Video Posted: Broke Splash Mountain in 1080p HD

Splash Mountain is one of the best rides in Disney World.  Sadly it's currently in possibly the worst shape in it's history. Many of the animatronics are broken, many of the water effects are out of order,  some of the lighting effects are not working, and it's in need of a paint job.

In the video you can see HERE I try to point out some of the glaring issues.  In time Disney will bring down Splash Mountain for a much needed rehab. You won't see it this year because Big Thunder is going down for a rehab.  You might see it in the winter of 2013 once a good chunk of the Fantasy Land expansion is open.

Snow White Bites the Apple

It’s now official – The Scary Adventures of Snow White is getting shutdown.  What’s amazing is - not many people are really upset about it.  I think the fact that a new Snow White related ride is coming is helping to temper people.

In some ways I’ll miss Snow White.  I remember riding it as a kid.  The witch scared me.  The part that really scared me was when she was trying to drop the boulder.  I have no idea why it scared me it just did. 

Years later I was happy to know I wasn’t alone.  Lots of kids have been frightened by Snow White over the years.

I do feel bad for family with the autistic child who have ridden this ride some ridiculous number of times.  Actually I should say I feel bad for the child.  He’ll be upset.  I bet the parents broke down and cried tears of joy when the announcement was made.

One thing I do expect to happen now.  I expect to see a record number of YouTube videos of this attraction spring up.  I have to say that’s one area where YouTube is priceless.  It allows us to see all the attractions we’ve lost over the years.

Donald Duck Involved in Armed Stand Off

Disney fan favorite Donald Duck was recently involved in an armed standoff at his boat in Mickey’s Toon Town Fair.

Disney security was called to Mickey’s Toon Town Fair last Friday morning after a report of a “heavily intoxicated” Duck who was “up to all kinds of shenanigans.” When security arrived they found Daisy Duck in a yelling match with Donald Duck. The situation quickly escalated when Donald ran inside after spotting the security cast members.

“Mr. Duck barricaded himself inside his boat at which time Ms. Duck informed us that Donald was intoxicated and armed to the teeth,” stated Disney’s SWAT team leader Grumpy Dwarf.

Through out the stand off police found out that Donald was upset because of an eviction notice he received. His boat is to be demolished as part of the Fantasy Land expansion.

After hours of trying to reason with Donald they decided to gas him out of the boat. A squad car was sent over to Tomorrow Land to pick up Stitch. Stitch arrived on the scene, belted out a huge chili dog burp, and within two minutes Donald fled the confines of the boat. Unfortunately the wind was blowing in the wrong direction and a majority of SWAT team and hundreds of guests became sick from the stench of Stitch’s burp.

Once the location was secure, security was able to search the boat. They found two bazooka’s, a M16 assault rifle, a dozen hand grenades, back issues of “Ducks and Guns Quarterly,” countless bags of beef jerky, bottled water, and a voodoo doll in the form of Mickey Mouse.

Donald is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation and charges are pending the outcome.

Giving Pooh Another Shot

I first did the Pooh attraction in late 2008. It was ok. I wasn’t impressed at all and thought it wasn’t better than the attraction that it replaced.

I did Pooh again in the beginning of 2010. Guess what…I’m still not impressed. Pooh isn’t bad it just isn’t good. It seems very cookie cutter and doesn’t stand out. The artwork is ok, the story is ok, and that’s the problem. Everything is just ok.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was a very different experience. It was the only dark ride that I know of that had two separate tracks that did not mirror itself. You would get a totally different ride depending on what track you ended up on. Beyond that, on how many rides do you die and go to hell? That was the story on Mr. Toad’s wild ride.

Kids and adults could enjoy Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The Pooh ride is very much geared towards kids. If your kids like Pooh they will love this ride. If you are an adult that loves pooh you might like this ride. If you don’t like Pooh, only do this ride if there is little or no wait.

Photo of the Week: Most Wanted

One thing Disney does better than any other theme park anywhere or even EVER is their queue design. At other theme parks you wait in line and do nothing but watch the minutes tick away. I hate to admit this, but some of the attractions in Disney World have a better queue than they do ride.

This is not one of those cases. This is picture is from the queue in Toy Story Midway Mania. Although it has one of the best queues in Disney World it still has one of the best rides to match it.

If you want a bad queue, go to Fantasy Land.

It’s a Small, Awful, Painful, Boring, World

My wife and I had a fast pass for Peter Pan, 20 minutes to wait, and didn’t want to backtrack after a day of bouncing around the Magic Kingdom. What could we do?

It’s a Small World had a zero wait time so we got on. There is a reason it had a zero wait time. That should have been a warning for us.

I’d been on It’s a Small World when I was a kid. I didn’t remember out right hating it but things change over time. To say this ride was painful is an understatement. It was awful. I’ll have night terrors for months because of this ride. Only drugs could have made this ride enjoyable.

How bad could it be? It was so bad my wife and I wished we had sat on bench for the 20 minutes we had to wait for Peter Pan. People watching would have been much better.

Photo of the Week - 20000 Leagues Under the Sea

Once upon a time there was a unique ride called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It freaked some people out because it was very claustrophobic and seemed like it went deep under water.

Like a lot of the old rides Disney shut it down but in this case they didn't really replace it. We won't see a ride take up that space until the Fantasy Land expansion is over.

Princess Separate Meet and Greet Areas Demanded – Not Desired

One of the new features of the Fantasy Land expansion is going to be separate meet and greet areas for each of the princesses. This might seem odd on the surface. Why not have a princesses pavilion, so you can meet them all at once? After all the Tinker Bell and her other fairy buddies hang out in the same place.

The reason for separate locations becomes apparent when you look at the princesses history. For years Disney has had their hands full. Behind the scenes the princesses are a bunch of moody, backstabbing pre-Madonna’s. After decades of violence the only sensible way to control the situation was to keep them separated.

The initial cost for building each area is expected to be recouped in saved medical expenses. Over the years the princesses have racked up quite a bill. Here are just a few examples:

- Belle had to have a nose job after she took a glass slipper to the face.

- Ariel and Jasmine needed hair plugs after some of their hair was “extracted” during a tussle.

- Aurora was in a neck brace for a month after taking a pumpkin to the head.

- Snow White was in the hospital for a week after getting run over by a flying carpet.

- Cinderella ended up in the hospital after she was “accidently” knocked down the stairs.

To ensure the safety of the cast members and guests, the imagineers who designed the animal enclosures in Animal Kingdom were enlisted to design the new princess locations. Each location has carefully disguised barb wire fences, barriers, pitfalls, and other fortifications to prevent ambushes.

In addition plans are in place for each princess to have their prince appear with them. On the surface this seems like a ploy to get them into the parks. In reality the princes will be serving as body guards / peacekeepers.

In a recent interview Prince Charming admitted that the princesses do indeed despise each other but the princes get along great and frequently “drink around the world” together.

Only time will tell if the new meet and greet locations prevent the violence and blood shed from continuing.

Fantasy Land Overhaul

When I was a kid I liked Fantasy Land. The dark rides were great for a kid who didn't like intense rides. As I got older I found myself going to Fantasy Land less and Less. The dark rides were still fun but the rest really started to fall flat. Dumbo was just a glorified carnival ride. The Teacups were about the same. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was shut down and replaced with a meet and greet. Then they ripped out Mr. Toad and replaced it with a barely passable Pooh ride. The only thing that still drew me was Peter Pan and sometimes Snow White.

Now Disney has announced a massive overhaul / expansion. I'll start by saying the whole princess thing has been over done but if it makes money Disney is going to do it. Sadly it looks like a big part expansion is going to be princess meet and greets. However, the planned Beast's Castle includes a restaurant. That sounds good. Only one problem. Rumor has it that it will be a quick service during lunch and a sit down during dinner. I really think it needs to be one or the other. If you do a hybrid it'll typically end up being a low volume (comparably) quick service or a low quality sit down. The two types of dining have completely different needs as far as logistics go.

I still won't be riding it but the update to Dumbo will be good. Dumbo is Disney classic even if it's cheap carnival ride. Expanding the ride is a good idea. The line might look small but that is one of the slowest loading rides in operation. The fact that they are placing it in a circus tent is great. It'll really help it's overall story.

The new Little Mermaid dark ride will get me to go over to Fantasy Land even if I just ride it once. I've never ridden the one out in California but I've heard good things about it. From the concept art it looks like it's going to be huge too. This has to be the best part about this expansion.

Another great thing about this expansion is the removal of Toon Town. I've never spent more than two minutes in Toon Town. It was an area so geared at one demographic that anyone without kids had no reason to venture there unless they were a character hunter. It looks like Pooh's Playful spot it going to eat bullet too. I'm not upset about that. It always seemed like an after thought to me.

It looks like the Goofy roller coaster is sticking around. Rumor has it that it is going to be converted into a Dumbo roller coaster. That's ok but I think it would be nicer if it went in another direction. Why not take the opportunity to add another movie that doesn't have a representative in the parks already? Why not 101 Dalmatians, Bambi, or Rambo ride (yes the last one is a joke).

I'm glad Disney is doing something with this area. Seems like a number of places in Disney World have fallen apart recently. This really seems like it'll polish up a crumbling area of the Magic Kingdom.

Man Seriously Injured on “It’s A Small World”

Last week a guest was seriously injured while riding “It’s A Small World” in Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

Harry Palms, 41, of Orlando Florida boarded the ride around 1pm last Tuesday. He proceeded to make fun of the dolls, call them obscene names, make rude gestures at them, and finally spit at one of them.

“The doll he spit at lost it. He jumped into the boat and started punching the guy in the face. Next thing you knew dolls from all over the ride swarmed the guy and beat him senseless,” stated an eye witness to the event.

It took three dozen security officers to break up the fight which lasted about twenty minutes and spilled into three other boats.

Palms suffered numerous lacerations, multiple broken bones, and a ruptured spleen. He was airlifted to the hospital where he remains in critical condition. No other park guests were injured.

Disney has started an investigation to determine if any disciplinary action is warranted.

Rumors Are Fun!

1 - Blueprints were leaked onto the internet of a massive fantasy land overhaul. It would add a sit down restaurant, a 7 Dwarfs roller coaster, and about six other ride additions / enhancements beyond that. On of the enhancements would be a major upgrade to Dumbo. If it happens it will be on of the largest overhauls ever undertaken in Disney World.

ANALYSIS - Some of it might happen but I don't think it'll all happen. I think this is a case where the imagineers ask for everything they’ve ever wanted in hopes that at least a couple things get picked.

2 - WALL-E - Buy & Large overhaul of tomorrowland. The overhaul would include replacement attractions of Stitch, Buzz Light-year, and Monsters Laugh Floor.

ANALYSIS - Ok…who’s on the crack? No chance this happens. I could see a WALL-E themed ride but they would not remove a ride as popular as Buzz. You might see a slow incorporation of a WALL-E / Buy and Large theme. By that I mean Buy and Large signs and things like that.

3 - Monsters Inc. Roller Coaster in Disney Hollywood Studios. Roller coaster would be placed next to Toy Story Midway Mania.

ANALYSIS - This is very, very likely. I'd be surprised if it didn't happen. The rumors have been around for years. I’d expect an announcement soon.

4 - Overhaul of the imagination pavilion with a possible trackless ride system and a return of the dream finder. Also may include a replacement for Honey I Shrunk the Audience.

ANALYSIS - I feel this one has some merit to it. This has been such a sore spot since its original overhaul. Not only that, HISA is really showing it’s age.

5 - Test Track replacement.

ANALYSIS - I'd say no, way it's just too popular. However, GM is in the gutter, Test Track is insanely expensive to operate, and it's one of the least reliable rides in Disney World. My fear is we’ll see an outright shutdown.

6 - Return of the Adventures Club

ANALYSIS - I'd believe this if someone could tell me a reasonable place to locate it. Putting it in a park doesn’t seem right.

7 – Night Kingdom theme park

ANALYSIS – I’m fairly sure this was going to happen before the economy got flushed down the toilet. This might make a comeback when the economy better.

8 – Alien Encounter 2.0 aka Alien Encounter moved to DHS, Alien from the Alien movies added in, made more intense, first ever age limit on a ride due to content.

ANALYSIS – How can I even start to point out all the things wrong with this? I’d say there is a slim chance of AE even making it back into where it was never mind the rest of the malarkey mentioned here.

9 – Advanced guest tracking / ride video capture. In a sense you could buy a video of yourself at the end of the day and it would have all the rides you went on. It would also add interactive to a number of the rides.

ANALYSIS – Something like this will happen as so as Disney can turn a profit on it.

10 – Song of the South DVD / Blu-ray

ANALYSIS – This will happen if Disney can make it profitable. That means counting the flack that this move would generate.