Stitch

I have to commend Maurer Shone, they are making these innovative coasters instead of doing the tried and true. I am not sure what an X-Car expierence is like but I do know I would take a new expeirence over an old one any day

Woo hoo, this is my 300th post ... I feel so special

Lamb Of God - Laid To Rest

I voted for water melon, even though I am not a real fan of melons (the fruit ). Elissa, I think that picture is going to follow you to the grave, "Here lies Elissa Alvey, check out this photo of here at Carowinds ... cool huh".

Dr. Doom's Fear Fall is by far my favorite drop ride because of it's theme! Photo from www.orlandorocks.com

Nice trip report, did you ride the largest coaster there ... Cobra . I have seen many Vekoma valleys, when Vampire was at SFKK it would valley all the time.

The argument I have heard a couple of times now that the bold terror part in Alien Encounter's name was enough to warn families is untrue in my opinion. When an average guest goes to Disney World's Magic Kingdom they are there thinking the scariest Disney's attractions will get is the Haunted Mansion. Families assumed with Alien Encounter it would be a fun scary and not the real terror it was. Disney did all they could to make the general public aware that Alien Encounter was a very intense and scary attraction. Unfortunately, the general public isn't very smart or observant, leading to multiple complaints over the years of young guests being scared to much by the attraction. This lead Disney to change the attraction to Stitch's Great Escape, in an attempt to please the family driven customers that visit the Magic Kingdom.

I thought the same exact thing when I saw the pictures. I saw the same program, the hotel was designed with the all those windows so the Dragon could come from the hills and make it to the ocean. Robb, I liked your comment on the Bedei (I think that's how it's spelled) and the commode, choose wisely indeed

Young Kid's Toys Alphabee Glow Worm Speak And Spell Kid's Toys Micro-Machines Monsters In My Pocket Street Sharks Z-bots Shows Denver The Last Dinosaur He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Thunder Cats

Now this is a sports car for the young Japanese girl at heart Hello Kitty

Well, I think they spent their entire budget on Stitch, the DNA cannons and the new chamber. I still think that the interaction you get with the audio animatronic Stitch is much better than a ride that just features him. A way to explain what I mean by featuring him would be, Disney could of taken the Astro Orbiters and changed the vehicles to the space cruisers in Lilo and Stitch and slapped a Stitch sticker on them. I think that the Imagineers did a superb job making a ride with Stitch, given their conditions.

It's cool Twister, I know how hard it is to understand what people mean through posts, it's much easier in person. While I haven't had the opportunity to ride Stitch's Great Escape I hope to in the future

I never said people can't or shouldn't hate Stitch's Great Escape. If you read what I said correctly I said that people shouldn't judge or presume Stitch's Great Escape is bad only due to the fact that it took the place of Extraterrorestrial Alien Encounter . Let's try to keep this a friendly discussion and not take comments so personally ok?

That may be true for a physical ride but Stitch's Great Escape is a show, not a ride. Since I rode Alien Encounter I know how the restraints feel and how incredible the 3-d sound is. Watching a new show in a theater you have already been in is very similar, just because I haven't smelled his belch or felt the restraints doesn't mean my opinions are as you said "Useless".

While you may be trying to start a flame war I am not, I haven't ridden it in person but I did watch a complete on ride video. I also rode the The Extra Terrorestrial Alien Encounter, so I can compare Stitch's Great Escape to it from first hand experience. Let's keep this a mature conversation shall we

I finally got to take a ride on the Matterhorn Bobsleds thanks to that site. The entire time I was watching the video I kept thinking of Robb's picture of him standing by the Yeti and thinking that he was the one yelling at the guests from the shadows

Well Alien Encounter will always be better than Stitch's Great Escape in terms of originality and thrill factor. The point I was trying to make is I personally don't think people should put so much scrutiny on SGE just because it took Alien Encounter's place.

Coconut Cream Pie is by far my favorite pie!

I respect your opinion of Stitch's Great Escape, I am sorry you didn't enjoy it. I understand whole heartily the angst people can have when another attraction takes the place of one they love. Paramount's King's Island took out King Cobra for Delirium, I love King Cobra so I was obviously very upset. I do how ever know that Delirium is a much better attraction for the park. My point is, just because a ride took the place of one of your favorites doesn't make it a bad one. After watching the video I personally feel that Disney did a generally good job changing Alien Encounter to Stitch's Great Escape. The real neat thing about riding Stitch's Great Escape is you are basicly riding Alien Encounter, it uses a lot of the same hardware. Stitch's Great Escape as it stands needs work but I feel over time it will be perfected and become more popular.

I found an on ride video of Stitch's Great Escape! Now you can see it and judge it for yourself. I personally feel that it was well balanced, with some good scary parts and family friendly funny parts. There was a bit too much darkness though for real young guests. The effects were amazing though, Stitch looks so real in his movements and those DNA cannons were awesome. Take a ride for yourself and post your opinion of it. http://www.mousetimes.com/nuke/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownloaddetails&lid=32&title=Stitch's%20Great%20Escape

I was searching the web for an Extra Terrorestrial Alien Encounter video when I stumbled upon this site. There are a ton of different rides from all the Disney parks. I thought I would share it with my fellow TPR members, enjoy! Disney On-Ride Videos

I didn't say to remove the pitch black parts completely, I meant you could add more light for the parts of extended darkness. Just enough light to give the guests a better sense of safety. The Imagineers have a very difficult job in front of them, they have to make an enjoyable attraction that isn't so tame it's boring. I have faith that the Imagineers will be able to make a program that will please everyone because of the amazing job they did on Alien Encounter. Disney's Imagineers are the best at what they do, rivaled only by the ride makers at Universal. I am a huge fan of Universal but I have to give the Imagineer's their credit, they are working with a difficult group ... families. Universal makes their rides scary, knowing that people will want to get on it. The Imagineers have to make something that makes everyone happy, stays within their budget and meets their deadline. I have the highest respect for Walt Disney and the many great artists, engineers and employees that work for Disney. However, I have no respect for the unspeakable conditions they put their artists, engineers and Imaingeers through - Stitch

While I don't know of the Alien scene in the MGM Studios it brings up another interesting thing about the Alien Encounter history I would like to share. One day Michael Eisner took his teenage son to Disney Land and was told by his son that the park was lame. After hearing this Eisner went to the Imagineers and wanted them to make a thrilling ride to draw teenagers to the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. When Disney came out with Star Tours they gained the rights to use 20th Century Fox's characters. The Imagineers were then asked to make a ride to take the place of the low popularity ride Mission to Mars (I think that's it's name) that was themed to the Alien from 20th Century Fox's film, Alien by Ridley Scott. The original ride concept was called the Nostromo (For those who haven't seen the movie Alien, the Nostromo is the ship the Alien was on), guests would board their cars and shoot the Aliens with guns. This ride concept was immediately shot down because the leaders of the Disney ride board didn't want to see kids with guns. This concept would later come out as Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. So, the Imagineers had to scrap their concept and start all over. The new idea was to use the two existing amphitheaters as holding chambers for the Alien. This idea was approved and the Imagineers created the ride using the new 3-D audio system in the shoulder harnesses and some real basic effects. Once the ride was in it's basic state they went to get the Alien creature but ended up getting shot down by the Disney board because the 20th Century Fox Alien was way too violent. Now the Imagineers had to make their own creature, which they did and the rest is the rides known history. From the start of this rides conception it had nothing in common with the Magic Kingdom but it was designed to scare the pants off of you. Why I have a set respect for Stitch's Great Escape is because they managed to keep a balance of Alien Encounter and Stitch. As time is proving the Alien Encounter aspects that live on are still too frightening for young guests and need to be worked out, as stated in my previous post. Here is a cool picture I found for all the Alien Encounter fans out there, I am one myself. It is a picture of the old creature in it's transportation tube! Alien Encounter

That is a very lame story line and a real shame that Disney didn't call him Experiment 626. The ending sounds very dumb, if it is a prequel Stitch should of been caught in the end because at the start of Lilo and Stitch he is on trial . I know why they had that kids voice, the Imagineers had a similar problem with Alien Encounter. Due to the loud sound effects and screaming the audience couldn't follow the story, so they added in those voices to keep the audience aware of what's going on. Disney should of thought this attraction through more, having larger moments of light and shorter moments of pitch black. I have heard that Imagineers are putting in a holographic Stitch that goes on the walls to lower the pitch black time. I think they could do the initial beginning the same (Which sounds very cool), have a pitch black moment then go to a dark room with a visible broken cell and Stitch running around on the walls (Hologram effect). The ending should be changed having Stitch being captured after a second pitch black moment to get the chamber back up and the Stitch Audio Animatronic raised again. If the show was like that it would have a effective story (beginning, middle, climax and ending), an actual ending leaving the audience with a sense of safety and completion and more balanced fun to scary ratio. In my opinion Disney should of worked much longer on this project instead of releasing it and then fixing the problems. Although from what I have read about Disney, they don't give their Imagineer's prudent time to make their attractions great before their rushed openings. Stitch is a character children love because he is bad but still loveable. The attraction should emphasize on letting the guests be with Stitch instead of making them afraid of him. I would love to see Disney make this attraction a truly great one but as it stands it doesn't sound like a Great Escape - Stitch Some cool pictures I found 1:Stitch in his tube. 2:Skippy 3:Mutated Skippy Stitch

I am not too sure what you are trying to get at in your post. When I said I was seven when I rode Alien Encounter, I was just going from my memory. I see that I was wrong, I was nine as you pointed out. There is an argument in to be had that most kids and families had no idea what to expect from Alien Encounter, yes there were some general warnings but nothing really saying how intense it was. Children, no matter what their age, wouldn't have ever experienced anything like Alien Encounter so when you say "Terror" was enough to keep people out is unjust in my eyes. I really respect how scary Alien Encounter was and I wish I would of had another chance to ride it but I still don't think it belonged in the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom is comprised of all family friendly rides, the most intense being the mountains. Alien Encounter should of been placed in the MGM Studios in my opinion because most of Disney's thrill rides are there. You brought up that any ride at Disney must be family friendly so Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster shouldn't be there. I wasn't saying Disney shouldn't make thrilling rides, I was saying Alien Encounter shouldn't of been in Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is known as a place to go to have a happy time, not have the day lights scared out of you. Disney made Alien encounter because teens felt like there wasn't anything thrilling enough at Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. In my opinion Magic Kingdom should be left as a family park and let Disney parks meant to be thrilling have thrill rides (IE : California Adventure). Some people may think I am trying to say "Why does everyone hate Stitch's Great Escape?" or "Alien Encounter sucked and Stitch is better.", I am not I am just asking people what their views are. Try to remember that I am only expressing my opinions, I am not saying that only they are right. I appreciate the feedback Shepp and would like to ask you to see that I am just expressing my opinions - Stitch On a side note, I love the Stitch audio animatronic ... it's amazing! Stitch Animatronic