile drive from home called Nine Dragons. And after much travel, we finally got there!

 

[Dizny Dad]

So glad to see the Universe of Energy building put to good use. The old presentation was dated and turned out to be not so true, as we know now that the earth generates much of the "fossil fuels" we consume. Certainly not at the rate we consume them, but all the dinosaurs didn't go to Saudi Arabia to die.

Plus I think EPCOT needed a new investment in a big attraction to keep it fresh. You can only put out so many kiosks of snacks before they get lost and don't add to the new and unique.

 

[Dizny Dad]

Jimmy & Tammy - so glad to hear that SOMEONE FAMOUS likes Nine Dragons. I have wanted to eat there for years but only ever found so-so reviews. Now I feel empowered to suggest it to DiznDi, 'cause Tammy recommends it!

 

[Granny]

And no surprise here, but Disney has announced increased prices for APs as we suspected they would. Today is the day that the date-based ticket pricing takes effect.

https://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/other-resources/4303-annual-pass-parking-prices-increase

 

[jimmytammy]

So glad to see the Universe of Energy building put to good use. The old presentation was dated and turned out to be not so true, as we know now that the earth generates much of the "fossil fuels" we consume. Certainly not at the rate we consume them, but all the dinosaurs didn't go to Saudi Arabia to die.

From a Biblical perspective, I never bought into the whole idea, but it was a cute ride all the same. Am glad a big attraction is replacing it.

Jimmy & Tammy - so glad to hear that SOMEONE FAMOUS likes Nine Dragons. I have wanted to eat there for years but only ever found so-so reviews. Now I feel empowered to suggest it to DiznDi, 'cause Tammy recommends it!

Do go for the Honey Sesame Chicken(whats in the picture). Its very tasty, not spicy hot(like some Chinese can be). We upgraded the fried rice when it normally is served with steamed rice. This place gets a bad rap, and if you are from NYC and the like I understand. But we don't have places like this, good that is, back home. Give it a try!!

 

[DiznyDi]

Ok Groupies, sitting here trying to get my mojo back

Way too many pages for me to even try to get caught up. So I'll just jump right in.

Sorry to hear of your experience at the Dolphin, JT! Absolutely unreal...even with a witness.... Thanks for sharing. Perhaps your experience can spare someone else. Nice of you Sleepy to come to his rescue with needed $.

Years ago - perhaps a decade - DDad and I had our CC skimmed at Saratoga Springs. Disney sent a letter outlining the circumstances. At least Disney was upfront about it and took responsibility for their unscrupulous employee.

Nice picture of Tammy! Glad she finally got to enjoy her Nine Dragons meal.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

And no surprise here, but Disney has announced increased prices for APs as we suspected they would. Today is the day that the date-based ticket pricing takes effect.

https://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/other-resources/4303-annual-pass-parking-prices-increase

And for those who purchase MB's the price of those apparently went up last night too. And there were reports of many menu price increases in the past few weeks.

 

[twinklebug]

Jimmy...thanks for the photos, and the sleuthing work on the Guardians attraction construction. While many are quick to point out Disney's greed, you certainly can't say that they're not re-investing in all the parks.



They probably could have done a relatively inexpensive re-skinning of the Universe of Energy and just change the sights, but it looks like they are basically gutting and expanding that location. I'm very much looking forward to that new ride, though I fear that it may be a bit too much for DW & me. I can still do Rock n Roller Coaster, but the new Flight of Passage at DAK is way too much for me.

I'm with you Granny. Recently I saw an image of the ride vehicle type Disney is most likely going to be using for Guardians. The entire seating area twists and turns about just like in Universal's Gringott's ride. While I loved that ride my worry is that with the size of Disney's new building this ride may be just a bit more intense & nausea inducing than I am ready for. I may yet long for the return of the sleep mobiles Ellen's Universe of Energy had.

 

[twinklebug]

And for those who purchase MB's the price of those apparently went up last night too. And there were reports of many menu price increases in the past few weeks.

Rant/
These menu increases are worse than the pass increases. They hit the wallet harder when totaled up for an average family over a decent length trip. They're an expense that most families new to Disney don't plan on encountering to this extent, and the food quality just isn't there to support even half the asking price. Tack on parking (up to $50/day now by the way), up the passes, but allow families with kids the ability to eat and enjoy at least once character meal.
/Rant over

Contrary to the above, I am liking that there are more ways to get groceries delivered to our resort than ever before. Instacart, Walmart, Amazon have all joined in and competition usually makes for favorable prices.

 

[Firepath]

Not a huge increase on the AP's but still glad I purchased ours yesterday. For our upcoming trip, we cancelled all our dining reservations except Enzo's because it has a 40% AP/DVC discount. We'll stick with cooking and eating outside the world. Kind of sad.

 

[sleepydog25]

Rant/
These menu increases are worse than the pass increases. They hit the wallet harder when totaled up for an average family over a decent length trip. They're an expense that most families new to Disney don't plan on encountering to this extent, and the food quality just isn't there to support even half the asking price. Tack on parking (up to $50/day now by the way), up the passes, but allow families with kids the ability to eat and enjoy at least once character meal.
/Rant over

Contrary to the above, I am liking that there are more ways to get groceries delivered to our resort than ever before. Instacart, Walmart, Amazon have all joined in and competition usually makes for favorable prices.

My guess is that Disney will start assessing a fee for grocery delivery in the next year. You heard it here first. As for food quality, it's not as though Disney has always been top-of-the-line; however, the quality was enough to at least be worth it in Disney standards. But, the last few (several?) years, the quality has dropped significantly. The pricing has not. We still find some values here and there, and with our eating habits, we ameliorate the cost of dining in Disney (share one entree, order appetizers as our meals, etc.). However, for those who have families and have little choice, it's a shame what Disney has done to food pricing.

 

[Granny]

And there were reports of many menu price increases in the past few weeks.

Rant/
These menu increases are worse than the pass increases. They hit the wallet harder when totaled up for an average family over a decent length trip. They're an expense that most families new to Disney don't plan on encountering to this extent, and the food quality just isn't there to support even half the asking price. Tack on parking (up to $50/day now by the way), up the passes, but allow families with kids the ability to eat and enjoy at least once character meal.
/Rant over

I agree that the price increases the past few years have been pretty dramatic. But in all fairness to Disney, I was only recently made aware that they are going to have to swallow a huge labor cost increase as a result of their negotiations with CMs. The minimum rate (which evidently many people were paid at) is going from $10 per hour to $13 this year, then to $14 per hour next year and $15 per hour in 2020. And there are 70,000 employees at WDW...many of whom are evidently employed at that $10 per hour rate. So that's some much needed help for the CMs but a HUGE cost increase for Disney. And of course as a publicly held corporation, they have an obligation to recoup those costs where ever they can.

To put it into some more concrete terms, if only 20% of the employees are making that $10 rate then the increase multiplied by, for example, 24 hours per week would end up being about $52 million in increased labor costs, not to mention that there would be a corresponding increased cost in FICA, etc. I know that in the world of Disney finances, that's not an overwhelming amount of money. But when they are also investing heavily in park upgrades and other capital expenses, it's just one more bit of pressure on the bottom line.

As I said, this is good for the CMs but rough for those of us who will feel some of the price pressures. And I don't think it's all that fair that Disney is paying a higher minimum wage than its competitors (entertainment and dining) outside of Disney World.

I'm as tired as anyone about price increases. But as long as Disney sees full resorts and full parks, does anyone expect them to back off?

 

[jimmytammy]

Here is a picture of the new GOG(replacing Ellens Energy)building taken from the monorail. Notice the smaller connector building to the right.

Below are shots we took of our Mixology class yesterday at TOTWL. We made 2 signature drinks, one of which Nick, who was a bartender there a few yrs ago, came up with, the Bay Lake Sunset, below. This was the one I made.

Its hard to tell, but thats WL in the middle of shot


We sat with a very nice young man from London who we found interesting. We told him of our love of England, in turn, he chuckled and said the Englanders feel the same about the states, and how we never take advantage of the things in our own back yards

 

[jimmytammy]

For anyone who wants to play along, here is a "Where Am I" picture

 

[jimmytammy]

After leaving MK and doing the TOTWL DVC tasting, we went to Epcot, caught the 98* show(I think it was still 98* at 6:45 when the show was going on!!)which though Im not a fan of this genre of music, they were very good, tight harmony and vocals. We then grabbed a bite at Via Napoli before heading back to BWV.

Couple crazy things happened yesterday, in a good way. While at MK, I was wearing a t-shirt with Innova on it, which is a disc golf disc maker, biggest name in that industry. Had a fellow and his DW stop me and say "you like to play" and I responded yes. They said they don't see many people wearing disc golf stuff. They were in Jacksonville for a big pro tourney, only the top 32 players in the world are in it. He was one of them! I am new to the game, maybe 2-3 yrs now, so knowing who the pros are, not quite there.
He introduced himself and his DW and we parted ways, and as we were walking, it dawned on me, the guy looked familiar. So I look him up, he is Colten Montgomery, a top pro in the sport. I had seen him in a bad fix of a shot a few weeks before(you can watch the bigger pro matches via internet live these days)and it hit me who he was. Cool that he stopped us to say hello!

The other thing, some folks from NC were at the tasting, we introduced ourselves after the thing was over, then went on our merry way. Then we saw them again at the big store on the BW, an hour later we get on the elevator to head to our room, and they walk on right behind us. We get to talking with them about seeing the 98* show and they say they can't wait to see 38 Special tonight. Turns out they know a guitarist in the band and hope to see him after the show tonight.

 

[sleepydog25]

LTT. You did a nice job with the drink. We've done a mixology class on each of our cruises and enjoyed it every time. Having fun teachers AND guests makes a world of difference. Luv will be down to the World tomorrow late meeting up with a few friends. Based on their schedule, I don't know that you'll overlap at all, but if you see a vivacious redhead with a group of noisy friends, that's her!

 

[jimmytammy]

LTT. You did a nice job with the drink. We've done a mixology class on each of our cruises and enjoyed it every time. Having fun teachers AND guests makes a world of difference. Luv will be down to the World tomorrow late meeting up with a few friends. Based on their schedule, I don't know that you'll overlap at all, but if you see a vivacious redhead with a group of noisy friends, that's her!

LTT is correct!
Our 1st Mixology class was on one of our Disney cruises and we too enjoyed, thought the young lady tending bar who taught the class was from East end London and they have a language all their own, which I didn't understand at all!! Talk about intimidation, behind the bar, no doubt! But I learned a lot, mostly that I don't want to be a bartender

I will be on the lookout for Luv and will do my best to say hello if she wouldn't be too embarrassed by seeing a couple hayseeds from back home