Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[lazyboy97o]

Ironically, disabled people will rent rich Manhattan kids to ride it.

Is it bad that I've wished I could think of a way to rent a kid so that I could ride it at least once?

 

[RSoxNo1]

I think bare coasters can look alright.

And they can look very bad.

I actually like the way the Batman one looks...

 

[dupac]

I love the Busch Gardens Williamsburg picture. It's beautiful.

Maybe what I should have included is the Tony Hawk coaster instead of the Batman.

 

[JenniferS]

I'll bet that non-Disney amusement parks absolutely curse Walt Disney for his themed ride ideas. Now they have to spend ginormous amounts of money just to even try to stay with the Disney spoiled, expectations of their previously unconcerned customers. BTW, I know a place in a park in Disney that has paved grounds under a grouping of semi-themed rides. White lines and everything, but it was intentional. It's too bad that the back story for that has not been conveyed to enough people for them to understand it's meaning. I guess it was just not a good idea to do it, with or without a back story.

H & C has always been a chicken and egg thing to me.
Disney tells me the backstory and gives me a couple of under-themed carnival rides and games on bare pavement, in what is the most immersively themed park of them all.
Me, I see a couple of tawdry under-themed carnival rides and games, with a weak storyline thrown in after the fact to justify its cheapness.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

That seems like a lazy explanation and there's no reason I have to think it looks good.

No one says you have to like it, but it is clear that the visuals of the coasters were intentional.

Big blue coaster over big blue dragon statue. Big red coaster over big red dragon statue. I am pretty sure Universal Creative had no intentions of hiding the coasters. And they not only wanted you to see The Hulk, but hear it too. They intentionally didn't fill the box spine of the track with sand (B&M's standard procedure) so that it would ROAR! And they certainly didn't try and hide it.

 

[fbb]

H & C has always been a chicken and egg thing to me.
Disney tells me the backstory and gives me a couple of under-themed carnival rides and games on bare pavement, in what is the most immersively themed park of them all.
Me, I see a couple of tawdry under-themed carnival rides and games, with a weak storyline thrown in after the fact to justify its cheapness.

Perfect description. Any attempt to push the 'backstory' into the public awareness will simply look like a justification for cheap off-the-shelf rides.

 

[bhg469]

I remember Walt saying,
"Here in the Imagination Pavilion, we have something special that we never enjoyed at the Wonders of Life Pavilion . . . the blessing of size. There’s enough floor space here to hold all the ideas and plans we can possibly imagine.”

I can imagine a lot more than a half a dark ride and a dusty second floor. They better get on that.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Really? Not me. Lots to criticize about Disney, but their mountain range is wonderful. Too bad what is inside is not always maintained.

I'm with GLaDOS, I'll take The Hulk any day over EE:LotFM. Even when the Yeti actually moved.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

No one says you have to like it, but it is clear that the visuals of the coasters were intentional.

Big blue coaster over big blue dragon statue. Big red coaster over big red dragon statue. I am pretty sure Universal Creative had no intentions of hiding the coasters. And they not only wanted you to see The Hulk, but hear it too. They intentionally didn't fill the box spine of the track with sand (B&M's standard procedure) so that it would ROAR! And they certainly didn't try and hide it.

I miss that entrance. It is a shame that Dragon Challenge's entrance is such a lesser version of its predecessor. With the rearrangement of Hogsmeade station for the Phase 2 Hogwarts Express, I am hoping UNI pours money into a better entrance. Of course that area may be currently looked at for the Forbidden Forrest in which case we'll have another UNI E-Ticket before Avatar.

 

[vonpluto]

I miss that entrance. It is a shame that Dragon Challenge's entrance is such a lesser version of its predecessor. With the rearrangement of Hogsmeade station for the Phase 2 Hogwarts Express, I am hoping UNI pours money into a better entrance. Of course that area may be currently looked at for the Forbidden Forrest in which case we'll have another UNI E-Ticket before Avatar.

Looks like a hidden Mickey.

 

[willtravel]

No one says you have to like it, but it is clear that the visuals of the coasters were intentional.

Big blue coaster over big blue dragon statue. Big red coaster over big red dragon statue. I am pretty sure Universal Creative had no intentions of hiding the coasters. And they not only wanted you to see The Hulk, but hear it too. They intentionally didn't fill the box spine of the track with sand (B&M's standard procedure) so that it would ROAR! And they certainly didn't try and hide it.

Not even in my younger days could I have gone on that ride in the bottom picture.

 

[Bairstow]

I really regret not having gone to IOA before the Potter Expansion so that I could have seen the original Dueling Dragons queue and the Enchanted Oak Tavern.
That said, there are some parts of the new Dueling Dragons queue I really like, with the blue flaming chalice and the hall of floating candles.
It's one of the few queues at IOA in which no words are spoken- everything about the experience you're about to have is conveyed through sights and sound.

 

[PorterRedkey]

No one says you have to like it, but it is clear that the visuals of the coasters were intentional.

Big blue coaster over big blue dragon statue. Big red coaster over big red dragon statue. I am pretty sure Universal Creative had no intentions of hiding the coasters. And they not only wanted you to see The Hulk, but hear it too. They intentionally didn't fill the box spine of the track with sand (B&M's standard procedure) so that it would ROAR! And they certainly didn't try and hide it.

I agree that Universal's original intent was not to hide the coaster of dueling dragon, but once you change the area into Hogsmeade and Hogwarts a bare coaster track seems out of place.

Although the queue enhancements are appreciated, I don't remember any coaster tracks in the book. Personally, it takes me out of the land, even if I enjoy the coaster on it's own.

 

[Bairstow]

I agree that Universal's original intent was not to hide the coaster of dueling dragon, but once you change the area into Hogsmeade and Hogwarts a bare coaster track seems out of place.

Although the queue enhancements are appreciated, I don't remember any coaster tracks in the book. Personally, it takes me out of the land, even if I enjoy the coaster on it's own.

You've got to think more metaphorically. The coasters are the dragons.

 

[Goofyernmost]

H & C has always been a chicken and egg thing to me.
Disney tells me the backstory and gives me a couple of under-themed carnival rides and games on bare pavement, in what is the most immersively themed park of them all.
Me, I see a couple of tawdry under-themed carnival rides and games, with a weak storyline thrown in after the fact to justify its cheapness.

The attraction and the back-story were, from what I understand, pretty much at the same time. It was supposed to represent the entrepreneurial skills of H & C in transitioning from the lowly gas station to a way to make a country fortune after the bones were discovered there. It was a roadside (as witnessed by the lanes and lined road running along side it and it was just a quick buck plan by them. It took some imagination to even come up with that idea and just like Sounds Dangerous, the intent was missed by just about everyone. It was a step in courage to even have it there because it went against want Walt considered acceptable for his parks. But in this case it was a make believe park within his park complete with the reason why it was there. It should have flown, but, sometimes we all have a mental block that won't lets us get past pre-concieved notions.

 

[JenniferS]

The attraction and the back-story were, from what I understand, pretty much at the same time. It was supposed to represent the entrepreneurial skills of H & C in transitioning from the lowly gas station to a way to make a country fortune after the bones were discovered there. It was a roadside (as witnessed by the lanes and lined road running along side it and it was just a quick buck plan by them. It took some imagination to even come up with that idea and just like Sounds Dangerous, the intent was missed by just about everyone. It was a step in courage to even have it there because it went against want Walt considered acceptable for his parks. But in this case it was a make believe park within his park complete with the reason why it was there. It should have flown, but, sometimes we all have a mental block that won't lets us get past pre-concieved notions.

Probably would have flown if it didn't suck. I can ride these types of rides and waste my money on these types of games at any number of fairs/carnivals.
So much beauty elsewhere at DAK. Such disappointing off-the-shelf rides and Whack-a-Mole type games at Hester & Chester's.
With a little effort, and a unique ride or two, H & C could be made DAK-worthy.

Also the "backstory" is not well publicized. I had never heard of it before joining these Boards, despite having been to DAK half a dozen times.

And what the heck is Nemo doing in that neck of the woods? It doesn't mesh with either of the adjacent lands. It sticks out like a sore thumb ... like a fish out of water.

I didn't hate Sounds Dangerous. A cool, dark place, where you could get off your feet for 20 minutes is preferable to an empty building.

 

[BryceM]

I really regret not having gone to IOA before the Potter Expansion so that I could have seen the original Dueling Dragons queue and the Enchanted Oak Tavern.
That said, there are some parts of the new Dueling Dragons queue I really like, with the blue flaming chalice and the hall of floating candles.
It's one of the few queues at IOA in which no words are spoken- everything about the experience you're about to have is conveyed through sights and sound.

I prefer the old IOA.. Before Potter. The park seemed to flow better, I loved the Merlinwood section of Lost Continent and it was less crowded.

That being said, I do love WWoHP, I am glad we have FJ, and I am so grateful for what it has done to UOR as a whole.

 

[Bairstow]

Meh. I'm not a fan of the land clearing that Six Flags and Cedar Fair do with their coasters.

Besides the fact that those Batman coasters are poorly themed to begin with.

The real tragedy is that the Batman coasters, or at least the one at Six Flags over Georgia originally had some pretty good theming.
When the one at Georgia first opened it was in its own little Gotham mini-land, and there were all kinds of neat effects in the queue for the batman coaster itself including fog, a crashed police car atop a spouting fire hydrant, a junkyard wall with barking dogs beyond, and a pipe you walked down with bright green "toxic" water cascading along either side into a bubbling drain.

Sadly, all of these effects have been removed, presumably because they didn't want to maintain them.

 

[truecoat]

The real tragedy is that the Batman coasters, or at least the one at Six Flags over Georgia originally had some pretty good theming.
When the one at Georgia first opened it was in its own little Gotham mini-land, and there were all kinds of neat effects in the queue for the batman coaster itself including fog, a crashed police car atop a spouting fire hydrant, a junkyard wall with barking dogs beyond, and a pipe you walked down with bright green "toxic" water cascading along either side into a bubbling drain.

Sadly, all of these effects have been removed, presumably because they didn't want to maintain them.

I was going to say the same thing about the Chicago Batman ride. It had what would be great theming for a Six Flags. You enter the Gotham City park and it winds around to a construction wall that has a gap. This gap leads you under the subway where there was general stuff strewn about and the cop car smashed into a fire hydrant with water spraying. Enter the big culvert and eventually be in the bat cave where the ride loads. I haven't been there in some time now and don't know if they have changed it like the one in Georgia.

 

[stevehousse]

I was going to say the same thing about the Chicago Batman ride. It had what would be great theming for a Six Flags. You enter the Gotham City park and it winds around to a construction wall that has a gap. This gap leads you under the subway where there was general stuff strewn about and the cop car smashed into a fire hydrant with water spraying. Enter the big culvert and eventually be in the bat cave where the ride loads. I haven't been there in some time now and don't know if they have changed it like the one in Georgia.

It's still the same...as for the second batman coaster we have...te theming is awful! It's a mouse coaster inside the jokers lair... Now u want to talk about bad theming in a park, this takes the cake...