Erik Johnson

I guess that means that SFGAdv now will have the only remaining Intamin parachute tower in the U.S.

Wait a minute, we all shared our two loaves. I think you only missed out on buying an extra 42 loaves to take home with you. Nice TR as always.

So awesome! I rode that sucker 12 times during evening ERT two years ago. Now that the time is doubled, I wonder how many rides I will get on it this time.

The restraints was the only way to make those coasters thrilling. Now, you really feel like you are going to die.

^ Usually the water is also freezing cold!

I vote for a special TPR winter trip!

Thank you for the Sweet Tea reports as well.

Do not miss the Derby Racer!

Elf needs food, badly!

Next to a girl too, twice!! Ok, it was the same shot.

^ Jealous! It will be King's Dominion for ECB.

Keep 'em coming!

The single rider line works great. I ended up on the ride three more times in the evening on opening day. I would say that the average wait was about 30 minutes.

Nice photos....keep them coming!

Another vote for water challenge Ninja or Acrophobia.

That really was a fun morning. Thanks again for being my tour guide at Uni as well.

It was at closing, or right after.

Cars Land Part 2 and Matterhorn. These are mostly just a few more random photos of Cars Land at night. It really is impressive at night. 90 minute wait, or 5 minute single rider wait. During the 6 month referb they added new trains as well as really cleaning up the mountain. There isn't any other differences other than the Yeti's roar is a bit louder. I really did not care much for the new trains. The old trains had padding, these do not. Your back feels the roughness of the ride a lot more. That was added fast. You get a tiny bit of airtime on the bunny hills. Getting darker now. I love Cars Land at night. Want some night photos? There are some many details to the new land. I love neon. This sign is from another entrance. Same with this one. Oooo....Waterfall.....At Night! Warp Speed! Last riders of the night. Trolley At Night! More menacing...at night! I am so sad that I missed out on Electronica. Not for me! Looks great at night. Menu! So impressive. Here is another one. Good night!

The strange rather large area just to the right of Space Mountain at MK is where I like to go.

Just get to the park a little before opening and go straight to the ride.

No, it would have not fit in my suitcase.

Thanks all. Once this gets to page 4, I will post the others.

Looks like I will have to return to this park next year.

Cars Land Part 1 It really was by chance that I was in town the same week as the opening of Cars Land. I was a bit nervous in that I have only heard of horror stories of how crowded the parks get for any special event or opening of new rides. Since I only had one shot at it this visit, I decided to camp out before the opening of the park. We walked over at 3:00am to find out that everything was extremely well organized. Once you received your color coded wristband (each large group got a specific color) you found a spot at the end of the line. Disney also made sure to have a food vendor as well as open bathrooms open all night. They started letting out group into the park at around 7:30am. The grand-reopening ceremony was around 8:00 I think. After the ceremony was over they dropped the rope and let our group in. Cars Land: Yes, the new area of the park is quite amazing to look at, especially at night. Even if you are not a fan of Cars, I think you can still appreciate the new area. I am honestly not a huge fan of the movies. Also, if you do not know anything about the theme, you can still enjoy it. We first went directly to the brand new ride, Radiator Springs Racers. The area that the ride covers is huge, you really can not get a sense of the attraction's size in photographs. We ended up waiting in the regular queue so we could check it out. The queue is similiar to Big Thunder's due to all of the rock work that surrounds you. Many older artifacts with an automotive theme is also present. No, I would not call the queue are amazing, but it is nicely done. We came very close to getting on the ride until it ended up breaking down for 90 minutes. You can say that the control room became a hornet's nest soon after the breakdown. Even Tom Staggs (Head of all Disneyparks) came over to see what was wrong. They got it back up running again, people then cheered. As for ride itself. I thought it was really a lot of fun with some amazing theming throughout the ride. No, it does not make my top ten list of Disney Attractions (The original Tower of Terror in Florida being my #1), but I think they got a lot of things right with it. It is certainly better than the last group of large budgeted rides that has been opened in the US parks in the last decade. (i,e. Everest, Mission Space, Toy Story, Little Mermaid etc.). I ended up getting on the ride four times during the day (Single Rider Line is your friend). I had two daytime and as well as two nighttime rides. I do much prefer riding it at night since the lighting is truly fantastic. As for the ride itself, I would give it a B+. Theming is top notch as well as the dark section. The speed section is also a lot of fun, but I would not call it thrilling. Yes, it is easy to compare it to Test Track. I think Cars Land is better in every aspect to Test Track, but Test Track's speed section is MUCH more thrilling. Anyways, let us check out some photos. I will post a second batch of photos soon with night time photos as well as my review of the newly refurbished Matterhorn. 3am in front of the gates of DCA. It was very well organized, noticed the tape lines. I guess I should get a bit of a nap. They are starting to let our group in! I think he is someone important. Big TV! Wow, I can't see the stage from way back here. This would be the brand new park map. Something new has been added. Schedule for new stuff. New Fast Pass options and more. They have these newspapers in several spots near the park entrance. I am curious how long they will continue to print these. Park officially re-dedicated. It was cool that everyone was greeted by a large crew of Disney management including Tom Staggs. Good morning. We made it! We are making our way down to the end of the street. Flo's. I will eat there later. A fire truck. Yay! This would be the entrance to Radiator Springs Racers. These would be the fast pass machines. For opening day, they were using the Tough To Be a Bug ones to help regulate crowds. I am not sure when they will start using these. Closer look of the entrance sign. There is a big bridge across the queue. The queue really does remind me a lot of Big Thunder's. The queue is pretty nice and has detail. There is also several covered sections as well. Good to know. Continuing on with the whole Route 66 theme. Again the queue is pretty nice. What is that all over the walls? Looks like glass. Oh, that explains it. I sure hope people do not use these as gum holders. The rock work is fantastic. Zoom! Gas pump theming. This is where we got to experience the first ever (open to the public) break down of the ride. They got it back up 90 minutes later. Rules of the ride. Ooooo.....We are almost there. Our ride vehicle. We are ready to go! We first have to get our belts checked. Hello there, Belt Checker! Roxanne and Linda are also ready for our ride. Waterfall reveal! Looking back at where we just came from. Hello there Mack! The Sheriff was quite amazing. The first of 2,532 other Maters in the ride. Which way do we go? Luigi's is my favorite side. This is my favorite section of the dark ride. Are you going to change my tires little guy? Old New Thanks!! Getting ready for the race! Doc was also pretty impressive. Our fans! You are going down! We are off! Hairpin turn. We won! Hi guys. The full Route 66. My first group of riders. How many TPR members do you see? The random racing aspect of the ride is quite fun. Again, the rock work is amazing. Just like the movie. Check out the wait time now. There are a lot of nice little touches in the area. Luigi's Tires. I never got on either of the other rides. They had a 2+ hour wait for both of theme. I will check them out next time. I think they broke the sign. That is a serious line. Even the Cozy Cone lines were long. Next visit! Again, theming abounds! More Route 66. Let us check out Flo's. This would be the menu. They do serve both beer and wine. Inside is certainly colorful. This line actually went pretty fast. I wonder what I should drink. Working hard. Pretty good for a quick serve place. Notice the real silverware and yes that is the special Mater's Tea. This would be the end of Radiator Springs Racer's line. It turned out to be a 6 1/2 hour wait from this point. Trolley! Trolley! Now it is starting to remind me of Main Street USA: Part 2. The new statue. Words. The new stores had more of a nicer department store feel to them. Plenty of things to buy. Again, pretty nice. New Mickey Ears. Yep. So Lucky.

I was pleasently surprised with the new upgrades that I ended up riding it four times this visit. That is about the same number of times that I have ridden the original version in the last 7 or 8 years.