Hilltopper39

Animation looks really fun, and that thing sure seems to cover a significant portion of land. As far as manufacturer and all it's impossible to tell this far out based on the concept art and animation alone but I still have a feelin it will be a Vekoma, when's the last time they built a coaster that wasn't a Vekoma? They might even develop custom trains for this attraction just like they did for 7D.

This may sound like a dumb statement but I have a feeling that Pandora, even though it's completly based on an existing brand, is going to feel like more of a unique land than just an extension of that brand. Even though Avatar was one of the highest grossing movies of all time I don't think as many people are attached to that franchise like they are to Star Wars or Harry Potter so they might not obsess over the details as much and just enjoy the land for what it is, if that makes any sense. Also the attractions (boat ride and Banshee simuator) don't sound like you'll need as much knowledge of the backstory to enjoy the attraction like it sounds like you do for the Harry Potter stuff.

^^oh cool, thanks! ^Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, looks like there's a fairly large building behind the ride area so I'm guessing they'll be incorperating a Toy Story version of the interactive que similar to the Dueling Dumbos. Hey, maybe it looks like a tea cups ride but is really some kind of a version Aquatopia, that's honestly the first thing I thought of when I saw the concept art (though we probably won't be that lucky). After looking at that high res version of the concept art it says "Super Launcher" on that bridge to the coaster attraction entrance which would make you think there's a midcourse launch involved. Also on the high res it looks like there are seeral "pieces" of track laying around almost like this thing will be themed to those old Hot Wheels track kits you could build youself and had "launcher" sections in it, pretty cool. I know you can't take conept art too seeriosuly but they trains do look like they could incorperate the the swinging cars from the 7 Dwarves Mine Ride. It would be cool to see that concept expanded on where the swinging motion is featured a little more prominently throughout the ride. I've only been on 7D a few times but never really felt the cars sway at all, which is fine it's still a cool attraction, but a little more speed and some different turns and that could be a really cool and fun element of this attraction.

Where was there a video?

I'm interested to see if they move the Star Tours ride in Flroida as well. Seems like in that park it would make no sense to have that attraction stand alone and have an entire StarWars land eselwhere in park. My guess is the new Studios Star Wars section is either going behind star tours and expand the park where the current entrance road/toll booths are or it'll get moved to the other side ofthe park in the new section.

A couple thoughts on the announcements, I wouldn't be surprised if there is more in the Toy Story land once the project starts construction, seems strange for major expansion this size with that much land to only add a coaster and what looks like a smaller flat ride. I wouldn't be surprised to see the parachute drop tower or the Junkyard Jamboree style ride added as well maybe. If this expansioin is goin in on the south end of the Midway Mania area (where that guy did the google maps layover thing) I wonder if the old Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground will get a Toy Story makeover? Also, I know nothing has been announced as far as additional attractions closing or locations for either Toy Story or Star Wars but I find it hard to believe that the Star Wars expansion wouldn't incorperate Star Tours into the area. Maybe Star Wars is going to be a new expansion over the alternate entrance road and parking toll booths instead of in the park like we had previosuly thought.

^My first thought when I saw the concept art was Big Grizley Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland, lift section launch section. I'm sure this won't be as "intense" as that but the layout and lift/potential launch section certainly reminded me of that. Also, the Slinkydog Coaster and all of Toy Story land should be a great addition to the studios ahead of Star Wars. I've always loved the park but with a 3 year old now there's not a ton for us to do outside Playhouse Jr. Live, Frozen Sing Along, and Little Mermaid show, so this should nice for everyone who's not ready for the bigger attractions.

Wow, I don't think that "viewer box" thing is just a coincidence, I'm guessing we're about to see some kind of full VR coaster. I'm still not totally sold on the concept but it could be really cool if done properly and would certianly open up a world of possibilities across the property (and all the other parks).

I wonder if cost has anything to do with the new design, properly desinged nozzles and pumps are probably cheaper than the LSM technology so these slides might be more affordable for a wider range of parks. Seems like to date only the bigger major water parks have invested in the Hydromagnetic rocket/mammouth slides so this product might be more apealing to more parks across the world. I like how the "launch" sections are semi "enclosed" with the glass walls, has kind of a cool aesthetic to it.

And are you sure about the control panels being reused on Outlaw Run? Because it seems to me that if they were to reuse the control panel on any other wooden coaster in the chain it'd be Thunderhead since Thunderhead is another G.C.I and Outlaw Run is an R.M.C. I'm no electrical engineer but I'm sure several of the major components like the HMI, PLC, power supplies, input/output cards etc. could be reused if they were still in good condition.

Voyage to the Crystal Grotto looks like a great attraction, I love highly themed lazy boat rides and transportation systems like the Jungle Cruise, and Living with the Land. Heck I love just riding the Disney Transportation boats around the MK reort area so this should be awesome. I always wished Animal Kingdom would have made some kind of jungle cruise esque boat ride attraction with real animals and elaborate show scenes but it sounds like the Avatar baot ride might end up being something similar for that park. Anwyays this, along with everything in this park, look amazing.

For the couple of years that I lived in Orlando my biggest regret was not being closer to the attractions area. We had an apartment in Altamonte which was only about 25-30 miles away from Disney property but even there it still felt like we so far away from the "attractions" that we didn't enjoy the area the way we would have liked. Traffic in Orlando at different times of the day can turn a 30 minute drive into an hour plus drive which makes it pretty frustrating to just drop in and hang out for a little while. I think traffic has gotten better in the past couple years but I'd suggest finding something as close to the attractions as you can afford if the attractions are what you're really interested in.

Up until this year I would have said Carowinds, even with Intimdator their line up was pretty sparse with Afterburn being the only really good coaster there and even it is pretty low in my personal B&M invert rankings. Sounds like Fury is a solid addition but the collection as a whole is still pretty unappealing to enthusiasts.

I disagree, that skyloop slide looks awful, at that point what's teh difference between that and a rolelr coasters except you can't see anything and get water poured down you throat the whole way. I'm completly uninterested in that sky loop thing after seeing the video of that capsule and restrain. The standup thing looks kind of interesting though I doubt any park in America will ever give on a chance.

That kind of contradicts itself though, because red is the most expensive color paint, and it usually fades the quickest. Kind of like the YUM Center and the team that plays in it........

Yeah that's a fantastic looking coaster, I love the flags on the lift hill. I know a lot of coasters have flags on the lift hill but that combination for some reason looks amazing.

Didn't Walt say something about "and it should all be surorunded by a train"? I can already hear the purists complaining.....

Yeah, some of the early articles I read about this guy and his proejct talked about his struggles with mental illness over the years. I guess the post saying it was open today has been removed from their facebook page. Hope he gets help, this project has been a lot of fun to follow and hopeuflly this isn't the end of it.

At first glance the initial attractions lineup is a little thin but has some awsome new concepts. I guess when Hong Kong opened it was also a bit limited on the attrations but has since filled out a bit more and I'm sure Shanghai also will over time. I can't help but think the Tarzan show is a bit odd, I wonder if that's going to be an all new production or something similar to the show that used to exist at Animal Kingdom? I dind't think that franchise was ever very popular but it will be interesting to see what they do with it. Also, the rapids ride looks incredible and is going to make me hate Kali River Rapids even more compared to other Disney rapids attractions.

So the owner was arrested for smoking pot in the parking lot of a festival dedicated to The Big Lebowski, yesterday they annonced that "All activites at Funtown Mountain are canceleld as of today", twenty minutes ago they annonced that Funtown Mountain will reopen today at noon but the show scheduled for today was cancelled. I'm not sure what the show was but sounds like the place will continue to operate for now despite the owners personal situation. Remember this year is more of a soft openeing until they build attractions in the off season.

I mean I don't think that Mako is a bad addition to the park by any means, it certainly adds something unique for the Orlando market and despite what we enthusiasts think about B&M hypers most park goers will love it. I just couldn't help but notice that while the park was packed on a Saturday in July the two exsting coasters had minimal lines. Now there may have been shows goin on that were packed so the lines were down or it was earlier in the day or something but SeaWorld feels more like a family park without any real "family coasters" or family rides other than Antartica. I have a pass and take my 3 year old all the time and love being able to sneak away to a walk on wait for Kraken, but a mid size coaster for her in a few years would be great. If Cobra's Curse is as big of a hit as I think it will be hopefully soemthing similar makes it way to SeaWorld eventually.

MakoChaser Express would have been awesome for this park.

Just a thought here but as excited as I am about Mako, I was at the park for a few hours last Saturday, was there from around 10:30am-1pm on a Saturday in July and both coasters were a walk on. Maybe 10 minutes for Manta but never more than about a 3 train wait. I hope Mako is a great addition for the park at this time. As average as I think Antartica is (and I have no idea what the capacity of that thing is) it always has a 30+ minute wait, so I can't help but wonder if something more family friendly like Cobra's Curse would have been a better option. We'll see!

Wasn't there a rumor a few years back about B&M developing a flying coaster style dive machine? I love Sheikra and think it's an awesome coaster that would be a nice addition to most any park but Cedar Point already has 3 rides with verticalish drops over 200 feet, not sure how much this would stand out in their collection. A flying Dive Machine would be pretty awesome, and really crazy addition to that park.

Has there been any more talk or announcements made about the Rivers of Light Prade/show thing they're working on in the lagoon near Everest? Last time I was at AK there was lot of active constuction goin on over there that you could see from the guest areas and it was pretty clear that they were building in some tierd seating areas all around the perimiter of that area. Seems like that addition got intorduced a long time ago but there has been next to nothing said about it ever sice. Maybe they're wiating until closer to the opening of Avatar to annonce it more about it?