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Thanks,
Tom Bricker
Hi Tom — I’ve been avidly reading your newsletters and searching for any hint on your opinion on when we might see Annual Passes return… Any updates on that? I would love to hear your thoughts on if or when we will ever get it back. I am kicking myself for not renewing during COVID as it seems I will never get one again.
Hi Tom! What do you think the first week of May will be like crowd wise? We have plans to come but it looks like it’s gonna be a hot one so hoping crowds will be lower than spring g break (March 11-22). I know you don’t have a crystal ball but you go a lot so hoping you can give me some insight. 🙂
Hi Tom, Is there any word yet about DDP?
Jim
Scotland
Thank you for your post examining the Reedy Creek dissolution. It was interesting and informative, including new information I’ve not seen in/on national media outlets (and some, of course, that I had).
Hi Tom:
Yesterday, the 22nd, I responded to the Reedy Creek post.
I haven’t seen it yet, and am wondering if it wasn’t posted after you reviewed it?
I just stated that I though disney should have to pay what other parks/businesses have to pay, and do what is needed just as other parks have to do.
I said it all started when there was nothing else in the area and I’m sure the legislatures wanted to give Walt Disney help to get established.
I just stated that it would be fair to all if they recinded the Reedy Creek decision.
I was wondering, Tom, why you wouldn’t post that? There are many other posts that are pretty harsh and are getting into political areas.
Please let me know exactly what it is that you didn’t want posted. I thought it was a good argument about the problem from someone who doesn’t live in Florida. BTW, many other people I’ve talked to feel the same. Why should disney continue to get this major perk, when others don’t?
Your comment is there, and it has several replies from other readers. It’s just a couple of pages back now.
I believe that the ending of WDW’s self-governing status needs to be addressed. You don’t have to delve into the controversy, merely the fact that it IS ending, and what impact, if any, visitors could expect in the immediate future ti even further down the line. The Law of Unintended Consequences could very much come into play here. Additional costs? New taxes for visitors? Municipal services no longer exclusive but shared? Additional hoops for expansions? No biggie? This would likely be in line with your Covid posts with comments closed. But people do want to know what this will likely mean, especially for their future bottom line, as if it’s not bad enough already.
Have you heard anything regarding the return of cast member pin trading? We miss the “old days” of walking up to a cast member wearing a lanyard of pins and trading with them.
Good Morning,
I want to start by saying we have been Disney lovers for many years! My husband came to the park as a young boy with his family when the park first opened, and we even had our honeymoon at the Polynesian Hotel. We made the trip annually from Pennsylvania to Florida for vacations centered around Disney World. Our family with our four grown children eventually moved to Florida and we became passholders. We have taken our 9 grandchildren there often, to many times to count. We just went two weekends in a row, to take different grandchildren. Last weekend, for a short time we had one wander away and then was found quickly by the calm cast members who handled it beautifully. But, both weekends I was surprised at what I observed.
This past weekend, I was truly disappointed in DW. It started with the parking attendant being rude, just in my husband questioning about the handicap parking, not sure if we were in the right space. We were informed rudely that this was the overflow handicap parking and if we wanted to go to the other one we can drive around for hours to find an empty spot. Well ok then. Cast members in general weren’t happy. You had to smile and make eye contact to even get a half smile out of them. The only ones that smiled were the performers in the parades. We always marveled at how clean DW was with all the people that traveled through the grounds, not so much this past visit. Bathrooms were not kept up, trash cans weren’t emptied. Even simple things that may need a simple coat of paint have been neglected. Food quality has never been great, but the one meal that you could always enjoy, that was affordable, was the chicken, green beans, and potatoes in Magic Kingdom. That was changed a while ago to hotdogs, hamburgers, etc. I believe the only people that seemed happy to be there was the young policeman with his dog that greeted us as we walked past him, that even said “have a great day”. It saddens me to think, was this what Walt had in mind back in the 70s? I know its all about stock holders and the bottom line. But, DW has now become just another theme park. Not the place that as soon as you step on DW grounds you felt the excitement of being there, and the happiness and the joy from the cast members, and for that day you were special. You could leave all your troubles behind and marvel at this wonderful place. You daughters and granddaughters were always greeted “hello princess”. I think I may have heard that once to our 5 year old granddaughter, in both weekends we were there.
Times have changed, but I never thought the model of the happiest place on earth would change for the worse.
On the ride home, we talked about if we really want to renew our Disney passes. Then I thought, if we have always been Disney loving people and we are seriously contemplating it, what would the average passholder or even the once in a while Disney World guest think? I am glad that I have the memories of what it use to be like. Sadly, those days are gone. I believe its time to invest in our family enjoyment elsewhere.
Do you have a prefered off site for ev rentals
Has there been any word regarding the reopening of the Bippity Boppity Boutique at Magic Kingdom in Disneyworld? Our trip is booked for August 2022.
My sister wants to visit all the Disney Parks. We are Disney World Passholders (live in FL). She has been to Paris. Since this year is her 60th birthday, all three of her siblings are taking her on a trip to Disneyland. From what you are saying, since this is a once in a lifetime trip, it looks like we should visit both parks (my brothers are Avenger fans). What would be the benefit to getting a hopper pass?
Also, we are only there for 3 days (2 days are travel). With 2 days at the parks, what would be the BEST to do on the 3rd day? Whale watching (we don’t get that in FL)? The Temecula Wine Tour (we have plenty of those in FL, but not with wine caves!)? We are food enthusiasts, so I thought a food tour, but I don’t see one available in Anaheim. I know this may be out of your “specialty”, but I thought another opinion couldn’t hurt.
I am trying to read through all your info, but I am getting a late start, and we need to book ASAP for the July trip.
Thank you for our feedback.
Sadly my happy place I will no longer be taking my 10=7=4 yearly grandsons to. We will be going other attractions in the area after living here for 50 years. We will find new Christmas traditions and camping places as well. They don’t need to be exposed to all this nonsense. I can’t believe all these companies are afraid of the minority of people in this country. You all can go to China or wherever you are trying to make the USA. So very sad for the grand kids to grow up in this and this type of society they are trying to build. Look how hard the people in Europe are fighting to be free and we are making ourselves less free. What is happening. Very scary times.
We are concerned with booking dining reservations for our trip end of July/first week of August 2022. I’ve noticed recently that when going online and looking at dining reservations for the next 60 days, there just aren’t as many options. Most of the normal restaurants that we have dined at in previous years, are not available. I thought that most restaurants were back to full capacity, maybe that’s not the case. In any event, any advice for booking dining reservations for our vacation? We have a family of 7 going and have never had problems getting into any restaurant. Thank you!
What does the future look like for Cinderella’s castle for November 19-26? Should I make our reservations in May?
Thank you for never getting into politics on your site. I recently quit Walt Disney World News Today, and before that, Inside the Magic, because they couldn’t just cover theme park news, they had to get into Disney’s political side.