Photo TR: Universal/IOA, MGM, Old Town 11-27-2007

Being in Florida, I get to hit most of the parks several times a year

 

I will also post a few stitches and videos soon

Disney MGM/Hollywood Studios coming soon with a ton of night shots

The Sheikra sign on I-4 all lit up

This is a required shot

Ripsaw Falls was all fenced off. This is a view of the ride taken in CaseyVision

OMG! More dirt!

OMG OMG OMG OMG! Dirt!

Over to Unicorn, the greatest Roller Skater ever

The wall by the Cobra Roll is still safe for now

Construction on the Dragons castle. Maybe something to do with Potter?

The Golden Ticket Awards doesn't carry any credibility

Seuss Landing is all decked out

Mandatory Hulk shot

More Christmas decorations

Over to IOA. I don't consider the lap bars to be part of the "future enjoyment"

Universal should fix these parking meters and generate a new form of income

This one's named after a popular drink

As for buildings named for songs...

And the hills are burning

And the wind is raging

And the clock strikes midnight in the Garden of Allah

This ride had a five minute wait

This Woody isn't a Woodie

What a deal!

You can still see where the Delorean used to be

Some of the construction going on over at Back to the Simpsons

Is anyone ever going to post a video of Elissa on Fear Factor?

OMG! A dumpster!11

Earthquake was fenced off

Mummy had a 10 minute wait (walk-on for S&P line)

Are there any parks here that DON'T have Christmas decorations?

Not often that one sees the park looking like this

I've never noticed this carousel before

Universal has their security checkpoint at the entrance to CityWalk, so people only have to go through once to visit both parks

Escalator POV! Thought this was an interesting shot

Still cheaper than Six Flags

This is a good time of year to visit the parks in Florida

Getting into Orlando took a while due this semi with a slight dent in the trailer

Great photos, I have not been to IOA yet but I want to visit with those kind of waits. Looks like the perfect type of day for power riding

Will, I just wanted to let you know that I did place a link for this Photo TR on the the first post of page three on my update.

I took a few photo stitches also. These are the ones from Universal. Higher resolutions will be posted if there is demand

 

If I get five more responses, I will post the MGM night shots and Old Town

Vekoma Skater goodness

Inside Universal Studios

A complete 360 of the Simpsons store

Universal themes their construction walls. If this were Cedar Fair, there would just be a couple of trashcans

This is a complete 360 of Citywalk, taken from over by the Hard Rock Cafe

Great TR

 

Last time I got to Orlando, it was in summer. (Didn't ride much of course)

I'm going to try to get down this time now. The parks looks great at this time of year!

 

Thanks for the pictures

You got to post the ones from MGM from that evening, I know you have quite a few good ones.

I'm not in a rush at the moment, as there doesn't seem to be much interest.

 

Old Town videos are posted here

Great update...thanks for the pics!

MGM Studios pictures

 

The main draw in visiting the park was the Christmas lights show. Supposedly they were all taken from one person's house and spread over a large section of the park. In addition, there are fake snowflakes falling and a soundtrack. While the music synchronization doesn't seem to do it as well as the Wizards and Winter display in 2005, the lights were everywhere. I will post a short video soon, along with more pictures.

To be continued

Donkey credit!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Here, the trash-cans even compliment the theming (as opposed to Cedar Fair parks, where they ARE the theming)

Supposedly all these lights came from one person's house. Must have been a big house...and a huge power bill

Now for the Spectacle of Dancing Lights

It actually looks somewhat decent at night. Taer it down anyway

It's the Toboggan of Death!

Good Tower. At night. Through the trees!

Compare this to Robb's recent TDL TR

While I've yet to ride the Japanese version, the theming here is quite well done.

Even with one set of shafts running, wait was minimal

GT sign all lit up and nice looking

Extra points for the lake catching fire

The Fantasmic show

It's a Vekoma. What do you expect? It was as smooth as a baby's bottom

The marble doors for the S&P line

I can't force a smile if I tried

We're too Sad and Pathetic to wait 20 (or was it 40) minutes

All lit up and looking nice

When the sun goes down, Good Tower's sign is the only portion visible

Crowds were moderate, but the queues for the rides weren't too bad

The big draw this time was the "Spectacle of Dancing Lights". Pictures will follow

Great TR and pics.

 

Those Christmas lights are so beautiful

Nice TR!

 

I'm pretty sure that carousel had been on CityWalk for a few years now. Thanks to whoever was tall enough for the cool 'behind the fence' shots!

Great Trip Report Will!

Disney looks awesome during the winter, and so does Universal.

I stand at about 6 feet tall, so I'm no Casey. To get the fence shots, I had a mini tripod for my camera, so I used that to "peek" over the fences. I started out by pre-focusing the camera by pointing at something near by, and then setting the time delay so that the camera would fire when I held it above the fence.

 

Here's the rest of MGM, and some shots of Old Town, including a few stitches and video clips

Another panoramic

Panoramic shot. High resolution versions available

Dragster2.wmv

Ge-Force Dragster video clip

SpectacleOfLights.wmv

Spectacle of Dancing Lights video clip

I've never done a SkyCoaster before. I'm too cheap

The skull-and-crossbones icons are an interesting touch. Have people died on this?

Hey James, what do you think of THIS theming?

The loading station for the Dragsters

That's a big truck

It speeds down this track and then reverses, allowing riders to unload at the loading platform

It's one of the fastest rides in Orlando, and probably the region

Next to Old Town is Fun Spot, home of the 300 ft SkyCoaster and the Ge-Force Dragsters

Of course, I doubt that they would actually work if you win them

This was interesting. It's a giant claw game, and the prizes are game consoles

Erik was even offered a free kid to ride with

We're sad and pathetic!

I have a POV posted at http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40216

We got the credit

The ride-ops were rotating around various rides, including the coasters

Tickets cost $1.00 if paid for individually, though there are bulk discounts. For us, $7 for two new credits is just fine

This shot gives a feel for Old Town

They have a handful of rides, including a SlingShot

Next up was Old Town.

A better shot of the tree

A nice touch

I took this picture in the Fifth Dimension room. Kind of interesting how it came out

Going up...

We were in the last group of people for the night, and this was as full as the pre-show room got

Erik, do you have a reservation at this hotel?

Back over to Tower for the last ride of the night

Hey Terrance, you got this credit yet?

Even more of the lights

Is this a new bathroom credit for Erik?

I wounder how many times those consoles would have been dropped by the time you win one.

I have never been to Universal by car (always on park property or tour bus).

 

One of the pics had the parking rates with a "Coolers not allowed" comment.

 

Are they stating that you cannot have a cooler in your car?

Wow, awesome photos, man! The lights look spectacular! I'd kill to go to IOA on a day with such small crowds. Hulk and Mummy look great!

Will...job well done! Love the theming pics.

 

omg!!! those stitches...AWESOME! i stitched a few things once with Roxio 7 - then I upgraded to 9. Little did I know...you cant stitch... (I think...lol)