Originally Posted By vbdad55 thanks dave - what's sad is many posters have jut stopped posting in WDW threads now..and 7-8 posters dominating with more doom and gloom ( and precious little facts ) than is imaginable. They now have people wondering what happens when ( not if) Disney sells P&R..what happens when DVC shuts down...every ride expenditure is obscene, but don't spend it and mgmt is morons. Seriously depressing reading..and little discourse unless you jump on the "it's all crap" bandwagon. just as a side note - not one financial blog or site ( like Yahoofinancial boards) has even one post about Disney selling P&R. Funny you would think the heavy hitters would be tuned in as well- not just disgruntled fanbois. Now could it happen, sure, but acting like it's already a done deal, and Disney mgmt is clueless about everything from real estate to parks ..gets real old reading after a while. Have mistakes been made - yep, just like ANY corporation...but I don't come here to have to defend DVC / Fastpasss / WDW / Food / Entertainment / Costs / refillable mugs on every single thread as it has become. God bless those willing to do so but for now it's just a pile on frenzy..with any contrarian thought either shuted down or never being posted. I am trying to stick around on other threads if possible because there are so many good people here, that one can learn from
Originally Posted By CDF1 Disney set the initial standards for immersive ride experiences and Universal has taken up the challenge to try and move things up a notch - that's a win-win situation for theme park "consumers". In comparing Indy at DLR and Spiderman at IOA, they are both very good but show different styles - Indy is more a physical show compared to Spiderman which is more of an animated show, although both use coordination between their vehicles and the sets. We should all be happy we live in a time when there are such creative forces at both companies vying for our attention and amusement park dollars.
Originally Posted By leobloom >>In comparing Indy at DLR and Spiderman at IOA, they are both very good but show different styles - Indy is more a physical show compared to Spiderman which is more of an animated show, although both use coordination between their vehicles and the sets. We should all be happy we live in a time when there are such creative forces at both companies vying for our attention and amusement park dollars.<< Maybe if you're comparing Uni with what Disney is doing in CA or in Japan -- but they haven't been doing anything in Florida to up the ante for many, many years. When was the last time WDW opened a cutting-edge attraction? Uhh...DAK Safari in 1998? Tower of Terror in 1994 (I think)?
Originally Posted By brotherdave Expedition Everest in 2006. Yeti problems aside, the coaster itself was relatively innovative with it's unique backwards ride section.
Originally Posted By brotherdave As far as roller coaster technology - yes. I believe it was the first full circuit (non-shuttle) coaster to offer a section of the ride that goes backwards.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Doesn't UNI's Mummy go backwards or am I confused? Either way, there's no way EE can really be considered a raising the bar type experience in the Orlando market. And when most of its major effects are inoperable and have been for years, well ... I don't have the energy to repeat myself. Things are supposed to work at the top theme park destination in the world ... when they don't, something is amiss with management. ~GFC~
Originally Posted By ChiMike Yes. Brother Dave is incorrect. Both completely different Mummy coasters predated Everest. Also you would have to consider water coasters and even log flumes that offered riders a backwards portion of the ride circuit. Nothing about the actual coaster design for everest was raising the bar. The most you can say about everest's layout is that it has a large upward helix. Yawn.
Originally Posted By brotherdave I did forget about the Mummy coasters being built first, but their backwards sections are very short, and if I recall correctly, are "controlled" backwards motion, not gravity powered. Everest has a much longer backwards helix section and is (mostly) gravity powered like most roller coasters. I'm only pointing out that EE was supposed to be "cutting edge" when it opened, but that is all a matter of one's opinion. Sadly, the final operational product of the effects is certainly less than stellar. However, the coaster portions of the ride are quite good.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<I did forget about the Mummy coasters being built first, but their backwards sections are very short, and if I recall correctly,>> Hollywood's is much longer than Orlando's.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Is it? I thought they were the same. I never rode that version. Then, I guess Everest wasn't as innovative as I had thought!
Originally Posted By Mr SpiderSponge Well with Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast closing tomorrow, I'll do a simple copy/paste of the tribute I gave to it on another site. There were many things I loved about it. I thought it captured the spirit of the source materials very well, so if you have an affinity for these things, you probably will feel like a part of these Nicktoon worlds. I personally don't understand why anyone would say otherwise. I felt the ride captured the typical aspects of a Nicktoon: fun, humorous, with the occasional moment of pure thrill. In turn, I do not believe the thrill aspect worked very well for Hanna-Barbera. I feel that it would have been better if they had made it a dark ride instead. The jokes in the attraction were quite very witty, with some of the best lines coming from Carl. The story of the attraction is actually quite clever, as it focuses on Ooblar's own impulsiveness and incompetence, with King Goobot really being secondary villain of the ride. The animation of the attraction was wonderfully well done as well, looking very nice and colorful. Plus the environments were very creative and different from each other, whether it be the busy streets of Arnold's Neighborhood, the large house of the Rugrats, the colorful and cloudy Fairy World, the creepy Yolkian Planet, and finally the underwater town of Bikini Bottom. Probably one of the best aspects of the attraction were all of the hidden details and hidden characters that were scattered around throughout the ride film. There's something new to see with every ride. They also did a great job with the special effects in the ride, from water spraying, to bubbles, to lasers, a whole lot of extra details here and there. I also honestly don't understand why everyone goes on about the ride being uncomfortable. I guess it just depends on the person. I have been able to ride this ride all day without getting sick or hurt. This ride certainly deserved a better budget, as it was not a great ride by any means. But, I thought that it was definitely impressive for what it is. Simply repainting things around from Hanna-Barbera actually worked surprisingly well for this ride, as the art style of the previous attraction also matched Jimmy Neutron very well. I dislike it how people say that this is a near clone of its predecessor, the only similarities between the story of the two rides was that it was a chase through various worlds. Aside from that, they were both completely different. So, IMO, I can't really see that as a valid argument. And quite frankly I thought the rocket chase storyline worked well for this ride. Do not fix what is not broken. And that concludes that. I did indeed enjoy the ride for what it was, and I think the designers behind the ride did a great job with doing what they were told to do. (By the way, thanks for the nice and interesting welcome, everyone)
Originally Posted By leobloom I only rode the Jimmy Neutron ride once, and it was at the end of a long day spent touring the park. I remember it making me feel extremely nauseous, more than any other ride at the parks. So my main memory of the ride is feeling sick during the jerky motion and saying to my wife something about hating f'ing Jimmy Puketron. But, then again, I've never seen the show. Maybe I would've appreciated the jerky motion more if I could've connected with the story.
Originally Posted By Mr SpiderSponge Meh. I'm losing my interest in this new attraction more and more. I think it's the premise of the new attraction I hate. When there's a premise I can't stand, there's no way to sell me on it. Plus, now that I've rethought everything, I now believe Despicable Me is vastly overrated. Personally? How to Train your Dragon would have been a better choice than Despicable Me. Universal is driving their creative process off of what's going to sell more merchandise, rather than what's going to connect emotionally to people more.
Originally Posted By Mr SpiderSponge But that's just my view and opinion of it all. I can understand why someone would disagree.
Originally Posted By DlandDug So, are we still waiting for that Major Attraction News, or is it all done?
Originally Posted By sjhym333 Well Despicable Me is definitely going into the Jimmy Neutron building and many of us have heard strong rumors (though not officially announced) that the Harry Potter section will be expanded. But that is all that is definite.
