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The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Post author By touringplans.com
Post date January 23, 2021

This week’s SATURDAY SIX takes a look at recent theme park news via memes! 2021 is just three weeks old, but boy has a lot happened during that time. Thankfully, the heroes and heroines of DisTwitter are making sure we get all the news we need to know along with a dash of lighthearted fun.

# 6 – Disneyland Cancels Annual Passes

One thing that many theme park fans thought *should* happen, but never thought actually *would* happen is the Disneyland Resort doing something about their annual passholders. Unlike Walt Disney World in Florida – which has a much smaller amount of APs compared to regular day guests – Disneyland has a lot of APs because of the sheer amount of people that live within driving distance to the parks. That fact, along with Disneyland being the one park Walt himself walked in, helped Disneyland sell a ton of annual passes, despite having some huge price increases over the past few years.

With no clear end point for the coronavirus in sight, Disney needed to do something to prepare for when their California parks finally reopen, presumably with a limited capacity. When Walt Disney World instituted a park reservation system, it drew the ire of many annual passholders. Disneyland is surely going to implement a park reservation system to help handle capacity as well, and they would have a lot more angry APs if they didn’t rip the band-aid off now. To the shock of just about everyone, on January 14th Disney released the following statement:

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

DisTwitter created their own statements.

Others brought back popular meme formats to use with this story, such as the “how it started/how it will end” meme comparing the Disneyland AP to another relic from a long ago era.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Sometimes you have to look at the bright side though. Yes, your annual pass is gone, but the good news is that you’ll soon* have that pre-paid money back in your bank account. (*Soon being a relative term as it took months for many WDW APs to get their money refunded when Disney allowed guests to cancel that option in 2020.)

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

And if Disneyland doesn’t reopen to theme park guests, well we can still repurpose it into something useful..

# 5 – Joe Rohde Retires

Earlier this month Joe Rohde officially retired from Walt Disney Imagineering after 40 years with the company. With a resume that includes being the lead designer for the Animal Kingdom theme park, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the Aulani Resort in Hawaii, Joe is possibly the most well known Imagineer to the today’s casual theme park guest. For hardcore theme park fans, Rohde would be in the mix to be on the Mount Rushmore of Imagineering, along with names such Rolly Crump, Mary Blair, Marc Davis, Tony Baxter, Harriet Burns, and X Atencio.

In recent years, Rohde has been tasked with what could be considered impossible projects, and instead made them immediate fan favorite hits. When Pandora: the World of Avatar was announced for the Animal Kingdom, some scoffed at the idea at adding such an IP-driven land into a park based around conservation. However, from the moment Pandora opened, it was a huge hit with guests, with Flight of Passage becoming one of the most popular rides in theme park history. Meanwhile, after Disney bought the rights to Marvel, it was tasked to Rohde to shoehorn a comic book IP onto the Hollywood Tower of Terror attraction in Disney’s California Adventure. Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! took everyone by surprise by delivering a ride experience that was much more fun than its predecessor along with having great appeal to theme park, comic book, and movie fans with all the cameos, references, and Easter Eggs throughout the queue.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

On the day of Rohde’s retirement, some of DisTwitter went down the rabbit hole after discovering the Pokemon character Klefki bares more than a passing resemblance to Joe’s iconic earrings.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

# 4 – TRON Lightcycle Run Closes Portal

Readers of this fine blog series are used to delays in Disney construction projects. Hearing that the TRON coaster in Disney’s Magic Kingdom won’t open in 2021 wasn’t a huge surprise to most, but it was weird to see an opening in the large show building completely sealed off. Blog Mickey got the photo below which shows the track for the TRON coaster that appears to be going straight into a wall (which, granted, would probably still be more fun than riding Primeval Whirl again). Before it was sealed off, this area had a large opening and was a “portal” that guests will go through when entering the show building.

DisTwitter had a lot of fun with this one…

# 3 – The Absolutely Incredible Story of Another Caballero Dying at Gran Fiesta Tour (Seriously, This. Actually. Happened.)

You would think the Theme Park Turkey Award Winning story of Jose Carioca going down at Gran Fiesta Tour in EPCOT would be the last time we’d hear about that attraction for a while. NAY NAY. In the first week of January, Donald Duck was physically propped up due to some issues the audioanimatronic was having.

DisTwitter created a meme showing Roger Rabbit holding Donald in place. Normally, that would be the end of the story…however we’re not even close to that.

The next day, Donald Duck was removed from the attraction and what looked to be a memorial was put in its place.

DisTwitter had a lot of fun with this one, including using the “ghost” of Donald Duck as we saw in the Disney Sing Along Song Series: Disneyland Fun.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Eventually, even the memorial was removed. We don’t know what’s going to happen to Gran Fiesta Tour next, but we can’t wait to see it….

# 2 – Tragical Express

While those in California got the surprise of AP cancellations, we in Florida got shocking news of our own with Disney announcing that the popular Magical Express bus service would be ending later this year. We’ll wait to see what Disney plans for a replacement, but right now this seems like a short sighted move to save money. Magical Express kept people in the “Disney Bubble.” A bus would be waiting for you at the Orlando airport and would take you straight to your Disney hotel, where you could then use the various forms of Disney transportation (including busses, Skyliner, monorail, and boats) to stay on Disney property for your entire vacation.

On Disney message boards and Facebook, this announcement went over about as well as you’d think it would, with people flipping out. Adding fuel to the fire, DisTwitter memesmith @SuperWeenieHtJr came up with an iconic photo.

This meme went viral, going everywhere on all forms of social media. Your Humble Author also shared it on Twitter.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

The next part of the story is unfortunately “part of the game” when it comes to creating memes in today’s world. Because most people don’t watermark their work, there are times it can be hard to trace back who was the original creator of the photo. Other times people are much more devious, clearly taking someone else’s popular meme on Twitter and pretending it as their own when reposting on Facebook or Instagram.

Weenie’s WALK meme started appearing everywhere uncredited. Some of us on DisTwitter started to have fun with that fact, adding our watermarks onto the photo to drive @SuperWeenieHtJr even more crazy.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

# 1 – Theme Parks Feel The Bern

This past week was a pretty major one when it comes to America, and there was no bigger sign that big changes are already here than “The Bernie Meme.” During Joe Biden’s inauguration, what caught many people’s attention was the sight of Senator Bernie Sanders, sitting by himself wearing a thick pair of Vermont-made mittens.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Tons of people immediately shared the above photo, adding a description of their own above it.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Others started adding Bernie to photos, and that’s when things REALLY got good. Theme Park fans hit home run after home run putting Bernie into various places in Walt Disney World.

“What year is it? Oh, right around the turn of the century. And believe me…”

Going above and beyond are those who made videos. Below is a screenshot of Bernie in a Haunted Mansion Doom Buggy, but you can also watch the animated version. After seeing that, check out this one featuring Bernie in MuppetVision 3-D. AMAZING!

Here’s what is most stunning about the Bernie meme. Normally a meme like this would catch fire and then be immediately forgotten about in a couple hours because some other next-level bonkers event happened in the world that we all had to worry about. The Bernie meme continued into the next day, something pretty much unheard of over the last several years. (I would say “four years” to be precise.)

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Hey, I know this story…

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Have to give major props to those who go the extra mile.

Crazier still was that the Bernie meme was shared by a lot of famous athletes, musicians, and movie stars. Currently on Disney+, the show WandaVision is a gigantic hit with fans and critics alike. One of the stars of the show shared a meme using Bernie in a moment from WandaVision episode 2.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Each episode of WandaVision pays tribute to television shows of years past, including homages to the openings of shows like Bewitched. One animated opening to WandaVision had an animated Bernie added to it!

Here we have Bernie patiently waiting for Disneyland to reopen.

You’ve heard the story talked about by Len Testa and Jim Hill on the Disney Dish Podcast, but here is Bernie at the “Save Mr. Toad” sit-in at the Magic Kingdom back in the day.

Of course the Universal fans had fun with Bernie as well, including added him to Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.

Finally Universal was able to do something about that pesky Osprey problem…

HHN Fans had to represent.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

Let’s close the Bernie memes tying back to an “unforgettable” moment from last year…

Honorable Mention – When Memes Are So Weird They Are Great

Lost amidst this month of gigantic news was Universal putting out a meme so bizarre… so insane… so incredibly weird that it’s actually awesome.

So there you have it: The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Theme Park News via MEMES! See you next weekend for the latest installment of the SATURDAY SIX, where we’ll look at something fun from the world of Disney and Universal. If you enjoyed yourself, be sure to check out The Magic, The Memories, and Merch! articles covering the latest from the Disney Outlet Stores. You can also follow Your Humble Author on Twitter (@derekburgan).

If you enjoyed this article, you will surely like the following:

Special Thanks to The Elite Brandon Glover, the bio-est of all reconstructs @bioreconstruct, Captain Cruiseline Scott Sanders of the world famous Disney Cruise Line Blog, my personal protege Hunter “Elvey” Underwood, artist @SonderQuest, the SAT SIX Fun Squad of Parkscope Joe and “the Dadalorian” Nick, hot shot Michael Carelli, charter member of the Universal Four @Nitro230, and Hermione Granger’s tutor Megan Stump for their invaluable assistance with this article. The SAT SIX is inspired each week by goofballs Aengus Mackenzie and LitemAndHyde and you Potterheads will enjoy Meg’s other blog work over at the Central Florida Slug Club.

The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!)

The post The SATURDAY SIX Looks at Recent Theme Park News via MEMES (Joe Rohde, Magical Express, Disneyland APs, and more!) appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

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Filed Under: Saturday Six, Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney World (FL), Disneyland, Joe Rohde, Magical Express

Tags disneyland, Joe Rohde, magical express, Saturday Six, Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney World (FL)

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Docking Bay 7 Continues to Serve Out of This World Food

Post author By touringplans.com
Post date January 5, 2021

With the grand opening of Galaxy’s Edge, Docking Bay 7 quickly rose to top of the charts for quick service dining in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Ranked above average at #38 out of 106 quick service locations at Walt Disney World, Docking Bay 7 combines familiar foods with unique twists and Star Wars-inspired names.

Here’s what we ordered

Smoked Kaadu Pork Ribs: Sticky Pork Ribs, Blueberry Corn Muffin, Cabbage Slaw ($16.99)

Docking Bay 7 Continues to Serve Out of This World Food

First thing you’ll notice about this dish is that you aren’t seeing cabbage slaw or a blueberry corn muffin on that dish. That’s because the mobile ordering through MyDisneyExperience allows you to customize the sides for your dish. This is the macaroni and cheese with vegetables option.

Docking Bay 7 Continues to Serve Out of This World Food

The ribs itself was a huge portion, which is a good thing. One thing that was surprising because it is not mentioned in the description is that the sauce on the ribs has quite a kick to it. Even though we’re not averse to a bit of heat to a meal, this was almost too spicy to eat for our tender tastebuds.

Batuuan Beef Pot Roast: Braised Beef Pot Roast, Cavatelli Pasta, Wilted Kale, Mushrooms ($18.99)

Docking Bay 7 Continues to Serve Out of This World Food

For this dish, we oped for the vegetable mashed potatoes (because let’s face it, mashed potatoes belong with pot roast). The “vegetable mashed potatoes” means that it is more like the texture of cauliflower mashed potatoes, with vegetable mash mixed in with the potato mash, but it still went well with the incredibly fork-tender pot roast. It’s just fall apart deliciousness and one of our favorite things to order.

Batuu-bon: Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate Mousse, Coffee Custard ($6.99)

Docking Bay 7 Continues to Serve Out of This World Food

This dessert is simply gorgeous, and unless you’re getting it just for pictures, it is one we’d pass on. The coffee flavor wasn’t present at all, the chocolate shell was hard to crack through, and the chocolate cake was on the dry side. There’s plenty of other treats to find in Hollywood Studios, so we’d suggest skipping this for something else.

Even with its limited menu, Docking Bay 7 still provides good options for a solid meal.

Are you a fan of the food at Docking Bay 7? Do you have a favorite? Let us know in the comments.

The post Docking Bay 7 Continues to Serve Out of This World Food appeared first on TouringPlans.com Blog.

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Filed Under: Dining, Walt Disney World (FL), Docking Bay 7

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Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

Post author By touringplans.com
Post date January 5, 2021

It’s a known fact that part of the Disney magic is that calories consumed at a Disney theme park don’t actually count. (At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) And with most people doing a lot more walking at the parks — sometimes up to 10 or more miles a day! — some of those calories would be burned off with the physical activity anyhow. But we got to thinking . . . if those calories actually did count, how much walking would you need to do to burn off some of Disney’s popular treats?

(Note: Because Disney doesn’t readily give out calorie information on their products, the calorie counts are approximations. Also, amount of calories burned while walking varies based on factors like weight and fitness level. The information here is included for fun only and not as medical or dietary advice.)

Disney Churro

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

According to MyFitnessPal’s database, a Disney churro contains 240 calories. At an average 100 calories burned per mile of walking, you’d need to walk a couple short laps around Magic Kingdom (minus Frontierland and Storybook Circus) to burn off that churro. (Very doable in a typical day, of course.)

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

Dole Whip

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

For a Dole Whip, a 1/2 cup serving size is 110 calories. Most servings of Dole Whip at Disney are closer to the 2 cup range (or more for some specialty preparations — we’re looking at you Lapu Hula!). If you can keep yourself to the 1/2 cup serving, you’ll only need to walk from the back of the Magic Kingdom parking lot to the Transportation and Ticket Center and then into Adventureland to have burned off that sweet treat.

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

Caramel Square

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

Looking for a sweet treat that feels like a splurge but isn’t too bad? Swing by Karamell-Küche for one of their caramel squares. A 50-gram serving comes in at around 190 calories, and so if you walked from the EPCOT parking lot to Germany and back, you’d actually be coming out ahead!

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

Popcorn

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

By far, the least calorie-laden treat at Disney is the iconic Disney popcorn. Oil-popped popcorn comes in at around 55 calories for 1 cup. For fun, shadow boxing burns about 6 calories per minute, and if you’re anything like me, that’s the kind of workout you get on Toy Story Midway Mania pulling that cord! At a 6-minute ride, and since you’re only using one arm at a time, you’d just need three ride-throughs to burn off that one cup of popcorn! (With a good touring plan, you can make time for those three rides in a day!)

Mickey Premium Bar

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

This fan favorite comes in at 330 calories. To burn this off by walking, start by walking from the EPCOT parking lot, around World Showcase starting in Mexico, exit the International Gateway, walk over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and then head back to Galaxy’s Edge. By the time you get to Droid Depot, you’ll have burned off those calories!

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

Pretzel

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

Don’t tell Len, but we prefer the pretzels at Germany over the Mickey pretzels elsewhere. At around 10.7 oz. for a serving, or around 900 grams, according to nutritional information from Fitbit, that’s around 1,000 calories. That’s pretty close calorie-wise to another favorite. . .

Disney Cupcake

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

When we sent the Disney Cupcake to the lab, and the cupcake we sent came in at 1,072 calories. For easy math, let’s just go with the average cupcake calorie count of 1,000 calories. At around 1 mile for a lap of World Showcase lagoon, it works out to around 10 laps for that cupcake or that pretzel. (But it’s a really wonderful place to do laps with so much to see!)

Calories Don’t Count at Disney, But If They Did. . . .

If you are trying to be cautious about the calorie count while on vacation, many of these treats are great to share with other people in your party. My family has found that treats like popcorn, cupcakes, churros, and pretzels can easily be split three or four ways. For a Dole Whip, you can ask for an extra cup and spoon to share with a friend. Another tip to watch calories is to plan your treat of the day in advance. Read reviews to see what treats are worth trying and what isn’t worth the calories. But above all, remember that you are on vacation — and so let yourself the freedom to break the rules a little bit here and there. You can always get back in the swing of things when you get home.

Do you have treats that you think are worth the calories every time, or ones that you think just aren’t worth it? Let us know in the comments.

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Filed Under: Walt Disney World (FL), calories

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Don’t Miss These New Walt Disney World Specials – Including One That Offers Free Extra Theme Park Days

Post author By touringplans.com
Post date January 5, 2021

Visiting Walt Disney World this year just got more enticing. That’s because today the Walt Disney World Resort released several new Walt Disney world offers that you are absolutely going to want to take advantage of! Let’s break them all down for you and see which one is right for you and your family!

Get 2 Extra Days

This is an incredibly awesome offer! For those who book a select 4-Night/3-Day package, you’ll be able to get 2 extra days of theme park tickets added….for free. And if you want to stay longer, to take advantage of those tickets, there are other length of stay options available.

This offer is valid for arrivals most nights from January 8, 2021 through September 25, 2021.

The best part, is right now, if you are still a little uncertain, Disney is allowing Guests the ability to modify or cancel your reservation with extra flexibility right now through April 30, 2021. What does that mean? Well, Disney is currently waiving any Disney-imposed change and cancellation fees up to the date of check-in for reservations with arrivals through April 30, 2021. (We’ll see if this gets extended past that date, as we get closer to April.)

30% Room Discount

In addition, there is also a 30% room discount at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels for stays most nights April 18, 2021 through July 10, 2021.

In order to take advantage of this 30% room only discount, you must book by May 27, 2021.

Select Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts – Save Up to 30%

For stays most nights April 18 to July 10, 2021

These resorts are eligible for a 30% discount.

Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
Disney’s Old Key West Resort
Disney’s Riviera Resort
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

These resorts are eligible for a 15% discount.

Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Disney’s Beach Club Villas
Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows – Studios Only

Select Disney Deluxe Resorts – Save Up to 30%

For stays most nights April 18 to July 10, 2021

Disney’s Beach Club Resort – reopening May 30, 2021
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge – reopening June 6, 2021
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

Select Disney Moderate Resorts – Save Up to 20%

For stays most nights April 18 to July 10, 2021

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

Select Disney Value Resorts – Save Up to 15%

For stays most nights April 18 to July 10, 2021

Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort – reopening March 22, 2021
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort
Disney’s Pop Century Resort

Keep in mind that while resort reopening dates have been announced for hotels, these reopening dates could still change. In addition, for Florida Residents, there is also a great room only discount that offers 30% at select Disney Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts, 25% at select Moderate Resorts, and 20% at select Value Resorts.

As a reminder, Walt Disney World continues to operate with enhanced health and safety policies. To manage attendance, Guests are required to have valid theme park admission and make a park reservation for each day of their visit through the Disney Park Pass system. In addition, Disney has implemented new measures to promote enhanced cleaning, physical distancing and reduced contact.

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Filed Under: discounts, News, Walt Disney World (FL), Walt Disney World discounts

Tags discounts, news, Walt Disney World (FL), Walt Disney World discounts

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Our Ideas for Universal Orlando and WDW New Year’s Resolutions

Post author By touringplans.com
Post date January 3, 2021

A new year is a new start for many as we adopt resolutions and plans to make this coming year better than the last. Some people strive for new diets, more exercise, spending more time with loved ones, or finally finishing the Next Great American Novel they have been writing for years. For me, I am focusing on my diet, less alcohol, and being more social (safely, of course).

The Orlando theme parks should also consider their own resolutions as we march into 2021. Here are my suggestions on where they can start.

Security Processes

Security scanning before entering theme parks has previously been.. inconsistent.

For years, Disney has had its own private security poke your bag with sticks with select people being asked to walk through metal detectors. At Universal, all guests must send their belongings throughs a scanner and everyone walks through metal detectors. SeaWorld shakes it up by having bag poking sticks AND mandatory metal detectors. There has to be a better way!

Our Ideas for Universal Orlando and WDW New Year’s Resolutions

Six Flags found a better way: Evolve Express security scanners. Instead of multiple checkpoints and long lines guests instead walk past a scanner, similar to the anti-theft devices at stores, and their bags are scanned. If there is a need for more checking an iPad will alert the employee.

Disney has already begun deployment and Universal is testing the units for Team Member security. Our resolution for the parks is for a full deployment of these new scanners – they are quick, efficient, and less invasive than other methods.

Disney Child Swap

Our Ideas for Universal Orlando and WDW New Year’s Resolutions — Fast & Furious Supercharged child swap room includes a slot car game.

One of Universal’s smartest features is their themed child swap waiting rooms. For attritions with height requirements, the whole party waits in line till they reach the load area. When at load the parties not riding wait in an indoor waiting room at load with entertainment, restrooms, changing tables, and benches.

Our resolution for Disney would be for them to look into offering a similar option for their new attractions with height requirements. Instead of having to wait through a full FastPass queue alone to ride the whole party can wait together and then swap off riding right at load. We would love to see these waiting rooms start with TRON and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Universal Parking

Parking at Disney is a tactical deployment operation only rivaled by the repatriation of citizens from foreign countries, Air Force flight maneuvers, and your grandmother cooking during the holidays. The lots are fully staffed as Cast guide cars into spots quickly and efficiently. Universal’s parking on the other hand can better be described as herding cats or a team of five-year-olds trying to play soccer. One time when parking at their garages we ended up being directed back out of the garage and forced out and onto I-4!

Our resolution is for Universal to improve its parking signage and operations to match its world-class operations in the parks.

A Universal Unified Ticketing System

Our Ideas for Universal Orlando and WDW New Year’s Resolutions my disney experience

I am not the biggest fan of MagicBands, MyDisneyExperience, and FastPass+. The changes to the parks plus the added complexity of planning a vacation made something relaxing into a second job. Plus all the expensive technology has quickly depreciated (a wrist wearable that can open rooms, access tickets, and purchase things with – quick, am I describing MagicBands or the Apple Watch?)

But one universally great aspect is the unified ticketing system. When I’m at Disney all my passes, cards, and more are tied together and accessible through a MagicBand or card. But at Universal, it feels like we are back in the 1990s: room keys, Express Pass, park tickets, and more are all separate tickets or cards. My resolution for Universal will be to unify all those different items into one card or pass that is easily stored.

Reward Your Annual Passholders More

We know about food, merchandise, and room discounts at Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, and more. After a crazy 2020 with lots of changes to parks, we would like to see the return of more annual passholder rewards and benefits. Bring back lounges, special operating hours, attraction previews, and more. Reward your most loyal and fervent supporters with reasons for them to proselytize to the masses.

Do you have any resolutions you wish the parks would take up? Leave them in the comments below!

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Filed Under: Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney World (FL), new year’s resolutions

Tags new year's resolutions, Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney World (FL)