PurpleDragon's WDW Update

PurpleDragon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just got back from a week long trip in WDW. Since we had a large group with children, I didn't get time to break away and take many pics, but I can at least give you what I did get. So here we go:

We stayed at Pop Century and first day we were there I noticed a couple of cranes past the treeline off to the right when walking out of the lobby. Does anyone know what these are for?


Magic Kingdom

Park was extremely crowded, had to go back another day just to catch some of the rides that had longer waits.
HM is completely dark during the evening hours now. Unlike before when people said the lighting and sound effects were still running, all effects have been turned off and all you can see is a faint glow of floodlights from work being done on the showbuilding. Tried to wander about to get some good vews for pictures, but they have it pretty well blocked off. All I got was this pic of the main construction wall.

1004896mc7.jpg


Did not get a chance to go on MLF, however it had a decent wait time both days we were there so turn out is good.

For those visiting in the next couple of weeks here is some good advice. During the evenings, since the park is open later, crowds seemed to dwindle down to practically nothing around 10:00-10:30PM after the parades and fireworks are over, so there is a much better chance to hit shorter lines on the more popular rides during that time.


EPCOT

The construction walls are still up at the base of SSE where the LAL kiosks were ,not sure why doesn't look like they've done any work on them at all since Merf posted pics a few weeks ago.

Lines for the EPCOT Character Spot were nuts, the wait times were close to 2 hours we waited about 1.5 hours to get our photos. Also want to take this time to thank the friend of Minnie Mouse who was working on Wednesday of last week. My niece thought it was sooooo cool that Minnie kissed her uncle. :wave:

Test track broke down on Wednesday afternoon while we were in line, we wasted our fastpass and were not offered any sort of replacement pass so we didn't get to ride it that day, we had to go back on Thursday to ride it.

Wait lines for M:S Green were floating between 5-15 minutes during the times we were there, my brother in-law rode it and said it was still pretty impressive even without the intense G's.

Got a chance to ride Grande Fiesta tour, and I must say IMO its a huge improvement over the previous version of the attraction. I know some purists may scream blasphemy, but the fact that we had to wait in line for the attraction was a sign that its doing what it was meant to do, to bring more guests into the pavillion.


Animal Kingdom

Finally got to ride EE and I have to say it actually exceeded my expectations, was soo much better than I thought it would be. Hearing all the people badmouth it on these boards had me thinking it was a subpar attraction, but I was pleasantly surprised. The themeing was amazing and the yeti was running in A mode which definately made me happy. :D

Construction on the Yak & Yeti restaurant is moving along nicely. The building takes up a very large foot print, does anyone know if this will be strictly reservation only character meals like Crystal palace in MK, or will it offer any type of counter service? I snapped a quick pic of it as we walked by.

1004929yx8.jpg


Also I haven't ridden Kilimanjaro safari in a couple years, but didn't they used to have a guide seperate from the driver who would narrate? Maybe my brain is just playing tricks on me but I could have sworn they had 2 CMs in the truck for the safari.

Disney MGM Studios

Just wanted to say first thing, that a number of CMs as well as the host of the LMA stunt show were calling the park "Disney MGM Studios". I don't know if this is simply old habits or if they have been instructed to use the "MGM" in the name again. But I know my last visit back in 2005 all of the CMs we ran into called it "Disney Studios" and I thought it was rather weird.

This past weekend was part of the Star wars weekend and the park was PACKED!! The star wars weekend brought out alot of fan boys too, there were fans walking around the parked dressed in their Star wars garb, that looked as good as some of the real characters. I saw a couple guys dressed as Jedi who were taking pictures with kids and they didn't even work there, I thought that was rather comical.

Due to the massive crowds in MGM on Saturday, we didn't get to ride much of anything, all we really did was see Muppet 3D, and LMA and we decided to head out. However I made a point to walk past the TSM building to snap a couple quick pics of the contruction.

1005011ct0.jpg



1005010zz7.jpg


Thats all I got for now guys, sorry I don't have more detailed information, but when your chasing around a couple 5 year olds and doing stuff with a group of 11 people, it gets kind of tough to multitask. :p

Lemme know if anyone has any questions. :wave:
 

teebin

Member
I believe the cranes that you were seeing are for construction of one or two mega resorts being built at the Bonnet Creek Resort. Bonnet Creek Resort does butt up against WDW property but has nothing to do with WDW or the Disney company.
 

TravisMT81

Well-Known Member
Yak and Yet will not be a character meal, since after all it will be run by Landrys. It will have a sit down restaurant and quick service.
 

Biff215

Well-Known Member
The Safari spiel did just change recently, which is what you might be thinking of. As far as I know there has always been just one CM driving, but there used to be a second narrator, Ms. Jobson, in addition to Wilson. I was there last week as well, and I felt that the new narration is even more boring and annoying than the old story. It was almost awkward for the driver.

Crowds were pretty insane last week while we were there. We were also down for Christmas this past year, and the crowds were almost comparable some days. Still a fun trip though!
 

JROK

Member
Yesterday was a madhouse at MGM. We had to wait in line for an hour and fifteen minutes for a pic with Darth Maul. And then 40min for a pic with Anakin Skywalker. It was ridiculous!

I thought it was funny that Disney wasn't up in arms about guest Jedi's taking pics with kids, but when a guy comes to Disney that resembles Santa, not dressed like him though like the Jedi's are, they get all up in arms and kick the guy out. One of the "Jedi's" we saw did turn down an autograph but had a line of 10 kids wanting his pic. :xmas:
 

LudwigVonDrake

Well-Known Member
I do remember being on the Safari (it might have been 2003) and there was a driver AND a cast member who pointed out what we saw.

You might also be thinking about the Discovery Island boat ride around the Tree of Life that briefly occurred after Animal Kingdom opened. You had someone driving the boat and a cast member who had smaller animals and bugs to show those of us on the boat. This is the ride that became the Radio Disney boat ride and now sits unused.
 

haveyoumetmark

Well-Known Member
Yesterday was a madhouse at MGM. We had to wait in line for an hour and fifteen minutes for a pic with Darth Maul. And then 40min for a pic with Anakin Skywalker. It was ridiculous!

I thought it was funny that Disney wasn't up in arms about guest Jedi's taking pics with kids, but when a guy comes to Disney that resembles Santa, not dressed like him though like the Jedi's are, they get all up in arms and kick the guy out. One of the "Jedi's" we saw did turn down an autograph but had a line of 10 kids wanting his pic. :xmas:
SWW is a special event, the Santa thing is a different story. I had to write an editorial on it in favor of Disney and it was easy to see who was right and wrong in that case.:wave:

Thanks for the update! For some reason, I just want them to get rid of the MGM name. I don't really like it anymore... Disney Studios is better to me, maybe I like change.. I'm not sure. :lol:
 

WDWFigment

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the updates!

The success of Star Wars weekends suggests to me that maybe Star Tours 2.0 is exactly what this park needs to start its revitalization. Those Star Wars fans number so many, even to this day...
 

Capt. Jack

New Member
Thanks for the report.

Does anyone know what the fine or penalty would be if I tried hopping the gate infront of Haunted Mansion? :lol: Total jokes by the way.
 

JWG

Well-Known Member
I do remember being on the Safari (it might have been 2003) and there was a driver AND a cast member who pointed out what we saw.

You might also be thinking about the Discovery Island boat ride around the Tree of Life that briefly occurred after Animal Kingdom opened. You had someone driving the boat and a cast member who had smaller animals and bugs to show those of us on the boat. This is the ride that became the Radio Disney boat ride and now sits unused.

If you're a concierge guest at AKL (or AKV) and you do the early morning safari (before park open) you get a safari ride a 2nd guide who does more Q&A with the guests and actually tells you about the safari and the animals. I've not been so lucky as to go but have heard great things.
 

tirian

Well-Known Member
Disney MGM Studios

Just wanted to say first thing, that a number of CMs as well as the host of the LMA stunt show were calling the park "Disney MGM Studios". I don't know if this is simply old habits or if they have been instructed to use the "MGM" in the name again. But I know my last visit back in 2005 all of the CMs we ran into called it "Disney Studios" and I thought it was rather weird.

Yes, everyone has been instructed to refer to the park as either "The Studios" or "The Disney-MGM Studios." In case you didn't notice, "MGM' has been added back to all of the merchandise, too.
 

WDWFigment

Well-Known Member
I wonder how this new influx of MGM to the Studios affects the general shift of the park. What exactly are they planning? Maybe they just see the popularity of "retro" right now, and want to capitalize on the 'old school' WDW.
 

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
I was there last week as well, and I felt that the new narration is even more boring and annoying than the old story. It was almost awkward for the driver.
That and they got rid of the best line from the original. "We call them Tommies. TOMMIES!"
That's like Animal Kingdom's closest thing to "We wants the Redhead" or "Welcome Foolish Mortals" and they got rid of it...
 

trr313

New Member
I was at Animal Kingdom on Saturday and it was so crowded. Since it's open until 8pm most nights now, we noticed a huge difference between the 6-8pm time frame with little to no wait times.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom