WillMontu Posted January 10, 2010 Posted January 10, 2010 Over the last week, many of us in Florida have been experiencing colder than usual weather. Some areas even received a small amount of snow. Erik, Andrew, and myself took this past Saturday to don magic hoodies, coats, and ponchos, and hit Magic Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios in near freezing weather. A few observations: -Space Mountain remains most of the classic features from before the rahab, including the original music in the queue and track. The stations have been modified with the addition of air-gates and closing off the space between the loading area and the rest of the ride. The first tunnel has been changed with new effects and an on-ride camera In addition, the glowing stripes on the cars are no longer in use, so the ride is darker than before. The PeopleMover track still goes by the track, but there's a lot less to see now. The ride itself remains the same. Hopefully the new control system will make for a more efficient and reliable ride -The PeopleMover has new narration and and some other new effects, but still retains the awesomeness that it is known for. The new LED lighting system is in place, but during the day it is barely noticeable. -I beat Erik on Buzz Lightyear, which is first for me -Hall of Presidents is, um, in a heated building. Clinton's sax appears to have been removed. -Splash Mountain is down for rehab. -Rock'n'Roller Coaster has a new sponsor. Neither it nor Tower were using Fastpasses (or the single rider line) that day -Toy Story Mania had an insanely lone line, but that's nothing new. -According to the parking lot tram announcer at DHS, like the monorails, the parking lot trams do have air conditioning, but on the trams it only works when the tram is moving and cannot be adjusted. I finish this off with this animatronic of Luxo Jr. (the Pixar mascot) near Toy Story Mania. Every so often, he emerges from the set of doors behind him and dances, I do have a video and it should be up when CT comes back up. The Wizard of Oz room, the last scene before the post show "Don't push it" "I've got a gun. I can do whatever I want" "You may not pass, unless you gimme some candy" This is not This is an actor And now for some scenes from the Great Movie Ride (as it's too cold to do anything outdoors) "Love in your underwear - living it up when you pull them down" I'm sure others can make much better underwear jokes than I can Tower was running great, as usual Over at the MGM/Hollywood Studios, Christmas decorations are still abundant. Thunder was practically a walk-on We had to miss out on the fun and excitement of getting hypothermia on Splash Mountain They even have lighting effects Those animatronics in the Pecos Bill dining area are really lifelike Now we don't need do that again for another 4-8 years Seriously, they need to make this show more "Rocky Horror"-like by including audience participation such as throwing shoes at Bush, cheering for Nixon, yelling "You lie!" to Obama, etc. Over at the refurbished Hall of Presidents, Lincoln retains his central role A rare shot of the Haunted Mansion loading platform. When this picture taken, the cars (and line) had stopped moving, to allow for a longer exposure The ride itself is a whole lot darker, so there is nothing to see when riding through on the PeopleMover (which still retains its awesomeness). In addition, the glow strips on the sides of the cars are no longer used. The camera and TV screens in the exit tunnel have been removed to make way for a new system using green-screen. Some of the new sign graphics in the station What was originally a mirror has been replaced by a new LED system. After the turn, the train passes the (new) on-ride photo camera and ascends the lift The "launch" tube has changed significantly with new sound and visual effects The track itself is mostly unchanged The trains are mostly unchanged The loading platform on the Omega side The queuing area on the Alpha side. This portion of the queue is entered by going around the queue through the old "Chicken Gate" hallway A look at the new loading area Naturally we start out at Space Mountain, as none of us have ridden the "new and improved" version Isn't there an old saying that if you leave your Christmas decorations up after 12 days, you face bad luck for the rest of the year, or something like that? Lovely weather to take part in the marathon Monorail Red did not like the cold weather, resulting in a longer wait than usual For whatever reason, everybody wanted to take the monorail instead of enjoying the fresh 30° sea air on the ferryboat.
Pufferfish Posted January 10, 2010 Posted January 10, 2010 Great TR, thanks for all the updates. I had no idea that animatronic of Luxo existed. Where exactly does it appear? Do you have a larger picture of that area?
frozenflames Posted January 10, 2010 Posted January 10, 2010 Really nice TR! Makes me want to go throw on a hoodie and hit up the rides!!
Lenaapple1974 Posted January 10, 2010 Posted January 10, 2010 Awesome PTR! I have not been to MK since 2005. I am so looking forward to possibly getting there this year for Halloween when I check out HHN & HP! P.S. Your photos speak to me! lol Were you shooting manual or on auto? I am glad to see they still allow patrons with cameras on the "big" rides. Yours is not that small! Probably one of the only parks that never said no to me. edited to correct some G-d awful grammar!
mcjaco Posted January 11, 2010 Posted January 11, 2010 Nice pictures, Will. I've added a few of them to the Park Index.
WillMontu Posted January 11, 2010 Author Posted January 11, 2010 ^^^^ The Luxo animatronic appear opposite the entrance to the Toy Story attraction to the right of the meet and greet area ^^ I shoot mostly on P or Av using my EOS 40D, but will underexpose by a stop or two for some of the indoor shots. I also have a f/1.8 50mm lens that I used for some of the Movie Ride shots. ^ No problem. Indoor shots tend to be more challenging.
Squid Posted January 12, 2010 Posted January 12, 2010 Luxo Jr. appear about every 15 minutes and does a short musical number. One of the cool things about it is that the number is different at night than during the day. Squid
YoshiFan Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 I couldn't believe how cold it was in Florida. Splash Mountain in the low 40's is quite an experience. It was all worth it to ride coasters in January though.
nay Posted January 13, 2010 Posted January 13, 2010 Great photos! It was fun meeting up with you guys for a few hours at DHS on Sat. It seems like the weather is finally starting to warm up slightly. I'm sure it will get back to normal FL temps once I leave tomorrow!!
TheRapidsNerd Posted January 15, 2010 Posted January 15, 2010 LOL! We were over at DHS all day. Bummer we missed you all. Mr. Montu speaks the truth. VERY cold, wet, rainy day. Will, great photos.
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