Originally Posted By scabbyfriar Rode Bigfoot Rapids for the first time since 1987, a couple weeks ago. Felt like someone had installed a concrete tube in a miniature golf course. Doesn't help that you're looking at maintenance sheds and the outside streets half the time, either. I ride GRR occasionally, like the pinball rapids bit, do wish there was much heavier theming, but it beats the socks off Knott's.
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>You talk about how you want the Peoplemover to return<< I don't want the peoplemover to return. My dear, dear Hans .. you seem to forget in these discussions ... I'm not interested in a return of the same basic 1967 Peoplemover. I want to see something SIMILAR with new "bells" and "whistles" and a whole new 21st Century look that even YOU would enjoy, Hans. Have a little faith in WDI ... in hopes that they haven't completely lost it. >> and yet there are dozens of these types of conveyances all around the world. << See .. see ... .. you could only say "dozens" .. because the fact is ... they are not commonplace in the world, at large. The are contained to airports, and VERY FEW actually go anywhere in any major city or town. They mostly have a few stops with a whopping mile or 2 of track, that barely take you anywhere. DL's (1967-1995) demonstrated such a system could take you through towns, business districts, entertainment complexes, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. The way things are going ... it will be ANOTHER CENTURY before it's where you think it is today. >>How many parks have steam trains circling them? Or monorails? I could go on. << And how many of those are state of the art, built with some pizzazz centered around other rides, in an entire plan that is well executed, and still around? >>The point is that there is very little at DLR that can't be found elsewhere. << You mean there's some other places that do rides on the level of PotC, it's a small world, Haunted Mansion, Indy, Tiki Room ???? Please tell me where I can find this place. >> It may be short of a few AA critters along the route, but as raft rides go, GRR is about as Disney as you can get . << Bologna! It's not as "Disney" as you can get. A true "Disney as you can get - GRR" would be taking a turn into a cave .. and it opens up to an underground world you were not even expecting. Along the way .... are effects on a scale like the main cave sequence .. at the beginning of PotC. There's a lot they could do .. to make a majority of the ride indoor .. as it kind-of does already at the first mini drop within GRR. Funny .. they could enclose more of Matterhorn in 1978, and again in 1995, following the closure of the Skyway .... to create more "indoor" show scenes .. such as the icy caves, and the abominal snow man himself ... but that's not possible for the semi-enclosed sections of GRR? Nobody here at LP, or anywhere else is going to convince me this is the best Disney could do .. because they CERTAINLY could have made this DCA's "PotC" .... but didn't. Too bad it's not the "show stopper" it should be. Too bad it's designed to get a person far wetter than they should. Back on topic ... for me, it's not a ride that's going to overshadow DHS' offerings. This is where I would choose DHS over DCA!
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I want to see something SIMILAR with new "bells" and "whistles" and a whole new 21st Century look" So what you are saying is that you want a new version of the Peoplemover. "DL's (1967-1995) demonstrated such a system could take you through towns, business districts, entertainment complexes, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc." That was a pipe dream. The real world applications have been different than what was predicted, and so what? Just it hasn't happened in the way the inventors advertised doesn't mean that these systems aren't commonplace. I'm not sure why you want diminish their real world existence because of this. "You mean there's some other places that do rides on the level of PotC, it's a small world, Haunted Mansion, Indy, Tiki Room ???? Please tell me where I can find this place." I bet you didn't even realize that with the exception of Indy all of the attractions you mentioned are about 50 years old. Think about that for a moment. "Bologna! It's not as "Disney" as you can get." Like I said, for a standard theme park raft ride it is. Some additional scenery would have been nice, but as others have pointed out there's a lot of detail piled on this ride that only few others besides Disney would bother with. Every ride, even an E ticket, isn't meant to be a showstopper. "Nobody here at LP, or anywhere else is going to convince me this is the best Disney could do" Who is even suggesting that let alone trying to convince you?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 To get back OT... I think DCA 2001 was better than DHS (MGM) 1989. There were some good bits to MGM then, and it was certainly more coherent than today, but it was VERY light on rides, and the signature ride (GMR), though ambitious, was an "okay-only" experience for me. Of course, by the time it debuted, the "stay a week and buy park hoppers" paradigm was well-established at WDW, and if it was a half-day park, no biggie. You could just hop back to MK or EPCOT. On the other hand, I had just one day after a conference and wanted to see the new park, so I paid for a full-price one-day ticket: the only time I've ever felt vaguely ripped off by a Disney park. DCA should have had more in 2001, as it was a second park, not a third (a big difference, really), but still I prefer DCA 2001 to MGM 1989. By the time DCA opened, MGM/DHS had been around a while and added plenty of stuff. It got less coherent as a result, but I could see someone preferring DHS to DCA IN 2001. Now with DCA's additions I enjoy it more than DHS in 2010. By 2012 I don't expect it will be even close.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 " Doesn't anyone like the Grizzly River Run?" I love it...especially since we usually stay at the GCH and the entrance is right next to the ride so if we get too soaked we just go change and come back.
Originally Posted By socalkdg I was all ready to disagree with oc_dean on GRR as I believe it is the best of all the raft rides. But he is right in that for a few million more Disney could have made it the premier ride at DCA. Its good, but could have been much more. Additionally there should be and easy way to make the ride more popular on colder days, but come to think of it aren't there some measures they currently do to reduce the amount of water that hits you when it is colder?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt The attraction has an interesting back story that could possibly be elaborated on a bit. The stuff they could add (a few strategically placed AA critters and such) wouldn't take a whole lot of capital to make the attraction better.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Besides, Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges at IOA is the king of all raft rides.
Originally Posted By DLTheo " Doesn't anyone like the Grizzly River Run?" We also love this ride, though I won't usually wait more than 20 minutes for it. We always enjoy meeting people on the raft, developing a little bond with them during the calm early stage of the ride, and then we have a sense of camaraderie when we all take the first big plunge together! I've even ridden it in December, in the evening, after dark, and got soaked! Granted, I won't do that again, but it was fun to do it once. Whatever they are doing to diminish the soaking in winter, it is not enough. Also, like Hans said, it is a beautiful mountain in DCA. We love to walk the trail that crosses through the wilderness area, and I'm always tempted to take another picture of that dang waterfall, even though I probably have a thousand of them. Actually there are a lot of great spots for pictures throughout the GRR area.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Oh, Constance!! Us cauldron girls love the Grizzly River Rapids, too! It's one of our favorite things to do at DCA. (We're not the sort of witches who melt when we get wet, either!) Compared to the water rafting ride at Magic Mountain, Grizzly River Rapids is much better. It's also better than the river raft ride at Florida's Animal Kingdom, which only has one drop!
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance Witches of Morva, are there really 3 of you posting under the same name?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt My favorite detail around Grizzly Peak are the snow markers along the side of the "highway" that passes underneath the lift hill for the rafts. I also love the sealed up mine entrance. Oh, and the dinosaur fossil near the winery.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Actuall constance, there's 3 of us who each speak for ourselves. I'm the nicest of the 3. ORGOCH: In a bat's butt ya is!!! ORWEN: I rest my broomstick. ORGOCH: Yeah, an I'm 'bout ta rest a big black cauldron up the side a yer fat head!! ORWEN: As if you could even lift something that heavy by yourself, old biddy! Anyway, Orddu is off chasing some handsome man at the moment or she'd be here to speak for herself. ORGOCH: Stalkin's a better word fer it, considerin' who we're talkin' 'bout. She's the sleaziest theme park hag there ever was!!
