robbalvey

I just make a mental note of anyone who would claim it as a new credit and add them to my list of people I don't want to hang out with. I find it far more entertaining to quietly judge people and use it as a weeding out process.

I know they have done Intamin rides in the past: http://www.intrasys-gmbh.com/dl/atp_0106.pdf

^ Exactly. And from what I understand. B&M will design around the fact that it's being launched, but the park contracts with Intrasys for the launch hardware. it doesn't come through B&M. That's at least what Holiday World told us in a Q&A session last year.

^ Yeah, that's not entirely accurate. The launch system for Thundebird was supplied by Intrasys: http://www.intrasys-gmbh.com/

What ride are you talking about?

B&M wouldn't be the ones supplying the launch system. They didn't on the original Hulk and they didn't on Thunderbird. Both of those parks contracted with another company to launch the train.

Space Mountain at Disneyland went through the exact same process.

Here's what's left of the Hulk track & trains. As you can see it looks like the trains have already been chewed up! Looking forward to what's happening to Hulk in the coming months!

Wow! Thanks John! I'll post some of these to our socials later!

Tonight was the official "name change" ceremony that changed "Downtown Disney" into "Disney Springs" along with a private party at the Hagar Bar and official opening of the all-new Morimoto Asia restaurant. The events and ceremonies were just fantastic. Personally, I *LOVE* the Downtown Disney property and I have been thrilled to see the changed that have been made to convert it to Disney Springs. Even going as far back as Splittsville opening there have been continuous new dining and shopping options opening up over that time. From flagship venues like The Boathouse, Morimoto, and Hangar bar to smaller but also important upgrades and changes like the new Margarita Bar, Paradiso 37 expansion, Starbucks on both ends of the property, and loads of new shops, quick service, and other dining options the entire area just feel so refreshed and amazing! And there is still more to come! Big name restaurants like STK and Edison, shopping such as UNIQLO, and quick-service restaurants like Blaze are still under construction and there is a lot more besides them! Anyway, into some photos from tonight's event! Upon arrival we saw it was official! New area guidemap now says "Disney Springs!" First stop was the new Hanhag Bar inspired by the Indiana Jones movies! And of course we start out with some drinks and sliders! What a great way to start a party! Its eclectic décor includes everything from spare airplane parts to nostalgic postcards and antique maps tacked to the walls... All a nod to the “Indiana Jones” films in which Jock Lindsey was Indy’s pilot and sidekick. Jock has retired from that gig and has now opened his own bar! And along with the drinks is some amazing food... everything we sampled was top notch! Random artifacts like this "ice machine" which made mold-a-rama like ice cubes. Just love the inside of this place. More drinks? Yes, please! There is plenty to look at while hanging out at the Hangar Bar! The one thing I will say is that the inside is a bit small. But thankfully there is a huge patio outside where you can get all the same food & drinks. Let's take a look at the menu, shall we? Mmmm....food! Some of the drinks have special collectible glasses. More drinks... I love the Reggie's Revenge! lol (Who knows who Reggie is?) I think this one was my favorite. Walt Disney Imagineer Jeff Abraham was one of the creative minds behind the Hangar Bar. Jack and I decided that the "Bedtime Story" was our favorite drink so far. Sweet, fruity, an delicious! Just like us! And the view is amazing! I love the Amphicars out there from The Boathouse! The outdoor patio has these cool areas like this boat to sit in and hang out. It was time for the official name change! Maribeth Bisienere, Vice President of Downtown Disney, now Disney Springs introduces some speakers. George Kalogridis, President of Walt Disney World greets the media and talks about more new features coming to Disney Springs in the near future. And now...Downtown Disney becomes... Disney Springs! Yay!!!! There was much rejoicing. Now lets head over to Morimoto Asia for the grand opening of Disney Springs' newest restaurant! Some of you may remember this building as the old "Mannequins" from Pleasure Island, but the building has been completely re-done. Here's the kitchen. I love this open glass look. The restaurant is just beautiful. It really says "high end" which it is! The opening ceremony started with some Japanese Taiko Drums... The president of The Patina Group, who have partnered with Morimoto for the restaurant speaks about the amazing food, service, and how great it is to be part of the new Disney Springs. Iron Chef Morimoto wows the audience by singing some karaoke! He is Japanese after all! The top brass of Disney (Mostly Mickey Mouse!) I just love Morimoto! Even in what seems somewhat serious moments, the guy is having fun. And this is how he's been on Iron Chef and other shows. He's just awesome to watch and that shows in his restaurant, too. A Japanese tradition to break the Saki barrel! Drink up, lads! We had quite the assortment of Japanese and Chinese food. Everything from Orange Chicken to a Pekin Duck Burrito to Tuna Sushi Pizza. The chicken dumplings were amazing, too! On the dim sum menu was Chicken Shumai. This LA BBQ Kalbi...WOW! And yes, the drinks kept coming as well! It was so awesome to meet Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto tonight! Kinda fanboying out here as I've been watching him since the original Iron Chef show! The restaurant just looked fantastic! The sushi bar on the second level. Some of the private dining areas reminded me of something right out of Japan! Here's from the top level looking down. Awesome! Another bar! Some delicious Orange Chicken! And more dumplings! More dim sum! Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto showing how to carve a 100 pound tuna! Everyone was given these awesome wooden saki cups. Love this!!! He's still going at it on that tuna! Now, along with the president of Patina Group, and using the tuna they just carved up, Chef Morimoto is going to make a 60 foot tuna roll! Ok, everyone get ready to roll! You too, Mickey! Yes! There it is! 60 feet of sushi! It was delicious! Next came dessert...this is a "churro" but it's unlike any churro you've ever had. It melts in your mouth and it comes with some vanilla creme as well! This chocolate puff was just fantastic and it literally exploded in your mouth! The desserts were so pretty you almost didn't want to eat them. But they were all just seriously delicious! I just love that Morimoto came back out in shorts and a T-Shirt. He's just so super casual just can make some seriously awesome food at the same time! Here's a look at the outside of the building at night. And stepping back, it really looks like a building you would see right in the heart of Tokyo. I just loved this new restaurant and everything coming to Disney Springs is super exciting! I can't wait to see what else opens in the coming months! Huge thanks to the Disney and Patina Group teams for putting on such amazing events! Thank you! This is a guy that really knows when to be serious and when to have a great time! I respect that! Photo: Jack Crouse And a Chinese dragon. These two things signify the clash of Japanese and Chinese cuisine you'll find at Morimotos. Photo: Jack Crouse "Here, would you like a little bit more?" Photo: Jack Crouse Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto came out to open his restaurant! Photo: Jack Crouse

To be honest, I expected to be replacing the trains and fair amount of the track (if not all of it), so for me at least, the scope of the project is about on par with what I expected. Anyone who has ridden Hulk over the last couple of years knows that it's probably become the roughest B&M coaster this side of Iron Wolf. I'm personally very happy about all of this. I actually really like Hulk a lot, but I've found it just not a good ride the last couple of times I rode it to the point where I don't think I've even bothered to ride it for the last year or so I've been at the park. This refurbishment is a welcome change, IMO!

Who cares?

Nice photos so far! I think people make it out to be worse because it used to be so, sooooooo much better. I had it ranked easily in my top three woodies at one point and for it to fall so far down the list is just depressing. Crossing fingers it gets fixed up soon!

I don't get it. What was the "Hmmm.." for? What are you seeing in the picture that the rest of us didn't notice?

It's a totally different event. The California version really is just "Normal Disneyland with candy...oh, and you can dress in costume, too..." There isn't a special parade or any special shows. I think they do a Halloween-themed fireworks show, but it's nothing like Hallowishes with perimeter fireworks or castle projections. I don't think there are any of the special meet & greets or anything like the stuff they do special at Haunted Mansion (although Disneyland has the Nightmare version, but that's also open during the day.) I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think they did any "event specific merchandise" either. I think they may do a dance party or something, though. From everything I know about the Disneyland event it just sounds like a really scaled back version of the one at Magic Kingdom.

Do you mean like for a full sized coaster? I'm pretty sure anyone who has been on some crappy kiddie coaster could easily claim that, but if you're talking like a full "adult" ride, oddly enough the first one that comes to my mind is Nemesis. And for a ride that is one of the best coasters in the world it has a terrible "first drop!" lol

THIS! Very important! I have actually, on multiple occasions had someone who was hoping to get a good onride photo of themselves on a ride, and they didn't want a stranger in the picture. This is a totally legit excuse and we've actually done it ourselves when traveling as a family of three and you're trying to get a good photo of the three of you together. Some random person plopping down next to you after someone has just waited an hour in line and ruining the photo is sometimes not a cool thing to do. You always ask. It's the polite thing to do.

^ Keep in mind it really depends on the timing and the crew. If you're there in the middle of the day and things are crazy busy and you're on the exit platform looking for an empty seat to hop into, they'll probably kick you out. They need to go quick and they don't want stragglers hanging around. If it's later in the day or evening, and it's a slow at the park, you can probably easily hop into empty seats. It's also VERY important to be aware of your surroundings. I've seen people do this that are terrible at it. Like they'll hop into an empty seat of someone who went to go put their bag away and then all of a sudden they've taken someone else's seat, pulled that lap bar down and created a delay. DON'T DO THIS!!! So yeah, it's all about time and place.

Depending on what you get, 4-6 I think is reasonable before you'd feel "full." That's why I suggest that if you're down here for a day, do a lunch and a dinner lap, space them out pretty far apart, and you can get in probably 12 different food items in the day which will get you a really good sampling! And if you're here for two days, that's a good 24 dishes! Now, keep in mind that they are probably an average of about $4.50 each, so you're looking at spending a good $60 - $75 per day at the event based on what you get and if you do any alcohol on top of that. It's actually easy to blow $100 on different food and drink items in a full day at Food & Wine! WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!

Well, this sort of confirms new trains are coming....

It's still damn good AND the new Mac & Cheese at that same booth is also amazing!

It really is! That part of the park always feels so "empty" when all the food booths go away.

They did re-track Gwazi, but it wasn't this extensive.

This I agree with...but for how long will it last? I'm hopeful that we'll hear something in the November announcement that tells us they are doing something different that will help keep this coaster running great for many, many years to come, not just be great again for a few years and then start to turn rough in the near future.

It's not weird. It's very easy. And yes.