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I hope you guys enjoy reading that juicy pre-opening report. - The WeirdOne
We went into Tomorrowland and I must say. It WAS like Tomorrowland '98 the way it was meant to be done, at least by initial appearance. Ran to do Star Tours, and got in line. We snaked through the space port, which was much bigger than any of the other Star Tours out there. Then into the maintenance depot whch had more humor and was much bigger and finally into the cabins to view the same movie that every other park has. It was still a blast because it felt new and was new! DreamFlight was an old favorite OmniMover so we did it once. Brings back fond memories of Walt Disney World in Florida! How I miss DreamFlight, I'm glad they preserved it here. We ran off into the Visionarium to catch a show. Boy is that one of the most beautiful attractions ever! I LOVED IT! From the dinosaurs, into Jules Verne, and to the present. This film was beautifully updated into this park with new shots, updated graphics, and more! SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL! We ran and hopped onto the PeopleMover for a tour of Tomorrowland, what a beautiful sight! The insides of buildings were walls, or brief views into some attractions. Very poorly executed. It might help if they took down all of the screens and construction walls inside building so we could view things from the cars. We skipped the submarines, they may have been updated and wonderful looking, but the technology was still there and boring. Maybe we're wrong, we would have checked it out later, but Space Mountain caught out attention. We zipped through the queue to be met by hoards of people in the station! OUCH! We waited close to 30 minutes. We boarded the trains, and immediately, a beautiful soundtrack began and sudenly a TIGHT dip into the cannon and our pictures were taken. Then we loaded into the cannon. But, wait, we began up a chain lift! WHAT A JIP! Suddenly, the chain released and we began falling backwards but we were caught and SHOT off into the top and out of the cannon! WOW! It was an experience, but definately NOT pleasant. We began doing the twists and turns and then upside down and then turns, brakes, loops, corkscrews, turns, ups, finally we saw the moon, and suddenly a DIVE into the unknown and into the Electric Brakes thing with sparks and everything and the loudest braking and screeching noise ever. Scary for us as well as the poor people in the queue. When we got back, the station was nearly empty and they let us go again, except this time, we were prepared for the chain and the launch! So much more of a pleasant ride! The winds were really picking up, so the Tomorrowland opening ceremonies were cancelled! THAT WAS A BUMMER! I was looking forward to that one all day. Since the Tomorrowland Theater was also open air, the show was also cancelled. The last show of the day and cancelled. Tomorrowland was the BIGGEST bust of the day. We did Autopia twice and headed to the hub. It was around 4:00 now. What to do until the 9:00 fireworks. I KNOW! Catch some shopping.
Me and Kent split up about now and he went off towards the hub and I towards Space Mountain. I went into the gift shop, Light Speed Photography. The shop doesn't sell just Photographs, but everything including T-shirts and other apparel. I bought my classic "I Survived Space Mountain!" T-shirt and grabbed a 6:45 Fastpass for Space Mountain and hopped in the 20 minute line. As I walked through the queue, I took my time and noticed many new sites, and a hidden Mickey constellation in the stars of the pre-show ceiling. It made my day. I hopped on a train, last row, and had one of the smoothest most enjoyable rides. I must say, when blasting out of that cannon, the smoke hits everyone in the last rows and you get a big mouthful before you're suddenly sliding into the mountain and screaming it out. Not time for a breath. What an amazing ride. Disney surely has a winner on their hands. I get off the train and who do I run into, no other than the head Imagineer of Tomorrowland, who shall be unnamed, and he told me some very interesting plans. We talked a good hour maybe more and he took me backstage and showed me some great plans for the upcoming days of the resort. I can't wait. We talked for a couple hours and before I knew it, it was 7:25. I had talked half of the day away. He offered me a quick walk from the utilidors into the Matterhorn waiting area. It was 7:35 by now. I decieded to call Kent and meet him by the castle stage at 7:45. He arrived there promptly and we decided what to do next. We decided to catch the 8:00 Fantasmic! We ran all the way there and were met by fairly decent viewing areas off to the side. Great viewing actually. The show began as usual and continued in the Disneyland style, but then, before the normal Peter Pan segment, a submarine came out and there was a giant battle with Nemo's sub and the Squid and Mickey dressed sortof of like the Phantom playing Bach's Stocatta in D. Minor. It was spectacular, suddenly they were going to crash when a blackout and BAM! A cannon shot was fired and the Pirate ship came rolling around the corner. The show continued as normal, except the dragon, which we got a peek at earlier was amazing at night. The full Audio Animatronic dragon was amazing. The show was amazing, a standing ovation was given. It was 8:45 by the time we left the theater and we made it to the hub just to hear the start of the fireworks. It was the nightly show, Stardust Fantasy. Beautiful jazzy show with nice colors and pacing and rhythm. Definately a classic, but not enough to run 30 years like Fantasy In The Sky at the Magic Kingdom. Me and Kent decided to retire early. But, look forward to some photos and blueprints from me! The park is most spectacular at night. Lights, and sounds, and everything. BEAUTIFUL! The park is clean, efficent, and most beautiful. Not a better location, staff, food, gifts, and rides. I must say, Overall: 8.7 out of 10. Great park, but still unready and suffers greatly because of winds.
Sorry that this isn't my best writing. Cheers! - Johnny
I hope you guys enjoy reading that juicy pre-opening report. - The WeirdOne
