I'm still holding out on cancelling my august trip. I was hoping the mess would be over by then, but that's not looking like it's going to happen.

We're going at the beginning of nov. I got our park reservations pretty easily Monday around 9am. We haven't decided if we're going to cancel or not, there is still plenty of time. This is my wives first real Disney trip and we want the full experience......especially for the cost. Park hopping is one of the best parts of a Disney trip. Sucks
D.

I cancelled my September trip months ago. It was for something very special to me, and I didn’t want to risk it being messed up. I realize that no trip works out perfectly. You plan, but then just go have fun. If it rains, you wear a poncho eating a Mickey bar while laughing. But the risks of this one were too high. I really hope I can do it next year.

We originally had a May trip planned, we moved it to September. At this time, we are still trying to go. I actually forgot to do the park reservations at the start of Monday. So I didn't even start trying to do my park reservations until about 3:30pm EST on Monday. Luckily, I was able to get all 6 of our parks picked after only waiting for 45 minutes or so.

We also have park hopper tickets at this time. I called to change them to regular tickets and they asked that I wait. They said that while they aren't doing park hopping when the park initially opens, it's possible that park hopping will be available by September. I find that hard to believe. But they said if it isn't an option, I'll get a refund, so I'm not worried.

This definitely won't be a perfect Disney trip. But we are going to try and make the best of it. Reduced park capacity could make it a great trip as far as access to rides go, so that is a plus.

Lack of park hopping sucks. We usually spend most of the vacation days eating either lunch or dinner in EPCOT (depending on which park has extra magic hours). It's slowly been getting better over the years, but there is not enough restaurants in the other three parks to accommodate that many people.

Shameless plug: Spice Road Table in EPCOT is amazing. We tried it a couple years ago and it was s smash hit with the entire family (plus its on the lake side of the sidewalk of World Showcase)

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At this point we still have a trip booked for late July, but it's transformed into more of a "burn our DVC points before they expire" sort of trip. Vero Beach (to check off the last DVC resort that we haven't visited), then a night in a treehouse villa at Saratoga Springs with a boat hop over to Raglan Road for dinner. Is it off topic to post in the Disney parks fans thread about a Disney trip that doesn't involve the parks?

Everyone planning trips really need to look at details and times.
No fireworks, parades, shows with large crowds till maybe late fall.
Most pools will close early, 7-8 pm.
Food and wine festival is currently on the bubble and most likely will not happen.
You get more bang for your buck at Disney World as opposed to Disneyland.

Disney has announced that they are starting the food and wine festival basically when Epcot reopens (with no end date given yet). I am registered for Wine and Dine half marathon weekend and have hotel and park reservations ready. If they cancel the race, I don't know if I will still go or not (main reason I want to go is for Galaxys Edge since I haven't been able to go yet).

When wdw fully opens with absolutely no restrictions whatsoever I'll go back. That includes indoor dining at all restaurants. Until then, I'm out. Just not worth it for a much lesser experience considering the very high cost of flights, hotel, food, airport parking, kennel fees for the dogs, souvenirs, tee shirts and park admission. With limited vacation time, I plan to do something else until things go back to normal.
If I lived 10 miles from Orlando and could make numerous low cost mini-trips throughout the year, my attitude would be different. But living a thousand miles away, disney is a destination vacation. As such, it has to be worth the cost and commitment. As it is now with all the stupid rules, it isnt.

People in Central Florida Appreciate the Visitors, and the Economic Help.
Right now, Disney is behind the scenes, a bit of a disaster.
I wont go into details, but family is upper HR.
Even at 10 Miles away, I havent been to Disney world in almost 12 years.
Normally, we would go when its cooler, less people, and before the clocks change in fall, up to IAPPA in
early Nov.
A 3 week period is what we have found left.

Still a great vacation for the family, but looking at today and the Summer....Yikes! a bit scary with the numbers we see,

They're not doing so well in front of the curtain either.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/media/splash-mountain-disney/index.html

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Splash Mountain is being re-imagined into the princess and the frog because of the racial undertones the current ride represents.

That’s good. Using “song of the south” has been incredibly problematic for them for years. Good move.

Disney doesn’t need this bullshit they have enough problems. Why waste time and resources defending the theme of a splash ride?

That is an understatement. I expected more of this company.

Right on.

Hall of Presidents is next. Shut it down!

While they are at it, remove all statues and mentions of Walt Disney. Change the name of all the parks, and the company itself. Didn't he own slaves too? Or was he just a racist Nazi? I can't keep up.

Does that make all the fans who like this ride racist?

I've been on it hundreds of times...I've seen people from many different nationalities ride this ride...always waiting in line with excitement and walking off the ride smiling.

Do you think people won’t enjoy the new ride? I’m sure people will still wait on line with excitement, and still walk off the ride smiling.

It’s 31 years old. Nothing wrong with a makeover. Don’t see the big deal. Your memories will be secure, like those of mr toad’s wild ride, and you may enjoy your new memories on the Frog and the prince. You should be excited! Finally something new after hundreds of rides.

You dodged my question.

Everyone who is a fan and doesn't want the ride to change, does that make all of us racist?

lol @ the thought that happy tourists getting off an amusement ride means that they condone painting slave era Antebellum as a black utopia.

Bunch of cloud yelling here.

No. It does not make you all racist.

Does it make everybody who doesn’t give a shit that they are changing the theme of a splash ride a snowflakey snowflake? Theme parks change the themes of aging rides all the time, don’t see why this obvious candidate gets an OMG!!!!

We are most likely going to be canceling our August trip. We originally had planned on 8 days at Animal Kingdom Lodge and 14 days at Caribbean Beach. We spend a lot of time at the pools and resort during the day and usually stay in the parks till they close at night. With no arcades no parades no character meet and greets no fireworks and parks closing early expect Epcot and no park hopping but still having to pay the same price I just don’t see the value. Also no extra magic hours which we always used at night. This would be the first summer in a long time we haven’t gone. Right now waiting to see what the partial refund amount is on Annual Passes. 3 of ours expire August 12th and 1 of them expires December 23rd. With the extra 5 months they are adding to Annual Passes the refund amount could be significant.

It’s the same exact reason why people lost it when Carousel of Progress was slated to be removed. It’s a beloved ride. Based on the lines for splash mountain, people haven’t gotten tired of it yet.

I’m all for more rides. Not changing rides for the sake of changing them.

IMO, the new test track is such a downgrade from the original test track. The braking area now makes no sense, the weather and paint shop make no sense, the truck makes no sense, and the doors opening at the crash test make zero sense. It’s still fun to ride, but totally missing something.

If they introduced a brand new ride with Princess and the frog, I’d be all like “I can’t wait to go on it!!!”

Pooh replacing Mr. Toad was a downgrade.

Alien Encounter was fantastic, but I get it not really belonging in Magic Kingdom. That ride is more suitable at MGM.

I’m still upset that they don’t do the Country Bear Christmas. That show was phenomenal.

Well hopefully you will enjoy the new version as much as you enjoyed the old version. Please let us know how the lines are and if people are still smiling when they get off it.

Did they ever put the alligators back on the jungle cruise? I think the removed them after that...unpleasantness...a few years back.

I agree with trekkie. Make a new Princess and the Frog ride if its popular enough. Splash Mountain is a classic. For the record, Song of the South never states the year it takes place in, and the filmmakers clarified that it's supposed to be after the Civil War. I just don't see why people are so eager to fight the Song of the South battle. It's like they want to feel like they're fighting the good fight without taking any real risk by railing against a 74 year old movie that features a very likeable African American protagonist. The movie even makes him more sympathetic than the kids' parents. People have lost their minds.

Nobody here is eager to “fight the song of the South battle” but you. It’s over and done with, the discussion is over, the “battle” is over.

Since you are still fighting the battle, will you boycott Disney parks and properties over this?

Whenever Disney re-themes a ride people lose their minds. If the ride is good it doesn’t matter what theme. When they changed twilight zone to guardian everyone bitched, but I think the ride is better than twilight zone. it is based on something from this century.

When they changed 10000 leagues to Nemo, it still sucked. There is nothing exciting about that submarine ride. I hated it before COVID and there is no way I am riding that again.

The haunted mansion is great when it is themed to the nightmare before Christmas or when it isn’t.

Splash mountain is a great ride. I saw song of the south when I was a kid and don’t really remember anything about it. Also I really hate listening to that damn song...it grates on my nerves, not as much as it’s a small world. I am looking forward to seeing that great ride get a new theme. After 25+ years I have had my fill of Zip-a-dee-doo-dah.

I’m ok with Disney re-theming a ride to something more current for the kids to enjoy. I’m just not happy about the timing or the reason. I agree that the filmmaker portrayed him in a very positive light.

The only alligator I remember being removed was the Peter Pan one in the parades.

I find it highly unlikely that with the current economic climate that this project will be fast tracked or even given a real start date.
Spaceship Earth remodel was abandoned.
But with that said:
I love the classic rides...I love Splash Mt. I still miss America Sings..the ride that was cannibalized to make Splash Mountain. I LOVED Tower of Terror...as you can probably guess by my Avatar I am a huge Twilight Zone fan. I have grown to love the GOTG ride though. Disney is about imagination through technology....Disney always has done a pretty good job of walking the line of paying tribute to the classic nature of the rides and new innovation. I know It feels like a museum devoted to your childhood nostalgia...It is not...As Walt said, it is never finished and always changing.
Bring on the new ride! I'm sure they will keep those damn Vultures for a cameo somewhere!

Here's a question: Can anyone name 1 retrofit that is better than the original?

Hall of Presidents? Original was better.
Test Track? Original was better.
Journey into Imagination? Original was better.
Mission Space? push
Star Tours? Not sure if it would count as a retrofit, if it does, retrofit was better.
Norway (now frozen)? Original was better.
Universe of Energy (then Helen)? Original was better.
People mover (rocket rods)? Original was better.
Lion King (Pillar of Magic)? Original was better
the sounds with chevy chase (sounds with drew carey)? Original was better.
Tiki Room (New management)? Original was better....thank God they brought it back.
Alien adventure (stitch)? Original was better.

2 underutilized pieces of land is the Tree house & Tom Sawyer Island. They could've added a new ride and increased capacity at the same time.

These 3 were huge mistakes.

I'm a Disneyland season pass holder so I spend more time there.
IMO better than original re themes

1.Incredicoaster
2.Monsters Incorporated was also a re theme of the ridiculous Hollywood Limo ride.

3. Frozen ride @Epcot .......(imo better)
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout ( I prefered the TZ theming but the new ride is hands down more fun)

I rode splash Mt not the for the great flume ride and final drop, but just to see southern twang critters sing. LOL

Who cares what theme the ride has? No one under 40 really knows what Song of the South even is so why not make it more modern that the millennials and little kids can relate to. Disney is a money making company. A new skin on a ride will bring buzz to the park. Frozen taking over that way outdated snoozefest known as the Maelstrom was another great idea. Making Test Track Tron-like brought people in, changing the shitty Living Seas omni-mover ride and dumb fake elevators to Nemo and Friends was another good decision. Twilight Zone to Guardians .... what younger person wants to ride an old black & white TV show ride when Marvel is at an all time high? Winnie the Pooh replacing Mr Toad is the same as song of the south. Most kids don't know that movie and Pooh was really the in thing (at least its still in Disneyland as I rode it 5 times in Feb to get my fix in). My kids had no idea who the characters were or what it was about which was kind of sad.

Journey blows ... no way anyone can argue that was a good idea unless they are completely brain dead....I mean really really veggie state.
Horizons to Mission Space is not nearly as bad, but every time I go to Epcot, that ride has no wait. It was big at first, but the overall lasting appear failed on it. I can see the logic on this one, but I'm personally not a fan.

We are AP holders for DL and our oldest daughter (17) loves Splash Mountain and is sad that it will be re-themed because of the memories. But lately our decision to ride each trip has been based on if we want to be wet or not.
Disney said this has been in the plans. Maybe so and recent events prompted them to push it up and announce it earlier than planned. Either way it has been around quite a while and it’s time.
As a technology fan I’m excited to see what they do in there. Projection? New animatronics? Spatial audio? I like when things change and get a new experience every once in a while.

Let's not forget about all the changes they've made to Pirates. It's definitely lost its teeth with all the PC tweaks.

Incredicoaster isn't an improvement in my mind. The previous ride hardly had a theme at all, but the music was better. It's very obviously a rethemed ride and even the characters in the queue videos poke fun at how lazy the attraction repurposing is.

I hope they don't go that route. Universal is pushing the screens and I am not the biggest fan of it (I don't mind a little here and there).

Now if they gutted it to match Shanghai Pirates (I would miss the old school version but damn that new one looks good ...even with the screens)

It feels like a group of employees took Incredibles dolls and super glued them around the track. I can see them wanting to add a movie theme to it but it seemed kind of "low budget" for such a fun ride
---------------------

And why they don't repair the old people mover track in Disneyland and put that ride back.... it's perfect in Florida to get off your feet for 10 min and cool off a bit and would be nice to have in California again

I love Pirates of the Caribbean...always have since my brother and I tried to build our own in our backyard at 6 years old (1977).......but I'm not opposed to slight alterations to adjust for the cultural insensetivities of the founders. I don't think it is that big of a deal. I think the Imagineers do a great job of walking that line of new and classic. Kids these days have a different sensibility than they did in past generations. My son is always amazed at how brutal 80's teen comedies are with homophobia and misogynistic/bordering on assault like behavior......and that is the good guys...

I also loved the music of the original California Screamin roller coaster ..umm before they changed it to Red Hot Chili Peppers.
But I still like the Incredicoaster...

I'm thinking along the lines of adding atmosphere. Not forefront. Or instead of projection, LED screens on a small scale of how they were used for the Mandalorian.
Have the wall behind the characters showing depth to a scene and moving slightly as you go by changing perspective and making it feel like you are really outside or in a much larger space.

Copied from cnn link i clicked.
I actually have a meeting later this week and on july 6th. Will see, tbd. But id say its not opwning on July 17th.

"Disney is putting off plans to reopen its southern California parks until state officials issue guidance on how theme parks can allow visitors back, The Walt Disney Company said on Wednesday.

The company had planned to open both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure parks on July 17. Those openings, and plans to reopen resort hotels, are delayed indefinitely.

A new reopening date would not be announced without state approval, Disney added."

A meeting? Do you work for Disney?

Earlier this week we moved our trip from September to next April for WDW. This would have been the first trip for our youngest who will now be 5 when we go. Like others have said, with reduced park hours, no character meals, no parades, it was going to be tough to see the value. I was excited for Star Wars land and the new rides, hopefully this gives enough time for all the bugs to be worked out because I was not excited for the early morning run to secure fast passes. All our meals were set, so it was sad to see the flurry of cancellations arrive a few weeks ago.

For one thing they would have to redesign large amounts of the track to meet current codes (keeping it running you don't, but since they gutted it they would have to update it to modern codes). They would need to widen the track on almost all of it for evacuation purposes, they would also have to add a lot of exit stairs down. What would be needed to bring it back is basically tear the entire thing out and redo it from scratch. I would love to have the peoplemover back (it is one of my favorite rides), but I honestly don't ever see it happening.

Yes, covid cost me lots of money this year.
Very lucky to be in entertainment union and I was furloughed till mid Jan. At least I have health insurance.

Never see people mover again. Rocket rods which came after, did a lot of damage up there to.

Wine & Dine races canceled. Ugh.

Disney said the plan is for Marathon Weekend to continue.

I just dumped all of my Disney stock. I don't see good things happening there in quite a while. Some of the threads that I've been following are painting some pretty terrible pictures for the future if things don't clear up.

All reports seem to indicate they are really struggling and having internal disagreements. Not good.

There is a lot of excess career management with nice salaries on the block next...They already thinned the park workers.
The economic impact on a city that depends on Tourism, and Tourism tax in its budget has issues.
However, its the Disney Bubble here in Orlando, so it isnt talked about.

We cancelled our Annual Passes this weekend. What a mess. They can’t tell you how much you’ll get back or if you bought from Sams Club how you’ll even get it back. The CM I talked to on the phone guessed a check but doesn’t know.
Why they wouldn’t give an option to pause Annual Passes is beyond me. We would have done that as would a lot of people I know of on the DisBoards.
They owe us a little over $2k for the passes by my calculations and they lost out on hotel accommodations from us for 23 days at Caribbean Beach and Animal Kingdom lodge as well as tons of dinner reservations and merchandise that we would have bought for ourselves and our two young girls. We are just one family so I have to believe they are hurting real bad.