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Reviews

The Magic has left Disney World

If you follow the Disney brand then you’ll know there’s no shortage of reviews on the parks, products, movies, and Disney leadership. As of late, the primary trend I’ve noticed is whether or not the theme parks have lost their “magic”. 

Before I dive in further, let’s pause and define “magic”. I see a lot of folks claiming the magic is gone but what does that actually mean? As I thought about our recent experience, I turned to the Ron Kaufman’s framework, Uplifting Service. Kaufman outlines that there are 6 levels of customer service – Criminal, Basic, Expected, Desired, Surprising, and Unbelievable. It’s in the Unbelievable stage that delight happens. For the sake of this review, I’m going to frame Disney “magic” in the Unbelievable category; where delight continues to show up when you visit one of the Disney theme parks or resorts. 

If you know our family then you know we’re a little Disney obsessed. Before kids, we would visit Walt Disney World (the Florida one) up to 3 times a year. We did it all – parks from sun up to sun down, RunDisney marathon weekends, Christmas parties…all of it. Our first trip with kids was last year as Disney World (WDW) still had pandemic protocols in place which included visitor capacity caps and spaced lines for the rides. There was no comparison to previous years as it was an abbreviated configuration for WDW and we knew that. Understandably, we gave that trip, and Disney as a whole, a lot of grace. It still ended up being a great trip that our daughter has fond memories of. 

For 2022, we set out to catch the Not So Scary Halloween Party, a candy grab sprinkled throughout the Magic Kingdom (MK). Our plans stretched from Saturday to Friday, giving us 5 solid days in the WDW parks with one “slow” day at the resort. Knowing that WDW had returned to “normal” operating procedures, we landed with high expectations based on our previous pre-pandemic visits. 

To say we were disappointed is an understatement. 

Our stay was split between the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. As DVC members (a story for a different time), we typically stay at our home resort, the Grand Floridian, but this time we decided to split the visit so our daughter could experience the re-themed Moana rooms at the Polynesian. During check-in, we did the usual Magic Band (MB) setup with the resort Cast Member (CM) where they load your credit card, park tix and other access items on to the band you wear during your visit. Phones and cards can now be used to avoid the MB experience but we always get a kick out of using the bands. Expecting our bands to be good to go just as they always are, we were negatively hit with some unwanted flaws – my wife’s MB wouldn’t open the door to our Polynesian room and at every park, my band failed to get me into the parks. Come to find out, the CM that checked us in got our park tickets mixed up so none of our MBs were tied to the correct tickets. This problem plagued us the whole trip. This MB mix-up typically meant we had to find a supervisor at the park entrance to sort out the details and we were given a card, or media as they say, to carry with us for re-entry. So the MBs were rendered useless and we had to keep up with more unwanted items. Looking at Kaufam’s scale above, I’d rank this as being far from delightful. Let’s go with Basic as Criminal seems too harsh. 

During our trips, we typically visit each park at least twice, leveraging every bit of the park hopper price we can. While our 6 month old kept us from going as hard as we normally do, we did visit all of the parks. The “magic” was definitely missing from the Magic Kingdom (MK). Our 3-year-old, who had been counting every inch of growth for this trip, was excited she could finally ride Big Thunder Mountain. After getting a rider switch pass for mom, a CM measured my daughter at the line entry which she passed with flying colors. Big Thunder requires you to be at least 40” tall and my daughter, being a tall toddler, comes in around 42” with shoes on. So off into the line we went and about mid way through the line, another CM measured her again. And she passed, again. The excitement started to build for me and my daughter. After roughly a 1 hour wait in line, we bellied up to the final gate, awaiting our turn to board Big Thunder Mountain. Before we could jump on, a CM asked if they could measure her…for a third time. Sure, why not? As my daughter stood tall, the Cast Member pushed her finger between my daughters head and the measuring stick – too short! WTF? After a brief conversation with another CM, my daughter was told she could not ride Big Thunder. Devastation and tears set in. I asked why their measuring stick was so different than the two we had previously encountered. Nothing. The CM told us to step through the next car and proceed to the exit. After a 1-hour wait with a 3-year-old, I was livid, as you imagine! I dropped my daughter off with mom and proceeded to find a supervisor or Lead. I pleaded my case that after waiting for as long as we did, their system failed us. I asked several questions and each time, I was met with “we’ll give you 2 free Lightning Lane (LL) passes to any ride in the Magic Kingdom for the remainder of the day.” Is that right? It’s nearly 9p by this point, my kids are exhausted, and the CM is essentially offering us 2 hours to ride “any ride we want.” After asking to see his phone to confirm he did indeed check everything, we proceeded to Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train, another ride my daughter was definitely tall enough for – it’s 38” for those wondering. When trying to enter the LL, a CM said our Magic Bands weren’t available for the ride. Again, WTF? Yep, it appears the Big Thunder Lead Cast Member didn’t have the magic he thought he did. Another devastating moment for my daughter and another quick “sorry” from the Cast Member. Where the hell is the magic? At this point, we decided to call it a day and retreated back to the Polynesian. This experience was Criminal. Yeah, I’ll say it and it may sound harsh but come on. Nobody attempted to go even above and beyond the normal course of business. They stayed quiet, overpromised a bunch of bullshit, and hid behind their oval name badge. 

I could go on and on about other encounters we had that were lacking any sort of “magic” but I’ll save you the pain. It is worth noting that we spoke with 3 Cast Members, at length, about their employment with Disney. We were curious to see how the Happiest Place on Earth was treating their CMs. We heard one terrifying theme: Disney used COVID to make more money and are continuing to double down on their profit-generating ways. The Cast Members we spoke to ranged from 6 months of tenure to >4 years so we were shocked to hear the old CMs share the same sentiments as the newer CMs. Scary. 

We did, however, experience some “Surprising” and “Desired” moments at Disney but I’m sad to report, we did not have any magical, or Unbelievable moments. My overall synopsis is that Disney is just like any other large-scale business – if they can make money, they will, and if you want magic, you will have to pay heavy prices to get it. In their current state, I would place Disney alongside the airline industry where things like Genie+ are akin to baggage fees and VIP tours align to First Class. What was once an incredible experience, and albeit an expensive one, is now just another thing you can buy. Disney is a commodity. Sad face. 

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Reviews Sports

7 Pieces of Gear Perfect for the Beginner Snowboarder

Growing up in a big backyard with a steep incline made for some exciting sled adventures as a kid. Rocking bibbed snow pants and a puffy jacket, I would tuck into my plastic snow rocket and grab some air as I sailed into the neighbors yard. At that age the gear didn’t matter, having fun did.

Today, I’m addicted to anything that glides, carves or sleds across snow. I set a goal to become a better snowboarder this year and with that came the need for warm, comfortable equipment so my time in the mountains would be enjoyable. Here’s a list of snow gear that I used to cruise down the mountain this year.

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Photo Reviews

Update: Case-mate Case Takes a Fall

“That’s good for port access but could be bad news if you were to drop the phone directly onto its top or bottom.” That’s a quote from my Case-mate Barely There case review and as you can see above, I dropped it and the result was bad news. I would still give this case a passing grade for everyday use. Just DON’T drop the phone.

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Articles Knoxville Reviews

Open Letter: Harper Acura Does It Again

Mr. Tom Harper
Harper Dealerships
9735 Kingston Pike
Knoxville, TN 37922

Dear Mr. Harper:

If my memory serves me correctly, it was about 10 years ago when I had my first Harper Auto Square experience. I was a few months into the ownership of a ’01 VW Jetta when I experienced a brake light switch failure for the second time. After limping it into Harper Volkswagen your technicians promptly resolved the issue, in under 45 minutes if I remember correctly.

Fast forward to 2011 and here I am, still visiting the Harper brand. The service I received long ago at the VW dealership led me to purchase my last two cars from a Harper dealership – Harper Acura to be exact.

Since January 30, 2006 I have been taking our Acura’s to Harper Acura for routine maintenance. On January 18th I made a special trip, one that included routine maintenance but also a user error fix. After a failed personal grille replacement procedure I put a call into Richard Tompa and his crew and explained my dilemma. Richard got me a quick slot on the books and I was all set.

When I arrived at the dealership the morning of the 18th I was greeted by Kenny Rolen who confirmed the reason for my visit. I snatched my loaner car, which was clean inside and out I might add, and headed to work. A couple hours later I received a call from Richard who explained the procedure needed to replace the chrome grille trim and a very fair quote for the fix. I approved the work and a few hours later I was back in the service bay retrieving my ’06 TSX.

When they pulled the car around I inspected the repair work and it was, as expected, top notch. During this visit, I believe Brian Brown was the tech that worked on my car. In any case, the Harper experience that day was just as they all are for me: prompt, well-explained and full of genuine interactions from all the folks that work there.

In the future I’m confident I’ll continue to receive the best service at Harper Acura so kudos to you Mr. Harper for pairing remarkable customer service with remarkable automotive brands.

Keeping it between the lines,

Casey Peters

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Acura TSX Articles Reviews

2006 Acura TSX – 5 Years of Ownership, Nothing But Superlatives

In winter of 2005/06 I decided to shop for a new four-door sedan. Out of the Lexus IS250, Acura TSX and Volkswagen Jetta GLI I chose the TSX. It met all of my requirements and the fact that it was assembled in Japan was a big plus for me.

January 30th of this year will mark 5 years of ownership with my TSX. In typical blog fashion, I am writing a review to share the ups and downs of owning this particular model. Let’s start with the numbers.

Current Mileage: 75,437
Average Fuel Economy / Range: 26.39 MPG / 280.3 miles
Maintenance Costs (including tires): $3,117.31
Personal Modification Costs: $308.05

All generations of the TSX are based on the European version of the Honda Accord which makes it smaller than the US version of the Accord. Part of the draw to own this car was it’s small, sporty size that still has ample interior room for four adults and their accompanying luggage.

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Articles Reviews

Review: Case-mate Barely There Case for HTC EVO

Update: As I quoted below, “bad news” ensued when I dropped my Evo. I still give this case a passing grade for everyday wear and tear protection.

On the bell curve of innovation I tend to fall in the early adopters section. Perhaps because I like to try new things or maybe it’s because I like to inflict a lot of pain…on myself. Whatever the reason I like my products to be covered in the fresh scent of beta.

Early in 2010 I decided to put Sprint to the test by purchasing their first Android-based smartphone, the HTC Hero. A quick trip to Best Buy (which I highly recommend for cell phone transactions) and off I went. About twelve months and many cuss words later I decided that the Hero didn’t have the hardware oomph to take Android OS to the next level. So, I upgraded to the HTC EVO 4G.

After about 20 days with the EVO I have to say that I’m very pleased. It’s fast, consistent and packs a big enough screen to ease the pain of not having some type of keyboard for my fat fingers. Since my cell phone acts as both my mobile and home phone line, it goes with me everywhere which means it’s going to get dropped. I’m going to need a case, right?

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Articles Reviews

Well Protected: Seidio BlackBerry Innocase Review

If my parents had only known how I’d turn out they would have made my middle name “Frugal”. Let’s just say I didn’t join the text message revolution until a few months ago.

But when my Motorola MotoQ crapped out on me I saw a window of opportunity to upgrade both my phone and my plan. So now, I’m sporting a BlackBerry Curve with an unlimited text plan, putting those $0.20/text charges to bed forever. Dang, I’m so rogue.

The Curve comes with a leather pouch that makes slipping the phone into your pocket fairly easy. It’s removing the phone from the pouch over and over that gets old.

Looking for a better protection setup, I turned to a brand I had used before, Seidio. My MotoQ was once wrapped in their black Innocase Surface case which I loved – until a couple of clips broke that held the two sides together and rendered it useless. Nonetheless, the surface the product name eludes to is spectacular. It provides just the right amount of grip.

As pictured above, I outfitted my Curve 8330 with the Innocase Hybrid case. As the name suggests, Seidio combines a “Crystal” front plate with a black Innocase Surface back-plate.

I chose the hybrid model to retain a visible front while receiving the grip that I mentioned earlier from the back. This case has an excellent snug fit which protects all areas while only increasing the size of phone by a minuscule amount.

I received the case as a Christmas gift, but the $29.95 price tag is well worth it if you’re looking for a durable product that will protect your cellphone investment.