Disney News, Discussion & an Element of Fun - 2023 Edition

[jpeterson]

I don’t think DVC will change. That’s not handled by the hotel. It also affects point costs and distributions, which are contractual. Also, 2024 points charts are already out, so nothing can change until 2025 for DVC.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't think they can change DVC at this point.

 

[BrianL]

Maleficent’s Fire-Breathing Flamethrower Effect Returns to Disney World’s Festival of Fantasy Parade

View attachment 761073

After temporarily suspending the fire-breathing effect for Maleficent in Disney World’s Festival of Fantasy Parade on April 23rd, the effect has returned! We stopped by Magic Kingdom earlier today to get photos of the flamethrower effect, which continues to impress guests.

Aww, just missed it! At least I got to see her.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Our airfares to Hawaii this summer aren't really budging either.

Hawaii is insanely expensive right now. My parents want to go back so bad but cannot stomach the cost of flights and everything else.

I mentioned Europe because anecdotally I know SO many people planning European trips right now (Italy and Greece in particular).

 

[Teamubr]

I mentioned Europe because anecdotally I know SO many people planning European trips right now (Italy and Greece in particular).

I'm flying to Europe in 2 weeks. Going to spend 16 days there with the last 4 at DLP. When I priced out the 4 days at DLP (staying on site), it was about 60% of the cost of going to WDW. I booked airfare back in February and have weird three 1-way tickets to get to where I'm going and back, so the tickets weren't cheap. I was watching round trip from STL to Rome and it has dropped a little since February, but was still running over $1000/ticket.

Interesting to see if I tried booking the whole thing for September/October what the costs would be.

j

 

[Brian Noble]

My parents want to go back so bad but cannot stomach the cost of flights and everything else.

Our lodging (three weeks!) is all timeshare. The annual fees have gone up some, but we are insulated from what's going on in the lodging end of the market. Without that, we probably wouldn't be going either.

The fact that we are going for so long makes the flights easier to swallow. If we took two other (but shorter) fly-to trips more or less anywhere else we'd end up spending at least a healthy portion of that.

 

[RivShore]

Last week I got a $43 flight each way from DC to MCO on Southwest in September...I'm not sure I've ever seen that for this route, maybe $69 every so often. (There are now only 2 flights a day post-pandemic when there used to be multiple.) It's a tentative trip, but I figured at that price plus the 35% resort discount, I might even take a solo trip if DD can't go...lol.

Like you, I'm also seeing more JetBlue sales too...never usually via email before the last couple of months - I used to always miss out on those Twitter notifications. A friend of mine was just able to get a very decent JB flight from Westchester Airport (usually higher prices for any airline at HPN from what I recall) in June after I FWD her the email I'd gotten.

Have you ever seen any reasonable SW flights from BWI to MCO? Every time we check, even during their sales, Jetblue is half the price to DC.
BWI is just so much easier for us though.

 

[rangerxenos]

Have you ever seen any reasonable SW flights from BWI to MCO? Every time we check, even during their sales, Jetblue is half the price to DC.
BWI is just so much easier for us though.

Pretty sure BWI is one of SW's hubs, seems like most of the non stops from BDL where we fly out from go through Baltimore.

 

[Leigh L]

Have you ever seen any reasonable SW flights from BWI to MCO? Every time we check, even during their sales, Jetblue is half the price to DC.
BWI is just so much easier for us though.

BWI is the furthest Washington DC metro airport for me, but I fly from there occasionally so will check prices for Southwest.

A few years ago, it was easier to get cheaper flights out of BWI I feel, but where SW is concerned, it's been consistently higher than DCA at least for the past year which I found weird since they (BWI) have so many SW flights.

Unfortunately, IAD no longer has a direct SW flight to MCO and DCA only has 2 a day anytime I've checked. My favorite airline right now is JB and United though for reliability and those are through either DCA or IAD.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Have you ever seen any reasonable SW flights from BWI to MCO? Every time we check, even during their sales, Jetblue is half the price to DC.
BWI is just so much easier for us though.

I live near BWI and often times I notice that United is the same price or slightly cheaper than Southwest for fights to/from MCO. BWI is easier for me to get to but IAD is cheaper so I fly out of there most of the time. I miss the direct Jetblue fights from BWI.

 

[HopperFan]

Maleficent’s Fire-Breathing Flamethrower Effect Returns to Disney World’s Festival of Fantasy Parade

View attachment 761073

After temporarily suspending the fire-breathing effect for Maleficent in Disney World’s Festival of Fantasy Parade on April 23rd, the effect has returned! We stopped by Magic Kingdom earlier today to get photos of the flamethrower effect, which continues to impress guests.

YES MY GIRL IS BACK!
Can't wait to see her next month!

 

[RivShore]

I live near BWI and often times I notice that United is the same price or slightly cheaper than Southwest for fights to/from MCO. BWI is easier for me to get to but IAD is cheaper so I fly out of there most of the time. I miss the direct Jetblue fights from BWI.

So slightly long story...we got two Jetblue credit cards during their special 100k points promotion during covid, mostly for the purpose of flying into BWI. Then they went and pulled out of Baltimore so now we have been using the points to fly into DCA and getting a car back to the Baltimore area. Still works out cheaper because every time we look at SW, it's like $300+ RT. Hoping Jetblue starts flying to BWI again, SW needs some real competition there.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Pat McAfee Show coming to ESPN, ESPN+, and ESPN’s YouTube. Will stream live on all 3 platforms.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658562713621250049

 

[HokieRaven5]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658565066139095062

 

[brockash]

I don’t pay for it, I get it for free through Verizon. But I would still pay for it if I had to tbh because I watch it more than any other streaming service.

We get ours with verizon as well, but once we don't we're out. We bought it when it first came out for a cpl yrs before it became part of our verizon package, but honestly we don't watch it that much.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disney PhotoPass Service Unveils New Artistic Watercolor Magic Shot

We know how much you love Disney PhotoPass Service’s Magic Shots, so we’ve been exploring how to use technology to expand these offerings in new and exciting ways. As part of these efforts, we just launched a new Watercolor Magic Shot that turns your photo into a painting while stylistically removing other guests from the background so your friends and family are the focus of the photo.

Check out the before and after photos below showing this effect!

• 
• 

This Magic Shot is available from the Disney PhotoPass photographer stationed across from Partners Statue (see below for the exact location pinpointed on a map) at Magic Kingdom Park for a limited time from 9 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. What

 

[Jetku]

Disney PhotoPass Service Unveils New Artistic Watercolor Magic Shot

We know how much you love Disney PhotoPass Service’s Magic Shots, so we’ve been exploring how to use technology to expand these offerings in new and exciting ways. As part of these efforts, we just launched a new Watercolor Magic Shot that turns your photo into a painting while stylistically removing other guests from the background so your friends and family are the focus of the photo.

Check out the before and after photos below showing this effect!

• 
• 

This Magic Shot is available from the Disney PhotoPass photographer stationed across from Partners Statue (see below for the exact location pinpointed on a map) at Magic Kingdom Park for a limited time from 9 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. What

This looks…bad..? Totally washed out, and the shadows of the removed people are still there… I almost think super-imposing people into an empty castle picture would look better..

 

[VAtink]

Last week I got a $43 flight each way from DC to MCO on Southwest in September

Woah! I'm also flying out of DC to MCO in September so of course just rushed over to see what prices are now. Not quite as good as yours, but still only $54!

 

[HokieRaven5]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658586461988605952

 

[HokieRaven5]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658588796588544000

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658588799272890369

 

[Brocktoon]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658586461988605952

Wow ... surprised to see both drop on D+ so close together. If I was to speculate, I wonder if the Hulu buyout and merge with D+ along with the next big price hike will be happening around that timeframe

EDIT: Also maybe not so promising on the quality of 'Echo' if they're releasing all the eps at once ...