WillMontu Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 I went down to Disney MGM Studios and EPCOT on Wednesday with Erik Johnson to check out some of the "improvements" being made to the parks. I have high resolution versions of all these pictures, even the night shots, so if anyone wants desktop images, let me know and I will post them. MGM had some construction going on for Toy Story Mania. I've also heard rumors of the backstage tour being removed in the future. Not much is going on, besides dirt and cranes. EPCOT Center was the primary reason for visiting. Last time I visited, Space Ship Earth was not yet into rehab and still had the want. In addition, there is a handful of 25th Anniversary exhibits and even some "retro" merchandise in the gift stores. The 25th Anniversary Exhibit is a small section near Innoventions. There are a few items in there, including memorabilia, costumes, props, models, and posters. The CM's we asked didn't know where to find it, but we found it. The Food and Wine festival was in progress. A lot of countries had food stands, including NZ, Australia, and other countries not part of World Showcase. Wonders of Life was open and the interior of the building is the same as it used to be, but much of the decoration had been removed. Body Wars is still there, along with the theatres for the shows, but a lot of the other stuff is gone. It is currently being used for the Food and Wine festival, but I don't know what will happen after the festival ends. Finally, a nice night shot of SSE. Thanks for reading Good thing we had Gary Sinise with us to prevent a crash We have liftoff Back over to Space, which had minimal waiting for both sides Another quick ride on Test Track Ryan would do a good job at talking Turtle. It consists mainly of saying "Duuuuuude", though there wasn't much pounding it. On a side note, did Ryan ever get his turtle? "Gimme some candy" Turtle Talk was the forerunner of MILF EPCOT's Nemo attraction is an Omnimover ride, resulting in much better capacity that the version at Disneyland, though this one doesn't go underwater Dusk shot Retro shirt and Wes's space helmet "I miss you Wes" Of course Orange Team is a lot more Red Dawn Awesome than the Green Team We next paid Wes's friend Gary a visit It's all about ME! Gone but not forgotten Body Wars is still there though The building currently houses food and wine It was open, but I didn't see any WonderCycles! The signing for Wonders of Life has been removed With gas prices at >$3/gallon and the current emphasis on cleaner fuels, I just don't see the appeal. Does anyone know if it goes much faster than this? The "parking lot" theming The single rider line makes a big difference on Test Track. The second time round, we even got to skip the pre-show I said I would post a few SSE shots We don't the gift shops here very often anymore Construction walls near the American themed area. Anyone know what's going on? Where is Casey when we need him? Starship was at the park that day I've never been to Perth, (only Melbourne and Sydney) though my luggage has been there. Aussie Aussie Aussie! My country gets some representation. Too bad they didn't have Hokey Pokey Ice Cream or Weet-Bix This one isn't though This one's only a scale model The original EPCOT was Walt Disney's dream of a futuristic city, and the model can still be seen from the PeopleMover at Magic Kingdom. The concept wasn't very practical (it sounded a bit like communism, as nobody owned land), but remnants of it exist in Celebration The original "Evil Polyester Costumes Of Torture"? This picture needs a caption Retro park map. Note the lack of a few attractions, including Wonders of Life Model of Canaba RIP: Horizons. This one's for you, Soren Bill (Nrthwind) has one of these The exhibit isn't very big, but it has models and memorabilia from times gone by This was one of our reasons for coming, the 25th Anniversary exhibit The old school EPCOT Center logo The ride was still closed for rehab Some people actually miss the wand and mouse. This is for those people. The Food and Wine festival was in progress I took a lot of pictures of the New and Improved Spaceship Earth Spaceship Earth. Monorail. No Wand. I don't have to take pictures like this anymore Erik and I tend to take a picture of our parking section so we Don't Panic when we don't remember. The real reason for coming: EPCOT Center in it's wand-less glory Here's that hat that everyone wants them to tear down. Behind the fence Construction near the back of the park for Toy Story Mania OMG OMG OMG! A hidden Mickey!!1! I kind of figured it was haunted Here is a shot of our Florida boiler room (it's actually a bit darker, but I used a longer exposure) Don't Panic! Believe it or not, pictures like this can be difficult to get, especially when using automatic focus cameras. The sign was wrong. The ride was a walk-on into the pre-show area More detail outside the station. It even looks like Vekoma track, though the scale isn't quite right. Although not shown, the sign still rotates through different messages, including "Prepare to shake, rattle, and roll". While this is a Vekoma ride, it was almost as smooth as a baby's bum. Long exposure from the station The marble doors are still there. In fact, they added some more with the new entrances More detail in the entrance for Fastpass/Single Riders Despite the rehab, the ride and trains look the same. This appears to be a reference to an Aerosmith album More of the station theming. "Max Clearance 6'8". Does that mean Casey can't ride? More detail in the theming This was the line...for FastPass people The "Sad and Pathetic" line turns a 40 minute wait into a five minute wait This could be classified as "Coaster Porn" The parks were moderately crowded. The Vekoma in a Box had a long wait, but not Tower. They haven't changed the park name yet. I sometimes referred to it as just "MGM", but that probably won't work with the new name. I haven't seen any pictures of GT from this angle. Of course, if I get to ride the Paris version next year, I will be able to compare different versions of this ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Johnson Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Another great Disney Photo TR Will, Thanks for posting these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandaman Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Pretty sure Wednesday was 10/10/2007, but no matter. A great TR just the same. That reminds me, I have to get mine up here soon. I was at Epcot a week ago today on a weekend trip. Too bad I missed you two by a few days, but I always seem to do that with people at Epcot. I met Soren last August, but apparently I missed R&E by a whopping DAY. Especially love that last night shot of Spaceship Earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost007jas Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Sweet TR. That last pic of Spaceship Earth was to die for . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Nice pics, Will. As for.... Construction walls near the American themed area. Anyone know what's going on? Where is Casey when we need him? Page 3 of this may shed some light: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39113&start=20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Hard to believe I was there last year at this time. The Westcoaster group will be there next week, but I won't be with them. Somewhere, I have a circa 1982 Epcot Center map that my friend brought me after visiting. Glad you had fun, Will, and thanks for the nice photo TR. I look forward to my next visit. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resonancej Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Will, I really like your pics. You take them from different angles that people aren't used to seeing, not to mention that you know how to you get what you want out of a camera. I had to laugh at your comment about a "Vekoma in a box" because...well...it is..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Brings back memories from 2001! Every year my mom says we need to go back, and yet I sit here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastercrazed49 Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Great Trip Report Will. SSE looks so much better without the wand. When Soren was still working in the Germany section of Epcot where did he work in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natatomic Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Love, love, LOVE that last photo of SSE. Great TR overall too. Epcot is my absolute favorite Disney park - I went there nearly everyday when I was a CP. Dang, I miss that place so much. Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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