-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Theme Parks & Roller Coasters |OT| The Happiest Place on GAF
- Thread starter Goldrusher
- Start date
Goldrusher
Member
It does look really good. The crowds on the other hand.... Yeesh.
I just got home from Disneyland and was able to ride this. I liked it, and it was a lot of fun, but I think I prefer Ghost Galaxy. I don't know why, but something about the projectors just didn't feel quite right.
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Looks amazing, but I never rided Ghost Galaxy.
I think the hyperspeed section in the lift chain would work better with the shoot off section in Paris' Space Mountain (here it looks... strange), but the screens with fighting scenes ould porbably work better in Anaheim as its a slower paced coaster than Paris.
bucknuticus
Member
Heading to Orlando/Universal tomorrow for 2 days. Was reading up on transportation from MCO to Universal sounds like Uber is not allowed but theres some sneaky ways to get a pickup at MCO.
Anyone ever had any luck?
Anyone ever had any luck?
The Xtortionist
Member
Try Mears if Uber fails. Worked great for me a few years ago. Universal is amazing, have fun!
bucknuticus
Member
Mears wanted $60 minimum to get me where I was going. I hopped a city bus for $2 a person took it the first stop hopped off and got an uber. It was $19.
Had 2 great days at universal, the park was dead everything was literally walk on. Harry Potter rides were saying 10 minutes but all of that was just walking the path and waiting for the pre show stuff to be done
I hadn't been to universal in probably 12 years and always wanted to do t2 since I wasn't into terminator when younger , finally got to do it. And man, that's a really really bad ride/show
The Xtortionist
Member
Goddamn they must have raised their rates or something :l
I posted this in the Star Wars OT also, but figured it fit here also. I was in Disneyland last week & wanted to say a few things about Season of the Force; I'll post some pics at the bottom. Started Wednesday night at the Launch Bay. This was billed as having props from the films, but that may have only been the stuff from TFA. The exhibit mainly consists of OT & PT ship models & they looked to be made for this; some had little figures in them. The scale and variety was too big to be from any of the collectible companies that have been making stuff. They weren't in scale to each other, but they were all a good size. The Tantive IV was probably 3~4 feet long and most of the other ships were about a foot long (the OT TIE they had was smaller than the BS6 TIE they had for sale). The Episode VII displays had the biggest crowds and confirmed that it is Anakin's/Luke's lightsaber in the trailer. The Rey costume was weird because the model was also like a hard plastic for the whole thing, not mixed media.
There are two characters to meet, Chewbacca & Darth Vader. Chewie's set up is like the rebel base on Yavin and in the line there are hero lightsaber and helmets on display. The Chewie interaction was great, we saw him 2nd and he started with a hug & pointed at my hair. Waited about 20 minutes for him and about 15 for Vader. The Vader line has villain sabers and Trooper helmets and looks like an Imperial base. I don't normally do characters at Disney so I didn't really know what to do with him. They also have a store there that sells lots of items from Sideshow, GG, Anovos. I don't know if everything was more expensive, but the SSC R2-D2 1/6 figure was $175 instead of $150; but the BS6 TIE was the normal $170. I guess they had some BS6 Phasmas when they opened but they were all scooped up.
Hyperspace Mountain was a ton of fun. It's the same Space Mountain track, but they have projections of Star Destroyers & TIE Fighters as you fly around. The speakers on the cars have chatter like you're in a battle.
Path of the Jedi is a short compilation film in the old Captain EO/Honey I Shrunk the Audience theater. It uses the effects of the theater though, so the seats will move in certain parts and you get some blasts of air and lights flashing during lightsaber battles. My only complaint was the quality of the film they used was not very good.
Star Tours added a new destination - Jakku. It's the 1st planet you go to now on every flight and Finn comes on screen asking what you're doing there as he's in the middle of the scenes we've seen with the Falcon fighting off TIES around the crashed Star Destroyer. You follow the (surprisingly agile) Falcon around before going through the Destroyer. Then as you get off world BB-8 delivers a message & the ride continues as normal. It's really awesome they can add new scenes to this ride.
They turned the two restaurants in Tomorrowland to be SW themed. I didn't eat at the Pizza place though. Galactic Grill has a Darth Tamale with cheese inside and egg, chili, & sour cream on top for breakfast that was really good. I tried the First Order burger and it was too dry, needed more of the sauce. They have 2 special lemonades that come with glow cubes - one is a Millennium Falcon & the other is a Death Star. I got both of those as well as the Han Solo in Carbonite lunch box for the burger.
The entire are has a great energy to it though. When you first walk in they have these huge projections of the Rebel & Imperial logo on each side. There are banners along the Peoplemover track with silhouettes of various characters. After Force Friday, about half of the Star Trader shop was SW, now it's the whole store; & it's all kinds of stuff. When you're walking around Tomorrowland, they are playing various SW songs. Everybody seemed to be excited about Star Wars. Space Mountain normally has about a 70-90 minute wait on really busy days, it stayed at 120 all day. Star Tours is usually pushing 30 minutes, but it was constantly about an hour. It's only been open 2 weeks now so it's still popular, but that section of the park was more crowded than usual
This is supposedly ending around the end of May. I enjoyed the offerings and the energy helped it, but I don't think it's worth taking a special trip to Disneyland just to see this. It did make me even more excited for the full Star Wars land coming in a few years.
- picture links to the Flickr album
There are two characters to meet, Chewbacca & Darth Vader. Chewie's set up is like the rebel base on Yavin and in the line there are hero lightsaber and helmets on display. The Chewie interaction was great, we saw him 2nd and he started with a hug & pointed at my hair. Waited about 20 minutes for him and about 15 for Vader. The Vader line has villain sabers and Trooper helmets and looks like an Imperial base. I don't normally do characters at Disney so I didn't really know what to do with him. They also have a store there that sells lots of items from Sideshow, GG, Anovos. I don't know if everything was more expensive, but the SSC R2-D2 1/6 figure was $175 instead of $150; but the BS6 TIE was the normal $170. I guess they had some BS6 Phasmas when they opened but they were all scooped up.
Hyperspace Mountain was a ton of fun. It's the same Space Mountain track, but they have projections of Star Destroyers & TIE Fighters as you fly around. The speakers on the cars have chatter like you're in a battle.
Path of the Jedi is a short compilation film in the old Captain EO/Honey I Shrunk the Audience theater. It uses the effects of the theater though, so the seats will move in certain parts and you get some blasts of air and lights flashing during lightsaber battles. My only complaint was the quality of the film they used was not very good.
Star Tours added a new destination - Jakku. It's the 1st planet you go to now on every flight and Finn comes on screen asking what you're doing there as he's in the middle of the scenes we've seen with the Falcon fighting off TIES around the crashed Star Destroyer. You follow the (surprisingly agile) Falcon around before going through the Destroyer. Then as you get off world BB-8 delivers a message & the ride continues as normal. It's really awesome they can add new scenes to this ride.
They turned the two restaurants in Tomorrowland to be SW themed. I didn't eat at the Pizza place though. Galactic Grill has a Darth Tamale with cheese inside and egg, chili, & sour cream on top for breakfast that was really good. I tried the First Order burger and it was too dry, needed more of the sauce. They have 2 special lemonades that come with glow cubes - one is a Millennium Falcon & the other is a Death Star. I got both of those as well as the Han Solo in Carbonite lunch box for the burger.
The entire are has a great energy to it though. When you first walk in they have these huge projections of the Rebel & Imperial logo on each side. There are banners along the Peoplemover track with silhouettes of various characters. After Force Friday, about half of the Star Trader shop was SW, now it's the whole store; & it's all kinds of stuff. When you're walking around Tomorrowland, they are playing various SW songs. Everybody seemed to be excited about Star Wars. Space Mountain normally has about a 70-90 minute wait on really busy days, it stayed at 120 all day. Star Tours is usually pushing 30 minutes, but it was constantly about an hour. It's only been open 2 weeks now so it's still popular, but that section of the park was more crowded than usual
This is supposedly ending around the end of May. I enjoyed the offerings and the energy helped it, but I don't think it's worth taking a special trip to Disneyland just to see this. It did make me even more excited for the full Star Wars land coming in a few years.
- picture links to the Flickr album
Goldrusher
Member
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Wow, those were some super nice photos.I posted this in the Star Wars OT also, but figured it fit here also. I was in Disneyland last week & wanted to say a few things about Season of the Force; I'll post some pics at the bottom. Started Wednesday night at the Launch Bay. This was billed as having props from the films, but that may have only been the stuff from TFA. The exhibit mainly consists of OT & PT ship models & they looked to be made for this; some had little figures in them. The scale and variety was too big to be from any of the collectible companies that have been making stuff. They weren't in scale to each other, but they were all a good size. The Tantive IV was probably 3~4 feet long and most of the other ships were about a foot long (the OT TIE they had was smaller than the BS6 TIE they had for sale). The Episode VII displays had the biggest crowds and confirmed that it is Anakin's/Luke's lightsaber in the trailer. The Rey costume was weird because the model was also like a hard plastic for the whole thing, not mixed media.
There are two characters to meet, Chewbacca & Darth Vader. Chewie's set up is like the rebel base on Yavin and in the line there are hero lightsaber and helmets on display. The Chewie interaction was great, we saw him 2nd and he started with a hug & pointed at my hair. Waited about 20 minutes for him and about 15 for Vader. The Vader line has villain sabers and Trooper helmets and looks like an Imperial base. I don't normally do characters at Disney so I didn't really know what to do with him. They also have a store there that sells lots of items from Sideshow, GG, Anovos. I don't know if everything was more expensive, but the SSC R2-D2 1/6 figure was $175 instead of $150; but the BS6 TIE was the normal $170. I guess they had some BS6 Phasmas when they opened but they were all scooped up.
Hyperspace Mountain was a ton of fun. It's the same Space Mountain track, but they have projections of Star Destroyers & TIE Fighters as you fly around. The speakers on the cars have chatter like you're in a battle.
Path of the Jedi is a short compilation film in the old Captain EO/Honey I Shrunk the Audience theater. It uses the effects of the theater though, so the seats will move in certain parts and you get some blasts of air and lights flashing during lightsaber battles. My only complaint was the quality of the film they used was not very good.
Star Tours added a new destination - Jakku. It's the 1st planet you go to now on every flight and Finn comes on screen asking what you're doing there as he's in the middle of the scenes we've seen with the Falcon fighting off TIES around the crashed Star Destroyer. You follow the (surprisingly agile) Falcon around before going through the Destroyer. Then as you get off world BB-8 delivers a message & the ride continues as normal. It's really awesome they can add new scenes to this ride.
They turned the two restaurants in Tomorrowland to be SW themed. I didn't eat at the Pizza place though. Galactic Grill has a Darth Tamale with cheese inside and egg, chili, & sour cream on top for breakfast that was really good. I tried the First Order burger and it was too dry, needed more of the sauce. They have 2 special lemonades that come with glow cubes - one is a Millennium Falcon & the other is a Death Star. I got both of those as well as the Han Solo in Carbonite lunch box for the burger.
The entire are has a great energy to it though. When you first walk in they have these huge projections of the Rebel & Imperial logo on each side. There are banners along the Peoplemover track with silhouettes of various characters. After Force Friday, about half of the Star Trader shop was SW, now it's the whole store; & it's all kinds of stuff. When you're walking around Tomorrowland, they are playing various SW songs. Everybody seemed to be excited about Star Wars. Space Mountain normally has about a 70-90 minute wait on really busy days, it stayed at 120 all day. Star Tours is usually pushing 30 minutes, but it was constantly about an hour. It's only been open 2 weeks now so it's still popular, but that section of the park was more crowded than usual
This is supposedly ending around the end of May. I enjoyed the offerings and the energy helped it, but I don't think it's worth taking a special trip to Disneyland just to see this. It did make me even more excited for the full Star Wars land coming in a few years.
The event reminds me to what they brought to one of the malls here of Star Wars (although here they were only super expensive figures instead of real props from the movies).
The type of commercial reminds me to the epic commecials when Terra Mitica was opened, or the one Universal's Port Aventura did when they revealed Stampida, long time ago.
I'm heading to Disney World in 12 days 
. Last time I was there was in 2013. I'm pretty excited since I booked a stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge with a Savannah View. Anyone have any tips for that resort? I visited in 2013 (took a bus from my hotel) to eat at Sanaa and was super impressed. Since then I was like "yep I have to stay here one day."
. Last time I was there was in 2013. I'm pretty excited since I booked a stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge with a Savannah View. Anyone have any tips for that resort? I visited in 2013 (took a bus from my hotel) to eat at Sanaa and was super impressed. Since then I was like "yep I have to stay here one day."
aparisi2274
Member
I'm heading to Disney World in 12 days
I was just there in Oct. love AKL, although I no longer get the savanah view, because the animals are only in your section like one night of the week. Each night Disney moves the food to a new feeding area at some other section of Savanah view rooms, so they all flock to that section. Generally you'll get some stray's just milling around, but the majority of animals will move from section to section each night.
I do remember reading that you can view the animals around the resort so that's pretty cool too.
How were the buses to the parks? I read mixed things, mostly that AKL "feels" remote. When I stayed at French Quarter the bus service was really great.
I snagged a reservation again with Sanaa and this time Jiko (first time.) I am really looking forward to both.
aparisi2274
Member
I like AKL because it is remote. Its at the far end of the Osceloa Parkway (exit 64 or 67 on I4) and you just take it straight until you hit the end. I love it. So quiet, so relaxing, so peaceful.
The buses are fine... the only issue is when you are going to a park like Magic Kingdom or Epcot. You're looking at a good 15-20min bus ride, and at night, when you are exhausted, if you can't get a seat on the bus, or you give it up to a lady or the elderly, the standing can be brutal.
All in All, I just love the hotel because of its remoteness and quietness. The only other hotel that ever gave me that same feeling was the Wilderness Lodge, but I have only visited to eat at Whispering Canyon and have yet to actually stay there.
Jag
Member
Had a good friend that worked at AKL since it opened, so we've stayed there many times. Still my favorite hotel over all the ones at all the parks. Heading to Orlando Friday for the Citrus Bowl Florida/Michigan game then spending the weekend at the Loews Royal Pacific at Universal.
Goldrusher
Member
New scenery for the Disneyland Railroad in California...
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...nd-railroad-at-disneyland-park-in-california/
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...nd-railroad-at-disneyland-park-in-california/
Baron von Loathsome
Member
I'm liking the idea. I expect that they'll add new safety features to prevent riders from jumping or falling into the River, though.
The Xtortionist
Member
Next few years for theme parks are gonna be nuts. Hoping Star Wars Land opens in 2019 on either coast. Still hoping Nintendo makes its rumored 2018 date for Universal Orlando, as well.
Was in Orlando for the past few weeks so I hit up Universal as much as I could. Still amazing, though the parks may be having some capacity issues with Hulk, Disaster, Beetlejuice, and Twister all being down. Most of the headliners were running 60+ minutes at one point or another, even on supposed off-season days. Hulk 2.0 and Kong this Summer should help out. Christmas music replacing the Port of Entry theme also makes me unreasonably mad lol.
Was in Orlando for the past few weeks so I hit up Universal as much as I could. Still amazing, though the parks may be having some capacity issues with Hulk, Disaster, Beetlejuice, and Twister all being down. Most of the headliners were running 60+ minutes at one point or another, even on supposed off-season days. Hulk 2.0 and Kong this Summer should help out. Christmas music replacing the Port of Entry theme also makes me unreasonably mad lol.
Jailer of Hope
Member
Walking out of Disneyland yesterday as the train conductors waved for an extended goodbye was quite emotional (even though they'll still be around).
I'm heading to Disney World in 12 days
Down by the main pool, there is an area over looking the Savannah and at night they have night vision goggles to use to see the animals. Pretty cool
aparisi2274
Member
Seems Comcast just snatched up 475 acres of land adjacent to their current parks in Orlando...
Universal Comcast buys 475 acres
Universal Comcast buys 475 acres
GET HYPED
CoasterFreak225
Member
Update on Hulk and other stuff at IOA:
Corkscrew element have been installed already
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Sub2v0l5g
Seaworld's Mako Update:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KHtFcEilXg
Lift hill, first drop, and first turn has been completed.
Photos by WildGravityTravels.com
Corkscrew element have been installed already
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Sub2v0l5g
Seaworld's Mako Update:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KHtFcEilXg
Lift hill, first drop, and first turn has been completed.
Photos by WildGravityTravels.com
The Xtortionist
Member
Just to clarify, Hulk is being rebuilt, not redesigned.
Mako lookin' hot
Mako lookin' hot
Is it confirmed that the track layout will be exactly the same?
The Xtortionist
Member
Basically. There was no mention of a new layout in Universal's announcement, so far the construction is identical, and the rumor mill is saying it's going to be the same.
However, we've been told to expect a revamped queue and new ride vehicles, possibly with onboard audio.
Jailer of Hope
Member
Onboard audio would be awesome! I hope it's true.
CoasterFreak225
Member
Yes the layout will be same, likely a minor change on the corkscrew after the helix around the launch tunnel.
Wondering what they'll do with that revamped line. Thought there could be minor layout changes to deal with the problems they had.
Just heard about it and had never seen this for myself. That kills some of the magic for me. I really like Star Wars, but that feels cheap. Losing Walt's sometimes dystopian vision for the future is a little sad.
VVV Good to hear :]
Jailer of Hope
Member
It's a limited time event just like Ghost Galaxy. Also Star Tours has been in Tomorrowland for like 30 years?
The Xtortionist
Member
For one, it'll probably be fully enclosed and air conditioned. It also didn't have a dedicated express line before, so that will likely be reworked (express literally enters through an emergency exit lol). On a recent podcast Hatetofly (guy who leaked Kong) said he was expecting great things, thematically, from the new queue.
The Xtortionist
Member
Wizarding World Hollywood has soft opened today!
The Outsider
Member
Revamped queue is much needed. The old one was super dated.
Heading to IoA next Saturday. First time I'll be using my annual pass since September. Sucks that Hulk is shut down, but I'll live!
Goldrusher
Member
Some pictures of 2016 stuff...
Discovery Kingdom
Dollywood
Islands of Adventure
Animal Kingdom
Cedar Point
Wanda Nanchang
Wanda Hefei
Universal Studios Japan
Phantasialand
FerrariWorld
FerrariLand
Kentucky Kingdom
Plopsaland
Walibi Rhône-Alpes
Walibi Holland
Busch Gardens Tampa
Shanghai Disneyland
Universal Studios Hollywood
Discovery Kingdom
Dollywood
Islands of Adventure
Animal Kingdom
Cedar Point
Wanda Nanchang
Wanda Hefei
Universal Studios Japan
Phantasialand
FerrariWorld
FerrariLand
Kentucky Kingdom
Plopsaland
Walibi Rhône-Alpes
Walibi Holland
Busch Gardens Tampa
Shanghai Disneyland
Universal Studios Hollywood
SpacePirate Ridley
Member
Some pictures of 2016 stuff...
FerrariLand
Wow, super great post.
I suppose the FerrariLand one is the one near Port Aventura in Spain no?
Goldrusher
Member
Yeah. It's also kind of a "land" in PortAventura, but it's likely to have a separate entrance.
Anyway...
Mako's train was unveiled today...
...looks fantastic!
Some pictures of 2016 stuff...
I love this so much. It looks like something straight out of RollerCoaster Tycoon.
CoasterFreak225
Member
The Mako trains look sweet! Need to make a trip down there again soon.
By the way, Hulk is almost halfway done!
By the way, Hulk is almost halfway done!
The Xtortionist
Member
Can't wait to ride some Hulk. It's been a while.
I wonder when they'll start work on the queue? Or if they've already started. I was there in mid-January and while the track was completely dismantled, there didn't seem to be anything going on with the queue building aside from some exterior decorations being torn off. It needs a significant overhaul.
I wonder when they'll start work on the queue? Or if they've already started. I was there in mid-January and while the track was completely dismantled, there didn't seem to be anything going on with the queue building aside from some exterior decorations being torn off. It needs a significant overhaul.
aparisi2274
Member
I just read this article, and I have to say I am a bit disappointed with the DIsney company...
Shanghai Disney Puts Financial Strangle-Hold on Domestic Disney Parks
Shanghai Disney Puts Financial Strangle-Hold on Domestic Disney Parks
CoasterFreak225
Member
Well the majority of the queue is indoors so we kinda have no way of knowing how much they have done so far. I'm curious as well.
The Xtortionist
Member
Video preview of the new Star Wars Land coming to Disney Parks
Looks like the attractions will include an interactive Millennium Falcon simulator ride, and a trackless dark ride.
Looks like the attractions will include an interactive Millennium Falcon simulator ride, and a trackless dark ride.
biggersmaller
Banned
Goldrusher
Member
Similar threads
- Locked