CoasterEricHP

LOL!! Was just about to say that. This coaster is hands down the scariest coaster I've ever been on. I feared for my life several times!! I think the scariest part of the day is when we went to the ticket booth.. clearly labeled "TICKETS" and the rather unpleasant guy working started screaming "YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE MUSHROOM TO GET YOUR GO@$#MN TICKETS".. so we went to the random mushroom to get our ticket.. we only rode once Not sure if it was because we were scared of the coaster or scared of being chopped up with a hatchet and the pieces of our body thrown into the woods somewhere. Eric

I love the logo! That's all I have to say! Great pictures! Eric "Epcot Rocks!" Geiple

I got to ride on Friday! I know a few people who work there *plus THANK YOU Jose!* so thankfully I was able to get on it before the move back to PA and I completely agree.. it is SWEET... they really outdid themselves on the beautiful queue line and the airport theme works really really well. Soarin' will definately bring TONS of life to the Land Pavilion and Epcot! When I rode everything seemed to be in working order. Smells.. Mmmm.. you're right. I did notice they were MUCH stronger, but we couldn't smell it from the pre-board area. I still can't believe how immersive the ride experience is. You are sitting there before you "take off" and the screen doesn't look all that impressive and then BOOM.. you're in a completely different world. Now I've only been on the Cali one twice and the Epcot one once (decided not to keep riding because it's one of the only attractions that WOW's me and don't wanna overdo it!) but I am convinced everytime that my shoes are going to be wet after the ride. Amazing.. It *would* be nice in a few years to see a new film that covers the countries of the World Showcase! But for now.. anyone who complains about it being a "gift from DL" (aka.. save money) just be happy that this amazing ride is in FL.. and trust me when I say, they spared no expense because the queue.. the ride.. and I'm sure the Land Pavilion (when its done) are absolutely amazing. During our "pre flight talk" backstage they said the queue was modeled after Orlando Int'l, CDG, and O'hare.. and that's it. I didn't really see the resemblence because there were no soldiers carrying machine guns like at Charles De Gaulle.. Those huge climate screens with the questions is a GREAT idea.. will definately keep the people queue happy this summer... even moreso than the AC! My only complaint -- exiting out the side door! There's no gift shop! I want a shirt with the logo.. Eric

The best website I've seen for IOA is.. www.universal-excitement.com has tons of good pictures AND videos.. I wouldn't look too much though. Leave some surprises for when you come down. Eric

Well, Im moving back to PA Saturday.. now I guess I have to go to Epcot tomorrow really quick and pray that it's open. I rode Soarin' Over Cali. last March and was completely blown away. Easily my favorite non thrill ride ever.. IMO it's better than Spiderman.. How were the smells working? Everything in place? Eric

Alrighty.. let me see here. Hulk has an onride photo. Dragons doesn't. JPRA does. anddd.. that's about it for onride photo's at IOA. JPRA does have lockers right where you enter. The lockers are cool. They use your fingerprint to rent them.. but make sure you take note on how long they are free for when you are renting them. Each attraction is different. Because we MAKE you put your stuff in a locker, if you go above the alotted time, feel more than free to go to the greeter at that attraction and we can open it for you.. without you having to pay. Too bad I'm moving and am only seasonal now or i'd just meet up with you at Dragons and let you put ure stuff in there all day. Just ask anyone to take your picture! I used to take pictures of people in front of the Dragons for like the last half hour we were open! I would always get so bored at greeter during the last hour that I'd beg people to let me take their picture. haha. PsychoPuppet (Dave) and Coasterbabe (Lisa) both work at Dragons so you can prob get in touch with them! Lisa doesn't work there too much now.. she's actually at the new water coaster at Typhoon Lagoon but I'm sure Dave will do whatever he can.. too bad I'll miss ya.. I'll be back in good ol' PA. Eric

what?!?! They are testing? Like.. soft opening? Or you have to be lucky and be passing by testing? Eric

I dunno Robb.. in the back row on the Comet you get some ejector air on the second drop. Then the rest of the coaster is pretty much destroyed by the stupid trim that kills any airtime for the last half of the ride. IMO, Just that one moment of stand up air time makes it a better coaster than the airtimeless Lightning Racer! Eric

Definately ride Dueling Dragons! Anyways, enough being bias. Try to avoid taking a bag to Universal.. period! I know the free lockers are nice and they have cool fingerprint technology, but they can be a pain in the butt when it's busy. At Dragons we have 4 sets of lockers, and on the weekends there is always a mass of people hovering around waiting to get stuff out and put things in.. it can be time consuming, esp when you want to ride! Try to avoid the park on Fri/Sat.. it's bearable and by then Dragons and Hulk will have their 3rd trains so Dragons will be able to run 6 if we have to.. which is an amazing sight to see.. mass chaos so wait times for the major rides should be pretty low... although early April shouldnt be that busy regardless. Eat at Mythos! Eric

Funeral Director.. It's the family business.. and we put the "FUN" back in funeral.. The College Program Rocks! I did that last year at the Grand Floridian front desk where I subsequently got screamed at by many of angry guests because of.. well.. it's raining in Florida.. no S#$%. Sigh.. thank god I completed that and went over to Dueling Dragons.. where we just get yelled at because we dont let INFANTS on the ride.. crappy parents. Eric "you kill em we chill em" Geiple

Isn't Iger one of Eisner's yes men?? That should do a whole lot of good for the company. Guess at this point we pray that another company buys out Disney and brings in someone with the same vision as Walt and doesnt feel the need to give himself $100 million bonuses. Eric "Pooh Playgrounds for all!!" Geiple

I wear my dorky Dragons hat but nothing rappish! haha.. I usually say dumb things to people.. who knows! nice meeting you though! haha. Eric "back to Mission:Space" Geiple

I love Hong Kong girls.. so I think it'll be a great DL... Isn't Toyko DL and Disneysea just a short swim away? Eric

It's not a bad ride... $100 million seems like one helluva price tag for it but it is by no means a bad ride. I've been on it countless times, even without the restraint! (which is very fun.. my friend works there) and have had a good time. However, it does lack re-ridability because of how intense it is and let's face it.. I work with guests daily.. I guarantee half of them don't pay any attention to, or even care about the what.. 15 warnings? One thing I've noticed, Test Track will have wait times of 120 minutes during peak days and Mission:Space will have maybe a 30.. capacity isn't the issue, I think there's bad hype about the ride that scares a lot of people from even trying it.. and who can blame them from possibly puking all over themselves and everyone else mid flight for $60. I wonder what puking in high G's would look like.. I'm REALLY interested to see how well the much better simulator ride.. and much better overall ride (IMO) Soarin' does at Epcot. I'd rather see the next $100 mil go to extending the monorail which will never happen til Eisner gets the boot. Eric " I miss Horizons " Geiple prettttty

Aladdin and Lion King for Sega were so freakin hard for some reason.... you frustrated my childhood. Eric

I'd choose the 75 foot tall Phoenix over MANY 200+ footers out there in a heartbeat! I think the layout is great and finally a coaster with a straight drop... plus should have some good airtime on the hills. I'm just worried that its going to be like Silver Bullet.. fun but forceless. Eric

The 20k site is pretty much smack dab behind the castle. It's just across the midway from Pooh, Snow White, the Carousel, and Dumbo. I think a rocket coaster over the speedway is plausable! Of course this is Disney we're talking about so it'd probably be a Vekoma Rocket Coaster... ouch... Anyways, that's just my wish.. I think a real coaster would do well at the MK but would be too much of an eye sore for the park. I know Disney is all about kids.. but from my experience (based on turning away countless kids that are wayyy under 54' at Dueling Dragons daily) most kids would rather ride a coaster or a ride a Test Track, or Mission:Nausea, then play on a cheap plastic standard playground that you can find at any decent shopping mall or almost any big or small amusement park. This is DISNEY WORLD.. can't they think of ANYTHING else? I guarantee that Auqatopia is more popular with the kids than Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground.. Eric

You're right.. the park was closed and all the power was to the ride was off and the ride e-stopped.. we do that in case the techs decide to not make sure we arent on or under the track and send a train. I usually walk up the lift hill at the end of the day to look for phones and glasses since they tend to slip out of peoples pockets going uphill. We were only running one train on each side when we closed so that is why the load platform is empty. When we shut down we just kept the trains at unload instead of advancing them into load. When the tech's take over at night they can just bypass the whole "button pushing" and do whatever they want with the trains so it really doesn't matter where we leave the trains as long as we dont forget about any guests on the brakes jk. Eric

4.7 G's with Storm Runner'ish OTSR? :shock: They are very open and comfortable, but not very forgiving on your neck.... owww... I was surprised how fast it was booking around the track! Looks like it will be a great ride for the few seconds it lasts. At least there's lots of speed and a few nice pops of air, I'm assuming. Eric

Well, yesterday was my last day so I figured I'd get a few rare, yet cool pictures. They are a little blurry, but it's better than using a flash... enjoy! BlizRock Empty station *sniff* Looking down the lift Top of Fire

Yup.. last day was yesterday *sniff*.. but I did get a few cool pictures I'll post in a second. Tuesday.. I was there. I was on the Ice side all day.. actually.. Dave (Psyhcopuppet) and I were both on the Ice side all afternoon so I'm sure we ran into you! I do remember people that kept riding and riding so I'm sure one was prob you. Glad you had a great time though. Definately be glad you came last week and not the next few weeks. Have fun with that Dave! Eric

Yeah.. the Mummy doesnt suck like the Hulk You're right though. The only pop of air on the hulk is the drop after the midcourse. The Mummy has ejector air at the top of the launch and another great pop half way thru the coaster section.. great ride. Short but sweet. Eric

I'm pretty sure the launch on the Hulk was designed mostly in house by Universal and B&M had almost nothing to do with that part.. at least that's what I hear.. at work.. which is IOA I agree though, I'd choose the 75 foot tall Phoenix over many larger coasters. Height is far from what make a great coaster.. can have a huge impact though. Eric "I'd be very surprised if Sheikra doesnt end up in most people's Top 5's" Geiple

Great Pic.. I was there a few days ago and I thought it looked really well. Not as gaudy as I thought with the figurines all over the place. The Spires look great.. and are very sparkly like the Epcot sign. Aside from that.. the Hub is looking great. Lots of space for Cinderellabration viewing. Wasn't the castle getting a new lighting package? Eric

I really hope they do something other than a playground. That's about the best piece of real estate at the Kingdom and all they think is "playground"?! I heard the same from my friend in the Disney Design Group though.. two attractions, maybe three.. one E ride and two smaller ones... so who knows. I do think they should put an S&S Tower where the old stage used to be in Tommorowland and put a rocket coaster in there with the speed way Eric