We quote the entire script each time and are joined by others as well.

"The future is in the past.....

Hello there!"

Wow, I had no idea there was a big dinosaur pre show fan club!

I hope Disney redesigns that area of Animal Kingdom. Not necessarily get rid of the dinosaur ride. But just raise the level of that area and get rid of the carnival games.

Maybe something similar to pirates ride, but with Land of the Lost? (I don’t know what who owns the rights).

Yeah the carnival area is pretty bad. Especially since there is a roller coaster just sitting there rotting for the last several years. That entire area is so out of place in that park. The rest of the park is one of the most beautiful and best themed anywhere.

There have been lots of rumors of theming that area to other ip, but obviously hasn't happened. Heck, even if they just continued the dinosaur theme and made it a forest or something with another dinosaur themed ride, it'd work a whole lot better than what's there now.

Convert that area to a dedicated Indiana Jones area? Lots of content for attractions

That was one of the rumored IPs.

That entire area is going to be refurbished, which is too bad. It could have been much better, but it just never came to fruition.

Went to Disneyland yesterday. Very low attendance for a summer Friday. They're struggling to sell tickets for sure.

Hopefully in this case, refurbished means that they'll actually improve it, at least a little bit.

But, yeah, with all of the cutbacks they've done to the big projects which are currently happening, I wouldn't think we'd see any major projects at animal kingdom for quite some time.

Indiana Jones land should go in MGM.

I love animal kingdom. Get 1 more Avatar ride. Fix dinosaur land. Park will be perfect.

My guess would be that DL will have low attendance until they start selling their APs. The new version, I think it's called magic key or something? Then the crowds will return.

This is just a guess. I know that if I were a local to DL, I wouldn't be buying day tickets.

Tip worked perfectly! I used my wife’s phone to look at the time.gov while I had the app up on my phone. While waiting in line for security at 7am I got boarding group 38. The ride worked so well that we were called before noon and we had just landed. By 4pm they were calling boarding groups 125 and lower, they didn’t care if you missed your window as long as you had a boarding group sometime they were letting anyone ride so we got to go on it. Lines are crazy short, walk right on alien saucer swirl and midway mania, about 10 minutes for Minnie and mickeys runaway railway, 15 for slinky dog. We called it an early night and took the skyliner back to the resort to swim. Looked at the pinball machines, no one has worked on them in years, I almost feel like they are neglected children that I want to adopt and take home and take care of them they are so beat up! Hopefully Caribbean Beach Resort or the Riviera Resort has some playable pins, I’ll find out this weekend when we switch resorts.
Hoping the next 2 weeks has similar crowd levels, this could be one of the best trips yet.

Well, they did cancel Rivers of Light, which I thought was fantastic, I think they have to add something, and I've heard that the DinoLand was bothersome to the suits for some time. The other thing to note is that a cast member lost their life on Primeval World, so that always causes strife.

The area isn't that large, so it would not take much. The DinoLand restaurants are awesomely themed already.

I agree, the park is much better now that Pandora has been added. Previous to that it was a 5 hour park.

That is awesome! Glad you got a boarding group!

It sounds like crowds are really low now that school is back in session for most. Hopefully they will stay low for your whole trip!

I did not know that! Man, that's really a sad thing to hear. Is that why the ride got shut down?

When we were there I was literally standing there looking at the decaying ride, even discussing it with my daughter - wondering why they would just leave it sitting there. I was chalking it up to Disney being Disney. I had no idea what had happened.

Wikipedia says two operator deaths actually, but in 2007 and 2011 so not likely linked to the permanent closing in 2020.

Wow, that is really tragic. I found an article which had a bit more detail. Looks like one of them was a maintenance worker who somehow got hit by a ride vehicle while working on the ride, while the ride was closed. The other was a ride operator who also got hit by a ride vehicle.

But, yeah, the ride kept operating after both of those deaths.

Right, it was two of them. While some time has passed, the ride has never been a favorite of Disney and even before it's closure, it had limited hours.

Which is very disappointing, as Disney themed it pretty well. I always enjoyed riding it.

What is everyone’s thoughts on the new Genie platform?

Is the $15 per ticket per day going to stop people from upgrading?

What do you think the lightening lanes will end up costing? If Disney isn’t charging at least $50 per ride for it, they are crazy.

They seriously need to get anyway from all this planning. The best way to explore the parks is not with one’s nose looking down at the phone. But by walking in, picking a direction and just go.

If they want to fix the “crowds”, get rid of any fast pass system (unless it’s extremely limited). This just creates crowds on the pathways. Add more to the parks. MGM desperately needs 2 more lands. Add a 5th park.

If I’m in charge of Disney, I want people to come back because they didn’t get to go on everything, because of how much there was to do.

This genie system seems to me to be a rip off. I now will have to pay 60 per day for a family of 4 (say 300 total for a 5 day stay) to get what I got for free with fastpass. Couple that with no parkhoppers and the loss of convenience and fun by eliminating magical Express and it adds up to me probably not going back for the forseeable future. Fp could get complicated for sure but how is ror an improvement when in order to have a chance of getting on you have to synchronize your watch like you're invading Normandy and execute with precision of literally 2 or 3 seconds?? That sucks! WTH is disney thinking?? It was my favorite vacation destination but I dont see going back anytime soon. Maybe if attendance drops they will get their minds right.

Looks like park hopper is coming back based on the genie app, being able to book rides in all the parks on the same day.

I’m wondering how many other people look at these added costs and say “no thanks”. Here’s a question for you. Would you book Universal Studios instead? Or just pick a completely different kind of vacation?

But if you ask me, they don’t have the ride capacity to handle the amount of hotel rooms they have.

The other problem they have, is they keep replacing rides with high hourly capacity with rides with less hourly capacity. World of Motion had hourly capacity of 3,200, Test Track is around 1,200. Horizons was 2,7000...Mission space is 1,600. Wonders of Life was closed...finally the Play! pavilion is coming to help with the crowds.

They need to build some newer rides that can handle 3,000 people per hour.

To me Genie sounds pretty similar to the old MaxPass at Disneyland, which was great... But I'm extremely skeptical that it will scale well to the crowds at WDW.

Universal's version (Express Pass) isn't exactly free either. It works very well in my experience -- no pre-planning, just walk into the express line if you have the pass -- but again, smaller crowds.

I think the best thing Disney could do is to keep the park capacity limits that were implemented because of COVID and keep those limits realistic. When you're standing in Tomorrowland and you literally can't pick your nose without accidentally elbowing another person, then there are obviously more people in the park than the available attractions can support.

We'll probably try Genie once just to try it, but these days we're much more of the wanderer type than the sprint to the next ride reservation type.

My understanding is that the charge is per ticket per ride ... not per day.

That is how it is working in Disney-Paris.

Us system is different from paris.

Us system has what is basically old fasgpass but digital for $15/day but doesn’t include the top 2-3 attractions per park.

Then you aldo have the ability to buy up to two passes a day for the top attractions that will be dynamic pricing

That helped. I do think it will be a matter of time before it is pay to jump the line, but we will see.

For anyone visiting Orlando I have a lodging suggestion. It seems Harris Rosen, Orlando hotel mogul loves pinball and he insists that each of his locations has at least one machine in the game room. How cool is that? They have a wide range of budget-luxury properties with locations all over. https://www.rosenhotels.com/

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We are not happy with the changes at all. As annual pass holders I’ve already paid for my ticket, I shouldn’t have to pay more everytime I go to have an enjoyable experience. We also don’t go into the park for full days very often so a pay per day system holds very little value. Pay per ride for the headliners is one of the worst money grabs I’ve ever heard of, especially when they say the cost will vary depending on day and time. So if the lines are crazy long it will probably cost a lot and if they start to get shorter the price will drop, causing more people to buy it making the lines longer again.
7am to make your selections is dumb too. I’m on vacation to relax not go to bed with an alarm set for before I want to get up in the hopes I can make a good ride selection.
We will have to wait and see how it pans out, but if the only way to go to the parks and have a good time from here on out is to pay extra money to bypass others that either don’t have the money or don’t want to spend it, we will look to spend our vacation dollars elsewhere. We have been die hard Disney fans since our honeymoon and take our kids every year, some years twice. If this works out the way I think it works out we will be looking at Hawaii or tropical all inclusive resorts instead.

With the top tier attractions not included in the genie+, I bet not many people will buy it at AK and probably even Epcot.

Those parks just don't have enough remaining attractions with long lines to make it worth it.

I liked that the old fast-pass system was 1) done in the park day of and 2) available to everyone the same.

I know in more recent times fast-passes became a "book it way in advance" thing, which was dumb.

This new system separating people who want to pay more from people who don't is a crappy idea.

Classic Disney to do something anti-consumer and tell people with a straight face that they're better off for it.

This reminds me of the Coke debacle when they investigated variable pricing on vending machines based on the outside temperature. That ended badly for them.

It is always under the idea of "revenue management" which is often a fancy name for squeezing every dollar out of a consumer. It works ... until it doesn't and the consumer rebels. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/28/business/variable-price-coke-machine-being-tested.html

Shortly, I-4, The Highway running through Otown and Disney will be opening PAY LANES.
The cost to use these 2 exclusive lanes will vary in cost based on Traffic, and time of day.

No Fast Pass on the Roads either.

I’m wondering if not having Magical Express will have any effect on attendance. I’m wondering how many people won’t be able to figure out how to get to and from Disney and the airport.

The only thing we find irksome is losing the Magical Express. However, nothing Disney does will stop us from spending 10-14 days at Boardwalk, Yacht Club or Beach Club each year. It’s become tradition and my wife and kids still really love it. It’s not my favorite vacation, but as long as it keeps the family happy, I’m good.

If the parks become too crowded, we spend the day at the resort or at Disney Springs.

I’m wondering if not having Magical Express will have any effect on attendance. I’m wondering how many people won’t be able to figure out how to get to and from Disney and the airport.</blockquote
This is a giant inconvenience. Visitors will either have to rent a car to get there or pay a Uber or taxi. For what it cost to go to Disney it does t hurt them one fucking bit to bus people to and from the airport. Next they will stop the busses from their hotels to the parks.

All of the line jumping systems create problems. Mainly it just makes lines worse by forcing the standard queue to move slower. Plus when they shoe-horn the system into place it can destroy the intentions of the ride designers.

Thirty something years ago when creating the Indiana Jones ride they themed an amazing queue as a way to keep you entertained while waiting 45 minutes for the ride. But then Fast Pass comes along and you need to allow these line jumpers and so now you just wait outside most of the time and then run past all that cool stuff with no sense of adventure. And even with Fast Pass you still end up waiting a good chunk of time.

A line jumping system that is restricted by economics sounds dirty and unfair but may actually create a better guest experience. If there are far fewer people line jumping than the regular lines move faster and have reduced overall wait times.

It's almost genius. Get the whales who come to the park to spend an extra $1000-$2000 per-day per-family for line jumping privelages. Disney makes extra cash but without the negative effects of a heavily used Fast Pass type of system. The only negative for them is the bad looking excessive greediness but that sort of controversy slides off them like teflon so I'm sure they're not worried.

The era of theme park micro transactions is upon us. Your phone will track where you are in the park and direct you to the shortest lines, the cheapest churros, and constantly offer you up-sold experiencesa. Want to ride in the front seat of the monorail? Only $80 for your whole family on the next arriving train!

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

I’m fine with it. They are basically intending to make the park less appealing, while increasing per person revenue. They are not able to sustain a decent experience with huge crowds, and now the “standard” experience will feel even more “sub-standard”.

I couldn’t agree more. Having to stare at an app the whole time you’re in a park ruins the experience. I’m assuming the Genie will direct people to less crowded areas, almost like a crowd control system. But it’s just more to look down at.

And you know they are going to herd people towards “under utilized” attractions to maximize operating costs.

We already decided to bury our phones in a backpack, grab a paper map when we enter the park and do it old school. We take our time, go on things that are not busy, come back to busy stuff later.

Disney can be the most miserable place for a vacation if you do it wrong.

Just wrapped up 4 days with the family at Disney World this week. Stayed on site at the Disney Colorado Springs Resort. Parks were pretty crowed and no social distancing. Mask were not required out in the open but were strictly enforced in lines and on attractions. Disney didn’t have a problem of making people squeeze together for attractions though. Family and I had a great time but tried to avoid real tight confined areas such as the monorails and busses to be on the safe side.

As far as pinball goes, sad to say , the Colorado Springs Resort arcade only had one pinball machine which was a Guardians of the Galaxy.

I used to buy max pass every time for the added convenience so at first I wasn't concerned much. Then I read the small print about it not working for all rides and fees may be different for some rides. I immediately envisioned them charging more by tiers for the popular rides and nickel and diming me to death. Want a fast pass for Tower of Terror? Click here to be charged an additional $10.

Can't help but remind me of RL cash micro transactions ruining MMO's.

We're going to DL in October for the first time in 2 years. As Disneyland junkies and former AP holders, we're definitely concerned about the direction the new Disney leadership is taking the parks.

Thursday they updated the mask policy so that you don’t need to wear one in an outdoor line or on an outdoor ride anymore. This does make it much more enjoyable to do the outdoor rides and honestly why would they make you when they let you stand shoulder to shoulder in main street for fireworks. We don’t get near main street for fireworks, way too many people. We watch in fantasy land where the fireworks are going up all around you and not many people are there or sometimes we ride the people mover or magic carpets and watch the fireworks from the ride.
Moved over from Pop to Caribbean Beach today, disappointed to find out with the new remodel they got rid of the arcade so no pinball here. Next door at the Rivera doesn’t have an arcade either. Yacht, beach and boardwalk all have arcades and I can get to them real easy off the skyliner so one morning when my family is sleeping in I’ll head out and see who has the best pinball. Usually the deluxe resorts a have better kept games, not due to being maintained, just due to places like Pop having more than 2k rooms and most deluxes only having a few hundred, just going to be less people and kids banging on them all day.
Lines are still way down, yesterday rode half the rides in magic kingdom in about 4 hours without trying to speed through. Wait times are greatly inflated in the app and at the ride but the Touring Plans app has been spot on

The indoor mask rules are particularly absurd when you go into Oga's Cantina and they pack you like sardines shoulder to shoulder with unmasked strangers. There's no social distancing, or ride cleaning protocols, or plexiglass anymore, and of course no masks in crowded dining areas, but for some reason indoor attractions and shops require masks. I think it's just for the sake of appearing concerned about covid. In all practical sense you're probably worse off taking your mask off and putting it back on all day, touching your face constantly.

Given that both Disneyland and Disney World have seen shockingly low crowd levels lately, even with discounted tickets for locals, I have to wonder how reluctant they are to implement any further covid restrictions. Attendance at Hollywood Studios was so low today that boarding groups never sold out for Rise of the Resistance, which was unthinkable until the last week or two.

I’m curious which one of these is correct.

Rumours are that the additional fee for top tier attractions is going to be a fair bit more than $10. I’m guessing it will depend on time of year and crowd level, but I’ve seen numbers closer to $20 - $25 suggested, with rumours of even more for the very peak seasons.

IMO, Seven Dwarfs mine train at peak times will be around $50.

Kind of ironic that we needed passes to get on rides until Epcot opened…now we need passes again.

We often chat here, that it would be better to go to old ticket books, or Phone App.

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I still say Universal does it the right way. It has no effect on overall lines.

The thing I like about pay per attraction pricing is that incentives throughput. More riders, more income.

You need passes to eat in a restaurant here in New Orleans, I guess it’s in style.