OK, I arrived back home from my trip yesterday. I was too tired each night to get online and check up on these boards. I don't know if this will be at all interesting, but if you want to know just a bit about visiting the parks with low vision, read on.
Magic Kingdom
I believe that the first thing that needs to be said is that the park is incredibly confusing. This isn't a bad thing. The layout definately shows a park in constant transition. Finding attractions is definately difficult. I chose not to carry around the oversized tape player they did offer me, and the braille guide was 45 pages, so it would have taken me an hour or so just to get it read. My girlfriend has much better vision, and so we tried just finding things as we went through the park. CMs were very helpful with assisting me into boats and ride cars. I was lucky, it isn't difficult, and it was not necessary to stop any rides to get more time. No "scary spooks have interupted our tour" for me. Finding the Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner was a real challenge. It isn't visually obvious where it is. A bit of advice for CMs who read this board. If you ever see anyone with a white cane, give them directions that don't just involve a path to follow, but also describe some of the larger landmarks and even food and gift shop locations along the path. These act as guides to ensure that we're going the right way. Saying, "turn right over there, and when you get over the bridge turn left and you'll find it" isn't good enough. We tried these general directions many times, they just leave us way more confused, and further from where we are going. To give you an idea, it took us 35 minutes to get from space mountain to that tavern because we had to ask about 7 different CMs for directions. We visited 4 of the lands in our trip to the tavern. Since we were trying to get to our reservation, it was our own version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
On a different subject, rides like space mountain are great with the added element of sound. Close your eyes if you are a frequent visitor and have the time to experiment. You will notice that you can almost never feel your position in the building. The nature of the building prevents any wind, and so direction is impossible to gage. It has a very different feeling than an outdoor coaster. Aside from the sound effects. Also, when you pass through the light tunnel, you can hear the space around you become much more confined. No sound echos in the building, and I seriously want to know what materials they have on the walls, because when you are near them, sound becomes a void. Is it carpet or foam like a recording studio?
Mickey's Filharmagic was very enjoyable despite the loss of the 3d experience. Goofy running around just sounds very realistic. The sound is amazing, the gusts of air startled me just as much as anyone who could have seen the action, and the story was easy to follow despite the lack of description. I just wish I knew a bit more about what Donald was doing during that performance. His commentary makes up for anything I missed.
Hall of presidents. This is interesting, the presidents sound great, but the positioning of the sound and quality makes it believeable. It does not sound like the president is speaking out of a PA or even a really high quality monitor. That sounds real. There is a difference normally when people are heard through a speaker, vs. when they are standing and speaking. This is really well done.
Wishes. The impressive thing for me is timing. To hear the fireworks in almost perfect sync with the music and presentation is impressive. I still don't know how they do that, fireworks aren't that predictable. The score alone is worth listening. I wish I could get a raw audio version of that.
Characters. Its interesting, I'm 26, but those characters are not people in a costume when you meet them. I frequently visit Six Flags Great America near my home. The characters there do not walk around and greet people. They especially don't make the extra effort to approach you. Goofy walked up and tapped me on the head, and when I turned around, he took my hand and placed it on the top of his head. I was able to feel the detail in his face, and that was really worth it. I never could see the detail of the characters when I was a kid watching those cartoons, so it was worth it. At the Liberty Tree Tavern, the greeter noticed that I was carrying a white cane. The characters took the time to come up, tap me, and acted very silly. Again, I had the opportunity to check out their costumes. Pluto was especially awesome. I commented that I thought his tongue was really funny, and he licked my face and then barked. Excellent. My girlfriend said that she hadn't seen me that happy in a really long time.
If there is interest, I'll continue. I don't see posts with trip descriptions here, and unless there is interest, I'll keep it to myself. But if this sounds interesting, let me know. It may be better done in a podcast. I could create a single entry podcast feed that contains my descriptions. I think it would be a good idea. Let me know.
Ryan
Magic Kingdom
I believe that the first thing that needs to be said is that the park is incredibly confusing. This isn't a bad thing. The layout definately shows a park in constant transition. Finding attractions is definately difficult. I chose not to carry around the oversized tape player they did offer me, and the braille guide was 45 pages, so it would have taken me an hour or so just to get it read. My girlfriend has much better vision, and so we tried just finding things as we went through the park. CMs were very helpful with assisting me into boats and ride cars. I was lucky, it isn't difficult, and it was not necessary to stop any rides to get more time. No "scary spooks have interupted our tour" for me. Finding the Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner was a real challenge. It isn't visually obvious where it is. A bit of advice for CMs who read this board. If you ever see anyone with a white cane, give them directions that don't just involve a path to follow, but also describe some of the larger landmarks and even food and gift shop locations along the path. These act as guides to ensure that we're going the right way. Saying, "turn right over there, and when you get over the bridge turn left and you'll find it" isn't good enough. We tried these general directions many times, they just leave us way more confused, and further from where we are going. To give you an idea, it took us 35 minutes to get from space mountain to that tavern because we had to ask about 7 different CMs for directions. We visited 4 of the lands in our trip to the tavern. Since we were trying to get to our reservation, it was our own version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
On a different subject, rides like space mountain are great with the added element of sound. Close your eyes if you are a frequent visitor and have the time to experiment. You will notice that you can almost never feel your position in the building. The nature of the building prevents any wind, and so direction is impossible to gage. It has a very different feeling than an outdoor coaster. Aside from the sound effects. Also, when you pass through the light tunnel, you can hear the space around you become much more confined. No sound echos in the building, and I seriously want to know what materials they have on the walls, because when you are near them, sound becomes a void. Is it carpet or foam like a recording studio?
Mickey's Filharmagic was very enjoyable despite the loss of the 3d experience. Goofy running around just sounds very realistic. The sound is amazing, the gusts of air startled me just as much as anyone who could have seen the action, and the story was easy to follow despite the lack of description. I just wish I knew a bit more about what Donald was doing during that performance. His commentary makes up for anything I missed.
Hall of presidents. This is interesting, the presidents sound great, but the positioning of the sound and quality makes it believeable. It does not sound like the president is speaking out of a PA or even a really high quality monitor. That sounds real. There is a difference normally when people are heard through a speaker, vs. when they are standing and speaking. This is really well done.
Wishes. The impressive thing for me is timing. To hear the fireworks in almost perfect sync with the music and presentation is impressive. I still don't know how they do that, fireworks aren't that predictable. The score alone is worth listening. I wish I could get a raw audio version of that.
Characters. Its interesting, I'm 26, but those characters are not people in a costume when you meet them. I frequently visit Six Flags Great America near my home. The characters there do not walk around and greet people. They especially don't make the extra effort to approach you. Goofy walked up and tapped me on the head, and when I turned around, he took my hand and placed it on the top of his head. I was able to feel the detail in his face, and that was really worth it. I never could see the detail of the characters when I was a kid watching those cartoons, so it was worth it. At the Liberty Tree Tavern, the greeter noticed that I was carrying a white cane. The characters took the time to come up, tap me, and acted very silly. Again, I had the opportunity to check out their costumes. Pluto was especially awesome. I commented that I thought his tongue was really funny, and he licked my face and then barked. Excellent. My girlfriend said that she hadn't seen me that happy in a really long time.
If there is interest, I'll continue. I don't see posts with trip descriptions here, and unless there is interest, I'll keep it to myself. But if this sounds interesting, let me know. It may be better done in a podcast. I could create a single entry podcast feed that contains my descriptions. I think it would be a good idea. Let me know.
Ryan
