Thought I would share a few (or many :lol
observations from yesterday at the parks. First part is general observations with the second part being more detailed/nit picky.
General Observations
Hollywood Studios:
- DHS was fairly busy; waits were anywhere from 45-60 mins for ToT, RnRC, and Mania heading into the afternoon (though actual waits probably weren't that long). Star Wars Weekends seems like a really fun event. From the meet and greets to the extra shows to the merchandise there's a lot to see. A number of guests show up in Star Wars gear as well and its fun to see their creativity.
- The refurbished Star Tours is great! Wait times toward late morning were posted at 50-60 mins, though in actuality was only about 20. The queue is updated nicely, and the droid/security room is well done too. As far as the ride itself, the different combos provide great re-rideability. The new screen and 3-D is really clear and I like C-3PO as pilot.
- Tower had major problems around 11am. After boarding at Bravo, the ride broke down and we got stuck for about 10 mins at the hallway scene; after powering the ride off/on they brought us back down to load and transfered the group to Charlie on the Foxtrot side. Lucky us, we got stuck AGAIN at the same spot on the ride, this time in pitch black darkness because the hallway scene elevator doors closed. After about 5 mins, maintenance and a few bellhops came up and evac'd us via the "express elevator." We had the option of trying again, which we did, finally completing our ride on Bravo/Echo.
- TSMM is a ridiculously slow loading ride, with or without load gates.
Epcot:
- Epcot crowds were rather light, though they did swell in World Showcase as evening descended. Mid afternoon, waits for Test Track and Soarin' were only 40 mins and Mission: Space and Nemo were 15. We waited stand-by at TT and the actual wait was only 25 mins. SSE and LwtL were literal walk-ons.
- The Epcot monorail station is being repainted (can see the mobile scaffold on the platform). Most of the Epcot entrance appears to have been repainted already and it looks very nice.
- As much as I love the Flower/Garden Festival, it was nice to wander through World Showcase without all the F&G Festival clutter. Also, the southwest Innoventions building (the one with the character spot) is really one big waste of space; Innoventions West isn't much better. In short: Innoventions needs a re-inventing.
- Walls are up around the American Adventure fountain and the old Kaki Gori area is now walled off; a temporary cart is set up near Mitsukoshi. And Impressions de France looks great in digital quality. The show is exactly the same as before and has not been shortened.
- The new band in the UK (The British Revolution as they will be called) is actually great fun, and that comes from someone who went in with quite a bit of doubt. Video does not do these guys justice, particularly ones from the first day; they have definitely improved their stage presence, playing and jumping around in unison depending on the song. They seem to be having fun as they play and it shows. The set they played was great too, with a nice Sgt. Pepper/Hey Jude finale. Definitely will watch them again. And kudos to Tigger for hanging around and dancing with the kiddies for 10 mins during thier 8pm performance. The parks need more of these semi-unstructured character interactions.
- Celebrate Today ended months ago; why is "Celebrate You" still played after IllumiNations? Along those lines, why does the monorail spiel still talk about Celebrate Today? Also, the Tron wrapping on Coral has overstayed its welcome.
- We made a quick dash to MK to see Wishes and managed to catch most of Magic/Memories/You. While the technology is really cool, I don't think most people understand the purpose of the show. Plus, unless you're standing in the Hub, its very difficult to see the pictures of people.
Detailed Observations:
- Star Tours: The x-ray machine is one of the best and most convincing effects WDI has created in recent years. The wall mounted infrared screen was not working however.
- Tower of Terror: After the troubles discussed earlier, the audio on Bravo/Echo was fine (at least I thought it was) and the eye effect was working properly. Library audio was clear too.
- Living w/Land: All AAs appeared to be working, including the butterfly, crocodile, and insects of the rain forest scene.
- Spaceship Earth: There's an improved projection on the ascent hill just before the mammoth hunting screen. Whereas before there was only an occasional lightning bolt, the new projection is much larger and brighter and features the lightning bolt along with reddish/bluish swirls of smoke. The Phoenician boats are moving once again, steam continues to spew from the printing press, and the earth projection in the 180top appears to have been dimmed (though the light "galaxy" from the matrix projection is still there). On the downside, the mist and smell in the Burning Rome scene was missing.
- Test Track: On ride audio was not working in our vehicle and neither were the pop up cones in the first breaking section. Smoking tires at dispatch were working, as were the ABS cameras. As an added note, the briefing rooms were being used rather efficiently; definitely the best I've seen in the last few trips.
- Soarin': Still have bits of dust fly into the lens, though only once or twice.
- IllumiNations: Show was good overall. Lasers were quite clear (have they been updated recently?) and the inferno barge looked really nice. Perimeter wall launches were absent and the Earth Globe's torch did not light at all. Home continues to have pyro issues with its golden peonies and the northwest barge's fountains desperately need a refurb.
- Wishes: Show was pretty good with only a few pyro failures, notably a missing star in the beginning and no sad face for Maleficent. Did notice that different product is being used in a few parts.
- Monorails seemed to be operating moderately efficient after 9pm. Looked like they were operating 10 trains (3 Express, 4 Resort, 3 Epcot). Coral/Tronorail was experiencing door issues around 10:30 and they actually had someone from maintenance take a look at it at the TTC platform (the door was in our cab and we could see/listen to what was going on). Sounded like they would be taking it to the roundhouse next time through the TTC.
That about covers it. Overall, it was a great time at the parks, even with the double breakdown on Tower.
observations from yesterday at the parks. First part is general observations with the second part being more detailed/nit picky.General Observations
Hollywood Studios:
- DHS was fairly busy; waits were anywhere from 45-60 mins for ToT, RnRC, and Mania heading into the afternoon (though actual waits probably weren't that long). Star Wars Weekends seems like a really fun event. From the meet and greets to the extra shows to the merchandise there's a lot to see. A number of guests show up in Star Wars gear as well and its fun to see their creativity.
- The refurbished Star Tours is great! Wait times toward late morning were posted at 50-60 mins, though in actuality was only about 20. The queue is updated nicely, and the droid/security room is well done too. As far as the ride itself, the different combos provide great re-rideability. The new screen and 3-D is really clear and I like C-3PO as pilot.
- Tower had major problems around 11am. After boarding at Bravo, the ride broke down and we got stuck for about 10 mins at the hallway scene; after powering the ride off/on they brought us back down to load and transfered the group to Charlie on the Foxtrot side. Lucky us, we got stuck AGAIN at the same spot on the ride, this time in pitch black darkness because the hallway scene elevator doors closed. After about 5 mins, maintenance and a few bellhops came up and evac'd us via the "express elevator." We had the option of trying again, which we did, finally completing our ride on Bravo/Echo.
- TSMM is a ridiculously slow loading ride, with or without load gates.
Epcot:
- Epcot crowds were rather light, though they did swell in World Showcase as evening descended. Mid afternoon, waits for Test Track and Soarin' were only 40 mins and Mission: Space and Nemo were 15. We waited stand-by at TT and the actual wait was only 25 mins. SSE and LwtL were literal walk-ons.
- The Epcot monorail station is being repainted (can see the mobile scaffold on the platform). Most of the Epcot entrance appears to have been repainted already and it looks very nice.
- As much as I love the Flower/Garden Festival, it was nice to wander through World Showcase without all the F&G Festival clutter. Also, the southwest Innoventions building (the one with the character spot) is really one big waste of space; Innoventions West isn't much better. In short: Innoventions needs a re-inventing.
- Walls are up around the American Adventure fountain and the old Kaki Gori area is now walled off; a temporary cart is set up near Mitsukoshi. And Impressions de France looks great in digital quality. The show is exactly the same as before and has not been shortened.
- The new band in the UK (The British Revolution as they will be called) is actually great fun, and that comes from someone who went in with quite a bit of doubt. Video does not do these guys justice, particularly ones from the first day; they have definitely improved their stage presence, playing and jumping around in unison depending on the song. They seem to be having fun as they play and it shows. The set they played was great too, with a nice Sgt. Pepper/Hey Jude finale. Definitely will watch them again. And kudos to Tigger for hanging around and dancing with the kiddies for 10 mins during thier 8pm performance. The parks need more of these semi-unstructured character interactions.
- Celebrate Today ended months ago; why is "Celebrate You" still played after IllumiNations? Along those lines, why does the monorail spiel still talk about Celebrate Today? Also, the Tron wrapping on Coral has overstayed its welcome.
- We made a quick dash to MK to see Wishes and managed to catch most of Magic/Memories/You. While the technology is really cool, I don't think most people understand the purpose of the show. Plus, unless you're standing in the Hub, its very difficult to see the pictures of people.
Detailed Observations:
- Star Tours: The x-ray machine is one of the best and most convincing effects WDI has created in recent years. The wall mounted infrared screen was not working however.
- Tower of Terror: After the troubles discussed earlier, the audio on Bravo/Echo was fine (at least I thought it was) and the eye effect was working properly. Library audio was clear too.
- Living w/Land: All AAs appeared to be working, including the butterfly, crocodile, and insects of the rain forest scene.
- Spaceship Earth: There's an improved projection on the ascent hill just before the mammoth hunting screen. Whereas before there was only an occasional lightning bolt, the new projection is much larger and brighter and features the lightning bolt along with reddish/bluish swirls of smoke. The Phoenician boats are moving once again, steam continues to spew from the printing press, and the earth projection in the 180top appears to have been dimmed (though the light "galaxy" from the matrix projection is still there). On the downside, the mist and smell in the Burning Rome scene was missing.
- Test Track: On ride audio was not working in our vehicle and neither were the pop up cones in the first breaking section. Smoking tires at dispatch were working, as were the ABS cameras. As an added note, the briefing rooms were being used rather efficiently; definitely the best I've seen in the last few trips.
- Soarin': Still have bits of dust fly into the lens, though only once or twice.
- IllumiNations: Show was good overall. Lasers were quite clear (have they been updated recently?) and the inferno barge looked really nice. Perimeter wall launches were absent and the Earth Globe's torch did not light at all. Home continues to have pyro issues with its golden peonies and the northwest barge's fountains desperately need a refurb.
- Wishes: Show was pretty good with only a few pyro failures, notably a missing star in the beginning and no sad face for Maleficent. Did notice that different product is being used in a few parts.
- Monorails seemed to be operating moderately efficient after 9pm. Looked like they were operating 10 trains (3 Express, 4 Resort, 3 Epcot). Coral/Tronorail was experiencing door issues around 10:30 and they actually had someone from maintenance take a look at it at the TTC platform (the door was in our cab and we could see/listen to what was going on). Sounded like they would be taking it to the roundhouse next time through the TTC.
That about covers it. Overall, it was a great time at the parks, even with the double breakdown on Tower.
