Garet

The selfie sticks are everywhere in Asia, I always see them being snuck on places. But for me my biggest pet peeve lately has been how many people take their tablets to use as cameras. I try to be considerate and use my view-finder or even when i'm not still have it set to view finder to keep my screen off but so many firework shows and dark-rides where I just sit there half blind because people are recording and snapping away with the brightest screens in the middle of the darkness. We were at Everland recently and it's the middle of "rehab season" plus temperatures and wind meant almost everything was closed but the inside rides so we figured we'd ride the Everland version of it's a small world and our boat as well as the one in front was just a sea of big, super bright screens. Even the fireworks show. I don't mind phones and camera screens too much since they aren't that big (even if I try and keep mine to viewfinder) but when it's a ton of tablets it's actually pretty blinding. Speaking of DisneySea, an awesome thing is they don't allow those into the park I believe and nobody seems to try and sneak them in, the just respect the rules This guys came out of his shirt the second the ride was in motion

I'm gonna call BS on that, Radiator Springs Racers cost ~$200 million, I am extremely skeptical of them spending double that on a single attraction. Yea but the trackless ride cars are going to be pulled by real reindeer, the plastic surgery to make sure they all look exactly like Sven is the other $200 million

Pictures from Tokyo Disney's Halloween costume days: http://blog.naver.com/khegel/220122240499 and here http://szsup.tistory.com/661 . Seems pretty popular, looks like the park will hit capacity sometimes when they are on.

Just saw on a Korean blog pictures of a fast pass style lottery and then saw it on the official website, but did that new projection show always have a fast-pass/lottery system to be allowed to view it from in front of the castle? http://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/entm/show/once/index.html In the pictures it seems a very popular fast pass line and you choose one of two show times to enter the lottery. I'd have assumed it was first come first serve but the website makes it seem like you scan your ticket and it either grants you a seat or it doesn't. I'm kind of curious on how it works, being Tokyo Disney i'm sure its awesome but i'm still curious. Are there actual seats set up now so you get a seat number or does it just let you in an area? It says your party is allowed one go per day so if you had a party of 4 does that mean one go or you can try 4 times with each ticket and if one is approved all the party can go in the area? I wonder if resort guests are more likely to win. Curious if it's pre-decided when you get your ticket at the start of the day if it's a winner or loser or the machine decides once you scan it (was thinking more that when you buy tickets as a group if those are already decided on that way you have say a family of 5 who scan and get all winner tickets than the machine deciding per person and lots of families with one winning ticket trying to use it for 5 people) If the machine decides, wouldn't they probably run out pretty early? Edit: seems they also use it for a show: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tdl/entm/show/one/index.html and disneysea show: http://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/tds/entm/show/band/index.html I'd assumed fast pass like world of color which is why I hadn't brought it up, but reading the Korean blog, he talked about how he didn't win when he tried for tickets on his trip.

After the incidents of shutting down the cinema and aquarium due to problems, a few more incidents and problems in/around Lotte World 2 have come up, souring public opinion even more: More on the death of a construction worker and delayed response from my last post: http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/12/113_170062.html A door came off in the mall and fell on a visitor (this was the second incident of parts of the mall falling down onto people): http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/12/113_170670.html The government is threatening to shut down the mall completely if there are more incidents: http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/01/113_171127.html More cracks have appeared around the supertower. The article states it has nothing to do with Lotte Tower but with all the cracks and sinkholes appearing around the construction site since they started work, people are still blaming Lotte: http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/01/116_171337.html

Sorry, accidentally double posted.

I miss the click word filter after the texas giant incident. Mainly just because I'm vain and liked seeing something i'd contributed show up on TPR That and when one of my pictures was used on the TPR facebook and I saw 2,000 people like it. Made a nice change from the original photo which just got 1 like which I think was my grandmother

Wow, just wow: [vimeo] [/vimeo]

Whaat?!? 17 Bucks?!? In summer 2013 we had to pay 14$ for one ride, 7$ for a 2nd ride and I think 25$ for an all day pass. Wait, people actually, willingly give up more money to ride it all day?

Could be, although those normally are marked and all the Korean posters in the theaters listed Christmas eve as the general release, I'll keep my eyes out but it looks like I may have to wait for a DVD release. Hopefully once the main Christmas vacation is over and the kids are back in school it could pop up again when the new schedules are released, some of the screens are being taken up by 40 minute versions of children's TV shows. (The theater not too far from where I live is running an extended version of Everland's old 3D movie)

Into The Woods seems to be having one of the worst treatments i've ever seen since coming to Korea. A few places still have Interstellar on the imax and the hobbit has a few showing throughout the day but with all the kids animations for Christmas and other English and Korean movies, it really had a blink and you'll miss it window. There's a few showings in the capital but around my area a lot of the cinemas (and I mean a lot, between all the different chains some places will have two multiplexes on the same street.) either aren't showing it or are giving it a 9am slot when a lot of people are at work and even those seem to have left the cinema by the weekend.

Wild Tours is now open, I'll try and bring a TPR some-time in the new year but it'll probably be a while since there is no way i'll be braving crowds for a brand new ride during the christmas vacation or for a few weekends after opening. A korean blogger has taken some pictures however and the themeing looks incredible: http://szsup.tistory.com/658

Tokyo Disneyland on a snow day, a park so empty you could just walk up to an empty street and see the night parade and fireworks from the best spots as they were already happening.... sigh I'm never going to get a day as perfect as that one again.

Seems the tower and aquarium aren't having the best of luck right now, I mentioned earlier about the rubber duck and a lot of the safety fears and delays over the tower with all the sink holes appearing around the area. I actually had tickets to the gigantic cinema they closed this weekend. Figured i'd use the worlds biggest cinema screen to watch the final hobbit and 1) see what the hfr fuss is about and 2) the dolby atmos fuss. There was also the death of a construction worker on the site. Taken from and all credit to Korea times: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/12/116_170041.html

Just saw on a Korean blog that Tokyo Disneysea currently has jalapeno&cheese popcorn as a new flavor.

I'm not sure, looking back on my updates the last one I have with water was summer 10 and even then it was on one drop but not the other: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=933090#p933090 It was always off during the winter, I'm presuming because of the temperature but I have been quite a few times during weekdays over the years since then throughout all the months and I don't remember ever seeing it on. I'd have assumed if it was going to come back on it, it would have been after that huge 6 month rehab it had last winter but there was nothing when I went on the 4th July or this October trip. The only thing I can say is my trips have always been timed when the park is dead, perhaps I should try on a busy summer weekend but that's still probably a long shot.

The indoor part: I'll start with Pharaoh's Fury, I hadn't mentioned it in previous TR's since I didn't think it was a big deal but since i've seen it on other forums, they've shortened the queue line and made some ride changes. The real fire is gone and so has the rolling boulder effect before the drop down. The real fire is only noticeable if you have been before but I do miss the rolling boulder effect, it's now just some weird spiraling projection. A lot of the queue line has been ripped out for the trick art museum. To be honest, though the queue line was amazingly themed it really was wasted space, since due to grafitti people were being made to wait outside and on busy days people would rush through once they were allowed to get in to get straight to the ride. We had fun in the museum. It's a lot of floor space that could perhaps be converted later on. Considering Lotte Worlds love of motion and screen based rides and Intamin perhaps one day we'll see one of those new dome rides. This is what you see when you first enter the queue. You turn straight away at the end into..... ....this corridor, which leads to.... ....this chamber. The pharaohs head is still here. Just past the screen is the last area Either they had two of these or you used to walk around it in the old queue. Now it's stuck in a very dark corner of the area above. And finally up the stairs to the ride. I hope you queue line purists have fun dissecting the differences. I'll be honest, i'm just going for most complete park in the park index at this point. This is the balloon rides name that goes around the top of Lotte World. 25 minutes than i'm willing to wait. It finally happened, my day off lined up with a ride I like being closed for inspection. My 5 year lucky streak of it being random kids rides has ended. Randomly the pirate ship seems to be the only ride with single rider. They were running fast pass even with no queue. It's nice to see full availability at a park when it's quiet instead of a park closing half the rides because the park is empty resulting in hour long lines *cough*Everland*cough* Hi Larry. The single rider line seemed longer than the main line. Off to Underland to check out the new attractions, I don't think I posted about the creepy put your head on the fish that is in Underland. I did touch on this before. Underland is a lot of themed entrances to some of the malls restaurants. However Lotte World has a strict no re-entry policy and these restaurants don't have bathrooms. You go out to the mall and shop or find a bathroom and try and come back through the main Lotte World entrance and you're stuck. Lotteria had installed a fence (seen in this picture) to keep the new sides separate. However a lot of the other restaurants look like this, you can clearly see the two sides aren't separated. It wouldn't be an issue but Lotte World doesn't seem to display any signs anymore about no re-entry so it would be very easy to assume you could go out to the bathroom and wonder back to the main entrance. Off to the new area. It seems to consist of the new ride and this themed entrance to another mall restaurant right now. Some walls are painted for theming (although this could be temporary while the 2015 ride is under construction) Others are physical. The new ride sits in the middle of an area so you can literally walk around the whole ride and see everything without getting on it. The station First turn out of the station After the turn you hit the lift hill. Here's the full lift hill and drop. The big drop Then into this corner before making a u turn back to the station. More characters. The final corner. On the plus side since it's mainly for little children (I believe each boat takes one adult and one child) having it open and able to walk around the whole thing means lots of pictures can be taken for families. But a bit of me wishes it had been enclosed like it seemed to look on the original concepts to make it a bit more magical so apart from the station, you would have to ride and go round the corners to see what's next. But again I'm not the target audience and the little kids love it, even if they can see what's coming before they've ridden. Coming 2015: Wild Tours. Concept art is here: It will be a clone of the rides already in Tokyo Joyopolis and Dubai (Thanks Elissa) I have no idea why this bakery is so popular but there's always a huge line. Studio Ghibli fans rejoice. There's a shop just for selling Ghibli merchandise across the road from Lotte World now. Ani-land the company that opens it have a few stores across Korea that are mainly Ghibli stuff (like 80% in each store almost) but I believe this is their first store that is completely dedicated to just Ghibli, that and it's the closest to Lotte World.

This is my last Lotte World update for 2014, though it's mostly just a general round-up of news from around the park, I've tried to structure it as a usual trip report so there's a few random photos as well. Before we begin I'd arrived at Lotte World a little early to cross something off my bucket list........ Here's the outside section of this TR: Since I normally get off the subway and go straight to the main indoor entrance I haven't had a chance to take a picture of the updated statue. The Lotte on top of the sphere has been made more cartoony to better match the mascot. Lotte Tower is huge and it's not even finished yet. The new mall area, across the road from Lotte World it's in this complex where Lotte World's new aquarium (separate admission is). It's still much closer than the water park. That's the other end of the country The belugas seem to be the main attraction, sadly I didn't have time to go in today. The reason I'm here so early. I decided to cross giant rubber duck off my bucket list (and yes I know it's not technically a "rubber" duck) I heard it was pretty crowded on evenings and weekends but on an early weekday morning it was empty. Walking back to Lotte World. If you really want to run for Atlantis as fast as you can on a busy weekend and you aren't there for opening, this can give you a head start. The new skyline since Wakiki Wave left. Lotte World have been aggressively expanding their food options around the park, this looks like a nice place to sit and eat. The castle through the trees. Being inside the park when it opens, i've never really taken the time to appreciate that Atlantis is themed all the way round even from outside the park. A car testing. Onwards to the park. Opening ceremony The park is all decked out for Halloween. Obligatory castle shot. The alligator looks upset. Perhaps he's seen the new theming? Lotte World are pretty good with queue times but I felt Atlantis was a bit understated, even with my fast pass (which gets you through this entrance here) I waited 15 minutes and there was a pretty big line outside the entrance when I took this. Also note the fast passes are already late evening and this was on a day the park was dead. Is it time to call the aquatrax extinct and ride the worlds only trax? I've pretty much covered every month before and after the rehab restoring it to it's "original glory" and I haven't had another ride with water on since my very 1st trip many years ago. This was one of the few things that disappointed me after the huge rehab. The new sideshows. They blend in so well with the theming don't they? Decided to grab a ride on Comet Express since it usually is too busy for me. I sat on the front seat on the left years ago alone, and came the closest I ever have to vomiting. Normally I try to balance with a friend but since I was alone I opted for further back sitting on the right. It seemed to be more bearable this time but that was probably just luck. That's a bold claim Lotte World. Also that waffle house looks like it was lifted straight from RCT. Gyro Spin had mechanical issues according to the Korean. However the English sign lied and told me annual inspection. My second ride with the new scream shields, though no scream shields would be best, these are so much better than the foam filled ones that completely encased your head. Although they can still be hot so don't pull them down too early. I did and had to wait 5 minutes for more people to come. As I said the tower really towers over Lotte World and it isn't even finished yet. For instant Halloween theming, add pumpkins.

How old is Happy Valley Shanghai's gyro-swing? Perhaps they went with it because it was second hand and cheaper? Seoul's children's park recently removed theirs in the last few years even though it was included in the concept art for the renewal. Heck i'm not sure it even had any riders at children's grand park, i've never seen pictures of it operating or with riders. I think it was installed just before the park shut for an overhaul, then when the construction walls came down it was gone. Kind-of curious where it went and China seems likely considering Lotte World already has its own gyro-swing.

New art of the human cars and confirmed re-opening for early 2015: http://www.rwsentosablog.com/bsg-reopen-target/ We’re glad to announce that after an extensive attraction review, the Battlestar Galactica: Human vs. Cylon roller coaster is targeted to re-open in early 2015! those wings next to the seats on the new 2 seater human car are a nice touch instead of leaving it bare or just box shaped. Old train for comparison

I'm glad to see the mirror function added for the express editor, hopefully it will make it easier for people like me who aren't too good at advanced building, I could never get the exits out of my dive loops right on my wing-riders without it going the wrong way but this should help me. Will be nice to have some sounds as the roller-coasters go around too.

^ The only possible thing I can think of that they may be referring to is Vampire's conversion from the Arrow suspended trains to Vekoma's floorless trains, but still that is different from a stand-up to floorless conversion and I wouldn't really have counted it as the UK's "floorless coaster" either since then we'd be counting all the inverted coasters.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/park.php?pageid=486 I added it to the Park Index Thank you, I tried to find the list of Disney popcorn flavors but could not find it. Now I know where to find it next time. I added it to the Park Index as a joke a few years ago and Robb loved it so I kept it there. Now if only the US parks would sell flavored popcorn. FYI - your photo just forced me to make popcorn with black pepper and ranch powder. I had no idea there was a PI for it, there was a cranberry one on my trip that's missing from the PI: http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=65226&start=50

If it helps, I got the Running Man reference.

They both were there. Rick was busy every time I went by and I chatted with one of the other ProSlide guys. Talked with Alan quite a bit, but no interviews with either. Just glad to know he was still there. That Intamin dome ride looks interesting. Considering Lotte World's love of both motion based rides (I think with wild tours opening soon they'll have 7 plus there's also a 3D film and a screen based shooting tracked ride) and their love of Intamin I really hope we'll see one of those open here soon.