The Rumor Tracking Thread

[The Pho]

View attachment 550298

Was figuring the By February was wrong since it’s only a couple days out now.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

The vloggers are starting to circulate rumors of Disney Dining Plan going away. I know there are people who feel very passionate that it's not worth the cost; and others who love it.

I feel like it was a moneymaker for Disney, but also understand why they'd ditch it after the pandemic. Wondering if they'd add something different, like that "prepaid meal card" and what discounts they'd use to entice people to return. Maybe just rely on resort discounts (which wind up being normal prices elsewhere?)

 

[skeeter31]

The vloggers are starting to circulate rumors of Disney Dining Plan going away. I know there are people who feel very passionate that it's not worth the cost; and others who love it.

I feel like it was a moneymaker for Disney, but also understand why they'd ditch it after the pandemic. Wondering if they'd add something different, like that "prepaid meal card" and what discounts they'd use to entice people to return. Maybe just rely on resort discounts (which wind up being normal prices elsewhere?)

There was (or even could still be) a job posting for a DDP exec level position on the WDW career site a week or 2 ago. I don’t think DDP is gone for good, it’ll be back when all restaurants are open. It’s just too big of a money maker for them.

 

[rteetz]

 

[samsteele]

I see many people speculating that DME was shut down so that Disney could establish a new, paid option to replace it. I disagree. It seems to me that if Disney just wanted to start charging for DME service they would just do it. No need to shut it down. Just announce that "Effective on [date} there will be a $x charge per person for transportation between the airport and your WDW resort".

Although speculation online now that Disney purposely used their cancellation clause with Mears as a tactic to tip Mears into bankruptcy, buy the inventory (buses) and then run their own airport shuttle without sharing the profit with 3rd party provider. Had been earlier rumour that Disney used it as a negotiation tactic during prolonged contract negotiations but Mears put that to bed stating they weren't notified by Disney of the cancellation until the same day Disney made it public info. Seems a bit convoluted to me, and also ruthless when dealing with a long term business partner like Mears, but very difficult times now and Disney has the power to bring the hammer any time it wants. Sure most WDW resort guests would be thrilled if Disney brought the 'free' airport shuttle back under a new name and under their complete control. And for long time WDW guests, who have used Mears shuttles privately to get to Universal and other parks from WDW property, most of us haven't had great experiences so no customer loyalty to Mears at all. In fact, most WDW resort guests had no clue Mears was even involved in the airport shuttle. It was always branded "Disney".

 

[rpb718]

Although speculation online now that Disney purposely used their cancellation clause with Mears as a tactic to tip Mears into bankruptcy, buy the inventory (buses) and then run their own airport shuttle without sharing the profit with 3rd party provider. Had been earlier rumour that Disney used it as a negotiation tactic during prolonged contract negotiations but Mears put that to bed stating they weren't notified by Disney of the cancellation until the same day Disney made it public info. Seems a bit convoluted to me, and also ruthless when dealing with a long term business partner like Mears, but very difficult times now and Disney has the power to bring the hammer any time it wants. Sure most WDW resort guests would be thrilled if Disney brought the 'free' airport shuttle back under a new name and under their complete control. And for long time WDW guests, who have used Mears shuttles privately to get to Universal and other parks from WDW property, most of us haven't had great experiences so no customer loyalty to Mears at all. In fact, most WDW resort guests had no clue Mears was even involved in the airport shuttle. It was always branded "Disney".

Speculation is fine, but on the Internet it tends to go to places beyond the pale. Imagine the optics of WDW purposely attempting to bankrupt a local business so as to pick it up on the cheap. And while DME might make up a portion of Mears' business, Mears is more than just DME.

 

[SMRT-1]

Speculation is fine, but on the Internet it tends to go to places beyond the pale. Imagine the optics of WDW purposely attempting to bankrupt a local business so as to pick it up on the cheap. And while DME might make up a portion of Mears' business, Mears is more than just DME.

Exactly. Even if we were to entertain the farfetched idea that Disney would try to intentionally bankrupt a company, Mears has taxis, towncars, limos, and shuttle vans in addition to buses, and they're in several major cities across the country and not just Orlando. So losing Magical Express would certainly not bankrupt them.

 

[BrianL]

Exactly. Even if we were to entertain the farfetched idea that Disney would try to intentionally bankrupt a company, Mears has taxis, towncars, limos, and shuttle vans in addition to buses, and they're in several major cities across the country and not just Orlando. So losing Magical Express would certainly not bankrupt them.

Yeah, I doubt they were trying to bankrupt them. Playing hardball on the contract? Yeah, that's a possibility, but that's not malicious, it's just business.

 

[The Pho]

Follow up on Muppets/ Hall of Presidents rumor

To recap what we know just to make everyone crystal clear:

The Muppets are getting attention. They’re considered under the umbrella of Walt Disney Imagineering because WDI had a puppetry division and The Muppets got rolled into that. They’re actually a great fit because puppetry is a creative endeavor. The puppeteers share a lot of common principles with Imagineers, so now they are one and the same. It works. As a side note, The Muppets (well, puppets in general) are really the ONLY property that Disney has that can be true to form in the parks. Think about it. Everything else has to be translated into a three-dimensional environment. The Muppets are already in that form. The biggest issue here is to design animatronics that can mimic hand movements.

The Muppet Show is coming to Disney+. This is a HUGE deal because the rights for the original Muppet Show are a ridiculous jumble of chaos. Music rights were never acquired for use outside of network television, guest star appearances were contingent on separate contracts. Hell, just finding the episodes in good enough quality to put in a modern day streaming service was a miracle on its own. This shows there was considerable thought and investment put into this project at the corporate level. It bodes positively for the entire brand.

Joe Biden is the new president and he is getting an animatronic of himself. This shouldn’t be news to anyone. It also is nothing new to know that they re-skin the head of the existing talking president in the show to keep the costs down. Only the speaking animatronics have major motion functions in the show. The other units are placed in the background and have much less motion. We expect that to happen every time a president changes. We expect that Trump will end up somewhere in the back. As far as I say, good: his likeness is poor at best.

I heard that they want to incorporate The Muppets into the show from multiple sources I trust. This doesn’t mean changing the show so much that it’s not “The Hall of Presidents” anymore. It means slapping a narration from someone like Kermit the Frog or Sam the Eagle on the show. Mostly in the re-done video presentation. The Muppets are cheap to film: they’re puppets. A narration has to be done anyway. This can be done cheaply. I also suspect an animatronic Muppet to be possible (and probably the cheapest form of a new animatronic), but not necessarily something that has to happen. The point here would be to make the show more fun for audiences.

Nothing Disney has announced has changed anything about this rumor. I admit I got the timing wrong and made the wrong assumption about the Twitter posts. But I don’t believe my sources were wrong entirely. There is something solid to this.

Anyway, I don’t think I left anything out that needed to be said, but hopefully that clears up any confusion. Stay positive!

 

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1354794642819190788

 

[Gamedayjeb5]

How do I delete this?

 

[osufeth24]

Is this closed

considering we can post in here, then no

 

[Gamedayjeb5]

considering we can post in here, then no

 

[Tiki Birdland]

Strange, a lot of posts between last Thursday and today are gone. But, good to see the thread is back! If only we could get Disney to change course like that!

 

[rpb718]

Let's get this going again...

Just read something about some vloggers seeing the EPCOT monorail line being tested after closing hours a couple days ago. (Super Enthused & Paging Mr. Morrow)

While not a rumor, seems indicative of a return to service at some point in the near future.

 

[unbanshee]

Let's get this going again...

Just read something about some vloggers seeing the EPCOT monorail line being tested after closing hours a couple days ago. (Super Enthused & Paging Mr. Morrow)

While not a rumor, seems indicative of a return to service at some point in the near future.

I think it was to test the monorail, not the line

 

[rpb718]

I think it was to test the monorail, not the line

True - but it's the first report I'm aware of seeing anything happen with the EPCOT monorail track since WDW reopened last July.

 

[unbanshee]

True - but it's the first report I'm aware of seeing anything happen with the EPCOT monorail track since WDW reopened last July.

Agreed. I would assume that they run all "refurbished" monorails along the EPCOT track before adding them back into the rotation - the difference this time being that vloggers had a camera pointed in the right direction at the right time

 

[JC1984]

Agreed. I would assume that they run all "refurbished" monorails along the EPCOT track before adding them back into the rotation - the difference this time being that vloggers had a camera pointed in the right direction at the right time

Systems like the monorail and really any mechanical and electrical systems require some type of preventive maintenance and checkout. They may be testing the EPCOT line just to ensure while it is being unused nothing is happening to it from environmental impacts. I don’t know if they will run it again until most the construction is mostly complete. I remember when they were building DCA and the monorail was supposed to go through the park and DGC that they really didn’t open the entire loop until most the construction was done I think for a visually appeasing aspect. Just my 2 cents.

 

[OKW Lover]

Systems like the monorail and really any mechanical and electrical systems require some type of preventive maintenance and checkout. They may be testing the EPCOT line just to ensure while it is being unused nothing is happening to it from environmental impacts.

Good comment here. Its important to test the rail line for proper blocking. Blocking is the system whereby a car is cleared into the next section of track based on when the preceding train has left that section. Its a serious safety issue for any rail system.