Goldrusher
Member
Flying Aces at Ferrari World...
Crazy.
more: http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1643095#p1643095
Crazy.
more: http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1643095#p1643095
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Theme Parks & Roller Coasters |OT| The Happiest Place on GAF
- Thread starter Goldrusher
- Start date
Jailer of Hope
Member
I was at universal yesterday and had a great time. I tried to go into Gringotts blind but I probably should've had different expectations. I was expecting something a little closer to the Mummy, which I really love, but it turned out closer to something like Transformers or Spider-man, which I also love. So the problem I had with it wasn't that it wasn't like the Mummy at all, but rather it being similar to Transformers but not quite living up to the motion profile and set pieces I've come to expect. The screens just don't blend in as well in that dark of an environment. I mean I don't expect to be flying in every direction but the feeling of being on a rail getting taken away except for a few really brief moments seemed like a silly thing to forsake. But I loved everything else about London, especially King's Cross.
My wife and I are very excited for Harry Potter to open here in California, though dreading the inevitable crowds. I know nothing about the rides, but I want to see that world come to life.
The Xtortionist
Member
I love everything about Gringotts except the pacing. It's constantly stopping and starting and ultimately becomes a bit tedious imo. Spidey, Transformers, and Forbidden Journey all have a good sense of momentum by comparison.
Gringotts has the best audio I've heard on a dark ride, though. It sounds sooooo good
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
All the Ferrari worlds are the worst "i dont give a fuck" idea for a theme park, and reallly mediocre theme parks in the grand scale of things, but always have 1 or 2 world records coasters and that saddens me, becuase they would be better placed on real theme parks people actually go.
They are building he new ferrari world at tarragona, near Port Aventura, in Spain (and before that they were going to build just near my neighbourhood, but those plans felt apart), and even if its "near" me (300km) I give zero fucks of trying to go to only try the world record coaster there. Even if it has Port Aventura near it. And the prices, OMG, they are fucking crazy. Is a park for rich people.
Jailer of Hope
Member
Yeah I don't want to sound too down on it. It's worthwhile. But I wouldn't put it up there on my list of priorities at the start of each visit.
The Outsider
Member
This reminds me I need to make my way to Busch Gardens again sometime soon. It's been over a year now, and my best friend lives driving distance away.
I enjoyed the ride, but felt the 3D was really off. Everything looked blurry. Might have been shoddy glasses, but I felt the same way both times I went on it. Forbidden Journey's 2D screens and TF/Spidey's updated 3D looked much sharper by comparison.
London section is absolutely brilliant though. Made me want to jump right back into reading the HP books.
Goldrusher
Member
The very first POV of Lewa Adventure's Flash.
The first hyper coaster with inversions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHBcKkl5MJ4
The first hyper coaster with inversions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHBcKkl5MJ4
aparisi2274
Member
Checked into Cabana Bay today for the 2nd half of my FL trip. Some things right off the bat:
1. Universal's value hotel is like a Disney Moderate. This hotel has such great theming.
2. I finally got to experience the London/Diagon Alley side of Potter. The entire section is nothing short of brilliant. The details are top notch and literally nothing has been left out.
3. Gringotts is a great ride, a really short one, but still a great ride. I still prefer Forbidden Journey though...
4. The Hogwarts Express was pretty cool. I took it from Hogsmeade to London, and later today I'll take it from London back to Hogsmeade.
5. Was Emma Watson to busy to actually play Hermione for both the Hogwarts Express and Escape from Gringotts? It's so clearly not her on the train and on the ride they do a pretty good job of obscuring her face. Seriously though, anyone know why she didn't want to commit to it??
6. Halloween Horror Nights was a blast. I'm way to tired to give a detailed review of it now, but the Bill & Ted Excellent Halloween Show was brilliant.
Sleep... Been in the parks since 11:30am ET on 10/22
1. Universal's value hotel is like a Disney Moderate. This hotel has such great theming.
2. I finally got to experience the London/Diagon Alley side of Potter. The entire section is nothing short of brilliant. The details are top notch and literally nothing has been left out.
3. Gringotts is a great ride, a really short one, but still a great ride. I still prefer Forbidden Journey though...
4. The Hogwarts Express was pretty cool. I took it from Hogsmeade to London, and later today I'll take it from London back to Hogsmeade.
5. Was Emma Watson to busy to actually play Hermione for both the Hogwarts Express and Escape from Gringotts? It's so clearly not her on the train and on the ride they do a pretty good job of obscuring her face. Seriously though, anyone know why she didn't want to commit to it??
6. Halloween Horror Nights was a blast. I'm way to tired to give a detailed review of it now, but the Bill & Ted Excellent Halloween Show was brilliant.
Sleep... Been in the parks since 11:30am ET on 10/22
The Xtortionist
Member
I think Gringotts is only about 30 seconds shorter than Spidey/TF, but the pacing screws with how it feels.
And yeah. Cabana Bay? More like Cabana Bae :3
The Outsider
Member
This sounds exactly like what I did a month ago. Great fun, can't wait for next year.
How were the lines at HHN?
I'm planning a family vacation to Orlando for a few days. I have two boys ages 4 and 7. I know we want to go to Disney World one day and maybe Legoland another. Which Disney theme park is recommended for those ages? At first I was going to choose Magic Kingdom, but the MGM park has movie attractions like Toy Story and Star Wars. Also is it better to stay at a hotel at Disney, considering another day will be spent at Legoland?
The Xtortionist
Member
MGM/Hollywood Studios doesn't...have much to do at the moment. Additions are coming in a few years but the park is in pretty rough shape right now due to attraction closures. It really isn't worth a one day ticket unless you plan to park hop on the same day. I would go with Magic Kingdom, hands down. Most bang for your buck.
Magic Kingdom. Somewhere along the line you could maybe go back when they get the Star Wars land up, but right now MK has much more to do.
The Outsider
Member
Magic Kingdom is your best bet for one day. Try MGM and Animal Kingdom in a few years!
And I love Epcot too, but probably better when your kids are a little older (or you can make it without them).
Magic Kingdom, most definitely.
Not sure what to suggest for hotel, but we've always stayed in Hotel Plaza Boulevard which is decent and certainly nowhere near as expensive as the main Disney hotels.
It's funny but even when I was 7 I loved the hell out of Epcot.
A large majority of kids will probably be disappointed in the lack of Disney at the park, which is why I suppose Disney are going to be cramming it with more IP in the next few years...
Jailer of Hope
Member
I checked into the new Polynesian studio today and I really dig the new floor plan. The extra half bath and all the USB ports are super convenient. The extra storage space is nice too.
I went to the Halloween party too and for whatever reason I think I prefer the one at Disneyland.
I went to the Halloween party too and for whatever reason I think I prefer the one at Disneyland.
The Outsider
Member
aparisi2274
Member
The lines were averaging over 100min for each house at one point, which is why I always get an express pass for HHN. I was able to do every house, and every ride before the 2am end time.
aparisi2274
Member
Couple of firsts for me at Mickey Not So Scary Halloween Party tonight:
1. Was riding the new seven dwarves mine train, and it broke down on us, right as we were in the mine with the dwarves. We had to be escorted off the ride by CM's, but we all received FP's to enjoy it later on after they rebooted the systems. According to one of the CM's, a guest crossed the "line" and that forced the system to shut down. I assume the "line" is some sort of safety line for guests.
2. Was about to ride Space Mountain, it was the last ride of the night for me, and for the park, as it was after midnight... Anyway, just as I get to the loading area, the ride breaks...what is with me and rides breaking. Lol. Anyway, after about 5-10min of waiting the ride was back up and I was finally able to ride. What was cool about this ride is that half of it was still in complete darkness, while the other half, thanks to the people mover lights being on, was someone lit up and you could see the track. It was cool going from complete darkness to lit up and then back again.
1. Was riding the new seven dwarves mine train, and it broke down on us, right as we were in the mine with the dwarves. We had to be escorted off the ride by CM's, but we all received FP's to enjoy it later on after they rebooted the systems. According to one of the CM's, a guest crossed the "line" and that forced the system to shut down. I assume the "line" is some sort of safety line for guests.
2. Was about to ride Space Mountain, it was the last ride of the night for me, and for the park, as it was after midnight... Anyway, just as I get to the loading area, the ride breaks...what is with me and rides breaking. Lol. Anyway, after about 5-10min of waiting the ride was back up and I was finally able to ride. What was cool about this ride is that half of it was still in complete darkness, while the other half, thanks to the people mover lights being on, was someone lit up and you could see the track. It was cool going from complete darkness to lit up and then back again.
Speaking of Test Track I've sadly not had the chance to check out the newer version of the ride. It looks pretty decent based on what I've seen though... aside from the ugly roof at the entrance of the ride.
Norway will sadly forever be fucked and since the Maelstrom capacity was never that large to begin with the area will be insanely overcrowded. It's incredibly shortsighted shoehorning Frozen into the park.
It's a typical cheap TDO decision, especially since Tokyo is getting this:
The Xtortionist
Member
Speaking of Test Track I've sadly not had the chance to check out the newer version of the ride. It looks pretty decent based on what I've seen though... aside from the ugly roof at the entrance of the ride.
Norway will sadly forever be fucked and since the Maelstrom capacity was never that large to begin with the area will be insanely overcrowded. It's incredibly shortsighted shoehorning Frozen into the park.
It's a typical cheap TDO decision, especially since Tokyo is getting this:
They should have put this shit at DHS or something.
But nooooo, it's WDW. Let's take fuckin forever to develop an attraction based on like the biggest animated film ever, then overlay it on top of an existing ride. An overlay. For a franchise this huge.
:l
Jailer of Hope
Member
Hah. We walked by the Mine Train and noticed it wasn't moving but people were in the trains. It was like right around 8pm I think.
aparisi2274
Member
Yup, that was me. I was stuck in the mine tunnel part of the ride.
Leeroy3101
Banned
TDO/TDA lack the giant budget the Oriental Land Company puts towards those parks.
aparisi2274
Member
You'd think they'd have a decent budget with the prices they are charging here in WDW.
Leeroy3101
Banned
The MagicBands are a huge reason why the lack of investment on good experiences happened. It's been quoted that over a billion dollars got poured into the implementation of the program.
TDO believes, they're mostly correct, that people will keep coming given the current product. Universal's stepped up their game, but it still lacks the Disney quality to it. Aggressive building, sure, but they still lack the polish and charm of Disney.
This isn't to say WDW isn't broken. Magic Kingdom is overcrowded, EPCOT is in a HUGE identity crisis, Animal Kingdom in the middle of a vast expansion, and Hollywood Studios will soon get gutted.
TDO believes, they're mostly correct, that people will keep coming given the current product. Universal's stepped up their game, but it still lacks the Disney quality to it. Aggressive building, sure, but they still lack the polish and charm of Disney.
This isn't to say WDW isn't broken. Magic Kingdom is overcrowded, EPCOT is in a HUGE identity crisis, Animal Kingdom in the middle of a vast expansion, and Hollywood Studios will soon get gutted.
aparisi2274
Member
I'm on the last day of my Disney/universal vacation and I can tell you that the Magicband system is way better than when I first used it in 2013. Are there still some serious issues to work out? Absolutely! But is it still broken? Hmmm, I don't think so.
I stayed at AKL in Disney and then I moved over to Cabana Bay at Universal and while I really liked Cabana Bay as a hotel, I prefer the Disney ones. Why? Not sure really. Nostalgia? Perhaps, who knows really.
Disney parks are in a state of flux, while Universal is having a reinessence, so to speak. You have the MK which had its largest expansion in New fantasyland, which turned out to be sort of a waste. They put in like 2 new rides and 47 character meet spots (joking about that number. Lol).
Epcot, like you said has no idea what it wants to be. They should either update the park with actual tech that we may see in 15-20years, like what we used to see at the end of Spaceship Earth, before they butchered it and removed the entire ending. The fact that they are cramming in Frozen into Norway shows they have no idea what to do with the countries. How do you take the biggest animated movie of all time and shoehorn it into a small corner of a country pavilion?
Animal Kingdom is very nice, but it's such a large park and very little to see, aside from the safari and walking trails. Everest is a great coaster with a bummer of ending, which sucks because Disney doesn't want to bring the ride down to properly fixit, and don't get me started about Avatar land. Does anyone even still care about that franchise??
DHS is a mess right now. It, like you said, is about to be gutted, and have some life put back into it with Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land, both of which aren't expected to be completed until the start of the next decade.
Universal on the other hand is just rolling in cash, and you can tell by all the cranes on property and the work being done. You have the London side of potter, which is one of the nicest themed areas I have ever seen. It was overload on my senses when I stepped into that area. They're in the middle of the new Kong attraction which is shaping up to be another impressive themed area, and they're also doing major refurb on the hulk.
I could keep going, but we all know the issues that both companies are facing. Disney and its investors can only blame the magic band for so long before they'll have to come up with some other excuse as to why they are jacking up prices. I'm not asking either company to always have these crazy expansions in the works, but maybe a fresh coat of paint once in a while. I'm pretty sure that would go a long way in making things look "new"
<end rant>
Jailer of Hope
Member
Having something new to announce every year may eventually work in Disney's favor. Taking half a decade to build something won't seem so bad when there's something new every year lol
I think above all, my concern is with Epcot. Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will have their own re-grand openings just as California Adventure had theirs, but epcot needs better capacity. At least Avatar brings that. I don't think epcot needs more e-ticket attractions per se, but fastpass tiers should not be a lasting restriction.
My curiosity looks towards Disneyland. The $1 billion investment Disney is obligated to give that resort seems to include Star Wars land and a new parking structure but they have every right to increase ticket and pass prices as long as they need to restrict attendance. It's such an interesting problem to have. Continuing to keep Disneyland pristine while offering new experiences seems to be working well for them.
I think above all, my concern is with Epcot. Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will have their own re-grand openings just as California Adventure had theirs, but epcot needs better capacity. At least Avatar brings that. I don't think epcot needs more e-ticket attractions per se, but fastpass tiers should not be a lasting restriction.
My curiosity looks towards Disneyland. The $1 billion investment Disney is obligated to give that resort seems to include Star Wars land and a new parking structure but they have every right to increase ticket and pass prices as long as they need to restrict attendance. It's such an interesting problem to have. Continuing to keep Disneyland pristine while offering new experiences seems to be working well for them.
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Speaking of Test Track I've sadly not had the chance to check out the newer version of the ride. It looks pretty decent based on what I've seen though... aside from the ugly roof at the entrance of the ride.
Norway will sadly forever be fucked and since the Maelstrom capacity was never that large to begin with the area will be insanely overcrowded. It's incredibly shortsighted shoehorning Frozen into the park.
It's a typical cheap TDO decision, especially since Tokyo is getting this:
Holy shit The Oriental Company knows were to put the money, thats for sure.
And its not like they have different imagineers, the lead designers of this zones are usually the same people that work on american disney parks. Its only that Oriental Company is more intelligent in where to put the money and time on the parks than disney itself.
Zoso
It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lonely time.
And the Universal Orlando announcements keep coming. Jimmy Fallon to get his own ride in 2017. Twister closes Nov. 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQY7b_dXCvs
http://blog.universalorlando.com/whats-new/jimmy-fallon-new-ride/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQY7b_dXCvs
http://blog.universalorlando.com/whats-new/jimmy-fallon-new-ride/
The Xtortionist
Member
Totally worth it for the rumored facade work. The Twister area of the park needed a serious redo.
Lee Chaolan
Member
Damn, missing the WDW discussion.
I'll be going second week of December, can't wait. Haven't been there in three years. Going to see New Fantasyland for the first time. Only the new Dumbo was up last time we were there. >_> Gonna eat at Be Our Guest restaurant too for Dinner. How is it for anyone that's done it?
Yeah, Frozen at Norway is going to be awful, at least for a while until they figure something out, not enough space, too much demand. That new area at Tokyo Disney for it looks amazing!
I'll be going second week of December, can't wait. Haven't been there in three years. Going to see New Fantasyland for the first time. Only the new Dumbo was up last time we were there. >_> Gonna eat at Be Our Guest restaurant too for Dinner. How is it for anyone that's done it?
Yeah, Frozen at Norway is going to be awful, at least for a while until they figure something out, not enough space, too much demand. That new area at Tokyo Disney for it looks amazing!
bucknuticus
Member
Nooooo all my childhood favorites are closing or down for refurb while im at universal in December, boooo
Twister was no one's childhood favorite.
From what I remember, the best part about Twister was was Bill Paxton's wooden refusal to act in the in-queue video. He might as well have just written "Fuck you. Pay me." on his forehead.
Edit: Found the video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSr1-JAd8Zs
bucknuticus
Member
I always enjoyed it as a kid because I was fascinated with tornadoes.
Me too, which is exactly why I was always so disappointed with it.
Gunstarheroes
Member
DING DONG THE WITCH IS FUCKING DEAD!
Seriously, i'm still salty we lost Ghostbusters for that shit show of an attraction q_q
Goldrusher
Member
Speaking of Universal Orlando...
... not much left now. Only the loop, the first drop and the launch-lifthill.
October 23rd:
24th:
yesterday:
today:
... not much left now. Only the loop, the first drop and the launch-lifthill.
I've only ridden the Hulk rollercoaster once. It started raining right before I got strapped in so the rain was pelting me in the face like a bunch of liquid rocks
Lee Chaolan
Member
Hey, shot in the dark here, but for any Orlando locals that hit up WDW semi-regularly, I'm looking to pick up a Purple Magic Band for my upcoming trip and the only way to get a plain purple one is through the new Magic Kingdom "Magic Band on Demand" booth.
I could send paypal for the band and a little something for your efforts. Would appreciate it.
I could send paypal for the band and a little something for your efforts. Would appreciate it.
Jailer of Hope
Member
If I read this a couple hours earlier I would've picked one up. On my way home now.Hey, shot in the dark here, but for any Orlando locals that hit up WDW semi-regularly, I'm looking to pick up a Purple Magic Band for my upcoming trip and the only way to get a plain purple one is through the new Magic Kingdom "Magic Band on Demand" booth.
I could send paypal for the band and a little something for your efforts. Would appreciate it.
Why not pick one up while you're there?Lee Chaolan
Member
If I read this a couple hours earlier I would've picked one up. On my way home now.
We're not going to Magic Kingdom until a few days into our trip there. Plus, Purple is not available as a color to order on the My Disney Experience yet, so this is the only way for a plain purple. So I want to have it all ready to go for our trip!
Are you going back there anytime soon? Really appreciate the thought.
Jailer of Hope
Member
Ah I see. I wouldn't be surprised if they offer it online, at least for purchase. They are kind of different though so I'm not sure. They feel lighter and the mickey head RFID part is a little longer. My brother bought a purple one with a Space Mountain graphic.We're not going to Magic Kingdom until a few days into our trip there. Plus, Purple is not available as a color to order on the My Disney Experience yet, so this is the only way for a plain purple. So I want to have it all ready to go for our trip!
Are you going back there anytime soon? Really appreciate the thought.
Also I live in the Southwest US and I don't think I'll be going back before the end of the year.
Lee Chaolan
Member
Haha, well that's just my luck to just miss you there. lol. Well, like I said, I appreciate the thought!
Offer still stands to anyone else that's down in Orlando. Not sure if they actually will go online, so I'd rather be sure.
Goldrusher
Member
The Xtortionist
Member
is it just me or does that drop look fucking nuts
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
That dop is something scary and amkazing to say the least.
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