Walt Disney World and Disneyland(s) Discussion

[Bardoon]

How is JP River Adventure doing? I used to love that ride but had been HUGELY disappointed with it my last two visit. On one, the T-Rex didn't even work and on both, half the dinosaurs in the boats and along the water weren't working or moving VERY awkwardly. I love Jurassic Park but I prefer the DINOSAUR ride at Animal Kingdom personally.

 

[Shawpaw]

Great pictures!

 

[budafett]

Yachtman Steakhouse is one of the best dining experiences in Disney World!

 

[Coheteboy]

How is JP River Adventure doing? I used to love that ride but had been HUGELY disappointed with it my last two visit. On one, the T-Rex didn't even work and on both, half the dinosaurs in the boats and along the water weren't working or moving VERY awkwardly. I love Jurassic Park but I prefer the DINOSAUR ride at Animal Kingdom personally.

JP River Adventure is doing EMBARRASSINGLY bad. The T-Rex is working... at least... to a degree. This is a ride that is definitely superior in Hollywood. There's entire scenes missing in Floridas.. dinosaurs that really aren't popping out like they oughta. The one in Hollywood has a hanging jeep on a wall that falls and crashes down into the water. There's no such scene in Florida's.


How about I just cut to the pics..

This is the moment where the ENTIRE boat busted up laughing our butts off. Even if we could hold onto our butts, we couldn't. The speaker goes "WELCOME... TO JURASSIC PARK!" and then the main Jurassic Park theme plays confidently and then....


DERPPP

Broken neck... he finally pops up as the boat passes... but immediately goes down for the next boat to laugh their butts off too. As sad as it was, it was a definite highlight of the trip... in the wrongest sense.

Crazy plush

IF Cringer was a dino

Laziest food concept ever...

Better...

 

[Coheteboy]

Back in Hogsmeade...

Another converted attraction from Islands of Adventure past is now FLIGHT OF THE HIPPOGRIFF. Hagrid's house is built nearby...

Buckbeak is quickly seen at the start of the ride.

The signature attraction is HARRY POTTER AND THE FORBIDDEN JOURNEY, located inside Hogwarts.

I have to say that I was more or less kind of disappointed because everyone else was blown completely away. Maybe I needed to go on it a second time but I was feeling a little nauseous. From what I heard, the version being built in Hollywood will be improved upon and added with 3D.

And then it was dinner time.

A feast at Three Broomsticks

The bar next door

Back at Diagon Alley... this is one of the facades that contains Diagon Alley... it's gorgeous.

Men in Black Alien Attack is really fun

As is the new Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl

While Orlando got this ride, Hollywood got a similar one in the form of Despciable Me's Super Silly Funland.

Springfield USA is nicely done, more on that later.

Misc Universal Studios Florida

I gotta say... Universal Studios Florida's Hollywood area is much better than Disney's Hollywood Studios. It just seems more... real.

That's it from day 1 at Universal Orlando! Day 2 still to come.

 

[cokebabies]

Right, and that's probably why I went with it. Hard Rock and Portofino are still decently priced compared to WDW but don't know if you really get that much more out of it.

Thing about the Royal Pacific though is that it's not particularly memorable. It seems like a normal hotel and I admit that I really didn't do as much exploring as I should have, but there was something about it that didn't make me want to explore it. The bars weren't particularly inviting or comfortable, and the hotel itself isn't breathtaking visually. In fact... checking my camera, i took NO pictures of the hotel whatsoever, which is a first for me.

I stayed at the Hard Rock, and it was okay. The theming is maybe stronger, but still largely forgettable. Their big selling point is a pool where you can hear the music being played underwater. What they neglect to tell you is the water is about 18 inches deep.

Disney annihilates USF when it comes to resort theming. But USF not only goes toe to toe with Disney for resort advantages, it easily bests Disney.

Unless you're staying at Cabana Bay. In which case... don't stay there.

 

[Bardoon]

Ugh so sad....

I was surprised that Universal got the Harry Potter license years back. The maintenance on their rides is not even comparable to Disney. However, it looks like Universal has done a tremendous job with Harry Potter (as they should have, probably would've lost more attendance to Disney if they didn't) and hopefully they keep that quality up.

Now if they could FIX all the JP issues, maybe they can capitalize on Jurassic World coming up soon!

However, with Disney acquiring Star Wars and Marvel, Universal is bound to lose the rights to their Marvel section of Islands of Adventure in the near future. Disney I know is already selling Marvel merchandise around their parks and stores and it's only a matter of time before they pounce on the rumors of a potential large Marvel section or a Marvel/Star Wars park itself!

 

[Rambler]

Thanks for the picks. I went to Disney and Universal for the first time this past May. Its great to look back at my photos and seeing yours to relive that week. What an great place.

 

[Coheteboy]

Before continuing on with Orlando... I thought I just update on Disneyland first since this is pretty new stuff. Over the weekend, they soft opened many of their new FROZEN FUN activities. The official start date is January 7th, which seems late, but it's basically something new as soon as Christmas ends.

In Disney California Adventure - Hollywood Land:
Over in the Disney Animation pavilion, you can now learn how to draw Olaf...

and the Anna and Elsa meet & greet has moved over here as well. Gone is the Toy Story Zoetrope. The meet & greet in Fantasyland now sits dormant.

Olaf is a new Meet & Greet character (this was a thing that should have been a thing a year ago)

Olaf balloons are a hit

Hopping back over to Disneyland for a moment, a new scene has been added to Storybook Land Canal Boats.

It's Arendelle from yup... Frozen.

Elsa's Ice Palace is also there. Pinocchio's Alpine Village across the way.

What they removed was the scene for THE OLD MILL, the 1937 short cartoon that was the very first use of the Multi-Plane Camera. It's sad that history like that gets taken out but it's understandable since Frozen IS so huge.




Over at the Star Trader, C-3PO and R2-D2 have been added to the windows. It's cool but at the same time makes no sense since you're supposed to see them in the ride.

Back in DCA Hollywood Land, Mad T Party is gone... and now it's FREEZE THE NIGHT.

There's still music and DJs and an ice carver person and drinks... and snow...

The neighboring gift shop became rethemed...

And another Meet & Greet is Marshmallow... pretty cool actually.

Yet to open is a Musical stage production that is replacing Muppet Vision 3D and an Olaf snow play area in one of the vacant sound stages.



Alright, that does it for your quick Disneyland update. Back to Orlando.

 

[Coheteboy]

Day 2 of Universal Orlando! Back at Studios for Diagon Alley early entry.

Seriously this place is done so well. I wanna go back.

 

[MegaPrime33]

Great pictures. Can't wait to see what you got from Disney World.

 

[Coheteboy]

Moving onto SPRINGFIELD, USA, a relatively new area extended out of The Simpsons Ride, but still a part of "WORLD EXPO" area which is weird. It's mostly food but it's well themed and fun so I approve. All of this in some shape or another is coming to Universal Hollywood 2015.

Bumblebee man's Tacos

Lard Lad Donuts

The disappointing about Comic Book Guy's store is that it's just a facade for the restrooms. This should be a LEGIT nerd store!!!

Krusty Burger

Moe's Tavern

Chicken Shack! to the left is the Kwik E Mart which isn't new so i didn't take a picture of it.

Duff Beer Gardens... you can drink Duff!!

Duff shop

Duffman!

You remember the Seven Duffs right?

Jebediah

Chief Wiggum

Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl

Alright back to Moe's. Going inside is one of those... WHOA moments. Even though it's just extra seating for the Simpsons Food Court, they really did a great job with it!

Inside the food court is more seating (as well as inside the Krusty Burger) and the following options:

Lisa's Teahouse of Horror

Luigi's

The Frying Dutchman

Cletus' Chicken Shack (I had the chicken waffle sandwich here... it was SO good)

Krusty Burger

and Flaming Moe's (non alcoholic orange soda with dry ice, comes in a souvenir plastic cup for the kiddies)

On display just outside Springfield are some Back to the Future time machines (the hero delorean is displayed in Hollywood behind glass so i doubt this is the official one haha)

 

[Viking28]

Great pics!!!!! We just got back yesterday and did both parks as well! We loved the Forbidden Journey!!!!! This was a first visit for both parks and had a blast

 

[Coheteboy]

Great pics!!!!! We just got back yesterday and did both parks as well! We loved the Forbidden Journey!!!!! This was a first visit for both parks and had a blast

Thanks!

Forbidden Journey made me nauseous but my friends who went on it again said it was a lot better when they knew what to expect. I'll do it again when it comes to Hollywood in 2016!



Time for a little E.T. Adventure!

here's where it gets freaky..

miss that ride.



Miscellaneous Hop characters

Scooby Doo

Betty Boop

The Brown Derby was a restaurant and at Disney's Hollywood Studios they left it as one. Here, it's a hat shop

Terminator 2 3-D, where i took a nap

There's a Spongebob party too

Despicable Me is identical to the one in Hollywood but not as charming on the exterior. In Hollywood they built a little neighborhood surrounding it and the kid's school and Super Silly Funland nearby.

 

[Coheteboy]

TWISTER..RIDE IT OUT features a hilarious pre-video by Bill Paxton... and not in the good way. It's so sleazy hollywood and scripted... but you get to watch a little disaster scene.

The merchandise store at the exit sells, you guessed it... COWS.

HOLLYWOOD RIP RIDE ROCKIT is an intense coaster that I could only do once. It was fun but I had a headache going in and this just made it worse. On it you can pick your favorite music genre and listen to it as you go. There's a secret though... there's a list of over 300 songs you can punch in to customize your ride experience but you don't have a lot of time to input it. I wasn't able to do it and neither were my friends. Upon their 2nd attempt, only one out of three got their song in. It's too bad because I would have loved to ride this listening to Kermit the Frog's Rainbow Connection!

Weeee

DISASTER! is a repurposed Earthquake ride starring Christopher Walken, using the guest participation to make a movie, the end of it is just the earthquake ride part. I'm guessing this will eventually go away for more Harry Potter expansion.

And if you're an I Love Lucy fan, there's a tribute museum just for you.

Meet Bumblebee (or Megatron or Optimus Prime)

It was time to park hop once again, taking the Hogwarts Express to Islands of Adventure

Mythos Restaurant... really good but didn't get to do it this time.

 

[cokebabies]

The Twister pre-ride video is amazing. Bill Paxton's hand-on-hip action is some next level posing.

 

[Coheteboy]

The Twister pre-ride video is amazing. Bill Paxton's hand-on-hip action is some next level posing.

And his looking off camera to no one there... but it's Helen Hunt pre-ride video! I laughed. Hard.



Anyway... Seuss Landing... didn't spend a lot of time here since it was our last night and everything was shutting down at 8pm. We could have done it all but we spent too much time exploring the harry potter stuff.

SO CUTE

And yup, just like that we were back in Harry Potter area..

And back in Diagon Alley

And just like that, we were out.

We had dinner at a place at Citywalk called COWFISH... and you can probably guess that they serve burgers and sushi. They even have a section of the menu called BURGUSHI which is what sold it for us to try. It was pretty good! We all got a 1/2 lb burger and cocktails and shared some rolls. We later learned that they haven't even grand opened yet officially so, look for that next time you're there.


WALT DISNEY WORLD NEXT!

 

[Coheteboy]

Continuing on...

Got a late start at WDW on a Monday since I had to check out and check in. Stayed at the ALL-STAR MOVIES RESORT... which is probably the cheapest one they had. I was going to be there four nights so I really didn't want to overdo it.

It was raining all afternoon but by the time I got to Disney's Hollywood Studios, it stopped... but remained cloudy the rest of the day.

I always had issue with this version of Star Tours because of the "hot set" theme. It just doesn't work for a simulator that takes itself seriously. This isn't Star Wars: The Ride... it's an all new experience in that world. I don't like the fact that we're already in Endor when the original ride was supposed to TAKE you there. I also don't like exiting in Tatooine, even though you may have flown somewhere else. For that reason alone, I prefer the Anaheim, Tokyo, and Paris versions of this ride.

Doesn't feel like a Spaceport on the outside.

Odd things not found in Anaheim:

Exiting into Tatooine Traders

Sci-Fi Dine In... didn't eat there this time but went in for a quick pic

 

[Viking28]

Great pics! Keep em coming!

 

[Coheteboy]

Pics from the Great Movie Ride...

I had to make another pass at it with a better zoom to try to get more detail... some are okay, some not.