RC98 Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 This is the last year my school district is having a February break, so my family (mom, dad, little sister, and me) made good use of it by going to Disney World for the week! Our room was at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary, giving great views of the Magic Kingdom and the fireworks every night! And with that the trip begins with… Monday, 2/16-Magic Kingdom I left at about 7:45 to get to the MK at the 8 AM park opening. Unfortunately, my dad had a problem with his MagicBand where the park tickets weren’t linked to it, so it took about 20 minutes to fix. Luckily this was the only problem we had with the bands for the whole trip. Once getting in, I went right to Space Mountain and rode twice, with a 10 minute wait each time. I got one ride on each track—the left side (Alpha?) seemed a bit more intense with a couple more big drops. After that the rest of my family met up with us and did the Barnstormer as a confidence booster for my sister. Next was Dumbo (sort of childish but whatever) and the Mad Tea Party (really fun to spin…madly). Both were about a 10 minute wait. Next was the Haunted Mansion, with about a 20 minute wait. The hitchhiking ghosts were cool—it’s fun to wave your arms around and see how they react! Big Thunder Mtn. was next, which ended up being about a 30 minute wait, but with all the interactive stuff to do in line it was ok. I sat in the fourth row from the back, it was pretty fun although not that intense. The small double down halfway through the ride gave a bit of air and it is themed really well. The last ride of the morning was our first FP+ of the day, Splash Mountain. I had been really looking forward to this ride since it was closed last time I was there. I liked it a lot—it’s a long ride, the theme and story are great, and as far as I could tell all the effects were working. The big drop was fun but what I hadn’t expected was that I felt a rise after one of the smaller indoor drops, like what our log flume originally had! It felt like this... And with that the morning at the Magic Kingdom is finished! To be continued... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc12192 Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 I went on my first trip to WDW in Nov and was surprised by the hill on splash mountain too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted March 7, 2015 Report Share Posted March 7, 2015 I also like that uphill section after the drop on Splash Mountain. It's too bad more log flumes don't have them anymore. The only other one I have seen with an uphill section is Log Jammer at Kennywood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC98 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) I'm glad I wasn't the only one to notice it! Although it's not exactly the same, I found this after a bit of searching It's sort of a modern version of it Next part should be up tomorrow Edited March 8, 2015 by RC98 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC98 Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Since no one has replied in a while here is the next part: Monday, 2/16-MK Part 2 The first ride after returning to the park was our second FP+ of the day, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I sat in the back row and the ride was surprisingly good. I actually felt pops of air on the drop out of the station and on the main drop, and the rocking of the cars was fun too. It was a bit short, but still enjoyable. I just hope those crazy lines eventually go down a bit for it. Also we got stuck on the lift for a minute inside the mountain. They made an announcement saying that the train was stopped momentarily and then at the most a minute later they made another announcement saying that we were ready to go and then the ride continued. The next attraction was the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, which was a new attraction for me. It felt like a more grown up version of the Crush show in Epcot. I found it to be underrated fun, lots of puns involved! After this was our last FP+ of the day, Peter Pan’s Flight. It was a good ride and the best of the Fantasyland dark rides, but a bit short. The scene flying over London is still great even over 40 years later. The rest of the ride was classic Disney, one of the attractions that has stood the test of time IMO. Both this and Seven Dwarfs were amazing to have FPs for since both had such long waits the whole day. The last attraction of the day was Mickey’s Philharmagic, a fun 3D movie that I liked a lot, especially the end when Donald was “thrown” across the room into the wall, complete with the animatronic that is revealed at the end. Somehow despite the amount of regular movies that are out in 3D in theaters, the 3D was still a novelty in this attraction. With that day 1 comes to an end but the next day was one of the most eventful of the vacation, with the biggest coasters of the trip and the only downpour the whole week! To be continued… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29yrswithaGApass Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 I would have enjoyed the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride more if there was more leg room. My upper legs were about two inches too long and I found myself wedging my kneecaps into the seat in front of me. Not the best idea because as the ride went on it became more and more uncomfortable. I had hoped to ride it at night but after the first ride I decided against it, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 After this was our last FP+ of the day, Peter Pan’s Flight. It was a good ride and the best of the Fantasyland dark rides, but a bit short. The scene flying over London is still great even over 40 years later. The rest of the ride was classic Disney, one of the attractions that has stood the test of time IMO. Both this and Seven Dwarfs were amazing to have FPs for since both had such long waits the whole day. It seems like those are going to be 2 of the top rides to get the FP+ for in the park with one of the mountains probably as a 3rd choice. Maybe after Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is around for a while, the standby waits will lower a little with other family coasters in the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC98 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 (edited) I would have enjoyed the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride more if there was more leg room. My upper legs were about two inches too long and I found myself wedging my kneecaps into the seat in front of me. Not the best idea because as the ride went on it became more and more uncomfortable. I had hoped to ride it at night but after the first ride I decided against it, Now that I think about it I can see that. I remember thinking that I was about the tallest a person could be and fit comfortably in those cars. It seems like those are going to be 2 of the top rides to get the FP+ for in the park with one of the mountains probably as a 3rd choice. Maybe after Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is around for a while, the standby waits will lower a little with other family coasters in the park. That's exactly what I did, the third one was the one for Splash Mountain. Here's the next part: Tuesday, 2/17-SeaWorld Orlando We got there at about 9:15 and the first attraction of the day was Manta in the front row. I liked this coaster a lot, and way more than Superman. It was great to feel some forces again in the pretzel loop, and the rest of this ride was really fun, with the other 3 inversions and the splashdown effect. This wouldn’t be the only time I rode it today. The next ride was Kraken, which I sat in the second row for. I think of this ride as a much better version of Bizarro. I thought the straight first drop gave better air than the curved one on Bizarro, and it actually had a lot of strong forces throughout the whole ride—the forces in the second row were way better than Bizarro’s even in the back. This ride ended up as my #10 coaster, overtaking Kingda Ka. Next we saw the dolphin show, which was excellent. In addition to the dolphin tricks, there were also points where they let birds fly free around the theater which was really cool. We tried to do the Sky Tower next but they had just closed it due to wind. It was obvious why—the wind was causing the cables to loudly bang against the tower, which could be heard throughout the whole area. After lunch, the next attraction we did was the Antarctica dark ride. As soon as we got strapped in the ride went down and we had to sit in the loading area for a half an hour waiting for it to start. They gave people Quick Queue passes for having to wait. I chose the “wild” version of the ride, it started off really well with themed rooms and well-timed spinning but it seemed like they lost their budget halfway through the ride since pretty much the whole second half was played out on one big screen while the cars were parked in front of it. The “wild” cars bucked and twisted in place synced with the movie on the screen but the “mild” cars basically sat there and did nothing. Overall it was an ok ride but not up to the level of Disney and Universal dark rides like it could have been. By this point it was cloudy and really windy so we ducked inside for the ‘Pets Ahoy’ show, which was really funny with all the skits the pets performed. At the end of the show the trainers said that all the animals in the show were rescued and brought in to be part of the show. At this point it was raining, so we did the last new attraction, the Turtle Trek movie. This 3D movie was different from the ones in Disney since it was a smaller domed theater that you stay standing up for. On the way out I decided to try Manta one more time, but I figured there would be no way it would actually still be open since it was raining hard and puddles were starting to form on the paths. Sure enough, a train with people on it goes up the lift. I walked right up to a half full station and right into a middle row of the train. This time, I liked the ride way more than the first time earlier in the day, and it is currently my number 12 coaster. The best part was that for the whole ride time no one else got in line, so they had to open up the unused side of the dual station for us so we could get off! The ride was still open though, they were making the boarding announcement even though seemingly no one was there. If the rest of my family wasn’t waiting for me I would have tried for a solo ride. This ended the fun (and wet) day at SeaWorld. Thursday at Hollywood Studios next! Edited March 14, 2015 by RC98 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted March 15, 2015 Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 Kraken sounds like it's a really good coaster. It's a shame that Antarctica sounds like it could have been better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC98 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Thursday, 2/18-Disney’s Hollywood Studios The first attraction of the day was Rock n Roller Coaster in the back car. Since Tower of Terror wasn’t open yet the wait time was about 45 minutes at rope drop. I was expecting the launch to seem mild after riding both Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka but it was still fun, and so were the inversions in the dark. I ended up riding this again before the day was done. Next was a FP+ for Tower of Terror which had opened up by then. This is my favorite ride in WDW between all the advanced special effects and the repeated drops and rises. My drop sequence also started off differently than usual— the ride car stayed still for a second or two and then shot up instead of dropping immediately. Next we saw the Indiana Jones stunt show, which I liked even though it’s old since it was the first time I had seen it. I liked that I could know which segments they were recreating since they were from Raiders of the Lost Ark, as opposed to other stunt shows that have fictional stories. Then came the Great Movie Ride, which was a new attraction for me. Although I didn’t realize it at first, I got the western scene on my first try! This ride could really use an update for the ride scenes since some of the movies at the beginning were so old, even many adults probably haven’t heard of them. After lunch and a break it was time for the next FP+, Star Tours. I got the Wookiee planet segment which I never got before, and the transmission was from Yoda. It wasn’t quite as good as I had remembered it being but it was still a good ride. Next was MuppetVision 3D, the pre-show had an odd part referring to the most recent Muppets movie (with the Kermit look alike criminal) but the rest of it was better than I had remembered. This time I noticed other effects I didn’t remember from last time. Next was the last FP+, Toy Story Mania, which although I may be in the minority I feel is much better than Buzz Lightyear in MK since on TSM you have an easier time telling where you’re aiming since there aren’t dozens of people shooting at the same targets at the same time. My score was 115,000, the best in my car. Next I rode Rock n Roller Coaster again using the single rider line this time. The wait time was about 30 minutes, and again I got the back car. This time Walk this Way was the song playing during the ride, the ride was more fun since I knew the song playing. After dinner I decided to see Fantasmic even though it was only 40 degrees out since it was only 15 minutes before showtime and there were still seats open. I felt the water screens were a bit overused, but other than that the show was impressive. This ended the day at Hollywood Studios, Epcot next! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 That's good you got to ride Rock N Rollercoaster twice. It seems like the single rider line can vary a lot. I have heard that sometimes it is just as bad as the regular line. I guess the cold weather maybe kept people away from Fantastmic? Usually 15 minutes before the show, the seating is filled unless it's a 2nd show of the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyc98 Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 I'm not sure how many it has, but Tower of Terror has multiple different drop sequences which add to the ride's re-rideability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RC98 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 (edited) ^^ They seemed to be trying to keep the single rider line moving once in the loading area, when there were no single rider openings for a while they sometimes paired single riders together to fill the back of a train. ^ I thought all the sequences started with a drop and then varied from there, I guess not! Here's the next part: Friday 2/20-Epcot The first attraction of the day was Test Track with a 30 minute wait. Parts of this were new for me since this was the first time I designed my own car. I thought the car designing was a lot of fun with all the details to customize. For the ride itself I liked the futuristic look it has now but it was sort of hard to understand what was going on since my car didn’t get scanned into the ride correctly for some reason. Next was a FP+ for Soarin’. I don’t know how they do it but somehow this ride is really convincing in giving the sensation of gliding despite being technically simple, and every time I ride it I leave with a big smile. This is my favorite non-thrill ride in Disney, I also liked all the scents (pine, oranges, etc) they use during the attraction. Next was the Journey Into Imagination ride, which is pretty good but negatively affected by FP+ since the wait time was almost 25 minutes because of all the FP+ guests riding when this attraction 2 years ago was a walk on all day with a crowded park. Living with the Land was next, with a less than 10 minute wait in standby. I find this ride interesting with all the advanced growing techniques they show. It makes me wonder how widely used they are outside of WDW. The last attraction of the morning was Mission: SPACE Orange with a FP+. I had heard so many horror stories about this attraction that I nearly backed out of riding it. It is a really well done attraction IMO with the multiple preshows and the assignments that each person is given. I ended up being completely fine during the ride itself, it was plenty intense but great fun, and at least to me not at all as bad as some others say it is. When I got back to the park in the afternoon the first attraction was the last FP+ of the day, Spaceship Earth. My favorite part was at the end when you get to pick choices on the screen in the car to form a funny video of your “future.” Apparently my future includes flying cars, vacations to outer space, and a robot to watch my dog when I’m not home! Next was the Seas with Nemo ride, which was ok but I had expected there to be more of the projection effects with the Nemo characters in the tanks. It was still pretty cool though since I remember when I was little and Finding Nemo was one of the first movies I saw in theaters. The last ride of the day was Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions East, which is in my opinion the biggest hidden gem in all of WDW. It starts with a preshow talking about engineering thrill rides, and then you choose between a bobsled run, roller coaster, or jet course to design on an interface similar to the one on Test Track. You then get to ‘ride’ your layout on a robotic arm with a screen showing an animation of your ride covering over the seat. I ended up designing my coaster with lots of hang time upside down, including an element that ended up a lot like the RMC zero g stall. Animal Kingdom is next, ending the trip report! Edited March 29, 2015 by RC98 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoshi Posted March 30, 2015 Report Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'm surprised so many people were using Fastpass at Figment. I guess because of the tiering people are choosing it as a 2nd or 3rd selection. It seems like that has happened to a bunch of rides. They used to be walk ons or short waits and never needed Fastpass but now it really slows down the standby lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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