djsamuel

Big Meadow Family Campground, KOA, or Tremont, Campground; all in Townsend, TN. Nice and quiet, convenient to Cades Cove and yet still not hard to get to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. Did I say QUIET?

I'll second the use of IMGUR. Much easier to use, especially for inserting images into message boards.

All my friend who works in a technical area at Epcot would say to me this weekend was to just wait until D23 to see what is real.

The Polynesian New Years Celebration with Moana is yet to be announced. It looks like Disney has taken away the viewing areas at the Grand Floridian as well as the Contemporary now. I can't imagine they will not address the Polynesian.

We had dinner there Saturday night. The meatloaf was outstanding. The hot fudge on the ice cream was amazing. Our complaint there is always how hard it is to get a reservation and they are so small. We were talking to the server and we asked if they would move into the arcade. He said everybody is waiting for something because he knows if they did they would still fill the place. He did tell us the rumor is that after Captain's Grill leaves Ariel's (after the refurbishment) and the construction outside at the Beach Club is done, Beaches will expand into the area currently occupied b

I love the ending of Illuminations on July 4th. You're right, the sound is amazing. We were planning on trying to see them on the 4th, but we had friends over and didn't make it. Glad we got to the Magic Kingdom on the 3rd though.

We were watching from the bridge to Tomorrowland and then headed into Tomorrowland where they were herding people out near Buzz. But in my infinite wisdom, I decided to walk around a while longer and when we were ready to head out they closed that exit near Buzz. We then watched the projection show and then went to head out near Plaza Restaurant. I asked the cast member and he confirmed that everybody was heading out via Main Street. It would have been fine but literally three or four tour group leaders were standing in the middle of Main Street holding flags that said "Uruguay". They had

Worst part was getting out on the 3rd, about a half hour after the fireworks. They closed the side exits and had everybody heading out through Main Street. They should have told the multiple tour groups from Uruguay that it is not a good idea to use the middle of Main Street as the gathering spot. They totally blocked the street between the ice cream store and Casey's. It was a mad house until we got past them.

And I just needed to look to see why there were 10 messages in a thread marked as deleted duplicate.

I think the permits for the gondola system were issued a month or two ago. From what I remember, there were no Gondola related structures within the World Showcase. Of course I could be totally wrong, but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

Friends of mine who work in technical areas at Epcot have been told construction starts in September and there will be announcements made at D23. Maintenance on Universe of Energy has pretty much stopped and some parts have already been removed. More is planned than just the Guardians of the Galaxy change.

Years ago when there was Communicore East and West instead of Innoventions, you could go in and pick up free copies of magazines like Discovery. You could also have the cast there do some research for you. We would take our daughter there when she was 7 or 8 and pick up the latest Discover magazines and they would help her with school projects. That is the type of stuff that is missing, along with the science/tech related exhibits and the optimistic looks towards the future.

Absolutely. Since we receive the same discounts, we are definitely getting our money's worth. I do try to look at it through the eyes of someone paying for admission and not getting discounts. Between the decline in standards and increases in costs, it is getting to the point where I feel they must be getting close to that line for many. I am friends with several people involved fairly high up at WDW and that is a concern many of those with several years in are voicing. Hopefully, the message gets through. I am taking the changes I noted this visit as an encouraging sign. I certainly ho

Ha! A squirrel would have had to be built like that to pull that rubber end off the pin! Thanks for the explanation!

Since I live in the Disney area and my wife is recently retired after 17 years at Disney, we get a great opportunity to stay at the Fort and take advantage of the discounts my wife gets even as a retiree. As a result, we generally get 6 or 7 stays a year at the Fort. So far this year, we've had three stays, one in January to run the 10K during Marathon weekend, a stay for Mother's day and a stay for Father's Day. Prior to the Father's Day trip, I found myself getting a bit frustrated at how the Fort seemed to be run, the lack of rules enforcement, and the general rudeness of some of the gue

They told us welcome home for our stays in May and June.

They are sold out at World of Disney. We were in Magic Kingdom yesterday and Gastons seemed to have plenty of them as well.

I second spending the couple of bucks and getting all of the accompaniments.

No. There is now just one menu now. If you look up a few messages you'll see a picture of it. That's the new menu we were given at lunch around Mother's Day.

They will be used for the new dining option at Mickey's Backyard BBQ. Called "Make Your Own Magic", guests, for an additional charge of only $37 per person, can actually discover the magic of cooking your own meal in a Disney restaurant! Hamburgers and Mickey Hot Dogs will be provided for guests to cook them as desired. Children are welcome to jump right in and help.

Be sure she checks out the two fenced areas outside the store. The larger one is usually for bids, but not always and the smaller area next to the building sometimes has stuff like grills there. If they are still greasy they may not bring them inside.

I think it was a combination of all you mentioned. There is a definite cost cutting and increase in prices, but I think it was compounded by a new menu and manager. The food was so far below what we were used to there, I can only assume at least some of that was an unusual occurrence. We did send the noodle bowls back because they were cold, and when they came back they were a little bit better, but still not very good and still very "sticky".

When we last ate at Kona in May we were really disappointed. Not only was the teriyaki steak gone (and replaced by a steak more than twice the price) the Asian Stir Fry which was still on the menu was dry and sticky; nowhere near as good as it used to be. In addition, the service stunk. They did not bring dinner rolls out, and when we asked after seeing other tables getting them, we were told that they weren't ready when we ordered so they figured we wouldn't want them. My wife spoke to the manager who did nothing as well other than to apologize. No free dessert or even a visit to the tab

120 minute wait as of right now.

The slinky roller coaster track is being installed now.