Tag Archives: Walt Disney World

Go Disney! FastPass+ Reminders via Snail Mail

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FastPass+ Mailer EnvelopeWell, I’ve got to hand it to the folks at Disney.  They are doing absolutely everything imaginable to make sure people are well-informed about MyMagic+, My Disney Experience, and most importantly today, FastPass+.  One week shy of the date we’ll be able to begin making our FastPass+ selections, we received a reminder in the mail….snail mail.  Not a postcard, not a letter, but a snazzy little booklet delivered in (continuing the Incredibles theme) a Dash-adorned envelope.

We’ve already received the box with the booklet, magnet, and flash-drive – all those components working together to thoroughly explain every aspect of Disney’s new park-touring system.  The magnet was for posting important date reminders – 60 days out, we can make FastPass+ selections and begin online check-in.  The magnet even (nope, not kidding) gives the date of our first vacation day with a reminder to “Start your incredible vacation!”  We FastPass+ Reminder by Mailwatched the video on the flash-drive tell us how to use the My Disney Experience site and what to expect with Magic Bands.  We followed the directions for downloading the mobile app and combined all members of our travel party.

This latest redundant and costly mailing perplexes me.  I don’t understand why we couldn’t just be reminded via email like we are when we sail with Disney Cruise Line.  I’ve been hearing over and over about the expense of the entire MyMagic+/Magic Band program – this snail mail seems like overkill.  Expensive overkill.  If I’m not capable of receiving and reading email reminders, it’s highly doubtful I’ll be able to navigate aspects of the new system well since it’s very dependent on my ability to use technology successfully.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the effort, but honestly, I’m starting to wonder if the Disney Company has doubts about the average American’s ability to use a computer, a smart phone, or the internet.  They seem overly concerned that we might not be able to remind ourselves of important pre-vacation planning dates on our calendars.  Are so many guests arriving FastPass+ Reminder Bookletunprepared and uninformed?  Are the numbers of guests that could have (should have) booked FastPass+ in advance of their arrival, but did not do so, in such unanticipated volume that there really are large numbers of needlessly unhappy visitors?  This worries me quite a bit.  I’m still hearing reports from the parks of very long lines at the FP+ kiosks – are those all off-site visitors or are there people in those lines who should have made those FP+ selections in advance?  That would certainly explain the reminder overkill.

What do you think?  If you’ve recently visited Walt Disney World, did you make your FP+ choices in advance (the way Disney wants you to)?  Or did you find yourself in standby lines because you didn’t know how the system was supposed to work?  If you’re planning a trip this year, do you know about the important scheduling dates for your vacation?  Do you want/need continuously mailed reminders to keep you on your toes?  Am I being too critical?  I believe I’d rather see the money spent on new rides and attractions instead of on printing and mailing fancy booklets to tell me information I completely understood the first time.

 

Voices of Disney – Remembering Paul Frees

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IMG_5260Along with millions of other Disney vacationers, I am crazy about the Haunted Mansion.  While I’ve only had the opportunity to visit the one at Walt Disney World, I feel certain that all the Disney Haunted Mansions are equally as wonderful.  I’ve written a Haunted Mansion Halloween Homage and a bit about bringing some Haunted Mansion home.  Today I want to revisit my love for the home of 999 happy haunts – specifically, I want to talk about a very important character, without whom our Haunted Mansion experience would be greatly diminished:  The Ghost Host voiced by Paul Frees.

The voice of the Ghost Host is unique and forceful – absolutely perfect for a dark and scary Doom Buggy ride through the spooky rooms, hallways, attic and graveyard of the house at the end of the lane in Liberty Square.  It doesn’t matter if he’s telling me that HE will lower the safety bar, explaining a pause in the ride, or warning me that a ghost may follow me home – the ride needs a host and I can’t imagine any other voice being as perfect.

Turns out, Paul Frees (born in 1920) voiced a great number of our favorite characters from movies, cartoons, DWR2009 079and stop-motion specials over more than four decades until his death in 1986.  Now, maybe you knew all about Mr. Frees other works, but I did not and am so surprised and thrilled to find out my beloved Ghost Host was also the voice of these characters (and many more)…

“Dead men tell no tales” – the voice in Pirates of the Caribbean that echoes this phrase over and over – Paul Frees!  He also did other voices in this ride.

Ludwig Von Drake in Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1957 – 1986)…Do you remember him?

Boris Badenov in Rocky and His Friends (1959-1961) and The Bullwinkle Show (1961)  While Rocky and Bullwinkle were, technically before my time – I grew up on the reruns and LOVED Boris and Natasha!!!  Can you believe it?

Santa Clause in the much loved Frosty the Snowman (1969) – wouldn’t be Christmas without this special cartoon, would it?  FYI – he was also in the 1976 Christmas hits Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (as Santa Clause, Eon, and General Ticker) and Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (as Jack Frost).

Ignatz Mouse in Krazy Kat (1963) – If you’ve not seen this very different cat and mouse cartoon series, you really need to check out some samples on YouTube.

Burgermeister Meisterburger – Seriously, it’s TRUE!  Paul Frees is the village villain in Santa Clause is Coming to Town! (1970)

Okay, last one.  Paul Frees was the voice of Crusty in The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)…if you missed out on this cinematic comedy classic starring Don Knotts as the title character, well you need to get your hands on the DVD!

So, how many of Paul Frees’ voices did you already know about?

 

 

 

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean – A Must-do Ride!

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IMG_0816When family and friends ask about must-do rides and attractions at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, I’m always tempted to direct them right to the mountains:  Space, Splash, and Big Thunder.  I think “thrills” first and foremost – everything else second.  Wrong way to go.  I should be steering newbies to the best, most quintessential, iconic attractions first.  The most Disney-ish rides of all.  While I have (surprise!) several favorites in that category, today I’m just going to focus on one…Pirates of the Caribbean.  Why?  Multi-generational appeal, superior theming, top-notch effects, and old school Disney style.

The queue for Pirates does a great job setting the mood – you descend into underground caverns.  Stone walls, arched doorways, cannons, cannonballs, barrels of gunpowder – all set just the right tone for what happens once you board your boat.

“Dead men tell no tales” – the haunting voice repeats the words over and over as the ride IMG_0819begins.  You set off on your journey by sailing through several scenes with a multitude of very spectacular effects to take in – if you get to ride twice, pick a different side of the boat each time – there’s so much to see.

Purists may be bothered by the modernization of Pirates, but the 2006 refurbishment kicked the ride up a notch with fantastic new things to see and hear!  The addition of Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa (and other Pirates of the Caribbean movie tie-ins) at several points during the ride added more excitement – especially for first-time visitors who have seen the movies.  Those partial to the theme song from the movies will love that it’s now in the ride.  And, guests still get to visit Port Royale and see all of the original and beloved animatronics that make this ride a classic!

Pirates is cool and dark – If you’ve been outside in Florida’s scorching summer sun, this ride is a perfect way to cool off!  There are no major twists and turns and only a little bit of up and down (one big-ish drop) as your boat sails leisurely through the pirate-infested waters.  Before FastPass+, Pirates rarely had a long wait – it’s my understanding that things may be different at this time.  I would still recommend you spend your valuable FastPass+ choices on other rides, but it may be worth trying to fit Pirates in early – at the very least, keep an eye on the wait times via your My Disney Experience smartphone app and catch the ride when the lines are shorter – otherwise be prepared to wait 30 minutes or more.

IMG_1220The gift shop at the ride’s exit is one of the best in the parks.  The unique and plentiful merchandise is as fun as the ride!  Even if we don’t make a purchase, we love to take a few minutes to look at all the pirate gear.  Parents of little boys may want to keep this particular shop in mind when planning souvenir shopping.

If you’re really lucky, you may even run into the real live Jack Sparrow outside the ride entrance!

What’s your favorite part of Pirates of the Caribbean?  Is it a must-do ride for you?  

 

 

What-If Wednesday – Changing Disney’s Hollywood Studios

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IMG_0906Ladies and Gentlemen!  It’s time for…….What-If Wednesday!  The game show where we use our imagination to bring about Disney change.  Contestants from Twitter and Facebook go head to head and compete to invent the most popular (pretend) changes.  Get ready to let your imagination run wild!  And as Drew Carey would say, this is “the show where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter.”  Let’s GO!

This week’s episode – Changing Disney’s Hollywood Studios!

Okay, now that you’ve got the idea –  Here’s how this really works.  A couple of weeks ago I posed the question – If you had Superpowers, but only at Walt Disney World, what would they be?  That question was SO much fun and the answers so imaginative, I decided to give it another go.  This week’s question was:  If you had the power to change THREE things at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, what would they be?

Here is what participants had to say:

Get busy on adding Star Wars Land (Bill Maguire @wfmaguire, Mrs. Mouseward Bound IMG_3531@MousewardBound, Jordan Duncan @JordanGhastly, Stephanie via Facebook ).  See, the worst thing about Star Warsland is that Disney spoke of it.  Teased us – led us on, if you will.  Now we want them to fork over the goods!  Will the expense of MyMagic+ be the demise of what would have been a very needed, very popular addition for the Studios?

Update The Great Movie Ride! (Bill Maguire @wfmaguire, Mrs. Mouseward Bound @MousewardBound ).  I’m old enough that I still get a kick out of The Great Movie Ride as is, but you young whippersnappers probably find it a bit out of date.  There are SO many great movies, it would be very cool indeed to see this ride revamped from time to time to include a few newer, yet no less important, classics.

Make it less of a “Half-Day Park” (Waltdisneyworldwords @WDWords) by adding more rides!  I IMG_3081couldn’t agree more with this suggestion.  While we can make it a full day park, it can sometimes be a challenge.  Perhaps that’s been because after you’ve hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Tower of Terror, and Rock’n’ Roller Coaster – everything else seems a bit tame.  My theory is FastPass+ will actually help this – you’ll get more opportunity to spread the big three out over the course of a day and add things like Star Tours, Muppets, Indiana Jones, and the Great Movie Ride in between.  Anybody else think so?

Add a Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster (Bill Maguire @wfmaguire ).  Ah, Bill.  If only.  Think about how innovative and exciting this would be!  Totally different from anything already at Walt Disney World but a perfect (and much-needed) addition for Pixar Place.  The effects they could use for this would make it an e-ticket ride for sure.

Close Backlot Tour (BRGUEST @Florida407wdw) (Forever?)  – Backlot Tour IS currently non-operational.  Maybe that’s a good sign.  If the nice Disney people have no intention of restoring this attraction to some semblance of its former enjoyable-ness, they need to raze it all and put something fabulous in its place.  I adored the original Backlot Tour, but it had become a mere shadow of what it once was and for me, too depressing to contemplate riding (good thing it’s closed then, huh.)

Revise Muppets (BRGUEST @Florida407wdw) – Now that the Muppets have returned to the big screen in a big way, it is time to revamp the Muppet Vision 3D movie experience and throw a little cash and TLC over that way in the Studios.  Much of what’s there is fantastic – it just needs modernized so the younger fans feel like “their” Muppets (Walter!) are well represented.

IMG_3026Build a Hollywood Tower of Terror Resort (Jackie Psarianos @JackiePsarianos) – Jackie!  This would be sensational.  Think of the possibilities!  Restored to it’s 1930’s glory, the Hollywood Tower Hotel would be one of (if not THE) most sought-after resort properties at Walt Disney World.  Just imagine – The dining, the gardens, the pools, the rooms!  Yeah…sigh…good idea.

Destroy the American Idol Experience (Mrs. Mouseward Bound @MousewardBound).  Yes.  ‘Nuff said.  (How about a big round of applause!)

Add a Super Hero section (Stephanie via Facebook) – this idea was seconded by Anna (Facebook) who is ready to see Marvel at Disney World (hey – I gave everyone the power to make changes, that power would certainly overcome any legal obstacles involved, right?).  When you think about all the incredible things Disney Imagineers could come up with involving the Marvel franchise, it boggles the mind!  Sadly, Disneyland (and non-US Disney properties) will be the recipient of anything Marvel-ous for the foreseeable future.

Add an Indiana Jones ride (Jordan Duncan @JordanGhastly).  I would love this.  Indiana Jones was one of those movies that just got to me when I first saw it and made me a fan for life.  There is an Indie ride at Disneyland – I’m sure something like that in the Studios would be an immediate crowd favorite!

Lose Aerosmith on Rock’n’ Roller Coaster and replace them with a better band (Jordan Duncan @JordanGhastly) – WHAT?!  I challenged Jordan on this since I’m a huge Aerosmith fan, but I couldn’t help liking his Beetles and Rolling Stones ideas!  Joseph (on Facebook and member of The Fam) suggested making RnRC longer, which would give music lovers a chance to enjoy more tunes as well.

Add more rides for younger kids like a Disney Jr. area with a giant Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to play in! (Stephanie via Facebook) – Not having little ones anymore myself, I don’t have a good perspective about what’s lacking at the Studios for the curtain-climber set.  I can see that if the Studios had more attractions for the under-8 folks, it could probably go head to head with Magic Kingdom for IMG_3046popularity.

Toy Story Midway Mania drew some suggestions of its own:  The first change would be to how they do FP for this attraction. (Waltdisneyworldwords @WDWords) – I checked and this suggestion had to do with changing the ratio between standby and FastPass guests so the standby line would move a bit better (or at all!)  and second change would be to improve the stand-by line experience for Toy Story Midway Mania – Joseph suggested this one – he is his mother’s son after all.

Wow!  That was FUN!  Thanks for playing, everyone!  What were your favorite ideas?

Any suggestions for next week’s What-if Wednesday?