Just got back from a wonderful 13th trip with my sister (1/13 to 1/17) and I wanted to share some of my observations and experiences with the people who will appreciate them the most hah! I'd never been there in teh winter, so it was quite a change to wear some comfortable jeans and long sleeve shirts. This was the "no cell phone, no camera, no iPod" and trip. I turned everything off and left it in the hotel, thus I was fully immersed in the magic!
I have a lot of good things to say, but with some criticism too.
WDW - General
- Overall, the entire place looked great.
- I've come to the conclusion that 99% of people at WDW either don't know or care about the things we find so fascinating here on the boards (MSEP vs SpectroMagic, B-Mode Yeti, etc).
- The entire nation of Brasil was on tour there. Seriously, we counted about 60 different tour groups.
- There seemed to be A LOT of first-timers in the park, which was cool. I struck up a lot of conversations with people in line this time.
- There were a lot of little kids in the park,more than usual (at least it seemed that way) presumably because of the MLK weekend?
- The crowds were great, except on Sunday when it was PACKED in all four parks. (We did 4 parks in 1 day on Sunday and are very proud of it).
Magic Kingdom
- Carousel of Progress still amazes me every time I ride it. The first scene needs a bit of work, as Dad's mouth doesn't quite move properly.
- Space Mountain's audio adds SO MUCH to the ride, especially since I was just on it in June, it felt like a new ride all over again. It's subtle enough to not distract but prominent enough to add enough a fun element to it. We rode it 8 times!!
- Fantasyland construction looks like it's really coming along quite well.
- "Winnie the Pooh" queue is just a major headache with all of the noisemakers they put there for kids to play with.
- Haunted Mansion queue was being worked on late at night in the rain on Sunday night, we could hear hammering and see overhead "flood lights" as they are called...very interesting.
- I really like Monster's Inc.Laugh Floor. I dont' know why it has such a bad rep on the boards; sure, it doesn't belong in Tomorrowland, we all know that, but I think it's a stellar attraction, it always cracks me up.
- Pirates needs some serious audio work and a lot of the AA's weren't working to the best of their ability.
- It was cool to see Splash Mountain without any water in it on the outside.
- MSEP continues to blow me away. We watched it twice, I dont' know how anyone can watch this thing and not absolutely love it. Main Street USA was PACKED with people to see MSEP.
- Wishes is FAR superior to "Summer Nightastic Craptacular." Ha ha, I'm glad it's back.
EPCOT
- I finally saw the hidden Mick on the golfball in Soarin'! I was so excited that I found it.
- Ellen's ENergy Adventure isn't all that bad, I've always liked it...but it's not all that good either.
- Test Track has seen better days. It's time to severely update it or completely re-do it.
- Captain EO was freaking awesome. I hadn't seen it in a very long time, I freaking loved it. My sister thought it was the dumbest thing in the universe.
-I'm ready for some updates to IllumiNations. Just some small updates, maybe some different music in the middle.
- I really like the "O Canada!" film with Martin Short. It doesn't get the credit it deserves.
DHS
- How can anyone say this is a half-day park? No way!! If you really want to see everything the park has to offer, you need at least a day, maybe a day and a half.
- "Sounds Dangerous" is atrocious. I remember liking it in 2006 (maybe?) but this time it was just a joke. I'm totally hopping on the "" train on this one.
- Twilight Zone music is still out-of-synch in the corridor scene on the Alpha and Beta elevators.
- There were THREE CM's inside the studio pretending to clean up and record some stuff with Aerosmith, including "Chris" to get Joe Perry's black Les Paul. AWESOME stuff.
- It seemed that there weren't as many special effects working on TSMM. Did they turn some of them off?
- Fantasmic! is easily the best nighttime spectacular in all of Walt Disney World. We wanted to watch it twice, but byt the time the 6:30 show was over, there was already a line stretching all the way to the front of the park to get in, so we said "Forget it."
Animal Kingdom
- Hardly any of Everest effects were working. The Yeti looked terrible like a cardboard cut-out.
- Dinosaur/CTX effects are similarly terrible looking (the pteradon that is stationary over you, and the compy's that don't jump over you anymore). THey also didn't get everyone into the preshow in time to see the whole video, thus ruining the presentation. This really irritates me, A LOT.
- I forgot how much fun "It's Tough to be a Bug" 3D film was!!! What a neat little show.
My sister and I were picked yesterday to be the grand marshals of the 3pm parade! I couldn't believe it. It's an experience I will never EVER forget. We got free photos, a certificate and free Mickey ears with our names embroidered on the back!! I joked with the cast members who spelled our last name wrong (Kitching) on the certificate, and they said "No, we'll fix it and get you a new one, this is Disney: we dont' make mistakes." To which i replied, "No mistakes? How about Stitch's Great Escape?" And one said "I know someone who actually likes it," to which I said "Michael Eisner was your biggest mistake." And they both cracked up laughing Then the one said again "I'll give you one big mistake...EPSN Wide World of Sports..."
We stayed at Pop Century. The place looks good, but it's still spooky to see the unfinished legendary years across the way. Will they ever remove signage that keeps calling Pop Century the "classic years?" And the "Generation Gap Bridge?" I really wish they ahd finished the Legendary Years, but I think the new Animation ones will be good too.
Ok that was really long, sorry!
That's all, folks!
Edit: OH! The merchandise is getting SO much better, I think. I really liked the 40th Anniversary stuff, I got a laptop case and hooded sweatshirt, and also some pins! But I really like that they are also embracing the original WDW logo with the globe and Mickey ears. Good stuff!!
I have a lot of good things to say, but with some criticism too.
WDW - General
- Overall, the entire place looked great.
- I've come to the conclusion that 99% of people at WDW either don't know or care about the things we find so fascinating here on the boards (MSEP vs SpectroMagic, B-Mode Yeti, etc).
- The entire nation of Brasil was on tour there. Seriously, we counted about 60 different tour groups.
- There seemed to be A LOT of first-timers in the park, which was cool. I struck up a lot of conversations with people in line this time.
- There were a lot of little kids in the park,more than usual (at least it seemed that way) presumably because of the MLK weekend?
- The crowds were great, except on Sunday when it was PACKED in all four parks. (We did 4 parks in 1 day on Sunday and are very proud of it).
Magic Kingdom
- Carousel of Progress still amazes me every time I ride it. The first scene needs a bit of work, as Dad's mouth doesn't quite move properly.
- Space Mountain's audio adds SO MUCH to the ride, especially since I was just on it in June, it felt like a new ride all over again. It's subtle enough to not distract but prominent enough to add enough a fun element to it. We rode it 8 times!!
- Fantasyland construction looks like it's really coming along quite well.
- "Winnie the Pooh" queue is just a major headache with all of the noisemakers they put there for kids to play with.
- Haunted Mansion queue was being worked on late at night in the rain on Sunday night, we could hear hammering and see overhead "flood lights" as they are called...very interesting.
- I really like Monster's Inc.Laugh Floor. I dont' know why it has such a bad rep on the boards; sure, it doesn't belong in Tomorrowland, we all know that, but I think it's a stellar attraction, it always cracks me up.
- Pirates needs some serious audio work and a lot of the AA's weren't working to the best of their ability.
- It was cool to see Splash Mountain without any water in it on the outside.
- MSEP continues to blow me away. We watched it twice, I dont' know how anyone can watch this thing and not absolutely love it. Main Street USA was PACKED with people to see MSEP.
- Wishes is FAR superior to "Summer Nightastic Craptacular." Ha ha, I'm glad it's back.
EPCOT
- I finally saw the hidden Mick on the golfball in Soarin'! I was so excited that I found it.
- Ellen's ENergy Adventure isn't all that bad, I've always liked it...but it's not all that good either.
- Test Track has seen better days. It's time to severely update it or completely re-do it.
- Captain EO was freaking awesome. I hadn't seen it in a very long time, I freaking loved it. My sister thought it was the dumbest thing in the universe.
-I'm ready for some updates to IllumiNations. Just some small updates, maybe some different music in the middle.
- I really like the "O Canada!" film with Martin Short. It doesn't get the credit it deserves.
DHS
- How can anyone say this is a half-day park? No way!! If you really want to see everything the park has to offer, you need at least a day, maybe a day and a half.
- "Sounds Dangerous" is atrocious. I remember liking it in 2006 (maybe?) but this time it was just a joke. I'm totally hopping on the "" train on this one.
- Twilight Zone music is still out-of-synch in the corridor scene on the Alpha and Beta elevators.
- There were THREE CM's inside the studio pretending to clean up and record some stuff with Aerosmith, including "Chris" to get Joe Perry's black Les Paul. AWESOME stuff.
- It seemed that there weren't as many special effects working on TSMM. Did they turn some of them off?
- Fantasmic! is easily the best nighttime spectacular in all of Walt Disney World. We wanted to watch it twice, but byt the time the 6:30 show was over, there was already a line stretching all the way to the front of the park to get in, so we said "Forget it."
Animal Kingdom
- Hardly any of Everest effects were working. The Yeti looked terrible like a cardboard cut-out.
- Dinosaur/CTX effects are similarly terrible looking (the pteradon that is stationary over you, and the compy's that don't jump over you anymore). THey also didn't get everyone into the preshow in time to see the whole video, thus ruining the presentation. This really irritates me, A LOT.
- I forgot how much fun "It's Tough to be a Bug" 3D film was!!! What a neat little show.
My sister and I were picked yesterday to be the grand marshals of the 3pm parade! I couldn't believe it. It's an experience I will never EVER forget. We got free photos, a certificate and free Mickey ears with our names embroidered on the back!! I joked with the cast members who spelled our last name wrong (Kitching) on the certificate, and they said "No, we'll fix it and get you a new one, this is Disney: we dont' make mistakes." To which i replied, "No mistakes? How about Stitch's Great Escape?" And one said "I know someone who actually likes it," to which I said "Michael Eisner was your biggest mistake." And they both cracked up laughing Then the one said again "I'll give you one big mistake...EPSN Wide World of Sports..."
We stayed at Pop Century. The place looks good, but it's still spooky to see the unfinished legendary years across the way. Will they ever remove signage that keeps calling Pop Century the "classic years?" And the "Generation Gap Bridge?" I really wish they ahd finished the Legendary Years, but I think the new Animation ones will be good too.
Ok that was really long, sorry!
That's all, folks!
Edit: OH! The merchandise is getting SO much better, I think. I really liked the 40th Anniversary stuff, I got a laptop case and hooded sweatshirt, and also some pins! But I really like that they are also embracing the original WDW logo with the globe and Mickey ears. Good stuff!!