ianf71

Spiderman had Willam Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Thomas Hayden Church, Iron Man had Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Bridges, Gwenyth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Samuel L Jackson, and Mickey Rourke. All these actors have won awards and some of them are considered some of the best in the world. Harry Potter is a family movie, it's not any more high art than any superhero movie. Get over yourself. My point was actually that people seem to consider HP 'kids' films and Spiderman/Iron Man not kids films - yet Spiderman is more aimed at kids - the mtv award was used to highlight this (you can't tell me anyone over the age of 16 watches mtv any more - no music and crappy shows about awful people aimed at 14 year old girls) And I was dismayed that there are certain people that refuse to give them a try because of the opinion they are for 'kids' but will go and see Iron Man 2 15 times. I also never claimed that it was high art at all - but was trying to point out that you don't usually find some of the greatest actors around in Ninja Kids 5 or Beethovens 14th or whatever passes as 'kids' movies these days. And it was my opinion that the Super hero movies were celluloid crap - I personally think they are terrible films - and while there are great actors in them, I think that they are terrible in them - Jeff Bridges especially in Iron Man (the exception to this is Alfred Molina - the only watchable thing in SM2 and only for the first half or so). They seem to think superhero movie = hamming it up (I hate Christain Bale's 'Batman voice' for the same reason, it's just awful) By your argument then Catwoman is a great movie because Halle Berry was an oscar winning actress and we all know that isn't the case. The X-Men has the same argument - too many of these huge stars phone it in as they know they ain't getting an oscar from it but they might get an action figure and a sequel or two, and it pays the bills. The HP movies are brilliantly cast and acted movies - that's the difference. So I believe I have no need of 'getting over' myself at all - was merely trying to point out that there seems to be a imbalance in some people's opinion. Back on topic - I'm getting a bit worried about visiting WWHP as the more I see of it, the more I realise just how small the area is - and come August I can see it becoming impossible to get round there - I just hope the wands are available to buy in the Port Of Entry gift store. I'm thinking the best plan will be get there early, head straight to WW and get that done by about 10.30am, then spend the rest of the day on Dudley Do-Right and Bluto's water rides because I get the feeling it's gonna be a hot summer out there (I've never been in August before - usually visit Nov/Dec/Jan and May/June)

Firstly, wow, I can't believe that so many people are being snobs about 'kids' books when they are quite obviously the best literature available - I've spent the afternoon with my Godson and the Gruffalo! Harry Potter has never been a kids story - the hero is fighting someone who tried to kill him when he was a baby but just managed to scar his face instead. Yes, definitely kids stories (and to the person who brought up fairy tales - they were stories written for parents to tell their children to scare lessons into them - don't lie, don't go with strangers etc) I'm over there in mid-August for 4 weeks and am looking forward to it. Yes, I've read all the books and seen all the films but to me it's finally something new to do while I'm over there. So what if you don't know anything about it - I know very little about Marvel Comics except that Spiderman is a fag and the films generally suck but love the Hulk Coaster and Dr Doom's Fear Fall - and the Spiderman ride is possibly the most over-hyped ride I've ever been on (but usually ride that just before Dudley Do-Right so the bad taste is taken away pretty soon) What I see is a totally themed area - where they have looked at the little details - no soda because they have butterbeer and pumpkin juice which is fine, if I want soda I'll get some at Jurassic Park - and by immersing everyone in this only adds to the experience. Great TR, the photos are great and just make me wish the next 10 weeks away until I get over there. And to anyone who hasn't seen the Harry Potter films I say this. Have you watched any of the Spiderman films? Iron Man? Because these are the real kids films and you do yourself and the Harry Potter film a great disservice by comparing them to these pieces of celluliod crap. HP films have casts full of classically trained and legitimate award winning actors - Spiderman had the mtv award for best kiss. Do the Math. And roll on August 16th.

Is this actually up and running now? I'm ashamed to say, I haven't ventured to that part of the Studios since we mistakenly went to see the Drew Carey thing during a rainstorm. I have a better soundsystem in my bedroom than the one in that crapfest. We do ToT and Rock N Rollercoaster (and if it's on, the Osbourne Family lights) then hop over somewhere else. It was only after we got back home this year I realised we've missed out on the Toy Story attraction since it opened. Alsdo, if it's up and running, is it popular? (I don't watch any 'reality' shows) I would vote 'yes' on a Lost attraction - especially now we have more of the island to play around with (Thinking Temple, Lighthouse and Sea-Cave)

Then we'll agree to disagree - as the other people in line seemed to as well. There was a steady stream of people leaving the line to go to the bathroom simply because the line was so long - I'm thinking that will be a lot worse during the summer when people are drinking a lot more water and so need to go a lot more - but for some reason this group seemed to want to pick on us - (i was discussing this again at the weekend and the female of our party said that at one point the girls in their group actually climbed out through the bars and came back 10 minutes later - I was just eyes forward in anticipation for 90% of the line If people needing to pee will cause trouble they need to either cut the wait times by opening an express line or have some sort of bathroom near the end of the line (100 mins is a long time to stand, especially if you realise you need the bathroom after 15 minutes.) And as I said, it seemed to be going on right through the line so I'm sure US are aware of this. Anyway, great pics - the water rides have been off the card my last two visits (closed in Jan 2009, WAY too cold Jan this year) but just booked my flights for August and have three and a half weeks to make sure I do everything! And I might give a photo report a go while I'm there!

Aquatica honestly needed something because it wasn't all that impressive when we visited in January '09. The only thing to write home about was the rapids that pulled you around by the inflatable vests, but you can't stay on that all day! The biggest letdown? The Dolphin Drop slide - completely over hyped and mis-interpreted in the advertisments for the place. With this new slide, might go back for an afternoon in August - we'll have a Discovery Cove ticket that'll get us in so not spending any extra cash for one slide. Really looking forward to going back to Typhoon Lagoon though - just love that wavepool!

I immediately thought of Expedition:Everest when I saw this. And am I allowed to say that I wasn't that impressed with E:E when I rode it (so much so, we haven't been back to AK since, as the rides there just didn't impress) As a relative newcomer I'm not quite au fait on all things coaster, but have been riding them for years (remember riding the Corkscrew back in 1986) and have had a place in Orlando for 5 years so have done there to death. But I was never impressed with Air when I rode it, And the Spinball is always out of action when I'm there. I feel that the whole place will suffer by comparison now though - I loved Oblivion but it's no Sheikra!

I have got so many pictures from Orlando and they are all captioned I should do one of these one day! Anyway, to queue jumpers. When we went to US on 7th January, the only two rides with any sort of wait were HRRR and the Simpsons. HRRR had a 160 minute wait and Simpsons had 20 minute. We did everything except HRRR, then went to IOA, returning to US at 5pm to ride HRRR. There was a 100m queue even then but we were leaving the next day so got in the queue. After 60 minutes or so my friend REALLY needed to pee so slipped out of the queue in the last section before the steps (there's a handy gap there) We told him to make sure he told the guy marshalling the start of the queue that he would be back. So we are at the bottom of the steps when he finally gets back and the people behind us start being really aggressive and saying he was cutting in - it was a group of about 12 people, all sort of early 20's I'd guess. I pointed out that they had stood behind him for an hour in the queue and actually moved out of the way to let him get out to the bathroom so how was he cutting in. They got really abusive and called us, and I quote, 'F****** British scum' amongst other less flattering names. To be fair, other people in the queue around us were telling them to cool it as he wasn't cutting in. Then we started up the steps. So I waited till we got to the turn in the stairs then pointed at the biggest one and told him when he got off the ride I would be waiting and was going to knock all of his teeth out and if any of his friends or bitches wanted to get involved I would do the same to them. And then the couple in front of us turned around and said they would help! And to my astonishment every single one of them looked totally shocked. They muttered to each other, then went back down the stairs! I dunno if they left the queue entirely or just moved back a bit, but everyone around us started laughing at them cos they had been in line over an hour same as us. The guy at the top of the stairs marshalling the line must have wondered what we were all laughing at. Anyway, I wandered there a bit....... Please tell me you don't consider that situation as cutting line! (Oh, and I wouldn't have done it, but I was a bouncer to pay my way through Law School and that part of me likes to stretch his legs every now and then, and intimidation is a wonderful thing)

I rode Kumba, Montu and Sheikra (twice) in the dark back in January (yes, it was only 6pm but it got dark real quick there) and the frozen faces and hands were worth it cos they were all great in the dark. As was the Skyride. And the cold had chased off about 90% of the other park-goers once the sun had started to set, so zero queueing!

First Park: Busch Gardens Tampa - January 3rd (and it was COLD!!!) First Coaster: Kumba First Food: Carrot Cake & Coffee First New Coaster: Hollywood Rip,Ride,Rockit, Universal Orlando (Song chosen? Hella Good by No Doubt) January 7th First visit to Wizarding World of Harry Potter - some time in August 2010 First Movie seen - Avatar in IMAX at the Pointe Orlando 4th January - it was pants. First Upper Class flight to Orlando on Virgin Atlantic - August 2010 ****EDIT***** Not sure if it counts but I was actually on the climb hill of Kraken at Seaworld as New Year hit (stupid slow watch) and so got to see all the fireworks going off for new year from the top of the hill. So technically, the Kraken was my first coaster of the year, although I started the ride in 2009. So was it the last one I rode last year instead? I'm confused.

Currently One Day Like This - Elbow Last 3 J'taime Melancholie - Gueshe Patti Cannonball - The Breeders Brilliant Mind - Furniture

There's much snow predicted. Which is both great and sucks. Great cos I love snow and sucks cos I have to work.

Ok, it's been a while since I signed up and posted here, and the one picture I used had a huge beer obscuring me, so here's some newer ones from this month in Orlando. I get called Dopey a lot, cos of my bald head, blue eyes and big ears??? But he's cool so I don't mind! A photo sans beverage! On the boat between Disnet's boardwalk and DHS

I've been visiting Orlando lots over the past few years (have a holiday place there now) and have literally hundreds of pics. But I'm not sure about the TR's and the whole rules etc surrounding them (And I know I haven't posted here much, but being a criminal lawyer means I'm pretty much busy all the time!) Just got back from my last trip, spent new year there and visited the parks... However, some small child decided to delete all my pics from my camera when looking at my ice-castle MK photos. There wil be some as the other people I was there with have pics, they live 200 miles away so need to get a copy in a couple of weeks.

It's 5pm on saturday afternoon, I've had several beers and I'm about to be left in charge of a small child for the night.

The worst one for me, and I'm sure many people will disagree, is Test Track at Epcot. The firsat time I rode it we queued for almost 2 hours, the line 'entertainment' wasn't entertaining at all (there is a horrible sound in one part, so may people were saying it was giving them a headache standing in line) and then the ride itself sucked. I rode it again a couple of years ago with someone who hadn't been on. I didn't give my opinion but they said after it was all horrible. Now if we are there and people want to ride it I use that time to grab a beer and something to eat.