Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Discussion Thread

[mikeykaise]

Another point is, Song of the South was based around a swamp setting if I remember right, but I could be incorrect or maybe it's supposed to be set in the Ozarks I guess.

[Haymaker]

Another point is, Song of the South was based around a swamp setting if I remember right, but I could be incorrect or maybe it's supposed to be set in the Ozarks I guess.

 

Southern Plantation post Civil War

[805Andrew]

Another point is, Song of the South was based around a swamp setting if I remember right, but I could be incorrect or maybe it's supposed to be set in the Ozarks I guess.

 

It takes place in Georgia. In the movie the main character kid goes from Atlanta where he lives with his parents to his grandmother's plantation with his mom in a rural area where he meets Uncle Remus who tells him the stories about Brer Rabbit. The briar patch in the animated parts of the movie is the mountain so it wasn't much of a mountain to began with.

[larrygator]

I think this change was necessary and I'm glad it's finally happening! I will say, I think Disney missed an opportunity to come forward with a true acknowledgment of why the retheme of Splash Mountain is necessary. The press release mentions their aim to make the new ride more inclusive, which is definitely great. But I wish they had been more explicit in their explanation, stating why the ride has always been problematic, apologizing for their longtime silence regarding its problematic nature, and clarifying how this retheme is a part of their effort to enact real change in the parks.

 

I know we are all tired of reading longwinded apologies from corporations. It is about the action, and Disney is taking action here. However, I think recognizing and owning up to their faults when it comes to the ride (and Song of the South in general, that's a whole other discussion), would have been impactful.

 

Anyway, not trying to be negative! I think this change is well-intentioned and could be very cool. I don't post much on here, but I have been trying to be more vocal recently. Also, very on board for Elissa's idea of a Chip and Dale-themed Splash Mountain!

 

1) Actions speak louder than words

 

2) Making a statement such as you suggest is easy to do, but also opens up Disney to immediately needing to respond to every covert unseen racist accusation against the company. I'm certain would want to able to respond properly to any accusation and preparing for that takes time and planning.

 

3) Chip and Dale mountain in Japan in the final straw in the Alvey's moving to Japan.

[JRHcoasterki]

I think this change was necessary and I'm glad it's finally happening! I will say, I think Disney missed an opportunity to come forward with a true acknowledgment of why the retheme of Splash Mountain is necessary. The press release mentions their aim to make the new ride more inclusive, which is definitely great. But I wish they had been more explicit in their explanation, stating why the ride has always been problematic, apologizing for their longtime silence regarding its problematic nature, and clarifying how this retheme is a part of their effort to enact real change in the parks.

 

I know we are all tired of reading longwinded apologies from corporations. It is about the action, and Disney is taking action here. However, I think recognizing and owning up to their faults when it comes to the ride (and Song of the South in general, that's a whole other discussion), would have been impactful.

 

Anyway, not trying to be negative! I think this change is well-intentioned and could be very cool. I don't post much on here, but I have been trying to be more vocal recently. Also, very on board for Elissa's idea of a Chip and Dale-themed Splash Mountain!

 

1) Actions speak louder than words

 

2) Making a statement such as you suggest is easy to do, but also opens up Disney to immediately needing to respond to every covert unseen racist accusation against the company. I'm certain would want to able to respond properly to any accusation and preparing for that takes time and planning.

 

3) Chip and Dale mountain in Japan in the final straw in the Alvey's moving to Japan.

I appreciate you responding!

 

Yeah, I absolutely agree with you. I think in this case in particular, the timing of the announcement was no coincidence, and it provided an opportunity for what could have been some refreshing transparency and accountability. But as you said, that also opens a can of worms that is not necessary when it comes to taking real action.

 

Anyway, it's exciting to see positive changes. The ride is more than likely going to be gorgeous, and the argument of whether mountains/giant trees make sense in a Louisiana-based attraction will give the diehard Disney fanboys something to debate over for decades to come!

[Nrthwnd]

With all the Mardi Gras beads, necklaces, masks, cups and coins this attraction is going to be flooded with (strings of beads in the trees!) in the overall theming, it's going to be so SPARKLY, especially in that big finale scene!

 

By the way, since they started working on this revamp over a year ago, I wonder what their original timeline was with this, and now what it would be, having had the pandemic interrupt the work on it? Disneyland's, as well?

[SoCalJasonland]

A smart judge in Florida ruled with Disneyworld that being autistic doesn't entitle someone to an unlimited front of the line pass under the ADA. He correctly ruled that it would cause other guests unreasonable delays.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/judge-sides-disney-case-autistic-221058000.html

 

Part of the text

 

...

"Lorman, president of the Autism Society of Greater Orlando, said the extra waiting was hard for her son who didn’t understand the concept of time. At Disney, he needed to visit the rides in a particular order or he would have a meltdown, she said.

 

She had asked 10 passes to the Magic Kingdom so her son could ride his favorite attractions by going directly into the FastPass line.

 

If Lorman’s son got special access, others would see it on social media and demand it, too, the judge said.

 

“Requiring the modification, based on the history of the former system, would lead to fraud and overuse, lengthen the wait times significantly for non-disabled guests, and fundamentally alter Disney’s business model,” Conway wrote."

[Garet]

This isn’t the first discussion on autism and theme parks and it won’t be the last but it’s worth remembering not all parents are looking to game the system.

 

Maybe an unpopular opinion here. The thing to remember is autism is a spectrum. There are so many cases where people are going to have almost completely normal lives but others who really will struggle day to day. I remember the discussion on Knobels and people on social media glad a ride was removed because it affected their autistic child.

 

The problem is on social media there are people who’s children probably are placed extremely low but will be commenting on park groups wanting the attention and to be told constantly how brave they are or expect extra perks when they go to places, who will share every chain status they can for some attention.

 

But there is another group that you’ll probably never hear from. They won’t be posting everywhere because they know the children won’t like the attention. They’ll be speaking privately or hidden away. Who plan for months their park trips for their family (there are many who have normal children and autistic together), researching and asking trusted people for advice on places in the park.

 

They’re not looking for unlimited fast pass to avoid breakdowns because they know chances are it will be unavoidable. They’ll be researching where are the quietest places for it to happen or refreshing the app at midnight to try and get fast pass for the rides their kids need to reduce the amount of times it happens.

 

They’re doing that for other people, not themselves. They know their day is going to be stressful and they’re trying to minimize disrupting other people’s days. I’m pretty sure they’d love nothing more than to be able to line up with their child instead of needing to find a way to skip the line.

 

Now in the case above, I think that result was inevitable. I think realistically, if her child has that many needs, she should have expected meltdowns regardless and planned for it. I don't want to presume too much but if they are that focused on order, I don't see how in a park with so many variables you could have avoided it. What if the seat on a ride they want is taken, or someone taller gets in the way on a different ride? It seems even more strange coming from a president of a Autistic society.

 

I guess what I’m saying is It’s easy to forget amongst news stories like this and with people wanting attention and commenting to parks how their day was somehow ruined just bear in mind there are people who genuinely struggle and that's worth keeping in mind sometimes.

 

I think sometimes it’s worth more of a discussion than just noticing something over the top calling someone a smart judge and moving on. I remember a while back Disney had to change its disabled policy due to abuse. Unfortunately, again due to a spectrum, I personally believe that autism is even easier to exploit by people who want the perks or to hand wave away some behaviors. Again, the vocal minority you see in comments on public groups or news articles makes it harder for the people who really do need some help to find some benefits. Obviously, for my post I’ve used the two extreme ends of the spectrum but after 10 years of being a teacher, it’s hard when there are so many different versions and people from parents who want an easy excuse to children who have quirks but can manage to those where you can see the parents work hard for their child and to not affect others.

 

I don’t know what Disney’s actual policy is for this kind of issue. I always thought if the meltdown is inevitable, to do something similar to child swap so someone can line up and the meltdown can happen where it won’t disturb others but it’s always going to be hard when there are so many people who have children low on the spectrum who can line up easily but will try and game the system every chance they get. There’s no perfect answer and I think it’s almost impossible for any park to tell who is going for attention and really needs help, and I sadly think this is one condition that gets exploited a lot more than people realize that it does make it harder on the people who do genuinely need it.

Edited July 2, 2020 by Garet

[A.J.]

I remember a while back Disney had to change its disabled policy due to abuse. Unfortunately, again due to a spectrum, I personally believe that autism is even easier to exploit by people who want the perks or to hand wave away some behaviours. Again, the vocal minority you see in comments on public groups or news articles makes it harder for the people who really do need some help to find some benefits. Obviously for my post I’ve used the two extreme ends of the spectrum but after 10 years of being a teacher it’s hard when there are so many different versions and people from parents who want an easy excuse to children who have quirks but can manage to those where you can see the parents work hard for their child and to not affect others.

 

I don’t know what Disney’s actual policy is. I always thought if the meltdown is inevitable to have a child swap so someone can line up and the meltdown can happen where it won’t disturb others but it’s always going to be hard when there are so many people who have children low on the spectrum who can line up easily but will try and game the system every chance they get.

Correct, the aforementioned lawsuit is one of the situations which led to today's version of the Disability Access Service Card. The new policies were put in place specifically to curb abuse.

[tinaalsgirl]

Great post, Garet!

 

I'm autistic, and I cannot *stand* "Autism Moms". That vocal minority makes it *very* difficult for autistic people to get their voices heard.

 

I think this is an okay ruling. I understand that there needs to be a balance.

 

The best thing I can think of for Disney to be able to help accommodate autistic people is to continue updating their queue lines; for example, I found it a lot easier to stand in line and not be bored at Space Mountain because they had all those games on the walls or whatever. And while I haven't been on Big Thunder since they redid the queue, I've seen pics of the stuff they added and that's great.

 

Disney probably did those updated queues thinking mostly about little kids and keeping them distracted, but a bonus is that that can also help people like me. So I think they should keep doing that.

 

Also, maybe they should consider implementing more virtual queues and make waiting areas like the new Dumbo. I've always thought that was such a great idea - give kids a place to run around and play while waiting "in line". I think virtual queues are probably the best option for helping autistic people avoid meltdowns from long waits.

[SoCalJasonland]

I remember a while back Disney had to change its disabled policy due to abuse. Unfortunately, again due to a spectrum, I personally believe that autism is even easier to exploit by people who want the perks or to hand wave away some behaviours. Again, the vocal minority you see in comments on public groups or news articles makes it harder for the people who really do need some help to find some benefits. Obviously for my post I’ve used the two extreme ends of the spectrum but after 10 years of being a teacher it’s hard when there are so many different versions and people from parents who want an easy excuse to children who have quirks but can manage to those where you can see the parents work hard for their child and to not affect others.

 

I don’t know what Disney’s actual policy is. I always thought if the meltdown is inevitable to have a child swap so someone can line up and the meltdown can happen where it won’t disturb others but it’s always going to be hard when there are so many people who have children low on the spectrum who can line up easily but will try and game the system every chance they get.

Correct, the aforementioned lawsuit is one of the situations which led to today's version of the Disability Access Service Card. The new policies were put in place specifically to curb abuse.

 

I agree with the child swap and current disability access card, but the last time the Disney parks allowed disabled people immediate skip the line privileges at either coast, the policy was horribly abused by non-disabled people. Either the rich or the dishonest people lied for cards or paid others for their access. I was glad we were not repeating past mistakes. It was well known from online posts that Disneyland couldn't ask you to prove your disability, so the disabled lines grew as long as the regular lines. So, I guess my problem is more with the mass of dishonest people compared with the few actual disabled people.

[A.J.]

Disney probably did those updated queues thinking mostly about little kids and keeping them distracted, but a bonus is that that can also help people like me. So I think they should keep doing that.

Bad news unfortunately, they're pushing any and all game elements to the Play Disney Parks app, including the Space Mountain games. The queue is just ambient screens now.

[tinaalsgirl]

Oh. Bummer. I mean, a phone works, too... if you have one. I've got a smartphone now, finally, but I know there are a lot of people out there who don't.

[KarlaKoaster]

I watched a vlog today (yeah yeah, I know, but I enjoy the 5% of vloggers who aren't annoying), and one useful takeaway that I wanted to tell people was that in terms of masks, the neck gaitor styles which are quite popular are not allowed, not even ones with ear holes. Just thought I'd let anyone considering visiting know.

[Haymaker]

I watched a vlog today (yeah yeah, I know, but I enjoy the 5% of vloggers who aren't annoying), and one useful takeaway that I wanted to tell people was that in terms of masks, the neck gaitor styles which are quite popular are not allowed, not even ones with ear holes. Just thought I'd let anyone considering visiting know.

I dont understand that one, it covers a lot more than masks do.

[BotanicalStig]

I think this change was necessary and I'm glad it's finally happening! I will say, I think Disney missed an opportunity to come forward with a true acknowledgment of why the retheme of Splash Mountain is necessary. The press release mentions their aim to make the new ride more inclusive, which is definitely great. But I wish they had been more explicit in their explanation, stating why the ride has always been problematic, apologizing for their longtime silence regarding its problematic nature, and clarifying how this retheme is a part of their effort to enact real change in the parks.

 

I know we are all tired of reading longwinded apologies from corporations. It is about the action, and Disney is taking action here. However, I think recognizing and owning up to their faults when it comes to the ride (and Song of the South in general, that's a whole other discussion), would have been impactful.

 

Anyway, not trying to be negative! I think this change is well-intentioned and could be very cool. I don't post much on here, but I have been trying to be more vocal recently. Also, very on board for Elissa's idea of a Chip and Dale-themed Splash Mountain!

 

Frankly, there are many offensive/racist rides and characters at WDW (small world, peter pan, hall of presidents). If this had anything to do with removing offensive characters from the parks, they wouldn't have stopped with splash. And if they had stated publicly that they wished to do so, they would have no choice but to renovate many more attractions.

 

Disney doesn't give a shit in the slightest about twitter outrage. The ride was due for an update. It's an old attraction, and disney has a newer movie which fits the original theming pretty perfectly. SOTS wasn't a great movie to use for a ride from the get-go. It glorified slavery and made jokes of racial stereotypes and slurs. Some animated parts of the film play back more like an episode of south park than a disney movie. However, disney did a good job bringing the characters and songs to life. Keep in mind that these characters came from folklore, not from hate. The ride didn't really portray anything or anyone in a negative light... It was about singing animals. If the movie never existed, would the ride be offensive?

 

And to those who say the dialect of the robots was offensive, Princess and the Frog wont be much better. Southern people sound southern, and if that offends you, stay away from the new ride

 

I'm still pretty bitter about it, but I'm excited to see how they make do with the retheme. Hopefully they stay away from screens. They can do some really impressive work with animatronics these days.

[SharkTums]

^That's an excellent point. Can we get them to remove Trump out of Hall of Presidents since he's super racist!!!??

[Haymaker]

Different experiences, different hazards...

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

[tinaalsgirl]

Holy Cow! I never really thought about it before, but they must cast experienced horse riders for these type of events. Merida handled it well!

[Satans Hockey]

Glad the horse and nobody else was hurt, kinda amazing that sort of thing doesn't happen when the park is absolutely packed but it happens with what looks like basically nobody there lol

[KarlaKoaster]

You are no longer able to take your mask off while walking around eating and Drinking. Disney have closed the loophole by updating their face coverings guidance to say:

 

"You may remove your face covering while actively eating or drinking, but you should be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing."

[coasterbill]

Makes sense to me...

[jjeerr]

yeah I love walk around drinks but if I’m at pandemic Disneyland I can stay at my spot.

[bert425]

good call on the mask rules adjustment.

 

and really glad that Meridia was a skilled enough rider that she wasn't hurt from that balloon snafu.

[Haymaker]

Smart move, because there are plenty of people out there that will carry around a popcorn bucket and claim theyre eating.