Encanto is the wilderness of Columbia…
1 Like
Ooh, I like that train of thought.
Same architect I think? I knew the details better once lol
3 Likes
I feel like this dovetails nicely into the conversation about The Shining…
4 Likes
2 Likes
Still not finished with this week’s Disney Dish, but have to wonder about Len’s report from a source saying that an automated food delivery service for Fort Wilderness. I would think this would be easier to do on Disney property than some similar tests that have been happening for a couple of years in other locations (Chik-Fil-A comes to mind). Beyond making sure all the roads are suitable for a lightweight autonomous vehicle to operate, the most difficult part is likely integration into MDE.
Thoughts?
2 Likes
I haven’t listened yet but this is intriguing!
1 Like
I thought the more interesting use he mentioned was package delivery. Could there be a return of having purchases sent back to your room?
5 Likes
Since FtW has bike lanes and discourages car traffic - bulk being golf carts, I’d agree that difficulty integrating into a platform that already glitches is fair.
1 Like
I meant to post last week about BWV availability. Looking at room availability in 2024, I thought the refurbishment was originally scheduled to be completed in April. I arrived on June 20th and the last wing of the resort (closest to HS) had just reopened a few days earlier (posts on BWV face book groups showed it closed and DVC owners were being moved in early June.)
2 Likes
I’m linking this post here but keeping the discussion over the Epic thread since it is primarily UOR related.
It’s extremely easy to implement, they have them at the university near my home and they work basically on any place people can walk.
I’m just hoping they design some of them to look like pizza planet trucks and bring back room delivery pizzas.
1 Like
Listening to this episode, I kind of felt like we (the general, universal we) are willing to give Universal all of the benefit of the doubt, but Disney is always money grabbing or incompetent.
Let me start by saying, I do think Disney is money grabbing. I just think we let Universal off the hook for the same behavior. I love travel more than anything else (that I would spend discretionary money on). I have made very specific life choices to have more money to travel. But travel prices have gone crazy since COVID. Beach rentals, airline tickets, have all grown exponentially. I really don’t see a difference in Disney inflation compared to the travel inflation I have seen everywhere.
Comparison to Universal:
For example, I just checked out pricing on tickets for December 2025. Three, 3-day tickets in late December, that allow me to hop between IOA and US and spend one day at EPIC is within $30 of three 3-day park hopper to Disney (I used Disney’s Easter week pricing for comparison because Christmas it not available). A non-discounted room at Pop! is slightly lower than a room at Stella Nova in the high season. But the narrative is always that Disney is more expensive.
I know Disney’s skip the line options are complicated, and frustrating. But in Len’s trying to be positive framing he was very sarcastic about the 8 different ways to get in a line at Disney. Well there are 7 different ways to wait in line at Universal. Both have stand-by, single rider and child swap. Then Universal Express pass - 1 ride, Express pass - unlimited, VIP tour group and VIP tour private add four more. Most notably, there is no affordable option - complicated or otherwise - at Universal. I appreciate that Disney has a lower cost option, complicated as it may be.
Again, I feel like Disney is going to price itself out of many family’s vacations. And this makes me sad. But my concern extends to this trend in the entire travel industry. The NYT did a great article about the widening gap between who can take a vacation and who cannot. I just don’t understand why Universal always gets all the benefit of the doubt, when my travel experience (traveling during school holidays) makes Universal trips equally, or more expensive, than Disney.
7 Likes
Good thoughts.
Me too. People say that the Premier resorts with EP are a great value – and they are. But people who are truly on a budget can’t justify staying at a Premier resort just because they want EP, even if it’s “cheaper” than buying it standalone. It’s still 3x+ the cost of a Value resort and standby.
My thought about this was there are actually only 2 queues for each ride: Standby and Lightning Lane. The Standby queue is sometimes accessed by VQ, and the LL can be accessed with MP, SP, PP, RS, DAS, VIP, etc. But it’s not as complicated as it sounds. It’s just different pricing for access to the same line, depending on your individual circumstances and what combination of attractions you want for what price.
1 Like
THANK YOU
Agree. And last week was particularly ugly in that way between the DVC paid membership and the LLPP
I have felt this with my soul for so long now. Thank you for articulating it for me
3 Likes
Great way to explain this! And I forgot DAS for both…
I 100% agree with this.
You’re welcome. I was fired up on my walk last night!
I was also a bit annoyed by the “what are you going to do, it is such cutting edge technology” for Ministry of Magic opening late. Usually in this same scenario it is Disney incompetence. Then I think about how long it took to build Tron and the center of EPCOT and I 
and let that one go.
5 Likes
With the increase in ticket prices just for EU at Universal, we may start seeing Universal along the same lines as money hungry a little clearer now. The three-day pass is about double what the five-day pass for two parks is now. I’m hoping its asking those who want to be among the first to pay a premium to be among the first, and after summer 2025 prices will drop a bit the following summer.
1 Like
I agree that we will probably start to see prices align between the two a bit more. Especially with no hotel giving Express pass to EU - the premier’s value will be eroded a little bit.
I was also thinking - when Iger came in, he said that he planned on dropping the lower prices lower - to make sure there were affordable options. I had hope. We barely saw that happen, except in some of the “each park for 1 day” tickets which were around $99 a day. Universal definately has better deals during non-busy seasons. We will see how that changes if EPIC is everything we think it will be and parks stay crowded.
4 Likes
Right now in the fall I’m seeing $129 a day for three days at the three main Universal parks with park to park (with one day at EU). With tax and you are at about $420 total. On the same fall dates in 2025 at Disney I’m seeing $461 for a 3-day ticket with parkhopper, and with tax that will be about $500. The gap in prices is closing (and an argument can be made that Disney is at least as good of deal with an extra park to choose from and all parks can be accessed at any time, no limitation as to what Universal is imposing with EU).
2 Likes
I have to come back to say I appreciated last week when Len gave a comparison of prices for his rooms vs. Disney’s. The context always helps me understnd one price vs. the other.
I also have to update my previous post for actual December prices. Pop! Is slightly more than Stella Nova, the All Stars are Slightly lower. If you get the “four nights” discount on Stella Nova, it would be lower than either. (But Disney could come out withe some discounts).
4 Likes