Hey everyone, just got back from WDW and thought I would post a few random observations. I'm sure all of these have been discussed elsewhere, but here we go.
Pirates of the Caribbean Hat Guy(tm): I had read about his weirdness here on the boards, but now I've seen it firsthand. On Wednesday, he had but one hat. On Friday, he had his customary tower of hats. What in the world is going on with this guy? I inquired with a Pirates cast member, who clearly thought I was some crazy Disney dork, which might even be true, but isn't really an answer.
Haunted Mansion queue: I got a good look and a couple of photos from the top deck of the riverboat. The new "interactive" queue makes more sense now. Clearly, you're going to have the option to step through a gate at the "elbow" of the current queue and enter a small courtyard, which I assume will contain the interactive elements. The courtyard is just bare concrete at the moment, and the hillside beyond, where the original tombstones were located, is newly-graded earth. Looks like there's still a lot of work to do here.
Splash Mountain: I see pictures of the lap bars have already made it here. Got to see the new logs (or the old retrofitted logs, whichever the case may be) in testing myself. There is no other sign of refurbishment on the exterior, and the flume was wet each day I passed by.
Indy Speedway: they've already started grading the earth for the reduction of the track, on the curve nearest the Tea Party. It looks like a pretty small reduction -- basically the outer part of the curve will end about where the inner part of the curve is now. It would be nice if they would take advantage of having to shut the track down to make some significant improvements to this aging and noisy attraction, but I don't expect that will happen.
The Magic Kingdom in general was covered in scrims and scaffolds. Exposition Hall, plus the right corner of Main Street, most of one of the entrance tunnels, the Adventureland bridge, the back of the castle, not to mention the Fantasyland Forest construction. Also, between the Treehouse and Sunken Ned's boats, a new deck was being built behind a construction wall. Not sure what's up with that, whether it's a replacement for picking that was already there, or something new.
Expedition Everest: so, obviously, Mr. Yeti is permanently in B mode. As my train passed by the furry little disco diva and pulled into the station, the father in the seat in front of me said to his son, "Did you see the yeti? Over there to the left?" Sadly, that sentence encapsulates why I think we will never see the money spent to bring back A mode.
Safari: the added infrastructure for the "trek" up-charge adventure is a bit intrusive for the regular safari goers. Probably that's the idea, though.
Dinosaur: All Carnotaurus effects working, thankfully, but not much else. Certainly, no lasers.
Pirates of the Caribbean Hat Guy(tm): I had read about his weirdness here on the boards, but now I've seen it firsthand. On Wednesday, he had but one hat. On Friday, he had his customary tower of hats. What in the world is going on with this guy? I inquired with a Pirates cast member, who clearly thought I was some crazy Disney dork, which might even be true, but isn't really an answer.
Haunted Mansion queue: I got a good look and a couple of photos from the top deck of the riverboat. The new "interactive" queue makes more sense now. Clearly, you're going to have the option to step through a gate at the "elbow" of the current queue and enter a small courtyard, which I assume will contain the interactive elements. The courtyard is just bare concrete at the moment, and the hillside beyond, where the original tombstones were located, is newly-graded earth. Looks like there's still a lot of work to do here.
Splash Mountain: I see pictures of the lap bars have already made it here. Got to see the new logs (or the old retrofitted logs, whichever the case may be) in testing myself. There is no other sign of refurbishment on the exterior, and the flume was wet each day I passed by.
Indy Speedway: they've already started grading the earth for the reduction of the track, on the curve nearest the Tea Party. It looks like a pretty small reduction -- basically the outer part of the curve will end about where the inner part of the curve is now. It would be nice if they would take advantage of having to shut the track down to make some significant improvements to this aging and noisy attraction, but I don't expect that will happen.
The Magic Kingdom in general was covered in scrims and scaffolds. Exposition Hall, plus the right corner of Main Street, most of one of the entrance tunnels, the Adventureland bridge, the back of the castle, not to mention the Fantasyland Forest construction. Also, between the Treehouse and Sunken Ned's boats, a new deck was being built behind a construction wall. Not sure what's up with that, whether it's a replacement for picking that was already there, or something new.
Expedition Everest: so, obviously, Mr. Yeti is permanently in B mode. As my train passed by the furry little disco diva and pulled into the station, the father in the seat in front of me said to his son, "Did you see the yeti? Over there to the left?" Sadly, that sentence encapsulates why I think we will never see the money spent to bring back A mode.
Safari: the added infrastructure for the "trek" up-charge adventure is a bit intrusive for the regular safari goers. Probably that's the idea, though.
Dinosaur: All Carnotaurus effects working, thankfully, but not much else. Certainly, no lasers.
