Woooooo Hoooo. Another Update! This is not just any update, this is the "CHILI DOG" update. The first ever ISTCrew Update that has been nicknamed. You'll find out about the Chili Dog a little later. So lets get started:
by the way, I did get to experience Stitch's Great Escape...twice!
Animal Kingdom Updates
~The Lift Hill is indeed up on Everest:
~The Boneyard in Dinoland USA has reopened from it's rehab.
~The billboard in Dinorama that was partly destroyed by the hurricanes have been completely fixed.
~It looks like they are starting to seal the cracks in the huge orange dinosaur is DinoRama.
~The carnival game "Dino-Whamma" in Dino-Rama (the hammer/bell game) was closed today, and it has been closed everytime I was at AK for the last few months.
Magic Kingdom News
~Like I said earlier, Stitch's Great Escape was open to the public today. I walked into Tomorrowland and noticed people in the queue. The stated queue time was 60 minutes. I jumped right into the line. Without giving away major spoilers (but there will still be some!) I'll give you the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
*Let me just start off by saying, I enjoyed SGE more than I did Alien Encounter. The re-rideability is much higher than it was on Alien Encounter.
*I loved both of the preshows just as much as I did the actual attraction. They were very funny, and had the whole crowd cracking up multiple times.
--The first preshow was very short. The preshow room was really well themed. Alien writing was all over the place, and a HUGE "Galactic Federation" logo is in the center of the back wall. Little details are everywhere, and make sure you check out the brandnames of the tv's that air the preshow video.
--The second preshow was awesome. The former SIR is now Sarge (if I remember correctly...and don't forget his galaxy number : 90210 lol). Skippy is there, but in the opposite tube he was in for Alien Encounter. The 2 tubes are for "level 1 prisoners and level 2 prisoners". That photo of the really ugly AA was the galaxy jelly doughnut stealer, and Skippy was captured for jaywalking in-between planets. Just as Sarge is explaining that he never gets any "level 2 prisoners", Gantu barges in with a LEVEL 3 prisoner, Stitch. The actual attraction tube is meant to be the level 3 holding area. When Sarge learns a level 3 is on the way, he "oils" himself.
--I thought the dialogue in the attraction was hilarious. Such as when Pleakly says "Every seat provides a great viewing opportunity...except for mine, I CAN'T SEE A THING!!!". The part that I found funniest in the whole attraction was during the actual show. Stitch steals a chili dog from a guest, and the guest, a loud mouthed country woman says "HEY, THAT'S MY CHILI DOG...GIMME BACK MY CHILI DOG". (hence the nickname for tonights update).
the bad
*The only thing that I thought they could of done better on was the preshow animations. You can tell it was done by the television animation division.
the ugly
*I waited in the queue when the stand-by sign said 60 minutes (it was more like 25). The problem with this is: Fastpass was not even running, and the line was almost coming out of the standby entrance. The queue line is extremely small, only able to hold maybe 700 people. Unlike Alien Encounter (where you went back and forth under the TTA) for Stitch, and line goes directly to the back. Does a few switchbacks, and then goes back around to the preshow doors. It is a very small area, and come the busy seasons, the entrance to Tomorrowland is going to be a mess. With fastpass, the standby line will move even slower. However, the second chamber should speed things along a bit.
here are some queue pics
Some of the seats in SGE were broken, and the covers on them were still the old XS tech covers."This seat has been Seized".
~Not sure if it has always been there, but a stroller parking area was set up outside of Merchant of Venus.
~A small area by the entrance of Starlight cafe had a construction wall up around it.
~All soda in the MK is back down to $2.00 (Taken down from $2.50)
~The spitting camel in front of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin was not spitting or moving at all today.
Disney/MGM News
~Nothing really new here. Just some advertisements for "Lost", "National Treasure", and all the kind of stuff were added to the back of the Stunt Show stadium.
~Half of the MGM ticket windows and entranceways are blocked off by construction walls.
~I have no idea if it is new, but I don't ever remember hearing a pre-recorded safety speil on the backlot tour.
Epcot news
~I'm not sure how long it has been on there, but "Future site of Soarin" has been added to the map.
~A few props from the TT queue (like the neck callobration test head) were gone.
~Motion Sickness bags are still being used on MS, but the motion sickness bags recording is no longer being used.
~I finally got to ride the new DreamChasers. I prefer it much better over the old version, since this one has a better story and is 3D.
And that's it for today. I leave you with this picture from SGE:
by the way, I did get to experience Stitch's Great Escape...twice!
Animal Kingdom Updates
~The Lift Hill is indeed up on Everest:
~The Boneyard in Dinoland USA has reopened from it's rehab.
~The billboard in Dinorama that was partly destroyed by the hurricanes have been completely fixed.
~It looks like they are starting to seal the cracks in the huge orange dinosaur is DinoRama.
~The carnival game "Dino-Whamma" in Dino-Rama (the hammer/bell game) was closed today, and it has been closed everytime I was at AK for the last few months.
Magic Kingdom News
~Like I said earlier, Stitch's Great Escape was open to the public today. I walked into Tomorrowland and noticed people in the queue. The stated queue time was 60 minutes. I jumped right into the line. Without giving away major spoilers (but there will still be some!) I'll give you the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
*Let me just start off by saying, I enjoyed SGE more than I did Alien Encounter. The re-rideability is much higher than it was on Alien Encounter.
*I loved both of the preshows just as much as I did the actual attraction. They were very funny, and had the whole crowd cracking up multiple times.
--The first preshow was very short. The preshow room was really well themed. Alien writing was all over the place, and a HUGE "Galactic Federation" logo is in the center of the back wall. Little details are everywhere, and make sure you check out the brandnames of the tv's that air the preshow video.
--The second preshow was awesome. The former SIR is now Sarge (if I remember correctly...and don't forget his galaxy number : 90210 lol). Skippy is there, but in the opposite tube he was in for Alien Encounter. The 2 tubes are for "level 1 prisoners and level 2 prisoners". That photo of the really ugly AA was the galaxy jelly doughnut stealer, and Skippy was captured for jaywalking in-between planets. Just as Sarge is explaining that he never gets any "level 2 prisoners", Gantu barges in with a LEVEL 3 prisoner, Stitch. The actual attraction tube is meant to be the level 3 holding area. When Sarge learns a level 3 is on the way, he "oils" himself.
--I thought the dialogue in the attraction was hilarious. Such as when Pleakly says "Every seat provides a great viewing opportunity...except for mine, I CAN'T SEE A THING!!!". The part that I found funniest in the whole attraction was during the actual show. Stitch steals a chili dog from a guest, and the guest, a loud mouthed country woman says "HEY, THAT'S MY CHILI DOG...GIMME BACK MY CHILI DOG". (hence the nickname for tonights update).
the bad
*The only thing that I thought they could of done better on was the preshow animations. You can tell it was done by the television animation division.
the ugly
*I waited in the queue when the stand-by sign said 60 minutes (it was more like 25). The problem with this is: Fastpass was not even running, and the line was almost coming out of the standby entrance. The queue line is extremely small, only able to hold maybe 700 people. Unlike Alien Encounter (where you went back and forth under the TTA) for Stitch, and line goes directly to the back. Does a few switchbacks, and then goes back around to the preshow doors. It is a very small area, and come the busy seasons, the entrance to Tomorrowland is going to be a mess. With fastpass, the standby line will move even slower. However, the second chamber should speed things along a bit.
here are some queue pics
Some of the seats in SGE were broken, and the covers on them were still the old XS tech covers."This seat has been Seized".
~Not sure if it has always been there, but a stroller parking area was set up outside of Merchant of Venus.
~A small area by the entrance of Starlight cafe had a construction wall up around it.
~All soda in the MK is back down to $2.00 (Taken down from $2.50)
~The spitting camel in front of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin was not spitting or moving at all today.
Disney/MGM News
~Nothing really new here. Just some advertisements for "Lost", "National Treasure", and all the kind of stuff were added to the back of the Stunt Show stadium.
~Half of the MGM ticket windows and entranceways are blocked off by construction walls.
~I have no idea if it is new, but I don't ever remember hearing a pre-recorded safety speil on the backlot tour.
Epcot news
~I'm not sure how long it has been on there, but "Future site of Soarin" has been added to the map.
~A few props from the TT queue (like the neck callobration test head) were gone.
~Motion Sickness bags are still being used on MS, but the motion sickness bags recording is no longer being used.
~I finally got to ride the new DreamChasers. I prefer it much better over the old version, since this one has a better story and is 3D.
And that's it for today. I leave you with this picture from SGE:
I got there so late cause I was at the Food and Wine Festival for most of the day, I've never done it before, and enjoyed it a lot. It was a very cool set up, and the foods I tasted were all very good. It's great to hear that Stitch was good, I'm looking forward to getting onto it, hopefully I'll have more luck if I go again before the actual opening. Thanks for another great update Patrick! :sohappy:
