keith_h

I guess they don't want those of us that don't like to micromanage their day or to be micromanaged when visiting the parks.

You can never have too much ice cream.

It sounds like a decent package. I'd seriously consider it if we were planning to be at the Fort over those dates. You have no faith in Disney's crack IT team? Maybe they'll let them park at the Fort like they do for folks who go on cruises then go to the Fort upon return.

Is it optional or mandatory? If it is optional it sounds like Disney is trying to milk a few more dollars for those sites over Halloween or maybe a group wants to spend big bucks and have social space. It might also be they are trying to control the big displays to minimize guest activity and unapproved trick or treating by asking those folks to leave for those few days. Doesn't sound like there is much information as to what is actually said in the calls or emails.

I think that's neat and a nice way to end the season.

I could see Rene and I possibly doing the Spice Road package.

Kind of lackluster for $80/person and if someone wants fries, oops, potato wedges they add another $8. I haven't been to WDW in a while but $11 for average draft beers seems high even by Disney standards. For $200+ for two unless they shoot you into orbit for your meal I think I'll stick to the relatively reasonable, by WDW standards, restaurants in Disney Springs.

Updated your post to modern business theory. While shareholders might get to ride along I think most modern corporations are designed to do nothing more than to enrich the executive corps. If you need proof look at the number of companies where shareholders lose value but executive pay increases.

Before retiring I worked for one of the very large computer companies. As I told newer kids when they came in fresh out of college I would not look at making the company a lifetime career like I did as the company had changed dramatically. However I told them if they could stick it out for 2 - 5 years having worked here still pulled a lot of weight in the industry and looked good on a resume. I suspect Disney is in a similar place so my advice to a young person would be the same. Use the time to build up some experience and bolster the resume as having worked at Disney should pull a lot weight

He lied about his age and went into the service after turning 15 years old and hit mandatory retirement at 75.

They typically don't do much. My Dad retired after 60 years of military and federal government service. The office threw him an afternoon party plus gave him a nice parting gift. He received an official letter and a flag that had flown over the White House from his representative in the House due to the office chief suggesting it. The flag and letter were the only official government retirement items. Everything else was the other people in the office chipping in to see Dad off.

You haven't heard of Mistress Alice's Dungeon of Adult Fun? 😁 Disney's brand is far from the corporate beast that functions behind it. It is why they defend the brand to the end so that the real story doesn't get out. I'm not surprised at all how they treat their employees. At the end of the day no matter whether you call them cast members, employees, etc. they are nothing more than a resource line on some executive's spread sheet right there between the electrical tape and screws.

It sounds like the return of ticket books in virtual form. For no additional cost Genie will direct you to the A, B and C ticket rides. Pay $15 and you get access to the D ticket rides and pay an unknown amount for access to the 'E' rides.

That's a bold assumption as to who I was referring to as "polite company". 😁

One of those diseases we aren't supposed to mention in polite company?

I would be surprised if a majority of the employees moved with the mission. While typically made for other business reasons companies try to take advantage of mission moves to reduce headcount. They know that many of the older higher paid employees and those with deep local ties will leave the company rather than move. I would expect this to be the case with the California work force. The result is the company reduces headcount while getting good PR in the receiving location about all of the jobs they created as it is rare for people to go back and look to see if they really brought all of the

Since this has been resurrected from the dead I thought I'd see whatever became of the portable A/C unit in Jen's original post. It looks like they are shipping products but the price isn't cheap at $798 for the unit with battery and $549 without. There is also this from the FAQ so as far as I'm concerned it is rather expensive for something to sit in front of on a hot day. You can find their website by searching on the product name.

We've been looking at small diesel pushers, gas Class A's and Super Class C's for when Rene retires in the next couple of years. We will not be full-timing but estimate we will be driving around 10K/yr in the early years so that puts us on the economic borderline for the extra cost of a diesel pusher or higher end Super C's.

We are in the same boat. Rene and I would would pick our parks by late night extra hours. We would usually go around 10 - 11 AM take a ride or two, eat lunch then head back to our site. Then depending upon our dinner plans we would head back to the park around 6 - 7 PM for dinner and stay until the park extra hours were over. It is the reduction of the late night EMH perk that has had the biggest effect on us cutting back on trips.

You might want to check with where you are staying to see what they offer. When we went we stayed at the KOA and they had a discount that was as good as or better than others we saw so we bought our tickets there.

That makes sense.

Is it starting earlier this year? I seem to remember it usually beginning around the the first of September, give or take, after traditional calendar schools had started back up.

The park will have some days that are closed and others where they will have a late open. I have a link to their calendar below. It is in the mountains so I would prepare for daytime temps in the 50's and 60's. Snow is also a possibility though I wouldn't expect it to hang around long that early in the season. Dollywood Calendar .

Oops. I read your original post the other way around for some reason. Now you know why my wife is the social director and keeper of the schedules.

Depending upon the route you plan to take you will be in EZ-Pass country for most of the northern parts of your trip. A number of the major routes and bridges have tolls that accept EZ-Pass. This might make it worthwhile to upgrade before your trip.