simon8899 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 (edited) After about 30 years back in Magic Kingdom - saying I don't remember much from my first visit. Can't even say if Epcot was already there, judging from my parents pictures we only visited Magic Kingdom and Cypress Gardens. Entering the park on a bright sunny day View down Main Street from the WDRR Station Always nice to rest ones feet during the day... Lines at the Barnstormer started with 30 minutes in the morning and got worse all day - skipped it. Construction on Seven Dwarfes Mine The double Dumbo - and still a 60+ minutes wait at worst... Always good to have a teacup ride - did this before crowds kicked in. Also a very popular ride View from the People Mover Did Alpha and Omega tracks - both on Fastpass. Must-Do photo! A stroll trough New Fantasyland Good Big thunder Mountain Like two years ago Disneyland: Splash Mountain IS closed when I visit... Got a walk-on in the morning. Nice dark ride! Disney parks have a lot of "Dumbo-like" kiddie rides! Parade time Show time Sweets time!!! Nighttime fireworks Main Street at night. It felt like all people from other parks storm Magic Kingdom after dark... Has been a great day! The Castle illuminations were wonderful! Epcot coming up next... Edited March 26, 2013 by simon8899 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voxelmatic Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Barnstormer really does get a line, and for no reason too. Glad to see you enjoyed what was open! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 When were you there? I just got back from Orlando on Friday, after two weeks there. Â And if it seems like everyone hits the Magic Kingdom at night from the other parks, that's probably because it was open later than all of the other DIsney parks. In the case of Epcot, it was only an hour later, but they do have the monorial directly between the two. But last week, Magic Kingdom was open until 10 PM every night (and midnight on Saturday!), while Hollywood Studios closed at 8 and Animal Kingdom closed at 7 (if you could find enough to do there to stay that late!) I went over to the Magic Kingdom after each of the three other parks on all three days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 I visited Epcot quite often for two reasons: A) good European beer and B) since the Simpsons episode Disney has added some quite good attractions with Test Track, Soarin' and Mission Space.  I had 5 Disney days with Park Hopper and did them the following:  Day 1: Magic Kingdom (09-21) Day 2: Hollywood Studios (09-16), Epcot World Showcase i.e. Beer+Food (17-21) Day 3: Hollywood Studios (09-11), Epcot rides (12-18) Day 4: Animal Kingdom (09-15), Magic Kingdom (16-22) Day 5: Hollywood Studios (09-12), Epcot (13-16) - cut this day short as temps were over 30C and way too moist for my tastes  I added Downtown Disney on the evening of my Sea World day.  Quite liked the boat from Studios to Epcot. France - but I'm not a wine person, so move on! Morocco - fun fact: One gets Heineken - a dutch beer - here. Signature shot from Japan Italy And finally back were one belongs! Fun fact: The serving girl was from Hamburg. Moving in a part of the great fireworks. Sadly my camera battery was empty... Signature shot of Spaceship Earth. Fun fact: Presented by German company Siemens! United Kingdom were you can get Fish & Chips & Stella on tap. Hidden Mickey in the UK. Fun Test Track! Which was first? Test Track or Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom? Liked Mission Space a lot. The Orange track is quite intense! Blurry shot of the inside of Mission Space. The centrifuge puts quite a punch during the simulated liftoff. Must-Do picture! Spaceship Earth with crashed Windows screens... On the Fastpass to Soarin'. Soarin' hardware. Beautiful ride with an impressive machinery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted February 21, 2013 Author Share Posted February 21, 2013 Part 3: Pictures from the Disney Resort plus Downtown Disney My room the Riverside. Quite nice with the only negative point that windows can't be opened - I blocked the door with a chair in the morning to get some fresh air in... Riverside at night They've a lot of gardeners everywhere On the way from Studios to Epcot Sweets!!! On the way to Downtown Disney Lots of traffic in the evening Cool! Downtown Disney has a Highflyer Balloon Forgot your credit card? I love these! Nighttime view over Downtown Disney Entertainment! High class entertainment! Seven Dwarfes in Lego Back in the Riverside lobby The first and last thing Disney you see if staying at the Disney resort Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 Part 4: Animal Kingdom  A funny mix of zoo and theme park with a good part-darkride coaster. Heading towards the entrance Funny darkride using the Test Track ride system And another Dumbo-clone - this time featuring dinos This ride made funny noises... - but skipped it as my back was a little off from the flight, and I wouldn't risk angering my back on a wild mouse... Expedition Everest is a good and well-themed coaster On the backwards darkride section one has some funny near-weightlessness lots of greenery and of course: Animals! A cat with the right attitude Find the Tree Woman! Indian Summer Always a big AHHH and OHHH in the US: Weisskopfseeadler! And finally: There's always a parade! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XYZ Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Great Photo Trip Reports. I like how you included Downtown Disney as that is usually forgotten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 A part in the decision to visit Downtown Disney was the fact that Riverside has a direct boat shuttle. If I stayed at a Disney resort farther away I might skipped it. Â I'd love to see if Disney would expand their Monorail system to include at least all parks and Downtown Disney. The busses could get very crowded so I choosed Monorail or boat whenever available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 The final Disney part is Hollywood Studios. Except for the first day were I included the stunt shows I visited this park mostly in the morning before the crowds kicked in to ride the Rockin'Roller Coaster and Tower Of Terror - IMO the two best thrill rides at WDW. Â A slight disappointment for me - but that's true for most parks during the last years - that many simulation rides are upgraded to 3-D which I can't use due to an exotic eye condition. "It was a dark and foggy night at the Hollywood Tower Hotel..." Spent most time in the Sunset Blvd section of the park Indiana Jones stunt show Star Tours now in 3-D - a no-go for me *sad* Car stunt show with German Opel cars... Very nice theming all over the park Welcome to the Vekoma Indoor looper HTH from the Rockin queue View down Sunset on a beautiful Florida day A truely good Vekoma looper! Maybe due to AC the metal doesn't "work" with changing temps? HTH lobby. Liked the darkride parts that are unique to this HTH. Show under the hat. A blackboard show- and wait-times table - a unique twist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Someotherguyuser Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Great trip report! I love that shot of Tower in the fog. Also, the Seven Dwarfs coaster is looking great! I'd love to take another trip down there next year to see Potter and the full Fantasyland. Glad to see you had a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 Part 6: Kennedy Space Center  Visiting Florida I always try to visit KSC for a day - as Star Trek fan this simply is a must do. Next to that as a German one can remember the time when NASA did the hottest stuff with Wernher von Braun and Jesco van Puttkamer rolling the dice.  IMO it's sad that no lessons were learned from the Space Shuttle to built a safer next generation shuttle but at least there's an effort to get to manned interplanetary missions.  On the "Meet an Astronaut" panel I asked how Gs compared between an actual Shuttle launch and attractions like "Shuttle Launch Experience" at KSC or "Mission: Space - Orange" at Epcot. He replied that forces are quite realistic but the simulators only apply them for a few seconds. Welcome to the rocket garden If you are into the space program it's always worthwhile to do a Specialty Tour Defunct Shuttle launch pad and processing building Brand new launch pad for the new launch system As NASA remodels the Vehicle Assembly Building one had the rare chance to take a look inside I charged myself inside the VAB! Launch Control Center and VAB with bay door open - a Crawler was just moved in. Defunct Shuttle launch facility with the last used launch pad still in place Whatever you do while visiting KSC - don't swim. Launch facility to be remodeled for the new launch system - so far only three lightning towers were built Actual used - as in traveled to the moon and back - Apollo capsule Entry plaza with the only president to date NASA is really fond of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 To clarify, Dinosaur uses the same system developed for Indiana Jones and the last crusade, not Test Track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double0Kevin Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 To clarify, Dinosaur uses the same system developed for Indiana Jones and the last crusade, not Test Track. Â To clarify, they ALL use the same system developed for Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Though I hear Test Track uses it the best (I sadly missed it last year). Â Â Awesome updates! I love the walk between Studios and Epcot. Those resorts are beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 I love the walk between Studios and Epcot. Those resorts are beautiful. Â I totally agree that the area is top - if I visit again I'd try to get a room in one of the resorts. Â I always took the boat as having a sitting job I normally develop blisters on top of blisters on my feet an am happy for every meter I don't have to walk... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Part 7: Sea World Orlando  Sea Word offers a lot of animal shows, 2 good coasters and a very wet watercoaster. If you are just here for the rides you might miss some flats to spice up the mix.  So I mostly spend my day in the coaster section. I'm not quite a fan of dolphin and whale shows - well, look who visits Sea World LOL - but liked the Sea Lion habitat and Shark aquarium. The crowds were very low the day I visited and got around 20 rides on both coasters. I liked Manta most as the pretzel loop puts in quite some Gs in the compression. Welcome to Sea World Must-Do shot of Manta - good coaster, walk-on all day. The pretzel loop pulls some Gs - seldom found on B&Ms. Journey To Atlantis has a fun darkride section and is very wet - it gets much wetter after the pictured major splashdown... Kraken - the second fun coaster here Yes, it was a slow day... Even the sea lions spend the day tanning. The parrots have a cleaning day... A final ride on Manta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Part 8 - Universal Studios  IOA was on both days I visited better filled than the Studios. The nice part of it were that both coasters were walk-ons. Rip Ride Rockit was a fun coaster - it could be even better if it had some inversions. The Mummy was a fun darkride-coaster with the emphasis on darkride - as this ride uses a coaster system it could also be realized with a Test Track like ride system. Welcome to the Studios Getting to IOA soon Fun non-inverting loop with a little airtime Waited nearly 15 minutes for this shot Good darkride-coaster Liked the Simpsons simulator ride Empty queue Harry Potter in the making Teens were asking what this car is about - one gets old... Two more spins on Rockit before switching back to IOA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wados Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 nice photos mate, i will be there in 2 months and your TR is not helping........i just want to be there now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Nice report...thanks for sharing! Â It's interesting that Epcot would have Stella (Belgian beer) in the London section and Heineken (Dutch) at the Moroccan section. I never noticed that as I had a Moosehead in Canada and (I think) a Becks in Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 To clarify, they ALL use the same system developed for Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Though I hear Test Track uses it the best (I sadly missed it last year). Â Â This ride system was invented for the Indiana Jones Adventure, and has only been implemented in two other attractions: its Tokyo DisneySea counterpart, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull, and DINOSAUR, located at Disney's Animal Kingdom (opened as CTX: Countdown to Extinction) in Orlando, Florida. However, the Japanese version uses linear-inductive actuators instead of three hydraulic rams. The 35 gallons of hydraulic fluid used on the Disneyland version takes two hours to clean up the track when a hose splits. Because of Japan's environmental codes regarding oil spills, the design team elected to substitute electromagnetic actuators on the ride vehicle. Three of these actuators are used to create a three-dimensional (pitch, roll, and elevation) motion platform chassis on which the car body sits. Â Test Track and Cars used a different track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Teens were asking what this car is about - one gets old... True, we're getting old....but they're generally much more ignorant these days as well, and that makes me laugh....and cry. Even with the somewhat recent retro 80's fashion trends, if you were to quiz the kids wearing them about the decade which inspired their clothing, the percentage of blank looks would be priceless/depressing. Â Anyway, thanks for sharing the report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 19, 2013 Author Share Posted March 19, 2013 Part 9: Universal Islands of Adventure  Another day - another great Orlando park. But this is the one that at least in parts lives up to Disney theming. Coasterwise this one features 3 B&Ms with Hulk being a little rough but still quite fun and Dragon Challenge being two typically mostly harmless B&M inverts. I skipped the Vekoma Rollerskater as it had by far the longest line - mostly even longer than Forbidden Journey.  The major coasters were walk-ons nearly all times with Hulk waittimes topping at about 5 minutes. Forbidden Journey hat max waits of 15-20 minutes - so I did this great ride quite some times.  Next to that Universal has the wettest logflume I ever did. But restraints on a logflume??? This was new - at first I didn't realized what the ride-op was gesturing at, he had to stop the conveyor and tell what I had missed. Here in Europe logflumes and rafting rides never have restraints... Here I am! Warm sunny day and trees with flowers while in Germany snow is mounting First ride of the day - liked the launch, 1st and 5th inversion most Dragon Challenge running fine as I was coming up Harry Potter World was the most packed part of the park both days Today still a mock-up construction was going on behind this wall to add the "real" trainstation Doctor Who snowman with Hogwarts looming behind This was in the middle of the day and Dragon Challenge was a walk-on... The whole Harry Potter area brims with detail Make sure to check all shop windows for small gimmicks View over the lake Colorful Seuss Landing Aside from some of the superheroes the only cartoon figure I could identify: Hägar, der Schreckliche! Even with a light rainjacket one gets very wet here Soaked!!! Is the Seuss trolley a credit? I uses the Mack powered coaster system but it does not coast... Honestly I don't know a thing about Seuss, largely unknown here...  More IOA pics from my smartphone coming soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 20, 2013 Author Share Posted March 20, 2013 Part 10: IOA smartphone pics  Some more pics from IOA... This is the longest line for Forbidden Journey I had in two days The queue is amazing with the moving paintings If you reach the speaking hat you're nearly there Always enough time to ride a dragon... One of the few flats offered Empty Hulk train on the fun 5th inversion Launch right into the inversion is really great Well, what is "work" for... Well done darkride/waterride in the Jurassic Park section 3D projection at Olivanders Universal version of a parade No Orlando park without an explosive show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aceattack52 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Wow everything there Still looks great! I'll be in Orlando in a few weeks and IOA is at the top of my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Final Part: Busch Gardens Tampa  Really enjoyed my day at Busch Gardens. The park offered some great coasters - with Sheikra being in maintenance. I like Cheetah Hunt and Scorpion most but the two B&Ms were also good. The wooden coaster was horribly bouncy. Next to that I really enjoyed the Phoenix. Cheetah Hunt greets one first Great multi-launch coaster, liked the low S-curves part most Montu is a very good inverted, scoring 2nd inverted for me behind Intamin's Tornado Montu was a walk-on all day Busch Gardens also animals big... ...and small Cheetah Hunt's only inversion Airtime hills less forceful then on other Intamin's Reaching Timbuktu... omg, omg, omg... At least some riders ignore the sign: "Don't raise your arms!". I always ignored it... Another well-maintained classic ride at this park The ultra-slow inversions a big fun! Kumba running fine but starting to rattle in the Cobra-Roll and Corkscrews Also a walk-on - immediate re-rides were possible Beautiful white tiger By far the driest waterride I had in Florida Skipped the wild mouse due to my back at the time Rhinos! Cheetah Hunt waits topped at 5 minutes, back rows were mostly a walk-on The actual Cheetah taking things far more relaxed compared to the ride... These guys look relaxed, but... Last ride of the day - of course - the Schwarzkopf Silverarrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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