Photo TR: Wandering Canadian

[jynx242I prefer to mate with donkeys over humans!]

This is making me DESPERATELY want to take a TPR trip to Japan now. Thanks for the photos and comments! I enjoyed them.

[BrianLoI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

Did you get a chance to see the progress of Toy Trolley Park (ie: Toy Story Midway Mania) in the American Waterfront next to The TOT? I hear it's just about finished.

There was pretty much nothing the public could see when he was there last year. Even when TPR went a few months later nothing could be seen as the work is beyond the parks current "boundary."

Yup as mentioned I could not see any construction. In fact I really don't think they had even started. I did not see any walls nor did I know TSM was coming up. The only construction we had was for Jasmine's flying carpets which were nearing completion at the time!

[BrianLoI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

This one is for all you cruise lovers out there! Cruise ships are really just theme park resorts on water, so it's not hard to see how the two passions can overlap. Strangely there is even a credit you can earn by taking an RCCL cruise (which I didn't do - but you'll see what I did instead shortly and will probably agree I picked the better option).

This was my 5th Royal cruise (two short family vacations in the caribbean onboard the Majesty of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas). Also I did a back-to-back Northern European cruise onboard the Voyager of the Seas in May 2010. Additionally I've been on a 13 night Western Med cruise with Norwegian Jade and we just did a 7 night Eastern Caribbean with the Princess Grande.

With so much cruising recently (mostly spurred on by my mom who absolutely loves them) we are quickly forming opinions on the cruise lines and their offerings. RCCL gets my recommendation without a doubt (I saw how awful that Carnivale Klassy Kruise was... no thank you...), Princess just felt too "old". We were ready for Princess to wow us with classiness (and yes it's waaaaayyy "Klassier" than Carnivale) but RCCL just delivers more. Norwegian was pretty decent, amazing number of speciality restaurants, but you end up having to pay to get the same food and level of service you'd just get on Royal.

Royal is just the ticket for all ages, especially now that I've tried a few lines I don't see myself venturing away in the future (and my family agrees). The only exception would be a Disney cruise, I think one of their new ships would be comparably wonderful (albeit more expensive).

Before Allure the newest ship I'd been on was the Norwegian Jade, and we'd only been on Royal's older offerings (which were all still fantastic without the bells and whistles). Needless to say is blew us away! H-o-l-y-c-r-a-p.

Our cruise was 5 nights, we hit up Fallsmouth, Jamaica (meh) and Labadee, Haiti (H-o-l-y-c-r-a-p!)

I lifted a few pictures from my sister in law who had more of the ship interior documented, and even if you aren't interested in cruise ships skip ahead for a very, very cool excursion in Haiti!

You arrive onboard the promenade. Yes the ship is long, but what you really notice is how wide it is, there are still shops and a deck flanking both sides.

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Here's the same space at night, look how big it is!

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The whole ship is essentially hollow! Pictured is central park, and several decks below that is the promenade from earlier. We were right on Central Park floor (10 I think?), it was great. I really appreciated the lunch bistro they had with a salad bar. It beats the buffet any day. They also have an Italian restaurant, and their super fancy restaurant here, plus a wine bar and art gallery. This whole area was the real innovation of the Oasis class vessels.

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Another thing you immediately notice is they utilize open spaces everywhere. They could have easily crammed on another 2000 passengers if they really wanted to.

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Up above that is the pool deck! With 2 flow riders, a ton of pools, a sports deck, etc. etc. Yes the pool deck was wider and I love flow riders but its pretty comparable to most other ships. I was surprised they didn't bother with water slides and the mini golf was pretty weak. Nitty gritty I know, but all the other neighbourhoods are where it is at on this ship!

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The dining room was gigantic. The food was great as always! In addition we visited the Italian restaurant (family style and excellent) and went to Rita's Cantina for a Fiesta night. My brother and sister-in-law went to the central park restaurant for their anniversary and said it was spectacular. I'm also a big Top Chef fan and the head chef for that restaurant Molly almost made the cut for the recent Texas season.

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The boardwalk area is pretty neat. They added Rita's a Mexican restaurant since the Oasis because they found the area a little under-utilized by guests. There isn't as much to do here at night so I understand how that happens.

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We spent one evening at this speciality restaurant. A couple of nights on the cruise they have a Fiesta. It was about 18$ a head and included three alcoholic drinks. It was a fun party atmosphere complete with mid-dinner dance offs and tequila shots as prizes. We had a lot of fun with it so I'd recommend indulging one of the nights. Plus you get three drinks ;) TEQUILA!

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We all had a good time!

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I thought the rising tides bar was really cool, it takes a meandering trip between the promenade and the Central park decks.

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Hmm... where did the bar go?

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Continuing on the boardwalk has some excellent theming touches!

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Your standard massive rock climbing wall.

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And the really unique entertainment venue for movies and/or water diving show. They rapidly low that platform in the middle to form the dive people, constantly utilizing it to raise and lower swimmers during the show.

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For entertainment (like everything the theatre is super sized) we had Chicago! Why cruise ships haven't gotten full length musicals onboard before now is beyond me. I'd say they did a pretty excellent job with the show! There was also a Blue Earth cirque de soliel type show later on in the cruise which I enjoyed. You prebook all your entertainment before going onboard the cruise which the planning side of me enjoyed.

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The divers were also really excellent! It's nice to have a show you haven't seen a million times on other cruise ships.

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These guys were ridiculous.

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There were two shows at the ice skating venue. How to train your dragon (think Disney on Ice) and a tribute to Monopoly... Ya I know, weird. They had a quick change artist though which was also cool. I like how they layered their shows like diving/iceskating with external guests (the dudes who held each other....... and the quick change artists).

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I shouldn't have loved it as much as I did...

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If you can't tell already RCCL has paired up with Dreamworks which I think was a good idea for them to do. It just makes them that much more competitive in a space Disney is coming at full force.

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I would seriously care less if the Allure of the Seas actually went anywhere, the cruise is just that great!

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But we still got off at the ports. See what I mean about being hollow? At least it's pretty looking unlike the Norwegian Epic.

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Don't bother leaving the "compound" in Jamaica without a tour. (Pictured: Little brother). The locals will make you feel uncomfortable. I give Jamaica without an excursion a big thumbs down.

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That's because I spent a ton on the excursion in Labadee!

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Do you know what I did yet? Nope... it wasn't this credit! (gasp) Yes they have the Dragon's breath coaster (I think it's a credit I'm still not sure on the proper criteria). I heard it's ok (it's also like $20 to ride)

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Any guesses?

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Yup a zip line, but don't worry this is just the practice one.

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Note how you are "supposed" to starfish to slow yourself down? I knew I would ignore those instructions...

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THIS is what I was here for!!! I *think* it's the longest continuous zip line but don't hold me to that.

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Excited? Yes!

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There are five lines each progressively tighter. They sort you by weight so that a little kid doesn't get stuck halfway down. I was very happy they stuck me on line three which I'd classify as the lightweight adult line. I had few others with me so it was rapidly my turn. Line five is capped to 250lbs. They also told us the weather was good so we didn't have to starfish. I accepted that as lie perfectly flat to go as far as possible!

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And now a POV video, just because I'm ever so nice!

Note those two people way in front of me towards the end of the video? Ya... I passed them. The video ends when I started to realize I was going a little too fast.

[Hurray a Video! (aka I can't figure out how to embed it)]

Just awesome getting to flyby the rest of the cruisers on the beach.

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Here it is from the other end that I smacked into nicely.

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Thanks for reading! Now you know, go on an Oasis class vessel, and hit up a credit AND an AMAZING zip line.

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[alilstrongerI prefer to mate with donkeys over humans!]

Awesome update! I only dream of getting there eventually!

[AllenA07My small thing speaks for itself]

This TR makes me really want to hit up Allure. I'm hoping Royal Caribbean decides to move it to Galveston once project Sunshine comes online. I'm very aware there isn't a chance of that happening, but one can dream.

[Taylor FinnI'm a know-it-all about donkeys!]

I dream of going on a TPR trip to Japan when I'm a bit older! I hope, hope, hope you guys go back there, Robb and Elissa! These two parks are screaming for me, right now. (;

[boweryboyI Love Donkeys!]

This is by far the best Disneysea post evah.

I got a greater feel of the overall park, the attractions, the nooks and crannies.

Now I understand why every one rants and raves over how amazing this park is. It truly is.

Thanks.

[ernierockerWhy do I still have a donkey title???]

Thanks for posting these trip reports. Between Tokyo Disney and Allure of the Seas you are off to a great start! Keep it up!

[BrianLoI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

Today I got to check out Canada's Wonderland for ScotiaBank day. CW blocks the first three weekends of the year for major Canadian banks (yesterday BMO and next Saturday RBC) before it opens to the public. Usually the sneak preview event happens the Friday before RBC day but major coasters *cough* Leviathan *cough* pushed it before the bank days. Having relatives who work for ScotiaBank and RBC is a nice little perk.

The water park and water rides are not yet open (I think White Water Canyon usually is open at this time of the year but it's apparently opening May 19 and was completely drained). Windseeker was also closed (still haven't ridden it!) and the backlot stunt coaster for some reason wasn't operating although they had staff manning the on-ride photo booth. Of course sledgehammer and doesn't look like it will be operational anytime soon, as if that's surprising to anyone...

But if nothing but Leviathan was running I would have been there with bells on!

I think they really nailed the entrance for the ride.

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First a Leviathan mini review:

-Definitely adding one to the back is superior to the front camp. Our first ride was on the front in the morning, and I think the ride may have picked up some steam throughout the day as temperatures warmed a bit. I prefer the right hand side as well.
-Leviathan is running so much faster than any of the initial test run videos I saw. It really flies through the elements.
-They were using trims on the return camelback. Very minor and only because I was paying attention to them.
-I think my favourite elements are the first drop (what a difference 5 degrees over Behemoth makes) and the turnaround by the front gate. It's one of the few off-ride photo ops for a coaster in Canada's Wonderland, it's great actually seeing something on one of their coasters as opposed to a lake, backstage or a field.
-Leviathan does not feel too short, nor was the epic break run bothersome to me. You can't really see the station and still fly through the flat portion of the break run and slow down once you crest the hill. Other elements would not have made sense.
-The plaque on the ride which shows all the manufacturing etc says Giga for ride type. I don't really know if that's been pointed out anywhere but I recall all the labels listed the coaster type as a Mega still so I thought that was interesting.
-Leviathan is consistent, I found the whole ride consistently more thrilling than Behemoth which loses steam after the mid course break run.

The front entrance is forever changed!

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I really wasn't sure if I liked the two coasters equally, I love air time and I really enjoy Behemoth. After we returned to Leviathan later in the day and rode in the back I really was sold. Leviathan is a fantastic ride. Is it a million times better than Behemoth? No. But I already rank Behemoth as a fantastic ride, and I think Leviathan is Fantastic Plus!

I'd listen to the people who have actually ridden it, and the opinion is consistently strong.

A ton-o-fun!

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I am so glad Canada's Wonderland finally has a signature ride to call all its own, it's really about time! Behemoth was a much needed catch up, but Leviathan is the ride CW deserves considering the strong annual attendance. It's so sad that the GP probably thought flight deck was the signature ride only a few years ago!

Leviathan has been covered ad nauseum, so let's check out the rest of the park!

[805AndrewI know more about donkeys than women!]

Cool pics of Tokyo Disney w/o crowds, the classy RCCL cruise, and Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland. Lucky you to hit Tokyo Disney w/o crowds and to have Journey open even though it was scheduled to be closed for refurbishment.

From what I've heard most of Haiti is pretty barren but RCCL's private beach there sure does look nice. That zip line looks like it ends in the water which looks awesome. Speaking of cruises, last night's episode of the Simpsons was about going on a cruise, so that along with these pics and a lot of cruise talk lately on TPR really makes me want to go on one.