News Round Up 2019

[rteetz]

News

Actor John Stamos and Wife Caitlin Celebrate First Anniversary at Disneyland Park

 

[ksromack]

We were there the day it happened and saw the helicopter waiting to take the patient away as we arrived at TL. As expected, CMs were just saying that the ride was closed at the moment. Still not 100% sure what happened although the injury report did seem to indicate it was not an amputation.

The ride has not reopened since the accident happened on Dec 8, 2018. Typhoon Lagoon is currently closed for it's annual refurbishment. It's anticipated that Miss Adventure Falls will reopen after the refurbishment but we won't really know for sure until then.

I am also a super scaredy cat but made it through 3 nights last year, if that helps It was a really fun event, more fun than I anticipated!

It appears we have to choose between a Wednesday HHN OR free nighttime event at Typhoon Lagoon. Which would you choose? Obviously FREE is appealing but I've heard so much about HHN (NOT free).

 

[soniam]

It appears we have to choose between a Wednesday HHN OR free nighttime event at Typhoon Lagoon. Which would you choose? Obviously FREE is appealing but I've heard so much about HHN (NOT free).

I've never been to Typhoon Lagoon. Been to Volcano Bay a few times though. HHN is awesome! Did it for the first time last year, and I'm going again this year. I can easily see it becoming a yearly ritual for me, even though I live in Texas. If you like horror at all, you will love it. I don't even get scared, but it's just unlike anything you can normally experience. Many other people were getting scared though.

 

[samsteele]

Any word on new mugs and drinks for WDW Trader Sams' Grog Grotto? I know DL has incredible new offerings. Maybe this summer or fall in time for the influx of guests for Galaxy Edge? I was there last Fall and there were 2 new mug colours/editions for existing drinks. But seems WDW is left in the dust as an afterthought. More likely, an uncomplaining cash cow. Maybe a more vocal online presence is needed for Grog Grotto. Just saying.

 

[Katrina Y]

That would be great if I actually found a discount! I'm planning for worst case scenarios, but I appreciate your post as it's a more positive outlook.

Start watching at the turn of the new year for discounts in May.

 

[ksromack]

I had an email today from Universal Parks wanting us to take a small survey about our 2018 Annual pass. At the very end of the survey they asked us to rate what sort of Harry Potter fan we were.....then the next question asked the same regarding what level of Star Wars fan we were. The final question asked if we were more of a HP fan or a SW fan. Do you suppose they are trying to get a feel for how the addition of SWGE is going to affect their park attendance?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I had an email today from Universal Parks wanting us to take a small survey about our 2018 Annual pass. At the very end of the survey they asked us to rate what sort of Harry Potter fan we were.....then the next question asked the same regarding what level of Star Wars fan we were. The final question asked if we were more of a HP fan or a SW fan. Do you suppose they are trying to get a feel for how the addition of SWGE is going to affect their park attendance?

That’s interesting and I guess just gathering intel and trying to see that they have some idea how the Potter fandom comes at what level to park guests and seeing if overlaps with Star Wars fandom too

Maybe seeing how to play up/market once Galaxy’s Edge opens? Like do they market Universal (with Potter) as alternative or something you should do in addition to coming to see Galaxy’s Edge

 

[rteetz]

News

The Muppets are coming to Disney+ from Josh Gad and Once Upon a Time Creators

https://www.slashfilm.com/new-muppets-series-on-disney/

 

[TheMaxRebo]

New Minnie Mouse Popcorn bucket released at Disneyland

@TheDIS: New Minnie Mouse Popcorn Bucket was released tonight! @DisneylandToday https://twitter.com/TheDIS/status/1093741532400635904/photo/1

 

[TheFloatingBear]

That’s interesting and I guess just gathering I tell and trying to see that they have some idea how the Potter fandom comes NeverAds to park guests and seeing if overlapnwith Star Wars fandom too

Maybe seeing how to play up/market once Galaxy’s Edge opens? Like do they market Universal (with Potter) as alternative or something you should do in addition to coming to see Galaxy’s Edge

It is interesting. Count us as fans that overlap! We did a WDW/Universal combo for the first time last year (we had been waiting for the kids to be a little older). We loved Universal, but did feel the time crunch on the WDW side. We usually travel in April and I've already been thinking about what we'll do for our next trip. Do we skip Universal because of the time and/or money it might take to do SWGE, or do we do a couple of days at the end at Universal for a more relaxing, low-key (less planned, less crowded) end to things? Or will it not be relaxing at all because Universal will be crazy with overflow, lol! Things to ponder...

 

[JaxDad]

It is interesting. Count us as fans that overlap! We did a WDW/Universal combo for the first time last year (we had been waiting for the kids to be a little older). We loved Universal, but did feel the time crunch on the WDW side. We usually travel in April and I've already been thinking about what we'll do for our next trip. Do we skip Universal because of the time and/or money it might take to do SWGE, or do we do a couple of days at the end at Universal for a more relaxing, low-key (less planned, less crowded) end to things? Or will it not be relaxing at all because Universal will be crazy with overflow, lol! Things to ponder...

It's funny to think of adding Universal days to relax after a Disney vacation, but you're certainly not the first person to express that on these boards.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It is interesting. Count us as fans that overlap! We did a WDW/Universal combo for the first time last year (we had been waiting for the kids to be a little older). We loved Universal, but did feel the time crunch on the WDW side. We usually travel in April and I've already been thinking about what we'll do for our next trip. Do we skip Universal because of the time and/or money it might take to do SWGE, or do we do a couple of days at the end at Universal for a more relaxing, low-key (less planned, less crowded) end to things? Or will it not be relaxing at all because Universal will be crazy with overflow, lol! Things to ponder...

Our last trip was mostly disney but for the first time my wife took my oldest daughter over for one day to universal for the Harry Potter stuff (I just couldn’t justify the cost for the rest of us when my youngest two are too short to ride most things there)

But next year we might change tactic and do Universal and then see if they have a hard ticket event for Galaxy’s Edge and just do that at Disney

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It's funny to think of adding Universal days to relax after a Disney vacation, but you're certainly not the first person to express that on these boards.

My wife took my daughter to Universal to see the Harry Potter stuff and found it the opposite - that it was just ride, ride, ride and now “down” or “slow” attractions and that by like 3pm they were burnt out

But guess how you do each

 

[JaxDad]

My wife took my daughter to Universal to see the Harry Potter stuff and found it the opposite - that it was just ride, ride, ride and now “down” or “slow” attractions and that by like 3pm they were burnt out

But guess how you do each

You said they took one day to go over to Universal. If someone took one day to go over to Magic Kingdom from their Universal resort, I'm pretty sure they would also be burnt out. I think the PP (and definitely I) was talking about leaving Disney altogether and spending a night or two at Universal at the end of a trip.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

My wife took my daughter to Universal to see the Harry Potter stuff and found it the opposite - that it was just ride, ride, ride and now “down” or “slow” attractions and that by like 3pm they were burnt out

But guess how you do each

To be fair your family was only there for a day, so yeah it probably was rush rush.

It's usually not like that if you stay for more than a day.

 

[hertamaniac]

That’s interesting and I guess just gathering intel and trying to see that they have some idea how the Potter fandom comes at what level to park guests and seeing if overlaps with Star Wars fandom too

Maybe seeing how to play up/market once Galaxy’s Edge opens? Like do they market Universal (with Potter) as alternative or something you should do in addition to coming to see Galaxy’s Edge

I was thinking that maybe they are gauging if a space based fiction movie series might warrant a Star Trek based land.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

To be fair your family was only there for a day, so yeah it probably was rush rush.

It's usually not like that if you stay for more than a day.

Usually we go for at least two days and we're kinda board by about halfway through the 2nd day

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The final question asked if we were more of a HP fan or a SW fan. Do you suppose they are trying to get a feel for how the addition of SWGE is going to affect their park attendance?

Of course!!

My kids liked HP books and found the HP section of Universal Hollywood cute. But they have no interest in cutting a single WDW day to go to universal for HP or anything else. Even though we’ve been to WDW so many times. We’re ALL OVER Star Wars stuff, though.

I’m sure there’s some fandom overlap, though, and wouldn’t be at all surprised if Universal sees a small uptick of people coming for SWGE and taking a day or two to visit HP.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

It's funny to think of adding Universal days to relax after a Disney vacation, but you're certainly not the first person to express that on these boards.

Ha! Yes, maybe the beach instead? But you know what I mean - if you stay onsite, more compact so you can take breaks more easily, Express Pass is no fuss and clear cut if you choose to do it - makes things easy. I could just wander around drinking butterbeer and casting spells and be happy!

Our last trip was mostly disney but for the first time my wife took my oldest daughter over for one day to universal for the Harry Potter stuff (I just couldn’t justify the cost for the rest of us when my youngest two are too short to ride most things there)

But next year we might change tactic and do Universal and then see if they have a hard ticket event for Galaxy’s Edge and just do that at Disney

My wife took my daughter to Universal to see the Harry Potter stuff and found it the opposite - that it was just ride, ride, ride and now “down” or “slow” attractions and that by like 3pm they were burnt out

But guess how you do each

I hadn't thought of that strategy, I'll have to keep that in mind! Yes, doing one day at Universal can be pricey. We did a split stay with WDW so we could take advantage of both Express Pass and just the general compact nature of things there - it was great but it did increase the cost of our trip overall. Like I said, we waited a bit since one of our kids was a "late bloomer" with respect to roller coasters - I figured if his love for HP would still be there, but if he couldn't handle Expedition Everest, he wouldn't be able to handle a lot of the rides at Universal! Definitely a lot of rides, but we just loved wandering around the HP areas, so if I think about it, maybe that was our "down" time. My kids are tweens/teens, so my DH and I could sit on a bench in Diagon Alley them we got tired and watch them walk around casting spells, so that was quite relaxing!

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Of course!!

My kids liked HP books and found the HP section of Universal Hollywood cute. But they have no interest in cutting a single WDW day to go to universal for HP or anything else. Even though we’ve been to WDW so many times. We’re ALL OVER Star Wars stuff, though.

I’m sure there’s some fandom overlap, though, and wouldn’t be at all surprised if Universal sees a small uptick of people coming for SWGE and taking a day or two to visit HP.

Both my kids loved Universal and especially the HP section, however it did not overtake WDW for them overall. Always collecting data for our next trip, I asked them after that trip if that's what they would want to do next time - split time between WDW and Universal. Both said no, they enjoyed it but it took too much time away from the WDW part and that they definitely want to go back, but not the next trip, but maybe the trip after that! And that was before they were aware of the new SWGE stuff!