JoeZerboy
New Member
Hello all!! Here's another trip report. 
I apologize in advance if this gets a bit long in reading it. And there may be possible spoilers...
Friday 5/31: "Six times??!?!!?!? and WOW!!!!"
Got down to Orlando after a 6.5 hour drive from Atlanta [a bit fast, I admit] and checked into my hotel at about 10:45am. Was staying off property [please don't hit me...haha]. Took care of a few personal errands I had waiting for me and was able to head over to the parks about 6pm that evening. Met friends at MGM and hit my first stop - Tower of Terror.
As we ambled over to it, we happened across one of the "Street-mosphere" CM's, Ms Greta Garbage, and had a fun time chatting with her.
At TOT, hardly had a line to wait in. I think the rain storm that went through about an hour before I got there had something to do with that. TOT seemed like an old friend again...nice, dusty, but hardly any "in character" CM interaction. What caught me off guard was that I was expecting only three drops in the lift. Then I felt a fourth, a fifth, then a sixth. I guess I know where the Tower of MORE Terror comes from. Between the first and second drops, if you look to the lower left of the opening in the liftcar, you can barely make out a little scene with the girl from the elevator playing in either a hallway or her room. Neat little touch that. [I even remember riding this when there was only one drop designed in it...]
From there, went over to RnR for my first time ever. Again, not long of a wait at all in line; thanks to people lining up for Fantasmic I think. All I can say here is...WOW!!!! For the preshow, one can tell that it's a video we're watching of the band getting ready to leave...but, after riding the coaster, one can't complain too much about that. RnR now ranks as one of my favorite coasters. [I got on the "Sweet Emotion" set of cars.]
After yelling my fool head off on both TOT and RnR, I was feeling a bit parched. I stopped at the Turkey Leg booth near both rides and had an "un-Disney-like" experience. Had waited about 10 minutes to even place my order for a soda...the booth seemed like it was in chaos. Another one who was in line before I got there had place his order for beer and had been waiting about 15 minutes to get it. As he was mentioning this, I saw them bring in a new keg and then he was all set. I got my soda shortly afterwards with no "Sorry for the wait" or anything. [::sigh::]
Walked around the MGM park a bit, wishing the monstrosity of the hat had been handled differently, and took a turn on the Great Movie Ride. Like what a couple of others on here have observed, the GMR is nearing the point of being "tired". It was even reflected in the CM who was our "guide" and the CM who took over for a bit in the 1920's Gangland sequence. I guess the best way I can describe it is that it seemed cheesy; and it was cheese that had been left out way too long. On a happier note, the film montage at the end had some new clips added to it.
Since I didn't feel like fighting for a seat at Fantasmic, I went back to my hotel...and ended the night with seeing my first Nahtazu commercial on network TV [we don't get these in Atlanta].
Saturday 6/1: Diving into a sea of red
Spent the day at the MK...and I'll freely admit that I was one of the many wearing red shirts for the purpose of GayDay. I was surprised that the local reps of the Baptists or "Family Coalition" groups weren't there along the roadside protesting. Either times have changed or people's mindsets are maturing. None the less, I enjoyed the feeling of being like everyone else for a day.
My friends and I caught a couple of photo-ops with characters in front of City Hall and then made our way to grab FastPasses for Big Thunder. While waiting for our times, jumped on Splash Mountain and got dampened. Big Thunder seemed as fast as when I last rode it...so not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Went for a ride on Mansion...didn't notice any sound problems in my doombuggy...and things looked as good as ever on there.
Saw the Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management for the first time this trip. It was cute, but since I hardly remember what it was like beforehand [many a year since I last did this attraction] I didn't have a good base to compare and contrast with.
Went windowshopping for a little while to spend time before catching the showing of CBJ near 1pm [which was a preset time to have an audience mostly of hirsute gentlemen around]. I believe it was the original show and the only "whoopsie" I noticed was that the first time the EmCee bear introduces an act [forgive me for not knowing his name, GrizzlyHall] his volume was a bit muffled. Outside of that, everything looked rather well kept.
Got FastPasses for Peter Pan [75 minute wait...and it had a line each time we walked by there] and got lunch at the old Tomorrowland Terrace [the current name escapes me]. The character set-up on the stage makes the place feel like a Chuck E Cheese's now...bummer.
Did a bit of shopping at Auntie Gravity's and we got in line for the TTA. The entire audio track from after Space Mountain, along the theater area and beyond was silent. Neither CoP nor Time Keeper were running [but the MK had the crowds to support it]. After TTA, went on Buzz for the first time. Cute little ride; I scored 37,700 for a newbie. I still miss the Eastern attraction, If You Had Wings... [::sigh::]
Had a couple of newbies with my gang of friends, and we got them on Alien Encounter. They enjoyed it. When the water spritzes you on the back of your neck, one of my friends thought that the person behind him had tossed their cookies...hehehehe. About the rumors concerning changing AE to adapt for Stitch...the only way I can see for them to do this is to have Stitch stand in for Skippy in the preshow. But, since I purposely stayed away from asking CM's about rumors and whatnot, I really don't know.
Our time for Peter Pan came near...jumped on that and had a nice time reminiscing with memories. Two things: the ride itself seemed to be moving a little faster than I remember and there seemed to be an audio track missing from the opening scene in the bedroom where Peter gets the kids to follow him off to Neverland. Could be my memory though...
Got FP's for Pooh and then went against a promise I had made to myself. I went on It's A Small World. It's still way to sugary sweet and cute...and to combat that effect, I guess, I was having Cartman's big song from the South Park film getting stuck in my head ["Kyle's Mom..."]. One thing that I found as a saving grace was that the volume in this attraction was lower than before...
Time came to use our Pooh FP's...and while waiting to be spliced in line, I saw a most unique Hidden Mickey. I did take a picture of it and will post it to the board when I get my film developed. I doubt anyone else will find it. <eg> I found Pooh to be a cute attraction, found the homage to Toad in it. Nice little ride effects with bouncing along with Tigger and swaying along with the flood. I, too, miss Toad...
Got some more cheesiness in with a spin on Jungle Cruise. But unlike GMR from the night before, JC is a classical cheese that is enjoyable depending on how the captain delivers his/her puns and jokes. The one we had did well.
Then ambled to Pirates for a bit of classical Disney. It was like visiting an old friend. And no matter how many times he tried, one of my friends [Timebear on here] was not able to get George to stop the ride. I, personally, think that the CM's just didn't catch his attempts.
Went and tried out Goofy's Barnstormer. It's a neat little coaster for the younger set. My friends then when for a character Meet & Greet at the store in Mickey's ToonTown while I sat and rested my feet. I lost out on this one as they had a CM who took a couple extra moments after a general appearance and let them get a group shot of them with the attending Pooh characters. [**pout**]
Ended the evening with catching Space Mountain twice [hardly a wait both times] and then took the ferry back to TTC and caught the closing fireworks from the boat.
Overall -- All the listed wait times seemed in excess of what they really were and using FastPass was quite an easy thing to do. Also, considering the "non-event" I was there for, there weren't any "scenes" between the GayDay attendees and the rest of the guests. I did overhear an early teenage girl ask about the red shirts and what GayDay was...that was about it. It was nice to see all behaving themselves and enjoying the day with their friends and loved ones.
Again...sorry for the HUGE post. And I do promise to get my Hidden Mickey pic from Pooh up as soon as I get the film developed.
Thanks for reading...
Joe
I apologize in advance if this gets a bit long in reading it. And there may be possible spoilers...Friday 5/31: "Six times??!?!!?!? and WOW!!!!"
Got down to Orlando after a 6.5 hour drive from Atlanta [a bit fast, I admit] and checked into my hotel at about 10:45am. Was staying off property [please don't hit me...haha]. Took care of a few personal errands I had waiting for me and was able to head over to the parks about 6pm that evening. Met friends at MGM and hit my first stop - Tower of Terror.
As we ambled over to it, we happened across one of the "Street-mosphere" CM's, Ms Greta Garbage, and had a fun time chatting with her.
At TOT, hardly had a line to wait in. I think the rain storm that went through about an hour before I got there had something to do with that. TOT seemed like an old friend again...nice, dusty, but hardly any "in character" CM interaction. What caught me off guard was that I was expecting only three drops in the lift. Then I felt a fourth, a fifth, then a sixth. I guess I know where the Tower of MORE Terror comes from. Between the first and second drops, if you look to the lower left of the opening in the liftcar, you can barely make out a little scene with the girl from the elevator playing in either a hallway or her room. Neat little touch that. [I even remember riding this when there was only one drop designed in it...]
From there, went over to RnR for my first time ever. Again, not long of a wait at all in line; thanks to people lining up for Fantasmic I think. All I can say here is...WOW!!!! For the preshow, one can tell that it's a video we're watching of the band getting ready to leave...but, after riding the coaster, one can't complain too much about that.
RnR now ranks as one of my favorite coasters. [I got on the "Sweet Emotion" set of cars.]After yelling my fool head off on both TOT and RnR, I was feeling a bit parched. I stopped at the Turkey Leg booth near both rides and had an "un-Disney-like" experience. Had waited about 10 minutes to even place my order for a soda...the booth seemed like it was in chaos. Another one who was in line before I got there had place his order for beer and had been waiting about 15 minutes to get it. As he was mentioning this, I saw them bring in a new keg and then he was all set. I got my soda shortly afterwards with no "Sorry for the wait" or anything. [::sigh::]
Walked around the MGM park a bit, wishing the monstrosity of the hat had been handled differently, and took a turn on the Great Movie Ride. Like what a couple of others on here have observed, the GMR is nearing the point of being "tired". It was even reflected in the CM who was our "guide" and the CM who took over for a bit in the 1920's Gangland sequence. I guess the best way I can describe it is that it seemed cheesy; and it was cheese that had been left out way too long. On a happier note, the film montage at the end had some new clips added to it.
Since I didn't feel like fighting for a seat at Fantasmic, I went back to my hotel...and ended the night with seeing my first Nahtazu commercial on network TV [we don't get these in Atlanta].
Saturday 6/1: Diving into a sea of red
Spent the day at the MK...and I'll freely admit that I was one of the many wearing red shirts for the purpose of GayDay. I was surprised that the local reps of the Baptists or "Family Coalition" groups weren't there along the roadside protesting. Either times have changed or people's mindsets are maturing. None the less, I enjoyed the feeling of being like everyone else for a day.
My friends and I caught a couple of photo-ops with characters in front of City Hall and then made our way to grab FastPasses for Big Thunder. While waiting for our times, jumped on Splash Mountain and got dampened.
Big Thunder seemed as fast as when I last rode it...so not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.Went for a ride on Mansion...didn't notice any sound problems in my doombuggy...and things looked as good as ever on there.
Saw the Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management for the first time this trip. It was cute, but since I hardly remember what it was like beforehand [many a year since I last did this attraction] I didn't have a good base to compare and contrast with.
Went windowshopping for a little while to spend time before catching the showing of CBJ near 1pm [which was a preset time to have an audience mostly of hirsute gentlemen around]. I believe it was the original show and the only "whoopsie" I noticed was that the first time the EmCee bear introduces an act [forgive me for not knowing his name, GrizzlyHall] his volume was a bit muffled. Outside of that, everything looked rather well kept.
Got FastPasses for Peter Pan [75 minute wait...and it had a line each time we walked by there] and got lunch at the old Tomorrowland Terrace [the current name escapes me]. The character set-up on the stage makes the place feel like a Chuck E Cheese's now...bummer.
Did a bit of shopping at Auntie Gravity's and we got in line for the TTA. The entire audio track from after Space Mountain, along the theater area and beyond was silent. Neither CoP nor Time Keeper were running [but the MK had the crowds to support it]. After TTA, went on Buzz for the first time. Cute little ride; I scored 37,700 for a newbie. I still miss the Eastern attraction, If You Had Wings... [::sigh::]
Had a couple of newbies with my gang of friends, and we got them on Alien Encounter. They enjoyed it. When the water spritzes you on the back of your neck, one of my friends thought that the person behind him had tossed their cookies...hehehehe. About the rumors concerning changing AE to adapt for Stitch...the only way I can see for them to do this is to have Stitch stand in for Skippy in the preshow. But, since I purposely stayed away from asking CM's about rumors and whatnot, I really don't know.
Our time for Peter Pan came near...jumped on that and had a nice time reminiscing with memories. Two things: the ride itself seemed to be moving a little faster than I remember and there seemed to be an audio track missing from the opening scene in the bedroom where Peter gets the kids to follow him off to Neverland. Could be my memory though...
Got FP's for Pooh and then went against a promise I had made to myself. I went on It's A Small World. It's still way to sugary sweet and cute...and to combat that effect, I guess, I was having Cartman's big song from the South Park film getting stuck in my head ["Kyle's Mom..."]. One thing that I found as a saving grace was that the volume in this attraction was lower than before...
Time came to use our Pooh FP's...and while waiting to be spliced in line, I saw a most unique Hidden Mickey. I did take a picture of it and will post it to the board when I get my film developed. I doubt anyone else will find it.
<eg> I found Pooh to be a cute attraction, found the homage to Toad in it. Nice little ride effects with bouncing along with Tigger and swaying along with the flood. I, too, miss Toad...Got some more cheesiness in with a spin on Jungle Cruise.
But unlike GMR from the night before, JC is a classical cheese that is enjoyable depending on how the captain delivers his/her puns and jokes. The one we had did well.Then ambled to Pirates for a bit of classical Disney. It was like visiting an old friend. And no matter how many times he tried, one of my friends [Timebear on here] was not able to get George to stop the ride. I, personally, think that the CM's just didn't catch his attempts.
Went and tried out Goofy's Barnstormer. It's a neat little coaster for the younger set. My friends then when for a character Meet & Greet at the store in Mickey's ToonTown while I sat and rested my feet. I lost out on this one as they had a CM who took a couple extra moments after a general appearance and let them get a group shot of them with the attending Pooh characters. [**pout**]
Ended the evening with catching Space Mountain twice [hardly a wait both times] and then took the ferry back to TTC and caught the closing fireworks from the boat.
Overall -- All the listed wait times seemed in excess of what they really were and using FastPass was quite an easy thing to do. Also, considering the "non-event" I was there for, there weren't any "scenes" between the GayDay attendees and the rest of the guests. I did overhear an early teenage girl ask about the red shirts and what GayDay was...that was about it. It was nice to see all behaving themselves and enjoying the day with their friends and loved ones.
Again...sorry for the HUGE post. And I do promise to get my Hidden Mickey pic from Pooh up as soon as I get the film developed.
Thanks for reading...
Joe
