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Martins trip observations Sep/Oct 2009
- Thread starter marni1971
- Start date
jonnyc
Well-Known Member
I really can't wait to ride this in July.
Crazy4WDW1
Active Member
Great trip report as always! Thank so much.
I emailed Dan Cockerell a few weeks ago to suggest that the volume of the BGM at SSE be increased. It is beautiful, but you can hardly hear it when you are in the ride queue! :shrug:
I emailed Dan Cockerell a few weeks ago to suggest that the volume of the BGM at SSE be increased. It is beautiful, but you can hardly hear it when you are in the ride queue! :shrug:
Cynderella
Well-Known Member
Great trip report as usual! Always so informative! But can someone please tell me what ETRUNM and HRRR are? I can't figure them out to save my life! :lol:
Rob562
Well-Known Member
ETRUNM = Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management
HRRR = Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, a new coaster at Unviersal Studios Florida.
HRRR was fun, and the choose-your-own-soundtrack was an interesting novelty, but the soundtracks I heard weren't exactly syched up to the ride in any way... And the audio on my final ride kept cutting out.
(Though I do have to say, it was quite humorous to be able to listen to Gloria Gaynor while on a coaster
) And from strictly a coaster-lover standpoint, I also preferred the music on HRRR to the jumbled mess of a "soundtrack" on Bizarro (the re-named, re-themed Superman: Ride of Steel) up here at Six Flags New England.
-Rob
SirGoofy
Member
I thought Bizarro's soundtrack was hilarious.:lol:
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
Are they right behind the corporate Lounge?
Huh. That is good. At least there is some progress. Now if the rest of the effects can get some love
Good for SW. It looks awesome and I look forward to visiting it possibly next year.
EPCOT Explorer
New Member
Hopefully the whole Mountain does, next year....
Wow.
ToT should do some after hours audio maintenance
Idol..I don't really want to go to that attraction
Fant!...:brick: Of course it's popular, and the comet pyro was taken off of the show to add that little bang at the end of the sequence, I'm pretty sure because it used to be the comet pyro only and no "bang"..now there's the "bang" and no comet pyro (small pyro barges?
) Shows might be added if park hours extend. REFURB please:brick::brick: It's been 11 years already.
LoriMistress
Well-Known Member
Welcome back. Over all, your vacation sounded great. You have to show pictures.
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
Richard and I were discussing this... shut it down for a month, eat the bad customer relations complaints and get it fixed.Hopefully the whole Mountain does, next year....
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
First photo: How long did this white sculpture/thing remain in front of Horizons? Where is it now?
Second Photo: Is the red ring the location of the planter that housed the sculpture/thing? Just double checking that the planters in 2009 are the original as seen in the 1983 photo.
Secondly, is the cyan ring the location of the pole mounted spots?
Second Photo: Is the red ring the location of the planter that housed the sculpture/thing? Just double checking that the planters in 2009 are the original as seen in the 1983 photo.
Secondly, is the cyan ring the location of the pole mounted spots?
Rob562
Well-Known Member
You're getting the angles confused. The "white sculpture thing" is Universe of Energy's original sign, viewed from the back. The photographer was standing along the walkway next to the front reflecting pond. (Note that you can see the edge of the pond in the photo)
As for the other lights, no, the cyan ring isn't where he's referring to. He's talking about a pole that's within a Guest area, roughly directly in front of Test Track, just off to the Space side of the walkway.
EDIT: The pole he's referring to can be seen here:
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.as...&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=29349607&encType=1
Find the four yellow&white umbrellas along the walkway, and then look just below the right-most one. There's a pole with two lights sticking up out of the "C" of bushes surrounding the smoking area. Those lights used to be external lighting for Horizons. (Though technically, I think this area isn't an official smoking area, only its' twin on the Energy side is an official area)
And Martin, those aren't used to light Space, are they? I've never looked for them after dark to see if they still light up.
-Rob
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
Ahhh. you are right. Upon further review, yep, I got my angles messed up. I guess it is a bit of how small the foliage is compared to today. All my perspectives/distances are messed up.
Follow up question: When did this original UoE sign get changed?
About the H pole, I was very confused and read it a few times since it didnt seem logical for them to retain certain supports footings etc of the original attraction when overhauling it into Space. Once on Bing Maps, I kept looking at those 2 white squares and figuring they were possibly what he was refering to and they might have been like SSE (over 100 feet into the ground) so it would cost less to keep them. :lol:
Thanks for clearing things up.
EDIT: Ahhh, very nice. I see it now. I guess that is on a MUCH smaller scale of what I thought he was talking about.
I would still like to know about the UoE signage.
EPCOTPluto
Well-Known Member
Actually pretty interesting. I think I may have always seen it, but never really thought about its former use.
And I have seen people smoke in that alcove, which is the reason why I rarely head over to that spot.
mitchk
Well-Known Member
Woohoo! It`s that time again, my 3rd annual report and thoughts. Of course some of this may be old news, some I know will be new. Assuming I remember everything of note, here goes:
The Magic Kingdom
Overall exterior upkeep was great. The Village Haus lost its tarps, and the colours are so vibrant. The riverboat reopened and although some banister areas looked rushed it looked very fresh.
Jungle Cruise; sounded great. Some AAs need help again; on one trip we had both a static hippo and a static Chief Nami. Skippers ran from better than okay to excellent. This attraction seems to be next in line for the big infrastructure refurb, and soon.
Pirates; still looks good. Some minor AA tweaks are needed, especially some mouth movements including JS. Audio could still be louder in places. DJ projection worked fine all the time.
ETRUNM; playing to quarter full crowds, but upkeep seemed good. Hats off to Landon who went from Greeter to Load to inpromtu preshow in the space of 15 minutes. Video coming soon
Splash; Excellent! No missing effects of note, Brer Rabbit hopped well, Laughing Place water jets all working, even the lightning behind the vultures was working all the time. Big 101 and evac one night.
BTM; looked and sounded great day and night. More UV in bat caves. Falling rocks are definately locked in place now and replaced by an enhanced gobo lighting effect.
CBJ; still corny, still popular. Audio does need work again. One or two speakers hard to make out specific words and get lost in the mix.
HOP; Stunning. And that`s from a tourist. The fact they began from scratch instead of just redoing the original show really hit home. Nice the preshow spiel specifically states taping is allowed with no lighting.
HM; still great. Some subtle lighting effect changes with Leottas room, graveyard lighting looked brighter (or just cleaned). Lightning in ballroom had failed last week.
iasw - looked stunning. Some AAs missing for repair, but what was on show worked. I don`t think I have ever seen every single doll moving before.
Philhar and Pan both still popular. Whilst in Fanland, how did the world ever get by without strollers? The parking, whilst regulated, was chaotic at the best of times. There are just too many. What ever happened to walking?
Stitch - still a walkon. Our headrest audio didn`t work in chamber one, neither did any lasers. Poor.
Space and TTA - coming along. Space had lifts running on Wednesday, and a friend got a photo of a car on main Omega lift on Thursday. Car looked the same. Lifts sound far quieter - could the silent lift upgrade actually have happened? Could only here them when actually next to the lifts. Penthouse ceiling (center of roof) is having the smaller holes covered over, the large square void in the middle is still there. New work lights installed and in use in TTA tunnel as well as old downlights. Postshow still totally covered over. Old SM signs still either side of TTA track, still unlit. The TTA had new audio as of yesterday morning (the 2nd) - reminds me of ORAC-1 without the beeps. Stitch, Buzz and a Monster (!) have spiels above their attractions. Area loops used along all track, Monorail song is played in the model tunnel, Space had a female pardon our dust spiel but no music. LED lighting looks great at night. Still static colours, but goes all white when stopped.
Skyway store is being walled up. New barrier/facade installed on roof. large hole in south wall, behind trees. Looks like the same layout will remain. No exterior SM work aside from the arcade; the arches and front are now an off white colour, the base a pure white colour. Retro theming??
Overall, half of Tomorrowland was like a ghost town. The other half could be so much better.
CADCT preshow - a hyped up DVD commercial. In the MK. It beggars belief.
Spectromagic looks great. No smoke on logo float, but all glitter balls were moving again, the logo now has its rainbow underline back after a long time, and the spectromen have various new LED suits. Fibre optic fireworks on finale also now LED.
Wishes - timings were great, show looked great. Some timings were tightened last month. The bad news is around the 19th the show will begin to be thinned out. Same length, same ammount of shows, but fewer shells in places or cheaper shells. I`d rather have this than shows being cut, but of course it shouldn`t happen at all. Crowds went from good to really heavy - they have the money.
Epcot
Park upkeep seemed good. Shame about F&W signage and props spoiling some views.
Energy; paintwork looks great. They did forget however to swap around the rib lights; the 1982 lights are still off behind the ribs, the 1996 spotlights are still used to illuminate the (now) dark grey ribs. Roof lights need replacing. Show quality was good, smoke was missing from diorama floor to begin with and was thin on a reride. Large red sun looked new, but had issues with fading in and out (it didn`t)
Space; still good, still 5 and 10 mins on average to wait for both versions. Noticed the pole mounted spots for Horizons roof are still in place by the FWEast smoking area and between Space and TT.
Test Track; minor show issues. We had a car where the LCD screen was like 3 minutes of of sync, and another with no narration. The collapsing cone worked then didn`t. ABS was still missing the non-ABS video replay. Still very popular. Disney will have to keep this one going, even if they do move away from sponsored attractions.
Imag; always a walk on. For what it is it is still enjoyable, but we all know the rest. Could be the star of the next D23. Exterior pyramid glass was filthy. Some leapfrog fountains need help; the foam holes don`t align with the jets. Night leapfrog lighting mostly broke.
The Land; Soarin' still stupidly busy. Projection air cleaners working far better than they used to; films consistantly clean and dust is blown away very fast. LWTL still boarded - this is what happens with a new fleet of boats that need modifications.
Seas; mostly walk on. Ride still nice; Kuka worked fine. Seabase still a jarring theme. Exit still far too visible. Turtle Talk still very popular.
Innoventions and spine; new floors completed in breezeways. East fully opened week before last, west had its walls switch sides last week. Can verify the floor is now non slip! West clutter removal makes it look so much better. Especially at night. Canopies should be next all being well. Kuka Arm visible in East for SOAT. Looks neat. Storm Force neat and a true addition to Innoventions. Fountain has a few misaligned jets, no big deal, and one air jet is missing (south east corner). Some airjet lights are out on north side but LED lighting is stunning. Fountain shows ran as per the clock all the time, as did the chimes. A good refurb. Non stage railings looking good and complete, LED lighting under top most rail half installed but not yet in use. SSE logos a nice detail.
SSE - exterior lighting looked crisp, white lighting on lower west side - probably a missing gel. For some strange reason entire south side goes dark after lighting again following the Siemens logo. East sign rim lighting missing along the top. Area music still too quiet. The attraction itself was in great shape. AAs still good, lighting still good. Smoke in machine room was missing then was back. Matrix leak still visible in 180top, and underride lighting was on in one area where vehicles rotate. tut tut. Triangles now look just sad, and will do until Siemens can pay for a finale. Onboard video should be expanded in the future to offer more endings.
Showcase - F&W clutter everywhere. Some carts now more permemant but the prom itself is too cramped. Especially when busy. CV movies still a good experience. Maelstrom had most effects apart from smoke cannons working. AmAd was as good as ever, but the projection quality was still very poor - the film wobble ruins the background effect. If MV3D can get digital projection why can`t the premier showcase show?
ROE - very very good. Since when has China had a laser on its roof? Not a bounce but a fixture? Timings were near perfect aside - still - from the red glitters on the water during Chaos. New globe strobes worked some of the time. Show overall was very tight.
DHS
Still a park in a mess. Idol being pushed down guests throats to no avail. GMR very popular, most effects working, but AAs in dire need of upgrades. GMR right hand neon sign is gone, with a temporary flat sign instead. If Uni can maintain their Neon maybe Disney can now too. TSMM still insanely popular. Shows how much the park needs family rides. BPB still chaotic, still in the wrong park, but still lots of fun.
TOT - audio still a work in progress. Charlie and Delta VVCs scores were often a full 5 seconds behind the visuals. Drop shaft audio is far louder than usual, and for the better. Foxtrot can be heard at Sunset and Hollywood!
Fant! - still insanely popular. Shows need to be added, but we all know that. No major effects not working. Still missing comet pyro during Sorcerer section.
DAK
You still get the feeling a few more family D & E Rides would make the park complete.
Dinosaur; not as much smoke as my last trip but still some. New comet gobos on sky cyc #2. New starfield effects in time portals in lieu of original lasers. All AAs working, those now static really standout as locked off when spotlit. All meteor lighting effects working well.
Everest; finally A2 mode. Strobe, fan, fans, locked torso but swooping right arm. Not ideal but far better than B mode. No peak mist, no side waterfall, no steam at load. Goes without saying no bird or cave mist.
Still no reason or desire to return to PI.
USF/IOA; still great parks. Parkwide cuts on smoke is plain to see; MIB and Spiderman had a small mist effect in liue of the blanket effect in their spinning sections. T2:3D still has fog bank for the finale; this one will remain. Jaws has its flame trench deactivated unless a night ride. HRRR is a stunning coaster. The G forces wern`t as bad as I anticipated. Audio system worked perfectly. Now if they could get the car count up without tripping the software, solve the lawsuits, get the autowalks certified and keep the ride up and running it would be a great addition to the park. It will be a shame if they rip it out. They`ve done it before, remember.
SWs Manta - what a coaster. Unreal. Great theming. Great feel. Wonderful preshow. Hands down the best in Orlando.
That`s it for now. I`m sure I forgot plenty. That`s jetlag for you. It was great to meet everyone we did, and thanks to those who made our visits here and there more interesting that we anticipated
And with 32 hours of HD footage I think I`ll be busy way into the new year and beyond - not counting our forthcoming whistle stop 7 day trip next month
Hey, I didn't have time to read all the posts, but did you forget to mention that on Big Thunder there was no Rainmaker, or guy in the bathtub. Both were gone on all my rides on Big Thunder, mostly every day from Sept 18th -23rd. Where did they go? Oh, and as far a EE, I rode it 4 times throughout my trip and the Yeti looks bad, I couldn't even tell the arm was moving. Nothing like the old days (2006), when he worked like a charm
EPCOT Explorer
New Member
Yep....It would KILL capacity.
...But it NEEDS to be done.*sigh....* Horizons pics...
Yep. It was quite odd to see rainbow UOE and the original sign. I think they put the new one in post 2000.Nope. The ones in the smoking area are actually aimed at a tree branch that has grown now. I need to sort through my 8.2gb of pics
The UOE sign I believe changed when Exxon and Mobil combined. The original was certainly in use post 1996.
EPCOT Explorer
New Member
Sounds about right to me. It wasn't there in 2001.