BertramCooper
Banned
To me the whole place just seemed like a studio backlot. I assumed that's what they were going for, given the name.
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Theme Parks & Roller Coasters |OT| The Happiest Place on GAF
- Thread starter Goldrusher
- Start date
To me the whole place just seemed like a studio backlot. I assumed that's what they were going for, given the name.
peteykirch
Member
For those interested, there is a live webcam feed of Main Street USA at the Magic Kingdom for the 24 hour park day Disney is doing to kick off the summer season;
http://www.orlando-webcams.com/
http://www.orlando-webcams.com/
Exterminieren
Banned
The Smiler's opened at Alton Towers today for the first time. It's a beast, judging by the impressions.
The Xtortionist
Member
Starting my vacation at Universal Orlando today. Transformers has soft opened the last 2 nights for a few hours each time, gonna try to get on it later tonight. Ridiculously pumped!
Exterminieren
Banned
Ooh, report back if you do get on it. I'm visiting Universal in a few months myself.
Holy crap, the Smiler looks amazing. Got my tickets booked.
sobnekahcS moT
Member
Lol I'm new here, I love games, but there is one thing I love more... Rollercoasters! 
I live 30 minutes from the Efteling in the Netherlands and wanted to be the CEO since I was two until my sixteenth hehe. Last month when I was there, I made some onride video's, have fun!
Rollercoasters:
Python - Looping coaster
Joris en de Draak - Wooden duelling coaster (Front)
Joris en de Draak (Back)
Swiss Bob - Bobsled
Darkrides:
Droomvlucht
Carnaval Festival
Other:
Halve Maen - Worldrecord Swinging Ship
Piraña - Rapid Rides
I live 30 minutes from the Efteling in the Netherlands and wanted to be the CEO since I was two until my sixteenth hehe. Last month when I was there, I made some onride video's, have fun!
Rollercoasters:
Python - Looping coaster
Joris en de Draak - Wooden duelling coaster (Front)
Joris en de Draak (Back)
Swiss Bob - Bobsled
Darkrides:
Droomvlucht
Carnaval Festival
Other:
Halve Maen - Worldrecord Swinging Ship
Piraña - Rapid Rides
InaudibleWhispa
Member
Can't wait. I love the way it duels itself. It has been getting almost universally positive feedback, some even saying it beats Nemesis. There's rumours of a B&M 4D coaster to go in the car park behind Air in 2-3 years too; hopefully AT keep making expensive thrill ride investments; this is pretty much the first since Air, and calling Air thrilling is a stretch (I love it, but it's calm and relaxing if anything).
It looks great as a ride, but like everything at Alton Towers/Thorpe Park it has a shitty theme attached to it.
Its a shame Alton Towers has those strict height restrictions to adhere to.
InaudibleWhispa
Member
It is a shame, but at the same time it forces them to be creative. Nemesis wouldn't be dug into a ditch otherwise, and Oblivion wouldn't have had to go underground.
Yeah I suppose that's the other side of the coin, although I do think they are missing some sort of mega coaster.
Exterminieren
Banned
jstevenson
Sailor Stevenson
I haven't been in YEARS. But it seems like they've continued building coasters and at least are a respectable regional park with a couple good wood coasters, Mamba was a great steel coaster (outclassed now, but solid when built).
I still miss the Zambezi Zinger though.
I think they have like 6-7 roller coasters now, which is pretty good
Leeroy3101
Banned
The Xtortionist
Member
Got word that Transforners was open at USF. Back at my hotel right now. The sun was fucking baking me alive at IoA. Did Spidey, FJ and Hippogriff though. FJ's projectors have definitely been upgraded, much clearer. Ride profile felt a bit smoother in the dome sections.
Will head to the studios later.
Will head to the studios later.
So the new Springfield eateries have opened up to the public: http://attractionsmagazine.com/blog...ansion-now-open-at-universal-studios-florida/
InaudibleWhispa
Member
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays will be the quietest. Don't wait too long though as weekdays in the weeks prior to the summer holidays get increasingly busier due to school trips. ridetimes.co.uk has real-time queue updates, so if you keep an eye on that you'll get an idea of what to expect on any given day. I'd guess 10-30 minutes for the big coasters, and 1-2 hours for The Smiler on a weekday before school trips/holidays.
Yeah, I assumed Tue/Wed/Thu would be best. But still 1-2 hours for the Smiler, really? Would September be better?
Exterminieren
Banned
1-2 hours for The Smiler is best case scenario. It's been topping out at three and a half hours over the last few days.
InaudibleWhispa
Member
You'll have a better idea in a day or two as The Smiler is yet to be open on a weekday. But the majority of the public are going to be focusing on it all year, so it'll likely always have a fairly long queue.
The Xtortionist
Member
Transformers, mother of god.
Exterminieren
Banned
Good, then?
The Xtortionist
Member
It's Spidey on crack. Imagine Spideys best moments and then imagine an entire ride that maintains that intensity the whole time.
Ah fair enough.
Makes sense, but it's a bit of a shame for the parks!
Zoso
It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lonely time.
I'm going to assume you're going for the rollercoasters. Get there at opening and head straight to one of the big rides. I recommend starting with either of the best coasters in the park, Nitro or El Toro. In my experience the lines will be practically nonexistent at all major coasters until around noon. When I went earlier this summer I went straight to Nitro and got 3 rides back to back without having to get off because nobody was in line.
The coasters are all grouped together on opposite sides of the park. Use the skyway cable cars to quickly get from one end of the park to the other. Depending on the crowds you should be able to get all the major coasters in with time to spare. When I went, Green Lantern, Kingda Ka & El Toro had the longest lines, but nothing was over a 30 minute wait.
As for non-coaster rides, I'd recommend checking out Houdini's Great Escape, the Skyscreamer giant swing, and the parachute tower. Also, I think the Safari is open now, so that could be fun. It was still under construction on my visit.
Have a great time. It's one of the best parks for rollercoasters in the US and El Toro remains one the best rollercoasters in the world.
Jeff Albertson
Member
Be fair now the village is a lovely place and I'm sure most people would have issues with disruption on their doorstep
I'm with the locals on this one, I love the park for it though as well its so much classier than some other parks in England just for having the Towers themselves there
I've often wondered how it all started but too lazy even now to check it out
Lee Chaolan
Member
You'll have to let us know how it is! Full report later sometime!
Have fun
Ride Revenge of the Mummy for me pleaaaaase!
Exterminieren
Banned
Not at all. I dare say it's a bit of a pain for the designers, but it forces them to be innovative. Nemesis is sunk into the ground, and it's a far better and a far more intense ride as a result. Ditto for Oblivion. The Smiler looks like it uses the compactness of the space to its advantage too.
The Xtortionist
Member
You'll have to let us know how it is! Full report later sometime!
Have funRide Revenge of the Mummy for me pleaaaaase!
Day two of my 4 day trip and I've been on Mummy 5 times already...
On my phone so I'll do some quick comparisons between TF and Spidey.
I prefer TF to Spidey but they both have pros.
TF: bigger screens, better screens, more vehicle motion (tilting, rumbling), faster paced
Spidey: Better practical effects, better practical sets, more vehicle rotations, sone scenes flow together a bit more naturally
Leeroy3101
Banned
Disney only raised the prices to encourage longer stays. It's cheaper to buy a multiple day ticket as opposed to a single day ticket.
Jailer of Hope
Member
Most places do, same time every year. This year was rather minimal. The only bad thing was a $130 increase on their coast-to-coast US annual pass.
Goldrusher
Member
Well, lift hills and first drops are scarier than launches.
And El Toro is also much longer.
See the feeling of zero gravity is pretty intense to me and it's only due to riding so many coasters over the years that I finally manage to enjoy that feeling. That first drop and camelback on El Toro took my breath away though. I was literally shaking by the time the ride ended. lol
BertramCooper
Banned
I would definitely say that Millennium Force is more intimidating than Top Thrill Dragster.
thezerofire
Banned
they do it every year
MikeHaggar
Member
something cool happened that i thought i'd share in this thread. tomorrow morning i'll be going to hersheypark to ride their coaster fahrenheit for three straight hours.
apparently the travel channel is filming something there and i was selected to be one of the people who rides the coaster over and over again so that they can get all of the footage that they need. it should be a pretty cool experience!
apparently the travel channel is filming something there and i was selected to be one of the people who rides the coaster over and over again so that they can get all of the footage that they need. it should be a pretty cool experience!
el retorno
Member
El toro is scarier than kingda ka.
thezerofire
Banned
lucky! I've always wanted to do that
The Xtortionist
Member
Five night vacation's over. Final Transformers ride count: 7. Not bad for soft openings I think. Best attraction in the world, imo. Improves on most aspects of Spidey (my previous favorite) with a more exciting premise, improved vehicle motion, improved screens, and much more intensity and perception of speed. The TMs are ridiculously in character as well. They work really hard in both the load and unload stations to hype up the guests. I can understand being excited after a ride, but the TMs had consistent cheers and applause from guests even before boarding. The guests' roars are a good way to gauge how close you are to the end of the queue.
Forbidden Journey was toned down slightly. The ride seems to have been re-profiled mostly in the dome sections with smoother and overall less exaggerated movement. Doesn't really bother me since I only really enjoy FJ's movement outside the domes anyway. On the other hand, the projections are a bit clearer now. Highlight of the trip: Riding FJ on 6/6 during a tornado warning!
Spidey was running exceptionally. Got close to 10 rides on it and not a single effect was down during any of them. I rode a a similar amount of times during my last trip and a few of them included broken ladder, fire, and/or spider signal effects.
Dragons smooth and fun as ever. Shame they don't seem to draw the crowds they used to before Potter.
Final Mummy ride count was 10 or 11 times. One of the days I was there, I don't recall the standby wait ever being above 15 minutes. Such an overlooked attraction and I put it up there with the best of them.
Ate three times at the new Simpsons area. The chicken and waffle sandwich, pizzas, and Krusty burgers are all delicious.
And yep, express passes are still cheating. Amazing vacation overall. I can't recommend Universal Orlando enough to anyone. If you like theme parks, just go there. You won't be disappointed.
Forbidden Journey was toned down slightly. The ride seems to have been re-profiled mostly in the dome sections with smoother and overall less exaggerated movement. Doesn't really bother me since I only really enjoy FJ's movement outside the domes anyway. On the other hand, the projections are a bit clearer now. Highlight of the trip: Riding FJ on 6/6 during a tornado warning!
Spidey was running exceptionally. Got close to 10 rides on it and not a single effect was down during any of them. I rode a a similar amount of times during my last trip and a few of them included broken ladder, fire, and/or spider signal effects.
Dragons smooth and fun as ever. Shame they don't seem to draw the crowds they used to before Potter.
Final Mummy ride count was 10 or 11 times. One of the days I was there, I don't recall the standby wait ever being above 15 minutes. Such an overlooked attraction and I put it up there with the best of them.
Ate three times at the new Simpsons area. The chicken and waffle sandwich, pizzas, and Krusty burgers are all delicious.
And yep, express passes are still cheating. Amazing vacation overall. I can't recommend Universal Orlando enough to anyone. If you like theme parks, just go there. You won't be disappointed.
The Outsider
Member
Reading this makes me want to go back to Universal. My annual pass ran out a few months ago, and I've been waiting to get another one. Transformers is going to set me over the edge.
The Xtortionist
Member
It's a plussed Spidey clone in many ways. Many of the scenes' concepts are ripped directly from Spidey but I think every single one of them are pulled off better here, not to mention the improved motion (seriously, I'm struggling to think of a part in TF where the vehicle isn't tilting and/or rumbling) and image quality in all scenes. If you like Spidey, I think you'll like Transformers even more. Oh, and definitely go front row. Transformers conveys a sense of speed that you have to experience to believe. Being in the front gets you closer to the screens and being lower to the ground (because of the vehicle's stadium seating) adds to the perception of speed.
For Spidey vets, TF probably won't be quite as mindblowing as it was for people in Hollywood for example, but it won me over and I'm sure it'll win you over too.
And besides, Spidey still has its draws. Spidey has bigger practical sets, more practical effects, and includes 360-degree spins (TF has none). I rode Spidey plenty of times after riding TF and still enjoyed it quite a bit. TF's pluses outweigh the minuses for me but they're both still fantastic and my favorite two dark rides. FJ is number three. The dome sections with their jarring transitions from and to the physical sets and restricted movement bring the ride down for me. A four minute FJ with no domes would probably be my ride of the forever, Gringotts be damned.
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