Meanwhile at USH this weekend...

[Phroobar]

I actually have seven AA "boyfriends" I've had made over the years. When I get annoyed with my husband, I rotate through them and go out on "dates" with the AA's. The conversation can get a bit repetitive and my body gets a bit sore having to carry them around from place to place, but I've had some really nice times out on the town with them.

Why do they all look like Bob Iger? When is the Chris Hemsworth one ready?

 

[Phroobar]

I agree. Y'all remember how awful that scene in the Little Mermaid ride looked before they added the blacklight. Like, what? You can see all the infrastructure and crap. It's weird because the interior of the RSR isn't even that bright. It's a dark ride. Why do they need the lights all over the ceiling? On classics like POTC and HM, the WED geniuses found ways to conceal the lights.

It does look like a movie set or warehouse when you look up. There is no night sky up there. Totally unthemed. I bet this Skull Island is the same.

 

[Curious Constance]

Why do they all look like Bob Iger? When is the Chris Hemsworth one ready?

I've had the Chris Hemsworth model for a couple years now. It's actually in the need of a tune up, it's becoming a bit glitchy and people are starting to stare.

I actually don't have the Bob Iger model yet. I've been saving my money for quite some time. I want this one to have ALL the bells and whistles.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

It does look like a movie set or warehouse when you look up. There is no night sky up there. Totally unthemed. I bet this Skull Island is the same.

Aren't most of the big classic E tickets done in this same style? I haven't been to WDW in ages, but I seem to recall that Universe of Energy, Great Movie Ride, Spaceship Earth, etc, are designed with all the action at eye level and exposed overhead lighting elements above. Small World's drop ceiling and track lighting also comes to mind.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

You can't see the ceiling very well in POTC and HM's graveyard, and some attempt was made to conceal it. The best is the cloud effect in the town scene in POTC. That's classic WED ingenuity and still a breathtaking effect, to be honest. I realize there's only so much they can do and there are certainly exceptions, but those are cases when it was apparent to the Imagineers that the audience would be looking up and they didn't want you to see the ceiling/walls in what otherwise appeared to be an outdoor environment. Point is, they don't really seem to care at all these days. Just look at that Haunted Mansion Garbage Day overlay where they jack up the lighting everywhere, completely wrecking all the illusions and making the interiors appear gaudy even without the tacky decor. The worst is the graveyard, which clearly appears to be a warehouse with phony robots in plastic sheets. Yet, the same thing under proper show lighting is just marvelous.

Not to go off on a tangent or anything. I realize it's not that big of a deal in most cases.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I agree with you about the Mansion Halloween overly. It's like a pretty person wearing way too much makeup.

 

[Rich T]

I've never seen HM Holiday, 'cause I'm rarely at DL that time of year, but I do like the soundtrack. Everyone I know who's been says the same thing: It's fun, but they prefer the original. Seems if people would stop lining up for it, it would go away and not be overly missed.

RSR is my favorite ride, and the ceiling doesn't bother me (I don't look up on that ride) as much as the ridiculous but I guess unavoidable sound bleed.

To stay on topic, I guess roofed/canopied dark ride vehicles (Kong, Peter Pan) are the easiest solution to the overhead issues.

 

[dweezil78]

Aren't most of the big classic E tickets done in this same style? I haven't been to WDW in ages, but I seem to recall that Universe of Energy, Great Movie Ride, Spaceship Earth, etc, are designed with all the action at eye level and exposed overhead lighting elements above. Small World's drop ceiling and track lighting also comes to mind.

Yep... But most of those have enough in front of your face within close enough proximity that, for whatever reason, the ceiling and lights never catches your eye. Not sure why, but I always notice this way more on RSR (and Mermaid as ES mentioned). I'm sure a lot of it has to do with scene staging and whatnot.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

But most of those have enough in front of your face within close enough proximity that, for whatever reason, the ceiling and lights never catches your eye

Yet I recalled that the attractions I listed lack detailed ceilings.

 

[BrianLo]

Here are some promised USH thoughts before I take off to China.

Really enjoyed our day, quite charming park when compared to its larger younger sibling in Orlando. I think @raven24 is right, the crowds are starting to show up in force. Forbidden Journey hovered around 80 minutes for the centre of the day. Either you need early access or need to stay around later into the evening. Visiting it mid-day would not be ideal.

There is noticeable park-space capacity issues. I say things were busy, but while most rides had 30-45ish minutes waits mid-day (frankly that's not that out of the normal day for Disneyland), it was the pathways that felt the most taxed. The upper lot was an exercise in swimming around crowds as there really isn't a whole lot of actual space in that area of the park and that's basically where all the food is. Other than Potter we didn't wait longer than 15 minutes for anything. However, that was mostly showing up early and knocking everything out quickly.

I also agree, it seems to be much more of a tourist park. Lots more tour groups then I normally see at Disneyland (feels more like what you'd expect at WDW).

The tram tour is great, but probably wouldn't be something I'd want to do over and over. Not that it's not repeatable and varied, but I think it would lose some of the magic if it was my tenth time on it in a number of years.

I enjoyed Potter, but was a little disappointed that so little differs from Florida. The extra Dementors were quite cool though. No real complaints one way or another with the 3D. Hogsmead felt packed late afternoon.

Simpsons was cool, but I don't know if I'd say the area was superior to Orlando. It shrinks in acreage but makes up for it with a second level. As a result it felt a little less expansive even if there was several unique/superior elements.

Maybe I've been lucky, but boy did the traffic suck compared to Anaheim. I guess I usually don't drive in and out for the day though and tend to stay for a few.

Overall, something I would certainly recommend for the Tram tour. I don't see myself needing to go back to the park for another 10 years though. I think there was a reason it was my last Disney and Universal park worldwide to get to. It doesn't really offer anything unique (besides the Tram) and suffers from having few but seemingly many similar attractions. For people who haven't done Potter on the East coast I think it makes sense to check out too if you are in Cali (basically the group I was with). Not shockingly though it's fourth on the DLR/USO/WDW ranking, but that's ok, it's not a resort.

If I had friends though who weren't really, really into Potter and theme parks, I wouldn't recommend it over other things in Cali. Of course I'm into Potter and theme parks - so I still had a blast!

 

[dweezil78]

Yet I recalled that the attractions I listed lack detailed ceilings.

Lol... I never said they were invisible! Just not as eye-catching.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Thanks for proving me right, @BrianLo, as usual.

(Kidding, of course)

The summer months are the busiest for the park, especially with all the foreigners coming from almost every continent. Foreigners are USH's main audience, so in my opinion, it's unfair to judge the popularity of Potter at a time when the main audience isn't present.

Regarding not returning, that doesn't surprise me. At least you experienced it for yourself first before making that choice.

USH isn't Disneyland, but I do like returning, especially during Christmas. It's become a tradition for my family to go to USH for Grinchmas every year.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I don't see myself needing to go back to the park for another 10 years though.

You and me both.

 

[Stevek]

You can't see the ceiling very well in POTC and HM's graveyard, and some attempt was made to conceal it. The best is the cloud effect in the town scene in POTC. That's classic WED ingenuity and still a breathtaking effect, to be honest. I realize there's only so much they can do and there are certainly exceptions, but those are cases when it was apparent to the Imagineers that the audience would be looking up and they didn't want you to see the ceiling/walls in what otherwise appeared to be an outdoor environment. Point is, they don't really seem to care at all these days. Just look at that Haunted Mansion Garbage Day overlay where they jack up the lighting everywhere, completely wrecking all the illusions and making the interiors appear gaudy even without the tacky decor. The worst is the graveyard, which clearly appears to be a warehouse with phony robots in plastic sheets. Yet, the same thing under proper show lighting is just marvelous.

Not to go off on a tangent or anything. I realize it's not that big of a deal in most cases.

I think that the average visitor to DL doesn't notice 99% of what we do but the fact that most of us have ridden these attractions dozens if not hundreds of times...well, we tend to look all over the place to take in every nook and cranny. I've pretty much found every "flaw" or seen every ceiling in every ride at this point. But your point is valid that the way the attractions were designed, you're attention is generally drawn at eye level or slightly up but rarely as far as the ceiling. The scope and size of Pirates is one exception where physical sets are so large that you can't help but venture skyward, hence the clouds.

 

[BrianLo]

Regarding not returning, that doesn't surprise me. At least you experienced it for yourself first before making that choice.

Ya it's hard to express that without just making it sound like a total knock on the park, it's not meant to be.

I'm a tourist (getting closer but just moved to Calgary), so visiting Cali is still a trip. I think if I was local I'd have different feelings. I'm glad to have experienced the park for sure. But, in order to return and pay the one day entrance fee (because there is nothing more to do beyond a day) the park would really, really need to expand or do other crazy things.

Otherwise Florida is better for my Uni fix and DLR is enough theme park overload for one trip.

As a tourist it's still worth seeing once though! Just no need to repeat.

 

[shortstop]

I visited USH last month to see Potter as I haven't yet made it out UNI Orlando to see it there. Is USH's Potterland basically an exact copy of Orlando's phase 1? I couldn't help but be a little disappointed by it, especially after all of the hype I had seen about it on these boards for years.

 

[Phroobar]

It's the same thing but in

3D!!!!

 

[BrianLo]

I visited USH last month to see Potter as I haven't yet made it out UNI Orlando to see it there. Is USH's Potterland basically an exact copy of Orlando's phase 1? I couldn't help but be a little disappointed by it, especially after all of the hype I had seen about it on these boards for years.

Pretty much. They reshuffled Olivanders and added a second show room.

Of course Orlando's is superior as the sight lines are better and Dueling Dragons is also a portion of the land. The whole entry portal thanks to the Hogwarts express is superior and of course the coniferous trees in the queue are much more mature (they are a bit ratty at USH).

Phase 1 was impressive in 2010. Phase 2 makes for a complete experience (you could spend a day just doing Potter stuff if you took your time).

Problematically both Universal and Disney (Carsland) have outdone Potter 1.0 already.

My really big complaint was the sheer lack of originality is the Flying unicorn clone. Why on earth did they needed to include a clone of a 15 year old ride that was merely overlaid, other than some creative laziness?

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Pretty much. They reshuffled Olivanders and added a second show room.

Of course Orlando's is superior as the sight lines are better and Dueling Dragons is also a portion of the land. The whole entry portal thanks to the Hogwarts express is superior and of course the coniferous trees in the queue are much more mature (they are a bit ratty at USH).

Phase 1 was impressive in 2010. Phase 2 makes for a complete experience (you could spend a day just doing Potter stuff if you took your time).

Problematically both Universal and Disney (Carsland) have outdone Potter 1.0 already.

My really big complaint was the sheer lack of originality is the Flying unicorn clone. Why on earth did they needed to include a clone of a 15 year old ride that was merely overlaid, other than some creative laziness?

That one is head-scratcher for me too. They cloned it here and in Japan. It's not a great ride, and I've only been on it as an excuse to get close to the Buckbeak AA.

I still find Hogsmeade impressive and while Cars Land beats it for sheer scale, I'd still pick it any day over Radiator Springs. It's a much more compelling environment IMO. It also helps that it's one I would actually want to spend time in. I never watched Cars/Cars 2 and thought holy crap I want to go to there. I like visiting, but I never want to linger.

Now Diagon - I could pitch a tent in there. It's still the only domestic theme park land I've been to that replicates the immersion of TDS. It's truly phenomenal, which makes it more of a shame that Gringott's is such a let-down.

Anyway, glad you had a great time and loved reading your thoughts on USH!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Ya it's hard to express that without just making it sound like a total knock on the park, it's not meant to be.

I'm a tourist (getting closer but just moved to Calgary), so visiting Cali is still a trip. I think if I was local I'd have different feelings. I'm glad to have experienced the park for sure. But, in order to return and pay the one day entrance fee (because there is nothing more to do beyond a day) the park would really, really need to expand or do other crazy things.

Otherwise Florida is better for my Uni fix and DLR is enough theme park overload for one trip.

As a tourist it's still worth seeing once though! Just no need to repeat.

Oh, I'm definitely not encouraging you to return. Gotta keep those wait times down.

I think it takes a special interest in someone to really enjoy and appreciate USH. The park was really something back then. It's different now, but I still like it.

Anyways, glad you enjoyed yourself!