disneyfan1313

It looks cute, but nothing too special. I thought there were going to be more animal touches. It will be interesting to see how it fits into the already crowded Orlando waterpark scene.

Awesome idea! I hope this takes off and is a regular occurrence. I have never seen a line offer free airport transfers - they generally are $30-40 per person or possibly discounted if you book your airfare through the line (generally not recommended if you are decent at booking your own). Many hotels in South Florida do offer a "Stay one night and get free parking for the length of your cruise" which is a good way to save some cash.

We did -- there was really nothing different or exciting at them than what was there in previous years. We generally try and focus on the "random" stuff at IAPPA since the big announcements get so much coverage.

Can you believe there is still more?!?! OMG! ITS AN EXTREME COASTER THAT JUMPS THROUGH A FERRIS WHEEL! Concept art for the new six flags night parade. GAWD INFLATABLES ARE EVERYWHERE! This was an *awesome* virtual jump rope game. Tough as heck! Fried FRUIT on a stick?!?! WTF - is this real?! This was a weird rice cake thingie that was great... but not very "theme park food". Another crazy train with wheels... there were a million of them this year. Really - how else would you want to wash your balls? This was really well themed for an off the shelf flat ride!

And more photos - until you have been it is hard to believe how huge it is. Kangaroo boxing = comedy gold! Hmmm... What else is this like... Transformers....no... Harry Potter... no.. hmmm.. Uh - I am not an english major - but is that proper grammar? OMG X-2 IS COMING!! AQUA TRAX!!11!! I heart crazy neon extreme disc-o! Dick Tracy Plush - for the kids who are into failed 80s movies! Hello Cameron! There were TONS of crazy haunted house items including huge creatures like this! I think bowling is coming back - there were a number of vendors showing ways to get it into small areas. Step 1 - you cut a hole in the box.... There were more flats inside than out on the midway this year.

Whew! Every year that I go to IAAPA it always amazes me how many different companies are related to the theme park industry - it always seems like new inventions and new companies are constantly cropping up and it is always fascinating to see. I am glad to see the event back in Orlando, and from listening to the vendors, many of them are as well. This year had many familiar booths and also some new trends - it seems many more asian firms are trying to inch into the american ride market. Anyways... on to the photos! These were some cool mini-versions of some popular flat rides. B&M *finally* decided to change the booth from the Superman seat! YaAEEE! Trans Force - Robots in Dis...hey wait a minute!! OMG THERE IS A GUY ON A UNICYCLE ON TOP OF THE BOOTH!!! Crazy, huge, customizable props also were the rage. Parks really have a lot of options with themeing. Ma'am - I don't think you can snap this flyer! The rest of the outdoor area was dominated by inflatables.. the trend that wont die! In the outdoor midway they had very few rides - this was a odd disc-o type ride. This is where the dinner in the sky loaded - the crane was huge.. it would take a big budget for a park to pull off. This was the dinner in the sky concept - interesting but not very practical except for perhaps special events. Extreme and interactive play areas for kids were also hot ticket items. More active the better! One of the many Asian firms that was looking to gain a foothold in the ride market. Trains with wheels seemed to be a hot trend - no less than 5 different booths featured them.. WTF!

Woo-Hoo! We had the grand opening of the Ikea Orlando store tonight and we were there! It is one of the newer design 2 level stores with what seems to be a larger than normal restaurant. We decided to avoid the chaos in the morning and go in the evening - there was still TONS of folks there but it was atleast manageable. It has been interesting seeing the response to Ikea in Orlando - we are often not the most cosmopolitan of towns and it seems like quite a few of the locals don't know how to react to this invader from Sweeden! Some of the articles in the local paper have been funny as was the gentleman who we overheard saying - "It's like a really big Wal-Mart, but they have 50-cent hotdogs.....sigh. Anyways..on to the pics! This was the really cool house on wheels they were driving around! 99cent CINNAMON BUN! Look at the funny pseudo communist slogan! Hipppppoooooooooo! Pretty lights in the restaurant - the line was WAY to long..no sweedish meatballs for us! If the top of the bookshelf is that low...do you really need a ladder?!?! Comfy couch + tired Stacey = Do I have to get up? Awwwww...we could have gotten there at 5am and gotten a random prize! Oh well... Woo-Hoo! Its so pretty and we have been waiting sooooo long!

I was a bit sad to see the lesbian couple gone - they seemed like they had a great attitude even though they couldn't compete. The goth guy doing the pole vaulting - priceless. Especially the "I think we are going to do something with the sheep" ... Hilarious!

Considering a new DVD player costs about $25 now a days... I vote for buy a new DVD player

^ I thought I had read that - although in doing a bit more digging it looks like no one will commit for sure on how many scripts are actually completed although since they have been filming since the summer they have at least 6 or 7 episodes done by most accounts. Ugh - I really hope this doesn't last a long time.

^ It has the most amazing donkey footage EVER. Friggin hilarious! ^^ It is a good idea to pad prime time shows on sunday by 1/2 hour due to football in the fall when you are recording on your TiVO - you can set that up in your season pass settings. Although that messed up my Desperate Housewives season pass which now gets relegated to the other TiVO so there are no conflicts!

Private teacher, huh? Wink - Wink Great TR! I look forward to seeing other random food from Brazil!

Lost will not be affected - the 4th season is fully written and almost entirely in the can.

I was *so* excited to see Viva Laughlin canceled - cause that meant one thing - AMAZING RACE! What a fun new season - it seems that they have gone back to the original formula of cool challenges, over the top contestants and more of the "race" aspect. I was really surprised to see as much running as there was in the first episode. A few thoughts on the teams - I like the older father and son - but I don't think they are going to last very long. Goth couple = very annoying or fun... I can't quite tell yet. Father and Daughter - might actually last a while if they keep their wits together. Can't wait to see what happens next - god I hope the ratings stay decent so we will see a season 13!

As someone who does not enjoy camping - it was fun to see the TR to remind me what nature looks like..

That was awesome! Does QVC have enough groupies that it warrants a tour?!?! Isn't one of the home shopping networks based in Florida?

Huh?!?! I never said everyone should or would share my opinion. I simply stated my opinion as someone who enjoys HHN and has been almost every year since the 1st one. I personally thought the house was lacking in scares and the rubber puppet f/x were pretty cheesy - that being said.. the worst houses at HHN far outshine any other haunted event. I will give the house another try as well - often times it takes the scaractors a few weekends to find the good ways to scare and they will sometimes tweak f/x as well.

I would not say they significantly scale it back - but there are always less street scaractors, earlier park close time, less general atmosphere entertainment (random walking around specialty acts), fewer show times and less rides/attractions open. For the average person it would probably not be noticable because the park does not feel as crowded and the lines for the houses are not AS bad. I would always prefer to go on a non-peak night - it's just an overall better experience (and generally less rowdy crowd)

As is a tradition every year - I go to the opening night of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. I enjoy going on the first night both because the events usually change quite a bit by the end of their run (both creatively in the mazes but also usually bits are changed in the shows), and also it is a great way to kick off the best month to live in Orlando - October! A word of advice that is good to repeat every year for those of you who are planning on attending. BUY THE EXPRESS PASS.... seriously. Do you want to wait 60+ minutes per house and only get to see 3 or 4 per night? I didn't think so.. BUY THE EXPRESS PASS! Or... you can do what we do and buy the frequent fear pass - get there right at 6pm and hustle at rope drop to get 3 or 4 houses done before the majority of the folks arrive at 7pm. This year HHN seems to be about average - more houses and shows but WAY less street entertainment, theming and only one real scare zone in the whole park. I will have to see how it feels after I get to experience the remainder of the houses and once the scareactors get more into their role. Before I move onto the pictures - here is a quick summary of my thoughts We did 4 out of 8 houses and saw 3 out of the 4 shows - most folks seem to be running right to the soundstage houses ( Nightmare on Elm Street, Dead Silence and Psychoscareapy) at ropedrop and these quickly had a 90 minute wait. Avoid the crowds and head back to the tent houses behind back to the future. Houses - The Thing - Really?!?! WTF. Every year HHN has a house which is all style and no substance. This is that house. Lots of large rubber costumes and Marines which are both protecting you and shooting/scaring you at the same time. Huh? No real scares but some cool visuals. Friday the 13th - Camp Blood - Whatever you do... DO NOT DO THIS HOUSE BEFORE DARK. This is in the Jaws queue and when we did it, it was still light out and you could see EVERYTHING through the skylights into the maze. The scareactors were not even trying since you could see them a mile away. It was a very short maze which was OK. Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Pretty damn good! Lots of great scares, cool effects and a great use of both indoor and outdoor segments. A lot of the scenes had been used in previous houses..but it did a very good job at telling a story and setting the scares up. Vampyr - Blood Bath - A vampire rave concept that was never really fleshed out.... A couple of great vampire scenes mixed in with random people trying to get you which don't even look vampireish. Although really anything will pale in comparison to the first year they had the one in the soundstages with the flying effect. SHOWS - Bill & Ted - Awesome as always. Lots of T & A, loud music and really funny references - what more do you want! This year it includes a DeLorean, Figure skating, transformers and much much more! Rocky Horror Tribute Show - New for this year and about 10 minutes toooooooo long! Really only for fans of the movie...lots of folks walking out during the show although the performers did a great job covering the hits from the movie and acting out many of the scenes. Jack's Carnival of Carnage - Meh - basically the welcome show for this year next to Mel's Die-In. Cheezy magic tricks and lots of blood and of course jack.... watch it as you walk by but not worth stopping for. Anyways - those are my thoughts so far for this year. This really is the premiere Halloween event and every year brings lots of new surprises. Goodnight HHN! Get some sleep! Bill and Ted preview shot ....yummy! Clowns on bumper cars that drive around = cool The scariest thing all night was my fear they were going to show the craptacular universal 360! They had a random ferris wheel that spun throughout the night by MiB. The train from BTTF runs on RAINBOWS! InGen? They stole the truck from Jurrasic Park! It was holding the second dino! Ugh ,... I hate the houses in tents.. totally destroys any semblance of an illusion. WHERE on earth is the haunted house! Past the barney fountain? Hit the first house of the night with only a 5 minute wait.. CHA-Ching! Stacey is trying out for her role as a clown in next years HHN! The one and only scare zone in the park this year...no clowns in it yet though. Whew! Stacey HATES clowns..so this year is perfect for her! The bikers this year are clowns and their motorcycles are unicorns?!?! WTF?! And the sea of humanity waiting to get in at 6:15. Ugh - this sweaty guy should tell you how hot it was waiting to buy tickets.. This doesn't feel like Halloween! They really did a great job theming the entrance this year.

Have you ever been there during the week? You are lucky to have 20 people in the park at one time. The place has been a money sink-hole since day one. It is a HORRIBLE location and a generic selection of rides 45 minutes away from some of the best rides in the world. Unfortunately most folks in Orlando saw this coming from a million miles a way. Wild Adventures will probably do OK on its own again because it is near the interstate and does not have to compete with any other parks.

That was *AWESOME*! I will echo everyone and say it is great to see things from a different perspective.

Thanks for saying it so I didn't have to! Please make sure to add to an existing thread first to keep the quality of the posts up! Thank you... Thread Locked!

Woo-Hoo a new trip to be sad I am not on . It is great to see the updates though - what a crazy amount of people!

Sunshine. It rocks. It just came out and did not get much press but is very well reviewed. It's a very dark sci-fi movie by the guy who did 28 days later. Go see it now!

Check out this teaser video that was released at the lost panel discussion at ComicCon. It is another orientation film - lots of hidden stuff it seems!