Notes/Observations...

[yeti]

Rather than post an actual trip report, I thought I'd share with everyone how the wonderful old world of Disney was shaping up in my eyes over the past week, park by park, ride by ride, so on and so forth.

So without any further ado, our first stop is..

Magic Kingdom:

-Far too many burned-out bulbs on the Grand Floridian. So it goes.

-Signs to the monorail and ferries are really showing their age.

-Construction scrims are up for refurbishment on the building adjacent to the ice cream parlour.

-Pirates: Seemed fine, no effects not working as far as I could tell. Same applies to Mansion.

-Splash Mountain: I was anticipating this one, and (maybe because of that), it wasn't in nearly as bad shape as I had expected. A little annoying that some effects worked on some visits and didn't on others (we once floated past a completely static Br'er Roadrunner, but he was talking again later). The jumping water fountains in the laughin' place never worked, and the audio for the porcupine upstairs banging on the turtle was always completely out of synch. All of the AA's in the finale scene were working, as was jumping Br'er Rabbit. Br'er Fox projection at the end was barely visible. Overall, it was okay (again, better than I thought)...but not perfect. Not to mention the apparent tendency of tourists to plaster gum along the sides of the mountain as the log heads into the finale room (I found that problem to be much worse at DL in August).

-It's a Small World: Fine. There may have been some audio flubs, I can't really remember.

-On the topic of IaSW, its show building is completely visible right now from Frontierland. So it goes.

-Peter Pan's Flight: Fine, but incredibly outdated. I've got my fingers crossed that they'll touch up the ride a little while the queue is getting plussed.

-Storybook Circus looks better in person. Same applies for the rest of New Fantasyland- it's much bigger and higher than it looks in construction/aerial shots.

-Tomorrowland needs attention- all of it. Buzz Lightyear's ride was good (warp tunnel wasn't ever working- so it goes), but the queue was filthy. Space Mountain's paint is peeling off the walls in parts you can see very clearly along the TTA. Astro Orbitor needs a second and maybe third elevator shaft- I waited twenty minutes with about fifteen people in the line. I didn't bother with Monsters Inc or Stich. And the speedway...well, I didn't ride that either, but it's still an eyesore (albeit less noisy than I remembered it being). The area around Carousel is dead. Overall, I feel Tomorrowland needs a facelift on all fronts- I think that's probably priority A for the Magic Kingdom right now.

...with continuing service to...

Epcot:

-Spaceship Earth: Same as ever. Fantastic ride, abysmal finale. Rome was definitely smokin'. :slurp:

-Ellen's Energy Adventure: has probably passed its expiry date. Hilarious show, don't get me wrong. But either change Ellen's outfit, get her a new phone, or give us a new film. 'Nuff said.

-Mission: Space: My favorite ride at Epcot. :lookaroun

-Angler fish wasn't working on Nemo. So it goes.

-Imagination: Oye vey.

-Soarin': Extra crowded with Test Track closed. The film itself looked fine- sharp enough for me. :shrug: The film still doesn't really fly here. Whatever happened to Soarin' Over the World anyway?

I have to say though...on the whole, and more so than other parks, I think it's Future World that needs an E-Ticket. Especially with Test Track closed, I got the feeling far too early in the day that we had run out of things to do there, turning to World Showcase for the afternoon which is usually an experience we save until the evening.

More in just a bit..

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Some assorted comments because people enjoy hearing other people's opinons on their observations:

-Signs to the monorail and ferries are really showing their age.
...and they were rubbush to begin with!

-Pirates: Seemed fine, no effects not working as far as I could tell. Same applies to Mansion.
Pirates and Mansion were among the better functioning rides during my last trip. I still hate Where's Waldo Depp and Cartoon Mansion though.

- I feel Tomorrowland needs a facelift on all fronts
Tomorrowland needs to be restored to its (by now beautiful retro!) futurism of the 70s. Get rid of the cartoons and the dated and yukkie 90s spaceport theme.


-Mission: Space: My favorite ride at Epcot. :lookaroun
No need for looking around suspiciously. M:S is fun! The people who closed Horizons still need to be put on display in an iron cage in front of M:S and be pelted with rotten tomatoes for all eternity, but M:S is a fun ride of itself.

I have to say though...on the whole, and more so than other parks, I think it's Future World that needs an E-Ticket. Especially with Test Track closed, I got the feeling far too early in the day that we had run out of things to do there, turning to World Showcase for the afternoon which is usually an experience we save until the evening.
I get bored too in Future World. I do the Land, SSE, then maybe some fish or a quick spin in the vominator, and that's that.
To think FW was once the most thrilling and exciting place on earth!

 

[wdwfan22]

-Soarin': Extra crowded with Test Track closed. The film itself looked fine- sharp enough for me. :shrug: The film still doesn't really fly here. Whatever happened to Soarin' Over the World anyway?

That's strange I've been at Epcot everyday since Test Track closed for refurbishment and Soarin has had about the same wait time as it does on any other day.

 

[Brava Centauri]

- I feel Tomorrowland needs a facelift on all fronts
Tomorrowland needs to be restored to its (by now beautiful retro!) futurism of the 70s. Get rid of the cartoons and the dated and yukkie 90s spaceport theme.

-Mission: Space: My favorite ride at Epcot. :lookaroun
No need for looking around suspiciously. M:S is fun! The people who closed Horizons still need to be put on display in an iron cage in front of M:S and be pelted with rotten tomatoes for all eternity, but M:S is a fun ride of itself.

To think FW was once the most thrilling and exciting place on earth!

#1- So true! Bring back "tomorrow" to Tomorrowland!

#2- I laughed at this comment. Man, I miss Horizons. M:S is fun, but it lacks the awe and inspiration.

#3- What I wouldn't give to have my old Future World back!

 

[Lee]

- I feel Tomorrowland needs a facelift on all fronts
Tomorrowland needs to be restored to its (by now beautiful retro!) futurism of the 70s. Get rid of the cartoons and the dated and yukkie 90s spaceport theme.

Ugh... No thanks.
Just drop the toons and fully implement the "future that never was" theme.
I can't express how much I loathe the 70's retro look.
:hurl:

 

[yeti]

I still hate Where's Waldo Depp and Cartoon Mansion though.

Yeah...I'm kinda indifferent about both of them. The Mansion queue (I assume that's what you're referring to) is nice...nothing to write home about in a good or bad way IMO.

What does bother me though is the changed dialogue in Pirates. I twitch every time I hear "Captain Jack Sparrow™" mentioned in the same sentence as "Davy Jones™" by the Pirate who once spewed vintage banter while dunking the mayor. Jack's presence itself doesn't affect me at all.

#2- I laughed at this comment. Man, I miss Horizons. M:S is fun, but it lacks the awe and inspiration.

I missed out on Horizons....

But I do really like Mission: Space. More than anyone else I know, to be honest. I guess more than anything I've always liked the style of it, and the way it gets your attention. The music and the intensity...it gets you genuinely excited about the fact that you're about to embark on a dangerous mission you may or may not survive. You feel pumped and brave when you're walking into the vominator pod. No other attraction really establishes that dynamic in the same way.

Also, something I forgot to mention earlier: during Illuminations I was smacked by an empty fireworks shell just after the end of the first segment. Is that normal? :lol: It actually really hurt!

 

[yeti]

Ugh... No thanks.
Just drop the toons and fully implement the "future that never was" theme.
I can't express how much I loathe the 70's retro look.
:hurl:

Exactly.

We've got the theme nailed. I just thought everything could use some "plussing". Extra paint. Y'know.

Less of this:

More of this:

 

[Lee]

Exactly.

We've got the theme nailed. I just thought everything could use some "plussing". Extra paint. Y'know.

Less of this:
More of this:

Yep. Exactly.

 

[captainkidd]

-Far too many burned-out bulbs on the Grand Floridian. So it goes.

This annoys me more than anything else. Such a pathetically easy fix. It's your Flagship Resort. Have some pride.:veryconfu

 

[LongtimeReader]

Ugh... No thanks.
Just drop the toons and fully implement the "future that never was" theme.
I can't express how much I loathe the 70's retro look.
:hurl:

Agreed x100. Tokyo still has the old Tomorrowland and it's truly horrible. Looks like the mall from my hometown that closed down 10 years ago because it was irrelevant and empty. I like MK and DLP for design. Content is another story, though...

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Ugh... No thanks.
Just drop the toons and fully implement the "future that never was" theme.
I can't express how much I loathe the 70's retro look.

Exactly.

We've got the theme nailed. I just thought everything could use some "plussing". Extra paint. Y'know.

Less of this:

More of this:

Agreed x100. Tokyo still has the old Tomorrowland and it's truly horrible. Looks like the mall from my hometown that closed down 10 years ago because it was irrelevant and empty. I like MK and DLP for design. Content is another story, though...

I have to agree with these thoughts. Leave the retro/realistic futurism to Epcot and Future World. Tomorrowland just needs to finish the whole spaceport theme that it started in the 90s. Give it a bit of an update maybe, but keep the overall aesthetic.

 

[wolf359]

I'm on the complete other end of the spectrum on this one; I'd rather see all of the faux rocks and other assorted Buck Rogers junk ripped out of Tomorrowland and have clean lines, open spaces and the original blue/white/silver color scheme again.

Tomorrowland 95's design worked on paper but the real life implementation falls flat for me. It all looks a little too busy and cluttered, and like many other projects from that time a little over thought and under funded. Perhaps if the new theme had actually been applied to the entire land it wouldn't seem as jarring, but as it turned out the first half of Tomorrowland is crammed with details and doo dads while the back half was virtually untouched.

With the last ten years showing a gradual shift away from many Tomorrowland '95 elements and the most recent changes around the entire property pointing to a return to classic Walt Disney World style I think it is only a matter of time before Tomorrowland sees the last remaining bits of the 1995 update stripped away.

 

[RandySavage]

Perhaps if the new theme had actually been applied to the entire land it wouldn't seem as jarring, but as it turned out the first half of Tomorrowland is crammed with details and doo dads while the back half was virtually untouched.

While I disagree with you on the quality of TL95 (I liked it before it was toonified and still think the retro asthetic was well executed, particularly at night), your above point is something that has irked me about TL since the very beginning.

I even went so far as to illustrate a completed TL in that 'atom punk, deco-tech' style (and gave the same treatment to Tokyo's as well).

 

[marni1971]

You surely know this very style is one option the OLC have been looking at for quite a while now for Tokyos Tomorrowland?

And do I see a tribute to the original hub spires in WDW at the Fanland entrance?

 

[PlaneJane]

I know someone on this forum who would freak if you took away cosmic ray's.

 

[RandySavage]

You surely know this very style is one option the OLC have been looking at for quite a while now for Tokyos Tomorrowland?

^I'm aware of the whole Sci-Fi City program that came very close to getting the greenlight back in the late 90s, but I thought OLC had given up on the idea of a full land make-over and will just work on the attraction level (Buzz, Monsters Inc, Star Tours II) with no aesthetic change to the land's environment.

It'd be great to hear that a land-wide refurb is still being considered (even for the area around Star Tours II when that comes in 2013).

And do I see a tribute to the original hub spires in WDW at the Fanland entrance?

Yes, sir, you do.

 

[marni1971]

So far as I know they're still looking at it.

Personally I love the upper walkways idea where their WEDway was never built.

 

[yeti]

The nitpicking continues...

All right, where were we?

Studios:

-The ugly stage in front of the ugly hat has been removed. That was news to me.

- Star Tours: Love it. Rode 3x. Only operational issue I noticed was the Rex tribute in the queue: is he supposed to be moving? He does a really cool glitch effect in DL's where he short circuits and spits some of his old dialogue. He was motionless here.

-Tower of Terror: The on-ride music was quite de-synched not only once, but a few times that I rode it (ex. the ending music suddenly playing right before the drop, and a delay in the music during the hallway scene). I know that soundtrack/ride too well not to notice.

-Great Movie Ride: My goodness. I think the first thing I would do in WDW, before touching Imagination or Future World or Tomorrowland, would be to update this ride. It's not just because of broken/disabled effects, but I feel the aspect of the "live narrator/actor" taking you along the ride has lost its novelty completely. Frankly, it just comes off as hokey now. There was an instance in the Oz scene where the (empty) car in front of us was dealing with the Witch encounter, while our CM just awkwardly looked on from a distance (all right, it was pretty amusing, actually). I admire the CM's on the ride greatly for taking on what is probably the most difficult and uncomfortable ride assignment at WDW. But they still can't act. :lol::lookaroun

On top of that, no fire in the western scene (why would they? we don't even stop there anymore), two aliens were visible at once, and no bubbles during footlight parade. So it goes.

-Muppets: Half the penguins weren't moving. So it goes.

Fantasmic was....fine. Great, actually. :lookaroun Everything was working as far as I could tell. The dragon scene was even better than I had remembered it (fire breath worked here- I've never seen it work on Murphy. Just sayin'.).

All I could ask is that they remove the full-blown Pocahontas scene. I understand it was recent once. Not anymore. I'd like to see something from a more timeless Disney film put in, like Peter Pan at DL's.

I'll also throw this in: Studios during the last hour of EMH? Lovely. Had a RnR train all to ourselves.

P.P.S: don't trust wait times (at the very least during EMH). There was a forty minute wait posted for Toy Story Mania. Ten minutes later we boarded the vehicle.

 

[ctxak98]

All right, where were we?

Studios:

-The ugly stage in front of the ugly hat has been removed. That was news to me.

- Star Tours: Love it. Rode 3x. Only operational issue I noticed was the Rex tribute in the queue: is he supposed to be moving? He does a really cool glitch effect in DL's where he short circuits and spits some of his old dialogue. He was motionless here.

-Tower of Terror: The on-ride music was quite de-synched not only once, but a few times that I rode it (ex. the ending music suddenly playing right before the drop, and a delay in the music during the hallway scene). I know that soundtrack/ride too well not to notice.

-Great Movie Ride: My goodness. I think the first thing I would do in WDW, before touching Imagination or Future World or Tomorrowland, would be to update this ride. It's not just because of broken/disabled effects, but I feel the aspect of the "live narrator/actor" taking you along the ride has lost its novelty completely. Frankly, it just comes off as hokey now. There was an instance in the Oz scene where the (empty) car in front of us was dealing with the Witch encounter, while our CM just awkwardly looked on from a distance (all right, it was pretty amusing, actually). I admire the CM's on the ride greatly for taking on what is probably the most difficult and uncomfortable ride assignment at WDW. But they still can't act. :lol::lookaroun

On top of that, no fire in the western scene (why would they? we don't even stop there anymore), two aliens were visible at once, and no bubbles during footlight parade. So it goes.

-Muppets: Half the penguins weren't moving. So it goes.

Fantasmic was....fine. Great, actually. :lookaroun Everything was working as far as I could tell. The dragon scene was even better than I had remembered it (fire breath worked here- I've never seen it work on Murphy. Just sayin'.).

All I could ask is that they remove the full-blown Pocahontas scene. I understand it was recent once. Not anymore. I'd like to see something from a more timeless Disney film put in, like Peter Pan at DL's.

I'll also throw this in: Studios during the last hour of EMH? Lovely. Had a RnR train all to ourselves.

P.P.S: don't trust wait times (at the very least during EMH). There was a forty minute wait posted for Toy Story Mania. Ten minutes later we boarded the vehicle.

I actually think that the problem with the great movie ride is that the tour guides dont get into it anymore, they are all lame. Atleast the ones I am getting.

On a side note I think Pocahontas is a perfectly fine scene. It is kind of abrupt but I think I like it better then the Peter Pan thing at DL. Idk...just my opinion

 

[Communicore]

I'm on the complete other end of the spectrum on this one; I'd rather see all of the faux rocks and other assorted Buck Rogers junk ripped out of Tomorrowland and have clean lines, open spaces and the original blue/white/silver color scheme again.

Tomorrowland 95's design worked on paper but the real life implementation falls flat for me. It all looks a little too busy and cluttered, and like many other projects from that time a little over thought and under funded. Perhaps if the new theme had actually been applied to the entire land it wouldn't seem as jarring, but as it turned out the first half of Tomorrowland is crammed with details and doo dads while the back half was virtually untouched.

With the last ten years showing a gradual shift away from many Tomorrowland '95 elements and the most recent changes around the entire property pointing to a return to classic Walt Disney World style I think it is only a matter of time before Tomorrowland sees the last remaining bits of the 1995 update stripped away.

I was a inagaural CM for the new Tomorrowland and I'm like, hah these people are still wearing the same clothes I wore brand spanking new at that time...hehe, bring back the 70's Tomorrowland!