Martin proudly presents his first trip report notes!

[marni1971]

Jet lagged and with an extra suitcase, we are back in the UK!

I`ve so much to talk about and so many people to catch up with (especially those I met on October 1st) but I`ll jump to some observations I made - I finally get to make my own notes. Sorry if any are old news (news travels fast in 2 weeks) and I bet `Merf beat me to most of it (sorry I missed you, BTW)

In no kind of order...

The castle crane never appeared in any of our MK visits. Thankfully!!

Though good fun, the Crystal Palace character breakfast seems a bit stingy to be the main place to get an early breakfast.

PotC was superb - and the cannon air blast effects were all working. Made me jump! I did think some of the audio levels were too low however.

The hopping Brer Rabbit in Splash was out of order throughout our trip. All the laughing place water jets worked constantly however.

The enclosed queue in BTM already was tarped and de tarped. Noticed engineers working on the track as you enter the earthquake cave. Here`s hoping for the return of the faling rocks (not working on Sep 30th) and even Tumbleweeds flash flood!

The HM was simply stunning. Imagine it was 1971, but with the additions documented elsewhere. And yes, the portraits are now all working too.

IASW looked great. Still fresh. Only one or two dolls looked like they wer`t moving as much as they should. The loading area clock worked great too.

After reading all the negative comments about Space Mountain, I`m happy to say I was surprised how dark it was, and there seemed to be a lot more stars than I remembered. Front seat was very smooth, back seat wasn`t! The re entry tunnel audio was running a second behind the red lighting effects however. And STILL no SM merch, apart from a 3 mountains T Shirt with Space on the back.

The Laugh Floor and SGE; surprisingly great fun. If you wern`t aware of or a fan of what they replaced I`d say they fit very well. Did I just say that?!?

CoP ran very well. Half full theatres. Shame about the AA skin they used back in `93.

HalloWishes was virtually perfect (hey, Boo!) - very few minor issues even I wasn`t aware of. P&P 2008 slated for January (though possibly late Jan) until possibly May.

SSE is running behind. The mural had scaffholding up on it on Sep 30th, now gone as reported elsewhere. Mural looks great. Show scene already being installed for the invention of the computer scene - car already in place outside of garage. 1960`s Mainframe computer should be also in place around now. New LED uplighters on new side queue palm trees. Not in use yet.

The Diorama in Energy had almost every effect working from `96; I was so surprised to see the fog blanket as you enter, and the Bronto pool fog in full flow! Dinos also snorted mist.

Life... hmmm. Corporate lounge still pristine. Cranium queue area still intact (I did find it by accident. Honest)

M:S green - great fun. M:S orange - a unique experience. As a first time rider I was only aware twice we were spinning, and then for a few seconds. To be honest I felt worse after Everest, as you`ll see.

Test Track - rode a dozen times, and all cars LCDs worked. Hill Climb gobo projections all worked. ABS cones collapsed. The only thing I missed was the barrier test A crashing car, though I didn`t expect it to be back in use.

Two WDI peeps were walking the plaza between the pin station and the planter south of Project Tomorrow. Blueprints in hand of the plaza, but I don`t think I got it in focus quick enough on video. They were pointing along lines from the planter to the wait time screen.

More to come....

 

[dandaman]

Glad to know I wasn't the only one regarding SGE. I never saw Alien Encounter, and frankly after seeing video, it looked like a bit too much for me as it was. I personally thought the plot could have been a bit better executed, but overall I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to.

Also realized all points mentioned about Universe of Energy. The fog seemed so thick this time around.

Glad you had a blast :wave:

 

[marni1971]

Project Tomorrow - shame the entrances are so small. The blank walls from Earthstation days look, well, blank from the outside. The new area behind the tarps either side of the globe looks finished (sneaked a pic) - I`ve 7gb of pics so once sorted I`ll put ones of note in my album.

JIIWF - fun. It isn`t v1, thnkfully nor is it v2. I can confirm the track bed is still in place in the Imageworks and merch area. To the CMs watching me jumping up and down on the floor now you know what I was doing! Same for preshow and load.

Soarin' - the most fun I`ve had in an Omnimax since Horizons. B1 is certainly the best place to sit.

Living with the Land - the automated narration worked well. I hope to have a good clear recording of this plus others.

Seas with Nemo - as with SGE, great fun! The Seagulls outside are all moving again. One has issues with its beak. The ride constantly switched to creep mode however, and did stop an awful lot; more than just for load/unload issues by the looks of it. You can still clearly see load from unload and vice versa however. Kuka arm ran perfectly each time. Tank projections were stunning.

The various walls around FutureWorld were for concrete replacement / painting - the area by The Land tip board was walled one day, the next day the wall had moved and the floor was rich red again with stanchions around it. A similar area was outside the Disney Gallery.

3 Calebros was good fun, again. Reflections of China was a fantastic, well edited update, with subtle nods to the original. O'Canada! was pretty good, though not as good as China and I fear will date quickly. China and Japan looked stunning with their new paint work.

RoE ran well, no earth globe issues. Perimeter launches were often scrubbed due to the winds. Green lasers looked amazing and much clearer than normal. On the 12th the North East fountain barge went down. Techs shot to it on a boat and had it back in sync for Promise.

Impressions de France does need certain shots replacing; even Michelle said it looked like 1981! Projectors were noisy too, though I never realised it was rear projected.

MGM was crowded and needs the help it is getting. Apparently Iger and Co visited in January and made a list of fixes and updates for everything. Money is being poured into the park, both fornt and backstage.

THAT hat is a fine building - even if it is a shop - just move it! Hopefully the new real theatre owners will negotiate with The Mouse. The GMR neon signs looked awful at night; the non-functional parts actually got worse during our trip. The good notes from the attraction; great CMs, gangster effects all working from the car arriving to the squib smoke effects in the walls. However, a lot of the AAs do look like the time preiod they come from. The Witch still overshadows them and stands out as the original A-100 she is. The wall Alien was 101 - those in the rear half of the theatre car saw no Aliens at all. Some updating is all this attraction needs to return to its former glory.

MV3D; all in-thetare effects worked.

Osbourne Lights were being programmed

Toy Story Mania is in test runs, CMs have had some experience with ride vehicles.

Rock n RollerCoaster ran well. All UV props looked clean and fresh.

ToT - very good. Great effects in drop shaft (our first visit to experience all the profiles) - and I saw so many too.... and should have them on tape (with permission from a guest-less elevator car) Thanks and greets to all the Hops we met, with one in particular

Fantasmic! - as popular as ever. Crowd control chaos on the EMHs with 2 shows; the second show had the queue all the way along Sunset to Hollywood, with no CMs advising. Serious potential for guest injury, epsecially at the front at rope drop. The show was great, with 2 ommissions - no pyro comets during Fantasia, and no lasers at all. Steamboat Willie however looked perfect, as did the Dragon.

Part 3 follows....

 

[TheDisneyMagic]

Welcome home Martin, hope you had a great time, are you going to be posting any photos from your venture to the world?

I'm glad to hear about the Cranium Command queue area still in place, I wasn't sure if they had got rid of it now that they have removed part of the entrance to the attraction.

Have they fixed the opening curtains yet for the projectors in UoE EEA? the ones where the screens get "wider wider" as Ellen would say?

Thanks for the update.

 

[TheDisneyMagic]

JIIWF - fun. It isn`t v1, thnkfully nor is it v2. I can confirm the track bed is still in place in the Imageworks and merch area. To the CMs watching me jumping up and down on the floor now you know what I was doing! Same for preshow and load.

When you say track bed, do you mean the actual track is down there beneath the floor or something that was used to hold the track down?

 

[dandaman]

Two questions:

1. Kuka arm = anglerfish effect?

2. What dates were you at Epcot? (Besides the one obvious one. :lol: )

 

[marni1971]

Part 3. Still with me??

DAK. Still a hot park in more than one way.

Kilimanjaro looks far better in the 6 years since we last saw it, obviously foliage has grown. Rocking bridge worked fine, as did the new spiel and the geyser run. Thanks to the CMs (you know who you are) for our unique version of the tour. Standby was 70 minutes regularly by noon.

Nemo played to packed audiences. Spiel still says no taping, followed by CMs saying its okay with no lighting. Got it on tape twice. Very good show. Good job enclosing the theatre. Hard to imagine Tarzan Rocks! in there.

TTBAB played to busy houses. In house effects great.

Dinosaur was stunning - from the lighting (looked very well lit and not at all murky) to the AAs working well and LOTS of smoke effects. The Incomming overhead static AA even looked believable with its lighting. The spotlit side static AAs didn`t however. I must get the names to describe them better! My main gripe was all lasers were 101. Knowing what they look like and what they should do does make their absence conspicuous. Even just the portal lasers make such a difference when they work, and do help with the story.

And then.. Everest. Mixed feelings. It looks stunning both at day and night. Some of the best rock work WDI have done. Very smooth, great quiet, high speed lifts. But... it`s just a coaster. A great one, but just a coaster. Personally I enjoyed BTM better. Also, it may have been the heat and humidity, but I`m embarrassed to say both Michelle and I had motion sickness from the backwards portion. Anyone else have this? We did Sheikra twice, Kumba, M:S Green and Orange, ToT, Hulk, Dragons, and felt worse after Everest. Another plus point was the load steam was working, however the Yeti was in B mode each time we rode, and the interior backwards portion - body effects aside - was lacking. Nothing to see except the obvious daylight behind the building structure from below. And park ops had their worst nightmare with last weeks evening EHM; the attraction went 101 for a good 90 minutes from sunset until around half an hour before the end of the night. Personally I felt sorry for the peeps stuck on the main lift for a good half hour before they could be cucled through (no evac - though I was ready to grab pics of it)

And finally for now, Kali was great at night. Lighting effects were superb, as were the fire effects. Thankfully my splash bag for my DVCam was up to the challange, since we got soaked. Well and truely.

As I said, I`ll post pics when I have them sorted. And do feel free to ask specifics :wave:

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

Love your notes. Sounds like a lot is working correctly in Epcot!!

 

[EpcotServo]

Impressions de France does need certain shots replacing; even Michelle said it looked like 1981! Projectors were noisy too, though I never realised it was rear projected.

It's not. The projectors are just hard to find because they're up there in the balcony. I know because I've always wanted to sit up there.
:lol:

Great trop report so far! I didn't know about TSM testing yet...need to do some asking around now! Glad you had a great time!
:wave:

 

[cpeterstx]

Sounds like you had a great time and, all in all, everything was working for you. Let me know when you post all the pics!

 

[marni1971]

So far as I recall, the Energy Curtains were open all the time. I did make an effort to check, but was videotaping - with permission - so I`ll have to check the recording to be sure.

The track bed in Imag is the `trench` the old ride used to run in. It has been `bridged` by the current floor as opposed to being filled with concrete. I`ll be posting evidence sometime soon. As I posted elsewhere, the turntable is also still intact, but won`t be turning again.

The Kuka Arm is indeed the anglerfish. It`s had issues since it was installed, mainly with reliability in repeating the same motions over and over with a heavy load. We rode 3 or 4 times and it was fine on each ride.

As for the dates we were at Epcot.... I can`t remember!! The fortnight was such a blur. Like 2 weeks of Christmas morning and a family reunion all at once at a million miles an hour. For sure, we were there the morning of the 30th, the 1st of course, the evening of the 2nd, I was shooting stills around Innoventions and Life all last Wednesday morning(the 10th) and we spent the day and night there last Friday (12th)

 

[brkgnews]

Glad to hear you're back safely. It was a true joy meeting you and Michelle, and I hope I get to run into you more often with your new Orlando connection. :animwink:

 

[marni1971]

It's not. The projectors are just hard to find because they're up there in the balcony. I know because I've always wanted to sit up there...

My bad. I was particularly looking for screens one and five sources but couldn`t see them; I guess keystone offset is used for them if they are on the balcony. Must dig out the plans!

Yes, as you guessed we had the most amazing time ever. We just need a holiday now to get over it.

 

[TheDisneyMagic]

Thanks for clearing that up, when you say the turntable will never turn again, are you saying this because Disney have no intention of ever using it or is it that parts of it have been removed so that it can't actually be used again?

"We just need a holiday now to get over it."

Every vacation we find this, we need to go on another vacation to recover from our WDW one!

 

[dandaman]

1. The Kuka Arm is indeed the anglerfish. It`s had issues since it was installed, mainly with reliability in repeating the same motions over and over with a heavy load. We rode 3 or 4 times and it was fine on each ride.

2. As for the dates we were at Epcot.... I can`t remember!! The fortnight was such a blur. Like 2 weeks of Christmas morning and a family reunion all at once at a million miles an hour. For sure, we were there the morning of the 30th, the 1st of course, the evening of the 2nd, I was shooting stills around Innoventions and Life all last Wednesday morning(the 10th) and we spent the day and night there last Friday (12th)

1. It was working fine on the 6th, when I was there (hence why I asked #2). It was a REALLY cool effect, not to mention the projections. (I asked this in my TR, but does this effect work similar to Pepper's Ghost?)

2. I understand completely. :lol:

 

[marni1971]

Figments Friend also reminded me we were in Epcot last Tuesday evening too - the 9th - for a real nice chat and Energy ride

 

[cooleo]

Great trip report, Thanks for all the info. I will be down there in less than 2 months. Glad you had such a Great time. :wave:

 

[Figments Friend]

Awesome report Martin...and glad to have you back! I have been awaiting your forthcoming reviews!

I was totally blown away too that Tuesday when we rode UoE and the fog bank in the Dirorama was working! Wow...it has be AGES since i have seen that!

Maybe Disney fired up the ol' fog machines since they knew the die-hard EPCOT crowd was going to be in town for Celebration 25. It sure was nice to see that effect up close and personal...in the front row!

Always remember: Go LEFT!

:lol:

 

[DicksonGR]

Welcome Home Martin! Thanks for the updates. I'm looking forward to all the pictures. 7gb is a heck of a lot!

Hope you had a great holiday!

 

[mousermerf]

Martin -

One of the threads I was going to start was about the LED's on the trees at SSE. Do you know the manufacturer or anything about them?

Are they simply white or are they colored/color-changing?

They're really unique and stood out to me. I like the sort of flat disk with a Y-yolk in that brass finish. Very sleek and new.

Anywho.. Energy fog heavily depends on outside climate conditions and the AC in the building. It's usually on, but what extent it lingers is often the problem. Riding first thing in the morning on a good day and you'll coast into 2ft of fog filling the entire holding area.