As I mentioned last week under News and Rumors, I was headed to Epcot this past weekend to review Mission: SPACE.
The results of that trip are now online at:
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-082503a.html
I stayed with my younger sister as she is on vacation staying at the Wilderness Lodge. We made a brief stop at MK to say hello to a friend of hers who works at guest relations (my sister was part of the college program at the park for two summers) and then it was off to Epcot.
Other than it being incredibly humid, we were fortunate that the weather stayed clear (the day before had been torrential downpours) and when we arrived at M:S, we found the standby line to only be a quick 30 minutes (thanks to a tip I read here, we picked up a fast pass before going in).
As you can read in the review, the experience was quite good -- it definitely exceeded my expectations at some points -- but I do feel there are areas where Disney could improve. Hopefully, M:S will be such a success that it will inspire them to add more over the next couple of years, including my own personal desire, a space-themed restaurant that serves both space-inspired food and astronaut food (not the freeze-dried souvenirs, but rather rehydratable packages that you would add water to at the table.
I rode M:S twice, while my sister decided to sit out the second time. I was in blue the first time and gold the second, and the 2nd experience seemed to be more intense, but it could have been thanks to many different factors, including my own attempts to observe much more of the small details.
(Question: was it my eyes or is there a base on the Moon visible when you first arrive in lunar orbit?)
I was quite impressed with M:S Race as it is essentially an "integrated sim" in NASA-speak, and really stresses the importance of teamwork, which is critical for space missions. I really have to hand it to Robert and the other cast member, who's name I cannot remember, for their enthusiasm. They really appeared to be having a fun.
I hope they decide to release a home version of Expedition: Mars.
The video e-mail postcards were out of order -- my only disappointment during a very enjoyable 24 hours.
Before leaving Epcot, we made a quick stop into Innoventions to check out what was new. It seems every time I have been there, the video games are always crashing and no one is staffing the area to reset the machines.
I am really looking forward to my return to SPACE in October!
The results of that trip are now online at:
http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-082503a.html
I stayed with my younger sister as she is on vacation staying at the Wilderness Lodge. We made a brief stop at MK to say hello to a friend of hers who works at guest relations (my sister was part of the college program at the park for two summers) and then it was off to Epcot.
Other than it being incredibly humid, we were fortunate that the weather stayed clear (the day before had been torrential downpours) and when we arrived at M:S, we found the standby line to only be a quick 30 minutes (thanks to a tip I read here, we picked up a fast pass before going in).
As you can read in the review, the experience was quite good -- it definitely exceeded my expectations at some points -- but I do feel there are areas where Disney could improve. Hopefully, M:S will be such a success that it will inspire them to add more over the next couple of years, including my own personal desire, a space-themed restaurant that serves both space-inspired food and astronaut food (not the freeze-dried souvenirs, but rather rehydratable packages that you would add water to at the table.
I rode M:S twice, while my sister decided to sit out the second time. I was in blue the first time and gold the second, and the 2nd experience seemed to be more intense, but it could have been thanks to many different factors, including my own attempts to observe much more of the small details.
(Question: was it my eyes or is there a base on the Moon visible when you first arrive in lunar orbit?)
I was quite impressed with M:S Race as it is essentially an "integrated sim" in NASA-speak, and really stresses the importance of teamwork, which is critical for space missions. I really have to hand it to Robert and the other cast member, who's name I cannot remember, for their enthusiasm. They really appeared to be having a fun.
I hope they decide to release a home version of Expedition: Mars.
The video e-mail postcards were out of order -- my only disappointment during a very enjoyable 24 hours.
Before leaving Epcot, we made a quick stop into Innoventions to check out what was new. It seems every time I have been there, the video games are always crashing and no one is staffing the area to reset the machines.
I am really looking forward to my return to SPACE in October!