Hey, guys. It’s been a while. I thought I'd pop in and say hi. Things seem to be slowing down here again, and I'm sure the state of the world isn't helping. Hope everyone's doing ok despite the circumstances. It's times like these where I tend to turn to places like this for an escape.
I was back in the US for New Years and got the chance to visit WDW for the first time in five years. While I was initially worried to see the state of the parks post-Covid, I was incredibly happy to see just how good the parks still are. The cast members across the board were incredibly friendly and
most of the attractions were in great shape and in some cases far better shape than I ever remember them being.
On this trip, I was able to ride each of the new attractions that had opened since I last visited. Tiana is a fantastic successor to Splash. While I don't think I could compare the two directly, the new theme is really well done, and the most important part of Splash - the bones - are absolutely still present. The ride system and the energy are still there despite the change in IP. Highly recommend and videos don't do it justice.
I also said goodbye to some old friends, namely MuppetVision, Tom Sawyer Island, and Dinosaur. While I spent far more time with MuppetVision (and definitely took my 3D glasses home lol,) it was great to see Dinosaur and Dinoland one last time. Some of you may remember that I'm a big proponent of the Chester and Hester theming so it was really nice to explore this weird corner of Imagineering one last time. And Dinosaur honestly looked great. I don't know why, but I was expecting it to be half falling apart, but it was in great shape. And it was popular too. The queue stretched back into the outdoor extended queue, which I had never been in my almost 30 years of riding.
Tom Sawyer Island, however, was half falling apart and it's probably for the best that it's closing. I'll always have fond memories of it, and WDW's will forever remain my favorite rendition of it, but it's in such poor shape. I also caught some guy openly smoking a cigarette and definitely smelled weed near the escape tunnel. It was a weird, eventful hour.
Hope everyone is doing ok. Stay safe, and stay vigilant. Though things may seem pretty dark for some of us, I'm confident (perhaps naively) that things will turn around someday.