Disney World, 2020

Disney World, 2020
Written Feb, 2020

This blog post is assuming the reader has some familiarity with Disney World and is mainly about recent updates to the park. 

Disney has been heavily promoting their recently built Star Wars themed area, Galaxy's Edge.  You can't even get out of the Orlando airport without seeing at least one subtle advertisement for the park.

The tram from the concourses to the baggage claim.

Before you go, you will need two things, a smart phone, and the Disney World App.  The app looks like this:

 

You probably will want a spare battery to keep your phone charged.  Once you are used to this app, you will be using it a lot.

This app does a number of things for you.  

It allows you to select 3 rides for Fast Pass.  This can be done up to 60 days ahead of time.

<2026 edit>  This has been replace with "Lightning Lane".  I am not going to explain this concept now as I am not familiar enough to offer a qualified opinion. <2026 edit/>

It allows you to sign up for a boarding group for "Rise of the Resistance"  This must be done in the park on the day of your arrival.  More on this later.

It allows you to view the wait times for all attractions in all the parks.

The view of Hollywood studios using the app.  With a touch of your fingers, you can zoom in and out.

 

It uses the GPS to position you on the map.

You can make reservations at the various restaurants.

In short, this app will save you a lot of running around, leaving you time to enjoy the ambiance of the park.

Arriving at the park can be done via bus, Uber, and the new Gondola system.

Gondola running from the Riviera resort to Hollywood Studios.

I arrived by bus at 6:50 am, and was greeted by the aroma of fried onions.  That was cruel, and I never did find out where they were coming from.

The red dawn lights up the Tower of Terror.

7:10, and the park was already filling up.

Star Tours has been around for a while.  But it has been upgraded with movie clips from the latest movie and worth seeing.  And, because it is not physically in Galaxy's Edge, it was largely ignored by the masses.  I have read that there are a number of different ways it plays out, but I rode it twice and saw the same show both times.  Also, while the Standby time stated 15 minutes, but I walked right on.

The entrance to Galaxy's Edge.

At first I thought the entrance a bit odd, but after I thought about it I think it is about controlling the transition from "Hollywood" to a "Galaxy, far far away"  You walk into a dark tunnel, turn the corner, and then...

You are in a Galaxy, far, far away...

Theming abounds.

Slightly newer model X-Wing.

Droids,

droids,

and more droids.

Great landscaping.

The local market.

Monkey-Lizards on a stick.  DO NOT EAT... These ride on your shoulder.

Kid sized transport

The Millennium Falcon.

The above is the back drop for the ride, "Smugglers Run"  The queue is well decorated, with characters walking about, including Chewbaca.  Once inside there is an engine repair shop with things going on, and a refreshment stand.

The Millennium Falcon has seen better days.

Remember Luke's first comment?  "What a hunk of junk!"

Chewbaca complaining to the repair crew.

Nice lines on her though.

Hondo explains the story.

The latest animatronics are amazing.  You can tell they are not real, but only just.  Later you see the Mon Calimari, the Navi, and they are all amazing.

"Blah, Blah, Blah"

Then you are split up into groups of 6, and are taken on board the Millennium Falcon.  I was one of those who waited in line for 2 hours to see the original Star Wars, so stepping onboard the Falcon just sent chills down my spine.

And they you get to take her out for a test drive.

I have to say, this ride alone was worth the price of admission.  The feelings of being on board something that we have been seeing stories about for 40 years just cannot be put into words.

A speeder workshop.

First Order's fighter.

Troopers checking the ID's of everyone. 

Kind of a more personable TSA Agent.

For sale, $25,000, and in small print, allow 6-8 weeks to deliver, no refunds.  Amazon does not exist in the Star Wars universe.

But phone booths still do?

I love the Indiana Jones stunt show, I see it every time I am here.

I am not sure if there is a landing pad up there or was there a crash.

The theming of the park is excellent.  As it is a star port, occasionally you hear ships flying by with noticeable Doppler shifts.

<2026 edit> This is all dated information, and replace with the Lightning Lane, 'Single Pass'.  And NOT the Lighting Lane, 'Multi Pass'.  <2026 edit/>

 

It is time to explain the "Rise of the Resistance" boarding group system.  It is very similar to Fast Pass, but it is on it's own system.  And you have to be in the park, on the day, to get a boarding pass.  Once you sign in, you get a number, and they will sequence though the numbers and when your number is up, you will get a text that it is time to board.  You have 2 hours to respond.

To give you some numbers.  I talked with one person who was there at 4 am, and he was assigned boarding group #3.  But, there is a bit of randomness, as someone immediately behind him was assigned to boarding group #60.  From what I can intuit, on a normal day, Disney expects to get 88 groups through.  I signed in at 7:10, and was assigned group 102.  But the park was opening early, and closing late, so I could expect get on.  And at 3 pm, the text arrived.

At that point I just walked up and allowed on.  If you hadn't got your cardio in yet for the day, you will now.  The queue is about a half a mile long.  But other than that, it was a walk up to the ride.  

I hate to use the over much overused term, "Takes it to a new level", but in this case, the immersive experience really does take the ride going experience to a new level.  You are recruits for the Resistance, and after you are introduced to BB-8 and Rey, you are told the your base has been discovered and you have to evacuate.  Outside there is a transport, and you pile in.  The transport, has standing room only, and is driven by a Mon Calimari.  Another, unbelievable animatronic.  Excitement ensues, but in the end, it is a pointless effort, as your transport is caught by the First Order in a tractor beam.

BB-8 and Rey provide the intro.

Then the evacuation past a sleek black X-Wing.

 And after you are captured, and leave the transport, this is what you see:

You are in a frikken Star Destroyer.

You are now prisoners of the First Order.  This is the part of the immersive experience.  About 90 Storm Troopers are standing guard, while the officers of the First Order split you up into small groups for interrogation.  I honestly didn't know where to go with this.  Make light humor while breaking the fourth wall?  Go along with experience?  

 

I was stunned, and found my self in a staring contest with an officer of the New Order.

I lost....

We were split into groups.

The interrogation starts and then stops suddenly.

After all that, it gets even better!  The escape, the special effects, the near magically controlled self driving cars. I won't add anymore spoilers here.

As good as Smugglers run was, Rise of the Resistance totally blew it away.

More little goodies.
Borrowing a page from "Build a Bear Workshop", there is a Build a Light Saber Workshop. 

He was going for the Kylo Ren/Darth Maul version.

On to the Magic Kingdom.

Because all Magic Kingdom articles have a castle shot.

So what is new or going to be new?
A new roller coaster based on Tron  is going up right next to Space Mountain.  Open some time in 2021.

Cranes building Tron off in the distance.

Pirates of the Caribbean has been updated to include Captains Barbarossa and Sparrow.  The auction scene has been made more politically correct.

And what is this?

Another restaurant, based on Beauty and the Beast.

It's the dead stroller grave yard.

The parade is marvelous.  And I am not a big fan of parades.

Quite a few princesses make the parade.

My favorite is the clock-work dragon.

And it shoots fire.

The Haunted Mansion has had some updates. 

A blinking tomb stone greets you, don't blink, or you will miss it.

The hitch-hiking ghost animations have been updated.
The Jungle Cruise has been updated to include a underground Cambodian city.

Who knew there was an actual barbershop on Main Street?

Left overs from the now defunct "Adventurers Club"  A shame really, that was my favorite stopping spot in Disney Springs.

 More on that later, ConGaloosh!

The final show of fireworks and lighting is well worth waiting for.  Do not leave early.  The show is now 19 minutes long, so the buses are on their return trips from those who did leave early.

 

A Video on Youtube can be seen here.  Well worth putting this on your 4k TV.


On to Epcot.
As of 2/2/2020, I recommend you do not visit Epcot.  The park is going through major renovations and a lot of construction going on.
Test Track is down for renovation
World of Energy is being replaced with a Guardians of the Galaxy Ride
A Ratatouille ride is being built in France.
The main entry area is getting some sort of update.  I think it will be a show stage.  The effect is half of the main entrance is closed off.
Cherry Tree Lane (Mary Poppins) is being added to the United Kingdom pavilion.
Canada's 360 has been updated.

The effect is running into constant blockages and disappointments.  I entered the park at 4pm, and rode everything I wanted (that was open) and was out by 8.  Epcot should be deeply discounted while this is going on.  But after these updates, it is going to be marvelous. 

And since I am on disappointments, lets talk about one area where Disney is leaving you wanting, the food.  There is nothing good you can say about the food services.  Long lines, high prices, disappointing portions.  For a company that does everything so well, this is surprising and I was willing to ignore the deficiencies.  Because this is not what the Disney is about and I need to lose weight anyway.

Item 1, Long Lines.  I don't understand any organization that skimps on personnel whose job it is, is to take money.  This is your ultimate goal!  If there are 50 people in line for an ice cream bar, or heaven help you, just an egg-roll, there is something wrong here.  The exchange is as simple as it gets. 

Item 2, High Prices.  From what I have read, the prices have gone up 20% a year for several years.  A bottle of water was $3.50, and a 7 inch round of pizza $10. 

Item 3, Disappointing Portions, What is this?

This is called a "Deconstructed BLT"

My first clue should have been the minimal sized line.  I saw BLT and thought, sandwich.  I should have paid attention to the word "Deconstructed".  What does Deconstructed mean?  Looking it it up it means "Presentation over Substance".  Above is a quarter slice of bacon, on an ounce or so of tasteless pork, topped with a sprig of arugula and an egg.  Combine this with a spoon size that cannot handle a runny egg and you have nothing but a disgusting disappointment here.  Just enough food to get you to the next food cart, 50 feet away, but leaving you leery of what you will find there.

And don't get me started on what they call pizza there.  But I live near Philadelphia, where the best pizza in the world can be had just about everywhere.  

Animal Kingdom

Closing out out this article is the new addition to Animal Kingdom, The World of Pandora

The floating islands look great.

Closeup on the same islands.

The whole area is just lined with cliffs and vegetation.

Excellent theming.

Lighting, Navi style.

The river ride is gorgeous.

The camera can't do it justice.

A shop full of Banshees.  You can get one to ride on your shoulder.

I found a quiet sit down location just across the river from the Tree of Light.  It's on a small porch, free of strollers and carts. 

Modeled after an Indian Snake Temple.

Fun Puns

The Flight of Passage is the other major ride in the park.  The line varied from 2-3 hours in length.  Plus size humans will not fit.  However, there is a bathroom in the queue about half way through.

Flight of Passage ride queue

Interesting reading.

Disney Springs, formally Downtown Disney, is a shopping area nearby.  It can be visited via bus or from some resorts, by boat.  As of this writing, it has 104 shops, 64 restaurants and 23 "Attractions, Shows and Events".  I have been visiting this location since the mid 80's and it has been steadily attriting the reasons to actually visit the place.  My favorite places to visit were the Adventurers club, populated with excellent theming, shows, and animatronics.  Then the comedy club, and lastly, Disney Quest.  The first two have been replaced by more clothing stores, because 102 of them apparently wasn't enough, and the last by "The NBA Experience".  What is that?  I didn't care to find out.

As with my rant in Epcot, Disney seems to have a shortage of cast members whose job it is to actually take your money.

A store worth the visit.  I walked by the Dragon twice before I saw it.

If it was real, I would have been dead.

The sea dragon has been on location for 20 years.  It says something about the durability of Legos.

Rainforest Cafe, with a live volcano.  One of the few places worth eating at in the whole complex.

 

The other is the T-Rex Cafe.

I saw 3 of the remaining 400 Amphicars cruising the lake.

The balloon ride looked unmanned.

Another "Build a Light Saber" store.  And you don't have to fight the crowds or pay the entrance fee of Hollywood Studios to get one.

Partially completed models.

Why?  Disney Quest was something unique here.  3-D gaming salons.  Rafting down river with dinosaurs, Light saber duels.  And they trashed it for what?

A little tip here.  Disney buses have charging ports lined up at the bottom of the seats. 

Scams

Scams.

I have been getting an education on various scams out there and would be remiss if I didn’t pass some of the information along.

I am trying to keep this short, however.  Many scams share a few features that serve as red flags.

1. Anyone can get scammed.  It doesn’t matter how smart you think you are.  Though many times, scammers are looking for people in a vulnerable state.  Death of spouse, illness, loss of employment, when your emotional side is overruling your logical side.
2. Scammers create a sense of urgency.  “This must be done now!”  This is to reduce your time to think.  (Except for romance scams, which they will let marinate for up to a year)
3. Scammers will try to keep you from communicating with your support groups, I.E. Saner heads.  Excuses include “there are those trying to stop our good work”, and “only we understand.”
4. They will ask for money and ask for it to be delivered via non-standard and untraceable methods.  Like with gift cards and wire transfers.

Rules of thumb:

                Don’t give money to anyone that you haven’t met.

                Don’t give anyone money without sleeping on it.

                Talk to a friend or family.  

If you think it’s a scam, there is a network to call, 877 908 3360, it’s sponsored by AARP, but anyone can call.  Don’t engage the scammers any further.  They are well practiced at getting you back in their clutches if they realize you are suspicious.  

Examples:

Psychic scams.  They’ll claim you are cursed in a past life, or through a parent, and the curse has now come to you and will be transferred to your children. They will need to cleanse your money of the curse.  Also, they will claim that they are doing God’s work, and the devil will try to stop them, so don’t tell anyone!  They promise return of your cleansed money, but it won’t happen.  

 

Romance scams.  You are in contact with someone online.  Eventually they will bring up some heart rending money problem.  Usually involving a sick child.  But you will never meet them despite providing airline tickets etc…  There is always a reason they can never meet with you.  Medical excuses, sudden accidents, military deployment.  

 

IRS/Social Security office calls claiming there is already an arrest warrant for you if you don’t act now.  They are sure you didn’t really do anything, but this problem must have been caused by you or someone you know, so don’t talk to anyone.

 

Calls from a niece or nephew claiming they are in an accident/ jail in a foreign country and need money now.

 

You have won! But we need you to pay taxes up front before we can release the money.

 

And the most insidious.  You have been scammed, and you know it and are kicking yourself for you stupidity, but suddenly you get a call from an investigator of these scammers, and he will work to get your money back!  This is a follow up scam.

 

Yes there are investigators of these things, but it is on you to call them, not the other way around.

New Updates:

Scammers are improving their craft.  Gone are those poorly worded requests for cash from Nigerian princes.  Now the letters are indistinguishable from authentic letters.  

 

Worse, they are going real time.  They know where you are via programs like Creeper, and consult your social media and will know all kinds of personal information before they contact you.  “Saw you at Ruby Tuesdays a couple of hours ago, Is that Susan?  My how she has grown.  Let’s have lunch.  By the way, here is an interesting article on xxx.”

 

People who know they are scammed, and break contact have been hounded by the scammers.  In some cases, the scammers called the police claiming to be a relative that is concerned about their victim’s wellbeing to see if the victim was ok and handing the victim a phone.

Current What to Do’s:

Don’t answer the phone from unknown callers.  It just puts your number on a list of someone that answers.

Don’t engage the scammer.  Just hang up.  They do this all the time, you but once.  They are better at this than you.  

 

Talk to friends and family.  

 

If someone is telling you to keep a secret, it’s for their benefit, not yours.

 

You are not cursed!  Yes, shit happens, but it’s not due to a curse.

 

Official government organizations do not call you to warn you of arrest warrants.

 

Just because the caller knows a lot about you, they are still strangers.

Bitch to your Federal Representatives.   This is an international problem, and therefore up to the Federal Government to protect it's citizenry.    They so far have done next to nothing, and the current efforts are inadequate.  Once again, they have sub contracted the problem to our local phone providers who, at best can block the calls.  And considering I got 3 yesterday, are doing a piss poor job.  I am thinking missile strikes here.  That may be overkill, but far more lives have been economically destroyed than at 911. 

What is being done:

Our government has done very little to protect us from these fraudsters.  At first this was up to the FCC , which gave up and surrendered the responsibility to the telephone companies, which did nothing.  But now there is finally some efforts, as voters are calling their congressmen.  Polls show that it robo-call scams are in the top five lists of concerns very often, regardless of your political leanings.

There have been products like NoMoRoBo to reduce your robocalls.  My experience after signing up is neutral at best.

Telephone companies are now coming up with schemes to stop the more voluminous calls from crossing their systems.  Many of you will currently get notification of probable scam with the call. 

As much as we would love to crucify the offenders, that is not going to happen.  They are making the calls from foreign countries that cannot/will not do anything about it.  

How bad is it?

50% of all phone traffic is now robocalls.  A very significant percentage of them are attempts to commit fraud.  With off the shelf programs, you can set up a system that will make a million calls a day.  It is estimated that .2% of those calls result in a success for the con-men.  That’s about 2,000 a day.  An estimated 600 Billion dollars has been lost.  911 has an estimated cost at 180 Billion. 

Epilogue.

Do you have children? And do they have a social security number.  Check their credit score.  It should be none, but if not, then someone is using their number until they grow up.

Whole Life Insurance (What a Deal!)

Whole Life Insurance,  
<dripping with sarcasm>What a Deal!</dripping with sarcasm>

Short form (to save you from reading the explanation): Whole Life Insurance is a rip off.  Don't buy it!

Long form:

When you acquire a family, insurance becomes a mandatory obligation.  It's part of the deal to try to provide if you cannot any more.  Most employers provide some kind of life insurance, and in my experience, at a good price.  Far better then what you can get on your own.  This is what is referred to as "Term" life insurance.  You pay monthly, and are insured monthly against various "perils".  

Term life insurance is very cheap through your employer for a number of reasons.  The main two reasons are, they buy in bulk against a median age of the company, and the insurance companies almost never pay out.  The vast majority of employees leave the company long before death, so this is all profit for the insurance company.  Privately bought term insurance also rarely pays out because the customer often cancels or reduces the policy long before death as well.  

Then there is "Whole Life" Insurance.  This is sold as an investment.  "Give your family the the gift of better financial security" and "more secure financial future" are quotes from one brochure.  

Why?  Because these articles look better with an image embedded.

The accrued value is pathetic compared to any investment you can make, and that includes lottery tickets, which pay out approximately 45 cents on the dollar.   

My first encounter was with a Whole Life policy, issued by Gerber, yes that Gerber.  I was 24, and my grandmother gave me the policy that she had bought when I was born.  She was sold this thing and paid the policy for 20 years, on the idea that it would be worth something.  

The policy was for $1,000, which to be fair, was the price of an expensive funeral in the 50's.  And over 20 years she paid almost $1,300 into it.  The total cash value after 24 years was $360.  I was told by the insurance agent that they sold a ton of those policies way back then.  And, if you watch MeTV right now, they are still selling these policies.  "Help your child get off to a good financial start" is their catch phrase.  I don't know what the accrued value is but I am sure it's pathetic as well.  If anyone has applied for this "Protection", let me know.

I just opened a mailing for a whole life plan from United of Omaha.  I won't boor you with the verbiage extolling it's virtues.  Here are the numbers.  

For a coverage value of $10,000, the premium for a 60 year old male is $660/per year.

Cash value at 65:    $800

Cash value at 70:   $1,950  (God, these numbers are depressing)

Cash value at 80:    $4,200 

Investment paid in: $13,200

So, you would think that if I die tomorrow, my beneficiaries are up $9,340, a fair amount of which would go to a funeral.  But no, there is a caveat on page 2, "If you die from natural causes in the first or second policy year, the modified death benefit is 110% of premiums paid.  So the insurance payout will pay out $720 and $1,440 respectively.  Just enough for the widow to think, "He was an idiot, but at least we didn't lose money."

College Admissions Scandal, 2019

College Admissions Scandal, 2019

Off of my normal lighthearted postings.  Concerning this University admission crisis.  No University has been accused as complicit in this scheme.  But, from my recent experience in dealing with college entrances, they set themselves up for this to happen a long time ago. 

I was under the delusion that upper education was a simple business exchange, I give you money, you give me an education. If I had a lot of money, that credential will have a prestigious name on it.  Is it fair, no, but I cannot give a car dealership enough money for a Lamborghini either.

Image stolen from New York Times.

I was aghast at the information that upper education would require for admission.  Things that had no bearing on learning and education like what social clubs did you join?  What events did you participate in?  It finally hit me what their business model truly is.  They do not want to educate students, they want to create alumni.  Rich graduates that can donate on regular basis. 

The signs were all around me, but I was ignoring them.  My wife gets regular requests for cash at least seasonally.  (The Navy doesn't send me letters for fund raising the latest destroyer)  I was denied a course once that I was willing to pay cash for, but did not meet their requirements.  Life experience didn't matter.  

With this change in the business model, which happened many decades ago, the colleges left the path into madness.  And set themselves up for the fraudulent activity now being reported.  Parents paying professionals to create fake histories of their children, so they can have the best credentials life has to offer.  This probably started as simple exaggerations in the past, but the arms race kept scaling up the lies to photo shopped entries for participation's that never occurred, along with forged corroborations.  

I found it interesting to read, that the colleges "Don’t have consensus in the United States about what is a fair system of selection."  Perhaps they should require their admission people to take courses in ethics.

My Favorite Movies

My goal was to have a list of 100, but so far, my list is far short of that.

Favorite Movies:

Addams Family
Airplane
Aliens
Apollo 13
Avengers: Endgame

Back to the Future
Back to the Future 3
Battleship
Big Hand for the Little Lady
Big Trouble in Little China

Blazing Saddles
Cannonball Run
Captain Marvel
Christmas Story
Despicable Me

Dr Strange
Fantasia 2000
Fellowship of the Ring
Ferris Beuller's Day Off
GalaxyQuest

Ghost Busters
Howl's Moving Castle
Jurassic Park
JurassicWorld
Labyrinth

Ladyhawk
Lawrence of Arabia
Mary Poppins
Midway (both versions)
Mom and Dad save the World

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
My Favorite Year
National Treasure
Patton
Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean II
Princess Bride
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Return of the King
Seven Samurai

Spirited Away
Superman 2
The Avengers (not Steed and Emma)
The Great Race
The Hunt for Red October

The Incredibles
The Lion in Winter
The Longest Day
The Thin Man
The Two Towers

Tootsie
Wrath of Khan
Yamato
Young Frankenstein

Movies I hated but other people seem to love:

Clockwork Orange
Blade Runner
Brokeback Mountain
The Big Lebowski
Gone With the Wind (Sorry Mom)

Hawk, the Slayer
Fight Club
Citizen Kane.  (After about 90 min, I finally had to just fast forwarded to the end)
This is Spinal Tap
Austin Powers (any of them)