Orlando 2011 Trip Report
Nov. 22, 2011
The aerobatics up on top of the "loop" are sick.
'Scuse me while I kiss the sky!
Power-dives everywhere... damn, what a fun ride.
During the daylight, awesome. After dark? Sweet Jebus. We rode in the midst of HHN, and I managed to select "Night on Bald Mountain," Doug, too (a hidden track for the event, I think?). That's a ride I will never forget, easily one of my favorite thrill ride experiences to date.
Savoring the post-coital glow of HRRR, we strolled over to the former Earthquake attraction to see how it's now faring as Disaster!
The "ride" portion of the experience is pretty much unchanged, but the pre-show is a much livelier, much funnier set-up. Christopher Walken is a hero of mine, and he delivers an Oscar-caliber performance, as always. I won't say anything to spoil it, but the way they incorporate his "presence" with the live actors and the stage props is really magical (and an SFX technique that is also used in the Forbidden Journey queue). Good stuff.
After Disaster, we hit up some old favorites, including E.T. I'm sure I'll be offending some when I say this, but, wow, is it looking creaky. The pre-show video segments with Spielberg are way overdue for a digital clean-up, and whatever charm this ride once had is long gone. Okay, maybe that's too harsh; all the stuff on "earth" is fine, and when we take flight into the stars, that isn't bad, either. But when we get to E.T.'s home planet? Yikes. It's just weird. I know it's for the pre-teens, but when I think what they could do with today's technology...
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