Mark9

Part two.Splash Mountain. Essentially a log flume but the key difference between this and say Loggers Leap is the large amount of dark ride sections in Mountain. The ride takes a large amount of inspiration from Songs of the South (This short clip) and stars Brer Rabbit as he moves out of his house and tries to find his laughing place. I loved this ride a lot because the musical sections are so cheery and joyous. All the animatronics and effects work within and the characters actually have personalities. The ride has no less then 5 drops of various sizes and gradients. The final drop fools onlookers that the boat drops into thorny bushes but actually splashes under the pathways. I understand it that the ride has recently had lapbars added.. hardly effects the ride or its throughput. The ride can load three boats at a time, again a big people eater. My only real criticism is the ride runs too many boats. This is a good idea in theory but a big problem is that when the inevitable stacking starts you can be stuck at the bottom of each lift hill quite often. And then hearing Brer Rabbits final song over and over and over again can be quite tedious. Nonetheless, a real classic ride. The Haunted Mansion I don't really like dark rides that much really however... I really liked Haunted Mansion. Instead of just being another scary attraction that isn't scary, HM instead has a story that a ghost is showing you round, giving you the sights and sounds of the house. Really fun actually and also has a song section. Disney sure love music. Now onto Fantasyland. The busiest theme park area I have ever seen. Makes sense, the area has the most attractions and things to do in the park. There are 4 dark rides and of course Dumbo. I will never again look at Flying Jumbos at Chessington and think thats a long queue, Dumbos was consistently busy, so much in fact that we never got round to riding it. As part of the areas expansion, Dumbo is being moved to the back of the area and Disney are building a second Dumbo to try and solve the queue problem. I personally don't think it will work but meh. What surprised me is how new that ride looks and yet it was built in 1971. It looks immaculate and is a major Disney icon. So onto the next busiest ride, Peter Pans Flight. Each time we visited the queue for this dark ride was 45 minutes. Staggering really. We used fastpass to ride and well.. it was nice but the problem when you try and fit a 74 minute movie into a 2 minute ride is that the story jumps suddenly and major parts of the film are missed. Maybe the park knows that most people have seen Peter Pan and don't need the ride to explain anything.Opposite Peter Pan is the notorious It's a small World. Everyone knows this ride, whether you've been on it or whether youve heard the theme tune and it's got stuck in your head . I really liked it actually. It suffers from to many boats syndrome as well but the scenes are so jolly and there is so much going on all around you in terms of characters and animatronics that its staggering to think this ride is also 40 years old. Onto Snow White's Scary Adventure, suffers from the same problem as Peter Pan and is probably worse because the ride doesn't even follow the film in the correct order. It was quite scary though (not as bad as Dinosaur though )and it was kind of showing its age. Maybe that's why it's going soon.. or maybe having two snow white rides in the same area causes the world to explode. Now.. one of my favourite rides of the trip ( ) The Many adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I adored this ride completely, it's so beautiful and fun and so Disney that we rode it on each trip. The queue has two areas, one for the adults to wait, the other for the kids to play in. It works so well and keeps the kids distracted. And the ride, it's just so fun, really brings out the inner child.I'll cover Tomorrowland, Adventureland and the parades/firework displays in the next installment.

Why is it sometimes and not every day?

ROAR! click me for Lion fun.

Born This Way - Lady Gaga (CD)Order Placed B) Bring me Gaga for the weekend please Play.

Magic Kingdom.Three seperate visits.Right, this park will probably take two or three posts as there is just so much within the park and so much that is iconic that it would be rude to try and fit it into one post.The first thing that strikes you about Disney World is the sheer scale of the resort. Before my closest idea of a resort was Alton Towers and Europa Park. Walt Disney World sends this conception out very quickly. For instance you enter through the gatesand it can be a good ten minutes of solid driving before you even see the ball at Epcot or some of the hotels. The only way to really get around the resort is via their bus transportation system. Not the most reliable system to be honest, you can see three Epcot buses in the space of ten minutes before your bus decides to turn up.Eventually, it did, everyone piles on and of you go. You notice very quickly that everyone at Disney wheres some kind of Disney merchandise. From pin badges to hats, to bags and to little girls dressed as Cinderalla.What is the most striking thing about Magic Kingdom is the sheer genius behind the park entrance. It's a shallow hill towards the entrance and before the turnstiles you cannot see the Castle at all. The actors come out and perform a little dance before an announcer declares that Mickey and the gang are on their way via the train. You see steam through the trees and in comes the train. It's at this point that I decided Magic Kingdom is pure magic and I couldn't help be reminded of 8 year old Mark looking up at the Vampire train swooping through Transylvania. You don't see the actors or the scheduling or behind the scenes stuff. It's pure and utter magic and built to increase guest anticipation. Eventually the actors count down to 9 o clock, they reach one and fireworks are launched.So you walk through the gates battling strollers and disabled people. And that view. There are moments that wil be with you forever. September 11th, the birth of your first child, seeing your first Disney castle. Pure, unadultered bliss.So far, Disney sounds like one big drug trip but it's because everyone has known and loved Disney. It appeals to that childish nature and it helps that everything at Disney is spotless. There is no chipped paint, no litter, rides from the 70's look like they were built yesterday because they looked painted, modern, themed and beautiful. It all builds to this complete and utter utopia.So to start off on the ride side, I'm going to begin with Big Thunder Mountain. As for me it's only competition comes from Colorado Adventure in Phantasialand and a few Mack powered rollercoasters, it didn't have to do much to impress. The theming is genuinely second to probably its thunder mountain brothers as it's entensive, fun, well through out and interactive. I didn't get many photos to be honest as most of the ride is hidden behind the rocks but what I did get was a general sense of its area.What impresed most was the little touches such as the train making little whistle sounds as it would come off a lift off the chugging sounds that accompany the train through the rocks. The throughput on this is impeccable. We went on a very busy 9am-2am close day and the queue board said half an hour. Wow. Because of fastpass, one side of the loading station is for fastpass and the other for main queue. Even with this hinderance we only queued 15 mintues and we never stopped moving in that queue. Disney can run this beautiful thing so efficiently becuase it has 5 trains and they seem to literally chuck staff member after staff member at a ride to allow it to get bums on seats with as little interference as possible. I will never be able to queue a 10 minute Colossus or Saw queue again without wanting to cry a little inside.Wow, I already feel tired and over excited after reviewing entering the park and one ride. Part two coming up when I've calmed down.

This.It's after my trip to Florida that I've reaslied that family rides and immersion is so much more important then being scared silly all the time. B&M inverters are everywhere, Everest is one special ride that I enjoyed everytime. The day Chessington decides to grow some balls and build their own 'Everest' so to speak is the day that Chessington wins. Everything.

You enter their property, then you abide by their rules.

If you can't be helpful please don't post sarcastic responses.

Thorpe have become so damn clever to be honest, convincing the public that the only way to enjoy their day is to shell out more money.

Updated from February. 1. Expedition Everest 2. Hollywood Tower of Terror 3. Superman de Acero 4. Nemesis 5. Black Mamba 6. Manta 7. Space Mountain 8. Euro-Mi r9. Megaphobia 10. Splash Mountain

Just backtracking a bit, is anyone else just a little bit chuffed that Nemesis does so well every single year. It's the oldest ride in the top 10, it's the best rated B&M and the best rated looping rollercoaster. There's a reason why Nemesis is considered to be one of the best rollercoasters created and its testament to Tussauds ambition in the 90's to create the best they possibly could.Well done Nemesis, you are awesome.

Maybe they've cancelled the project.

DON'T MAKE THORPE PARK MANIA LOOK STUPID!

It could go as slow as Chessington Carousel and would still be TPR's number one ride. I for one thank Intamin for trying not to kill anyone with force and speed on Cheetah Hunt.

Chill dude, even if they built it now you won't be riding for another 10 months...

Part two of Islands of Adventure.So a little known ride called Spidermen is quite unlike anything I'd ever ridden, Fantasticly themed queueline, good story. Apparently Dr Octopus has invented a levitation gun and has stolen the statue of liberty. He then proceeds to drop a train load of people into water, killing them all I assume. Our job is to follow Spiderman and defeat all the evil people. Avoid the rest if you don't want it ruined. You board big blue cars that take you through the ride, you wear 4D specs and various things are sprayed at you and fire effects dry you off from the water rides and every character bounces on your car and threatens you with various methods of death. I make it sound tedious, but it's actually really good fun. It almost seems strange that they have Spiderman and Harry Potter in the same park as both are very similar rides in terms of what they are trying to do. I like that Islands of Adventure not only have the scary rides such as Hulk and the Dragons, but they have experience rides to.Now, the water rides. Ridiculously wet, we're talking soaked to the bone. I'm not even sure where the waves came from sometimes as we seemed to be just mingling on and then a giant wave topples us. No wonder it has seatbelts frankly. Dr Do's Ripsaw Falls wasn't a favourite. After Splash Mountain it just felt very empty and lacking. The drop is very effective sending you through mist and tings, but not a favourite unfortunately.Now, Jurassic Park, I was so excited to ride it, couldn't wait, the music echoing over that area of the park. Oh it's closed. Thanks for the warning guys. This happened just after we were told Dragons were closed because of technical difficulties so maybe some will understand why I compared with Thorpe earlier. Now, Hogsmeade which is the main part of the Harry Potter area. It is absolutely stunning and it is clear that is where most of the money seemed to go. I have never seen an area so busy, and so happy and its testament to the franchise that it can attract so many people in Florida's quiet time. Unfortunately what Harry Potter does is overbalance the park. That area of the park was heaving, you had to queue just to enter the tiny shops and Hippogriff which looked like Pegasus from Europa Park had a 60 minute queue all day. When you have three B&M's going round with 5 minute queues, it's obviously going to be missed out on. Other rides all had 5 minutes, but the Harry Potter area, packed. Really nice area though, the view when entering is so picture-esque and its no wonder people would enter Dragon's queueline just to take pictures in front of the castle.I did have some butterbeer. It's amazing just how much it tastes like Vanilla Coke Finally onto one of the most shocking and over the top attractions, Poseidons Fury. Wow, if you've never done it you'd have no idea any of that was coming.

I miss the days where women couldn't vote*.. times change.*Obviously a complete joke..

One wonders why any park bothers to hide their dark rides then. Just have the sheds out in the open, call it suspension of disbelief and all is fine.

You're using two different mediums and different context. If you go to a theme park you expect the ride to be hidden or themed in a certain way. For instance, Poseidon at Europa Park the rides station by all intents and purposes is a Greek Colosseum. Forbidden Journey doesn't try and hide the metal shed convincingly (or at all) and so my suspension of disbelief goes. Look at Hex for example, because you never see the ride building from the queue or from the outside. You'd think it was part of the Towers. The join is so perfect, I still can't tell when I leave real and enter fake. Harry Potter doesn't even try and hide the shed.By using the theatre analogy, if everyone is performing well then suspension of disbelief remains because they are those characters. But if you have someone actihng badly, chewing the scenery then the suspension of diseblief is gone.

You see you make a very good point, why should I be bothered about the white shed when I'm in an immersively themed queueline and all the impressive stuff thats going on inside there. Because if the first thing I see when I view the ride is a white shed then no amount of atmosphere or theming is going to get rid of that initial first impression. Especially when you have this amazing themed castle but just one step to the right and you see the white shed of doom. I don't care if its voted as the best park in the universe to be honest Adam, I make my own mind up judged by my own experiences. I did call Islands of Adventure a better themed Thorpe. Yes there are some fantastic touches such as Poseidons Fury and Hogsmede for example (which I'm covering in part two ) But then there are rides like the Dragons and Hulk which have ride areas through concrete trenches. There's no queueline interaction and no will solid views of the Dragons in particular. That seems ridiculous to me, I can't believe that B&M would build a ride where its trains can't be dispatched together and they'd design a ride where the first train has to wait on the lift hill for ages to let the other one catch up. Grand National has been doing it for 70 years before Dragons even opened. Never experienced the old queue, I had heard it has better but I never saw it so can only judge from what I have seen.

You've seen Krake right?

So to speed forward, the next park I'm going to cover is Islands of Adventure.And I'm going to be controversial at the same time. Islands of Adventure is essentially what Thorpe Park is but slightly better themed. When I mean slightly, I mean when Islands of Adventure have bothered the theming is second to none. But areas they think of unessential have been left. Good example is any ground under the Dueling Dragons. It's just concrete troughs.So to start with rides, Harry Potter and the Hogwarts area.Mm, gorgeous ain't it. Everyone photoing a castle and by far the most popular ride on the trip. but whats this I see...Slightly takes the sheen of an amazing looking front when you see a giant shed behind it. They've tried to hide it in the queue with greenhouse roofing but its so easy to see. Regular guests probably don't notice... but I'm a geek and I'm afraid after a week of well hidden Disney dark rides, Harry Potter dissapointed. The ride itself is good, very good in fact and certainly throws your balance of guard. The idea of trying to fit 7 books into one ride is quite commendable, the fact they've done any justice at all is credible. So next is the Dueling Dragons, two rides I highly anticipated. They're fun but neither really have anything on Nemesis and Black Mamba. I think one of the main issues is that because of the dueling elements there's a lot of dry bits during the ride where it's just waiting to lead up to the leg chopper moments. They are memorable moments but they only last for about 2 seconds each so I'm not quite sure if it's worth the duelling ness of the ride. The Ice dragon was by far my favourite thanks to its cobra roll and jerkier moments during the ride. Despite Fire having more inversions and faster moments it didn't quite flow as well as Ice. I do realise I'm calling them by the rides old names.. but bothered. I liked the queueline. I understand it was better when it was the Dueling Dragons, but as far as I could see the new one is just as impressive. very windy, very long and almost an adventure in itself. One of the more unique things I picked up on was this is the only B&M I've seen so far that has separate loading and unloading areas. This really didn't help the throughput of the thing as having to wait for floors to go up and down and the front/back rows having to have their bars down before the train moved.. felt very laborious. And thanks to the duelling element of the ride if your train is dispatched first, you'll be waiting a good while for the other train to catch up. And because one ride seems to be longer then the other, chances are you'll be waiting a long time. So I'd rate Ice Dragon 8/10 and Fire Dragon 7/10.Onto The Incredible Hulk, certainly a very impressive ride. Located right next to the entrance watching the ride splurt out trains every minute certainly makes you take note. Neither Hulk or Dragons had longer then 10 minute queues when we visited which made re-riding Hulk very easy. I got a good indication of the rides quality. There's a certain train that can rock you to hell, very rough and very teeth chattering. The other two trains gave much nicer rides. Hulk is a ride of two halves. It starts off incredibly fitting in a launch and five inversions into it's first 30 seconds. And then the ride seems to lose it a bit with very tame helixes and banked turns. The corkscrews and zero g roll are very very good and the ride is very striking with its neon green and white supports. Universal like you to clap, whenever a train returns from its journey all staff members act like they've seen a play and clap crazily. Hulk gets an 8/10 from me.Stay tuned for part two

God, sucking the fun out of rides by talking about its speed when you take into consideration weight, air resistance and angle of drop.Face it people, only Oblivion man can make physics interesting thanks to his dialogue and rich, fruity talking.

Sounds extremely exhausting but have fun with it. Are you just going for main rides or are you including small rides and shows with it?

Just saw that everest is at 91. TPR