tinaalsgirl

Gotta say I'm kinda surprised to be the first one to answer Chiapas on here. I discovered the soundtrack when someone used it for their Planet Coaster timelapses, and now I have the entire soundtrack in my main playlist on Spotify.

This has to be the grossest Disney employee in the history of the entire company. That ear thing is just horrid, it almost makes me want to puke. And you can tell he favors that side when he's talking just to swing it back and forth and show it to everybody. The fact that Disney would put this guy on camera for a promotion video baffles me. What the friggin hell? The earrings happen to be souvenirs from places all around the world that he has visited; he actually has referred to it as his "National Geographic ear". Joe Rohde has been an Imagineer for almost forty years. He was the lead designer of Animal Kingdom (from beginning to now, including Pandora: The World of Avatar), as well as a lead on Aulani. He worked on the Mexico and Norway pavilions at Epcot. He was even the model for Harrison Hightower for the DisneySea Tower of Terror. He has been the face of Disney Imagineering for ages now. Please show some respect.

I've had trouble seeing the pictures as well. I've found that if you right-click on a broken pic, choose "open in new tab", it takes you to a site with a captcha (a tick-the-box kind, thankfully). After verifying you're real, the picture loads. Then, if you reload this thread, the pics suddenly appear. So the problem seems to be the security on the server the pics are being uploaded to.

I was at SDC on Friday, and it was great. The only negative was how hot it was. Created a bit of a weird feeling because I'm not used to being at SDC when it's 90-degrees out (I tend to avoid the summer and go in the spring and fall & Christmas). The crowds were light, which helped us do quite a bit. I was with my dad, my sister, my bro-in-law, and my three nieces (ages 8 [N8], 3 [N3], and 1 [N1]). First up was Grandfather's Mansion, which was one of the only things N8 remembered from her last time at SDC (which was when she was only 3). She loved it, but N3 was not fond; she's currently going through a "scared of the dark" phase, so she wasn't easy to please with the indoor stuff. We went to the Saloon Show after that. I hadn't been to the park since 2013, so I hadn't gotten to see the revived Mean Murphy show. I loved it! I was so happy to get that shot of nostalgia from when I was a kid (the Mean Murphy show was the show they did back in the mid-90s when I first went to SDC). I also enjoyed seeing Dave and Rachel still front-lining the show; they're both so talented! The girls all liked it, except N3 was scared of the gunshots. I am autistic and sudden loud noises severely distress me, so I had to make sure to ask Ma Hatfield as we got in the queue if there were real gunshots or recorded, as that had been the case a few years ago; they are using blanks again, so if you or a family member has trouble with loud noises, be prepared. Additionally, they use very heavy strobe lighting in the finale of the show, so be aware if you or a loved one suffers from seizures. After the Saloon, we headed over to Fire in the Hole. I sat with N8; my BIL sat with N3.... Yeah. Well, that was not the best ride to go on. N8 had never ridden a coaster aside from a kiddie coaster. She informed me a couple days later that the reason she didn't like Fire in the Hole was because she thought the lap bar was going to fly up when we went down the hills. So now that she knows the lap bars lock, there may be a chance I can get her back on it in a year or two. As for N3.... she didn't like how dark it was, and she definitely did NOT like the drops. I give major credit to her, though, for not crying. But man I wish I'd had a camera on me to capture the look on her face when we rolled into the station and into the light.... I don't know how long it'll be before I can convince her to go on that again. Next, we traversed over to the Red Gold Heritage Hall because my dad insisted that we must see the Wild West Show. I had planned to let everyone else go and while they were at the show, I'd take pictures of the area that will be getting changed as part of the 2017/2018 projects.... but it was so hot and I was already so exhausted (I'm still recovering from the pneumonia I caught at the beginning of August and my lungs just still aren't as strong as they were before I got sick), so I ended up going to the show with everyone else and I'm glad I did. The Wild West Show was very well done. I'd been uninterested in taking the time out to see it because it looked in the pics I'd seen like a tiny version of Dixie Stampede, which we were going to the next day. But while the concept is similar, there are actually aspects of the WWS that I preferred over DS. Particularly, I was very impressed and happy with the segment that featured Nakotah LaRance, the Hopi hoop dancer, and his father, Steve LaRance (who played the drum as well as had his own jewelry booth in the Frisco Barn). The Dixie Stampede segment concerning Native Americans didn't specify at all what nations were being represented, and it felt rather generic (also, the old man mask was really strange and creepy); the segment at the SDC show featured a specific dance from a specific nation, named the performers, and their dress was specific to the nation they were representing as well. After the Wild West Show, we rode the train, which all the girls were excited about, particularly N3 as she is obsessed with trains at the moment. We ended up going right around lunchtime, so only Ralphie (or maybe it was Alfie - I didn't pay enough attention to the name, oops) was present. But the actor was top-notch and carried the whole show very well. Since I've seen the show many times, I was able to warn the girls when to cover their ears for the gunshot, which helped. Since we were right there, we went straight to Flooded Mine after the train. I was again impressed by the work done on the ride. Everything looks nicely painted and there were some effects I noticed that I didn't remember from before (the glowing coals in the bucket at the end with the "hurry up, Fred" guy, for example). Sadly, after having taken some pics of the entrance, a few of Huck Finn's Hideaway, and tons of pics of the Saloon Show, I turned on the camera in the Flooded Mine to take some pics only to find that the battery was now dead because I'd forgotten to put it back on its charger the night before. So from then on, I was unable to get any pics with my sister's nice camera. Thankfully, she's got a newer phone, so her phone pics turned out pretty good. After Flooded Mine, we ate at the Tater Patch. We had a "meat bee" hovering around us, and N3 was getting pretty upset about it. My dad started swiping at it, despite me telling them all to just ignore it and not make moves against it because that would just make it attack. Well, I was right. It ended up landing on N3's knee and stinging her (I just did a search on "meat bees" and it turns out it was a yellow jacket, which would explain why there was no stinger in the wound). For the first few seconds, we thought she was just freaking out because it touched her, but then she continued to cry and scream and we realized it had actually stung her. The lady sitting at the picnic table behind us overheard and came over and directed us to use ice on the wound. I went over to the food stand and asked where First Aid was; she told me how to get there and then asked if my niece was allergic and if we needed her to call the EMTs down to us. My niece is not allergic and just needed some neosporin and a bandaid. I went back over to our table and told them where First Aid was and we decided we'd go up there and get a bandaid. Lo and behold, as we started to leave, the lady who had been sitting behind us overheard us again and offered us a bandaid. She had a whole ziploc of first aid stuff! She was so nice and putting the bandaid on the wound helped N3 calm down. By the end of the day, the wound was almost gone. We decided to go to Grand Exposition, because I'd told my nieces about the "Dumbo ride" and since N3 is obsessed with elephants as well, we figured taking her on a ride we knew she'd like would help get her mind off her sting. Sure enough, not only did she love it, but I had to ride it twice in a row with her, LOL. After that, she went on the teacups with her mother, and then N8, my sis, and N3 went on the kiddie coaster. N8 loved it; N3 wasn't a huge fan. Since N1 had only gotten to do a couple things due to her age, we took the girls over to the tiny kiddie rides and N1 rode the Happy Frogs with her mommy; N8 and N3 also rode it together. They also all did the Wings of Wonder, with my sister barely fitting into the seat behind N1 (it's kinda amusing to watch all the parents having to sit sideways so they can ride with their little ones). The girls then went with my dad and BIL to the bathrooms while my sister and I got to ride our one "adult" ride of the day - Electro Spin. She'd never been on it. It was HILARIOUS the way she scared-giggled every time we got to the very top where it looks like we're gonna fly out into the open. She loved the ride! After getting ice cream over by the Red Gold, we headed to Fireman's Landing. This was another thing that was new since the last time I'd been there. I'd seen plenty of pictures, but man it was great to see it in person! What a great replacement for Geyser Gulch! Since it was hot as sin, we took the girls over to the splash yard and they had TONS of fun! N1 was particularly fond of standing right by one of the water holes and leaning down over it until it splashed her bang on in the face. LOL All three girls got soaking wet. After a while, I asked N8 if she'd like to try Firefall. Well, that turned out to be yet another bad ride choice. She didn't make a peep when the ride shot us up, but as soon as we got the airtime at the top, she started screaming bloodcurdling murder. I've never been with a person that has screamed that terrifyingly on a ride ever before. I'm honestly surprised the poor thing didn't pee her pants or something. What I found kinda amusing was that when we got on the ride, there was a gal in line who was close enough to hear me assuring N8 that it would be okay and that it's okay to scream and what-not. The gal obviously heard and saw when my niece started screaming on the ride and as we came back down into the station, the gal had the most amused look on her face. I couldn't help laughing while asking my niece several times, "Are you okay?" BTW, Firefall is not particularly easy to get on for a short person. They had to push my OTSR down a bit because I have a large bust, but it was trying to climb into the seat that was the worst part; I'm 5'3" and I wish they'd had a step stool there.... We went back over to our group and my sister could see how terrified N8 was. She hugged her and exclaimed that she could feel her heart beating super fast, the poor girl. By then, it was getting pretty late in the afternoon, so we decided to head up to do the petting zoo.... When we got up there, we found it closed off and there was another family there who said they'd tried to go earlier in the day and it'd been closed then, too. Dunno why it was closed. So, N8 wanted to do Grandfather's Mansion again, so she and my dad went through it while I just sat on a bench in the main square because by that time I had a blister on my toe, the heat was really getting to me, and I'd done enough walking and hill climbing that my lungs were done for the day. Sadly, my dad rushed us through the exit pretty fast so I didn't get a chance to look for or buy any souvenirs this time around. The girls got souvenirs, though! Earlier in the day, when we were in the Grand Exposition area, the girls wanted to play one of the carnival games that was across the way from Red Gold Heritage Hall. It was the game where you pay $5 for 3 balls to throw into different colored holes. I've never been particularly fond of carnival games at theme parks, but what I like about SDC's is that no matter how you do in a game, you still win a prize. So you're basically buying a toy for $5 (which really is a steal at a theme park) and get to have fun at the same time. The Citizen at the booth was nice and let the girls play 4 balls instead of 3. N8 didn't get any of the special holes, so she picked out a square dalmatian plushie. N3 managed to get her ball into the gold hole, so she got to pick a big prize and chose a giant blue plush raccoon with giant eyes. For N1, she tends to throw her balls down instead of out, so the Citizen had my sister bring her around and into the booth and had N1 stand on the edge of the game "board" so she could just drop her balls. She didn't get any special holes, so she picked out two small neon monkey plushes - green and pink. And that's just something I have to say about all the Citizens at SDC. I am forever impressed with how friendly and giving they are. I didn't meet a single unhappy Citizen that day. And now I'm itching to go back to the park. SDC is one of my special interests, and being away from there for three years was TERRIBLE. And now that I've gotten to go again, I'm itching to go back. Plus, there were a LOT of things we didn't see or do (Fire in the Hole was the only "coaster" I got to go on), so I can't wait to go back and have maybe a bit more slow, casual, and ride-filled day next time. Or maybe, if I'm lucky, get to have a two-day trip to the park! Shout-out, btw, to my friend who got me the tickets. We wouldn't have had this great trip to Branson without him! (besides SDC, we did Dixie Stampede, Branson Landing & Dicks 5&10, and the Butterfly Palace; I liked the new DS show, though there are things that I think could be improved still - I'd love to see more of the lumberjack segment; now I wanna go see the new Lumberjack Adventure in Tennessee! And I'd never been to Butterfly Palace and I LOVED it! I also like how the admission price gets you a wristband for three days!)

This first one is of me on Outlaw Run in July 2013; the top one is me riding during the day, the bottom is me riding it after dark for the first time. I've always found the difference in my expressions rather amusing. And this pic is my friends and I in 2011 in the front row on Disney's Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom. My favorite part of this photo is the two guys behind us; the one on the left looks super underwhelmed, while the guy next to him looks terrified beyond belief!

Personally, I feel like IPs are a great way to get kids interested in learning new things. I mean, it's not like World Showcase doesn't already have IP presences. At least half the pavilions have meet & greets with characters. United Kingdom has meet & greets with Alice, Mary Poppins, and Pooh & Tigger. France has Belle (Peasant) and Beast, Princess Aurora, and Marie from Aristocats (also, when I was there in 2012, they had a Remy animatronic on a little cart that they pushed around Chefs de France; don't know if that's still there). Morroco has Princess Jasmine and Aladdin. Germany has Snow White. China has Mulan. Norway now has Anna & Elsa. Mexico has Donald Duck (Three Caballeros-style). Now that they have an Elena of Avalor face character, I'd actually love to see her do meet & greets at the Mexico pavilion. I also really wish the United Kingdom pavilion could've gotten the amazing Alice in Wonderland & Robin Hood (omg!) stuff that were in plans for an expansion seen here: http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/uk.htm It would be an amazing way to bring kids in while still keeping the country the focal point. Also, I loved how when my friend and I were doing shopping in the UK pavilion, one of the cashiers asked us trivia and we got stickers for getting right answers. Additionally, I love how all the pavilions have people working there who are from those countries. It just adds to the atmosphere so much. So, anyway, long story short, I have no problem with IPs in the World Showcase and would be fine with seeing more if done right (from what I've heard/read, the museum in Norway actually does an excellent job of showing how Norway inspired Frozen). Just don't do anything to Spaceship Earth, though, or there'll be at least a one-person riot. PS: Kinda sad to hear Universe of Energy will be replaced. I really enjoyed it and it was a great break from the heat. But I can understand the need to renovate; the animatronics were rather sad-looking and the science is outdated. I'd love to see them add a Tron coaster to Future World, btw. PPS: I was one of those "weird" kids who was devastated when my parents decided we'd skip Epcot during our first visit to WDW. I didn't get to go until I was 26 and I actually felt like a little kid experiencing that park for the first time. I fell in love so hard and fast. Then again, I've always been fascinated with history, learning, and time travel (the future represented in Future World, the "old world" feel of the World Showcase).

I was pretty excited back in '14 when they brought back the train robbery, which I'd never experienced there at WOF.... Gotta say, though, I wasn't too impressed when compared to SDC's skit. Are they still doing it there at WOF? Do they still have those characters roaming the park in an old-fashioned car? They'd go by the airbrush stand every once in a while and they seemed to be having a lot of fun interacting with the kids. I was really happy to see some kind of roaming entertainers at the park. Hope they're still doing that.

Woah. I've had deep fried Oreos, but not *red velvet* deep fried Oreos. That sounds AMAZING. I'll definitely have to try those out next time I'm at the park (need to get me some of that new fry bread, too).

I actually worked at that "trashy shirt place" back in 2014 during July 4th weekend. I was there when that fight broke out. It was cray. I would've been super freaked out if not for my supervisor warning me way ahead of time that there tends to be fighting every year on that weekend. I'm not surprised it happened again, and in that area. It's kind of a bottleneck on both sides; you've got a large circular plaza with a smaller path out on both ends. Get a hundred or so sweaty, hormonal teenagers mashed together in there, and, well, something's bound to happen. Kinda surprised WOF hasn't come up with a way to avoid this, since they absolutely know that fights like these happen pretty much every year on this exact holiday weekend. Sad to hear that the food & drink places are going downhill. I often see complaints about the attitudes and actions of WOF employees and it just makes me wonder if it's really THAT bad of a job? I suppose it could be that most of them are teens who were probably pressured into getting a job by their parents and are thus spending their summer vacation working instead of getting to do their own thing. But even then, they should be getting better training for how to deal with park guests. For me, I wasn't actually an employee of WOF itself, 'cause the airbrush stand I worked at is actually run by an outside company (which also runs the face paint & henna stands). And it sounds like I got lucky, 'cause my employer was AMAZING. I'm autistic and originally applied to do rice jewelry, not knowing that the rice jewelry was a part of the face painting stand. My manager and I talked about my disability at the end of auditions and we both agreed that face painting wasn't going to work out for me (I'm not good at small talk and looking people in the eye, both not good qualities for a face painter). He asked his supervisors in other departments if there were any openings, and they got me on at the airbrush stand because I'd be mostly interacting with the airbrush rather than people, LOL. My co-workers were AMAZING, and everyone was so super-accommodating. I don't think I'll ever find a job as nice as that one in terms of how understanding they were of my limitations (I once had to call in sick the morning of my shift because I woke up having a major panic attack that had me in tears for hours). So... anyway, I've been a lurker for quite a while and read all the threads for my favorite parks, and just happened to read this and was moved to finally join in on the conversation.