imagineer boy's thoughts, reviews, observations

[imagineer boy]

Okay, so I just got back from an awesome WDW trip a few days ago. And it was my first time back in a whopping five years. Yeesh, what a WDW drought. So here are a few of my observations and reviews of the newer things I tried out.

We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter. Very lovely resort. Now as much as we all bemoan about TDO's handling of the parks, if one thing they've done right its that they havn't cut back on general park maintinence. Everything was freshly painted and clean. Not once did I see any paint peeling or lack of care. At least TDO isn't like DL during the Pressler/Harriss era where they let paint peel left and right.

Crowds were moderate to slightly crowded except for Epcot on Saturday which was PACKED.

I liked the few Halloween decorations the MK had up. But I'd love to see more. Especially at the other parks.

Haunted Mansion after upgrade: WOW!!! This beyond exceeded my expectations. I loved the stretch room surround effects and the improved audio through the rest of the attraction. I also loved the new additions like the lightning changing portraits, the Escher stairs (very cool and spooky), the glowing wall paper eyes, and the attic bride. Big A+ here.

One critique though. I don't like how the hanging corpse is lit a lot brifer now. I think a lot of first timers might miss it.

No major new work on the grave yard that I could see. Hate the walls, they make the queue so cramped and stuffy.

HoP after upgrade: Very nice! I'd already seen YouTube videos of it, but it was still cool in person. The Obamabot is great, they got his movements down perfectly. The rest of the show is very taseful and moving. And it seemed to really attract crowds too.

From now on, Liberty Square is now my favourite MK land. Awesome new Haunted Mansion, great Hall of Presidents, Colombia Harbor house is my favourite MK resteraunt, plus I love the themeing at atmosphere of the land.

I love how the Splash Mountain splash sprays people watching on the bridge. Great touch!

POTC after refurb: Yeah, I agree the refurb was really lackluster. But there were a few improvements from when I rode it last. The loading area used to have the worst inside outdoor night time effect ever. You could clearly see the blackened cieling, but now its a lot less visible. I liked the new lighting in the opening cave scenes and the Davy Jones effects. Plus I'm glad the talking skull is gone, he was out of place and didn't have the original Xavier Atencio spiel like at DL so he's not really missed. Plus I like the addition of the Jack Sparrow AAs. But the audio is noticably crummy, and the auction pirate seemed really stiff for some reason. The refurb was an improvement, but it could've been much better.

I really agree with those who say the Alladin carpets are intrusive, because they are. The whole thing is just jammed in the area, and disrupts the feeling totally. Its a huge Arabian structure right across from a huge Tiki structure.

FL is definately covered in walls! Saw workers work on the Tea Cups roof, but gosh I'm really wanting to see the Pooh exterior finnished!

My ex-favourite land Tomorrowland felt so dead to me. But, I still think its the coolest looking Tomorrowland from the entrance atleast. I honestly hope they don't get rid of its look.

I rode Stitch last time I visited it and hated it then, I rode it again and I still hate it. It was walk on every time I walked past it. When I rode it, no one seemed to enjoy it. No one laughed, kids behind me started sobbing during the dark scenes (this was supposed to be kid friendlier than AE how?), and there was pretty much stoney silence when it was over. I do give it kudos for its awesome effects and animatronics, but other than that its not good. God I miss AE so bad...

MILF: I think I'm falling with the "just okay" crowd on this one. When its funny, its pretty funny. When its not, its not. The pre show was just horrible. Yeah, drop another safe on Mike and see if we laugh this time. :brick: But the first two acts of the main show were pretty funny, especially with the showing audience members on screen and interacting with them. Clever! But the end act dissolved into cheesy jokes and ended on a wimper. So over all I thought it was okay. But I still think it really does not belong in TL. There's so much space over at DHS, why not move it there?

TTA: Now that I've ridden it in person, I STILL HATE THE NEW NARRATION. Gah, that voice is so prissy I just wanna punch him in the face. Plus I really want the original star tunnel music back during the Space Mountain part. Still a relaxing ride, if one can stand the narrator voice.

Space Mountain: Aside from the video games, it still felt exactly the same as when I last rode it. Still rough, still not as good at DL's. Sure the layout is better, but the smoothness and onboard audio of DL's makes a heck of a difference. And the off-board audio really didn't do it for me. It just sounded like a mumbo jumbo noice off in the distance. I did like the "swirling" sound effects near the spin at the end. Its still a fun ride though.

One question, one time I rode SM and it was almost completely dark. The next time I rode it, the star projections were everywhere. I rode it a third time the next day and it was pitch black again. What's going on here?

Also on the main lift, I looked up and saw project on the cieling what looked like a round metallic planet... thing and it looked like it had a mean face on it. Anyone know what the heck this thing is supposed to be?

CoP: Seemed to be in fine condition. However during the last scene of the ride when it was almost over, two idiots decided to get up and leave. The announcer came on to stay seated, but they ignored her and walked out. The whole final scene played out then it started over again because I guess the E-stop had been hit. The ride eventually started again, but gosh that was weird.

More to come.

 

[spectromagic04]

This is a nice report. It sounds like you had a great time! I can't wait for the rest!

 

[powlessfamily4]

Great report. I love gettong the updates

 

[Mukta]

Great report. I can't wait to hear what you thought about AK.

Haunted Mansion after upgrade: WOW!!! This beyond exceeded my expectations. I loved the stretch room surround effects and the improved audio through the rest of the attraction. I also loved the new additions like the lightning changing portraits, the Escher stairs (very cool and spooky), the glowing wall paper eyes, and the attic bride. Big A+ here.

I didn't realize the Escher stairs were new-ish. What was in this room before that? The blinking wallpaper is one of my favorite things too.

 

[imagineer boy]

I didn't realize the Escher stairs were new-ish. What was in this room before that? The blinking wallpaper is one of my favorite things too.

It was basically just a dark stair case you went up. Not much to see. At the top where the eyes are now were big spider webs with fake looking spiders on them.

As for Epcot:

Epcot on Saturday was PACKED. Obviously because of Food and Wine. But there were also Brazillian tour groups everywhere! Strange since May and June are the seasons for them if I'm correct.

The Land pavillion is an absolute mad house. Just a constant stampede of people heading down the stairs to soarin. Plus there was a huge group of lines just to get FPs. Waits were 60 minuites all day, and on our fast pass times weren't till 5:00! And when we finally got to our time, we must've waited 20 minuites in the firggin fast pass line, and only to get the worst seats in the house (bottom left).

For one, they seriously need to build two more Soarin theaters, and there's room too. Second, relocate the entrance to the second floor of the Land pavillion. Third, relocate the fastpass kiosks to the outside entrance of the pavillion. Its just rediculous as it is now.

Test Track only had 30 min waits at most.

I tried Eo. Eh, I'm sorry folks but I'm not a fan. Its just so cheesy. I do like teh effort of the new effects they put in though. Plus I just love the supreme leader, she's so cool and the best part of the film. Too bad Michael has to mess it up by turning her good at the end.

UOE was down until late afternoon. I like the Ellen version unlike most people on here. But I do agree that its time for an update.

Seas with Nemo: I thought over all it was just okay. I miss the Hydrolaters and the cool Sea Base Alpha theme. It was dated, but I don't think it needed characters vomited onto it.

But anyways, I liked the well themed queue and ride boarding area. As for the ride, I wasn't impressed at all with the screens at the beginning. The projections in the fish tank were cool, but "Big Blue World" is a horrible song that needs to die. I didn't spend much time in the sea base, its such a weird contrast though. In the queue and ride you're in a realistic under sea enviroment, then you walk into a weird futuristic nemo plastered area.

Grand Fiesta Tour: CRAP. I was never a fan of El Rio, and this overlay was hardly an improvment IMO. What fun is there riding a boat past lame screens with little cartoons on them? What's the point? Plus there's no real narrative or story, so it feels in the end utterly pointless.

SSE: I pretty much feel the general concensus of this forum. The updates to some of the scenes and animatronics in the first half were very impressive. But the descent feels very anti climactic.

The thing is, it just stops at the invention of the home computer. What about the internet? Cell phones? Lap tops? YouTube? Facebook? It feels so incomplete. Plus I really hate how the ride has such a campy tone now instead of the semi-serious yet optomistic feel the old version had. And what exactly did the end cartoon have to do with communication? Plus I really missed the old score. There was seriously no need to replace it.

But overall, I'd say the new SSE is just "tolerable" because I was impressed with the new animatronics, space scene, and matrix tunnel.

On a side not, I love the Innoventions plaza music. It wouldn't be Epcot without it.

Illuminations is pure art. Quite possibly the best Disney pyro show ever, and easily the best score on WDW property.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Great trip report! Very articulate and interesting!

I agree with you about the hanging corpse in the Haunted Mansion. I noted on another thread that when I first visited the Mansion as a kid, and the attic appeared in the ceiling, I swear that there was a crash of thunder, a flash of lightning, and wind buffeting the corpse about. There was no doubt in my mind what it was, thanks to the lighting and the movement (you could see more of the actual corpse). But now it just hangs there. It looks kind of like a blob. I wonder if most folks even know what it is!

 

[imagineer boy]

Not much to report from DHS. Rode the Great Movie Ride, and while I think it needs more movies in it, its still a great ride.

The hat has got to go. When I saw it sitting there, I really started to despise it.

Tried to do Toy Story Mania, but the line was 90 min and they were out of FPs very quickly. Oh well, I wasn't dying to go on it, but I would have liked to give it a go. I tried though.

I was very happy with the condition muppets was in after its refurb. It felt much fresher and brand new and the whole audience seemed to enjoy it a lot. One weird thing that happened was a firework effect broke and was frozen in mind explosion for the whole show until the actual firework segment came it finally went away.

But that was all we did at DHS. Its a shame, I really like the park but there's not much to do there. ToT and RnRC are too intense for me, TSM's lines are too long, Star Tours is closed, and I don't care for any of the shows. Its a shame.

Nothing much to report from AK. Went on KS, ITTBAB, Dinosaur (seriously, just change the name back to Countdown to Extinction already), and Kali. EE looked a little bit much for me, but it really does look much better in person. Love the land scaping and themeing around it.

WWoHP: WOW. Completely lived up to expectations. The first time I really have to bow down and say Disney was out done in virtually every way here. The attention to detail in Hogsmead is phenomenal. I especially loved the false store fronts, so neat!

Even though they really got crowded, I'm glad they kept the cluttered feel of the shops, it just feels more like the movies.

The ride was incredible. I was amazed how it used a People mover-like system, which made the line move surprisingly fast. And the simulation segments were astounding, were convincing. And the 3-D set pieces were very immsersive and real feeling. One of the best rides I've ever been on. But for me, it didn't quite beat out Indiana Jones at DL. Close but not quite, mainly because IJ has more 3-D set pieces rather than projections.

My one critique of Forbidden Journey is the ending where you see Harry and the cheering students in the great hall, in a very unconvincing projection effect. I thought that was under whelming. I also noticed near the end you get a brief look at the track to the backstage area and the back of the loading area. Other than those things the ride was spectacular.

My one disapointment with WWoHP? The Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer. I didn't like neither of them. The pumpkin juice had way too much cinnamon and came across as a spice drink rather than a refreshing pumpkin flavored juice. And I thought the butterbeer was too creamy and sweet rather than a brew like I was hoping. I loved the cauldron cakes though.

It was my first time to IOA, but my thoughts? Its a nicely themed park, but I don't like how loud and in-your-face everything (except the HP area) felt. Especially the Marvel area, do they really have to blast that horrible guitar music everywhere? Its weird, HP felt like it was in a completely different place all together compared to the rest of the park.

I saw La Nouba twice, so beautiful. Pure art. Love the characters, love the acts, ADORE the music.

So that's about it, hope you all enjoyed.

 

[Mukta]

WWoHP: WOW. Completely lived up to expectations. The first time I really have to bow down and say Disney was out done in virtually every way here. The attention to detail in Hogsmead is phenomenal. I especially loved the false store fronts, so neat!

Even though they really got crowded, I'm glad they kept the cluttered feel of the shops, it just feels more like the movies.

The ride was incredible. I was amazed how it used a People mover-like system, which made the line move surprisingly fast. And the simulation segments were astounding, were convincing. And the 3-D set pieces were very immsersive and real feeling. One of the best rides I've ever been on. But for me, it didn't quite beat out Indiana Jones at DL. Close but not quite, mainly because IJ has more 3-D set pieces rather than projections.

My one critique of Forbidden Journey is the ending where you see Harry and the cheering students in the great hall, in a very unconvincing projection effect. I thought that was under whelming. I also noticed near the end you get a brief look at the track to the backstage area and the back of the loading area. Other than those things the ride was spectacular.

My one disapointment with WWoHP? The Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer. I didn't like neither of them. The pumpkin juice had way too much cinnamon and came across as a spice drink rather than a refreshing pumpkin flavored juice. And I thought the butterbeer was too creamy and sweet rather than a brew like I was hoping. I loved the cauldron cakes though.

It was my first time to IOA, but my thoughts? Its a nicely themed park, but I don't like how loud and in-your-face everything (except the HP area) felt. Especially the Marvel area, do they really have to blast that horrible guitar music everywhere? Its weird, HP felt like it was in a completely different place all together compared to the rest of the park.

Thank you for your thought on WWoHP. I am going to see it for the first time in 45 days. I love IOA as a park and this is a welcome addition.
I have heard that the frozen butterbeer is not as sweet as the regular. Which one did you try?
I will try the cauldron cakes!
Did you like Poseidon's Fury? I love the look of that building and the show.
Did you ride the Cat in the Hat? It is one of my favorite dark rides.