robbalvey

We did a shoot at the park today and here is a 360 video we posted: You will probably have to click the link and watch it either in your browser or in the YouTube app on the phone: Some quick thoughts on the ride: Pros: I actually felt the design and layout were *FANTASTIC* - Top 20 material, easy. The drop into the inversion was AMAZING and the ride has some great pacing and wonderful airtime. I loved the layout and it's probably one of my favorite Gravity Group designs to date. Cons: It's rough. Much rougher than I was expecting, especially having been on both Twister and Switchback around the same time after opening and those rides ran AMAZING! I felt like Mine Blower, after the first drop and inversion, just shuffled like crazy and after one ride it actually gave me a bit of a headache. It's such a shame because the layout of that ride totally kicks ass and I'm sure people with more tolerance to rough woodies will love the crap out of it! But this isn't a ride I could do multiple laps on.

Anytime you try to make something more idiot proof, the world creates a bigger idiot.

Huh. That's really interesting, because in another article it's said to have used the same system as Pooh... We have been given a walking tour of Mystic Manor as well, and they also explained that the ride was controlled via WiFi coordinates given to the ride vehicles. So I'm not sure why in that video they talk about a wire under the floor (which IMO doesn't make a ride trackless as it still follows a track, it's just not a visual one.) Either way I guess it doesn't really matter if the ride experience feels unique.

Oh, so it's not a true "trackless" ride then? A real trackless ride, like Pooh, Aquatopia, and Mystic Manor is all radio controller and the positions of the vehicles are based on GPS coordinates. On a ride like this, that tech goes all the way back to the early 1980s with rides like Universe of Energy and Great Movie Ride which are also technically "Trackless" but actually follow a guide wire under the floor. IMO, that is not a true "trackless" ride as we know it today.

Oh, I didn't mean "thrilling" I just meant that the ride seems boring, that's all. Rides like Pooh's Hunny Hunt, Mystic Manor, and even the original Haunted Mansion are also not "thrilling" but they are incredible rides! As I said, maybe the in person experience will be better, but I was really losing interest in the ride about half way through the video.

Watched the videos and here's a couple of quick thoughts... 1. The trackless system doesn't seem to be *that* many trackless "tricks" as rides like Pooh and Mystic Manor do. Was really hoping there would be a room or two where the vehicles would interact more with each other or feel as though there would be some near misses, but other than the section where they split off to their own theme, there doesn't seem to be that much reason for this ride to have used a trackless system. 2. The ride itself looks VERY pretty and incredibly well themed! And I love the interactive elements of it pressing the buttons on your vehicle. 3. That being said, I honestly found the video to be sort of boring. Maybe it's more exciting in person? Looks like a solid ride though...

We have posted a re-cap video to YouTube! If you don't feel like reading all the reports, this two-minute video will give you an idea of what the cruise was like! Enjoy! Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to make the video, the least you could do is say something nice about it!)

Yep! You caught it on one of its last years. Not sure if it operated in 2015 or not. I have heard it will be part of the zoo's expansion that they recently got funding for to re-open in 2019. We'll see...

I think maybe not as much as they used to, but we still see "pin traders" all the time at Epcot doing their thing! I did find out that these pins are exclusive to these Danube river cruises, and some of them, like the Welcome and the Farewell pins may even be a little rarer as they change depending on the direction of the cruise. So for example, the Germany "Welcome" pin will become a German "Farewell" pin next cruise. It's interesting to say the least.

You ride Chinese knock-off Vekomas, so you tell me. Just kidding. To be fair, I've skipped a few of them!

This exactly. Disney can do what they want with this attraction. Even if there was any truth to this, Disney could always choose not to use the speech that they were given and go a different direction with Hall of Presidents. But with the statement that Disney made the other day, I'm sure there is little truth to the story. All I know is that I won't be visiting Hall of Presidents for at least (I hope) four more years...

I mean, it pretty much sounds like you answered your own question here. Why would you want to do something on purpose that makes your body uncomfortable? Going to move this to the main forum as I don't have any additional advice, sorry.

This was a fun little video for a very crappy dark ride at Wiener Prater! lol POST YOUR COMMENTS!!!

Another thing that's been interesting about this River Cruise is all the locks the ship goes through during the journey! Today is the final day of the river cruise. We are in Budapest visiting the "Great Market Hall!" Let's go see what's inside.. If you want any kinds of meat or spices, this market is the place to be! Chocolate cake, anyone? Kristen wants ALL this pasta!!! Found these two guys together in the Great Market. Seems legit! They appear to really REALLY like the Rubik's Cube here! Gee, I wonder why? We found out the name of the final Star Wars movie! Just in case you forgot what city you are in! Welcome to Budapest... here's a funky building! Have a nice day!" Awesome looking bridge in Budapest crossing the Danube River! The classic Scenic Railway in Budapest still standing. It hasn't operated since 2015 but we've heard Budapest Zoo may reopen it. Any news? Our next adventure? Making Hungarian Goulash! While the adults make Goulash, the kids play in the playground! Elissa says "forget the Goulash, I'll just eat this bowl of garlic!" Zip lines are awesome! [twitter] [/twitter] Time for an equestrian show! How many of you can ride horses standing up? [twitter] [/twitter] We got in our Hungarian barnyard animals credit of the trip! ...and then shortly after we ate some barnyard animals! Damn they were good!!! Here's another look at the 1926 Scenic Railway in Budapest. It closed in 2015 but hopefully Budapest Zoo will reopen it again soon! Budapest Cathedral credit! CHECK!!! Because when I think "Budapest" I think "Conveyer Belt Sushi!" (Honestly it looks great!) [twitter] [/twitter] Yay! Hungarian Starbucks! My trip here is complete! And Elissa got another McDonalds country credit in Hungary! Here's some of the interesting items on their menu! Budapest is a cool looking city! We just don't have anything that looks like this or has this sort of history in the US! On our final night we are going to do a tour of Budapest to see the sunset and the buildings all lit up! Sailing on a sunset river cruise in Budapest, Hungary! Watch the replay of our livestream below... [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] But the REAL highlight of the night was the "Budapest Illuminations Cruise!" This was AMAZING! Check out the replay of our livestream: [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] An Adventures By Disney tradition is a slide show of all the photos the Adventure Guides have taken on the final night of the trip! After the slide show all adventurers are given their final Adventures By Disney pin, and it's the saddest pin of the trip. "Farewell." While she looks happy here, Kristen was in tears at the end of the night as she didn't want to leave. It was sad, yes, but that's also a sign of a GREAT vacation! Wrapping up this Adventures By Disney vacation with the complete set of pins! We had such a great time! Looking forward to our next AbD trip! For more information about Adventures by Disney, please visit their website: https://www.adventuresbydisney.com/ Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to write the report, the least you could do is say something nice about it!)

The reality is this, and even though it is cliche: you are still safer on a roller coaster than driving to an amusement park. Kristen has been riding coasters all her life, she's currently 10, and yes, we are more protective when it comes to making sure her lap bar is secured and seat belts are on tight, and we hang on to her, but there hasn't been a time where we've felt she wasn't safe on any ride. Really, I would be less worried about the operational aspects of the rides and make sure your daughter is ready for the bigger rides.

That's kind of EXACTLY what our day was like! lol

Good morning from Slovakia! This morning we are touring castle ruins! We have stumbled upon a Slovakian army. Apparently they had a pretty wild night! lol Yay! The soldiers have awaken and are ready for battle! Oh, dear! They have recruited Kristen into their army! They have no idea what's in store now! Any adventure where the kids get to attack the parents is sure to be a hit! lol The kids are learning to use their weapons. It's like the Slovakia version of Jedi Training Academy! [twitter] [/twitter] Yes! We are playing real life Fruit Ninja! This is the best!!! [twitter] [/twitter] These guys REALLY hate cabbage! lol (I agree!) Children! March and ATTACK the parents!!! lol [twitter] [/twitter] You know what makes every adventure more exciting? EXPLOSIONS!!! [twitter] [/twitter] These guys were great! I really love all presentations Adventures By Disney has put together. They are fun and informative! View of the Danube River from the ruins of Devin Castle. The kids got to make coins in this coin stamping demonstration! Next up today was archery! This has been a very weapons heavy day! lol On a more historical note, we are walking through the obviously defunct "Iron Curtain" as Slovakia borders Austria. Yay! We got a bonus donkey credit on the trip! Just making sure you know EXACTLY what this trash can is for! Our day at Devin Castle was great! Very well organized activities! Kids & families seemed to love it! Oh yeah... Slovakia was a new country credit for all three of us! It's rare we all get a new country credit together! Elissa is super happy our ship is docked next to Slovakian McDonalds!!! Another new McDonald's country credit! Elissa was happy to get her Slovakian McDonalds credit! Some familiar and not-so-familiar items here! This afternoon we decided to hang out in Bratislava and take a walk around town. Yay! I got Starbucks in Slovakia! I need to start keeping track of my Starbucks country credits! Even Bratislava has Wagamama! We need more of these in the US! Slovakian Stark Tower? Champagne cocktail party on the ship! (Well, juice for the kids!) The captain & the crew have come out to say hello to everyone! The staff on this ship have been wonderful! How about some more food porn pics? Seriously the food on this ship has been fantastic! I simply cannot say enough good things about our Adventures By Disney "Adventure Guides." They add that Disney touch to an amazing vacation! Click HERE for Part Eight of the report! Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to write the report, the least you could do is say something nice about it!)

If you are going for fireworks on the 4th, they also do the same fireworks show on the 3rd. So if you want to avoid crowds and still see the fireworks show they do on the 4th, go on the 3rd and have a non-park related day on the 4th, because the parks will be so insanely crowded that it is almost a waste of your park ticket. Also, seeing the fireworks from the Polynesian Resort is an AWESOME view for the 4th of July Fireworks! Just park at TTC and walk to the Poly and watch them from the beach. You need to get there about an hour early because there will be a LOT of people doing this.

This is probably a better and more updated guide for FP+ http://allears.net/tp/fastpass-plus.htm

Disney creates an itinerary for you, but for many of the options, you can choose which ones you want to do or not do. For example, Prater was not part of their itinerary (and I can understand why after going there), but since the ship ports in one place for usually an entire day, you have plenty of time to do something on your own in a city, or go on one of the Disney organized excursions. There are some days where you can choose which excursions to do as not everyone does the same exact one all of the time. And so far, all the excursions we've done are VERY well organized and have been very interesting!

Unfortunately, we are in the middle of a big trip ourselves so I just don't have the time to respond to this properly. That being said, you are going to be visiting during one of the top three busiest times of the year. I would start making FP+ reservations on the app NOW otherwise you may find yourselves not having any for this insanely busy time period.

To be honest, it didn't "suck" it just wasn't that great. It seriously was like the definition of mediocrity. Although it did suck paying that much money for really average-at-best rides...

It doesn't take much, only one of the following 1) Be stupid 2) Ignore the rules 3) Avoid common sense Or most likely all three at the same time...

Today we made a side trip to Wiener Prater during our stop in Vienna today as it's not a place that Adventures by Disney includes in their itineraries. Some of the park looked nice, some of it looked run down. Some of the ops were good. Some not so much. I get that everything is run by individual operators, but that's another reason why I wasn't a fan. Inconsistent rules and quality everywhere. And I could excuse it if they had any stand out attractions, but they don't. When your BEST rides are a coaster on loan from Oktoberfest, a Boomerang with lap bars, and some other instantly forgettable Vekoma thing, you know your ride selection defines mediocrity. Yes there was a Star Flyer and a bunch of other flats, but I gotta be honest, they just looked like variations of other stuff we've seen and I wasn't interested. They also had a Volare and one of the weirdest indoor spinning rides I've ever been on. And then there a bunch of just “okay dark rides. I can appreciate a "good" classic dark ride, like the Coney's Spook-a-Rama, Haunted House at Knoebels or the Cave Train at Santa Cruz. But these were just your generic dark rides, and after riding about three of them, they all looked the same, and I was done. Give me a more modern Disney or Europa dark ride any day! I think I wanted this park to be more like Tivoli Gardens, Liseberg, or even Bakken, but really it reminded me more of Coney Island before it was cleaned up. As I said, some areas of the park DID look nice, but overall I just couldn't get into the place and I can't see it being a park I would hurry to make a return trip to. Oh! I should mention how insanely EXPENSIVE the park was! Since all the rides are owned and operated by individual operators, everything was a separate price for each ride. (Think like a permanent carnival here.) It was about 5-7 Euros per person, per ride. We probably rode at LEAST 10 to 12 rides today, so that's 150 Euros that we had to spend for a bunch of “okay” rides. Not worth it, IMO. We didn't even end up riding all the coasters or the dark rides because they were all just so "meh" that we lost interest in doing the rest of them. Here's some photos & videos and I'll actually have more videos to post once we are back home with faster internet! Good morning from Vienna! Today we are at the Prater! This indoor spinning ride was...um... "something..." We'll have a POV of it later! The *obviously* officially licensed Cars Land at Prater has two rides! A roller coaster and a driving school! WOW!!! Let this go on record as the first time Kristen shot a TPR POV! Handing down the family business is happening! I can finally retire!!! We are also going to count this as a junior wooden coaster since it will piss off a bunch of ACE members that can't ride it! lol So this was a Vekoma coaster pretending to be a Schwarzkopf that was better that most of Anton's rides! This was certainly some "interesting" theming at the Wild Mouse! lol So Prater is not an official part of the Adventures By Disney trip, and honestly I can see why. Here's one of the funky looking flat rides here: [twitter] [/twitter This classic Ferris Wheel at the Prater is famous! It's been in movies and stuff! They have one of those Toboggan death slides here! It opens later! I'm sure there is a great chance for injury! lol So the "lap bar only" Vekoma Boomerang was actually REALLY GOOD! Why aren't these on all Boomerangs??? They don't have any padding, but that didn't seem to matter! This ride was GREAT! And yes, I'm saying that about a Vekoma Boomerang! This was… um… odd! Although you did have to walk through a cool queue in order to get punched in the face! lol Another "fully licensed" Disney attraction right? RIGHT??? There are a wide variety of "Carnival fun houses" at the Prater, however like many of the other rides here, none of them really stood out. Just generic fun houses we've seen in many other places. The Scenic Railway was certainly interesting... it was mostly "scenic" and less roller coaster. It was fun, but it was nothing that special. Guess what? GNOME BUTT!!! Höllenblitz is spending it's summer here at the Prater and it really is a kick ass spinning coaster! Fire! Water! Christmas trees! Lasers! It's got it all!!! See you at Oktoberfest in a couple of months! Normally when you hear the word "Pinfari" you run away screaming! This one was actually pretty good! But again, this is sort of the problem with this park. When one of your better coasters is considering "good" because it didn't try to murder you that's a sign you need MUCH better coasters! lol This really is the perfect way to describe a Zamperla Volare. These are terrible rides. No two ways about it. There's a lot of generic old-school dark rides here. And I mean a LOT of them! Almost too many. It's kind of funny when a Top Scan seems so "old hat" now and no one was riding it. This ride was sort of interesting looking... [twitter] [/twitter] The Toboggan slide opened, and while it was super fun, it was a bummer that the conveyer wasn't faster and tried to kill people! lol That always makes for great entertainment! [twitter] [/twitter] There were certainly some parts of Prater that looked a more more run down than others. There were "cheesy dark rides" everywhere. If you're a fan of these you'll go crazy. Most of them were very similar and sort of run down. Although some of them did have boobs, so there is that! (Again more reasons why I can see why Adventures by Disney doesn't recommend this place!) OM NOM NOM!!! So yeah...It was just “okay.” We spent a lot of money and rode pretty average stuff. We enjoyed our day, but it’s not amazing. Having pizza in Vienna, Austria and thinking of @scottspizzatour! Click HERE for Part Seven of this report!

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