[tinkerbell]

I first put this on the tail end of my TR ..but it didnt really belong there .. SeattleRedBear thanks for the topic idea :)

opinions, thoughts, and observations

Ok please ya'll jump in with comments, remarks or what ever.
first we all know AK is the most humid of the parks, and a breeze can be a hard thing to come by. . In some area's mostly like Camp Mickey Minnie, there are these large fans, there are not many of them ..but they do at least provide a breeze. I know there also use to be these same fans that were in the regular line (now its standby line) for Splash Mt. I remember those fans because I remembered how finally getting near one was like having the golden spot for a while when you were in a 2 hour line for Splash mt. (yes Virginia there once were 2 hour lines at WDW) While we were waiting at the Handicapped entrance for Splash, I asked the CM at the rope, what ever happen to those fans and she said she didnt know and wondered that her self. So why can't the powers that be install more of these fans? And does anyone else remember those fans at Splash Mt? Does anyone else remember when the line for Dumbo had no shade? but remember the long wait we had in the handicapped line to get on the safari ride? .. the only breeze we got was when a CM crossed between us. I joked and asked her could she walk by more often. It really seemed that this would be a great place for one of those fans. the area is surrounded by vegetation, there needs to be some way to get air. My heart went out to those others in w/c and on EVC's and their families too, because it was just miserable.
Another thing "Ask a CM" ... I love CM's please dont think I am speaking bad about them.. but you never get the same answer from a CM and honestly ..they dont always know sometimes as much as you do. Back a few years ago WSC and Futureworld opened at the same time. But I had a CM tell me that this was never true . Well at Epcot I got three different answers about the AT&T area. ( I really believe it was a special room for AT&T personal ) when I asked about that area and what it was for. (we had seen some kind of party with balloons going on up there when we were there in June) Out of the three I asked only one said that it had been for AT&T use, one denied that there was an area there at all. Another CM, told me I was wrong, this was at POR. For several years we had not seen the Mickey Straws.. I remember when the girls would get the children's meals these straws came with the meals. The do not any more ..but at POR food court you can buy them for .49 cents. I commented on them being free in the past with the kids menus and was told I was wrong ...funny, I have about 40 of them from past trips. She said "only the short ones" nope .. not only the short ones.
Another thing that bothers me just a little. I do not mind paying adult prices for the girls meals ..and they want the adult meals...but they miss the kid things too, like the placemats you can color. The only meal they still get the kids stuff is Garden Grill. I have tried every time to explain, yes they are over 12 but they would like the crayons and the placemats they can color. Maybe its just that our granddaughters are different .. maybe most kids their age would be insulted if given crayons and the placemat. but confessions from someone that has never grown up .. I even want the crayons and placemat!!!!!
And another observation, at Pop Century resort, they offered-- sugar, sweet & low, and equal. Well I use Equal, my DH perfers sweet and low. But I also always pack my own when going to WDW, which is a good thing because at POR (and CBR) ..only sugar and Sweet and Low are offered by the coffee/tea area.
Also, why does the food court and store stay open later at Pop Century and not POR? Bottom line it seems that the moderates have less in some area's then the value resort.

Now a few other things I left out but wanted to put in my trip report.
one day at MK while in line for Timon, the CM told us that we would have to wait a couple of minutes while, timon went and got rafiki .. just a few minutes. Some behind us got upset ..but he promised he would try to be entertaining while we waited. so he told us that some of the classical characters are slowly being brought back out and that just a couple of days before Thumper was out!! He said even CM's were lined up with cameras to take pictures of Thumper.
another time .. while eating in The Land, we had a CM who was cleaning spend about 30 minutes standing right next to DH talking. She told us that All of the Land was about to be totally changed, and everything there would be gone. Kinda sad .. I think that the area in the food court is so beautiful like it is. I am not saying anything bad about this CM .. I swear, but the more she stood there talking .. the hungerer (sp? ) I got .. I mean I couldnt talk to her and eat .. She had a ton of info, which I dont know how much was fact or rumor, one thing that she said was there were plenty of jobs at WDW and you could just pick and choose from any. DH commented after she finally went back to cleaning, "if that is true wonder why she picked cleaning up in a food court".

Oh and one more about Charley and they way they pre-pared for his arrival at POR. All the trash cans and things like that were removed, which makes so much sense. But I remember when going down to the van for some snack items, over hearing one man tell another he was going to try and move his car because one of the campers had some lawn chairs just sitting on top and he was worried they would fly off and hit his car. Now at this point with the parking lots being packed with campers and RV's aside from all the other cars, I dont know where he thought he was going to move it to. But Disney seemed to be right on top of it when it came to making sure that anything that could become a missile was removed or tied down.


and I think this is the last thing... if you read where I said watching the monitor while waiting on show for Timon and Pumba in the Land .. the fact that the same water we drink today was drank by dinosaurs .. this simple fact just makes me laugh when I think about it ..because after that every sip of water any of us took .. well I couldnt help thinking ..it went through a dinosaur first.

[Dana]

Yes, it's true. You can get various answers from Cm to CM...lol I have it happen. I'm not complaining either, just agreeing. I am sitting here at my PC drinking a very large glass of water....that passed through a dino first...lol

[noahsark45331]

So much for bottled water being better! LOL! ;)

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by noahsark45331

So much for bottled water being better! LOL! ;)

yeah whats the point ..its all been used before !!

[JM0318]

Tink I agree with you too... Disney does a good job with Charley coming... and the CM's they all have a different point of view on the parks... I hope that is just a rumor about the land though...ºoºJudy

[noahsark45331]

I like the Land. I love the food court area. We love the Garden Grill to eat at and the boat ride is a nice relaxing way to let your meal settle before going back to the rest of the park. I hope they don't change anymore of it.

[GrumpyDad]

Another vote for the Land. While it could use a good sprucing up, it really is a favorite place for dinner at least once a trip. And as much as my 14 yo DD moans and groans about the "boat ride", it is indeed a very relaxing way to let your lunch settle.

My DD loves when a CM will elaborate on a question. She always listens politely, but has been known to then look the CM in the eye and state, "Yes, but did you know......". I thought I had a lot of arcane Disney trivia, this kid has me beat hands down!.

-harry

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by GrumpyDad

Another vote for the Land. While it could use a good sprucing up, it really is a favorite place for dinner at least once a trip. And as much as my 14 yo DD moans and groans about the "boat ride", it is indeed a very relaxing way to let your lunch settle.

My DD loves when a CM will elaborate on a question. She always listens politely, but has been known to then look the CM in the eye and state, "Yes, but did you know......". I thought I had a lot of arcane Disney trivia, this kid has me beat hands down!.

-harry

lol your DD sounds like my DGD's ...they do not mind one bit telling CM's what they know.

[noahsark45331]

My DS is the Trivia King...for everything! I call him Cliff Claven sometimes(the postman from Cheers). He has a t-shirt that says something like, just another resource of pointless information. He keeps car trips interesting by asking questions that you think noone in the world would know the answer to. I keep telling him I am going to get him on a youth Jepordy game to pay for college! He would probably have a few CMs wondering if he was a plant to test them on their knowledge of their workplace.

[inluvwithdisney]

OK Tink I have a first hand fresh experience with this!!!

I called Disney today to ask about Ariel being in a different location while her grotto is closed!! The CM had NO idea what or where Ariel's Grotto was!! I know they do not always work in the parks or know everything but she had know clue what it was at all!!!!! It blew me away that I had to explain to her what it was!!! She was literally no help at all!!!!!!!!!! She was very nice and did give me the # to the WDW switch board which in turn did prove to be helpful so I guess that redeemed her!!!

[joseph3947]

Just a comment on CSR food court. CSR food court is not owned by Disney. From that one might concur that other things on Disney property are not owned by Disney and that might explain why things are different from resort to resort. Another example is everyone knows, I hope, that the Swan and Dolphin are not Disney hotels. Joe

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by joseph3947

Just a comment on CSR food court. CSR food court is not owned by Disney. From that one might concur that other things on Disney property are not owned by Disney and that might explain why things are different from resort to resort. Another example is everyone knows, I hope, that the Swan and Dolphin are not Disney hotels. Joe

Oh now I did not know the CRS food court was not owned by Disney, thats interesting. I did know that the Swan and Dolphin are not owned by Disney.


inluvwithdisney
that does not surprise me at all. I have talked to long time CM's (over 5 years atleast ) that will give you the wrong info.. Like in June at Chef Mickey's when they said they couldnt send the pictures to the resort, I knew they could and they from Donalds Breakfast later in the week. But the one at Chef Mickey's was insistant that it couldnt be done.

[hiner]

Tinkerbell, if you haven't already...you need to read Allearsnet's, I think 8/24/04 newsletter. You sound like the person that wrote the lead article. You two must be related in a past life or something.

It's a shame how much has changed over the years. As many have said before, Walt would be sooo disappointed in the way things have come. But then again, quite excited too. Unfortunately, when some things change...it can be for the worse and some for the better. You would think with all the money being spent on your trip, there would be some extra freebies, other than the package wishes.

My DH will be so heartbroken over The Land, if it is true. He is dying to go back just for the Ice Cream Social:)

[mmouse67l]

My dear Thumper would freak out if the real Thumper ever showed up in the park. Thanks for the glimmer of hope Tink!

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by hiner

Tinkerbell, if you haven't already...you need to read Allearsnet's, I think 8/24/04 newsletter. You sound like the person that wrote the lead article. You two must be related in a past life or something.

It's a shame how much has changed over the years. As many have said before, Walt would be sooo disappointed in the way things have come. But then again, quite excited too. Unfortunately, when some things change...it can be for the worse and some for the better. You would think with all the money being spent on your trip, there would be some extra freebies, other than the package wishes.

My DH will be so heartbroken over The Land, if it is true. He is dying to go back just for the Ice Cream Social:)

I went to all ears searching for that newsletter but didnt have any luck ..if you still have it I would love to read it!!

mmouse67l what I thought was cute was that CM's were excited that a classic character like Thumper would be out! I can just see your DW standing in line for her turn with Thumper :)