SoCal Park Photo TR

[Gnome]

I got out of school at 9:45 due to finals on Thursday. So I took the day to go to knotts. It was the first of 4 parks total. The following day, and I had the full day off, so I went to Disneyland Resort with my cousin and visited both DCA as well as Disneyland, and on the third day, (Saturday) I visited USH with my cousin as well. So its been a fun weekend for me. 3 days of back to back fun is pretty good, imo. Anyways, I shall open up my TR with a quick summary on my though about knotts.

 

So a quick essay about some things I have noticed about knotts. So you can skip the rant if you would rather just see pictures, its just some ideas that maybe one of the guys who helps makes the decisions on the attractions will see, and maybe help them start thinking more about what they are building and actually building a quality attraction that will impress the guests instead of just mildly entertain them for 2 minutes & 30 seconds. And pretty much my case and point: the park is very boring. And I don't mean the rides, but just the general atmosphere of the park as well as ride selection. I think there has been to much focus on the "thrill" & kiddy aspect of the park and not enough on the family aspect as a whole (Which would include things such as a new dark ride, theming, and other various entertainment in general) So what they really need to do is make the park knott boring.

 

A quick list of things I noticed:

Cement: BORING! If you looks at parks like Universal or Disney, you'll notice that their concrete is not just cement on the ground (you can even notice this in older areas of knotts) They're usually colored differently, generally to match the general theme, or contrast the paint with in the area. Some times they'll have a blend of various concrete colors, making various patterns in the ground. Knott's take a note of this, while its more expensive and time consuming to do this, in the long run I think it will pay off because while the guest doesn't really notice it, there is a subtle effect.

 

Midway Games: Your 1950's boardwalk area has way to many of these, and in fact the whole area just looks horrible. I hate how there's a bunch of midway games along the backside of the sky-tower. It looks ugly and I think games are generally unwelcome by most guests. Maybe building more shops instead and trying to get your guests to spend that way would work better. I know I would much rather go through a shop, and I'm also much more likely to buy merchandise then I am to play a midway game. But really I think the whole area is do for a re-theme since its really lost much of its identity after WindJammer was removed. It basically goes from 1950's to boardwalk, to 1950s, to Roaring 20's. Of course we all know hell will freeze over before something like this is fixed by any CF management.

 

Lack of Family oriented rides. It urks me that there once was a large variety of attractions that the whole family could enjoy from a very young age all the way to even an age with the most daring thrill seekers. But since then, any attraction for the youngons have all been removed saved the ones at Camp Snoopy. But those ones are lame because the adults either don't want to go on the ride or they can't go on the ride and as a result, they have to sit off on the side. Lame! I think future attractions should have a general focus on family as a whole and not just one specific age group. You can start by placing in new ride in the KOD building, and keep in mind that trains do not work well on dark rides.

 

Too many trash cans, and not of not beauty. I think when some one pays for entry into a theme park, they shouldn't just be paying for the rides but the experience as a whole. There is far to much cement, and while there are some areas that look pretty good (mainly the older areas) a lot of areas look pretty blank. I think the addition of grass in some areas (and there are areas which could use some grass) would greatly improve the look. I think the lake needs to fixed up. Have the train take the route it should have been taking all along and fill the lake completely up. Add more buildings and make a themed area more distinct and fun to be around.

I also think that they should pay attention to the que of thier rides. On a busy day you could be stuck in line for a good 30 minutes on up to an hour. Why not do something with the que instead of just have it be switchback after switchback. Give us something more to enjoy besides the rollercoaster or the TV screen. Sure you don't have to go all out, but just give us something more.

 

I think if knotts start putting a focus on general aesthetics around the park and chooses more quality family friendly attractions in the future, I think I may find this park to be something that is really fun to go to again, instead of it just being the near by place to go when I'm bored so I can go on a couple of fairly good roller coasters, but nothing else to really offer.

 

Anyways, here's an update of the park.

Anyways, I leave you with one last picture of knotts. Who would a thought that the exterior of the park would look so much nicer then whats inside?

I also walked into Independence hall. But given the awkwardness of being the only one in there, I quickly left.

Jeez it looks like a hurricane is blowing into town.

They were also dealing drugs in the parking lot

So I left the park and explored the parking lot. And I thought to myself, geez there sure is a lot of bird crap on the ground.

So before I left the park, I walked over to Big Foots Rapids to find out it broke down. I'm sure this cat had something to do with it....

I'm sure some one found that to be highly offensive. So to help vent your rage, count the number of trash cans in this picture.

I think it would be cool if knotts went for a more authentic Mexican look. That would include various things such as grafitti, kids playing futball in the street, and some one doing an infomercial about donating 10 cents a day to help some starving kids

BTW, carousels are SOOO boring! But none the less I remember when I used to think they were fun and I rode them all day long. But that was so long.. long.. ago...

And I took a picture of myself

I wandered back into Fiesta Village and rode the carousel

over to a more ideal spot between the bridge of the train and the path.

But then they could move this ugly thing....

But the path kind of ends right after the turn.

I mean they still have some of the path where the tracks used to lay at.

The train track should go around its original course, and the entire reflection lake should be full. It would add so much more to the ride, imo.

With this face, I was trying to tell the readers that the ride is thrilling, yet fun enough to be a good first step towards future roller coaster enthusiests.

It has a 0 homie G roll

and a little roller coaster that I like to call, "Silver Bullet"

You'll also notice a large posse of trash cans.

Anyways, back in the Silver Bullet area, you'll notice a very well themed Dippin Dots stand. I think kirk design helped Knotts out with that one...

Some markers and barricades

I don't think that chair has been moved since it got to that spot.

As for the rest of the construction site, not much has changed. Though there seems to be a trench in progress.

So sexy, the loop of Montezuma is.

Montezuma REVENGE!

The ride looks perfectly fine to me...

Oh really?

Bye bye!

speaking of which, construction of the new ride continues.

Look at those rocks, I hope they never get rid of them!

This area still looks nice.

hmm... theming. Though I think it could use a better paint job. Maybe not so bright?

I mean its ridiculous that a roller coaster with small trains/seat design then space mountain actually has a higher hight limit.

It's to bad they raised the height limit on Jaguar, though. I think it was just fine at 42"

Though the old knotts management did a good job putting this ride together, IMO.

This part of Fiesta Village is pretty boring, visually speaking.

But they should seriously consider updating the Calico Mine Train. They can start with the sound system.

You see, I'm having fun! Fun!

It was fun, but I think it could be more fun if they updated the attraction with more state-of-the-art technology.

So I went on the log ride.

Ahh! Its boomerang!

So many trash cans, so little trash.

As I am now illustrating through the phenomenon that is photography, the water has indeed been drained.

In other news, Perilous Plunge is in its annual rehab, along with Lindsey Lohan and Ghost Rider.

You know he's mumbling to himself some where on this train.

So its the perfect condition for Mantis Man to get a bajillion more rides on Xcelerator today.

No one was on Riptide at all today. I saw them run an empty train.

There was basically no one in the park today.

[Satoshi]

You're really lucky guy who saw a REAL Mantis Man on Xcelerator!

Looks like he's having lots of fun on that thing and hopefully he'll

keep riding on it for ages! I assume he's real American Hero!

[crazyrider06]

Great trip report.. I cant wait for the warm weather so i can start my coaster season

[Jayjay719]

Awesome photo trip report! I can't count all the trash cans, theres to many to my liking lol. But thanks for the pictures!

[SharkTums]

Nice TR...especially for Knotts!

 

I think this goes to day that even parks that 'aren't so great anymore' can be fun if NO ONE is there!

[cfc]

I like the sign that begs forgiveness because the ride is closed.

 

Smite them, O Lord, for closing thy heavenly attraction!

[Gnome]

Thanks for the comments, anyways on to part 2.

 

Disneyland and DCA

 

So on Friday, I got up at 5:00 AM so that way I could take my shower and walk on over to my cousin's house who lives not to far from my house. For you see his dad leaves for work at around 5:30 AM and we were going to hitch a ride with him to Disneyland.

 

So once we got to Disneyland, he dropped us off at the Denny's which lies across the street from the resort. And we went inside and had breakfast. We were the only people inside the building (besides employees) for a good 15-20 minutes. It definitely made us feel special.

 

So afterwards, it was still pretty early. Around 6:20ish and the gates didn't even open till around 8:30. The park would officially open at 9. So we decided that we would explore the resort now. But it was pretty fun wandering around the place not seeing anyone except for employees. I would definitely recommend it if you stay on the resort and want to sacrifice some sleep to look around the resort without having mass multitudes of people spoil the view for you.

 

So we went into the Grand Californian, which is a very nice hotel. I would like to see Disney build a parking structure on their expansive hotel parking lot so that way they could fit in another deluxe hotel. Maybe in the future.

 

We also explored the convention center as well as the right tower of the Disneyland hotel. We had already explored the left tower in previous visits and had come to learn that it's pretty boring compared to the others, as far as the lobby is concerned, anyways.

 

Afterwards, it was around 8:00 AM and we started to head towards the front of the park and wait in line at the gates of Disneyland. We were the 2nd people in line for our gate, but unfortunately by the time the park opened the gates, our Uncle had not arrived to let us in yet, so we stood off to the side and waited about 7 minutes before he was able to let us in.

 

But even though we did not get in right when the gates opened, it was not that big of a deal as most of the people hadn't come and we could still take some pretty good pictures around main street. We also went inside and looked at the shops. I got bored and decided I would wait at the ropes for when they dropped them. (though technically I wasn't at the ropes since I was inside the photography building waiting for the park to open) And then at precisely 9 AM, the park opened and everyone rushed towards Indiana Jones and Space Mountain. We headed towards space mountain, but then made a left and went on Star Tours. We were on the first vehicle of the day, and it was pretty fun.

 

Afterwards we headed across the street and went on BLAB, which is also a very fun ride, I scored a little over 250,000 points which was pretty good for me. Though my highest score was just slightly over 400,000 points.

 

Afterwards we went over to space mountain and got some fast passes, and then headed towards the Matterhorn. We rode left side. (The left side if you are facing towards the station) which both my cousin and I agree is the better of the 2 sides do to its sudden pops of air time, even though it only lasts for a split second and your back on the seat again.

 

After that we went through Fantasy land and took a bunch of pictures. We also went on Pinocchio, Peter Pan, as well as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

 

From there we headed over to Frontier land and went into the petting zoo where they have a diseased cow named Maggie. I think this cow might need to go the way of Old Yeller` as there definitely seemed to be something wrong with it.

 

From there we headed into New Orleans square and listened to the Jazz band play. While we were listening though, one of the characters, "Queenie", from the Marti Gras show that they have wondered over and started singing with the band. I'm not sure if this was planned or if she just felt like singing, but regardless it was definitely fun watching. I also recommend just enjoying this part of the Disney park if you can spare 20 minutes just to enjoy the area.

 

From there we wandered over to The Haunted Mansion, and I have to say that the effects that they have for the attic are very impressive, though I will also say that it really peaks my interest into the back story of the bride, unfortunately other then the one scene there is nothing about the bride.

 

From there we we went towards the Winnie the Pooh ride and then went to Hungry Bear and ate lunch. After that we headed back towards main street because we were expecting my brother to show up soon. SO we rode the fire truck down to the entrance, and then went into the music shop for about a half hour. We were getting impatient and I called my brother to find out where he was at, and it turned out that he hadn't left quite yet, so we decided we would hitch a ride in Double Deck bus. After we got off we walked around the castle and explored that area, and then we headed over to Space Mountain.

 

And now for my review of Rocket Space Mountain...

Overall I liked it, BUT I would not like to see them do this year after year unless they drastically overhaul the lighting system they used. For one, its not Rocket space mountain at all. Its more like Rocking Roller coaster. The lights that they use totally light up the entire track and the illusion that your in space does not exist. Its just track with stage lighting, and go-go dancers on the ceiling.

 

I think the attraction would do much better if they used lasers and the such for lighting this "rocket space mountain," maybe occasionally, having some stage lighting, but personally what I think is they should just build a rocking roller coaster next door at DCA. That's what they should do, then they can leave space mountain as space mountain, and people can ride their rocking roller coaster. Everyone would win.

 

But now that I've stated the cons, I shall now state the pros. I personally liked the opening of the ride. It doesn't seem so retarded when you are actually sitting in the seats compared to watching a video of it on you tube. I liked hearing them test out their instruments in the tunnel, and if they do ever building a rocking roller coaster, I would like to see them implement that some how. Maybe you could be sitting on the launch segment when the win-amp visualizations starts forming around you while the band warms up. Then everything can go silent, then you would hear drum sticks click in the air and you'd launch...

 

Also Its fun riding in the back seat because its definitely fun watching everybody in the car raise their hands, and unlike Florida's space Mountain, you can raise your hands on this ride and not worry about breaking them on the support structure. So overall the music and the atmosphere really make this ride fun, but as I said before, its just not space mountain.

 

So now that I'm done with my review, I shall continue on with the TR. After space mountain we headed towards Innoventions so I could watch ASIMO as I had not seen him yet, though while we were standing in line, my brother came and met up with us. Anyways, we found out that the next ASIMO show wasn't until about an hour and a half from when we were actually in the building and we decided we didn't want to waste that much time.

 

So we headed outside and headed towards DCA. We then went inside a bugs land I think they should really consider tearing down the wall that blocks everyone from the Hollywood back lot. They could have the same wall style as what they have over in Disneyland at the border of Frontier land and Fantasy land. Anyways, its pretty much got to large gates which are closed during operating ours, and when they're open they block off the park paths, but allow things such as vehicles to drive through. If they did that at DCA, that would allow people to move around the park easier, but allow DCA to move their floats through when they need to, or various vehicles. Just a thought.

 

From Bug land we went on Golden Dreams, which imo, is a very good film, but seeing as how majority of the people who go to DCA are from CA, there is just no purpose in having an attraction like that. You see it once and you really don't have to see it again, though if Disney is insistent about keeping it, I would recommend that they relocate it to the front of the park where it would serve as the ride to get you acquainted with the history of the park and a good place to start for first time visitors, or various other visitors.

 

Anyways, after that we went over to California Screaming and checked out the line. It was about a 25 minute wait so we decided we would get fast passes for it.

 

After that we headed over to Denny's for dinner. Yup, i had Denny's twice in one day. Awesome!

 

From there we went back to DCA and went on CAS. It was fun, but the soundtrack is pretty lame. I think that roller coaster idea that they blogged about on Screamscape would have been a lot better. Oh well, its still a very fun ride, and regardless of the song, it will always be California Screaming.

 

After that we went over to Hollywood Backlot. We then headed over towards TOT only to discover the line was 45 minutes long so instead we went on Monsters Inc and then headed over to Muppet Vision 3D. I think that Muppet Vision 3D should definitely be replaced by Mickey's PhilharMagic, and maybe they could then put in a Muppet's themed dark ride in the millionaire building. Maybe based on the movie "The great Muppet Movie?" Because I don't know about you, but I really think the Muppet's are a great set of characters, and I would like to see Disney start doing more with them as far as movies and TV shows are concerned. I remember in the 90's when they used to have shows like the Muppet Babies (though I believe that was shown on Nick) as well as the Muppet Show, and Muppet Show Tonight. All were very good shows, but I think they kind of killed the whole Muppet thing with that last movie about Gonzo. Anyways, that's just what I would like to see...

 

So, after that the park was closed so we went back over to Disneyland and looked through the shops for about an hour. Needless to say I was bored. So after that we went back on Space Mountain, which easily had an hour and a half wait at the moment, and used our fast passes which we had grabbed after we left Innoventions (though I don't think I had mentioned that earlier) So that was fun.

 

After that we wondered back over to Matterhorn, which had a long line as well, so we skipped that then headed towards Thunder Mountain which also had a long line, so we skipped that. I wanted to go on Indiana Jones so when we went by it and saw that it only had a 20 minute line compared to the hour long lines that we had just passed, they passed on it. Needless to say I was pretty pissed off by their stubbornness seeing as how I had to just sit inside the shops for an hour while they looked at their crappy little pins, and then after that they decided to go home. So the end of the day pretty much sucked, but the rest of the day was fun.

 

The end. Now onto pictures.

Eggnochio!!!!!!

I also really like the design of the buildings in Fantasy land. Much better then Florida's.

No theme park should be without a carousel!

Does anyone remember the Dumbo Show on the Disney Channel?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp2yUdPfOso

You spin me right round, baby, right round. Like a teacup baby, right round, round round.

tea cups!

Its the Mad Hatter's House

Jason watches the Cast Members load and unload the boats

Story Book land, and Casey Jr.

Signature pose!

I see me!

Where does the sky end and the water begin?

Artsy Shot

What a funny face...

Really? Then lets go check it out!

Oh noes! The abominable Snowman is in there!

I am C3PO, human cyborg relations.

He's looking at that.

I'm now moved across the street behind a trash can. What is it that he's looking at?

I'm hiding from Jason behind a light pole

I really like the design of Main Street.

Everyone lining up against the ropes so they can be the first ones on Space Mountain

This lighting is perfect!

the right tower of the hotel had a collection of things from Disneyland. Like this name tag

Inside the convention center area of the Hotel, they have various concept art of past and present attractions. Specifically, this is concept art of Adventures through Inner Space which previously inhabbitted the Star Tours building.

This is from Fantasia

The Disneyland Hotel

ERrr???!!

There's no one in Down Town Disney!

Cast Members are hard at work getting the park ready to open.

I now understand why that sun thing is there.

Maybe if I hold the gates, the park will open sooner?

Jason patiently waits for DCA to open

you like the sign?

we then headed over to DLR

Breakfast was decent, but my biscuits were hard so I didn't really eat much of it.

Jason reveals he falls under the category of people who wears Disney merchandise to Disney Theme Parks

Kyle agrees

Jason likes Denny's

it was still dark when I got up

[Gnome]

Disneyland Continued

Anyways, I end with another picture from earlier in the day... The Marti Gras Party. Stay tuned for USH!

I also tried molesting the woman on the Columbia earlier in the day.

When your on the ride, all you can hear is, Boom da ba, cha boom da ba... Around the world....

A look into the train shed

Wade can see you!

I'm excited to be in line for California Screaming

mmm... yum yums

Back at Denny's at Wades request

Where's Mantis Man at?

Paradise Pier at Sunset

I think I shall bathe myself in it.

Nozzlezilla!

thats a mighty big hose nozzle

over at DCA, we noticed that ToT looks like a normal sized building when you're suppose to be the size of an ant.

Did that taste good?

and drank it

then it peed

We returned to Maggie, and it was still waving it's tounge about.

I am AWSOME-O

ZOMG, GUYZ! <3 Rocket SPace Mountaing rockz0rd my s0ckz0rdz~!

Tommarrowland!

But I just couldn't figure out why these 2 were holding hands.... hmmmm

and a happy couple

Like hot girls!

Now we moved to the double decker bus. And from there we shall take photographs of random people.

GET OUTTA THE WAY PEOPLE!!!!111ZZZZ0000

Jason is very talented when it comes to ringing the fire truck bell.

They have a couple of cats running around the Hungry Bear area.

There's a crazed look in this man's eye.

They were all very good at improvising. Disney knows how to pick its live entertainment.

the live performances are very fun to watch.

And right next to this restaurant, there were a bunch of people freaking out about the number 33, and taking pictures next to it. I wonder why....

New Orleans Square is probably my favorite land.

look at it!

I think there's something wrong with the cow.

[FLIPDUDE]

uuuh, whats knotts building?? and what ride/s got cleared?

 

and since I was there ive been wondering, what the heck is the calico mine train? powered coaster? dark ride? what?

[Gnome]

The attraction is a Mack Free Spinning roller coaster.

Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader

Layout

 

As for the Calico Mine train, it is similar to a roller coaster in that it is gravity powered, but it is more like a dark ride in that you slowly travel through different show rooms.

[cfc]

^Hmm--actually the Calico Mine Train is, indeed, a train in that the cars are pulled by the engine up front. It does use a chainlift to get up to the mine's upper level, though. And, yep, it's a dark ride.

[Xtreme-me]

I had absolutely no idea that they had a yellow train for screamin... I've never seen them run it before. I know they have red, blue, green and orange and now yellow. Is there another train?

YELLOW?

[jamesdillaman]

"In other news, Perilous Plunge is in its annual rehab, along with Lindsey Lohan and Ghost Rider."

 

nicely done, nicely done.

 

Great TR, some good photos, i especially like the upside-down reflection shot.

 

-james dillaman

[SLUSHIE]

I think there might be a purple one.

[Gnome]

thanks for the comments guys, I definitely appreciate them.

One more update before I'm done. Though there aren't too many photos for USH as there isn't quite as much to do there, just mainly a bunch of shows which give guests a sort of pseudo-Hollywood experience.

 

Anyways, quick review of the park.

 

I really do like this park for some reason. I can't go there that often though as I could easily find myself bored of the place, but it has a charm to it that I really quite admire, though I think it would be a lot better if they could squeeze in 2 - 3 more rides on the upper lot.

 

Specifically I was thinking that the could rip out Terminator 2 and convert that over into an interactive shooter ride on the scale of Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster at Disneyland. Maybe just go around shooting t-800's and various other robots, I think it would be fun, and maybe a little more enjoyable for returning guests since well, you can only watch the terminator show so many times before you're sick of it. (This last visit was my 3rd time seeing it, my first time was in Florida during spring break last year, and my second being later in the year at USH, and then the third being on Saturday, and with that said, I'd rather not watch it again, but I'll probably end up watching it again on my next visit, but that's why a ride based off the movie would be very good, imo. It would be exciting, I think.)

 

Also I will note that I finally stepped foot onto the lower lot for the first time since before my Aunt passed away which I believe would have been in 1999 as she passed away in 2000, though I might have visited after, but I'm not quite sure.... ) Anyways, other then making general opinions of Hollywood's version based off of what other people had described to me, I really had no idea about how the actual ride was, and after having some what of a negative opinion about it, I was actually pleasantly surprised, though I still wished that they had the ET attraction, though both would have been just as acceptable as well, but I would have found it very unlikely that USH would rip out one of its bigger Sound stages to make room for a ride so you know that would have never happen.

 

Anyways, I shall now do the obvious thing and compare the 2 versions of the ride.

 

The first thing you notice between the 2 is that Florida's que is all indoor, where as 5/7ths of Hollywood's Que is outdoors. So with that said, Florida has a lot more theming and different things and various traps for guests to fiddle around with while in the que, where as in Hollywood's, while it is themed equally as good (indoors, anyways) there is not as much to do, though they give you some back story to watch while you are queing, sort of like Florida's, but a little more thematic then Florida's behind the scenes DVD featurette approach.

But also not that Florida had a lot more room to work with when they installed such an attraction where Hollywood's available space was quite limited. Though with that in mind, they still managed to make quite a large building to house the attraction in which, they were able to make a fairly good ride almost as impressive as the one in Florida.

 

Though besides the space and building practicality of the rides, they also featured 2 different story lines. While both are based off of the same movie as well as revolving around a curse, the stories are actually noticeably different. Florida's story is based off of a curse on the set of the movie, which turns out to be real (or at least that's what I've gathered) where as Hollywood's is more of like your in Egypt and you've entered the cursed tomb of Imhotep and evil and air time wreaks havoc on you, but both ideas were very good, just Florida's was executed better.

 

For the ride itself, Hollywood has an over abundance of reliance on LCD and/or projection type technology which in some cases worked very well, but I think the ride could have definitely been a little more exciting if they used some more animatronic monsters (other then the one that drops from the ceiling) instead of solely using the previously stated technology.

 

Though I will say that the LCD styled technology did work better in some cases for things like the scarabs crawling out of the ceiling (where as Florida's used rubber scarabs, and spat them out of the wall which didn't look quite as good) But in other cases for things like when the one guy was swallowed up by the scarabs, it just sort of came across as kind of lame.

 

Anyways, I think overall the dark ride portion of Florida's compared to Hollywood's is better in the fact that it was more impressive to me as far as quality and quantity was concerned, though Hollywood's wasn't too bad.

 

As for the coaster portion of each ride, I would say both are very good and are about on par with each other as far as length is concerned, though I think Florida's second half is slightly longer and the effects for the mid course show was a lot better then Hollywood's mid course show, though stopping a few inches from a stone wall was pretty cool, just not as cool as a very sophisticated animatronic killing a ride op, then threatening you with some very cool fire effects on the ceiling.

 

But I did enjoy the launch for Hollywood's compared to Florida's gradual acceleration, but right at the end of the gradual acceleration is violent ejector air (one of 3 moments of air time on Florida's, 2 of which are violent ejector air) where as Hollywood's 3 moments of air time is more of a float, similar to Florida's floater hill, which is still fun, just not as fun as the ejector air.

 

And as for the ending of Hollywood's, you hear some people screaming at you, then there's a sand storm and that's it. It was definitely cool, but also very anti-climactic, I was hoping to get shot off into some extreme air time like at the end of the fire room for Florida's, but I was disappointed to see the station. But with that in mind, its still a wonderful "E ticket" attraction that's worth visiting at least once.

 

As for the shows, they are the best theme park shows I've seen, especially the 4D shows which, unlike Disney's, save Philharmagic,, revolve around an actual story line, compared to a variety show featuring cheap 3D tricks.

 

I also find the food at the Universal parks to surpass all the other places I have visited, which is another plus, and as a result it makes me happier when I purchase their more expensive food because at least I'm getting something of some sort of quality with the $10 I just spent.

 

So overall, a good day near LA.

Last photo for the report. BTW does anyone have any photos of the inside of this place?

Also, I thought the "Globe Theater" was the one sheakespear performed in, compared to some nice indoor theater.

They should turn this into a shooter interactive ride.

Wait, I think where all done with the lower lot! Quick up the escalator!

Heartburn? You should try Pepto-Bismol

and I enjoyed my jello! Why can't Disney offer jello?

Jason enjoys the escalator ride!

Lower Lot and Sound Stages galore!

Whats sad is that they even have to have a sign to tell people what common sense should already tell you.

Look! Its the invisible man!

I hope everyone on the plane was alright.

Down in the WotW segment, we see a smashed up mustang.

Poor lighting conditions and King Kong's constant movements makes for a poor picture. Anyways, King Kong feautures wiskers, like a cats. Quite odd, really.

Just before taking a tour on the tram, we gazed upon the Universal Back lot.

Green Goblin looks like he's having a heart attack, Captain America is flexing the padding in his costume, and I'm not quite sure what Storm is doing.... which means... absolutely nothing...

Spider-man was shooting his web all over the children.

It says "Universal Studios Hollywood"

l'entrée de parc. Gotta love the arch.

Screw the Universal Uniglobe, its all about the neon Universal sign that dates back to before my time!

Its the LA Sock Market! Woo hoo! Steven Spielberg shops here!

There's the WB lot, featuring that water tower which has been a replicated feature at various movie studio themed parks.

He sees a golf course which hopefully Universal will buy if the course ever goes up for sale.

Jason looks out from the parking structure towards the bottom of the hill.

More junk. Looks like a van from the original Jurassic Park movie as well as the sea plane that crashes in the water world show.

BTW, they're building an incredible Hulk roller coaster at USH....

Storage area for unused trams as well as the JP river boats while the ride is in rehab.

[The Cheat]

I had absolutely no idea that they had a yellow train for screamin... I've never seen them run it before. I know they have red, blue, green and orange and now yellow. Is there another train?

 

Red, Blue, Green, Green, Yellow, Purple, Orange

[Dailey Enterprizes]

Pretty cool stuff, I hope to get to SoCal someday. My sister was at Knott's in 1997 for the Rose Bowl parade. Funny thing was that she hated coasters...

[Satoshi]

^ what coaster made her scared to hop on? i guess it's kinda good idea

to know what kind of rides really make her want to hate and everybody

would be able to add some advices here for her.

[JT3000]

Though I will say that the LCD styled technology did work better in some cases for things like the scarabs crawling out of the ceiling (where as Florida's used rubber scarabs, and spat them out of the wall which didn't look quite as good)

 

As far as I know, the scarab scenes are identical.

[Freefallbestrideever]

Awesome, i just took my first trip to DLR on Friday and my first ride on CS was on the yellow train I was scared to put my hands up on Space Mountain because i wasn't sure if i would hit something, but thanks to the crappy effects, i could see everything

[Electerik]

^Hmm--actually the Calico Mine Train is, indeed, a train in that the cars are pulled by the engine up front. It does use a chainlift to get up to the mine's upper level, though. And, yep, it's a dark ride.

 

True. It may be worth noting, though, that the engine is rather sparingly used, and that ride is powered only by gravity for most of its course.

 

Not suggesting that one should count it as a coaster; just pointing that out.

[Dailey Enterprizes]

^ what coaster made her scared to hop on? i guess it's kinda good idea

to know what kind of rides really make her want to hate and everybody

would be able to add some advices here for her.

 

I don't know, she just doesn't like being high in the air like she'll never go on the Phantom's Revenge. However, she doesn't seem to mind inverted coasters because she told me that she rode Raptor at Cedar Point and Alpengeist at Busch Gardens.

[cfc]

^^Interesting--never realized that.

[Jew]

Though I will say that the LCD styled technology did work better in some cases for things like the scarabs crawling out of the ceiling (where as Florida's used rubber scarabs, and spat them out of the wall which didn't look quite as good)

 

As far as I know, the scarab scenes are identical.

 

Nope. He has it right. Well...half right. Hollywood doesn't have the "real" scarabs pouring out in front. It's projectors and the feet ticklers instead.

[Jayjay719]

Great pictures! I love looking at photo trip reports. I'm going to make my first photo trip report as soon as the parks open around here. Thanks again!