Greetings All from the Geek Labs....
Checking in with another trip report from that most magical place in Florida.
This weekend’s trip consisted of Animal Kingdom, MGM, and Magic Kingdom.
Starting at Animal Kingdom in the morning I finally got to go see the new walkway by Expedition Everest very well done indeed. The trail is showing up now on the Animal Kingdom maps officially. Everest's construction up close is just amazing. I stood there yesterday and just marveled at the engineering work that is going into this coaster. The walkway and restroom area is very well done. Detail work is everywhere. What I found most interesting was the woodwork that went into this area. The carved pieces are amazing to see up close atleast I thought so (but hey shinny objects keep my attention somedays) Disney did an amazing job even with the ground cover. There are bicycle tracks and footprints yes footprints of children its very cool to see.
Next stop was MGM NY Street rehab still going on full swing. Facades look GREAT on the buildings that are done. The biggest surprise there is the main rehab wall that was in front of the stunt show spectacular has been taken down and moved back closer to the restroom building that has been the main focus of pictures currently. WDI was on site yesterday I saw two gentlemen walking around talking with contractors working on the building. Construction work on the theater behind the restroom building was going on I saw some pieces of framing being weddled into place. The backlot trams will use part of that area as a return for unloading of guests on the backlot tour. There is a nice metal fence running along this path to keep you out of traffic (for all you who like to play in traffic
) While there I could hear Catastrophe Canyon being tested also. On the way out I purchased my own copy of the "Wishes" CD I just love that music. They had 3 copies left when I snagged mine. I imagine more in the backroom but you never know! 
Next and last stop was to the Magic Kingdom.Finally saw The Home on the Range pre parade, its cute but nothing major yet on the characters. I still have to see the movie to know all their names. For those of you wondering the "Wishes" CD can be found in the Fantasy Fare store (store outside Mickey's Philharmagic) They had plenty of copies on the shelves when I stopped by to look. Also somethings I noticed about the Fantasy Fare shop now. The plush doll section/toys that where there when the store first open are gone and have been replaced with clothes. Mostly toddler and small children outfits. Also something I hadn’t seen in a long time the open stock Philharmagic pin has come back for those who do not own it yet.
I stopped by Mickey's Startraders to check out the new look since the cast portal's picture really didn’t give any clue of what the new look was like. I must say I like the mural work that has been added to the store. It has a comic book feel to it as far as the art work goes. Imagine a mural that looks hand drawn with color pencils. The end caps of some of the merchandise shelves have Mickey in different space/comic style poses. There are hidden Mickey's in the mural and one drawing of Stitch flying (You can see if very clearly when on the Wedway/TTA) Its your basic store nothing to exciting merchandise wise. Timekeeper was open as was COP both looked to have nice crowds going to them. The rehab wall is still up at Stitch ESCAPE but nothing major has been done to the outside queue area. Some concrete work etc but nothing major major. XS TECH signs still remain.
My next stop was over to the Jungle Cruise which I had not ridden in along time. First let me say to any CP/CM that works on the Jungle Cruise and is an active member of the forums YOU ALL ARE CRAZY!!! But in a good way. While in line I haven’t laughed so much while waiting to board I saw everyone having a good time laughing, joking with the guests in line and boarding. My skipper for my 10 day trip was named Adam. He was hilarious. I noticed the joke script has changed some since the last time I rode it that or he modified it himself. When we came upon the giant butterflies (Fakus Animatronicus) he mentioned their wing span and that they can be picked up at the Local WalMart for $3.95 or on Main Street USA for $86.50 when we entered the Hippo pool he said there was a new baby hippo that had been born and if we all where real quiet we could hear it call his mother of course are boat went quiet Skipper Adam leaned out over the front of the boat so we couldn’t see his face and then we heard amazingly in Adams voice "HEY MOM" he spun around real quick and said amazing did you all hear that. Or my personal favorite was his impersonation of any CM working the Tea Cups that was just hilarious. :lol:
Some of the jokes I noticed that where different instead of Ol' Smiley the alligator it is now Ginger which Ginger doesn’t bite Ginger Snaps plus a few others which I don’t want to tell them all just go ride it and enjoy!!
I noticed a new candy item in some of the stores now. Build your own pixie stick. Basics are a plastic tub which I believe there are different sizes and several flavors of powder candy. Saw several guests throughout the day with them.
Also the old skyway building in Fantasyland has a new role. Besides a meet and greet area for characters it now is the brand spanking new parking lot for blue strollers Fantasyland moves allot smoother now. Crowds where good at all the parks. Ride time varied from 15 minutes to 75 minutes.
Of course I stayed for Wishes I just cant get enough of that show. I left shortly after Wishes which leads me to my next bit of information/question on the drive home last night by MGM time was around 10:25 PM fireworks started going off. I’m not talking like pop pop fireworks I’m talking Wishes style fireworks. Now my question is this yesterday Epcot closed at 9pm MGM at 730pm so why was there fireworks going off? Was this some testing for new Illuminations fireworks if so WOW cause they were amazing looking. I couldn’t get my to my camera due to the fact I was on the road. If anyone has any details please post or msg me I would like to know.
One final techie/geek thing I noticed yesterday. The phones/pc terminals where you can check your email and surf the Internet I found 3 of them with the same error message at different locations in different parks. They where looking for a temp file and couldn’t find it. As soon as I would cancel the window that was searching for the file the Animated page would load. By the way in case there are some of you leet hackers out there the C drive is blocked by polices so no deleting windows
Technical notes on that the PC's used in that system are Windows NT operating systems for those who want to know
That’s it for now. I will send all my pictures in as always. Until next time take care and see you at the parks.
Checking in with another trip report from that most magical place in Florida.
This weekend’s trip consisted of Animal Kingdom, MGM, and Magic Kingdom.
Starting at Animal Kingdom in the morning I finally got to go see the new walkway by Expedition Everest very well done indeed. The trail is showing up now on the Animal Kingdom maps officially. Everest's construction up close is just amazing. I stood there yesterday and just marveled at the engineering work that is going into this coaster. The walkway and restroom area is very well done. Detail work is everywhere. What I found most interesting was the woodwork that went into this area. The carved pieces are amazing to see up close atleast I thought so (but hey shinny objects keep my attention somedays) Disney did an amazing job even with the ground cover. There are bicycle tracks and footprints yes footprints of children its very cool to see.
Next stop was MGM NY Street rehab still going on full swing. Facades look GREAT on the buildings that are done. The biggest surprise there is the main rehab wall that was in front of the stunt show spectacular has been taken down and moved back closer to the restroom building that has been the main focus of pictures currently. WDI was on site yesterday I saw two gentlemen walking around talking with contractors working on the building. Construction work on the theater behind the restroom building was going on I saw some pieces of framing being weddled into place. The backlot trams will use part of that area as a return for unloading of guests on the backlot tour. There is a nice metal fence running along this path to keep you out of traffic (for all you who like to play in traffic
) While there I could hear Catastrophe Canyon being tested also. On the way out I purchased my own copy of the "Wishes" CD I just love that music. They had 3 copies left when I snagged mine. I imagine more in the backroom but you never know! Next and last stop was to the Magic Kingdom.Finally saw The Home on the Range pre parade, its cute but nothing major yet on the characters. I still have to see the movie to know all their names. For those of you wondering the "Wishes" CD can be found in the Fantasy Fare store (store outside Mickey's Philharmagic) They had plenty of copies on the shelves when I stopped by to look. Also somethings I noticed about the Fantasy Fare shop now. The plush doll section/toys that where there when the store first open are gone and have been replaced with clothes. Mostly toddler and small children outfits. Also something I hadn’t seen in a long time the open stock Philharmagic pin has come back for those who do not own it yet.
I stopped by Mickey's Startraders to check out the new look since the cast portal's picture really didn’t give any clue of what the new look was like. I must say I like the mural work that has been added to the store. It has a comic book feel to it as far as the art work goes. Imagine a mural that looks hand drawn with color pencils. The end caps of some of the merchandise shelves have Mickey in different space/comic style poses. There are hidden Mickey's in the mural and one drawing of Stitch flying (You can see if very clearly when on the Wedway/TTA) Its your basic store nothing to exciting merchandise wise. Timekeeper was open as was COP both looked to have nice crowds going to them. The rehab wall is still up at Stitch ESCAPE but nothing major has been done to the outside queue area. Some concrete work etc but nothing major major. XS TECH signs still remain.
My next stop was over to the Jungle Cruise which I had not ridden in along time. First let me say to any CP/CM that works on the Jungle Cruise and is an active member of the forums YOU ALL ARE CRAZY!!! But in a good way. While in line I haven’t laughed so much while waiting to board I saw everyone having a good time laughing, joking with the guests in line and boarding. My skipper for my 10 day trip was named Adam. He was hilarious. I noticed the joke script has changed some since the last time I rode it that or he modified it himself. When we came upon the giant butterflies (Fakus Animatronicus) he mentioned their wing span and that they can be picked up at the Local WalMart for $3.95 or on Main Street USA for $86.50 when we entered the Hippo pool he said there was a new baby hippo that had been born and if we all where real quiet we could hear it call his mother of course are boat went quiet Skipper Adam leaned out over the front of the boat so we couldn’t see his face and then we heard amazingly in Adams voice "HEY MOM" he spun around real quick and said amazing did you all hear that. Or my personal favorite was his impersonation of any CM working the Tea Cups that was just hilarious. :lol:
Some of the jokes I noticed that where different instead of Ol' Smiley the alligator it is now Ginger which Ginger doesn’t bite Ginger Snaps
plus a few others which I don’t want to tell them all just go ride it and enjoy!!I noticed a new candy item in some of the stores now. Build your own pixie stick. Basics are a plastic tub which I believe there are different sizes and several flavors of powder candy. Saw several guests throughout the day with them.
Also the old skyway building in Fantasyland has a new role. Besides a meet and greet area for characters it now is the brand spanking new parking lot for blue strollers Fantasyland moves allot smoother now. Crowds where good at all the parks. Ride time varied from 15 minutes to 75 minutes.
Of course I stayed for Wishes I just cant get enough of that show. I left shortly after Wishes which leads me to my next bit of information/question on the drive home last night by MGM time was around 10:25 PM fireworks started going off. I’m not talking like pop pop fireworks I’m talking Wishes style fireworks. Now my question is this yesterday Epcot closed at 9pm MGM at 730pm so why was there fireworks going off? Was this some testing for new Illuminations fireworks if so WOW cause they were amazing looking. I couldn’t get my to my camera due to the fact I was on the road. If anyone has any details please post or msg me I would like to know.
One final techie/geek thing I noticed yesterday. The phones/pc terminals where you can check your email and surf the Internet I found 3 of them with the same error message at different locations in different parks. They where looking for a temp file and couldn’t find it. As soon as I would cancel the window that was searching for the file the Animated page would load. By the way in case there are some of you leet hackers out there the C drive is blocked by polices so no deleting windows
Technical notes on that the PC's used in that system are Windows NT operating systems for those who want to know That’s it for now. I will send all my pictures in as always. Until next time take care and see you at the parks.
