From: tanida@seismo.CSS.GOV (Tom Tanida)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Latest info from WDW trip
Date: 29 Jul 92 21:38:42 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.disney

(I'm posting this for Stan Sroka, sroka@evax.gdc.com, who is having
network difficulties.  He can get e-mail, so feel free to send comments
to him.)

=========================================================================

   As prommised, I'm posting the latest info that I learned from my 
   recent visit to WDW. I always figured that I knew most of what was going on 
   after a couple of dozen visits, but this time I picked up on a couple of new 
   items.

   BABY SWAPING - No it is not what you think. When a family goes to a park and
   wants to ride an attraction like Splash Mountain (it is open and I'll report 
   on that later) but both parents want to go on the ride but their infant can't 
   because of the restrictions. Parent #1 goes in line (~35 minute wait last 
   week) and the parent #2 goes, with child, through the exit to the 
   loading/unloading area. When parent #1 gets out, parent #2 gets in and parent 
   #1 watches the child. This way only one parent has to wait in the line.

   SHOPPING PASS - There are provisions to enter EPCOT for free to go shopping.
   You buy a one day pass that they time stamp (tell them what you want to 
   do first). You enter EPCOT to go shopping and return to the enterance 
   within an hour and they refund the cost of the ticket.

   DISNEY VACATION CLUB EXPERIENCE - Good, more to follow.
	   December 1991 - We went, We saw, We liked.
	   December 1991 - We went (again), We saw, We still liked.
	   February 1992 - We went, We saw, We bought.
	       July 1992 - We went, We stayed, We liked.

   The DVC is similar to a time-share. Instead of the 1 week a year deal, the
   DVC allocated 'points' that you use for your stay. The accomidations (four 
   different floor plans), the day of week (Friday and Saturday night use more
   points), and the time of year all determine the number of points used. The 
   minimal cost is approx $12,000 and my wife and I can go to visit Mickey three
   times a year for that. That is based on using the fewest points per visit.
   (If anyone wants more info, E-MAIL me directly).
   The check-in was no problem, and the room was available early so we were able
   to get settled in and enjoy much of the day at the MK. The studio has a 
   microwave, 'fridge, coffee maker, we requested and got a toaster. The room 
   is very nice. As I posted earlier, we drove to the parks (free parking) 
   because I've used the WDW busses for many years while staying at Fort 
   Wilderness and I tired of waiting. The drive time from DVC the EPCOT is 7
   minutes and with a short tram ride to the main gate I was inside in no time.
   If the bus route is similar to other bus routes, you may have to wait for 
   up to 20 minutes for a bus (I do have a couple of WDW bus horror stories).
   Well, back to DVC. The pool is nice, but almost boring compared to the one
   at Port Orleans (go see that one if you can). DVC has an exercise room, sauna
   and lots of other little things to offer. We have noticed some changes (for
   the better) from the time we first saw DVC to the time we stayed. Simple
   things like no more charge for use of the washers/dryers.
   On Tuesday afternoons, DVC has a meet-the-members kind of night. They had
   wine, cheese and shrimp. We spoke to the other members and everyone liked
   DVC.
   We'll be going again in December and I'll report on any changes to DVC then.

   SPLASH MOUNTAIN - John McGinn better throw away the WDW survey because this 
   ride will blow away ALL other attractions.
   This ride is very similar to the one at DL in California, but I think the 
   WDW one is better. The basic ride is similar to the DL version but in the
   ride you are following the story of the rabbit and fox in Song-of-the-South.
   When the fox throws the rabbit into the briar patch is when you go down the
   BIG drop. In the DL version prior to the BIG drop you are in an area the 
   looks like underground (giant carrots coming down from the ceiling) where
   the sad faced rabbits are almost mourning that the fox caught brer rabbit.
   This may be to scary and maybe that is why this is missing from the WDW 
   version. The entire ride is very happy and thrilling. You can't help but feel
   better after this ride. I'm sure there have been postings on this ride that
   can explain it MUCH better than I can.
   On July 17 SM had a 'soft openeing' where it is not officially opened but
   will allow guests on. If there is a long delay or the rides breaks, too bad
   because the ride is not really opened.
   I did get some technical information on the ride;
    - there are 58 cars at a cost of $65,000 each. These car are different than
       the ones at DL. The DL cars are similar to the Space Mountain cars (one
       person in front of the other). The WDW cars have the guests sitting side
       by side (two across and four rows). Each car holds 8 guests. The ride has
       a maximum capacity of 2,400 guests per hour. In the first week of 
       operation, ~180,000 guests rode SM.
    - The main drop is 52 1/2 feet at a 45 degree angle approaching a speed of
       40 miles per hour at the bottom.
    - The cost of the project was $100 million and covers 10 acres. The entire
       ride is drained every night and the water is pumped into a outside
       holding tank 40 feet deep (look like a deep swimming pool).
       The water is filtered, clorinated and pumped back in the morning. It
       takes 20 minutes to re-fill the ride.

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Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney