dxwwf3's 6/29 - 7/7 Trip Report and Park Updates
I just got back from a wonderful vacation at WDW. I'm not going to do the whole day by day trip report thing. I prefer just to type things out as they come to me. There could also be some spoiler warnings for some of the attraction reviews. So here goes:
The two best things about this entire trip were Soarin' and seeing the Animal Kingdom at night for the first time. I had my doubts about Soarin' because I just couldn't see how it could be THAT good. But somehow it not only hit the mark, but it exceeded every expectation I could have possibly had for it. It is not a thrill ride at all, but it IS one of the most fun attractions I've ever been on. The queue themeing is even better in person and is much better than the bland queue of Mission Space.
The changes over at the Land have grown on me........sort of. I'm still extremely upset about the change from the Sunshine Seasons Food Fair to Sunshine Seasons. The bakery is the only place I would even consider getting something from and it seems I'm not the only one. The place was about half full every time I was in the pavilion (usually between 12 - 5 pm).
And not only are EHM Evenings excellent ideas, but having them at the AK is the best part of the whole program. The park is absolutely beautiful at night and I hope that sometime within the next 10 years or so, there will be enough attractions in the park to warrant a 9 or 10 P.M. closing every night. Kali River Rapids is the next Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in that it is about 100x better at night. And the Tree Of Life also looks even better at night, especially when you walk around the old It's Tough To Be A Bug Entrance. That pathway is still open to the public and ends right beside the current entrance of the attraction.
But not everything on this trip was a complete success. The first day at MGM we all looked forward to Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show and needless to say we were all EXTREMELY disappointed (Pun Intended). The stuntmen are all great and they are very talented at their jobs. And I also must say that I think Disney did try here. This attraction didn't stink because of a lack of effort and I want to make sure to let that be known. The problem for me was that the show bored me to tears. The first segment was the best part, but the area is just too small to put together the type of show that automobiles need. The motorcycle part was decent at best and the finale was almost laughably bad. I figured there would at least be some build up, but there was none of that. It was just the backwards jump. My group all agreed that we will probably not make another visit to LMX. The show has almost 0 repeat value. I do have a whole new appreciation for Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular though. It is a much, much better show, IMO. I wish we had Residential Street back, if nothing else just for the Spectacle of Lights. I would MUCH rather see the Spectacle of Lights once every two years (which is how often we go during Christmas) as to see LMX every trip.
My family saw Stitch's Great Escape for the first time this trip (I looked around Mickey's Star Traders during this time). And while my brother was a big AE fan, my parents liked it, but didn't love it. And I think they were just as disappointed as my brother was. I was pretty surprised since my Mom likes just about everything at WDW. I was fully expecting my parents to like SGE almost as much as AE, but they all hated it. They complained about the animation quality and the lack of story. Even my aunt, uncle and nephew who went to WDW for the first time didn't like it. My uncle just described it by saying that it simply "sucked big time". I hesitated posting this because some would just call it "biased", but everything I just typed is the complete truth, so my conscience is clear. But to say something positive about it, it did seem that the new effects are keeping kids from being scared as in previous months. As I walked around Star Traders, I saw two show loads come out of the shop and I'd say only 5 or 6 kids were crying or screaming. That seems to be better than it used to be.
Primeval Whirl is the most painful theme park attraction since the back row of Back to the Future
. It seemed even worse this year and I don't know if it's even worth riding anymore. My shoulder hurt all day from slamming into the hard pad.
I still think that Dinosaur is the scariest attraction at WDW. I don't see how Disney gets away with a 40" height requirement. That attraction is clearly not for kids. But Dinosaur would have to be closely followed by It's Tough To Be A Bug. You can't even hear ITTBAB anymore because of all the children screaming. I saw it twice and could never clearly hear Hopper's spiel.
I swear there have been about 4 or 5 different Fastpass Return locations at Kali River Rapids since it opened.
It was a special treat to go see The Timekeeper over at the MK on the 4th. I got up early especially to see it and I was the first one admitted in for the 9 am show. I just hope that it wasn't the last day of operation. It was really sad seeing a meet in greet in there when the show was actually open. Meet and greets are taking over. It's getting crazy. And the most amazing thing is that people line up for those things. I never was that interested in getting autographs when I was small. Maybe it's a sign of the times?
I was very disapointed to see that Wonders of Life never opened up. I was really looking forward to Body Wars. Maybe it will be open this Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath
The steak burger at Le Cellier was the best meal I had on this trip. The 3 types of bread also put that meal over the top.
The new Top 7 show is still terrible. Stacey is slightly less annoying than Kryssa, but she is still pretty bad. Why can't they have the Zip A Dee Do Dah show on one of the vacant channels? Not everyone that goes to WDW is interested in watching this corny, teeny boper show.
I saw Carousel of Progress yesterday at the MK and the theater was almost full. Definatley a good sign there.
It was nice talking to tk421-sw and thimblekisses at the MK as well. Luckily for the rest of you they didn't get any pictures of me, so everyone can read their posts without worrying about being scared
So that about wraps things up. I'm tired and I've got alot of internet catching up to do. But if anyone has any questions or comments, I'll definately get a reply back to you.
I just got back from a wonderful vacation at WDW. I'm not going to do the whole day by day trip report thing. I prefer just to type things out as they come to me. There could also be some spoiler warnings for some of the attraction reviews. So here goes:
The two best things about this entire trip were Soarin' and seeing the Animal Kingdom at night for the first time. I had my doubts about Soarin' because I just couldn't see how it could be THAT good. But somehow it not only hit the mark, but it exceeded every expectation I could have possibly had for it. It is not a thrill ride at all, but it IS one of the most fun attractions I've ever been on. The queue themeing is even better in person and is much better than the bland queue of Mission Space.
The changes over at the Land have grown on me........sort of. I'm still extremely upset about the change from the Sunshine Seasons Food Fair to Sunshine Seasons. The bakery is the only place I would even consider getting something from and it seems I'm not the only one. The place was about half full every time I was in the pavilion (usually between 12 - 5 pm).
And not only are EHM Evenings excellent ideas, but having them at the AK is the best part of the whole program. The park is absolutely beautiful at night and I hope that sometime within the next 10 years or so, there will be enough attractions in the park to warrant a 9 or 10 P.M. closing every night. Kali River Rapids is the next Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in that it is about 100x better at night. And the Tree Of Life also looks even better at night, especially when you walk around the old It's Tough To Be A Bug Entrance. That pathway is still open to the public and ends right beside the current entrance of the attraction.
But not everything on this trip was a complete success. The first day at MGM we all looked forward to Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show and needless to say we were all EXTREMELY disappointed (Pun Intended). The stuntmen are all great and they are very talented at their jobs. And I also must say that I think Disney did try here. This attraction didn't stink because of a lack of effort and I want to make sure to let that be known. The problem for me was that the show bored me to tears. The first segment was the best part, but the area is just too small to put together the type of show that automobiles need. The motorcycle part was decent at best and the finale was almost laughably bad. I figured there would at least be some build up, but there was none of that. It was just the backwards jump. My group all agreed that we will probably not make another visit to LMX. The show has almost 0 repeat value. I do have a whole new appreciation for Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular though. It is a much, much better show, IMO. I wish we had Residential Street back, if nothing else just for the Spectacle of Lights. I would MUCH rather see the Spectacle of Lights once every two years (which is how often we go during Christmas) as to see LMX every trip.
My family saw Stitch's Great Escape for the first time this trip (I looked around Mickey's Star Traders during this time). And while my brother was a big AE fan, my parents liked it, but didn't love it. And I think they were just as disappointed as my brother was. I was pretty surprised since my Mom likes just about everything at WDW. I was fully expecting my parents to like SGE almost as much as AE, but they all hated it. They complained about the animation quality and the lack of story. Even my aunt, uncle and nephew who went to WDW for the first time didn't like it. My uncle just described it by saying that it simply "sucked big time". I hesitated posting this because some would just call it "biased", but everything I just typed is the complete truth, so my conscience is clear. But to say something positive about it, it did seem that the new effects are keeping kids from being scared as in previous months. As I walked around Star Traders, I saw two show loads come out of the shop and I'd say only 5 or 6 kids were crying or screaming. That seems to be better than it used to be.
Primeval Whirl is the most painful theme park attraction since the back row of Back to the Future
. It seemed even worse this year and I don't know if it's even worth riding anymore. My shoulder hurt all day from slamming into the hard pad. I still think that Dinosaur is the scariest attraction at WDW. I don't see how Disney gets away with a 40" height requirement. That attraction is clearly not for kids. But Dinosaur would have to be closely followed by It's Tough To Be A Bug. You can't even hear ITTBAB anymore because of all the children screaming. I saw it twice and could never clearly hear Hopper's spiel.
I swear there have been about 4 or 5 different Fastpass Return locations at Kali River Rapids since it opened.
It was a special treat to go see The Timekeeper over at the MK on the 4th. I got up early especially to see it and I was the first one admitted in for the 9 am show. I just hope that it wasn't the last day of operation. It was really sad seeing a meet in greet in there when the show was actually open. Meet and greets are taking over. It's getting crazy. And the most amazing thing is that people line up for those things. I never was that interested in getting autographs when I was small. Maybe it's a sign of the times?
I was very disapointed to see that Wonders of Life never opened up. I was really looking forward to Body Wars. Maybe it will be open this Christmas, but I'm not holding my breath
The steak burger at Le Cellier was the best meal I had on this trip. The 3 types of bread also put that meal over the top.
The new Top 7 show is still terrible. Stacey is slightly less annoying than Kryssa, but she is still pretty bad. Why can't they have the Zip A Dee Do Dah show on one of the vacant channels? Not everyone that goes to WDW is interested in watching this corny, teeny boper show.
I saw Carousel of Progress yesterday at the MK and the theater was almost full. Definatley a good sign there.
It was nice talking to tk421-sw and thimblekisses at the MK as well. Luckily for the rest of you they didn't get any pictures of me, so everyone can read their posts without worrying about being scared
So that about wraps things up. I'm tired and I've got alot of internet catching up to do. But if anyone has any questions or comments, I'll definately get a reply back to you.
