dandaman

I've been on 20% chance days with neverending storms, and 90% chance days with sunlight the entire trip. Lake Erie can serve up some rather unpredictable weather; I suggest you go anyway. Normally I'd suggest as Elissa said -- waiting a day or two and seeing how the forecast improves/deteriorates before booking -- but it IS a Halloweekend and I'd wager the sooner you book, the better.

Funny that this shuttle seems to be getting a lot of coverage... it's the first one I'd ever seen launch. (At night, to boot!) Thanks for sharing.

I would say the awesomeness lies in A&W but it tastes different between Canada and the U.S... Regardless, an awesomely random TR. Thanks to my park visits this past month, the only Orlando credits I don't have are at Old Town and Fun Spot. (And really, Windstorm's the only draw credit-wise anyway, and a weak one at that.)

Though when a Canadian tells you something is "damn hot", it probably translates to "Californians would still shiver uncontrollably and Robb would ask where this spice was that he keeps hearing about" hot. Also, dammit all, right after the American West, Tokyo DisneySea is next on my travel wish list. Awesome update.

You give 'im a taste of his own medicine and say, "Looks like you're trying to speak English. Would you like some help?" How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

If it's a Gerstlauer, I recommend the park bench. Why do I feel so hungry right now?

You'd think I'd remember that Epcot was your favourite park... I had no idea! Dan "Clearly my next choice for your #1 would've been Fuji-Q." Smith

Must... resist... bust joke...

Part II: More Photos, Zero Witty Titles And that's all he wrote. Thanks for traipsing through another patented Dan Smith trip report of 50% understandable references and 80% chance of over/underexposure. Purty 'n blinding Purty Well, OK, here's one. But nothing else. HRRRRRRRRRRR looks really cool at night with the LED... well, I'll do it myself in lieu of the filter, ringy-dingy-ding-a-lings... but I would have gotten more night shots if the train LED's were on. So Carlos and I decided to try out BMG for his 4th time and my 1st. It was very impressive (especially the toilet paper rave party) but IMO not $85 impressive. Which was good, 'cause I likely wouldn't have gone anyway if tickets weren't $30 with my Premier Pass discount. So far that day my $300 investment had saved me about $80, not even including general admission, which was pretty darn cool. Damned impressive design, though. I didn't and still don't think that Hulk was worth all the hype. It's a great ride, sure, but not what I'd call world-class. (Excuse me while I duck from various flying fruits.) "Practical" "Plausible" I LOL'd. "I'M JONAH JAMESON, BITCH." Well, I attempted to curl an invisible stache and clench my fist menacingly, but it sorta came off as "invisible sammich-eating / hold something big and round". (Yeah, yeah, I know. I keep mental track of all these innuendos. Photoshop if you must.) ...Because "Get back here ya damned fleabag!" wasn't family-friendly enough. "Yeah, well, you know when you're not supposed to 'do rights'? NASCAR. Yeah, that might be important information there, Dud. Idiot." While I haven't ridden in over 2 years, the drop still seemed noticeably toned down after its reshape, but still awesome. Choose your own adventure! 1) Well, the beaver IS Canada's national animal... 2) "Love Shack" 3) [placeholder for wit] It is also customary to tip your hat in politeness, and also for Mounties to more easily check for drugs hidden under your chapeau, toque or other such headgear. (I'm doing wonders for international stereotypes.) In Canada, it is customary to use dynamite instead of toothpicks for proper and more thorough teeth cleaning. 10 home 20 sweet 30 go to 10 Presenting a more accurate representation of Canada than the original Circlevision film! 20 minute wait, but they didn't let us ride. No whoring today. Hi Tyler! "I got a big head, 'n little arms..." Still love this ride. Didn't get too wet either, and due to an odd human error in loading we were 3rd row back with the first two rows empty, making the Dan-friendliness even odder. Zoom testing on "adeuce02: The Ride". The weather cleared up just a bit, and only briefly. 2 launches 1 train Only Fire was running, which also became 101 within 10 minutes of standing in a line extending just outside the castle. No thanks. Dragon Challenge = re-name fail The side of the crane actually says the spell which Universal incanted to speed up construction. The main structures are starting to take shape. This was the first time I'd been here since 2007, and Pottersville seems to be coming along very nicely. By 2 o'clock, we'd done HRRR, Jaws, Mummy, Simpsons Ride, waited in line for a half-hour for a broken-down and never-reopened MIB, sought out my magical Delorean to no avail and ate at HRC. Not bad considering the Christian rock crowds. "Standard" Nice little piece of the Berlin Wall around the Studios side that I imagine not very many people see. I was upstairs taking this in a room with no other people around when the same song came on the TV's downstairs. Cool. Fact: This was Freddie's formal attire. Hell yes. "Turn that hippie music down!" "Respect the classics, man! It's Hendrix!" I see Universal has taken advantage of their patented hovercar technology. Freestyle Music Cafe was cool. Quite a good burger, though the 10% discount with the Premier Pass might have helped the taste.

^ Rollin' in my '64 (If I had time before class I would so make a personalized old-man rap.)

I heard very minimal audio bleedout from the trains, and only as they were going directly past. The speakers on the ride are set up perfectly; not once did I hear a different song intrude, and it wasn't because of excessive loudness covering it up, either.

^It helps to be a little lame on this site!

^I don't envy you, but damn do I respect you for working on days like that. Took me 'till now to realize that I forgot to take a picture of us together! ('Course you were working, so maybe not a good idea anyway.)

I, uh... have no preface to this, really. It was rainy, which you'd think would cut down crowds, but it was a Rock the Universe day with all the Christian rock fans invading the resort. And, um... boobs. That is all. Enjoy the show. And finally for now, what makes time travel possible. Stay tuned for IOA/HRC/BMG/OMG/WTF/BBQ. Word to your teenage mother who keeps calling you Calvin for some reason. Time-travelling steam train > regular steam train >> Gerstlauer train "Sorry. Took Delorean to 1605 A.D. to heckle Shakespeare. Be back yesterday." -- ELB "...And you will all be forced to listen to Small World while riding Rockit!" Abe entertains the youth of the park with his hilarious imitation of an old man having a heart attack. LIES Coming next year: Traumanator Salvation. I laughed really hard at this. And drew some odd looks. Whatever. NOTED! And Moleman counters in full with a highly sophisticated sock puppet. POINT MOLEMAN. Willie breaks into his finale with a crazy unintelligible Scottish rap -- something about haggis and greased Scotsmen, most likely. Whence Moleman proceeds to one-up the crazy by BEING a farm animal. Willie sings drunken tales of the Scottish Isles with farm animals... And Moleman comes right back, attempting to catch a fly, run through the Matter Transporter and become Jeff Goldblum! Ultimate Showdown: Willie vs. Moleman Willie comes out of the gate strong with an ambivalent glare and presumed thoughts about "killin' every last one o' yeh". Part IV: There was no 4th BTTF film. PSYCH. Part III: Civilized Scientific Discussion About What Went Wrong Part II: Something Goes Wrong Part I: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? And just then, The Simpsons Ride moved from awesome to pure gold. I liked how the ride film stayed true to this map in terms of placement of rides. Bad angle. Awesome poster. "NO! Don't you see? They give us money, we give them crap!" --The Jerk This was definitely the highlight of my day. Favourite cartoon + theme park ride = love. Choose your own adventure! 1) Got a little captain in ya? No? Would you like one? 2) "Y'arr, I'm lookin' fer treasure, can I see yer chest?" 3) "Why is that ship's wheel attached to your crotch?" "Y'arr, it's drivin' me nuts!" Previously on LOST... "This is how big your cowbell should be." Highlights included the awesomely clear interactive projection of Walken, and the host giving a stage direction to an old lady: "Point to the sky! You're excited!" *no emotion* "...LOOK! It's raining prescription drugs from Canada!" *ecstatic* The re-done Disaster was new to me, and thoroughly awesome. Know why? Christopher freaking Walken, that's why. Michael Bay's "The Notebook" And I'm spent. Random screwy Maurer Söhne trackwork. Shot frame fail Also, near the end, everyone gets their heads impaled on spikes. It's like Henry VIII: The Ride. I'd like to take this caption box to apologize profusely for the quality of the photos throughout the day. It was cloudy with spotty moderate rain the entire day, which my camera absolutely hates despite having on a cloudy setting. The vertical lift was a nice gimmick, but would have been improved by a near-vertical drop as well. Sitting in the 2nd row, we didn't seem to get much airtime, though I'd imagine the back seat would get some good jumps off the brake runs. Overall, I thought the ride wasn't too spectacular or worth the hype, but was a decent addition to the Studios. My secret track listing choice of #130 (The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again") made it pretty awesome, however, proving once again that a good soundtrack can make anything better. The video footage was also good, but not "whittle it down to 15 seconds with stock footage thrown in and purchase it" good. It was a 45-minute wait by 9:05 a.m., though they sort of opened the park around 8:45. The LED's on the trains were off the whole day, as was the moving load/unload platform. Gotta give credit to the crew though; they really were hauling ass to make interval. ...But hey, look! It's Hollywood Rip Ride Rhy-Rid-Re-Rame-Ris-Rith-Ro-Rany-R's Rockit! So because of all the benefits etc. I figured I can get with the Premier Pass (i.e. most expensive annual pass), I ended up buying it. So far I've saved $80 off admission/food for various establishments. Also, quite a few (not ALL of) the Christian rock fans in attendance weren't exactly as wholesome as I'd been led to believe. At least 6 of them I saw were drunk and throwing things in line, or as I called it "moved by the spirits". As usual, I cast aside things like "originality" or "proper lighting" right off the bat.

It was either the single-rider or Express line that was open on Saturday; all I know is that I saw a second queue (to the main queue's right, if standing on the stairs) open and controlled by ops.

^I'm somewhat inclined to agree. At first I thought this was a really messed-up waterslide:

Toontown Fair, and by the looks of the concept art in hi-res, Barnstormer looks to remain where it is, albeit with a new dual-Dumbo neighbor. As far as the rest of it, who knows? (4000 pixels long, I don't think an image tag would be appreciated.) http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_orlando/images/Disney/mk_fantasyland_overall_screen.jpg If I'm not mistaken, it looks as if the new train station will be moved down a bit from the current location as well. EDIT: If I'm looking at this right, the majority of the Fair will be taken over by Pixie Hollow. Also based on this blueprint it now appears that the same train station will simply be re-themed (way over near "DUMBO" on the far right edge).

Yesterday, actually. Also announced was a new Little Mermaid E-ticket to go along with the new plans, as well as Star Tours II. Fantasyland announcement, with more concept art: Star Tours II:

Rode HRRRRRRRRRR/visited UO for the first time in 2 years today. Honestly, I think the ride is just average, but the music really does add to it. (Listening to The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" at 65 mph was pretty damn cool, I must admit.) They appeared to have 4 trains running, but the moving-platform type of loading wasn't working, which did seem to increase wait times by a small margin. Forgot it was a Rock the Universe day so all the Christian rock fans were out in full force adding significant crowds to both parks, and by extension Rockit. 40 minute wait was posted at 9:05 a.m.

Well, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that when building a theme park empire, it is always a good idea to rename one of your guests John D. Rockefeller, then have a bunch of guys doing nothing but take out trash and sweep litter for 20 years with no paid break...

31 members apparently have birthdays today; most I've seen yet!

That or just go for the ol' "Cedar Fair really IS evil" trick.

1. Apparently he only lives two hours away from me (when I'm living in Canada at least) which is cool. 2. Polar bears are obviously for the bigger rides (we dangle a piece of steak in front of 'em for our more powerful launch rides) but beavers are frequently used for kiddie/dark rides or chain lifts under 150 feet. The third one leads me to believe Robbie hails from Sparta. Californian storage system? This thread continues to deliver. Also, when in the hell did I hit 3000 posts? If it was a previous post in this thread it's so worth it.

Store locator says they're almost all concentrated in Northern Florida now. Damn.

The best kind. Awesome TR Erik. Really want to meet up in Orlando one of these days. (That and get the elusive Whataburger credit.)