News Round Up 2020

[rteetz]

 

[rteetz]

Universal and Nintendo did amazing work here

 

[kylenne]

I hate how EPCOT has become basically a giant, themed bar with a few rides up in the front. I hate walking around World Showcase at night having to wade through people with drinks. Now, people are drinking there more and more during the day. I sat outside at Regal Eagle at LUNCH a few weeks ago with my kids, waiting for my husband to bring our food. I watched a young lady try to juggle three beers filled to the brim to her friend waiting at a table, spilling them all the while. I will admit, I'm not a drinker, but I don't mind folks having a drink. What I see there more and more, though, is people going with the intention to get drunk. Even my 7 year old pointed out a group with matching "Drunk #1, 2, 3" shirts! I saw another Dad with his family wearing an Incredibles shirt that said "Incredibly Drunk." Sorry - I'm on my soapbox, but if you can't take your kids to a theme park for a few days without being hammered, you might have a problem. I'd be for opening Pleasure Island back up and leave the alcohol in the parks to the table service restaurants again, but I know I'm in the minority.

I love Flower and Garden - I remember topiaries WERE EPCOT before Flower and Garden was a thing, but Food and Wine turning into year round booze and overpriced samples I am not a fan of.

I mean, I like to partake of adult beverages as a Childless Millennial(tm) and have done a little day drinking a time or two at the World (I love Nomad Lounge too much), but I can't take people who think alcohol is a substitute for a personality and I see more and more of them turning up at the festivals. The tacky "lol I love to drink!" shirts are the worst...I love Etsy but I hate it at the same time, you know? I also don't understand who has the money to get drunk like that with Disney drink prices and the average pours from those booths, but that's just me.

I love Flower & Garden too, it's my favorite of the festivals...it's like the park puts on its Sunday best, it's never more beautiful with the extra flowers and topiaries. I'm glad it's running so late next year, since we missed out this year having lost our trip to the closures.

 

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1340099530814083073

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I also don't understand who has the money to get drunk like that with Disney drink prices and the average pours from those booths, but that's just me.

I always say I don't have enough money to get really drunk at Disney

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So I was just checking my e-mail and ran across this from AMC:



I had just renewed my stubs membership on March 9th before everything had gotten real. Checking my account my Stubs Premiere membership expires now April 30th, 2022. The titles at the end...well I sure hope at least some of those will be in theaters!

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I can easily see them just phasing them out over time and have everyone exclusively use their own phone if the bands aren't selling .. way cheaper to let the customers bring their own device to use .. especially when probably a huge percentage (if not all) of guests have smart phones

I would think that SOME people would still want them as collectibles/souvenirs though --(I am a sucker for them .. when I saw I could get a Baby Yoda one for only $15 for our January trip I ordered it immediately for my son. I was planning on not getting any since we have four premium magic bands that were shipped but we never got to use for June 2020). (You can probably picture my wife's eye roll when I told her I bought the kids more magic bands ).

I think the bands will lose their "magic" when not everyone is using and when you don't get them "for free" as part of your resort stay. Less and less people will get them and use them . .and then less and less people will "want" them.

I think people will still buy them. People buy them now even though they receive complimentary ones. They keep cranking out more designs and they sure keep selling.

Using cards is a nightmare with multiple young kids - keeping track of the cards, digging them out, etc. Using a phone is complicated because lots of kids are too young for phones and don’t have their own, so I’d have to pull up my ticket and my kids tickets or FP on my phone one by one? That would sure be slow and tedious and hold up the lines.

I love that my kids can wear their bands and know exactly what to do. It’s so efficient. I don’t need to do anything for them to get into the park or use a FP. I love that is also identification in case one of them wanders off - they know to go to a CM with a tag and that their band could help a CM identify them.

When we get back to the villa and I’ve got tired kids, a stroller, bags, etc. - being able to just use my wrist to open the door instead of digging out my phone or card is so helpful.

Anyway, if complimentary magic bands do not return, we would definitely pay for them, likely new ones for every trip. I’d pay for them even if they raised the prices. That’s how great I think they are

 

[rteetz]

I always say I don't have enough money to get really drunk at Disney

One would think but sometimes it’s not that hard...

 

[Mit88]

So I was just checking my e-mail and ran across this from AMC:

View attachment 544721

I had just renewed my stubs membership on March 9th before everything had gotten real. Checking my account my Stubs Premiere membership expires now April 30th, 2022. The titles at the end...well I sure hope at least some of those will be in theaters!

Lol no mention of a single WB movie. Tom and Jerry, Mortal Kombat, and even possibly the Justice League (releases in March and Snyder said they might also put it in theaters) will all be out in the Spring. There’s already talk of the major theater chains significantly cutting the prices of tickets for WB movies they screen to ensure WB gets even less money from these movies. Most of theater revenue comes from concession anyway so it wouldn’t be an enormous hit to the theaters

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Lol no mention of a single WB movie. Tom and Jerry, Mortal Kombat, and even possibly the Justice League (releases in March and Snyder said they might also put it in theaters) will all be out in the Spring. There’s already talk of the major theater chains significantly cutting the prices of tickets for WB movies they screen to ensure WB gets even less money from these movies. Most of theater revenue comes from concession anyway so it wouldn’t be an enormous hit to the theaters

Yes it's quite possible it was a strategic omission of movies from Warner Bros. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Mit88]

One would think but sometimes it’s not that hard...

Alcohol off property is cheap. If you’re staying on property and can either walk, or take Disney transportation to the parks, it’s pretty cheap to have a buzz in the parks. Usually I stay at BCV the day(s) I go to Epcot/DHS so we’ll have a couple drinks in the room, or at SAB and then walk over. I’ve never been Alex Morgan drunk at Epcot, but I have enough of a buzz that doesn’t force me to buy many beverages while inside the park. I’m typically only a fan of the options in China, Japan Germany, and Norway anyway.

 

[Mit88]

Yes it's quite possible it was a strategic omission of movies from Warner Bros. It wouldn't surprise me.

Absolutely it was strategic. WB is stuck on an island with only their HBOMax subscribers. Almost the entire film industry is against them. Their production partners, Legendary, are taking them to court. The SAG, DAG, and WGA are potentially going to boycott the studio. This could potentially be their last stand as a functioning movie studio if they don’t right this ship

 

[rteetz]

Alcohol off property is cheap. If you’re staying on property and can either walk, or take Disney transportation to the parks, it’s pretty cheap to have a buzz in the parks. Usually I stay at BCV the day(s) I go to Epcot/DHS so we’ll have a couple drinks in the room, or at SAB and then walk over. I’ve never been Alex Morgan drunk at Epcot, but I have enough of a buzz that doesn’t force me to buy many beverages while inside the park. I’m typically only a fan of the options in China, Japan Germany, and Norway anyway.

I’d certainly be lying if I said I have never been drunk at Disney... it’s not cheap but it’s also not as bad as some make it out to be.

 

[Mit88]

I’d certainly be lying if I said I have never been drunk at Disney... it’s not cheap but it’s also not as bad as some make it out to be.

I think the Kung Fu Punch is a 12 or 16 oz drink for $6 (could be $8). And maybe I’ve been lucky but I’ve always gotten very strong pours. There’s also a strategy to drinking at Epcot. Yes, there’s a wider range of beers at the booths. But you can also go to one of the bars in the country’s and get a 16 oz beer for almost the same price as a 10 oz at their booth right outside.

Also, if you’re drinking all day, it’s going to cost a lot of money. That’s not exclusive to Disney.

 

[Tiki Birdland]

I’d certainly be lying if I said I have never been drunk at Disney... it’s not cheap but it’s also not as bad as some make it out to be.

As Moderator, I'm disappointed to hear that, Ryan.

 

[osufeth24]

I'm both too poor and too old to get drunk at Disney (I can't physically drink that much anymore)

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I think people will still buy them. People buy them now even though they receive complimentary ones. They keep cranking out more designs and they sure keep selling.

Using cards is a nightmare with multiple young kids - keeping track of the cards, digging them out, etc. Using a phone is complicated because lots of kids are too young for phones and don’t have their own, so I’d have to pull up my ticket and my kids tickets or FP on my phone one by one? That would sure be slow and tedious and hold up the lines.

I love that my kids can wear their bands and know exactly what to do. It’s so efficient. I don’t need to do anything for them to get into the park or use a FP. I love that is also identification in case one of them wanders off - they know to go to a CM with a tag and that their band could help a CM identify them.

When we get back to the villa and I’ve got tired kids, a stroller, bags, etc. - being able to just use my wrist to open the door instead of digging out my phone or card is so helpful.

Anyway, if complimentary magic bands do not return, we would definitely pay for them, likely new ones for every trip. I’d pay for them even if they raised the prices. That’s how great I think they are

We love magic bands, especially the fun ones (Limited Edition ones that make fun sounds). So we will defintiely continue to buy them. They are fun to get for a trip, even if we are staying off property, it just makes it a more unique trip and, to me, they are a better souvenir than a $35 t-shirt or whatever

I can see not given them away for free - I know people that travel a lot and literally have like 200 of them so clearly don't *need* more free/plain ones

I also think we see more including them with special packages and maybe theme them around resorts. Book a special "animals lovers" trip at AKL and your package includes special AK related Magic Bands that can only be gotten via this package, things like that.

Make them more "special"

 

[TheMaxRebo]

One would think but sometimes it’s not that hard...

just need to build up your tolerance I guess

 

[nkosiek]

We love magic bands, especially the fun ones (Limited Edition ones that make fun sounds). So we will defintiely continue to buy them. They are fun to get for a trip, even if we are staying off property, it just makes it a more unique trip and, to me, they are a better souvenir than a $35 t-shirt or whatever

I can see not given them away for free - I know people that travel a lot and literally have like 200 of them so clearly don't *need* more free/plain ones

I also think we see more including them with special packages and maybe theme them around resorts. Book a special "animals lovers" trip at AKL and your package includes special AK related Magic Bands that can only be gotten via this package, things like that.

Make them more "special"

The only thing about them is that they die. I have bands dating back to January 2014, but most of them died within 18 months. Heck, had a faulty battery on the one that it didn't work for 2 trips in 12 months. I agree they shouldn't be shipping out multiple ones per person when they have split stays, and they often made it very difficult/complicated figuring out how to reject them. So long they have something free for me to use like the KTTW, I'm okay. Now, charge me $5 upgrade to the colors and I'll be paying it, but I don't see us paying more than that for what we use as a key and ticket media.

 

[skeeter31]

The only thing about them is that they die. I have bands dating back to January 2014, but most of them died within 18 months. Heck, had a faulty battery on the one that it didn't work for 2 trips in 12 months. I agree they shouldn't be shipping out multiple ones per person when they have split stays, and they often made it very difficult/complicated figuring out how to reject them. So long they have something free for me to use like the KTTW, I'm okay. Now, charge me $5 upgrade to the colors and I'll be paying it, but I don't see us paying more than that for what we use as a key and ticket media.

They actually should never die. They aren’t powered by a battery. They’re run off of passive electric. The only portion of a second generation magicband that will die (after about 2 years) is the long range aspect (being able to have rides pick up your band and add PhotoPass pictures to your MDE). More than likely the band not working was more a Disney IT issue. Happens to us all the time, specifically at the resorts. The infrastructure at the resort for MagicBands is different than at the parks, they use a different server system. There are many times we either can’t get the gate to work at the front of a resort, or can’t get the room to open and have to keep trying (getting the frustrating rapid blinking green light over and over again without the satisfying click of the door unlocking). The touch points at resorts have to go through your entire MDE inventory in a short period to find that specific band, and the more bands and cards you have associated with your account the longer it can take sometimes. But the parks don’t usually have that issue. We’ve spent numerous times at the front desk at resorts with our bands in the back office trying to get resynched to the system.

But moral of the story is, the battery for most operations of the band will never die, as they aren’t actually powered by a battery.