Family Fun at DisneyLand

Wish I had thought of this:

October 31st

On a stormy Halloween night in 1939, five people stepped aboard a Hollywood Tower Hotel elevator and into a nightmare.

So begins the ride spiel for the best ride at WDW.

... and on October 31, 1995

The first Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

takes place at Magic Kingdom Park.

 

So began the most fun event with the best parade held at the MK.

Happy Anniversary, ToT !

WDW's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror officially opened July 22nd, 1994.

This remains my favorite thing to do at Disney's Hollywood Studios
(after Who Wants to Be a Millionaire closed in 2006).

Ever wonder what happens if you don't fasten that seat belt?

Summer Nightastic!

The "Main Street Electrical Parade" will return to WDW's Magic Kingdom this June.  About time, too! This marvelous montage of moving lights has been at Disneyland since 2001.

The Magic Kingdom will also have a new summer fireworks spectacular.

Aaaand, over at Disney's Hollywood Studios the Tower of Terror will have new lighting effects and a new drop sequence.  Yowza!

Mickey must be hearing footsteps...

Wizardly footsteps.

Flash Mountain

Dateline DisneyLand:

Disney has stopped scanning souvenir photos in its theme park rides for guests exposing themselves on camera.

The Disney company confirmed Tuesday (May 5th) that the employees "cast members" at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure who had watched photo previews for inappropriate flashing have been reassigned to other duties.

Said a Disneyland spokesperson, "Actual inappropriate behavior by guests are rare."

These changes took affect Sunday at souvenir photo rides Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, California Screamin', and Space Mountain.

Disney began screening ride photos 10 years ago to stop riders from exposing their breasts and making lewd gestures, which would be visible to all riders in the photo preview at the ride's exit.

I wonder when/if the policy at WDW will follow.

*Note: There is a website Flash Mountain that features these photos.

Also note: you must be over 18 to view them (yeah, right).

Test Track

Test Track is one of my three favorite things at Epcot.

(The others being Soarin' and Off Kilter)

So imagine my dismay at this recent story in The Orlando Sentinel:

GM's Last Lap On Epcot's Test Track

Disney is not about to close Test Track, no matter what happens to GM.

But. Since the Mouse House IS a business after all and Disney does pay attention to the bottom line, something will have to happen to make up the difference.

And that's what worries me.

Rip, Ride, Rockit

This is Universal's new interactive Outdoor roller coaster debuting in 2009.

It will be located near Jimmy Neutron and travel out and over the City Walk lagoon at a top speed of 65 mph.

Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit touts six near-miss moments and first-ever thrills including a record-breaking loop. Ride vehicles feature the brightest and most innovative color changing LEDs in the world. High-energy visual displays fill the queue line. With up to four ride vehicles on the tracks at any given time, and with concert lighting and special effects mixed in, 'Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit' will be a true high-intensity, multi-sensory experience that is unmatched.

Riders get to choose the song they will listen to while Riding the Rockit.

I took part in a Universal survey to determine which songs might be on the lists, and since I'm an old fogey and have no knowledge of _nor interest in_ what passes for Top 40 music these days, my list was rather lop-sided with Bryan Adams and Huey Lewis. So, HAH.

Let 'er Rip!

The Ultimate Thrill Ride

The hubby and I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary last month.
We wanted to do something new and different.
So we did something we had talked about doing for years: taking a Helicopter tour.

There are a couple of helicopter tour companies in the area, but we chose Orlando Helitours
because they seem to be always overhead, and we figured the busier the better.


There were several tour plans and we chose the next to biggest one:
SeaWorld & Aquatica, Universal Studios, and WDW.

The WDW area included DownTown Disney, Epcot, Disney's Studios, but not the Animal Kingdom (for obvious reasons) nor the Magic Kingdom.

The biggest tour offered all that plus Isleworth, where the ultra-rich live.
Who cares about seeing Tiger Woods' place, we flew over OUR place. Yes!

Let me just say this: It was an incredible experience.

Would I do it again? You bet!

Ride rating: AA for Absolutely Awesome

Photo: Orlando Helitours

Towers of Terror, Timber and Doom

I admit to not being a coaster fan, Expedition Everest excluded, but I love those Towers that thrill and chill.

Disney's Studios' Hollywood Tower of Terror is the BEST.


The best theming: from the entrance walkway, to the hotel's 'shabby' interior, back through the 'maintenance' area, 'til you reach the elevator shaft and load the ride.

The best ride: from the anticipation when the elevator doors close right up until the end, when the doors open again at the bottom of the shaft.

And the ride is never the same, thanks to the ride programming.

Ride at night, too, for a different feel!


Over at Universal Orlando-Islands of Adventure are the twin vertical towers of Dr. Doom's Fear Fall.

The Fear Fall differs greatly from T of T.
First it is outdoors. Pretty cool!

And you sit with legs dangling, facing away from the structure. Pretty cool!

And you zoom UP, rather than down.

And it's pretty much the same ride each time.

I haven't done this at night, but I bet that would be pretty cool!

What would be really cool is if Dr. Doom would spin you around as you sit at the top of the tower.

So that brings me to the Timber Tower at Dollywood.

I haven't ridden this one (yet), nor even been to Dollywood (yet), but you can bet the Timber Tower is at the top of the things-to-do-list.

While Timber Tower doesn't drop, you are lifted up and then you spin around while tilting from side -to- side.

Yowza!

And the folks at Dollywood don't consider this a Thrill Ride!