reddening's thread of DISNEY PARKS gossip

My sister-in-law is taking her family there very soon and they will be doing the MagicBands. I'm curious to see how that goes for them.

http://aou.com.ua/images/arts/star-orto/2/640px-sid_toy_story.jpg

"That's right! I'm talking to you… Moodles!"

Yikes!

There's a fair chance that Disney can pull this off in a non-creepy way. The Kim Possible adventure that they had at Epcot is a good example of a more interactive experience that worked really well.

i might go to disneyland sometime in the next couple of months, for a day. should i?? i grew up with disney stuff and have tons of nostalgic attachment to 50s-60s disneyana. plus i like fun.

Ned goes often!

Definitely go s1ocki

My daughter did the interactive Phineas and Ferb quest and loved it. Basically a scavenger hunt with fake cell phones.

Anybody seen the new Fantasyland in WDW yet?

My sis, who visited with her family in November, said the line for the first restaurant serving alcohol in the MK was out the door.

still waiting to plan a trip with whiney

Basically a scavenger hunt with fake cell phones.

Sounds like this is the replacement for the Kim Possible one, which worked the same way.

My sis, who visited with her family in November, said the line for the first restaurant serving alcohol in the MK was out the door.

Considering dining plan and reservations months in advance seem to rule the restaurants, I'm surprised there was a line, unless they were all impulsive last-minute hopefuls. Wonder what they charge for a beer at Disney?

any tips for tix, trix, etc??

If you visit during a slow time of year (i.e. away from holidays) you should have no trouble making same-day reservations at hotel restaurants (which are better than park restaurants anyway).

s1ocki, figure out your budget. I can't stress that enough.

You absolutely need to book meals in advance if you want a sit down meal at a park.

My favorite ride at Disneyland is the Indiana Jones one, make sure to get a fast pass for it. Fast passes are very good to get in general.

ooh, good tip.

besides park admission, what are costs i should expect?

how do fast passes work - do i buy one with my pass, or are they available to all visitors?

Anyone with a park ticket qualifies. You stick your Key to the World (lol) into the FP machine and it dispenses a slip informing you when your turn is up.

We went (as a family, for the first time) at the tail end of September into October, which I guess is the statistically slowest time of the year for WDW. Best move we made, since lack of lines made things so much more enjoyable.

You can get apps that actually do a great job planning visits. It's say, say, enter the park, head straight to X ride, but on the way grab a fast pass for Y ride. Fast Pass is free, but you can only have one at a time. You get them at the entrance to the ride, and it gives you a time to return.

Also: best tip is to avoid eating at the park, where even the most rudimentary meal can set you back $$$. There are some great restaurants scattered around, though, so maybe set aside some money for a splurge or two. Animal Kingdom Lodge has some great, surprisingly authentic eats.

Also, getting to the parks early makes a big dif. Bunch of lazy butts don't waddle in until after lunch, when things get much more crowded. And btw, you will be amazed/bummed at how many people - couples, even - you'll see in motorized scooters.

Certain popular rides provide fast passes which allow you to quickly move to the front of the line during a specified one hour window. At the ride you will see a fast pass display that shows which hour window is currently available. There is a fast pass machine with a slot where you insert your park ticket to get your fast pass. Once you get a fast pass with your ticket, you will not be allowed to get another one until a specified time, so you need to plan carefully.

The hour interval for fast passes moves forward in 5 minute increments with only a certain amount of fast passes available for each interval on any given ride. For example, there will be a certain amount of passes available for 10 - 11 am, once those are gone there will be passes available for 10:05 - 11:05.

otm on all points. Also: if it's your first visit, arrive early, like Josh said, and plan to take a midday break if you're staying on property. It really makes a difference. Use the pool, nap, have a drink, etc.

A good place to get quickish snacks, treats, and light meals at Disneyland without reservations is the new Jolly Holiday Bakery, which is located at the end of Main Street

TOWER OF TERROR IS ESSENTIAL

http://losangeles.grubstreet.com/20120508_club33_190x190.jpg

I went on Tower of Terror for the first time last April at California Adventure, and yes, it was pretty amazing. The whole attention to design on it was fantastic.

Also good to note: California Adventure has a bunch of Pixar Cars rides and attractions that recently opened.

so is Dan's favorite, the BLUE THERMONUCLEAR TINI

http://www.magicalrecipes.net/mrpages/images/fifties-prime-time-cafe/blue-glowtini.jpg.

Oh god I had the worst time on Tower of Terror. It was my own fault. TOTALLY my own fault. I hate that falling sensation more than anything. But I looked at the tower and I was like, eh it's not THAT tall and maybe this will be a good way to overcome my fear since I love the Twilight Zone and was really into the theme of the ride. WRONG. Oh god it was horrible, the way they made you fall over and over and over again...I screamed the whole time, like crying. Then I sat on a park bench afterwards catatonic like "bubububububbubu" Goldie Hawn in Overboard for like an hour. Again, totally my own fault. I should have stayed away.

but everyone else I know loves it so yes, highly recommended lol

haha that is the best recommendation ever

Expedition Everest rules.

great overboard reference haha

I just watched it the other weekend so it was fresh in my mind :)

man, VG, i feel you. I love every part of roller coasters except the first "fall." all the loops and curves are easy to me, but the fall always freaks me out!

i also love every part of tower of terror except the fall!

Thyey shoot you down faster than gravity! Why!

Animatronics will see a similar personalization, so the otherwise obtuse talking robots can specifically acknowledge the people standing in front of them.…

tbf they were doing this on the ET ride at Universal Studios 20 years ago, you'd "sign in" with your name or a comedy fake name before you got on and ET would solemnly intone "Phone home, (your name)" as you flew past him.

"Phone home, balls"

Yeah, but that's a bit different from walking past one of those jamboree bears and he hollers, "Sup, Plains! How are things back in Little Rock?"

I kinda lose my grip on reality in that place as it is...

xxpost Whiney: yeah I love rollercoasters too! the first drop always feels like imminent death and the worst mistake of my life and then: fun!

Tower of Tower fake drop is brilliant. Yeah im not a fan of falling either tho.

lol Tower of Tower

it's true that about the only way Tower of Terror could be better is if they took the entire Tower up another, larger Tower and dropped it while you drop inside the smaller tower

Inception?

xposts actually the data-mining potential for everyone carrying around trackers is enormous, they could tell if you're taking an unusually long time in the bathroom and have the toilet paper holder ask "Your name, you've been in here for awhile, are you feeling all right?"

I've mentioned this before, but:

Before the fun starts and the car drops, like every other fricking ride in the Kingdom, there's an announcement made that there's been a problem detected in the ride and that it might go haywire (or take you into the Twilight Zone.)

There's comes a point where the doors open (like an elevator) and there's a dark room with ghosts and shit and Rod Serling comes out to say something to the riders. Except, as my sister says when she first rode it, the interior fluorescent lights were turned on in that level, so you saw this utility room with wooden beams and sawdust with this pane of glass in front of the car that the ghostly apparitions were being projected on.

So my sister really believed there was a problem with the ride and then WHOOOOSH.

When I went on Expedition Everest, there was no wait, which was kind of too bad, because the winding line in is full of all sorts of fake artifacts and news clippings and every once in a while mention of a yeti. It's quite subtle, though the attention to detail was admirable. See also: the fun wait for the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain. Not that I would prefer a wait, but I kind of missed out on lingering.

I really liked Animal Kingdom. A couple of cool rides, but mostly awesome details, like the fake '50s amusement park set up on a fake parking lot. We skipped Hollywood Studios, so no Tower of Terror for us. It was the one ride our kids were too little to go on even if they wanted to, anyway.

when I go to WDW these days we spent no more than three or four hours at a park before returning to the hotel for pool/drinks. Nothing quite like doing the monorail drink-a-thon stoned.

This sounds like a good idea. We usually try to wring out every last possible minute in the parks which means that after a day or two, trudging around the park devolves into a march of death. Building breaks into the day could be a big help.

Moodles, few things depress me more than zombie parents pushing strollers full of screaming children at 6 p.m.

We were there over Halloween, which apparently is the only time of the year they allow guests to wear costumes (for obvious reasons). We had to leave at 7pm, because we didn't pay for the special ticket, but all the decorations and lighting were Halloween themed, all the villains came out in the parades, and the usual Disney cast was all dressed as gravediggers. There was spooky music and stuff, and as well left we faced an incoming tide of Batmans, Incredibles, pirates and god knows how many civilian versions of Disney characters. Which we could tell from the real Disney cast by their, um, girth.

we wouldn't hang out until all hours if we weren't genuinely excited about doing as much as we can (child included), our problem is more that our enthusiasm and ambition to ride every ride is greater than our physical capacity to do so.