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VorpalBunny posted:We visited Hong Kong Disneyland a few years ago, and Everest is called Big Grizzly Mountain there. We had no idea what to expect, I thought it would be a Big Thunder clone. that's adorable, but at the same time I dunno if it's much of a secret after you get to the broken tracks
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Nov 14, 2023 20:33
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Is it true that DW attendance hasn't recovered to pre-pandemic levels? I chatted with our bus driver and he said 8 hour lines for some attractions weren't uncommon this time of year, and the longest line I saw in the app our whole visit was 85 minutes.
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Nov 15, 2023 02:59
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Cheston posted:Is it true that DW attendance hasn't recovered to pre-pandemic levels? I chatted with our bus driver and he said 8 hour lines for some attractions weren't uncommon this time of year, and the longest line I saw in the app our whole visit was 85 minutes. Yes, but also there's no way there were actually 8 hour lines. Magic Kingdom had 17.1m visitors last year, but 20.9m in 2019. This year is down from last year too.
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Nov 15, 2023 03:14
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It will get very silly a week from now, for Thanksgiving, but 8 hours is hyperbole. 2 or 3, though, is very possible.
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Nov 15, 2023 04:34
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Me going, “oh it’s a rainy day forecast in Anaheim, locals probably won’t be out.” CM at Snow White, “I have no idea why we have this many people here today.” Not even the Thunder scared these desert folks away goodness gracious go home
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Nov 15, 2023 23:49
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Ok, so I am seeking opinions on DVC. My wife and I own 200 points, but since we moved away from FL in 2020, we really haven't used them and sold off ("rented") way more points than we've used. Our dues are approximately $1700 per year for our three contracts (100, 50, 50 points). When I rent the points, we usually get between $13-$14 per point. Long story short, if we actually use all our points it's great because we get an awesome room for an incredibly lower cost (ie - Wilderness Lodge Copper Creek for 6 days for as much as Pop Century would, cash rate). But we've only been to the parks once since we moved, and the price increases make it prohibitive to plan the trips we want to take anyway. If we keep the contracts, we can theoretically just sell off all the points every year and at worst, break even. We might even come out slightly ahead? Since they're timeshare, you don't have to declare them on your taxes, but they also aren't considered assets so you can't borrow against them. The other problem I have is that the points exchange with Interval really sucks. And I mean that in terms of the resort options they offer. We also have a five-year old daughter who loves Disney, but she honestly prefers cruising to parks. It's probably pretty obvious from my tone that I'd like to offload our membership and pay off debt, but I'm trying to better understand my wife's POV, honestly, because she really doesn't want to sell them.
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Nov 16, 2023 18:23
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Are you saying that your current situation nets you roughly $600 per year and may have more financial benefit if you decide to visit the parks?
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Nov 16, 2023 18:32
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I do not understand DVC at all. From the few times I've tried to look it up, the best I could understand was that it was a massive upfront cost but then you never pay anything again for the rest of your life, and that didn't make any goddamn sense, so I figured I was reading it wrong.
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Nov 16, 2023 19:01
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CapnAndy posted:I do not understand DVC at all. From the few times I've tried to look it up, the best I could understand was that it was a massive upfront cost but then you never pay anything again for the rest of your life, and that didn't make any goddamn sense, so I figured I was reading it wrong. Yeah. There are annual dues too.
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Nov 16, 2023 19:02
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CapnAndy posted:I do not understand DVC at all. From the few times I've tried to look it up, the best I could understand was that it was a massive upfront cost but then you never pay anything again for the rest of your life, and that didn't make any goddamn sense, so I figured I was reading it wrong. There are the annual dues too as said above. I did a financial model and if you go to deluxe resorts (like poly or beach) every year you can cut your costs down dramatically. Like 300-400 a night amortizing the length of the contract and all the dues, vs the 700+ rack rate. That said - is that a smart use of the large upfront payment vs investing elsewhere? Probably not, and you have to use it every year. If it's financed (where they really makes their money) the math is worse.
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Nov 16, 2023 19:16
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Paul Proteus posted:There are the annual dues too as said above. I did a financial model and if you go to deluxe resorts (like poly or beach) every year you can cut your costs down dramatically. Like 300-400 a night amortizing the length of the contract and all the dues, vs the 700+ rack rate. I did the math after our last trip and we would have broken even after about 30 years at current rates compared with just renting points
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Nov 16, 2023 19:32
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Jose Valasquez posted:Only if you assume you can't rent points from someone else Agreed. I hope my post didn't come across as advocating to sign a contract. I'm sure there is a small sub segment of customers, buying on resale and using it religiously for 40 years, where it makes sense. The average consumer should never lock that up though.
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Nov 16, 2023 19:40
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It's just a timeshare, right? A fancy Disney-wrapped timeshare. My mother has several, and my understanding is I will be stuck with them after she dies. They seem like such a scam.
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Nov 16, 2023 19:55
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VorpalBunny posted:It's just a timeshare, right? A fancy Disney-wrapped timeshare. My mother has several, and my understanding is I will be stuck with them after she dies. They seem like such a scam. Essentially, but not technically because of the open point-based system I think.
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Nov 16, 2023 20:11
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Hazo posted:Yeah it's definitely not pitch black, and the "cars" have light bars so you can read the menus. Last time I went, the loop was weirdly short and couldn't even cover a full meal before it started over. Is that still the case?
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Nov 16, 2023 20:12
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Roadie posted:Last time I went, the loop was weirdly short and couldn't even cover a full meal before it started over. Is that still the case? I think we saw it about two full times. We were there for probably less than an hour.
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Nov 16, 2023 20:16
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VorpalBunny posted:It's just a timeshare, right? A fancy Disney-wrapped timeshare. My mother has several, and my understanding is I will be stuck with them after she dies. They seem like such a scam. I'm sure it's legally a timeshare, but since one can mix-and-match the points usage across different locations and times, it's more like pre-paying for X years of general-purpose (though still pricey) hotel stays. Of course, that's only useful for you if you consistently take expensive vacations every year and are cool with slapping down $40,000 up front to save money on those expensive vacations.
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Nov 16, 2023 20:28
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Doronin posted:Ok, so I am seeking opinions on DVC. My wife and I own 200 points, but since we moved away from FL in 2020, we really haven't used them and sold off ("rented") way more points than we've used. Our dues are approximately $1700 per year for our three contracts (100, 50, 50 points). you are going to be in debt the rest of your life, just like the rest of us, unless you become a billionaire. if it makes your wife happy, rent the points off and use the extra to save up for cruises. when kiddo is off getting married and in college, go back to the parks with your wife. like, you basically have the ability to keep something she loves with no real drawback other than the idea that it's something you have to "pay" (you say renting is break even or slightly ahead, so you aren't really paying anything).
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Nov 16, 2023 20:33
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Roadie posted:Last time I went, the loop was weirdly short and couldn't even cover a full meal before it started over. Is that still the case?
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Nov 16, 2023 20:46
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:Are you saying that your current situation nets you roughly $600 per year and may have more financial benefit if you decide to visit the parks? Basically, yes. The IF we visit being a big if. Paul Proteus posted:There are the annual dues too as said above. I did a financial model and if you go to deluxe resorts (like poly or beach) every year you can cut your costs down dramatically. Like 300-400 a night amortizing the length of the contract and all the dues, vs the 700+ rack rate. I never thought of what we'd have to pay if we just rented points from David's instead of being the ones providing the points for the times we decide to visit. Just ballparking it, I would bet it would still be way cheaper than paying the rack rate, but a little bit a good bit more than our annual dues cost. I need to look at that. Fluffy Bunnies posted:you are going to be in debt the rest of your life, just like the rest of us, unless you become a billionaire. if it makes your wife happy, rent the points off and use the extra to save up for cruises. when kiddo is off getting married and in college, go back to the parks with your wife. Considering there is no tax implication, this is the best argument I've heard to keep it. Usually when we off the points for rent, they're usually booked up within 48 hours and we get about 60-70% of the fee almost immediately, then the remaining value whenever they check in to the resort.
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Nov 16, 2023 22:10
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Doronin posted:Basically, yes. The IF we visit being a big if.. If so, it seems you’ve got $25,000 invested in a thing that requires a little yearly hassle and returns about 2.4% yearly, gives you a slim option to save money in the future, and helps make your family happy. Up to you whether that’s a good thing or not.
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Nov 16, 2023 23:41
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DVC contracts have a time frame before they expire, depending on the resort you bought into / contract. Why not just bank and borrow your points and do a big trip every couple of years? You could use those points for a DCL cruise (not a great value on the points but you can do it).
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Nov 17, 2023 03:56
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Speaking of renting dvc - has anyone just done one day? I need to book two rooms for just one night. I'd like to do the poly. Do people rent points for such short trips? Do people have a preferred rental site? There's a million it seems.
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Nov 17, 2023 16:14
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:I don’t know much about DVC but from quick Googling if you were to permanently sell your points you’d get roughly $25000 from the sale? That sounds about right on what we'd likely get for them. Once you factor in the 7% commission to the broker and closing costs, we're probably looking between $21-22k, I think. Assuming we got top dollar for them. At the moment, I'm starting to lean toward just biding my time and letting my wife reach her own conclusion. At least I feel better that we're not lighting money on fire since we always have the option to rent the points and get a nominal return on them annually. I just wish it was more than a couple hundred in profit. Anya posted:DVC contracts have a time frame before they expire, depending on the resort you bought into / contract. I've thought about using points on a cruise before, but the exchange rate on the points is terrible. It actually ends up making the cruise substantially more expensive in terms of the number of points you have to burn on it. DVC is only useful for Disney land resorts, unless you want to do the Interval exchange and stay in a condo development that hasn't been updated in the mid-2000s. Paul Proteus posted:Speaking of renting dvc - has anyone just done one day? Oh yeah, all the time. I've rented out for one-nighters several times, including just a few months ago. There's always someone either with a dragon's hoarde of points and doesn't care how they're split up, or someone with juuuust enough to handle 1-2 nights and can't use them (this was me in July). When you put in your request, the rental agency goes through their database, then sends an email notice to everyone who matches what the buyer needs. I always use David's Vacation Rentals to unload points.
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Nov 17, 2023 21:36
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Doronin posted:At least I feel better that we're not lighting money on fire since we always have the option to rent the points and get a nominal return on them annually. I just wish it was more than a couple hundred in profit. I gotta ask, why do you think she's gonna change her mind (that's what I'm getting from "come to her own conclusions" and I could totally be misunderstanding that)? It's legit something you have that's making you a tiny amount of money but it isn't a liability and I'm super confused as to why you find it such an issue to keep it if she wants to and it isn't a burden. Like is it preventing you from putting a down payment on a house 'cuz of credit this or that or something?
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Nov 17, 2023 22:01
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They did mention “… and pay off debt” sooooo…..
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Nov 17, 2023 23:38
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Is the stay free when you use your points, or just discounted?
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Nov 17, 2023 23:43
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VorpalBunny posted:I hope you had a great day! Got any pics of your outfits?  We had an absolute blast! We went to the expo on Saturday and I was so relieved to see that there was a really nice combination of women AND men's wear there, as well as live music and a dance floor. We definitely didn't need more than a day, but we both came away with some good vintage pieces. LOVED that there was a woman there with a chain-stitch sewing machine, doing patches and hats just like "back in ye olde days". Lunch was Trader Sam's - we were told that there would be a half hour wait, walked away to use the bathroom in the main lobby and had hardly finished getting my crinoline back in place before they texted to say that our table was ready. Success! Sunday, we didn't end up getting to the park 'til 11, thanks to a) staying at a hotel an hour away (we were in town for a friend's wedding), b) slow breakfast, and c) stopping by the expo to get our tintype taken in our Disneybounding looks. We got through two rides (Jungle Cruise and Pirates) before we had to meet up with friends at Club 33 (yes, yes we have bougie friends) where we had a four hour meal and walked out significantly lighter in wallet, but heavier in food and drink. I was worried because it was already dark out and it had taken us so long to get through those two rides - turns out, once all the kiddos go home, we rule the park. We hit everything on our list (we had no interest in Star Wars, so that helped out immensely) - I was GUTTED at how miserably they ruined Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. WOOOOOOOOOF. It was the one ride I _had_ to do and even despite loving Nightmare, drat there was a lot of bad decisions made there all around. Who thought Mansion needed anything added to it? Why did they dump a bunch of presents on the ballroom floor, making the dancers look weirdly lost in the shuffle? Why did none of the images in the stretching gallery actually stretch? Why was Madame Leona reciting the Twelve Days of Christmas?!? It was awful, folks. Husband had never been on the ride (this was his first time in Disneyland ever!) and I apologised profusely afterwards. "Yeah, that didn't seem like a ride you -or anybody- would be that excited to ride". But we met up again with our friends at 11:45 to ride Runaway Railway as a group, then all went together for a final ride at the Carousel. Magic.  (In case you're curious, my brooch is a robin, and he's sporting both an arrow collar clip and a bullseye lapel pin. This is on the balcony of Club 33, so his hat had already been checked)
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Nov 17, 2023 23:45
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I’m sorry you hated the overlay - I just did it for the first time this week and loved it. It’s a completely different vibe but I liked how the stretching portraits crack and break and just the whole thing. I like regular HM better at MK, but this was fun. Long day of traveling back to the Eastern time zone. Great birthday week at DLR and did my best to eat everything.
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Nov 18, 2023 00:54
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Ainsley posted:
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Nov 18, 2023 01:00
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Paul Proteus posted:Do people have a preferred rental site? There's a million it seems. I've used both David's and dvcrentalstore.com, both were painless. DVC Rental store is nice because you put in your dates and it tells you what resorts have availability on your dates, then you can just compare prices between David's and DVC Rental Store and go with the cheaper option. DVC Rental Store also has options where DVC members have already booked something but are trying to offload it, those might be cheaper if something is available that matches your date
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Nov 18, 2023 01:06
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We learned the Haunted Mansion would be down for basically all of 2024 after the Holiday overlay was already up, and we are letting our passes expire so we won't be able to see it again before we are done. I don't even remember when I saw the OG ride last. I'm pretty bummed, but I don't hate the NBC overlay, it's just a completely different ride for me.
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Nov 18, 2023 03:36
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VorpalBunny posted:We learned the Haunted Mansion would be down for basically all of 2024 after the Holiday overlay was already up, and we are letting our passes expire so we won't be able to see it again before we are done. I don't even remember when I saw the OG ride last. I'm pretty bummed, but I don't hate the NBC overlay, it's just a completely different ride for me. The overlay takes so long it really makes me wonder if they just should like, build a second one and theme it to NBC. The alternative is what we have now where DLR's HM runs for what, 4 months of the year tops?
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Nov 18, 2023 20:29
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i prefer the overlay 🤫
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Nov 18, 2023 21:38
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Doing the reporting that we need https://x.com/bioreconstruct/status/1725978055623995596?s=20
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Nov 18, 2023 21:53
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Akileese posted:The overlay takes so long it really makes me wonder if they just should like, build a second one and theme it to NBC. The alternative is what we have now where DLR's HM runs for what, 4 months of the year tops? Nah, HMH runs September through early January and the switchover only takes 2-3 weeks in August and can sometimes run 4-6 weeks in January/February depending on how much annual maintenance they decide to tack on. At worst it runs as HM for a minimum of six months out of the year. e: ^that's not the first (or even second) time that Disney/Universal has fixed (or hid) something because he pointed it out.
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Nov 18, 2023 23:43
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Is there anything special for MK during Christmas season? Not for the event stuff, just in general. I’m probably doing a day there during Holmat.
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Nov 18, 2023 23:47
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Aphrodite posted:Is there anything special for MK during Christmas season? Not for the event stuff, just in general. snacks and jingle cruise come to mind.
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Nov 19, 2023 00:07
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Another Life Day fan gathering is in the books, and it was our largest group yet. I also attended my first Galaxy's Edge Discord lightsaber meetup, and I'm really glad I stayed. I also packed a lot of fun into my 5 hours and change at DCA today, including finally getting on Golden Zephyr. Short post because I'm boarding my plane at SNA. Maybe I'll come back and add to this later. Happy Life Day and happy birthday to Mickey and Minnie!
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Nov 19, 2023 00:52
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I walked around Galaxy’s Edge with my friend on Wednesday- it was perpetually drizzling the whole day, and HS was pretty much deserted (Slinky & Aerosmith 15 minutes, Rise 5, etc.) He had his lightsaber and so many people ran up to him and started spontaneous duels- it’s hilarious how unspoken the lightsaber code is apparently. I got some cool photos of him too.
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Nov 19, 2023 02:00
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