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I know people are thinking Ratatouille since that ride currently exists in Disneyland Paris in their France area that looks just like Epcot, BUT... Don't forget that they are also currently working on a Beauty & The Beast ride for Tokyo Disneyland, and that certainly is a property that more people know than Ratatouille, so that might also be a possibility. I personally love it and has greatly enhanced World Showcase since they started bringing the Disney feel into that section of the park. I mean, it's a Disney park. Why shouldn't it have Disney characters?

I get both sides of that argument and I agree with this. Yes, to some extent is does matter how much money you have, BUT, I'm willing to bet anyone who is taking a day out at a non-local theme park probably CAN afford the virtual queue pass based on their budgeting if they feel it's worth making those changes in how they spend their disposable income. It's not like buying a Fast Pass option is like buying a car. They are reasonably priced for the value they offer. I can't tell you how many times I've been around friends who are all "Yeah, man I can afford " and then a couple of days later I see them go out and spend over $100 on dinner and a bunch of drinks. It's all how you choose to budget your money. And to answer the original question, YES I find them worth it. I wouldn't go to any major non-local park without one. Even if a park isn't that busy. If all lines in a park are only 20 minutes and the fast pass means I can make that 20 minute wait be zero to 5 minutes, those pockets of 15 minutes add up quick! And they equal either a less stressful day at a park where I can take things slower and enjoy them more, or they equal me getting in more rides on attractions that I'd like to re-ride several times. And those two things right there are worth any price tag you can put on a virtual queue option.

Toady was a bit more of a "relaxed" day on the trip, but we still did a lot of stuff and had a great time! We have been super impressed with the attention to detail and the overall operations of this vacation. The first adventure we had today was a 4-part "cultural" experience and it was so impressive to see how the entire event was put on. It would appear that Adventures by Disney rented out space at a local hotel, and then brought in different groups to put on presentations for us that would be examples of different cultural activities of the area. The presentation and organization was amazing! And this is coming from someone who puts on organized tours! We were talking at dinner today how happy we were to book this trip and already looking forward to checking out itineraries for the next. Enough with the boring text, let's get to the exciting visuals! Good morning from Austria! Today Kristen is making apricot marmalade! It's delicious! And now for some folk dancing lessons! [twitter] [/twitter] Kristen went fishing! Well... sort of! We learned quite a bit about fishing and smoking fish today! And now something for the adults! Wine tasting! And of course Kristen loved the simple little swing set that was on property of the hotel! Currently just hanging out on the top deck of the ship enjoying the view! The following is the replay of a live stream we did on Facebook. We had a "cruising" period today where they encouraged everyone to come on the top deck, and they pointed out some of the more significant buildings until our next port about 20 miles away. Did they mention they also opened an ice cream bar and had wine as well? Seriously, we are having so much fun on this trip! [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] Of course Adventures By Disney would take us to see a castle! It's like being at Walt Disney World! What does every Cruise need? An Ice Cream Social!!! Our next adventure is to an Austrian apricot farm where we are eating fruit off the trees! We picked and ate cherries & apricots right off the trees and they were all delicious! Which one is the apricot tree and which one is Adventures By Disney Adventure Guide Dean? It's hard to tell them apart! After the orchard tour, we got to taste amazing apricot & grape based food & drinks! They were fantastic! [twitter] [/twitter] We ended our dinner with an "apricot dumping" and yes it was just as delicious as it looked! More to come tomorrow! We hope you all have been enjoying following along on this adventure! Click HERE for Part Six of this report! Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to write the report, the least you could do is say something nice about it!)

Yes and no. The ship staff, like the service oriented staff, are AMA Waterways. But all the tours and activities directors are all Adventures by Disney and employed by Disney as "Adventure Guides" and there are quite a few of them. They do employe staff from several different countries, because they will also be the ones doing tours in the ports, etc, and some of them have been working for Disney for many years. They all seem to really like doing this job. And they don't just do the river cruises, they do many of their different "adventure tours."

They are seasonal, but I believe they do them mostly in the summer, a couple in the fall, and maybe even have one winter one now as well.

Ugh, how the hell does something like that happen???

On some cruise ships, you get chocolate on your pillow. On an Adventures By Disney ship, you get chocolate AND an exclusive Disney pin!!! We are back on the road again! Heading to Salzburg, Austria this morning for our next adventure! The hills are alive with the sound of Austria! We are all suited up and ready for the salt mine! First ride of the day! This funky train into the salt mine! We are heading deep into this salt mine! It's like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for real!!! [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew]Highlight of the salt mines were these awesome slides! These salt mine slides were seriously fun! They even gave us special clothes to wear! lol Then we rode this cool "dark ride" style boat ride through the salt mine! What a great experience! And we learned all about salt mining! Was a very cool overall attraction! And yes, at the end of the attraction, you exit through the salt gift shop! lol For lunch we had... MEAT!!! With a side of MEAT... and a dessert of MEAT!!! Yum!!! Sound of Music stuff. I'm not the biggest fan of the film but those who are, here ya go! Amazing! Having Starbucks in front of Mozart's Birthplace in Austria! This is my kind of adventure! My current view in Salzburg, Austria! Tell us in the comments if you'd love to be here! Kristen: "aww, feeling sad? Let me play you a song on the worlds smallest violin!" Adventures By Disney guides are amazing! When you stop for a photo on your phone, they'll try to get one also with their higher quality cameras or take it for you to share with you later! [twitter] [/twitter] Which version of our towel Animal do you like better? Sad and worried, or frustrated and angry? lol The current view from our stateroom! Amazing! One more exclusive Adventures By Disney pin closes another night! More adventures tomorrow! Click HERE for Part 5 of this report! Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to write the report, the least you could do is say something nice about it!)

It's mostly Americans, some Europeans, almost all families with kids, but a total mix on younger and older kids. No little little kids since the minimum age for this tour was four, but all ages from about 5 to 15. It's also, and just being honest here, a higher-end clientele. And that doesn't mean people who are pretentious or obnoxious, not st all, in fact it's very much a positive. I've found the group to be in general more polite and courteous. Usually by the end of day one on any RCCL cruise I'm ready to murder at least a half dozen people I've run into, but so far so good with this group. And honestly, I'll pay a premium to be around people that don't annoy me.

Have a look: https://www.adventuresbydisney.com It's a higher end product, but I think the extra money is well worth it!

Good morning from the town of Passau, Germany! First official day of our Adventures By Disney Danube River Cruise! When vacationing with Disney you are never far away from "characters!" Getting a tour of the adorable German town of Passau! It's just like being at Epcot@ This is the plague house! "Bring out your dead!" Artwork and things... More of the sights in Passau! Jesus and things... Elissa has never seen an organ that big before!!! We are about to make little marzipan pigs! The sample is on the left. Mine will probably end up looking more like the square block! lol We are attempting to make marzipan pigs! No promises that they will actually LOOK like pigs! lol Here is our family of slightly deformed, mostly dysfunctional marzipan pigs! Kristen had such a great time exploring Passau with the guides from Adventures By Disney! There has been no shortage of great food so far! Current view from our stateroom... We're on a coach to our next excursion! What's on TV? Mickey Mouse of course! This is Adventures By Disney after all! (View is awesome too!) Currently a couple hundred feet above the trees in Austria! What an amazing view! This "tree tops" park in Austria is fantastic! Great views and fun activities! This place is a giant maze of paths, tree houses, and look-out towers higher above the trees in Austria! This place also has an awesome "never in America" ropes course & playground! [twitter] [/twitter] We had a really great time exploring the tree tops in Austria today with Adventures By Disney! Click HERE for Part Four of this report! Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to write the report, the least you could do is say something nice about it!)

We are also live Tweeting from the Adventures by Disney trip so if you don't want to wait for these reports chec out our Twitter:

We have done Disney theme park vacations in every location they offer, we've done Disney Cruises, but this is the first time doing an "Adventures by Disney" vacation! What is "Adventures by Disney?" They offer various tours around the world, but with that high level of Disney quality! You can get more info here: https://www.adventuresbydisney.com/ This vacation we are doing is the Danube River Cruise and we will stop at various places in Germany, Austria, Solvakia, and Hungary! For a trip like this one, Disney works with a river cruise operator and charters out the ship, adds some "Disney flair" to it, and all your guides have that Disney quality you are used to from the parks, in fact, some of them even come from the theme parks! Let's get this trip started, shall we? Day one was embarkation day, which really just got us familiar with the ship and the itinerary... We have just checked in! Our next Disney Adventure starts soon! We have just boarded our ship! Time to kick off this Adventures By Disney Danube River Cruise! As soon as you board the ship, everything looks and sounds "Disney!" (Yes, the ship is playing Disney music!) Here's a quick look at the Stateroom! Yes, it's fantastic and yes, it comes with an iMac! For "included" ship WiFi, those speeds are not bad at all! Here is the upper deck of the "Amaviola" ship we are on. It's really nice! Our current view! A rose, is a rose, is a rose! The "welcome aboard" orientation on the Amaviola! [twitter] [/twitter] Initial dinner on the Amaviola Riverboat! Check out the menus! Dinner was great! We met our Adventures By Disney guides! This is going to be an AWESOME vacation! How's THAT for a view??? Embarkation day was a success! The real adventure starts tomorrow! Click HERE for Part Three of this report! Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to write the report, the least you could do is say something nice about it!)

Enjoy!

Part 1 - London, KidZania, Musicals, MORE! Part 2 - Adventures By Disney River Cruise Embarkation Day! Part 3 - River Cruise Day Two - Austria Tree Tops Park & Ropes Course! Part 4 - Salt Mine Slides & Sound of Music Stuff! Part 5 - Cruising the Danube, Apricot farms, wine tasting, and more! Part 6 - A visit to Wiener Prater in Vienna, Austria! Part 7 - A Day in Solvakia! Part 8 - Final Day! Our Adventure in Budapest! Part 9 - Adventures by Disney Re-Cap Video! So we are embarking on doing something we've never done before... An Adventures By Disney vacation! For the most part this will actually be a "non-theme park" Disney vacation, but as you'll see there will be a few surprises along the way so keep posted! For this first leg, which is the pre-Adventures by Disney part of the trip, we made a short three-day stop over in London for some culture, shows, and Kidzania! This first part is going to have a TON of photos, but there's some great stuff in here! Don't miss anything! Here goes... And now our next adventure starts! Royalty and stuff... Royal horses... Hey look! It's the queen! Yay! Royal colours and things! [twitter] [/twitter] Kristen is practicing for our upcoming Oktoberfest trip! 25 years ago my first ever theater musical was Les Miserables in London! Yesterday, Kristen was singing Les Mis songs in her Orlando theater summer camp, and now I'm happy to share that West End experience with her! She LOVES it!!! Today we are seeing art and historical stuffs! If you touch the Rosetta Stone, you automatically learn a new language! No installation CD required! It's like magic! Saw Great Wave The British Museum! Super cool but no photos allowed. Spend extra money for a huge exhibit you can't share with anyone. #dumb We've been to loads of big museums over the past few years and have never seen photo restrictions like this. It wasn't that you couldn't take photos of the one piece of art, it was the WHOLE EXHIBIT. And you had to pay extra for it, while you can take as many photos as you'd like around the rest of the museum that is free. All the best parts of Greek mythology! Japanese art & things! Love this! Note: So I can take photos in this FREE exhibit but not the upcharge Japan exhibit??? The perfect Father's Day lunch! Wagamama! I wish we had more of these in America, but it gives us one more reason to come to UK! London historical touristy stuff? Check! Just sat down in the front row of Matilda! I love that the front row of the Cambridge Theater is really the very FRONT!!! (No orch pit!) At intermission! The girl playing Matilda (Abbie Vena) is wonderful! Amazing facial expressions! Perfect for the role! Abbie was amazing as the lead in Matilda! We chatted with her after the show and she was just as lovely off-stage! IMO live theater is to roller coasters & physical dark rides as movies are to simulators & media-based rides. I prefer roller coasters! Ready for another Kidzania day? Kristen is! Hey look! KidZania London uses this awesome RFID wristband system to interact with screens inside the park to track your progress! Awesome! Kristen is a Kidzania world traveler having now been to KidZania Tokyo, KidZania Dubai and now KidZania London! As you walk into KidZania London you realize this is a well themed and detailed "edutainment" theme park designed just for kids! We love it! [twitter] [/twitter] Right now, Kristen is at hospital doing a human organ transplant! 90% chance the patient has survived! Here's how the RFID wristband system works. Tap the screen & among other features, tells you exactly where your child is at! Kristen's next job is a radio DJ! I wonder if she has a future at CapitalFM? It's just like the old Tortilla factory at DCA! But better! She gets a whole pack! lol Because everyone needs to shop for groceries, KidZania London teaches you both sides of the register! I like the Kidzania & Mexico clocks on the wall! Pays homage to both where tortillas and Kidzania comes from! Police officer Kristen is keeping the KidZania London citizens safe and in order! Hey, if Judy Hopps can do it! Next up Kristen takes a job as a television news anchor! KidZania London has a full studio setup! Impressive! She did great! The window washing job is kind of hilarious! They actually send kids out to wash the windows in the park! Awesome! Kristen tries her hand at fashion design! Apparently unicorns are "in" this year! When you work to repair air conditioning, the kids crawl through the HVAC system and have to find the exit! Working as a real estate agent, Kristen was sent out to various locations to take measurements and report back to the office. At the KidZania London theater, the kids learn real parts for an actual show they perform in the theater to an audience! It's fantastic! You can see the RFID tracking system at work! Kids tap in/out at job locations and also with photographers for photos! For all the hard work the kids do they earn money to spend on stuff in the department store! (Or they can work there, too!) And since the kids earn "real" money they get to do "real" banking also! Kristen's final job of the day was a newspaper reporter where she had to go do interviews and write an article! Amazing! At end of your visit you use the RFID wristband to select any photos you want to buy. We went for the "all digital" option! Upon leaving KidZania London you have to go through passport control to get back to reality! (Why do we have to leave???) Here are some of the KidZania locations around the world! There are two US locations (Dallas & Chicago) in development! Yay! Kristen had an AMAZING visit to KidZania London! This is why KidZania is one of our favorite theme park concepts! You need to bring your kids! Just sat down for Mamma Mia! Another show I can't believe we've never seen but we already know we love it! I'm usually not a fan of "jukebox musicals" but this show is just "silly fun" and we've never seen it and we always joke how we either have just missed a run somewhere or haven't been in town when it tours, so tonight we finally crossed it off the list! Pro Tip! They do not serve steaks at Victoria Station! #London This mini-UK visit is coming to a close. Next stop... Adventures By Disney Danube River Cruise! Follow along for more updates soon! Click HERE for Part 2 of this report! Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to write the report, the least you could do is say something nice about it!)

I should clarify - an official POV from a park or a ride company is "ok" as that is official footage. When someone posts something from ANOTHER channel or fan site, IMO, that's rude, especially when you know we will be out there to get the footage. But we can absolutely pay the park or ride manufacturer respect with their videos! We'll actually be shooting some video on the ride tomorrow as there was bad weather when we were down there to shoot it yesterday.

Isn't there a law as well where you have to be careful who is in the photo, where if you can clearly see the face, you need permission if someone is in it and you post it online? I'm probably wrong but before my wife was pregnant, I was looking into going to the parks and it seemed like taking pictures of the area and rides as overviews seemed OK but not zooming in to get closer pictures of coaster trains/ride vehicles going around. We were never made aware of such law if one exists at any of the parks, and considering we were with their public relations staff the whole time I'm sure they would have told us. That being said, we normally wouldn't zoom in on people without having either permission from the riders or at least the park anyway.

I just don't get it. How is this acceptable at all? Between Volcano Bay's disastrous system and this, are the Orlando parks just TRYING to piss off guests and send them to Disney?!?!? I really do not understand how either of these parks think this is "OK" to operate attractions like this.

They have scales at the top of the slide.

It IS a much darker feel, but I think that's on purpose. It lends itself well for the Marvel and the Lost Valley areas and then Cartoon Network areas are a bit brighter.

Oh, he's actually there, too! I just don't think he came out to meet us during our visit!

I think for a smaller scale ride like this, it's not that out of the ordinary anymore. Think about some of the smaller Gravity Group coasters that have had a VERY quick turn around: Wooden Warrior, Roar-o-Saurus, etc. This isn't a knock on the ride AT ALL, just the reality of these companies being able to turn around a ride much quicker now than they used to.

Once again people, it would be really REALLY NICE if you would all wait for TPR to post their videos instead of RUSHING TO BE "OMFG THE FIRST ONE TO POST A VIDEO!!!! AREN'T I AWESOME BECAUSE I POSTED A VIDEO BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE!?!?!?" We have people out at the ride today. Hopefully we'll have a POV soon. Post someone else's video and you'll be banned forever. I'm fucking sick of this crap. Thanks for your understanding.