After sailing on the Wish (another story) we spent around 10 days in Disney parks end of September into October, punctuated by Hurricane Ian. Still suffering with long covid, and on holiday with works approval, we paced ourselves, didn’t do the usual speed and rope dropped only once for Epcot’s 40th. For those who may be interested in a report, these are my personal and informed observations of course and others mileage may vary. It’s not a complete report, more mentioning points I feel are worth mentioning and only for the things we experienced.
Parking - impressed the price hadn’t risen as we expected. Trams were back at the MK. The newish dual load ferry docks are a vast improvement, just a shame only 2 boats were running when the numbers dictated 3.
The MK. I’ll talk about crowds for all parks here. The system is broken. So many people just sat around the parks on the floor, benches, seats. Waiting for LL, can’t afford LL, can’t get LL, unwilling to join the lengthy queues. Genie + has brought the haves and have nots to the parks and it’s sad to see. I’ve never seen so many dejected faces just sat around. Talking to frontline cast who I know around the parks say the system is broken, their words not mine. It’s a mess. Standby lines are unmanageable and it isn’t peak season. Park reservations are certainly for staffing, not to manage capacity. If it were the latter the threshold would be lower.
Jungle Cruise surprisingly works well. It’s a variation on the original with its new PC script but I’m glad to say is as corny as ever and the sight gags do work. Nice to see the Amazon mist misting.
Splash Mountain, I’ve mentioned elsewhere. Show quality is shocking. Broken animatronics. Broken lighting. The entire laughing place is a disgrace. Broken show lighting. Work lighting. No fountains. Frozen figures. I will say the queue and pre drop projections were working well.
Big Thundermountain- virtually no show. Still has daylight holes after dispatch. No rainbow falls effects. No A lift water or mist. Frozen possums. Stagnant tumbleweed water with no animation. C lift is a joke compared to other parks. Biggest surprise was the geysers at the exit still showed signs of working.
Haunted Mansion - good quality aside from some portraits in the stretch rooms noticeably warping. Several AAs missing for repair (an observation, not a criticism)
Kudos for Harpers Mill wheel to still be turning, and the burning cabin still pumping out smoke.
Small World - good show quality. Maybe 3 static figures. Most ceiling animation working. Load clock working (!)
Peter Pans Flight - so old it’s quaint. Definitely the least loved version regarding updating. Noisy ride system.
Tomorrowland is still missing a suitable, signature attraction in the worlds most visited theme park. The CoP worked well aside from some minor animation issues (friends reported show scene music was hit or miss the week before but worked for us)
Peoplemover needs help. It just couldn’t keep running. Often it was down every five or ten minutes, worked well for a few hours, then stopped again. Speed ramps had also failed (the exit ramp failed which meant the up ramp also refused to work). Minor audio sync issues / bank of speakers after the Buzz tunnel not working. Progress City model looked very good. Space Mountain interior still bland, see below.
Space Mountain. Dear oh dear. Bumpy as ever. So many lights not working on the lift hills. Majority of projection effects lacking motion, quite a lot broken. Music barely audible. Many spot sound fx missing. A shadow of its former self.
Mobile ordering - a good idea, but stop pushing it. Having 4 counters for pick up and only 1 or 2 open for orders when the line is massive is not good customer service. We found this time and again at various times of the day. The majority of counters were for pick up (and were empty) whilst the few open lines were like a mob.
And for those who say I don’t like change, we found Enchantment to be better than HEA. Shocking I know. Visually impressive, as coherent a story as a clip show can be, not as overwhelming as HEA and a pleasing choice of music.
Epcot. Messy at best. Despite the pain of loosing the effort of a multi level transport interchange the entrance area is nice and clean and fresh. New direction signage is a vast improvement too. As we found at all parks the new walk through security checks are a vast improvement too on the old system, even if I got pinged at one despite having passed through hours earlier wearing exactly the same items. Random check I assume. Organisation using the microphone and speakers to pre empt any issues was very good, especially at the TTC. The security cast were perfectly fine, as were most cast we encountered. There were a few who it was clear didn’t want to be there and a sizeable chunk whos dust was wearing a bit thin but overall CMs were pleasant.
Back to Epcot. The entrance plaza is better then previously of course. Some banks of LED trim didn’t work. How they got this part very well done compared to some of the other choices I don’t know. Creations and Connections were functional. Nice exterior lighting. Nothing special inside, nothing Epcot but a fine use of the existing buildings (unlike the other side which I won’t go into detail here suffice it’s currently a hot mess that’s not worth the pain for what’s coming).
SSE. The ride system is shot. The ascent music is so loud to try and mask some of the noise. Facial rec worked, the track side screen didn’t. Steam effects are off due to the state of the show sets. Dawn of Time projections still poor. Good news was the age of invention wheels were turning. 180top earth is way too bright. And the descent still sucks.
The Guardians ride - so many can’t get to try it which is not acceptable IMHO. Take a leaf out of Hagrids with standby only. Currently the OHRC is exceeding expectations. That should be exploited for everyone - not just those with luck and/or deep pockets. The ride itself as I’ve said elsewhere is very good. Nothing amazing, and definitely not Epcot. Disclaimer, we did get help to ride it (thank you).
Test Track was surprisingly looking good. Lasers worked. Smoke worked (but no scanning lights). Designed car tracked us through the building until the final screen. The false speed sign wasn’t working (perhaps a legacy of Ian)
Imagination is worth forgetting. Broken effects. An Imageworks embarrassingly empty and devoid of anything worthy. Desperation shoved in the theatre in lieu of anything suitable.
The land - Soarin is Soarin. Still bananas. Living with the Land show scenes need some love but were “good enough”. Awesome Planet is commendable for no IP and a being a good running length, and being a great looking and sounding and engaging movie. So enjoyable we did it twice.
Showcase is as expected a festival mess. O’Canada is still closed in lieu of more food - someone needs taking to task over this, especially with AmAd down for refurbishment. Thankfully IDF still looks and sounds amazing when you can actually see it. WoC same. Rat is harmless once the show building is hidden from the rest of the park and dare I say a worthy addition since it’s out the way and is an actual addition.
Harmonious I’ve spoken about elsewhere. Technically clever, plenty of eye candy, but that’s it. Cold, no flow, unconnected and forgettable.
Studios - again a victim of lightning lane. The entry check process works well, but when day guests out number resort guests by a zillion to one why have 8 resort gates open and only 4 day guest gates? Chaotic carnage wouldn’t be an unjust description at times for the entrance.
Starting with Runaway Railway - a solid D. Of course no replacement for the GMR and should have been an addition to the park. I could go in depth but will save that for another time.
Tower, as mentioned elsewhere, needs a lot of TLC with its effects. It’s almost there, but not there yet. Out of sync audio, light balancing, starfield door fx, Horton door issues, lack of drop shaft effects etc etc.
Star Tours and MuppetVision were both a breath of fresh air. Nothing wrong to mention, in fact MV looked great (apart from the main curtains not opening on our first visit and the CM not noticing until guests told her)
Toy Story Land - take it or leave it. Slinky’s track lighting effects were mostly broken, maybe another hit from Ian. TSR still not open of course.
Galaxies Edge - bedding in. Lots of walk arounds characters which were nice to see. Lots of eye candy day and night, I can appreciate the design and architecture more now. Falcon is still a solid D maybe a D+. But Rise…. my personal new best dark ride. An E for sure. Almost perfect, and everything I expected of it. More physical effects would have been the icing on the cake and are still conspicuous by their absence (Ln2, lasers etc). After our first ride I’ve not come off something new and felt like this since Forbidden Journey. We did get lucky that everything I hoped would be working did work. Even the Kylos. And there is hope for the cannons.
DAK - a few good Kilimanjaros helped. Navi River is still a pretty C. FoP seemed…. more blurred than I recall. Maybe in the day of pin sharp 4K and 8K were more accustomed to better quality but the different theatres we rode in all had the same issue. Dinosaur is as reported elsewhere, crazy when things like smoke and lasers are all working. The biggest take was the park needs a suitable night show as soon as possible. The massive, eye catching arena seating is so conspicuous.
That’s our visit to the parks in a nutshell. I may go into more detail elsewhere aside to say prices are up and overall enjoyment was down, the cluster of the queue system being the biggest reason. As always that’s our opinions with a little bit of insight too. And of course it was nice to catch up with a lot of friends. It had been too long.
Parking - impressed the price hadn’t risen as we expected. Trams were back at the MK. The newish dual load ferry docks are a vast improvement, just a shame only 2 boats were running when the numbers dictated 3.
The MK. I’ll talk about crowds for all parks here. The system is broken. So many people just sat around the parks on the floor, benches, seats. Waiting for LL, can’t afford LL, can’t get LL, unwilling to join the lengthy queues. Genie + has brought the haves and have nots to the parks and it’s sad to see. I’ve never seen so many dejected faces just sat around. Talking to frontline cast who I know around the parks say the system is broken, their words not mine. It’s a mess. Standby lines are unmanageable and it isn’t peak season. Park reservations are certainly for staffing, not to manage capacity. If it were the latter the threshold would be lower.
Jungle Cruise surprisingly works well. It’s a variation on the original with its new PC script but I’m glad to say is as corny as ever and the sight gags do work. Nice to see the Amazon mist misting.
Splash Mountain, I’ve mentioned elsewhere. Show quality is shocking. Broken animatronics. Broken lighting. The entire laughing place is a disgrace. Broken show lighting. Work lighting. No fountains. Frozen figures. I will say the queue and pre drop projections were working well.
Big Thundermountain- virtually no show. Still has daylight holes after dispatch. No rainbow falls effects. No A lift water or mist. Frozen possums. Stagnant tumbleweed water with no animation. C lift is a joke compared to other parks. Biggest surprise was the geysers at the exit still showed signs of working.
Haunted Mansion - good quality aside from some portraits in the stretch rooms noticeably warping. Several AAs missing for repair (an observation, not a criticism)
Kudos for Harpers Mill wheel to still be turning, and the burning cabin still pumping out smoke.
Small World - good show quality. Maybe 3 static figures. Most ceiling animation working. Load clock working (!)
Peter Pans Flight - so old it’s quaint. Definitely the least loved version regarding updating. Noisy ride system.
Tomorrowland is still missing a suitable, signature attraction in the worlds most visited theme park. The CoP worked well aside from some minor animation issues (friends reported show scene music was hit or miss the week before but worked for us)
Peoplemover needs help. It just couldn’t keep running. Often it was down every five or ten minutes, worked well for a few hours, then stopped again. Speed ramps had also failed (the exit ramp failed which meant the up ramp also refused to work). Minor audio sync issues / bank of speakers after the Buzz tunnel not working. Progress City model looked very good. Space Mountain interior still bland, see below.
Space Mountain. Dear oh dear. Bumpy as ever. So many lights not working on the lift hills. Majority of projection effects lacking motion, quite a lot broken. Music barely audible. Many spot sound fx missing. A shadow of its former self.
Mobile ordering - a good idea, but stop pushing it. Having 4 counters for pick up and only 1 or 2 open for orders when the line is massive is not good customer service. We found this time and again at various times of the day. The majority of counters were for pick up (and were empty) whilst the few open lines were like a mob.
And for those who say I don’t like change, we found Enchantment to be better than HEA. Shocking I know. Visually impressive, as coherent a story as a clip show can be, not as overwhelming as HEA and a pleasing choice of music.
Epcot. Messy at best. Despite the pain of loosing the effort of a multi level transport interchange the entrance area is nice and clean and fresh. New direction signage is a vast improvement too. As we found at all parks the new walk through security checks are a vast improvement too on the old system, even if I got pinged at one despite having passed through hours earlier wearing exactly the same items. Random check I assume. Organisation using the microphone and speakers to pre empt any issues was very good, especially at the TTC. The security cast were perfectly fine, as were most cast we encountered. There were a few who it was clear didn’t want to be there and a sizeable chunk whos dust was wearing a bit thin but overall CMs were pleasant.
Back to Epcot. The entrance plaza is better then previously of course. Some banks of LED trim didn’t work. How they got this part very well done compared to some of the other choices I don’t know. Creations and Connections were functional. Nice exterior lighting. Nothing special inside, nothing Epcot but a fine use of the existing buildings (unlike the other side which I won’t go into detail here suffice it’s currently a hot mess that’s not worth the pain for what’s coming).
SSE. The ride system is shot. The ascent music is so loud to try and mask some of the noise. Facial rec worked, the track side screen didn’t. Steam effects are off due to the state of the show sets. Dawn of Time projections still poor. Good news was the age of invention wheels were turning. 180top earth is way too bright. And the descent still sucks.
The Guardians ride - so many can’t get to try it which is not acceptable IMHO. Take a leaf out of Hagrids with standby only. Currently the OHRC is exceeding expectations. That should be exploited for everyone - not just those with luck and/or deep pockets. The ride itself as I’ve said elsewhere is very good. Nothing amazing, and definitely not Epcot. Disclaimer, we did get help to ride it (thank you).
Test Track was surprisingly looking good. Lasers worked. Smoke worked (but no scanning lights). Designed car tracked us through the building until the final screen. The false speed sign wasn’t working (perhaps a legacy of Ian)
Imagination is worth forgetting. Broken effects. An Imageworks embarrassingly empty and devoid of anything worthy. Desperation shoved in the theatre in lieu of anything suitable.
The land - Soarin is Soarin. Still bananas. Living with the Land show scenes need some love but were “good enough”. Awesome Planet is commendable for no IP and a being a good running length, and being a great looking and sounding and engaging movie. So enjoyable we did it twice.
Showcase is as expected a festival mess. O’Canada is still closed in lieu of more food - someone needs taking to task over this, especially with AmAd down for refurbishment. Thankfully IDF still looks and sounds amazing when you can actually see it. WoC same. Rat is harmless once the show building is hidden from the rest of the park and dare I say a worthy addition since it’s out the way and is an actual addition.
Harmonious I’ve spoken about elsewhere. Technically clever, plenty of eye candy, but that’s it. Cold, no flow, unconnected and forgettable.
Studios - again a victim of lightning lane. The entry check process works well, but when day guests out number resort guests by a zillion to one why have 8 resort gates open and only 4 day guest gates? Chaotic carnage wouldn’t be an unjust description at times for the entrance.
Starting with Runaway Railway - a solid D. Of course no replacement for the GMR and should have been an addition to the park. I could go in depth but will save that for another time.
Tower, as mentioned elsewhere, needs a lot of TLC with its effects. It’s almost there, but not there yet. Out of sync audio, light balancing, starfield door fx, Horton door issues, lack of drop shaft effects etc etc.
Star Tours and MuppetVision were both a breath of fresh air. Nothing wrong to mention, in fact MV looked great (apart from the main curtains not opening on our first visit and the CM not noticing until guests told her)
Toy Story Land - take it or leave it. Slinky’s track lighting effects were mostly broken, maybe another hit from Ian. TSR still not open of course.
Galaxies Edge - bedding in. Lots of walk arounds characters which were nice to see. Lots of eye candy day and night, I can appreciate the design and architecture more now. Falcon is still a solid D maybe a D+. But Rise…. my personal new best dark ride. An E for sure. Almost perfect, and everything I expected of it. More physical effects would have been the icing on the cake and are still conspicuous by their absence (Ln2, lasers etc). After our first ride I’ve not come off something new and felt like this since Forbidden Journey. We did get lucky that everything I hoped would be working did work. Even the Kylos. And there is hope for the cannons.
DAK - a few good Kilimanjaros helped. Navi River is still a pretty C. FoP seemed…. more blurred than I recall. Maybe in the day of pin sharp 4K and 8K were more accustomed to better quality but the different theatres we rode in all had the same issue. Dinosaur is as reported elsewhere, crazy when things like smoke and lasers are all working. The biggest take was the park needs a suitable night show as soon as possible. The massive, eye catching arena seating is so conspicuous.
That’s our visit to the parks in a nutshell. I may go into more detail elsewhere aside to say prices are up and overall enjoyment was down, the cluster of the queue system being the biggest reason. As always that’s our opinions with a little bit of insight too. And of course it was nice to catch up with a lot of friends. It had been too long.
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