The Disneylander

^ Something I should have mentioned earlier (my apologies): I am Korean. I was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1992, emigrated to the United States in 1998, became a permanent resident last year. So I am fluent in Korean, and I was just as baffled by the queue as I did when I went on RotM. There is nothing in there that would explain how you are getting from a museum to a crypt, take my word for it. I rode PF in early 2008 along with some of my Korean cousins when I was there for the holidays. And while Disneyland is indeed my favorite park (read my username), I'm definitely not a 'fanboy' by any means...I find things to criticize in there all the time, just the same as you find things to criticize about Epcot, even though you are an Epcot fanboy. I just happen to like Indy more than PF because of the reasons already stated, and I don't think anyone's going to say that they're not valid. And calling someone a fanboy without any evidence doesn't help, either.

Okay, since I have a little time, let me elaborate on why I believe Indy is the superior product. 1. Indy tells a linear, full story. You start off in the queue, and there's evidence of a jungle expedition gone awry. You have the problem: don't look into the eyes of Mara. But then, you do look, and mayhem insues, and you have to escape. A clear-cut, totally believable story. PF, on the other hand, doesn't. You start off in a highly modern museum, then you walk through a coffin, past a giant statue of some god, and end up in a thousand-year-old crypt with skulls lining the walls. What? How did we get here? It's the same gripe we've had with RotM at USO. And the ride is no better. You board expedition jeeps. Okay. But why is the pharaoh angry at you? You've got bugs, smoke rings, flaming bridge (which I admit was pretty darn cool), collapsing ceilings,...and then lightning bolts? And that's the end of the ride? WTF just happened??? Indy makes an effort to tell a continuous story. PF doesn't even try. It's just a showcase for some special effects. 2. Capacity. Enough said. 3. Small, hidden touches. Indy has movie props, ropes that trigger an effect, a fake bamboo stick, and diamonds you can step on. PF doesn't, either because the designers didn't have the imagination or they just ran out of money. 4. The vehicles. I found the Indy EMVs to have a FAR superior range of motion than the cheap PF knockoffs. And another thing is that you can actually see where the track is about 95% of the time. On Indy, half of the time I can't even see where the thing is going. Which adds to the realism. Your car bouncing over rocks isn't that realistic when you can SEE a flat, concrete floor. 5. Effects. Yeah, the fire room's cool. But apart from that, what does it have? Several plastic-looking alligators that barely move, Winnie-the-Pooh-like effects where the doors swing open in front of you, a dude blowing smoke rings, the aforementioned video screens...Indy's effects, such as the opening scene where it interchanges between three different scenes, and the final boulder runaway, is simply genius. 6. Intensity. Personally, I found PF to be a little too slow. Indy's more rollicking, in-your-face, which I like better than the slow trip through several scenes. And you're running away from a scary pharaoh, for god's sake; can't the jeep go any faster? Anyway, those are my reasons why I prefer Indy, and I think they're as concise as anyone would like them to be.

^ And Disneyland's Indy doesn't have fake spiders on the walls and cheap, scratchy video screens. I guess it's just a taste thing.

I've been on both Indy at DL and Pharaoh's Fury at Lotte and I have to say that Indy, by FAR, is the superior attraction...when it is running right. When Indy has about a quarter of its effects broken/on its last legs, then Pharaoh's Fury is better. I personally found PF to be a little on the cheap side; plastic spiders? Really? And video screens of animated bats? Really, Lotte World?

Hey everybody, I found this on the LA Times website: http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/cedar-point-magic-mo-5502/ Nothing new, but an interesting read.

I'm happy about pretty much everything they mentioned except the Gerstlauer trains for Texas Giant. Oh why, oh why Gerstlauer?

I have to point out a few things as a Disney fanboy... -Pirates of the Caribbean is NOT the same as the other two, it is about 8 minutes longer than the WDW version. -The lights out on ToT are meant as theming, don't know if you were being sarcastic or not, but there you are. Great PTR, though. Excellent shots!

^ Oh god, I hate that part of SNL. I love WEEKEND UPDATE, but seriously...totally not funny at all.

^ Not true. If a park only had X amount of dollars, they wouldn't be asking for the world's longest or tallest roller coaster. Case in point: Terminator.

Off topic, but what exactly is the difference between a Himalaya and a Bayerncurve? They both look pretty much the same to me...

I would be VERY surprised if World of Color doesn't win best water show next year.

So, do we have a new dethroning of Balder? Is it that good?

For the record, the Shanghai maglev isn't the only operating Maglev -- there's a short line in Daejon, South Korea, linking Expoland to the museum.

^ With the way Viper is running right now, I would take that over Scream! any day.

There used to be one over by Tatsu. I have a video of my friend making a complete fool of himself in that one. It's pretty funny. If my memory serves, it's filled with tickets that you can redeem at any other game booth in the park.

Once when I was on Space Mountain, these two pre-teen girls were sitting right behind us and kept screaming in this high-pitched voice throughout the entire ride. Needless to say, I felt like sticking them in It's a Small World afterwards so they can get a helping of their own medicine.

^ Yeah, but how many times have you seen all three towers on SS operating? Whereas on Gyro Drops, the capacity is fixed.

Is it Rolling X-Train at Everland?

It's a launched Aquatrax with rings and fire and laser snake horses!

Just reminding you that these kinds of threads usually gets locked...

Is it just me, or is there a landing strip just to the left of the park in the last picture?

^ Considering you let them in for free, what else can you expect? I kid, Shane...I definitely would've been there if I could!

I also love Screamin'. It's highly underrated for what it is: excellent launch, respectable height, awesome "first" drop, and, oh god, those airtime hills.

Yeah, that's what I thought. I thought there was more credits in HK, but it seems I was mistaken. Any other stuff I should do while I'm there?