Saturday, November 29, 2014

DCL app now has messaging

DIS News reports that the four DCL ships have added messaging to the smartphone Navigator app.  This will allow guests to send text messages to stay in contact with each other.  Being able to send messages via the app is a big improvement.  The Wave phone system was sometimes difficult to use.  If you are in a noisy location it is easy to not hear the phone ringing.  Also, since there are two phones per cabin, you don't know which phone your friend might be carrying around the ship.  The downside of the app of course is that you need a smartphone, so the new messaging feature will not apply to some people.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

JC Penney Snowglobes To Be Given Away Thanksgiving Day at 5:00 pm

OK, this is nasty.

Last year when JC Penney brought back their Disney snowglobes, they released it on Black Friday at 4:00 am, even though the store opened at 5:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day. This year, they are not repeating that, and instead will start giving away the snowglobes when they open on Thanksgiving Day. Crap!

JCPenney kicks off the holiday shopping season with its annual Black Friday sale starting on Thanksgiving Day when doors open at 5 p.m. While supplies last, JCPenney will be greeting its early bird patrons with a free 2014 edition Disney® snow globe and a special Jingle Bell envelope containing a $10 off $10 coupon that is immediately redeemable in store. One out of every 100 coupons will offer a $100 off $100 or more purchase that is valid on Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve.

I really don't want to go out on Thanksgiving Day to the mall just to get the snowglobes. So we are not very pleased with this news. Not sure what I am planning to do yet. I may have to decide on Thanksgiving day itself on whether drive out just to get the snowglobes and come back the next morning to show, or just risk that they might run out and come in early on Black Friday.

Sigh!

Zz.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Can Disney's "Into The Woods" Be An Oscar Contender?

They had a bicoastal premier of Disney's "Into The Woods" last night. While the report indicated that Disney does not want anyone to review the movie till December, Dateline Hollywood already has an enthusiastic endorsement of the movie.

It is, as I enthusiastically tweeted right after the conclusion of Saturday’s debut , the most dazzling movie musical since Marshall’s own Oscar winning Chicago which had the benefit like this one, of a great and smart screenplay in that case Oscar nominated writing by Bill Condon who similarly cracked the code of how to make it cinematic after two decades-plus of trying.

We are definitely planning on seeing this, probably the first weekend after Christmas.

Zz.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Mickey Nutcrackers

Found these at our local Wallgreens. They are $19.95 each.


They are considerably cheaper than the ones sold at the parks.

Zz.

Friday, November 14, 2014

How To Survive Kids Meltdown At Disney World

This is utterly funny but also true. If you have young kids, you should read it before heading off on your trip to a Disney theme park.

One of the advice that was given, and something I've told everyone going there for the first time, is to not push it and try to do everything. That is impossible, and you'll make your kids miserable. This is especially true if you are going there in the middle of summer. There is no point in doing all that and end up with a miserable time.

And please, do make SOME plans and not go there blind. WDW is so big, with so much to do and see, that you need to do some planning. It doesn't mean that your whole day must be planned out and structured, but with the implementation of FastPass Plus and the popularity of dinning reservations, you do need to plan ahead on what you want to do, at least for part of the time. Otherwise, you either have to spend most of your time standing in long lines, or you can't get into the restaurants or places that you desired the most.

Zz.

Thursday, November 06, 2014