The Spirited Sixth Sense ...

[LondonGopher]

The Efteling in Holland is my home park btw. I visit it twice a month. Their dark rides like Droomvlucht and Fata Morgana are excellent, but the coasters aren't as good as those in Europa Park.

Thanks for this.

OK, I have cousins in Delft and they say that Efteling is by far their favourite park and better than DLP. I would like to go...can I shoot you a daft question? We are a family of three (DS 7) who speak English/French/Spanish. How much will we miss not having Dutch? I know all you Dutchies have beautiful English...but you know what I mean...I hope. I guess I've always thought of Efteling as a Dutch park for Dutchies. Am I wrong? Is it more continental?

Sorry for the silly questions and for further hijacking this thread...

 

[jt04]

Is that Pixie Dust in your pipe ... or crystal meth?

Sorry for sounding optimistic in your thread. I should know better.

 

[ford91exploder]

I am not concerned with the quality of the parade, just the use of such a phrase.

That is true, However I take anything said by Disney Lifestylers with a large grain of salt, If they told me the sky was blue I'd check with an independent source to verify

 

[Funmeister]

I have also been there. The overall theming of the park is great, and the coasters are good. The thing I miss there are dark rides, they don't have any I think. And I don't like the operations there. Most rides have bad capacity, and lines can be extremely long on busy days (I remember the 2 hour line for the new B&M Oz'Iris coaster last summer).

You are correct. They used to have a "haunted" dark ride but they shut it down and it literally just sat there. (Not sure if they ever re-opened it or just gutted the space for something else). The biggest complaint I had was the overall operation. They did have a boat ride with some elements of a dark ride that was kind of neat. The park does have character though. Even with the long lines it was still enjoyable. Something about the atmosphere it is just a fun park.

 

[ford91exploder]

Agreed. But in the case of Magic Kingdom, I believe the fire marshal is also a Reedy Creek employee. I'm go to suggest, in the evidence of hard evidence, something else might be in play. Whether incompetence or greed remains to be seen.

They may be RCID employees but a Fire Marshall really is not accountable to anyone other than the state Fire Marshall's it's one reason they exist so fire standards can be enforced irrespective of political influence. It's also why they are about as popular as ants at a picnic.

 

[erider]

Thanks for this.

OK, I have cousins in Delft and they say that Efteling is by far their favourite park and better than DLP. I would like to go...can I shoot you a daft question? We are a family of three (DS 7) who speak English/French/Spanish. How much will we miss not having Dutch? I know all you Dutchies have beautiful English...but you know what I mean...I hope. I guess I've always thought of Efteling as a Dutch park for Dutchies. Am I wrong? Is it more continental?

Sorry for the silly questions and for further hijacking this thread...

The Efteling is targeting and receiving more visitors from outside Holland, mostly from
Belgium and Germany. But I noticed more visitors from the UK lately as well. I'm pretty sure all the staff speak decent English. And most rides don't have a lot of dialogue in them. I actually also know a lot of Dutch people who prefer the Efteling to Disneyland Paris. They say the Efteling's setting is more beautiful with a lot of natural surroundings. If you have any questions, you can also send me a PM.

 

[jt04]

That is true, However I take anything said by Disney Lifestylers with a large grain of salt, If they told me the sky was blue I'd check with an independent source to verify

I am certain you would have to.

Heh.

 

[jt04]

He did indeed, He closed it and faded into the night, I think for Eddie the continued devolution of Disney was just too painful and he closed the Disney chapter of his life.

Eddie was the guy who designed the arcades in DLP so from executing that level of detail to the 'value engineering' in WDW as exemplified by Mermaid. That has got to be painful.

Wrong. He often praised WDI and many of the new projects while offering constructive criticism when he saw problems. And he even gave kudos to Iger from time to time.

Spin works better in other forums. Not so much here. You might want to consider that.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

I'm guessing you didn't catch his goodbye post... He said goodbye a long time ago.

He did indeed, He closed it and faded into the night, I think for Eddie the continued devolution of Disney was just too painful and he closed the Disney chapter of his life.

Eddie was the guy who designed the arcades in DLP so from executing that level of detail to the 'value engineering' in WDW as exemplified by Mermaid. That has got to be painful.

No, I guess I missed it...I'll have to hunt back and re-read a bit.

And yes I can only imagine that the value engineering could and has taken a toll on past and present imagineers.

 

[Scuttle]

Everything, well it's a pretty big park with a lot of rides. It's situated in Rust, a small town in the south of Germany. Europa Park is divided in lands themed to European lands. They have Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Switserland etc. The park is owned by the Mack family, which is also a big ride manufacturer. My favorite rides there are:
- Poseidon, a Mack watercoaster themed to a Greek temple, similair to Journey to Atlantis in Sea World Orlando
- Silver Star, Europe's second highest coaster. A B&M out and back design.
- Blue Fire, a launched Mack looping coaster which onboard sound.
- Woodan Timbur coaster, a huge GCI wooden coaster with a Viking theme.
- Atlantica Super Splash, a Mack shoot the chutes water ride with a Portugese theme.
- Abenteuer Atlantis, a shoot em up dark ride, like Buzz Lightyear.

I don't know if I'm allowed to place a link here, but here is a detailed trip report with lots of pics: http://forum.nolimits-exchange.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=2861

Wow that looks pretty impressive. Too bad Busch Gardens Tampa didn't go with heavy theming like that. Because Busch Gardens is a great park and if it had heavier theming it'd be one of my all time favorites.

 

[Mickey_777]

@WDW1974 - looks like Michael C is quite busy applying his 'experience' in Orlando to Anaheim... besides the most chaotic refurb schedule in recent memory... suspiciously long fishy nemo refurbs... we can now add the classic TDO trick... 'reducing food offerings'. Reports are that Flos in Carsland will no longer server breakfast and switch to lunch/dinner only.

Well that would suck. We really enjoyed the bread pudding-like caramel french toast offered there.

 

[Fe Maiden]

For other things to do try the Hotel Portmerion in the UK, The Prisoner Appreciation society is having their annual http://www.portmeiricon.com/

It's strangely appropriate these days, Replace the monitoring center with the NSA/GCHQ, Rover with Drones and everyone afraid to say whats on their mind ... And don't forget the radio which cannot be turned off

Who Are you?
I am the new number 2, You are number 6...
I am not a number I am a free man, (evil laughter in background)

Be Seeing You

As a Prisoner fan you might like this.

 

[wm49rs]

Wrong. He often praised WDI and many of the new projects while offering constructive criticism when he saw problems. And he even gave kudos to Iger from time to time.

Spin works better in other forums. Not so much here. You might want to consider that.

Even for you, Jt, that is the highest of irony....

 

[Stevek]

Yeah, but since then it's wait is more typical 40mins or so. DLR fans come out in droves for anything 'new' and wait absurd hours. That isn't representative of what it is now. Most 20something-30something fans could care less if it went away from sentiments I see online. They're over it... mainly because the remake was so poor IMO.

But I'd guess there are also quite a few younger visitors that do miss it and the opportunity to ride in a sub. May not be as magical as the original subs many of us experienced but still a rare opportunity for kids.

 

[Stevek]

But it was Ricky making the observation so I would not put a whole lot of credence into his analysys of quality, If it were Kevin Yee or Eddie Sotto I'd take it more seriously

As someone who has seen pretty much every DL parade over the past 40 years, I'm interested to see if Ricardo's statement holds up when I see it in a little over a week.

 

[PhotoDave219]

As someone who has seen pretty much every DL parade over the past 40 years, I'm interested to see if Ricardo's statement holds up when I see it in a little over a week.

I really enjoyed the parade.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Why don't they be done with it and fit the dragon with the snout of the Phillie Phanatic and have him blow one of those birthday horns instead?

I'll pass that on to the marketing people at the Phillies on Monday…

 

[Cody5242]

What do you guys think of Disneys marketing strategy with Captain America 3 going up against Batman vs Superman on the same day in 2016?

 

[Goofyernmost]

Let me guess, you like the Yeti as is, so if doesn't distract from the thrill of the mediocre coaster ride. And you're glad they removed prime rib from the buffets, because it was just TOO MANY choices ...

See, I can be a sarcastic d-bag too. But I can also make a sound argument backed by logic. You should try it some time.

Yea, I guess your right. Unlike all you perfection pushers, I like to know what is real before I go ballistic over it. It absolutely true that I don't get all crazy over things that go on in a theme park, call it a flaw. If, and this is a big if, there actually is no reason other then the affect is broken and they have no plans to repair it then I will gladly say that somebody didn't engineer it correctly. Since neither I nor you, know what the facts are, then I will, in all my imperfection, hold my righteous indignation until I know what I'm talking about.

In answer to your deep insight into my soul, true if the Yeti never worked again I wouldn't care. A fake Yeti working or not, does nothing for me. Would I like to see it working? Sure I wish it was, but, it was just a flash in the ride. Do I think they should, at least try and fix it, of course. I also feel that they have taken a lot of flak for it and if there were an easy fix it would have been done by now. Prime Rib on the buffets? You got me there since I do not indulge in any of the restaurants at Disney, so, personally I don't care if they have snakes on the buffet. No effect on me at all, so you are correct. Couldn't care less.

So if that makes me a sarcastic d-bag, then that is a badge that I wear proudly.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

TDR is probably setting a record for Americans in its parks this week with Deb Wills and her entourage, our old friend Parkscope Sean and our MUCH older friend @Buried20KLeague all visiting at the same time. They all should have hired @WDWFigment as their official photographer and snack taster.

I'm going to assume here that you mean "older" as in "veteran board member" as opposed to age. Because while my hair line may be receding... It's not yet in full on RETREAT like some spirits I know!!

I'm considering suing @WDWFigment for false advertising, since you mentioned him. I've scoured every nook and cranny of adventureland trying to find the bacon wrapped fried rice ball he's been teasing me with a picture of for weeks now, to no avail. Even showed a picture of said bacon wrapped tastiness to a few cm's and... Nothing. But he did point me to the tapioca drink at boiler room bites. So I'll give him that.

As far as non-Asians here... We've seen exactly 8 so far after 4 days in the parks. And that includes Australia and the UK. Really, less than the last time we were here. But... We did see one American family that was doing their part to uphold our American stereotype... They were all huge, they were loud and boorish, AND they had both an ECV and a giant stroller in tow. 'Murica!!! (And for those that have been here , you know just how out of place they looked)

One other thought that I've mentioned a few times here, but it needs to be said over and over. How rides like Pinocchio and Snow White have 50 minute lines and Sindbad is a walk on nearly all day baffles me. Utterly baffles me. And in a way, it makes me sad, because I worry it could be closed to cut costs due to lack of ridership and presumed maintenance costs. That would be a very sad day. I'm sure part of it is location, as it's buried in the back corner of the park. But I'm sure they assumed it would act as an anchor and It just doesn't. I don't know why, but it doesn't. Upsetting. A true gem.