News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, News Nuggets, Resorts, Walt Disney World

It’s that time of year (no, not time for the annual News Nuggets post…), time for Disney’s annual attractions bracket. I’ve bought a few of these shirts in the past, but nothing stands out as “must have” for me this year. (WDW News Today has images of all the designs.)

Also, since it’s St. Patrick’s day, you might want to check out the Raglan Road Mighty St. Patrick’s Festival at Disney Springs and all the other Disney Springs St. Paddy’s day festivities.

Now, on to the rest of the nuggets:

We’ll finish things up with this video from Disney about the construction of Star Wars Land: (The AT-ATs do look pretty cool):

Enjoy the Tournament!

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom, News Nuggets, Walt Disney World

Despite how much I’m sure y’all enjoy getting double and triple sized orders of News Nuggets, sometimes, I’m able to actually get these out on a regular schedule. This is one of those times!

There isn’t much about the Flower and Garden Festival in this posting, since I’m looking to do one of my “best of” coverage posts to cover that event fairly soon.

Now, on to the News Nuggets!

INTERMISSION!!

e-Ticket?
e-Ticket?

Okay, now back to the News Nuggets!

That’s it for this News Nuggets helping. Let’s end with this video of the upcoming Pandora BOATRIDE (which looks pretty amazing):

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Dining, Disney Springs, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, News Nuggets, runDisney, Touring, Walt Disney World

Hey! Look! The site still works! This latest batch of (breakfast?) News Nuggets is a long time coming. I had grand desigins of posting it when I was down in Florida IN DECEMBER, but that slipped. Then, life got in the way, and an iOS beta broke my custom Workflows, and…well..its (still) February.

To try make this post (of over 8 weeks worth of Disney news) a little more timely, I’ve culled some of the original stories I was going to publish, as well modified some of commentary to reflect my experiences and other news I’ve heard about these items.

Of course, the biggest news item that hasn’t already been written about on the site is:

With all that out of the way, on to the News Nuggets!!

Okay. That was a lot of nuggets. I need a break.Let’s watch one of the “behind the scenes” looks at Pandora:

Okay, back to the News Nuggets:

Okay, time for another break. This time, let’s look at this tribute to the late, great Carrie Fisher from The Studios:

Ms. Fisher will be missed, and (shockingly?) I was unable to come up with a way to segway back into the nuggets:

One more break before we finish? What do you say? This time, let’s check out the latest Pandora ad:

That place might be pretty cool in a few months. Now, though, let’s finish out our News Nuggets!

Whew! We’re finally done. Let’s celebrate!

Major Disney World Openings Coming Up in Early 2017

by John Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom

In addition to previously announcing opening dates of Pandora (I guess I’ll start call it that instead of Avatarland?) and Star Wars Land, Disney announced a few other upcoming openings / changes in advance of yesterday’s ticket price increase::

Rivers of Light

Disney has announced that Rivers of Light will officially open on February 17, 2017. If you’re down at Disney World this week, though, it’s already having showings as part of a soft open.

Most reviews of the show are generally positive, with some notes that there’s no “wow moment in the finale”. Here are the reviews from from WDW Magic, Mouse Steps and WDW News Today (which has some pictures and video).

There is also a highlight video from WDW Magic and some more photos from AllEars.net

Dining packages are also available for the show, and Josh at easyWDW has already expained how they might not be too bad of a value.

Flower and Garden Festival

My favorite of the festivals at Disney Festival Adventure (i.e., Epcot)–Flower & Garden– starts on March 1 this year and the Disney Parks Blog has posted all the menus for the “outdoor kitchens”. My general fear when reading these menus is that the items are going to be fairly “expensive” what you’re getting from Epcot booth food. I’ll wait and see what’s actually being offered, however, before making an final judgments.

‘Happily Ever After’ to replace ‘Wishes’ at the Magic Kingdom starting May 12

Ever since the Main Street Electrical Parade ventured out (along the Oregon Trail, I presume?) back to California, people have been wondering when Disney would announce the Magic Kingdom’s new nighttime parade. Interestingly (surprisingly?), Disney has announced a replacement for Wishes instead. Disney describes the new show, entilted Happily Ever After, as follows:

The show will feature the latest fireworks and pyrotechnics and original animation, plus a heart-tugging original score. And thanks to the inclusion of state-of-the-art projection mapping technology, more Disney characters than ever before will be featured in the show, including moments from “Moana,” “Brave,” “Big Hero 6,” “Zootopia,” “The Princess & The Frog,” “Aladdin” and many others.

Disney has announced May 12 as the official opening date for the new show, but if you really want to make sure that you see Wishes one more time before is relegated to the Youtube archives, you might want not want to wait until the last day / week before Happily Ever After debuts (just in case Disney gets too aggressive with “soft opens” of the new show.)

Wishes
Wishes

Celebrating the Patriots Super Bowl Win at Disney World

by John Events, Magic Kingdom

I admit, I’m not above posting on this site when one of my favorite sports teams win the title, but this time there is a real Disney World angle. Last week, Super Bowl “hero” (maybe he should have been the MVP?) James White spent a day at Disney World in celebration of the Patriots Super Bowl win.

The Disney Parks Blog post linked above contains some photos, and here is a highlights video:

Congratulations to James and the whole Patriots team.

Some Disagreements About Which Disney World “Enchanting Extras” Are Worth It

by John Commentary, Dining, Magic Kingdom, Opinion, The Studios, Touring

Over at Disney Tourist Blog, Tom Bricker recently wrote a post giving his opinion on which of Disney World’s “Enchanting Extras” (the new branding of Disney’s various tours, parties, etc…) are worth it. When reviewing his ratings, I was struck by a couple of his items (which I’ll examine more in-depth below). It was even more interesting when I read his explanation of his biases regarding his evaluation:

In terms of our bias, we are generally frugal travelers who are willing to splurge on luxury experiences that ostensibly offer value commensurate with cost. Still, we are pretty conservative when it comes to spending, so our threshold for ‘appropriate’ value for money is likely higher than most.

This, on its face, seems to align with Elyssa’s and my point of few on those items, but–despite that apparent similarity–we evaluate some of the items quite differently. For example, Tom evaluates Early Morning Magic as follows:

Early Morning Magic – No – I’ve seen a lot of people do logical contortions trying to justify the value in these, but it just isn’t there unless you approach the parks as being E-Ticket checklists, with each ride on Toy Story Mania being worth $X. In which case, you should probably just buy a used Wii and a copy of [Toy Story Mania for Wii]. What? Not the same experience as being at Walt Disney World? Exactly. There are easy ways to enjoy these attractions during a normal, leisurely day in the parks without paying a surcharge.

I can see someone not seeing a high level of value from getting to ride Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train a few times before part opening, but to just dismiss this off hand by only citing 1 attraction from the Hollywood Studios version of this experience seems disingenuous. (Also, it would be a stretch to say it is “easy” to get multiple rides on Mine Train on a given day outside of an event like this.) As friends of the site, Wes and Howie will tell you, Early Morning Magic can be a great time to ride high demand attractions with the people you love.

Tom was similarily low on Disney After Hours:

Disney After Hours – No – After an initial flop that no doubt lost Disney money, this is returning for 2017 with a lower price tag. It’s still not worth it. What makes the seasonal hard ticket parties worth the money is the ambiance and special entertainment, Disney going the extra mile for a special event. There’s nothing special about this–it’s the same thing as a normal day just with a harder cap on attendance.

“[I]t’s the same thing as a normal day just with a harder cap on attendance.” Ah, yeah? That’s exactly the point. With the caveat that maybe Disney raises that cap for this year’s version, the cap makes the experience entirely different from the experience you have in a normal day. You can walk from attraction to attraction (frequently without seeing anyone else), and walk on pretty much any attraction as well. The longest wait we had was about 5 minutes to see Mickey at Town Square just as the event was ending. The whole experience was fantastic. (And that’s not even considering the complimentary ice cream sandwiches and drinks.)

Looking back at those two events, it seems like big difference between Tom’s position and mine, is that I feel there is a lot of value in getting to ride attractions without waiting (especially high demand ones.) It also seems like I enjoy the experience of being in an “empty” (partially empty? not as heavily populated?) park more than Tom does. Yes, Disney After Hours doesn’t have the special entertainment that a holiday party might, but being able to stroll through an empty Magic Kingdom does have a distinct ambiance that I really enjoy.

I don’t always disagree with Tom’s ratings, however. For example:

Wild Africa Trek – Yes – I’ve heard nothing but unanimous praise about Wild Africa Trek from those who have done it. While the price tag has kept us from doing it, when I think about how much an experience like this would cost elsewhere (even at the the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, special experiences are pricey) it seems fair. I wouldn’t hesitate to splurge on this if it’s something that appeals to your family.

Elyssa and I have done the Wild Africa Trek, and it’s fantastic. (Here’s my old TouringPlans article on it.) I agree with Tom, and say that it’s worth trying (if you and your family are interested in at all, obviously.)

I also agree with Tom’s take on Backstage Tours:

Backstage Tours – Maybe – I think these will appeal most to those who have ‘been there, done that’ and are looking for a new perspective from which to enjoy Walt Disney World. While being backstage could ruin the illusion for some, I think seeing how the sausage is made, so to speak, can give others a greater appreciation for what takes place on stage. We’ve done a number of backstage events over the years, and have found them to be hit or miss in terms of value, but the totality of those experiences has been a deeper interest in how the parks and attractions operate.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into the history and operations of Disney World, these can be fantastic options. Of course, if someone is going on his or her first trip to Disney World (or is someone who doesn’t care about history of the parks, etc…), then these might not make as much sense.

Ultimately, the main thing to keep in mind when evaluating these types of offerings is what you value in your vacation. If you don’t particularly care about riding attractions multiple times as a result of lower crowds, maybe those “enhancements” aren’t for you. If you are more of a “foodie” and want to experience (and learn about) higher end cuisine, maybe take a look at that category of offernings. Depending on what you feel is important, you might end up with a wholly different result from Tom or me.

Disney After Hours Magic
Disney After Hours Magic

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Disney Springs, Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom, Planning, Touring, Walt Disney World

Even the holidys don’t slow down the amount of news that comes out about Disney World, so it’s time for another edition of the Rope Drop [dot] News Nuggets!

Obviously, the biggest item of news is the upcoming transformation of Spaceship Earth into the frakin’ Death Star at the upcoming Rogue One premiere event (which, of course, is already at capacity.) I’m probably in the minority on this, but I wish they’d do this more than just the one night.

The other big items are related to various festivals that occur at Epcot over the course of the year:

Lotso is already a favorite
Lotso is already a favorite

Now, on to the rest of the Nuggets:

We’ll close this edition of the News Nuggets with this video walkthrough of the famous Royal Asanta Presdiental Suite at Animal Kingdom Lodge. This might be the closest I’ll ever get to actually being in that:

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World

It’s that time again, time to clear out the (way too long) lisitng of Rope Drop [dot] Net News Nuggets! LIke some of the last couple of updates, Disney trips and day job stuff has meant that this list is a little bit longer than previous updates.

Let’s get to it!

We’ll end things with two videos. First, a video from Theme Park Review of the last show of Elyssa’s and my beloved Celebrate the Magic:

and then a video

Disney to Livestream “Frozen Holiday Wish” Castle Lighting at 6:25PM Tonight

by John Holidays, Magic Kingdom

Disney is going to livestream tonight’s “Frozen Holiday Wish” castle lighting tonight. The eaiest way to view the performance is to visit the Disney Park’s blog and look for their new post with the video link. (I’ll try to do my best to update this post, but 6:25pm is kind of a rough time for me to make that update.) Enjoy the show!

UPDATE: Here’s the Disney Parks blog link, and here’s the video:

Initial Thoughts from Our October 2016 Disney Trip

by John Animal Kingdom, Commentary, Disney Springs, Epcot, Events, Featured, Holidays, Magic Kingdom, Trips

Our latest trip to Disney World focused around a few major Disney World events: Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. I’ve learned these past couple of years that having defined things that we want to do lets us feel a little of the time pressure that people who don’t visit as frequently as we do can end up feeling. It makes for an interesting trip. Here are some initial thoughts:

  • The End of Celebrate the Magic:I’ve already written about how much Celebrate the Magic means to Elyssa and me, but seeing the show for the last time was still overwhelmingly emotional for both of us. I have faith that the new projection show will be good, but I doubt we’ll ever have the emotional connection to that new show that we have to this one. It truly will be missed.
  • Kona Cafe (Breakfast): I still love starting a day with a press of Kona Coffee and an order of Tonga Toast. Elyssa almost always ends up with a Big Kahuna (which, again, is a great way to start the day.) We normally get an early ADR, and then head to the Magic Kingdom to watch the Welcome Show. I don’t know if I’d recommend Kona if you want to rope drop Mine Train, but it’s pretty perfect for what we use it for.Breakfast at Kona - Always a Hit
  • Homecoming Florida (Dinner or Drinks): Homecoming is fast becoming one of our favorite spots to grab a drink later at night (in addition to being an excellent dining option for either lunch or dinner.) Fried Chicken, biscuits, and hush puppies aren’t the most “adventurous” of dishes, but Homecoming does them very well. If southern comfort food is something you enjoy, I’d definitely give Homecoming a shot.
  • Animal Kingdom at Night is a (Hidden?) Gem: We now build nights at Animal Kingdom into our trip. An evening Safari, a drink or two at Nomad Lounge, and the Tree of Life Awakenings (which are extremely fun to watch) all make for a really enjoyable night.
  • Seeing Friends is Always Fun: Elyssa and I were fortunate enough to run into world famous podcaster, “Light ‘Em and Hide”, twice including once with a guest appearance by similarly renowned Disney theme park photographer Brandon Glover. Though we didn’t get to meet up with friends of the site, Dutch, Josh, or Eric, I’m sure we’ll run into them again before too long. Name dropping aside, it’s always nice to spend time with people we know from this little hobby of ours. I hope the trend those meet-ups continues.

Over the next week (or two, or three…), I’ll be working some more in-depth coverage of a few of things we did, but here is a little preview:

  • Goofy and Pals Breakfast at the Four Season: Elyssa and I decided to switch things up on the character breakfast front and try something a little different. My (almost) twitter length review: Breakfast was good. It has a little different vibe than standard Disney character meals (fancier?). The food also seemed to be a step up from what you might find at a traditional Disney buffet. The character interactions were superb (and if that’s what you want, I’d recommend making a 10:45am or so reservation, since the place was nearly cleared out by 11:00.).
  • Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party: Halloween is Elyssa’s favorite holiday, so we had been thinking about planning a trip around the halloween party for years. Things finally fell into place this year. We arrived at the party a little before 4 (and used our AP to gain admission.) We ended up meeting Tink, Rapunzel, Tiana, the Seven Dwarfs, and riding Mine Train before the party officially started at 7pm. From then on it was character meet-and-greets, parades, fireworks, and candy. It was a super fun night (Maybe Elyssa and I should do a Mic Drop segment on it??)
    Is there anything left for me?
    Is there anything left for me?
  • Food and Wine: I feel like the stand outs from Food & Wine the past couple of years are either desserts or from the Chew booths (or sometimes, both.) Things like the Liquid Nitro Truffle, or the Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Mousse stand out in my memory more than the duck bun I got from China. At this point, I’d probably be fine attending 1 or 2 mornings mid-week and calling it a Festival.

Overall, it was a pretty great (if not a little jam packed) trip (even with Celebrate coming to and end.)

Celebrate the Memories

by John Commentary, Featured, Magic Kingdom, Opinion

It was a day before we left for our current Disney World trip that Disney announced the end of Celebration the Magic. If you’ve been following Elyssa and I for the past few years, you know that Celebrate the Magic holds a special place in our hearts (see, e.g., my first Mighty Men of Mouse podcast appearance and further explanation.) Its uplifting message has become a symbol for us of surviving and overcoming life’s obstacles.

At last I see the light
At last I see the light

We hold hands tightly as the paper lanterns rise on the castle, we smile and laugh as the children around us sing along loudly with Let it Go, and then, when the final segment starts, we shed a tear or two of joy as Pocahontas’s defiant look turns into Carl’s balloon-attached house rising into the air.

Going Up?
Going Up?

For almost three months in 2014, I worried about Elyssa’s health and future. I watched as she struggled to learn to walk (and run) again. On our wedding day, I was so happy that she’d made it that far. It wasn’t until the first night of our honeymoon, though,–when we were standing on Main Street and Celebrate the Magic started–that I finally felt like things were really going to be okay. Even if you didn’t connect with the show itself, just think of some moment in your life that has come to represent something special; that’s what Celebrate the Magic is for us.

I’m glad Elyssa and I were already planning to be down here to say goodbye to one of our favorite shows. Because of our connection with it, it was the list of things we would have had to drive down to see one last time before it ended. Now, we get one more night to celebrate the memories that Celebrate the Magic has given us.

All started with a mouse.
All started with a mouse.

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Disney Springs, Epcot, Events, Holidays, Magic Kingdom, News Nuggets, Resorts, The Studios

If you’ve been following us on Twitter (including at Elyssa’s new handle!), then you know that the last few weeks have been crazy at Rope Drop [dot] Net HQ. Weddings in foreign lands (well, Maine), J O B job stuff getting in the way of site updates, etc…all have conspired to make this a HUGE helping of News Nuggets. I hope you’re hungry (for news)!

First, a quick link in case you pre-order this year’s Unofficial Guide and need to get ir replaced due to the defects: How to Get a Free Replacement 2017 Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World.

And now, the actual nuggets:

How about we take before we look at more nuggets?

Fall at Disney World!
Fall at Disney World!

Okay…now back to the nuggets…

Here’s a different way to end the post, a video stroll around Castaway Cay from The DIS:

Live Stream Tonight of Disney Fall Offerings at 8:00PM Eastern

by John Epcot, Events, Magic Kingdom

The Disney Parks Blog is doing another live stream tonight at 8:00PM. What’s different about this stream, however, is that it’s not dedicated to just 1 event. Instead, it’s supposed to give looks at things like Mickey’s Not-so-Scary Halloween Party and the Food & Wine festival. I’m interested to see how it works.

Can Disney send me a couple of these to enjoy during the live stream?
Can Disney send me a couple of these to enjoy during the live stream?

Sunday Night and Monday at Disney – August, 2016

by John Animal Kingdom, Commentary, Epcot, Featured, Magic Kingdom

As I mentioned in the last post, one of the goals during this trip was to make smaller updates along the way (instead of waiting to talk about the trip at the very end.) Since we’re going to STK tonight–which means you might never hear from me again–, I figured now would be a good time to post an update.

  • We both really enjoyed the night time Kilimanjaro Safaris. As I mentioned on Twitter, the experience is almost impossible to photograph, but don’t let my crappy photos deter you from giving it a shot. We were lucky enough to see the best lion interactions we’ve ever seen on a safari at Animal Kingdom, and I would still feel like I’m ahead if I rode the ride 10 more times and didn’t see an animal. If you’re at Animal Kingdom at night, I think it’s worth your time to give it a try (and Elyssa would probably even give a stronger recommendation.) That said, if Disney’s only running 1 side of the queue (which I hear is pretty common), you’re going to want to do what you can to get a Fastpass+ reservation. Otherwise, you’re probably going to wait an hour. (We managed to get a Fastpass+ reservation for about 20 minutes in the future after about 3 minutes of refreshing the app around 7:50pm.)
  • The Tree of Life Awakenings are fantastic. I saw 3 different versions, and I enjoyed them all. I especially like the one that featured more “movie type” excerpts, which gave the whole thing a Celebrate the Magic-like feel.
  • Nomad Lounge was pretty much dead from 8:45-10:00 while we were there, but it was a nice, relaxing way to end the day. The Kungaloosh Ale (which almost had Newcastle-like flavors with some added spice) and the Tempting Tigress were both quite good. Elyssa also enjoyed the Hightower Rocks (where the sweetness that covers the alcohol could easily get you sneaky drunk without too much effort.)

    Princess Birthday Breakfast
    Princess Birthday Breakfast
  • The actual breakfast at Akershus is not quite as good as places like Crystal Palace, Tusker House, or Whispering Canyon (it consists of a “hot plate” with eggs, bacon, potato casserole, etc…, and a buffet with pastries and cold cuts.) We had decent princess interactions, seeing Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, and Snow White in the span 50 minutes (though the princesses all came out much later than we thought they would.) We still managed to exit in time to get into Frozen Ever After with only about a 15 minute wait (I’ll probably write about this more later, but you probably want to exit at 8:45-8:50am if you really want to guarantee a low wait. We exited at about 8:55am and ended up merging with the flow of people. I think we got pretty lucky.)
  • I really enjoyed Frozen Ever After. The movement on animatronics–especially Olaf–has to be seen to be believed. It is just so fluid. Elsa’s ice palace scene is also fantastic. For us and our sensibilities, it’s an upgrade over Maelstrom.

    We really liked Frozen Ever After
    We really liked Frozen Ever After
  • Even though we weren’t on the far edge of the Soarin’ screen, we could see some bending of the structures. For us, it was only really noticeable for the Eiffel Tower. That said, the Soarin’ experience is still great. I’ll refrain from any “spoilers” about what’s in it, but I like the new video. (It’s probably blogger bias, but when I first thought about what to write for Soarin‘, the minimal bending was what came to mind. That’s why that sentence was first, not the part where I explain my overall impression of the ride.)
  • I think Ample Hills is my second favorite ice cream on property (it is probably Elyssa’s first.) I think I still prefer a No Way Jose, but knowing I can get Ample Hills if there are no Beaches & Cream ADRs available is a great fall back. (I know the ice cream itself is probably better than plain ice cream from Beaches & Cream, but I just have so much connection to the No Way Jose, that I can’t pick something else ahead of it.)

    Squad Goals
    Squad Goals
  • After having lunch there on Monday afternoon, I think Via Napoli has moved into a clear 3rd place in the “Disney World restaurant most frequented by the Kivii” rankings. (Whispering Canyon is pretty far out in the lead (since we have stayed at Wilderness Lodge a bunch, and it has breakfast, lunch & dinner options), Beaches & Cream is second place (partially because of stops for No Way Joses), and BOATHOUSE is probably 4th (for now).) The “flexibility” pizza provides is probably one of the reasons we like it so much (we decided to make a last second Ample Hills stop about 45 minutes before Via Napoli, which meant we didn’t eat our entire pizza for lunch. That wasn’t an issue, however, since we were able to take it home and pull it out of the fridge to have for dinner a couple of hours later.)
  • We finished our day by watching the Main Street Electrical Parade. I’m glad I got to see it again before it goes away in a few weeks, but watching it does reinforce that I’m super bummed it’s leaving. Elyssa and I have so many good memories of watching it.

    What are you looking at?
    What are you looking at?

That’s it for this update. Dinner at STK tonight. Wish me luck!

First Evening and Day at Disney World – August, 2016

by John Commentary, Dining, Disney Springs, Featured, Magic Kingdom, Resorts, Trips

We’re going to try something different on this trip and try to post some more updates during the trip (in addition to coverage once it’s completed.) Here are some thoughts about the first night and day of the trip:

  • Homecoming turned out to be pretty good (even if I was a little miffed at some of the seating mishaps when we arrived.) The “famous fried” chicken was good, and Elyssa enjoyed her “dinner of sides” (mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, and biscuits.) I can think of a couple of local NC places with better fried chicken, but not to the point where I wouldn’t go back to Homecoming. Getting to enjoy the meal with Eric and Kristi certainly helped things, too.(BOATHOUSE is still our top choice, but Homecoming & Morimoto are pretty close to each other in second.)
    Homecoming Friend Chicken
    Homecoming Friend Chicken
  • Kona Cafe breakfast is still fantastic. We had a 7:30AM ADR to load up on Tonga Toast (Elyssa, as always, was a “big kahuna”) before heading over to watch the Welcome Show at the Magic Kingdom (which we sometimes forget to enjoy because we’re too amped to get to our first attraction.)
  • Rope drop remains a great way to get a bunch of stuff done as your start your day. (We had a number of our favorite attractions–Buzz, Under the Sea, Jungle Cruise, Pirates–done before 10 am with–essentially–no waiting.
  • When it comes to viewing Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire, Josh from easyWDW is not wrong when he recommends standing right near the top of the slope in back of the partner’s statute. I walked to that spot about 30 seconds before the show started and got an (almost) unobstructed view of the whole thing (thanks, random guy with the giant balloon who moved up front for the finale.) It was a great vantage point for a really fun, enjoyable show.
    Let it flow
    Let it flow

Of course, the highlight of our trip so far was getting to meet up with friend of the site, host of Mighty Men of Mouse and all around great guy, Dutch Lombrowski. Dutch took some time out of his night to come join Elyssa and me, ride of Splash, and catch up all various things (that have happened over the 3+ years we’ve known each other.) As an added bonus, always entertaining Gosh Jonzalez joined us for the last hour or so of the night as well. It was great hanging out with both of them.

That’s all for this early trip update. The idea is that we’ll post more soon (but we’ll see how that goes.)

BOATRIDE, baby!
BOATRIDE, baby!
Not a bad squad

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John DVC, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, News Nuggets, Planning, The Studios

It’s time for everyone’s favorite serving of Disney World, the Rope Drop [dot] Net News Nuggets! There isn’t a lot of particularly juicy news this time, but a few things that I would classify as “transitional” (like the closing of Sum of All Thrills or–essentially–moving all convention space to the Yacht Club.) That said, let’s get to it!

We’ll close out with a video that Disney recently posted of what it’s like to be the eagle at the tail end of the Main Street Electrical parade. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Back Dropping the Mic on Mighty Men of Mouse

by John Magic Kingdom, Meta, runDisney

After a (brief?) hiatus, Elyssa and I were back on this week's Mighty Men of Mouse episode with one of our Mic Drop segments. This time we talk about:

(Yeah, it was kind of a downer of a segment.) We also mention some of the tech related articles we had been posting, and my review of the god awful Disney Emoji Blitz.

Thanks for checking it out! We hope you enjoy it!

Don’t Forget – Live Stream of Princess Elena of Avalor’s Royal Welcome at 10:20am Eastern Today

by John Magic Kingdom

The Disney Parks Blog is live streaming Princess Elena’s Royal Welcome today. The easiest way to watch this event is probably to just visit Disney Parks Blog and see if they have a new post up that has a link to the live stream (Disney has turned off the various ways to easily access its streams via YouTube.)

For those that actually in Disney World during August, this Royal Welcome event is supposed to take place a few times each day over the next couple of weeks.

Saying Goodbye to the Main Street Electrical Parade

by John Magic Kingdom

A few minutes ago, Disney confirmed the rumor that the Main Street Electrical Parade will be ending. The last night for the parade will be October 9.

The next set of rumors / theories (that I first saw mentioned by friend of the site Howie from Maryland) is that Disneyland’s “Paint the Night” parade (which was recently discontinued) would be making its way to the Magic Kingdom. UPDATE: Paint the Night will actually be running on “select dates” through the Holiday Season. That, obviously, makes it harder for it to be starting at the Magic Kingdom soon.

Personally, I’m really torn on all of this. Watching the Main Street Electrical Parade, especially the second showing on a giving night, is always a highlight of Elyssa’s and my trips (even more so if we can win the Reno Challenge while watching.) That said, Paint the Night has gotten spectacular reviews and I would love to see it in person.

Ultimately, though, I’m really glad that Elyssa and I have a trip planned so we can say goodbye to the Main Street Electrical Parade one last time.

One last kiss goodnight from the MSEP
One last kiss goodnight from the MSEP

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Dining, Disney Springs, Magic Kingdom, News Nuggets, The Studios, Walt Disney World

It might be the weekend, but here at Rope Drop [dot]Net HQ we are still committed to providing you with your News Nuggets. Before we get started on the “links” part of the Nuggets, a quick update to Tables in Wonderland. Disney has finally decided to add Skipper Canteen & Jock Lindsey’s to the list of places that get discounts (along with the much newer Nomad Lounge and Tiffins at Animal Kingdom.) I wonder if this will have any impact on attendance at Skipper Canteen.

As another special perk, Disney is giving 20% of merchandise purchase at Word of Disney in Disney Springs to Tables in Wonderland members through Labor Day. As always, I would recommend that you point out this discount to the cast members (i.e., I doubt they’ll ask you about it.)

Now, with that out of the way, let’s move on to the rest of the Nuggets!

That’s it for this edition of the News Nuggets! Of course, if you’re like me, the biggest news of the weekend is probably the announcement that the new Rogue One trailer will drop during NBC’s Olympics coverage on Thursday! (I’m a little excited for that movie.)

Elyssa Being Goofy
Elyssa Being Goofy

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Dining, Disney Springs, Events, Magic Kingdom, News Nuggets, Walt Disney World

It’s time for another edition of the News Nuggets, and the biggest news of the past few days might be that the complete menus of the Epcot Food & Wine festival have been released. Thankfully, it looks like the chocolate truffle from last year is coming back.

Of course, there was a whole bunch of other Disney World news stories to cover, so let’s get right to the News Nuggets!

As you might imagine, there have been a bunch of ride-through / experience videos of the new attractions. I don’t think I’m going to watch any of them, but if you’re interested, here are a few:

I’ll end things, however, with a link to this timelapse video of “Magic Moments” at Disney World. Enjoy!!

Don’t Forget – Disney is Live Streaming Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire at 4:00pm Eastern Today!

by John Events, Magic Kingdom

This is a big month for people who like Disney live streams, as the Disney Parks Blog is doing one every Monday. Today’s stream, which goes live at 4:00PM Eastern Time, is Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire.

The other upcoming streams are:

  • July 18 – Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular; and
  • July 25 – Paint the Night Parade

Enjoy getting your Disney fix, even when you can’t be at the parks yourself!

UPDATE: They’ve put up the YouTube Link:

News Nuggets from Around Disney World

by John Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, The Studios, Walt Disney World

Both here at Rope Drop [dot] Net HQ and throughout Orlando, the events of the last week the events of the last week+ still leave a lasting impression. Though we continue to mourn for all the lives that were lost, we are going to try and talk once again about a place that we (and probably a lot of you readers) love. There’s not real “good” approach to moving on from something like this, so we’re going to do a symbolic “reset” and clear the deck of all our pending News Nuggets (even if some may be a little out of date, now.) Here is what we’ve got:

That clears all the pending News Nuggets. Hopefully, the next couple of weeks will bring some better news.