Stupid Guest Tricks

GRUMPY PIRATE wrote:Who is this Kaiser?

Kaiser Permanente. The company that talked Nixon into starting this whole "Health Maintenance Organization" scam by convincing the republicans that they could give limited amounts of health care to people, but still keep it profitable. It's a con. The only way you can make money in any business is to take in more money than you put out. How do you do that if you're charging people a fairly small amount for something that costs a lot (like visiting a doctor)? By not paying claims or by denying people care. That's why people with real and verifiable problems don't get care in the US while they would in any other civilized country (and some of the "uncivilized ones") This is another hot-button issue for me as I has my recent dental work pre-approved by my health insurance. They told me it was 100% covered less a small co-payment. I paid the co-payment, and now, two days ago, I've received a bill for another $400! (I know that doesn't seem like a lot to some people around here, but to me, that's a chunk of change and I can't just pull it out of thin air...especially at Christmas/Hanukkah time. :mad :)

My new favorite quote (semi-related, in my mind, because health care is a fairly polarizing political issue in this country): The only thing dumber than a Republican, or a Democrat, is when these pricks decide to work TOGETHER! A Republican stands up in congress and says "I've got a really bad idea!" and a Democrat stands up and says "And I know how to make it even Shittier!" -Lewis Black

Actually I was referring to: Keyser Söze! but since I see the choice for that particular HMO every year in the brochures that personnel send around! (and do not pick it!)


Ooooohhhhhhh!! I was also referring to Kaiser Wilhelm, who, it you watch the Simpsons, was the nemesis of the grandpa!! (hehehehe)

Shorty82 wrote:God, I hope WDW isn't going to start charging for a FOL Pass. Universal has the Express Pass which you buy (and costs a LOT) and is called a FOL Pass but in the end works exactly the same as Disney's FastPass which is free.

Not true.. kinda. The FOL pass brings you to THE FRONT OF THE LINE!!! You have no wait at all. They seem to pass them out and reuse them.

susislicker wrote:Not gonna happen unless you have one of those passes from a CM or the new front of the line deal that WDW offers if you pay a certain amount extra on your trip. You can BUY a pass that gives you front of the line priviledges. Now, I do NOT know if this has actually gone into effect or if it is not being done. But we were told when we started to reserve our trip on the Platinum pkg that we could pay 300.00 more to get a front of the line pass to the attractons. I admit, that does sound very good to me, with my bad back. Do any of the WDW CMs know about this deal? It is some sort of pass you buy with your trip package and it works that way. Or is not in use? We heard it from a concierge CM who was booking tours and other resses for us that we could pay for this type of pass. Maybe Zazu has heard.

What I've heard is that the Company has filed a few more patents on obvious (and less obvious) ways to use the FASTPASS system. These include preferential return times based on the price of your hotel room, instant FASTPASS, multiple attraction FASTPASSes, and a good number of other variations.

At present, *none* of these are in effect. So far as I've heard, none are presently planned -- this was just a case of the legal department deciding we needed to keep our options open (get a patent before somebody else files one).

Even if some of these systems were adopted, they still wouldn't be "front of the line" passes. As many of your know, even a FASTPASS can entail a wait, and the system doesn't work at all on attractions that don't have FASTPASS.

There are some "priority entry" passes out there, but they tend to be issued only when an attraction goes down, and are generally good for just one ride on the same day. Undated priority entry passes are to be confiscated.

Of course, they don't tell me *everything*....

Zazu wrote:What I've heard is that the Company has filed a few more patents on obvious (and less obvious) ways to use the FASTPASS system. These include preferential return times based on the price of your hotel room, instant FASTPASS, multiple attraction FASTPASSes, and a good number of other variations.

At present, *none* of these are in effect. So far as I've heard, none are presently planned -- this was just a case of the legal department deciding we needed to keep our options open (get a patent before somebody else files one).

Even if some of these systems were adopted, they still wouldn't be "front of the line" passes. As many of your know, even a FASTPASS can entail a wait, and the system doesn't work at all on attractions that don't have FASTPASS.

There are some "priority entry" passes out there, but they tend to be issued only when an attraction goes down, and are generally good for just one ride on the same day. Undated priority entry passes are to be confiscated.

Of course, they don't tell me *everything*....

Thats not RIGHT!! Demand an accounting of all the information you have been denied!!! (let us know how it works out!!)

GRUMPY PIRATE wrote:Thats not RIGHT!! Demand an accounting of all the information you have been denied!!! (let us know how it works out!!)

This just reminds me of my friends and I joking about what they should do for people with security clearances in the government: "The Great Big Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know That's Classified"! Page 1: Who killed JFK? Page 2: Where is Jimmy Hoffa's Body? Page 3: What's at Area 51?

Kwahati wrote:This just reminds me of my friends and I joking about what they should do for people with security clearances in the government: "The Great Big Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know That's Classified"! Page 1: Who killed JFK? Page 2: Where is Jimmy Hoffa's Body? Page 3: What's at Area 51?

Actually I think page 1 should be "Who's REALLY in charge around here?"

Randy

Zazu wrote:What I've heard is that the Company has filed a few more patents on obvious (and less obvious) ways to use the FASTPASS system. These include preferential return times based on the price of your hotel room, instant FASTPASS, multiple attraction FASTPASSes, and a good number of other variations.

At present, *none* of these are in effect. So far as I've heard, none are presently planned -- this was just a case of the legal department deciding we needed to keep our options open (get a patent before somebody else files one).

Even if some of these systems were adopted, they still wouldn't be "front of the line" passes. As many of your know, even a FASTPASS can entail a wait, and the system doesn't work at all on attractions that don't have FASTPASS.

There are some "priority entry" passes out there, but they tend to be issued only when an attraction goes down, and are generally good for just one ride on the same day. Undated priority entry passes are to be confiscated.

Of course, they don't tell me *everything*....

Thank you Zazu. I was not sure what the status was on that. I asked Ralph again what the CM told him and he said at the time he spoke to the CM (probably back in November of last year) the $300.00 special FOL pass was NOT in use at that time, but they expected it might be available by the time we were to come to WDW on our trip in May 07. Since we were not able to come in May, we never followed up and I was not sure what the status was on such a pass. He was told that it was an all inclusive FOL for EVERY attraction and you would get walk-ons to all of them. No wait at all... definitely for a price! :twisted: Disney does not do anything for free, really. We had made our resses on the Platinum Pkg so I am not sure if that was an extra perk you could pay for with that pkg.

You get everything else included in that pkg. It is the only way to fly! Especially for us, since we like to do a LOT of *different* things than the Parks, it really is worth it for us. You get concierge level room, massages, fireworks cruises, Cirque du Soleil tix, (Gahhhhhhhhhh...CLOWNS...evil buggers!, we did NOT go to Cirque, maybe I will try next trip to get over the clown thing...) Fantasmic Dinner pkg, unlimited recreation, like fishing excursions, horsebackriding etc, with the Platinum. It comes with the Dining Plan (!) and a vacation planner to schedule everything for you so you don't have to make a hundred phone calls. You just decide what and when you want to do something or where you want to eat and tell the vacation planner and they do all the work. It is so much easier. But even with that I will sometimes make my own resses for things just cause I like to be part of the planning. It has so many perks it is almost impossible to use them all. The really cool thing about the plan? We stay in two different resorts over 4 weeks and each stay at each resort is treated as it's own Platinum package, so we get perks for the first resort and then we get the same perks all over again for the second resort as if it were two different vacations. We did not know that the first time we booked the Platinum and it was just a little overwhelming. We just could not do everything. Now we are a little more seasoned and will know how to book it all, so we have a lot of downtime as well at the pool and the resorts. It is an amazing pkg and I am crossing my fingers and eyes it is still available for 2008. Not many people had it when we went. Many CMs looked at our passes and asked what the Platinum was. So it was not well known. It really is a pampered way to go. That's what we want to do when we come in May again. Contemporary for two weeks and Yacht for two weeks. We NEED a month away from this arid hell hole. :p:
Sues

Kwahati wrote:This just reminds me of my friends and I joking about what they should do for people with security clearances in the government: "The Great Big Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know That's Classified"! Page 1: Who killed JFK? Page 2: Where is Jimmy Hoffa's Body? Page 3: What's at Area 51?

From the previews, it sounds like that's the premise to the new "National Treasure" movie coming out it a few weeks, with Nick Cage trying to get his hands on "the President's Book of Secrets."

Randy B wrote:Actually I think page 1 should be "Who's REALLY in charge around here?"

Randy

Having worked for the Government for over 35 years, I can without a doubt tell you that the page would be blank!!!!