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"A Place Where Everyone is Welcome" by Josh D'Amaro, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Original post on the Disney Parks Blog: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2021/04/a-place-where-everyone-is-welcome/ “To all who come to this happy place: Welcome.” Walt Disney spoke these words during the dedication of the Disneyland Resort in 1955. Today, more than 65 years later, they continue to inspire us – and remind us that the magic we make must include everyone. It’s important to me to share how we’re creating a place where everyone is welcome and taking action to create meaningful change. We want our guests to see their own backgrounds and traditions reflected in the stories, experiences and products they encounter in their interactions with Disney. And we want our cast members – and future cast members – to feel a sense of belonging at work. That means cultivating an environment where all people feel welcomed and appreciated for their unique life experiences, perspectives and culture. Where we celebrate allyship and support for each other. And where diverse views and ideas are sought after as critical contributions towards our collective success. But as with everything we do, this starts with actively listening, learning, and working with our cast and guests to imagine the possibilities. In 2019, we actively solicited input from our cast members from all over the world – to bring a greater focus to inclusivity and belonging for our cast. They brought forward more than 100 ideas, including one I’d like to share with all of you today. Every Disney Parks cast member is familiar with our longstanding tradition of The Four Keys – Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency – which have guided our approach to guest service for more than 65 years. The Four Keys are one of the first things that cast members learn about when they join Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, and they are regularly reinforced throughout their tenure. Each cast member is asked to use The Four Keys as the blueprint for the decisions they make during the workday and the approach they bring to their interactions with others. Cast members around the world know them by heart and live by them in their roles every day as they create amazing experiences for our guests. And when we asked our cast how we could better cultivate a culture of belonging, they suggested the addition of a fifth key: the key of Inclusion. Like The Four Keys before them, The 5 Keys – with Inclusion at the heart – will continue to guide us as we interact with guests, collaborate together, create the next generation of Disney products and experiences, and make critical decisions about the future of our business. Inclusion is essential to our culture and leads us forward as we continue to realize our rich legacy of engaging storytelling, exceptional service, and Disney magic. We’re bringing the spirit of the Inclusion Key to life across our business. We’re reimagining our attractions to be more inclusive, like upcoming enhancements to Jungle Cruise and new adventures with Princess Tiana. We’re celebrating the diverse and inspiring stories of our cast and fans with creator collaborations and exciting experiences, like The Soul of Jazz exhibit at Walt Disney World Resort. We’re also looking at ways we can support and uplift our communities through programs like our Disney Dreamers Academy mentorship programs, and we’re including more diverse companies in our supply chain. In fact, we’re looking at ways to increase our support for diverse suppliers in a big way – we’ll share more details on this commitment in the future. Our goal is also to have more representation and accountability across our organization, starting with my own leadership team and extending throughout our business worldwide, through tools and mentorship and learning programs that create awareness and foster leadership accountability. We’re looking at other traditions, too – including the policies that guide how our cast members show up for work. Our new approach provides greater flexibility with respect to forms of personal expression surrounding gender-inclusive hairstyles, jewelry, nail styles, and costume choices; and allowing appropriate visible tattoos. We’re updating them to not only remain relevant in today’s workplace, but also enable our cast members to better express their cultures and individuality at work. Moving forward, we believe our cast, who are at the center of the magic that lives in all our experiences, can provide the best of Disney’s legendary guest service when they have more options for personal expression – creating richer, more personal and more engaging experiences with our guests. This is just the beginning as we continue to work toward a world where we all belong – including a more diverse and inclusive Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. There’s more to do, but we’re committed to listening, learning and making meaningful improvements. The world is changing, and we will change with it, and continue to be a source of joy and inspiration for all the world. We’ll never stop working to make sure that Disney is a welcoming place for all. I’m excited about where we’re headed, and we’ll have more to share soon. Thank you for joining us on this journey.

@bossstl @Danrarbc @bert425

It's more than convenience. I'll share some of what's included in our typical days at Breakers. In bold is what you can't, or isn't really worth it when staying off site: -Wake up and go for an early job around the peninsula/beach -Grab a Starbucks Coffee and drink it by the beach or in our room overlooking the beach, prior to park opening -Get cleaned up and lounge/relax for a short period, overlooking the beach -Go to breakfast somewhere in the resort -Get to the park an hour early -Fast lane plus -Ride everything at our complete leisure -Go back to our room and eat whatever healthy lunch we packed in a cooler -Ride leisurely again. -Possibly take a dip in the pool later afternoon. -Take a short nap to recharge -Drink a cold beer in the room from our cooler -OR even better: go to the bar and start the evening with a cocktail on the beach patio -Ride rides and eventually get melt. -Take any leftovers back to our room via short walk -Ride until close -Walk around the dead very quiet closed park before heading back (don't skip this) -Grab a drink at the bar (optional) -Enjoy it in our room, on the beach, in the hot tub, on our balcony, etc. -Possibly substitute or add ice cream sold at the Breakers Ice Cream shop It's not just convenience. It's an experience. It's not a strain on our budget, so we get the most out of our experience. If you want to save money, that's your prerogative, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, don't pretend there's very little difference between staying at Breakers Express and Breakers. You're not going to sell me. If anyone hasn't stayed at Breakers, they don't really have a basis for argument. Our several day trips to CP wouldn't be special, without Breakers. For us, it's what separates it from other parks. It's hard to find that kind of package elsewhere. With a couple nights at Breakers and FL+, it takes all of the urgency out of the trip. Of note, we choose to stay in rooms overlooking the beach, since we see the park most of the day. It's turns it into somewhat of two different experiences in one.

From the parks Instagram.

Better to get it right than rush it. SFMM opened without numerous flat rides, both water rides closed, and terribly long food lines. I actually think knotts is being smart by doing so much passholder only availability so they don’t take up as many spots when general tickets are available.

the Japanese Grill at Hotel Breakers (and the Perkins for Breakfast) are pluses for me too. I can take or leave the TGI Fridays, tho the patio overlooking the beach/pool at that location is nice. as you noted, Zach, the bar (indoors and outdoors by the firepits, where they have waitress service) is wonderful.

Who would have thought a 37 year old roller coaster purchased during COVID from Mexico, that had been previously located at 5 other parks, and had once tragically killed riders, would take a little time and TLC . Maybe we should give Indiana Beach a little credit.

What a great step in the right direction. It will make us want to stay until close.

I believe the obvious solution is to just move to (boring) Ohio, where you can make 4-5 day trips to Sandusky every year without having to worry about airfare, lodging, or really any planning whatsoever

I’ve been *pretty* good for the last year with following guidelines, and now that I’m fully vaxx’d, I’ll 100% take advantage of not having to wear a mask when I’m not required to while walking around Dollywood. I hope other parks loosen up mask requirements while walking around midways (queues and shops I totally understand) but I understand that makes it a million times harder to enforce.

#1 argument to stay at Hotel Breakers (for me): PARKING yes, you get free parking at Breakers Express. . but Hotel Breakers is *on property* you do not have to move your car, you can get up and walk to the park entrance. you park your car the day you arrive - in Hotel Breakers lot. . and there. you're parked at Cedar Point (unless you make a trip to the CVS in town to stock up the mini fridge in the room). you do not have to get up early/early/early every day, get in your car, sit in traffic to get across the peninsula roadway, go thru the parking booths, find a spot (in the massive lot), and then walk to the front gate (remembering where you parked for later and dreading staying until close and getting stuck in the mass exodus across the causeway OUT of the park). you also have the benefit of being able to walk to your room, at any point during the day - literally a 5-15 minute walk (depending where in CP you start walking from) if you want to change your shoes, drop off something you bought, get a headache and want to get an aspirin from your luggage, soak your aching legs in a hot tub for 20 minutes. . etc. WORTH. EVERY. PENNY. to stay there. (even if the rooms are basically glorified Holiday Inn.. you're paying for the location, not the quality of the hotel)

To clarify a bit... Link --- I feel like walking around a theme park outdoors with a mask on seems unnecessary if you’re not in a crowded area but I get why it’s much easier to put a blanket policy in place than ask the general public to use basic common sense and have the employees try to enforce things that are total judgement calls. I'm absolutely in favor of this in theory but let's see how it goes in reality where we have to rely on the public to use common sense.

Masks only required when indoors now. Temp checks now gone, too.

Yep. Includes LR.

For anyone who was curious, here is Jersey Devil Coaster's controls! So shinny!!

That last shot of Black Mamba is particularly good. The theming really enhances this coaster (all the trees and trenches--not to mention the drumbeats as you leave the station).

To finish off this first trip (for me) we had some more time at Phantasialand the next day. For me this was a perfect introduction to TPR before doing the big MidWest trip later that year. Beginning of many fun years and making a bunch of friends from all over the globe. Hoping travel times will resume soon again. anyway, here are some Black Mamba pictures. this ride does crazy things to the camera That first drop.. one of the view spots without nets making it hard to see things

Unfortunately, you are correct, they were left off of the wooden coaster results in error due to being part of a depreciated "hybrid" classification that we had used previously. While I regret the error and apologize, we will not be doing anything about it at this time because they are showing up correctly on the combined poll, which is the one that is aggregated by third parties. Their entries have been fixed and will show up correctly on next year's wooden poll where they belong. Thanks for understanding.

Just a few months after our strawberry picking adventure at Southern Hill Farms, we found that it was time to come back for a new crop, this time fresh blueberries to be picked! Once again we trekked out to Clermont and found ourselves with walking the fields to pick the best looking produce fresh from the farm. Thanks to the sheer volume of the blueberry plants, the mad rush of the morning wasn't nearly as crazy and even by mid-day as we left, there was still plenty of fruit ready to pick. The beauty of this crop is that with so many at various stages of growth, it was clear that in just a week or two, there would be more blueberries to replace those picked during the day we visited. Southern Hill Farms was also hosting sunflower picking like before, along with tractor rides, a small child's play area with rides, slides and those awesome bounce pads. The food and beverage options from our prior visit were all available again but with expanded options thanks to the addition of several more food trucks and vendors. Southern Hill Farms continues to be a really neat local experience for Central Florida, and a tasty one at that! Peach season starts soon so we'll definitely be back for more in the coming weeks! And we're back! Love it! Freshly cleaned buckets are your tool to collect all of the blueberries you'll find in the fields. Tractor rides are available at an additional cost for those that don't want to walk to the far end of the property (or just want to enjoy the ride experience). We opted to take the walk given how beautiful of a day it was. You start out with just a few in your bin but before you know it... You've done some serious damage! You have to spot the deep blues and purples to know which ones to pick, but with so many light greens and pinks being grown, there'll be plenty more to grab in the weeks ahead. Two bins later and we ended up with 4 lbs of blueberries. It cost about $18 for everything we picked! After you're done picking you can enjoy some of the other offerings the grounds have to offer. Can't forget about The Beer Shed. Lots of new food truck options this time around! Just a few months ago these were the strawberry fields we picked from... We can't wait to get more strawberries during their next season here. Some shading has been put up over the bounce pads! Rides and slides for the little ones... This generator-powered chair swing is here too! A sneak peek at peach season, coming to Southern Hill Farms in just a few weeks!

Cool Lighting! hopefully we will see more of that around the Park this year. Coaster still stinks tho

And now, from the "Who Knew?" Dept..... I just bought an upcoming 49th Anniversary Gift for David and Me ~ which actually happens on Earth Day, April 22. And considering he will never ~ ever, check this site for any gift clues (ha ha), this is a very easy Show&Tell to share. "In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, TIki Room" .... from Inside The Earth. Drool. EDIT To Add: Oops. Forgot to tell. It cost me $47.48 Cdn ... for our 49th...? Cool numbering, huh? Photo of Cthulhu Tiki Mug, in All His Glorious....uh.... Ceramic-ness .... yes? No? From www.StormCrow.com ....thnks?

^ Could be a timing error, on their part. Or ..... "Somebody's not watching what's being posted," etc.

When I was at the park on Sunday, I did see that there was a small food stand set up near the palace theater, on the side where you can enter DC comics plaza. The tent they had set up was doing a 6 inch Subway sandwich, a bag of chips, and a drink. You were able to use the dining pass here, as well as get drink refills. You got the option of a turkey or ham sub, assorted chips, and the usual fountain drink options. They included mustard and mayo packet with the bag with the sub in it. It was nice in 2 ways... 1) Was an easy place to get member cup refilled with a drink, and not have to wait a long amount of time. 2) No line at all in the afternoon, so was easy to get something to eat very quickly. I guess this is about as close to the "go fresh" cafe we can have now... Also, got to see the maintenance staff fire up the pumps on Thunder River... Something I had always wanted to see being done, and had an excellent vantage point from Colossus. Very cool to see the wall of water come down the hill after starting the journey at the top loading area!

Oh, it totally will be -

It was May 20th

Way to walk around vlogging with your masks off all day. Also, some constructive criticism: the music in your vlogs absolutely blows.

I visited on a Friday in May a few years ago, it was crowded with Music in the Parks and regular school trips. The big coasters had up to 90 minute waits. https://www.musicintheparks.com/WhereWhen It looks like Music in the Parks will be there that day.

Got my first dose of vaccine! Bit of luck. Someone heard this one site has recently had excess vaccines and been giving them out after 5. So we went and waited and sure enough they opened it up! Was a pretty large group but I managed to make it in. 2nd dose scheduled, so I will be fully vaxxed by the time I hit the parks

So I'll definitely be there opening weekend. Operating schedule is up, and obviously I know hours are subject to change.

Remember the lady who married 1001 Nachts? Well now there's Lady falls in love with a ride....The Movie!

Apparently a Bayern Kurve attraction on a trailer was spotted at Knoebels over the weekend. Has anyone been to Phunfest this year and knows anything more?

Can’t wait until we can choose our seats on coasters. Row 9 on Phoenix killed my mojo for the day today.