DaptoFunlandGuy

Day 2 - Disneyland (wednesday) Part 2 - Tomorrowland After securing our dinner tickets, we headed for Tomorrowland. Being that Space Mountain has been my favourite since my first Disney Park in 1996, it's also been one of Casey's favourites since she first went to LA two years ago... naturally that had to be our first stop. SM has a fastpass option, however - it isn't needed. You start at the outdoor queue, where one or two staff carefully point out to you that you are about to enter a roller-coaster attraction. This is the local non-thrillseeking influence... Riders walk through a turnstile where they are held in an indoor pre-show area whilst a multi-lingual video runs on a continual loop. Groups are admitted into the loading area roughly the time of the preshow video - which is about 2 minutes. The video carefully mentions again that the ride is a high speed indoor rollercoaster in the dark. The ride also has a single rider queue - but the requirement for you to watch the 2 minute video (and then wait for the main queue to also finish the video) means single rider actually takes a little longer on a ride that has such excellent capacity. There's not much to be said about the ride itself - a classic Disney SM experience - of course all are slightly different - and the audio guy in me cringes hearing the poorly extended looped soundtrack to fit the track, but every other part of it as good as always. Casey even decided HK's version was her new favourite... I have to agree with her when compared with the 'current' version in LA - however the original SM in LA prior to the retracking and refurb is still my favourite. We took the opportunity with the minimal 2 minute queue time to re-ride several (5) times before moving on to our next stop... Autopia. Unlike LA - the HK version runs entirely electrically, and has only one pedal with an auto-stop when you take your foot off of it. The dashboard has a neat little speedometer effect that ramps up when you accelerate - suggesting one may be doing 130-150km/h (while in fact only walking). Engine sound effects, revving, screeching tyres and other effects triggered by your enthusiasm on the accelerator complete the picture to simulate the action. The landscaping was nicely done (as always) and I would have to say I think this was the biggest queue longest wait in the park on this day. The benefits to the wait time however was the chance to get a glimpse over the construction hoarding (yes - here too) for Tomorrowland's newest attraction being sandwiched in between Autopia and Buzz Lightyear - the "Iron Man Experience". Not much to see except concrete slabs and some walls starting to take shape, but it will be interesting to see what they've come up with when it opens. Buzz's Astro Blasters were next - and here was a perfect demonstration of how a shooter should be done. Efficient omni-mover loading system, two riders to a car - it was fun, with the added bonus of being able to spin the gondola 360 degrees and shoot from all angles. Not sure why Casey seemed to be managing to outscore me by several hundred thousand points - at one point maxxing the ride system out at 9999999. Having been on both HK and LA's version of BLAB, I think HK does it better. We chose to move onto other rides here, instead of Stitch Encounter as the attraction runs 3 languages and our timing was off... Fortunately we got the last English show of the day later in the afternoon (as the next day in the park it didn't run english at all!). Stitch encounter is similar to 'Donkey Live!' in USS or Turtle Talk with Crush in DCA. Having seen both of those, I had high expectations for Stitch (however I haven't seen the movie - so had no background on the character)... so of course I was one of the people singled out by Stitch to have a chat. I tried as hard as I could to make the interaction difficult for him - and he shone through with flying colours. I'm still very keen to understand how they achieve the combined effects seamlessly all at once. Unfortunately we lost a lot of time in the show when Stitch singled out a group to talk to who didn't want to talk... because they didn't speak english. Turns out that out of all the languages Stitch offered, English was their best language - and it was still very painful. Wrapping up Tomorrowland was Astro Orbiter - a space themed Dumbo attraction which we decided to give a miss as the queue was pretty long. I don't think i'll ever begin to comprehend or understand the locals and their lack of thrill-seeking nature, but the good part about it was all the good stuff had minimal waiting times. The central area of Tomorrowland offered extensive seating, which seemed a bit of a waste considering the seating areas offered nearby at both food outlets. The park's design shows it was always set up to cater for massive numbers which just never seem to eventuate. Tomorrowland also featured a few snack stands, a western 'fast food' outlet, an asian 'sit down' restaurant, and a popcorn cart... with only the last two of those actually open. Seemed like we were destined to be stuck only with Chinese food options in the park, and although it was by now pushing lunch time we decided to head over to the other side of the park to Adventureland and seek out something else. Later today - Part 3 - Adventureland

The FoF survey did ask for views on whether it should be an outdoor or indoor attraction... seems outdoor was more popular...

Whew! After a whirlwind trip through Hong Kong this past week, the wife and I are exhausted! I'll focus on the major attractions we visited, but i'm going to post this in pieces. Photos to come a little later on. Hong Kong is our closest Disney park - at around 8 hours flight out of Brisbane. I first visited HKDL in 2009, and found it a little underwhelming. Being that Space Mountain is one of my favourites - I was ok with the rest of the park's mediocre offering, but it was clear the park needed more. From what I understand, the original design for HKDL was targeted at the locals - who like less thrill, and more entertainment - So the park was built heavily around shows, character appearances and photo opportunities. The park had only one major thrill ride - SpaceMountain, along with Disney staples like Tea Cups, Small World, Jungle Cruise, Autopia, Astro Blasters, Dumbo and Tarzan's Treehouse. My first visit I caught Mickey's Philharmagic, but skipped Festival of the Lion King, Stitch Encounter and the Golden Mickeys. This time round, I was able to catch everything in the park, including the park's three new 'lands' - Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Manor and Toy Story Land. Day 1 - Flight Day (tuesday) Thanks to heavily discounted flights, our only choice was a daytime departure, which saw us arrive into Hong Kong at around 6pm. After clearing a very efficient customs hall, we walked across the concourse directly into the Hong Kong MTR Airport Express station. After picking up an Octopus each, Casey and I boarded for the 25 minute trip to Kowloon Express station. At HK$90 (about $16) it's not the cheapest way to get from Lantau Island to the Mainland (or HK Island) but it is the best value - with other options taking more than an hour. After disembarking at Kowloon Express station - we again crossed a short concourse to waiting shuttle buses (free of charge as part of the Airport Express) where various routes took you to most major tourist hotels. We stayed at the Eaton Hotel - a fairly popular recommendation by our Frequent Flyer program as well as trip advisor and several local guidebooks. It wasn't lavish, but it was good value, comfortable (if somewhat small) and offered all major amenities. New travellers to Hong Kong should bear in mind locals prefer hard mattresses, and hotel rooms are likely to be half the size of what you're used to in a region where floorspace is at a premium. After a reasonably priced 'pub meal' at the hotel, and a short walk down Nathan road to the Yau Ma Tei MTR station to check out the route we needed for tomorrow - we crashed for the night. Day 2 - Hong Kong Disneyland (wednesday) Part 1 Thanks to a 2 hour time difference, we were wide awake at 5am local time. We decided to check out Jordan MTR station (down Nathan Road in the other direction) in search of a decent coffee. Alas our only options were McCafe or Starbucks - the latter of which did not open until 7am. We killed another 20 minutes waiting and settled on a passable cup of joe to take back to our room to try and wake up before we departed. Just before 8am - we headed for Yau Ma Tei. Morning peak hour seems to go for about 5 hours, and trains run every 1-2 minutes during that time so we waited very little before boarding a fairly packed train up to Lai King to change trains to Sunny Bay on Lantau Island. From there we crossed the platform to the Disneyland Resort line where 4 minutes later the Shuttle train arrived to whisk us away 'to the magical world of Hong Kong Disneyland'. For anyone who ever wonders why so many people rave about Disney so much, all one needs to do is see the station and train at Sunny Bay. The platform was upgraded specifically for Disneyland and presents far better than any other station on the network. The trains, with their Mickey shaped windows, bronzed statues positioned all the way down the train, Mickey shaped overhead handles, starry night motifs on the roof, classic photos of Mickey and Walt riding original Disneyland trains, and a Tinkerbell themed announcement at the start and end of the trip. The station at Disneyland Resort is even more opulent, in classic 'Main St USA' style (albeit with lifts and escalators) total trip time from Hotel to Gate was about 40 minutes - 10 of which was the walk to Yau Ma Tei. HKDL's entrance is similar to DL california's current entrance, sans California Adventure - from the station you walk down a promenade towards a large bronze fountain featuring the classic Mickey and Friends characters, with Mickey surfing atop a giant Monstro statue. The park itself is a right turn at the fountain, with the path layouts hinting that Disney have left the design open for a second gate arrangement similar to that in California. We arrived an hour early than needed - mainly through overly cautious planning than any desire to sit around a fountain listening to back-to-back disney classics, but it was pleasant enough and gave plenty of time for some photos, as well as time to notice 'the little details' that Disney is known for. We'd purchased our tickets online in advance (which are discounted), and a very efficient online ticket collection station was set up on one side inside the gates, which opened 30 minutes before the park - where all you needed was the original purchaser's credit card to collect. We then started the first of many queues (we thought) at the front gates for some more waiting. A nice little ceremony for park opening where an Aussie kid and his parents were taken inside, did a few photos before the boy and his dad used a mickey key to unlock a mickey padlock at declare the park open at precisely 10am. I was surprised that the Disneyland Railroad had not arrived at the main station at opening, and we soon discovered it was closed. I'd read ahead for maintenance and knew that the Emporium store was under renovation (pretty much the entire left side of Main Street) - but it was still open and trading. A very clever construction hoarding was set up around the entire store, which had been covered in an image of the very store it was covering. The effect was infinitely better than plain white hoarding, but the artificial nature of the hoarding was disappointing. It was then that we rounded the corner, and realised the Emporium wasn't the only structure under renovations. Sleeping Beauty Castle was also under maintenance. The result wasn't fantastic. What do you think? I walked towards it thinking "well at least it wasn't plain boards or hessian cloths covering it" but I realised later that it was both good and bad... more on that later. We headed straight for the plaza inn at the top of main street keen to see if the Fireworks Dinner had any vacancies. We needn't have worried as there were precisely Zero reservations. At $328HKD (About $60AUD) the restaurant offered a classic Chinese menu, followed by reserved seating in the middle of the hub for the parade and fireworks. Although Dinner came much (obviously) later in the day - since the menu is here - i'll say this - it was "interesting" to try a cuisine that was alien to us, and there were good points and bad points on it overall. Everything was quite tasty, although several ingredients put us off eating it all. Overall it was good to experience traditional Chinese cuisine (and probably much safer in Disney than on a street corner) but not something we'd do again. Given the price of other food options in the park - it was only marginally more expensive than anything else - but as it came with the VIP seating area for the fireworks and Parade, it was worth it, not to have to reserve our spot hours in advance like many others. End of part 1 - Tomorrow i'll bring you (fittingly) Tomorrowland!

i have a vague recollection of a freefall type ride when I visited the US in 96 - kind of an 'elevator' type lift tot he top, then it slid you forwards over a 'chute', before freefalling into a gradual slope that brought you back down to ground level lying on your back... is this what you're talking about with a 'first-gen' ? I must admit I didnt think much of it at the time but in retrospect it does seem very much a death trap...

Having just been to Ocean Park this week, I'd like to endorse this suggestion. It was a great family coaster for what it was - and capacity on it was awesome!

Am I on the right board? Flower Poster WTF?

Yeah - because the Giant Drop can't even hear it. Besides - how many guests do you think would complain about the noise of a ride they've come to ride? Unlikely. I recall having to wait about an hour at the park to ride it one time as it had rained, and they had to dry out the modules track before they could launch... I imagine covering the track would reduce the amount of issues the weather would have on the ride.

In theory they could install a transfer track permitting both cars to run - but they'd also need to have the launch recalibrated so they could tell the ride computer which car was running. All completely and utterly expensive and a waste of money in the scheme of things. Unlikely the transfer would ever be designed let alone built... and even if so - certainly not at dreamworld.

I do hope you're wrong about the 'total' area Magician - I think the children's area size is decent. If we're going to insert a new coaster - they're going to need a little more land - but it will be very disappointing if they use ALL of that area for the kid's section. SW's land is expensive real estate and the park can't afford to be wasteful with what they've got. I think we need to bear in mind that COTD isn't likely to be permanent - only 'long term'. If the Kids area separates the COTD area and the old SeaScrewCorkViper area, it removes the possibility of the park doing something 'large' next time. I hope the new area doesn't sever a connection between two large vacant plots of land. That said, the old viper plot would be my bet for the new children's area... it already has power and services run to it - it wouldn't take much to expand on that - whereas the reclaimed area is all virgin land.

...so in the meantime, Sea World won't have ANY kids area, two roller coasters, a flume and some battle boats? I like where they're headed, but its a shame they couldn't have partially opened a new area before closing the existing one...

I don't think the slated road extension would be too much of a barrier to possible AW expansion (obviously dependent on budget...) Knott's Ghostrider goes straight over a publicly accessible road just fine... Now - I know Ghostrider is probably out of AW's budget for some time (a 5 minute googling couldn't turn up a cost for it, but it's no doubt a lot)... but the concept is there and clearly it wouldn't be hard to utilise the land for some great coaster layouts... The park could also utilise those blocks by using tunnels to cross the road (as well as transport systems like chairlifts, monorails etc) or alternatively just use it to house it's maintenance, logistics and warehouse, and use the existing sites of those facilities for more land 'in-park'. Sounds like long term planning - snapping up all those blocks (it could also be neighbour-proofing) - and i like the sound of it either way.

Well done Mark on the fast action to address the weeds. That sort of action is unprecedented in this community - I realise tasking a landscaper to go and mow a little area isn't a big deal but the fact that you acted on it so quickly instead of what may have been is a tribute to your commitment to your fans. I'd love to see some pictures of how it looks now it's been mown Tim - if you took any whilst you were there...

that's awesome.

I'm sure he knows that, considering his comment relating to the wind generator was to suggest it be changed to make it icy cold. But you'd know that if you read his post properly.

I think Demon's landscaping was well maintained, but it still had the look of 'overgrown' and 'unkempt'. Sure the gravelwoodchip parts weren't great - but that area was needed to be maintained that way in case of evacrescue from the boomerang. It really fitted the bill. Mark - rather than grass - i think some 'weedy-looking' shrubs and bushes would suit it well and help the grassweeds blend in a bit. Right now it looks like my bottom paddock rather than any 'secret druid hollow'. Please don't get me wrong - although i'm yet to visit, i think what you guys have achieved in a few years is mindblowingly amazing - but for me the weeds just ruin the theme for Abyss.

The cost of retrofitting an audio system to Superman now though makes it pointless.

Agree - i could be more specific - the whole 'druids around the skull thing' is what i was getting at - I almost didn't notice the skull until i did a double take - the rest of the area totally works (and around singular druids wouldn't matter either) but the skull area looks like an area of 'worship' and one would think the druids would need a 'clear area' to practice... whatever it is they're practicing. One could say 'nothing can grow amongst the circle of power!'

Gee those weeds and long grasses amongst the Abyss theming really ruins the look, doesn't it?

I wouldn't say it's all used - the duck pond is covered... and the cover really doesn't seem like the kind of thing you want to have 'on show'

To be honest - the superman themesong - appropriately timed for the high and low points of the track would be really awesome.

No - But I have a funny feeling I know why you're interested in it.... That's one of the missing wonderland tracks!!! it's not something that will show up on Shazam as it's usually production music or similar. The Wonderland Park Music CD has about 14 tracks on it - but this one has been missing. I'm very keen to obtain a copy of this song to add to the Wonderland track listing on Wonderland History... if any production crew happen to be reading...?

Not comparatively. For the size and aims of the park, it's usually quite well patronised. On that note - the park (in my view) doesn't aim to target full-day tourists. They aim to capture people making a stop on the highway on the way to somewhere else. They aren't yet a 'destination' in their own right yet. While we're on the topic - I'm not attempting to closet moderate, but as it's already been said by a Mod - please allow me to repeat - would you mind not quoting things unless it's actually relevant to what you're saying?

I don't think the injured persons are going to claim workers compensation - however under WH&S laws, the attraction is considered a workplace, and injuries were sustained, so workcover typically gets involved as the lead on the investigation. Pretty sure they're also somewhat involved with the green lantern incident as well? Pretty well anywhere is considered a workplace these days if someone 'works there' so WH&S issues arise. they'll conclude the operator was not at fault - nobody expects people WORKING at the show are going to do crap like this, so the operator's duty of care to secure the ride at that time is probably met.

That would have been quite interesting seeing an Arkham patient show up in the middle of a Scooby breakdown! lol.

Yeah I was pretty sure that was the case with Disney - they are themed to the same ride, they don't change costume - and they rotate around the positions within the ride so they're doing something different... except of course the lead - who generally mans the same post all shift. That said - aren't most cast members in Aus wearing the same uniform all over the park?