Photo TR: Walt Disney World & Universal

ernierocker · February 13, 2008

Day 2: Magic Kingdom January 28th

After a great day at Epcot, we were hoping for a good day with similar crowds at Magic Kingdom. We got off to a good start in Tomorrowland but the same can not be said for the rest of the park. We saw several posted waits of 40 minutes or more, with the longer waits being in Fantasyland. Still with Fastpass, the longest wait all day (and for the entire trip) was 30 minutes for Peter Pan. I guess I was a little disappointed with this day because I hadn't expected there to be so many kids at the end of January. There was also a lot of international travelers which was no doubt aided by the dollar being so low right now.

A couple of reviews:

I liked Monsters Inc. a lot. I was pretty impressed by the interactive technology the show used. I can't say I laughed out loud but it was good for chuckle or too.

Stitch's Great Escape: Having read everyone's distaste for this ride made me curious enough to actually go on it. All I can say is that there wasn't anything good or bad about the ride. The smell wasn't that bad although it didn't make me want to run out and buy a chili dog.

Haunted Mansion: I didn't really like the crowd control after the stretching room. I don't remember ever having a problem before, but it was like a 10 lane highway all of the sudden merging into two lanes. Besides that, the ride is great and the rehab was money well spent.

Pictures now:

Since I feel bad because there have been so few ride pictures and obviously no roller coaster pictures, I'll throw you guys a little something.

MK at night is next!

One more of Mickey for good measure.

Meh.

Having a little problem navigating that handrail there buddy? Smoke a tad too much wacky tobaccy huh?

You aren't helping things by being closed either!

While were on the topic, same question for you too Pooh!

Why do you have 60 minute waits all the time?

And its officially a rodent-friendly trip report.

A side profile of Goofy to accenuate the snoz.

Donald is my favorite Disney character. Discuss.

No wait...evidently its hula hoop time!

Candace thought this girl was cute so she took a bunch of pictures of her.

Its parade time! Its Mickey time!

Cinderella's Castle aka "transition shot"

I look pretty happy to be on Tom Sawyer's Island. Probably because its awesome.

It's so photogenic!

The new and improved Haunted Mansion.

The wait was about 20 minutes.

One more of Jack. Looks like he is nice and 'rum'ed up in this scene

I love the tribute to this scene in the first movie.

Pretty humorous way to introduce Jack.

This is my favorite original scene on the ride. Not sure why exactly.

Whats a pirate's favorite U.S. holiday?

Arrrrbor Day!

I would love to ride the Disneyland version some time again soon. This one's okay.

We did get several shots on Pirates. Captain Barbosa makes his grand appearance. I was expecting to see an apple somewhere on his person.

This is seriously the only shot of Tomorrowland we have. I promise next Disney trip we will get more ride shots.

And were here! And so was most of Brazil.

A little bit closer now.

We start this edition with a rarely used shot of Cinderella's Castle. You can see from this picture that the park was going to be crowded.

Edit: Just realized we have a monorail picture after all!

jackskellington101 · February 13, 2008

Haunted Mansion: I didn't really like the crowd control after the stretching room. I don't remember ever having a problem before, but it was like a 10 lane highway all of the sudden merging into two lanes. Besides that, the ride is great and the rehab was money well spent.

That crowd control issue is almost always like that during the day. People bottle up as it goes down from a mob to a single file line for the first time in the queue. It dies out as the day wains however. On a better topic, Excellent photo report!

stingrock23 · February 13, 2008

Great report so far, good captions for the Fantasyland characters.

For some reason, despite the fact that Epcot is my favorite WDW park, I've never seen Illuminations. It looks like a really good show, but I guess I've been more into attractions on past trips. I'm going back this year and plan to see it for the first time.

Immelman · February 13, 2008

Cool pictures! Every time I see pictures of POC it reminds me of the time I rode in a boat with drunk old people.

Sigh...3 more weeks till I'm in Florida.

piers · February 13, 2008

^Oh my god, you were with us at Halloween?

ernierocker · February 13, 2008

Great report so far, good captions for the Fantasyland characters.

For some reason, despite the fact that Epcot is my favorite WDW park, I've never seen Illuminations. It looks like a really good show, but I guess I've been more into attractions on past trips. I'm going back this year and plan to see it for the first time.

Thanks! Illuminations is a great show. It's definitely worth seeing at least once. I recommend viewing it from the England side of the lake, especially if you can get V.I.P. seating passes. I'm not sure if they just give those out to anyone or if you have to call ahead and reserve it. Maybe they weren't full and gave us the passes because we looked lost.

That crowd control issue is almost always like that during the day. People bottle up as it goes down from a mob to a single file line for the first time in the queue. It dies out as the day wains however. On a better topic, Excellent photo report!

Well, it wasn't a huge deal. It might have stood out a little more because we were having to play "dodge the people who are stopping in the middle of the walkways" all day. Maybe the last time I rode it, we were one of the first ones out of the room, who knows. The ride was awesome regardless!

Thanks for reading!

mcjaco · February 13, 2008

^Oh my god, you were with us at Halloween?

Muhahahahahaha!

bdstrom · February 13, 2008

I have to comment on your pictures. You have an unique way of capturing life on a camera. You have a talent and keep it up!

cherryblossom · February 13, 2008

I have to comment on your pictures. You have an unique way of capturing life on a camera. You have a talent and keep it up!

wow... Thank you very much!

ernierocker · February 13, 2008

^^Candace beat me to it.

Candace (cherryblossom) took the majority of the pictures and I agree that she is amazing at it!

ETapley0687 · February 13, 2008

Yea she really is. That was actually the first thing I noticed! I was like wow someone is an excellent photographer and/or you have a really good camera lol. Very nice!

cherryblossom · February 13, 2008

Yea she really is. That was actually the first thing I noticed! I was like wow someone is an excellent photographer and/or you have a really good camera lol. Very nice!

thanks!

I'd like to think it's both

ernierocker · February 14, 2008

Day 2 Cont'd: Magic Kingdom at Night

The majority of this update covers the Spectromagic Parade and the Wishes fireworks show. So, lets go right to the pictures.

And we close with my favorite picture of the entire trip!

Disney Hollywood Studios up next!

The top of the castle explodes for the finale.

Just speechless!

Crowd shot!

I really like these next two.

I think Candace took around 200 photos of these fireworks no joke!

We've made it the fireworks!

Fish.

I thought I was making a comeback with that last comment, but alas I've got nothing again.

Evidently, NBC was a sponsor for this parade.

I really got nothing tonight with these captions. Stupid bronchitis!

Chip and Dale. Check.

Nice house.

Probably the coolest float in the show

On to Spectromagic

I didn't ride you, but you look pretty tonight as well!

Makes Purple Castle!

Mixed with Red Castle

Blue Castle

Although she not as sexy as Spaceship Earth at night, she sure is pretty!

I made sure I was properly dressed. However, it wasn't nearly as cold as it was the previous night at Epcot.

The lovely Candace with the lovely castle in the background.

cprocks22 · February 14, 2008

I LOVE those fireworks pictures!!! Amazing job, they turned out great!!

Also...I miss disney .

FitchCoaster · February 14, 2008

That last picture of the castle and the fireworks is beautiful!

I love the pics!

cherryblossom · February 14, 2008

Thanks

sorry for the blurry ones!!

ernierocker · February 15, 2008

Day 3: Disney Hollywood Studios January 29th 2008

Our day at DHS really set the tone for the rest week. After experiencing unexpected heavy crowds the day before, I was really worried that we weren’t going to have the light crowds that were expected for the last week in January. Our goal was to get to the park at opening so we could walk on to Tower of Terror and Rock N’ Roller Coaster then grab some fast passes and start on the rest of the park before the crowds came. We didn’t quite make the rope drop but we were in the park by 9:30 and still we were able to walk-on to both rides. After that we used our fast pass for TOT and realized that we didn’t even need it! We then walked over and grabbed a fast pass for Rock N’ Roller Coaster where there was a posted 30 minute wait. We were able to do the rest of the park with minimum waits and were even shocked that we were able to walk right up and order counter service! This was the case the rest of the day which was a great relief. Rock N’ Roller Coaster kept a 30 minute wait all day, but Tower of Terror never got over 20 minutes. In fact, there was absolutely no line whatsoever at 5:00 P.M.! (Picture evidence to follow) On top of the great crowds, the weather was perfect! I believe the temperature stayed in the 70’s all day with a heavy cloud cover and no humidity. Perfect!

A few reviews:

Rock N’ Roller Coaster: They were building this the last time I came to MGM, so this was a new credit for me. I had heard that the ride was really rough but I found it to be smooth. The only hint of head banging I experienced was on the corkscrew. We rode it once near the front and once in the backseat. The backseat ride actually made my eyes tear up. It is definitely a good addition to the park. Maybe it doesn’t run that smooth consistently but it sure was on this day.

Tower of Terror: My favorite ride at DHS and easily top 5 for Walt Disney World. I only got to ride it once back in 99’ and was really looking forward to multiple rides on this trip. I kept the ride somewhat secretive to Candace, because I wanted that element of surprise for her first ride. Needless to say, she loved it!

Muppets in 3D: Best 3D show in Florida in my opinion.

Backlot Tram Tour: I think it is time to do something else with this area. It just seems like it is half the ride it was 10 years ago. The only real “backlot” area we saw was a bunch of seamstresses sewing costumes. There was also an area where they had parts laying around for the Splash Mountain refurbishment. The tour is basically one soundstage, the boneyard, and Catastrophe Canyon. Maybe my memory is failing me but I thought there used to be a lot more to this.

Overall: I love this park but there just isn’t enough to do. The Pixar Studios area will help, but they just don’t have enough land to expand on without taking out the soundstages. I would of liked to have seen Fastasmic but is was closed that week.

Pictures:

Here I am.

I look confounded in all these pictures for some reason.

Candace went to the real thing the month before our trip and was wondering where all the steam was.

I like the fake New York themed area in Universal better. Not much to do here.

Screw Mickey's Sorcerer's Hat, this is the true symbol of MGM!

Here is the personal plane of Walt Disney himself. This would be very useful for the Around the World Disney TPR trip!

"If you are sitting to the right of our driver you may get a little wet."

"That's okay because if you are sitting to the left of our driver you are going to get soaked!"

Terrible things are happening all around us. The problem is its just old and boring.

Here we are at Catastrophe Canyon. Here we are on the wrong side of the tram for photos.

This prop was used in a brilliant film sequence!

The Backlot Tram Tour goes through the boneyard of DHS. I am pretty sure this was one of the planes used in the movie Pearl Harbor.

You are the best 3D show in Florida.

It was time to go to the rest of the park where you have to pass this dinosaur who doesn't seem out of place at all.

Here I am after enjoying a rather smooth ride.

Candace is a Vekoma fan girl now. I guess she hasn't ridden enough to know any better.

We have ride photos! And a great ride at that!

I am assuming this is an abomination like the wand was?

Here we are at MGM. I mean DHS. Its going to take a while for that to sink in. Notice the lack of crowds.

coastercrazed49 · February 15, 2008

Great Pictures.

That would be awesome a TPR Trip to all the Disneys in the World.

Great update, cant wait to see more.

ernierocker · February 15, 2008

DHS Cont'd

We will end this part of the update with everyone's favorite element, FIRE!

Indiana Jones and empty queue lines on TOT next!

AHHHHH!! Sweet Relief!!!

How would you like for this to be your job?

He was in "Man on Fire" however. My favorite movie of his.

Denzel Washington was not in the movie "Twins".

This stunt was inspired by the greatest movie ever to pair Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito, "Twins"!

I think he died. Not sure though.

He's still falling?!?

"Fallen" is one of my favorite Denzel Washington movies.

Dude! Don't jump! There is so much to live for!

Another jump stunt

So, we have all these really fast black and red cars, and then we have Herbie? Hmm.

Of course, we all know what really is going on here!

Backwards!

Our hero, the red car, will now jump this ramp...

Pretty amazing driving and stunt work in this show!

Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show was new to me. Its definitely a good attraction to handle crowds like Indiana Jones.

mcjaco · February 15, 2008

I am assuming this is an abomination like the wand was?

YES!

ernierocker · February 19, 2008

Day 3 Finale

This update will finish off the DHS pictures.

That concludes Day 3.

Up next: Universal Studios and a little time-share review.

The people that I made wait behind me as Candace took this last shot thought I was a little strange.

I heard stories of empty queue lines existing at Disney World but I though that they were a myth.

And this is what we found!

We headed back to Tower of Terror for one last ride at around 5:00.

The easiest way to defeat Bald Bull is to wait for him to charge at you and then hit him in the stomach on his third jump.

I saw a perfect place here for a caption referencing the great 80's band "Devo" but I just couldn't pull the trigger.

Lets just face it, these bad guys are just not very smart.

Pilates is not a proper fighting technique either.

I think their fighting technique would be more effective if they would cut out the gymnastics.

*Press L2 R2 together to dodge

*Press B rapidly to run

Pissed off skull face guy doesn't think that was a good idea.

You don't actually think that is going to work do you?

Thank goodness that was the short spike!

Yay! You are about to be relevant again!

I saw this years ago and only remembered bits and pieces so this was pretty much a new show for me.

The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular was somewhat spectacular.

cherryblossom · February 20, 2008

Edit: I accidently posted these last two updates under Candace's screenname-Eric

Day 4: Universal Studios/Islands of Adventures January 30th, 2008

Although we went to both Universal parks on Wednesday and Friday, I have decided to combine both days into one update due to lack of pictures.

Before this trip, I had only been to Universal once. We only got to ride 5 rides the entire time and had a miserable time. Naturally, I left with a poor impression of the park. On top of that, most of the rides at Islands of Adventure were finished and were just sitting there tantalizing me.

I had originally planned to do both parks in one day and spend the extra day at Magic Kingdom. About a month before the trip though, I found a great deal where for only $6 more than a one day/two park ticket, I could get unlimited access to both parks for seven days. This was a no-brainer to me, so we decided we would spend Wednesday and Friday at Universal parks. I was really glad we did this because in the end we had a blast and one day wouldn’t of been enough.

The crowd levels were perfect for both days. We started out at Universal on Wednesday and the longest wait we saw on the electronic board was 15 min. for Mummy. The wait was actually about 5 minutes and only because it takes 4 minutes to walk through the queue line! We walked on to pretty much every other ride. The same thing was the case at Islands of Adventure. Everything was a walk-on except for the Pteranodon Flyers which had a 60 minute wait. The weather was once again perfect.

We were absolutely blown away by Islands of Adventure. I guess we were so in awe of the park that we hardly took any pictures of all! I can’t even fathom how I would react to DisneySea. We definitely failed in the photo part of this report but I’ll use our first visit to an amazing park as an excuse.

Reviews:

Incredible Hulk: Great and smooth ride. We rode it 3 times each day. Never had a rough ride once. I kept my head off the headrest (which is rare for me) and that prevented what minimal head-banging there was.

Dueling Dragons: Loved everything about it. Loved the queue building (especially since I walked straight through all 6 miles of it) and loved the dueling aspect of it. I guess my favorite was Fire if I had to choose. The pacing on it seemed a little better than Ice.

(Question: Do they allow you to use the re-ride option when the line is long?)

Revenge of the Mummy: We only got one ride on Mummy thanks to it being closed all day Friday. This was a shame because I probably would of liked it more with a second ride. There just wasn't anything that really stood out about it in retrospect, except for the fire near the end.

Men in Black: My favorite ride in Universal Studios. I am really a fan of these shoot-em rides now. Never rode one before Buzz Lightyear earlier in the trip. [/b]

Once again, we didn’t get very many pictures but here are the ones we did get.

We close this update with a disclaimer.

Never let your guard down when you in the company of a photagrapher! Either that or get more sleep.

I'm thinking of the awesomeness of Islands of Adventure here.

One for each roll.

I love cobra rolls!

Ooooh! Brakes! Are they really necessary for this ride?

Me too.

Are you shocked to actually be seeing roller coasters in this trip report?

This picture is important because not only do we have another roller coaster picture, but we also have Mythos and Dueling Dragons in the background.

If you like close-up coaster shots, we got a few here for ya.

Candace didn't get a lot of ride photos on this trip, but she made up for it a little bit with a ton of Hulk pictures.

Incredible Hulk was running great both days we were there.

Finally made it to Islands of Adventure!

I am glad that Universal is getting a new ride but I was a little disappointed that Back to the Future was gone. Add this building being closed along with the Jaws refurbishment and Mummy being broken, there really wasn't much to do at USO on Friday.

Although Terminator is a bit irrelevant to me now, I still enjoyed Terminator 4D almost as much as 10 years ago.

This guy was just a tad creepy but at least we got one of the few shots of Candace and I together.

I didn't get to ride King Kong when I last visited but I am sure Revenge of the Mummy is an improvement.

Thank you for not being crowded this time around!

The Central Park area of New York was transforming into Mardi Gras central.

The park was preparing for their Mardi Gras celebration.

Its time to take a Disney break and see what Universal Studios has to offer.

dandaman · February 20, 2008

Amazingly vivid shots, here. Especially noticeable on your Hulk shots.

Nice work.

cherryblossom · February 20, 2008

Day 5: Animal Kingdom: Thursday January 31st, 2008

This update will close out the trip report. I covered day 6 in the Universal update. Day 7 was boring and involved driving north a lot.

Animal Kingdom was another first for the trip for me. We had another great crowd day. Also, the weather was perfect again. Upper 70’s/ Lower 80’s and I never noticed the heat once. As far as the park goes, I enjoyed the park but I am not sure if I would be dying to go back anytime soon. As far as a theme park goes, AK is obviously lacking. But for being day 5 of our trip, we really needed a park like this, one where we could take it at a slower pace. Candace liked the park a lot more than I did. She loved the zoo part of the park and took almost as many pictures of the animals as she did the fireworks and parades.

Reviews:

Expedition Everest This was a lot better than I expected. The line got to around 40 minutes mainly because it was closed in the morning. We rode it once before the line got long and fast passed it for a 2nd ride. Everest was definitely a surprise.

Dinosaur: I have ridden Indiana Jones at Disneyland and was looking forward to this ride since it used the same ride system. I didn’t really enjoy Dinosaur unfortunately. I think one reason was, being the first ride of the day, I was worried how the roughness was effecting Candace since she was feeling sick. I felt Indiana Jones utilized the ride system better.

Primevil Whirl: This was the only ride I rode on the whole trip where I only rode it for the credit. I didn’t ride the Flying Unicorn or Woody Woodpecker for example because they just didn’t interest me. This was my first “spinning mouse” roller coaster and I didn’t really enjoy it. I’ll get my fair share of them this summer, so maybe this was just a bad ride.

Well, that concludes the trip report. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting! Now for the pictures: