The line to get to the top of Everest NEVER moves.

Hell yeah, bro. I'm not going to try to hype it up too much, because I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. I would agree that some of the beaches on the Gulf Coast of Florida are as good as any in the world, though. Powder white sand, clear water, no rocks/shells to step on, no sharks, hardly ever any jellyfish or seaweed, no one trying to hock you shit on the beach, chill family vibes, no crime.

I actually went to a beach I'd never been to a couple weeks back named Belleair Beach not far from Clearwater. We saw some dolphins and a live Starfish (my first time). It was nice.

You should try the Everest ride at Disney World.

lol.. One of my favorites

It ain't the line to get to the top of Everest that is a killer. It's the line trying to get down as darkness/storms come that is a real killer.

On a positive note, the rides are amazing.Star Wars rise of the rebellion was an impressive experience, and the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster is the best roller coaster I've ever been on.

New TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom to be among Disney's fastest coasters

It's a new year, which means new attractions are racing into Walt Disney World, with one of the fastest coasters at any Disney theme park opening this spring.

TRON Lightcycle / Run will officially open April 4 in Magic Kingdom, inspired by the hit 2010 Disney film "TRON: Legacy"

The new attraction is set up to mimic the dazzling visual display from the movie's lightcycle battle and picks up with the main character Sam Flynn who has "opened a second gateway into a digital realm called the Grid," Disney Parks announced.

https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/tro...n_16x9_992.jpg

The first "portal" the character created is at Shanghai Disneyland with the original TRON Lightcycle Power Run, which opened there in 2016.

Upon entering the line at Magic Kingdom, guests will feel as if they have been digitized and are transported to "the Grid" for a special Lightcycle race.

Riders are on Team Blue vying against the Grid’s "menacing Programs," Team Orange. The goal is to race through eight Energy Gates first to secure victory.

https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/tro...n_16x9_992.jpg

According to Walt Disney World, this will be one of the fastest coasters at any Disney theme park in the world.

Ahead of the opening, cast members have been invited to enter the Grid during special previews. Annual Passholders and eligible Disney Vacation Club Members will eventually be granted early preview opportunities as well.

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/ne...ry?id=96415156

I was at DW the week before Christmas. As much of a nightmare as that was, the Tron coaster was testing. I can say, it looked really fast. I'm disappointed that it wasn't opened, it's only a year and a half behind schedule. That being said, the new Guardians ride at Epcot is great, and easily the best ride in DW.

Disney World/Land sound like hell on earth anymore. Glad I got a chance to see it when I was little. Shan't be taking my kids.

ditto on all of it

Disney is the greatest test of patience know to man kind.

I was in line for small world. There was a kid jumping in between lines, just being a kid. No big deal to me.

I looked at mom-she had three and dad was not really helping. I smiled at her and the dead pan look of desperation on her face was priceless. I felt sorry for her. She was done.

Disney is not the happiest place on earth. If it was, everyone would have a smile on their faces. Rarely do you see people smiling.

People everywhere that thing they have the right of way.
Standing in line for 1.5 hours for a 2 minute ride.
Everything is over priced.
watching overweight people shove into a 3mm space so they can see the parade and hold the kids on their shoulders

Good times man. Good times.

Sucks that everyone has had such negative experiences.

The parks really are awesome when done "right". And by "right", I basically mean being local, 'cause **** spending $10k to bring your entire family to Orlando during the busiest and hottest times of the year.

If I can't go in September or February when it's cooler than usual and the lines are 10-20 minutes, I just don't go. It's nice to have that luxury. I know many people with kids in the area who just pop over for a few hours on a slow weekend and that's definitely the best way to do it.

If you happen to go, I definitely recommend going on the Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Epcot. I just went on it again this weekend and it’s arguably the best ride at any of the parks.

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Is Guru headed down for Gay Days at Disney again?

smells like freedom.

Yeah, if I ever spend $10k on a vacation, it'll be in a different country and not ****ing Orlando. LMAO



I mean.... kids are great though.

Haven’t been since before the pandemic. But I HIGHLY recommend the end of Jan/first of February. Perfect weather, not as packed as the summertime surely is. Need to start planning the next trip!!

We did an adults only trip back in 2018. Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. I had a great time. Granted, we weren't there for the rides (but we did ride our fair share using fast passes). The food was good. People watching was fun. Universal was awesome as well. We went in early March. Crowds weren't too bad at all. My advice to first timers is watch as many youtube videos on WDW trip planning as you can. They were extremely helpful. I'd definitely go again, just to see Star Wars Land/Batu which was under construction at the time. It was like going to Vegas for me...just stuff you can't see here in middle of nowhere KS.

that’s at least the 30th best beach in the area. :rolleyes:

That Belleair/Indian Rocks area is nice... wasn't crazy crowded like Clearwater (and that was freakin' January much less middle of the summer) and others. Spent a weekend on Marco Island, beach was really nice, but lucked out on a decently priced AirBnb out of all of the $1k/night hotel rooms. :eek: Siesta Key looked nice, but red tide was awful, between hacking up a lung and the dead fish.

Out of the SD/FL/SC beaches in the past several months though, I'd probably go back to a few beaches in SD* and SC before FL... quieter, less traffic/hassle getting there, not having massive rows of tents lining the beach, and better weather in terms of humidity levels not being insane.

*granted, SD also gets 'worst beach' on the list... Pacific Beach, with massive amounts of seaweed.

**** you

Just did 7 days/6 nights at Disney World last week and it was... awesome. Best family vacation we've taken since having kids. We went with the priority of limiting stress, so we paid for the bells and whistles (stayed at the Polynesian, took a Lyft rather than the bus when it was advantageous, did the Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes when necessary). As a result, it was quite expensive and now I'm dealing with that, but it was worth it.

The middle daughter and son-in-law along with our 3 grand kids are leaving today to move to a nice house in Orlando conveniently located 20 minutes from Disney World. They have been to Disney probably about 6 or so times over the last 2 years now it will be in their own back yard. :thumb:

Going next Spring for my daughter's band trip. We did the same thing at Disneyland last year where her school band went so we got a hotel close to the parks so we could walk over there, and when she got tired of her friends she could come meet up with us and ride rides together. It gave us our space to enjoy what we wanted, to relax, grab amazing breakfast, christen sheets, sleep in, can't wait for Disney World next year.

I wouldn't actively go to Disneyland, wasn't enough to do between two parks that are right across from one another, you could technically visit all of Disneyland in California if you wanted to in a day. With Disney World, all the fireworks shows, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom and especially Epcot along with waterparks and Disney Springs. Orlando blows the pants off Los Angeles anytime. Epcot alone, just love Epcot, visiting all the different countries, still getting to enjoy the rides, food and drink it feels like a worlds fair more so than an amusement park.

I’ve been very disappointed in Disney World recently which sucks because we generally love it. For one, Genie + absolutely sucks. It’s an inferior product to fast pass even though it costs money and fast pass was free. Eliminating magic express is another big screw you to guests of really expensive hotels. I also don’t like seeing rides reskinned for whatever current thing is popular like guardians of the galaxy replacing tower of terror.

Interesting. We thought Genie+ worked great and was unquestionably worth the marginal cost. Granted, I never went when there was a free fast pass system, but I didn’t think $20 a person was a lot to ask for what it got us. Never stood in line longer than 15 minutes the entire time we were there.

Also, not sure what you mean about Guardians and Tower of Terror. Just did both last week with Tower being at Hollywood and Guardians being at Epcot. It’s funny you mention those two though as they were the only rides my 7 year old girl did not like!

As far as the Magic Express goes, I never rode it, so I really don’t have a frame of reference. With that said, my buddy who is in a much bigger Disney family than we are, hated the Magic Express and said it was always a cluster. To each their own though.

Walt Disney World
 

The issues I have with Genie + are quite a few, including the costs. $20 per day per person is a lot of money over the course of 4-6 days. Fast pass got you all if the genie + benefits plus more, all for free. Another issue is you can only have one ride reserved at a time so it makes it much more difficult to cluster rides in a certain location. Fast pass was three reservations to start your day. Then one at a time after that.

The other issue with Genie + only allowing one ride reserved at a time is that say if your first ride doesn’t start until 11 or noon which is common if you don’t get on the app early enough, all morning you have no access to the genie + you paid for while you wait for your first reservation.

And here is probably the worst thing about genie + functionality. You can only use it on a ride once per day. So if you really like just a few rides and want to do them repeatedly you can’t using genie +. This is especially problematic for little kids who tend to really gravitate to certain rides and only have limited ride options anyways.

I did magic express multiple times and never once had an issue. Not sure what your friend specifically had problems with but for us it was always as simple as getting off the plane and right on the bus within 15 minutes. Not having it just causes another big cost and hassle to get there and back. But I’m sure with an operation like that there are bound to be issues occasionally. If you didn’t have to now pay for parking at the resorts it wouldn’t be so bad as you could rent a car if you wanted to get to your resort.

Regarding guardians I guess that’s more of a generic complaint across all parks as guardians replaced tower of terror in Disney Land not Disney World. But I would prefer more unique ride creations instead new rides or reskinned ones seemingly now all being based on some movie. I get why they do it but I think they miss the big picture a bit attaching a specific product to every ride. I’m reminded of Men in Black at Universal. That ride just looks really sad and dated.

I can say that I completely agree with being frustrated that you can only do each ride once, but I guess that’s one way to keep lightning lane congestion down.

We didn’t really have a problem with your second point though. Our goal was low stress, so we didn’t try to get there at rope drop. I’d wake up at 7, grab a lightning lane, then pass back out for a bit. By the time everyone was up and ready, we’d be ready to use our selection or we’d be eligible for one because of the 2 hour window.

100% this.

Fast Pass is gone now? I thought it worked really well.

It was too free.

They should have a single rider option like Universal does.

Walt Disney World
 

With fast pass you could make your reservations as much as 60 days in advance so no need to set an alarm and fight everyone else for that first set of reservations. This was a huge perk to staying on Disney property that just went away with no perk to replace it. Also, the two hour window to book another starts from when park opens, not when you reserve, so if your first ride is at 11:30 am or later, yes you can book another before it starts, but you still can’t make that booking until probably 10 or 11 am as parks usually open at 8 or 9 am. It’s all just very anti guest experience to me. It’s no fun having to constantly get on your phone and being in a hyper competitive ride booking environment while on vacation.

Walt Disney World
 

They do have those. I’ve kind of had good and bad experiences with it but that’s just really based on luck.

Yup, Genie+ blows. Gotta wake up at 7am and hope to book a ride, then you have to have a 2 hour recurring alarm to keep booking more rides, except after your 2nd ride, a lot of the others won't be available until later in the afternoon/night time, and to be honest our family started at 8am (or the moment the gates were open) and we were totally spent usually by 4pm.

I haven’t seen them at Disney. I just see the standby line and the fast pass line when I go. I can never use the fast pass system because they aren’t available with employee passes(brother-in-law works there) so it’s always stand around and wait if we want to go on a ride.

Yeah, it was a pretty smooth experience for me. Again, though, I can't compare it to what it was. I just know that we rode everything we wanted, never waited in lines, and was virtually stress free.