Well the weather was as predicted, and will be today, most likely.
Still posting from my phone so not much desire for introspection or observation.
They do have a new security protocol at the parks. No bag check unless you trigger the metal detector, then you empty your pockets. Everyone passes through the detector. The detectors are state of the art. Open top. Two pillars. Indication by lights on the pillars where the detection is. And they are twice the width of regular detectors.
Much quicker, and the whole process is more friendly, for lack of a better word. Lots of security officers in the park too.
Today is Animal Kingdom and the avatar attraction, then hop to somewhere else TBD.
Interesting to see the changes, and watch the people.
Keep improving your position, and keep stacking.
Nick
And we-re off.
N
Everybody brings their Roku boxes for the kids on vacation to Florida. I don't think the issue is the WiFI as much as the hotel wired infrastructure being insufficient.
Even Disney failed to anticipate everyone wanting 10-15 Mbps of banwidth for multiple hours every night.
My son used to like "Must See Disney" with B-grade horror movie actress Stacey Aswad.
If you haven't seen "The Haunted Mansion" in 10 years or so, go look. As part of the last refurb, Florida got upgraded OpenGL "Hitchhiking Ghosts" who are now animated on screens behind the mirror — old school *and* new school.
To quote the Cory Doctorow book, "The Mansion is perfect" … but I do like the recent upgrades in Florida.
There are rumors that Florida will get a Muppets overlay for the Haunted Mansion. Ok, as long as it is *temporary* and seasonal.
BTW, the parks’ Halloween events in Florida are heavy cosplay, and Disney doesn’t care about drag queens as long as they are tasteful and aren’t violating Mouse IP. If you’re exiting the Magic Kingdom at closing, just be aware.
I even saw “Cruellas” waiting to enter the last time we were in the parks with kids in the Fall, but, of course, that was the point of those flicks.
Looks like Stacy Aswad was replaced on the closed circuit Disney resort channel.
https://wdwnt.com/2021/07/stacy-aswad-host-of-must-do-disney-shares-farewell-message-to-fans/
Same scripts, cheaper talent.
CEO Bob Cheapek.
Coming to an Amtrak near you, courtesy of plugsy McSpongeBrain:
‘Outrageous’ moment armed French cops board Eurostar, arrest Brit for wearing ‘wrong type of mask’ & haul him off train
I guess the CDC will soon issue a law about face masks since every Federal agency can apparently make laws these days.
Ol' "Scranton Joe" made a point of riding Amtrak home to Delaware every Friday when he was in the Senate. He frequently had the trains held so the admins are probably on his speed dial.
Amtrak actually works in some places.
Cancel Culture as motivational tool. My take is that the Raiders want to fire Gruden for being an overrated coach, but he has a 10 year contract. That email never would have surfaced otherwise.
It wasn't a great mystery why he was fired in Tampa. Gruden is not the guy you bring in to build from scratch and/or on a limited budget.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/can-the-nfl-raiders-discipline-jon-gruden-for-his-2011-email/ar-AAPjmhD
To be fair, Gruden is not a racist, at least not in this case. The sports reporters know that he likes to say that liars have rubber lips, but most of the people covering the NFL lean left.
And let that be a lesson to you young’n’s about Teams and Outlook. Both of my recent jobs switched to Teams from Slack and Zoom because Microsoft’s cloud archiving capabilities make firing people much easier.
And, for the record, the best that the last job could come with after two weeks of digging through my Teams and Outlook archives was one sentence where I told management that the HR droid investigating my F-bombs was "a non-person to me".
Cancel/Woke culture is the worst. I think in the end, the subscribers to this nonsense will lose everything.
Meatspace:
I went to the local astronomy club meeting last night. It was nice, at the local planetarium. Mostly graybeards like myself, and even though it was officer election night nobody actually *wanted* to be a club officer, which is a good sign 🙂
@Greg, there are signs about the Muppet Halloween Mansion. Looks seasonal.
I almost brought a Roku, but wife said the spawn could just watch Disney channel…. But they appear to have dropped the Disney channels from the in house cable.
Nice day at AK. Used to be a super hot park, but now almost every lane is well shaded, with cool breezes from the woods.
HS is crazy hot. No shade.
I used to think I was a creative and imaginative guy. NOPE. Holy cow that Avatar world is cool. The attraction is mind blowing, and the physical world is stunning. I can't even imagine how cool it must be at night….
Capacity limits and reservations mean the parks are not crowded. Wait times vary, but we were doing single rider on Everest with less than10 minute waits.
FastPass is gone but it will return as Lightning Lane. There were a small number of people using it. Beta testers or VIPs.
They finally dropped all the play acting about poachers from the Safari. They talk a lot more about conservation, esp. Disney's efforts.
Nice day so far.
N
The Mouse will have to develop new trees for Hollywood Studios now that the layout has settled. There was some talk about tearing up the area around what used to be Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, but Cheapek decided to bring the show back.
All but the largest trees in the parks can be pulled and replaced at night, but new trees take time to grow to the right height/width.
Epcot is going to be the next brutally hot park for a while. Wait until you see the demolition there.
The Lightning Lane will involve an upcharge, unlike FastPass.
Also, you will be limited to one Lightning Lane reservation at a time … unless you pay even more.
Some fan sites are speculating $300/day to do the equivalent of what used to be possible with careful use of FastPass by experienced park fans.
If Disney gets away with the $6000/night “Star Wars” hotel, the sky is the limit with Cheapek. He went from running the parks to CEO.
I'm anxiously awaiting your post trip detailed break down…
Everst is one of the rides I don't mind a longer line. It feels like it moves quickly, and the queue line theming is fantastic. I'm looking forward to seeing Pandora. We are doing Animal Kingdom as our first park on one day. We will schedule a breakfast reservation at Tuser house before the park opens, then be inside the park for rope drop. Head straight to the safari with no line, then ride Everest with almost no line. Pandora adds a wrinkle, but we are going to schedule that.
We just purchased our park tickets for June (already have Boardwalk DVC booked) and made our park reservations. We are waiting for genie+ to go live to start planning rides. We also can make use of the Disability Access Service now. Quite a few moving pieces…
Kind of cool: a historical organization discovered that our little town’s church has one of the few surviving carillons in Europe. The original carillons had exactly four bells. Our oldest bell dates from 1489. Outside of Switzerland, many church bells were melted down during WWI and WWII.
Anyway, the historical organization restored it to full playability, and everyone who wanted got to play a bit. A bit sad: the oldest bell is cracked, because some idiot hunter shot it, probably in the 1960's. They will try to replace it with a newer-but-still-historic bell, and the original can become a display piece.
Yeah, I've already reached my limit, but I'm willing to do one more trip before the boy goes off to college. I think that will be it for Disney. I would be willing to do a trip with future grandkid(s), but that is (hopefully) not any time soon.
I promised to limit my lawsuit updates, but there's news today.
SJW's, FedGov agents, or Covid Karens (some overlap) got our GoFundMe canceled.
Other avenues are being explored. Eventually, the website will be updated. This news is still fresh.
Home – Guardians of Medical Choice
Everest will be down for a refurb for 4-5 months starting in January according to friends who hold APs — a long time, but still not enough to fix the Yeti animatronic.
If you are going in June and planning on empty parks at rope drop, you may be disappointed. In addition to the Lightning Lane, The Mouse is changing Extra Magic hours such that resort guests will have early time in *every* park rather than the current rotation of an hour or two early in a different park each morning.
Rides will be full at rope drop every day. Mo’ money for Mickey.
Yeah, I knew about that. Lots of changes since we last went – 5 years! – but we have the advantage of knowing exactly what we want to do. We are also able to adjust plans on the fly. It will definitely be an adventure.
"Why Shortages Are Permanent: Global Supply Shortages Make Fantastic Financial Sense"
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/why-shortages-are-permanent-global-supply-shortages-make-fantastic-financial-sense
Actually, I have been wondering about this for a while. Shortages are great times to raise prices. Both for the supplier and the retailer. I paid $23.85 for a 24 pack of Charmin Blue the other night at HEB, almost a dollar a roll.
BTW, Home Depot has a huge stash of Charmin Blue. I did not check the pricing but, it does not matter. Either you want it or you don’t.
I just wish all of the hoarders would stop buying the stuff I want so I can hoard it myself.
At this point, the supply chain has adjusted and the retailers are making up for last year.
Not that there ever was a real shortage of toilet paper in the US.
If you want something to worry about, realize that a very real possibility exists that mops are going to soon stop moving in a lot of hospitals because of the vaccine mandates for healthcare providers taking Medicare. THAT will be a problem.
TP shortage. The US doesn’t even use recycled fiber in the product like other parts of the world.
TP shortage. The US doesn’t even use recycled fiber in the product like other parts of the world.
You know, picking the wood chips out of your toilet paper before usage can be a learning experience. Don't ask me how I know this.
And I believe that there are people waiting for toilet paper to hit $5/roll so they can “flush” their stashes from their garages.
Medical error is a major killer in the US, possibly as high as the #3 cause. And everyone knows to stay out of hospitals unless you're ready to die. So, what, cutting nurses and cleaners is going to make hospitals even more a place to go to die?
Facebook is evil:
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/10/jessica_berg_wilsons_death_shouldnt_have_happened.html
I like the current situation as it is like the old days in the parks..
All the parks currently have 1/2 hours early open for guests. Lots of people don't take advantage, we rarely do but…
We did yesterday for Rise, and today for Flight.
Today at AK, we did Flight, the Pandora's dark ride, safari, then Everest ( several times, like 4 in a row), walked into Bugs Life. Half our party went home and then d2, w1 and I did Everest again ( single rider), and went back thru Pandora on the way out just to explore the land.
The queue for Everest is amazing as a climber. So much real gear! And you don't see any of it in the single rider line.
Came home and ate then crashed for a couple hours. Headed to MK for fireworks.
One additional current wrinkle, you have to make a reservation for which park you are starting in, and can't park hop until after 2pm. Like the airlines, miss the first park of the day and your ticket won't work to hop later.
Dinner time!
N
"Duplex: A Micropowers Novel" by Orson Scott Card
https://www.amazon.com/Duplex-Micropowers-Orson-Scott-Card/dp/1799903176/br?tag=ttgnet-20 />
Book number two of a two book young adult paranormal fantasy series. I read the well printed and well bound hardback published by Blackstone Publishing in 2021.
Ryan's dad and mom are split up so his dad converted their home into a duplex to earn more money. His dad rented the open side to a family from Slovenia with a teenage daughter, Bojana Horvat, also known as Bizzy.
Ryan has a micropower and Bizzy has a micropower. Together, they use their powers to save each other and to save others.
Please note that Orson Scott Card has a website at
http://www.hatrack.com/
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (142 reviews)
Yeah, Joe Rhode theming extraordinaire on Everest. He and Disney had some kind of falling out after 40 years, and Rhode works for Virgin Galactic now.
Something similar happened with Wally Crump in the 70s, the last time The Mouse went cheap, and, post-Disney, Crump helped re-theme Busch Gardens Tampa into "The Dark Continent" as well as assisting in the theming of the long-departed Circus World at what is now the Davenport exit from I-4. The Belk and Best Buy sit roughly where the park was centered.
October is a good time to be in the parks if you don’t like to wait. Plus, as of late, Pixar and Disney seem to want to forget that "A Bug's Life" exists. I'm not hip to the thinking there beyond Dave Foley seems to have fallen off the Earth along with a lot of comedy talent of his generation.
"Claim: Green Loans and Solar Panels Could Save Households Money"
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/10/07/claim-green-loans-and-solar-panels-could-save-households-money/
You know, some guys got together about a decade ago and claimed that Obamacare was going to save me a lot of money. Since I buy health insurance for 14 to 15 people, I thought this was a neat idea. Since then, my health insurance costs have more than doubled and our coverage and deductibles suck compared to then.
So, pardon my skepticism that these same people are going to drop the cost of energy in the USA and save me lots of money. And of course this articlew is about crazy Australians but we have the same crazies trying to run the USA into the groud here too.
Twitter says that there was a massive walk-out at the Jacksonville Center Air Traffic Control, and that 600+ flights in Florida have been cancelled.
I don't watch college football, but I'm making chili tonight and have the tv on in the kitchen.
Halftime: Texas A&M 24, Alabam 10
We who have come before you, and taken the low stick, the bouncing grounder, the thrown hip, the crushing cradle, and all the other assaults on our privates, hereby stand and salute you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbydAT_9VPA&t=40s
H/T to Ace.mu.nu
Why, you would think someone's job is on the line.
Why, you would think someone's job is on the line.
Nah, Nick Saban has a 10 year guaranteed contract at $9.3 million/year.
As a fan of cricket I can only repeat a wonderful South Indian expression: Aiyooo!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u-0zy1fuurM
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
WWWWWHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPP ! ! ! ! !
My Aggies beat the heck out of Alabama, 41 to 38.
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
WWWWWHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPP ! ! ! ! !
My Aggies beat the heck out of Alabama, 41 to 38.
And Johnny Manziel (Johnny Football) was on the TAMU sideline for the entire game.
The new dress and video projection on the castle for the night time fireworks show is amazing. Hundreds if not thousands of artists at the peak of their talent did an incredible show. I have a complaint or two, but only afterwards. Just wow!
N
Jimbo.
But I think he was safe once Urban Meyer's "Dirty Dancing" video hit the Interwebz.
As you pointed out, no one else is available on that level.
The new dress and video projection on the castle for the night time fireworks show is amazing. Hundreds if not thousands of artists at the peak of their talent did an incredible show. I have a complaint or two, but only afterwards. Just wow!
N
We went to the Disneyworld fireworks show about 24 ? 25? years ago. It was a wonderful show and a great topper for a trip.
I am glad that you and the family got to go ! Especially in October when the crows are down a little.