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Take transformers, don't joke about spiderman
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Apr 10, 2024 03:38
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Grundulum posted:What? That is my single favorite ride in Universal Studios. Why would they replace it? Mother of god, get rid of Transformers, Spiderman, or some other bullshit screen ride. Hell, refurb Men In Black so that you can actually tell where you’re shooting or if you hit the target. Weird that you went straight for the two best screen rides instead of two of the worst ones. And, well, most people don't think Rip Ride Rockit is a very good coaster. Myself included.
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Apr 10, 2024 04:22
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Can’t exactly fit a rollercoaster in the Transformers or Spider-Man buildings anyway.
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Apr 10, 2024 05:31
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The Transformers building in particular is one of those rides where the structure can't really be anything else. It could be re-skinned, but it basically has to be that ride track and ride system or be demolished. The building/track is two floors, with the track and lift system built into the floors and structure itself. Spider-Man on the other hand is a flat warehouse that could be gutted like Great Movie Ride to Runaway Railway.
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Apr 10, 2024 07:29
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Grundulum posted:What? That is my single favorite ride in Universal Studios. Why would they replace it? Mother of god, get rid of Transformers, Spiderman, or some other bullshit screen ride. Hell, refurb Men In Black so that you can actually tell where you’re shooting or if you hit the target. SweetMercifulCrap! posted:Weird that you went straight for the two best screen rides instead of two of the worst ones. I believe Spiderman is the best ride in Orlando and I'm not shy about my love for it. Transformers I can take or leave. it's a little too rough and janky and feels like a worse version of it. As for HRRR, it's in very rough shape and downtime + evacs have become very normal for it, even after a few sessions of extended maintenance. It's going to be 16 years old next year and that's around the time they started to re-work Hulk for similar issues.
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Apr 10, 2024 11:34
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Rip Ride Rocket is a hunk of junk with maintenance and reliability issues. I'm not surprised they want to replace it. It's been a problem for them since it opened.
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Apr 10, 2024 13:22
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I'm very okay with the prospect of MiB either getting an overhaul so it actually loving works or just demolished and something else put in there.
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Apr 10, 2024 17:55
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Last time I rode it I was able to spin the other riders car non-stop, maybe get better at your aim game  I love that ride. The preshow and building and all are so good.
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Apr 10, 2024 18:01
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MiB was the ride where I really noticed the vast difference in quality between Disney and Universal. The queue had vandalism, trash laying around, and dust in the prop display cases. Universal definitely does some stuff well, but that lack of attention to detail on even a mediocre attraction really stuck with me for some reason.
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Apr 10, 2024 20:23
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Yes. Universal still lacks quite a bit behind in caring about details and full immersion. The entire theme park enthusiast community has a big hate boner for Disney right now though and doesn’t like to admit this. I can name a lot of instances like this. Like you go to Volcano Bay and you see some really pretty vistas, but then you take the lazy river under the volcano and not only is all the metal infrastructure visible, but it’s also grimy and dusty. Or like they just posted a POV video of pteranodon flyers, and it all looks beautiful until the end when you make the last turn and see backstage infrastructure and maintenance vehicles in full view. Basically at Disney you have to try TO see unsightly views, but at Universal you really don’t have to try. Universal is still better at this than most parks though.
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Apr 11, 2024 00:44
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Our Disney trip is a month out now. Is there a good primer on the fastpass/genie+/whatever so I know what's worth it and how best to take advantage of it?
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Apr 11, 2024 00:47
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Disney Tourist Blog has good info on using Genie+.
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Apr 11, 2024 00:50
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Disney's website has the info too, including a list of included rides. Biggest thing to remember is that you can make a G+ reservation after you tap in for your current reservation OR two hours after you've made that current reservation. Another thing to keep in mind is that some rides get booked up really, really loving quick. Like, Slinky Dog Dash gets booked up drat near immediately after park open. So if you want to ride that, you absolutely better book that poo poo immediately. Even if the reservation is for late in the day, you can go on other rides with short wait times (like Star Tours) until your 2 hours is up to make another reservation.
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Apr 11, 2024 12:50
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Hutzpah posted:Our Disney trip is a month out now. Is there a good primer on the fastpass/genie+/whatever so I know what's worth it and how best to take advantage of it? Jose Oquendo posted:Disney's website has the info too, including a list of included rides. This. Also, if you're at Epcot, book either Remy or Frozen, doesn't matter which. I usually go Remy, and if I have early entry, I go straight to Frozen. Normally i'll be booking VQ for cosmic rewind first, so I end up getting a slightly later LL for Remy, but it's still a good one (Assuming it doesn't go down, which is always the case).
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Apr 11, 2024 15:13
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Jose Oquendo posted:Another thing to keep in mind is that some rides get booked up really, really loving quick. Like, Slinky Dog Dash gets booked up drat near immediately after park open. So if you want to ride that, you absolutely better book that poo poo immediately. Even if the reservation is for late in the day, you can go on other rides with short wait times (like Star Tours) until your 2 hours is up to make another reservation. To add to this: You can get all the way through the booking process, including selecting which group members you're booking for, before the reservation time opens. Don't try navigating through the entire checkout at 7:00am like I did my first day- at 6:59, you should be a single refresh and button press away from making your reservation. If you don't do this you can easily miss, for example, the virtual queue for Cosmic Rewind. And you can prep like this on as many phones as you have group members.
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Apr 11, 2024 17:20
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Yeah just open it up 5 minutes before, set your party, and it will plop you onto the slide to refresh page. I've never failed to get Guardians even when it was brand new, but I also haven't tried since reservations went away so that might have raised the competition?
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Apr 11, 2024 17:58
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Hutzpah posted:Our Disney trip is a month out now. Is there a good primer on the fastpass/genie+/whatever so I know what's worth it and how best to take advantage of it? Now for a bedrock, let's explain the system. (Sorry if you already know this from visiting other theme parks.) Nearly every ride will have two lines; a standby (the normal one) and a priority (the lineskip). The lineskip line is usually physically shorter and has less switchbacks in it. The two lines meet at a merge point, close to where the ride vehicles are boarded. A cast member is in control of the merge and will bias towards the priority lane -- I don't know the exact ratio, maybe some cast member goons can chime in if they know it, but it seems to be somewhere between 5:1 and 10:1. That is, for every 5-10 groups from the priority line that get sent by, one standby group will also be sent. This, not the shorter distance, is why the lineskip wait is so much shorter, and it's also why in standby, most of the time you're just standing around and not moving; priority guests are getting merged while you wait. The number of rides without priority lines is vanishingly small and any ride without one is almost always a walk-on, so we don't need to worry about those. Disney calls its priority lines Lightning Lanes (LL). So from now on we're going to be talking about how to get access to the Lightning Lanes, which means you get to go in the short line and get biased towards at the merge. There are two methods. Keep in mind that although the methods are different, the result is the same -- you get to use that ride's Lightning Lane. If you have access to a Lightning Lane, the way it works is that your app (the app is important! You have been practicing with it, right?) will offer you the soonest time it has available. You don't get to choose, and if someone else takes the last of those slots before you finish confirming your reservation, it'll give you a different one instead. Once you make the reservation, you're locked in. You have, officially, an hour from the displayed time to show up. So if you've got a 2:30 Lightning Lane for Frozen: Forever After, at any time from 2:30 to 3:30, you can get there, tap your MagicBands or phones at the LL entrance, it'll flash green, and the cast members will let you in to use the line. Unofficially, you have a grace period of 15 minutes in either direction, and cast members may let you in earlier/later than that, at their discretion (they're pretty nice, but don't count on it as a certainty). The main method is Genie+. This is a paid service with a floating price with a floor of $14.99, based on demand, sold per person per day. You don't have to buy Genie+ every day. You don't have to buy it for everyone in your group -- but if you don't, the people you don't buy it for don't get the LL access. If you're wondering why they call it that instead of something more reasonable like "lightning lane pass", well, see above re: deliberately confusing. Your purchase also includes access to ride photos taken that day, some camera filters, and some audio files, basically all so they can be like "no you're not buying Lightning Lane access, that is just one facet of the incredible service", but that is a lie, Genie+ is only and always ever bought because the purchasers want the lineskips. Once you've bought Genie+, you have access to Lightning Lanes for almost every ride in the park you're in for the day. There are limitations; you can gain access to each ride's LL once, and once you have an active reservation, you can't make another until you tap into that LL or until two hours have passed, whichever comes first. Because that's still pretty confusing, let's do an example with specifics. Let's say you're in the Magic Kingdom, it's 10:00 am, and you want to ride Peter Pan. Genie+ offers you 11:30 for Peter Pan, so you take it. You can't use Genie+ again until then, so you go and do other stuff for about an hour and a half. You arrive at Peter Pan at 11:45 and tap into the line. As soon as you do, you can make your next reservation -- and since you'll still be spending some time waiting in line, just less, it's very much in your best interest to pull your phone out while you're standing around and make your next reservation right then and there. If you had been offered 12:30 instead, since that's more than 2 hours from 10:00, you could have made your next reservation at noon, even though you hadn't tapped into the ride yet. If you want to ride Peter Pan again later in the day, you must wait in the standby queue -- you've used your Peter Pan LL for the day. That's Genie+. I did, however, say almost every ride is included in that service. Disney is both smart and greedy, and thus they take one ride in each park -- always the newest and most popular ride -- and withhold it from Genie+. With the exception of the Magic Kingdom, where they hold back two. That is the Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) ride (or rides). The Lightning Lane is offered the same way, but if you want it, you have to pay an individual floating price per person making the reservation. You don't have to have bought Genie+ to do this, and Genie+ offers no discount. Anyone who's willing to pay the price can get an ILL. You can only get one ILL per ride per day, which means that for all parks except Magic Kingdom, you can only use this once per day. The ILL ride at Epcot is Cosmic Rewind, and at Magic Kingdom the ILLs are Snow White Mine Train and TRON. There is also Virtual Queues, which are not lineskips -- you wait in the standby line. But for rides that use them, they're the only way to get into that standby line at all, so you need to know it. (Also, the line tends to be shorter overall, since the virtual queue is staggering entrances.) Guardians of the Galaxy and TRON use VQs. The way they work is that, from the ride board, you click the Join Virtual Queue button, it'll ask you which of your party wants to ride the ride, and then it'll put you all in a boarding group, based on when you signed up. When your group is up, you'll get a push notification telling you you've got an hour to head to the ride and get in line. This is free. The only thing to be aware of is that it's an actual queue, which means the sooner you get in, the better. VQs open up at 7 am and you don't have to be in the park to join them, so set an alarm for 6:55, get to the ride board, and start setting up; you want to be ready to refresh and hit submit as soon as the clock ticks over. The VQs tend to fill up pretty quick, but if you can't get in at 7, Disney opens them back up with more slots at 1 pm. For that, though, you do have to be physically present in the park to join, and also you're going to be behind everyone who already joined and there's no guarantee that everyone in the queue will actually get to ride that day, so, again... if you want to ride those rides, set your alarm and hit the button. In your app, you can see all of this stuff by hitting the plus button and selecting My Genie Day and Tip Board, which gets you to the ride board, so play around with it and get familiar. That page is useful in general, since it shows wait times for all the rides and next showtimes for all the shows. Now, do you need it? General consensus is that Genie+ is worth the money in Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios, but not Epcot or Animal Kingdom -- they don't have enough rides with really long waits, which means that everyone funnels to the same few rides, their LLs get slammed, and you only end up skipping one or two lines all day. Also, the price is per person per day, and you're a party of 4, so it's going to cost you at least $60 per day. That's not pocket change. But, on the other hand, you're only there for two days, so your time is more precious than someone who's there for 4+, and your overall cost is less, since you're only paying twice at maximum. It's really up to you. To get the most advantage out of it, the primary tip is the same as if you don't have it -- be there at rope drop. The hour after park opening is worth three hours later in the day. In this case, not only can you beeline for the most popular ride on your list before the line has time to grow, but you can get a LL reservation immediately, which is good because they can fill up fast for the big rides and by 11, you could be looking at 6 pm return times or sold out entirely. Otherwise, like I said, make reservations for the next ride when you're in line for the current one, not when you get off, and pick strategically. You can only have one reservation at once, so if you're using it on a ride where the standby time is short, you're wasting it -- your return time might not be for hours, when you could just walk over, get in line, and ride it in much less time. CapnAndy fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Apr 12, 2024 |
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Apr 11, 2024 23:49
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That post is really thorough and should probably be linked to or quoted in the thread’s OP. Honestly we’re probably due for a new thread.
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Apr 12, 2024 00:04
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SweetMercifulCrap! posted:That post is really thorough and should probably be linked to or quoted in the thread’s OP. Honestly we’re probably due for a new thread.
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Apr 12, 2024 00:07
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CapnAndy posted:If you're wondering why they call it that instead of something more reasonable like "lightning lane pass", well, see above re: deliberately confusing. Your purchase also includes access to ride photos taken that day, some camera filters, and some audio files, basically all so they can be like "no you're not buying Lightning Lane access, that is just one facet of the incredible service", but that is a lie, Genie+ is only and always ever bought because the purchasers want the lineskips.
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Apr 12, 2024 02:23
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CapnAndy posted:It's important to note right up front that this whole thing is deliberately confusing. Disney pulled several tricks out of the mobile f2p playbook in creating this system and the biggest one is using a flurry of similar-sounding jargon that all means different things. It can be broken down and understood, I just want you to understand that an initial feeling of bafflement at the whole thing is not only normal, it's the intended response. This is incredibly helpful. Thanks a million. I really, really appreciate all of the help I've gotten from this thread.
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Apr 12, 2024 02:46
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https://x.com/aliciastella/status/1779589615692788024?s=46 In the box is the ride vehicle for the new Ministry of Magic ride. That's pretty goddamn big.
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Apr 14, 2024 20:22
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I think the rumor is that they will be the new version of the Spider-Man and Transformers vehicles with locking seatbelts instead of a lap bar. Allegedly will also have some sort of elevator element, which Transformers actually has, but hides. I can see them making a beefed up version of that to make it also a drop ride. So picture Spider-Man vehicles but mostly practical effects combined with Rise of the Resistance. That’s my assumption anyway.
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Apr 14, 2024 21:06
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 That clearance on the coaster tracks and building looks crazy, but that could just be the angle and compression
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Apr 15, 2024 08:21
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It's a Mack, they overengineer to begin with and also had a couple years of covid to do it again. It's fine.
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Apr 15, 2024 11:27
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I wasn't doubting the safety or construction, just saying it looks crazy.
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Apr 15, 2024 19:46
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Hutzpah posted:This is incredibly helpful. Thanks a million. One other thing you ought to consider is Memory Maker. When you're there, there are ride photos, which you either claim after you get off the ride and see all the photos displayed, then tap your magicband or phone under the one that's yours, or they just automatically attach them to your account because they tracked your band/phone (which usually works, but not always -- ask me about the photo I have of some people I've never met in my life riding Haunted Mansion). Disney will also have photographers stationed at all the obvious spots to get your picture taken -- anywhere with a nice view and/or a landmark, basically -- and at all character meets, including if you do character dining, and you link those photos to your account with another band/phone tap. But they're not free. You'll have the option to buy photos individually or pay a flat price for access to all of them, which Disney calls Memory Maker. And if that's something you're going to want, you should buy it ahead of your trip, because there's a discount if you do. The pricing is $16.95 per photo, $185 for Memory Maker if you buy it at least three days before your trip (just buy it, you don't activate it until you come home and it's time to download all the photos), or $210 if you don't. You can also get Memory Maker access to a single day's worth of photos for $75, which, as you're only going to be there for two days, would save you money unless you ended up deciding to do one of those fancy dining experiences on another day and wanted those photos too. Which brings us right to the question of if you need it, and the answer is, you can get by just fine without it. Disney photographers are nice (all Disney employees are nice, it's a job requirement) and they have no problem if you want to hand them your cell phone to take some pictures with that too, so you can absolutely come home with pictures you didn't have to pay for. You don't get the ride photos, obviously, and the employees' cameras are way better than your cell phone's, also obviously. Also, for posed pictures, the photographers will often have you do something that doesn't make sense at the time -- cup your hands and look at them, point off to the side and look amazed, be really scared, and that's because they're adding some graphics to the picture, so when you download it, it turns out you were pointing at Tinker Bell flying by or Sully from Monsters Inc. was scaring you or something like that. What I can't answer for you, obviously, is how much pictures matter. There's a full spectrum of opinions here, from people who don't care to people who feel like if you went to Disney and didn't get pictures, what was even the point of going. I would guess, given that you're bringing your kids for the first time, you're gonna want those pictures. But that's me playing the odds, and if you don't care or only care a little, hand your phone to the photographers, take pictures yourself, no biggie. But now you know your options.
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Apr 15, 2024 20:16
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You get ride photos with Genie+ now I think?
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Apr 15, 2024 20:20
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Aphrodite posted:You get ride photos with Genie+ now I think?
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Apr 15, 2024 20:23
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I'm gonna copy/paste this snippet about Memory Maker from my trip report a couple years ago as someone who was very happy that they paid for it for our kids' first trip.quote:We got the "whole trip" photo pass and took as much advantage as we could. My 3yo son did not want to participate in any pictures, but the CMs did an awesome job still capturing him in the moment (between our legs, off to the side, hiding behind things, etc.). Very cute pictures of him trying to avoid being in pictures. We were at the Tiny World photo spot in HS right when a cavalcade was coming by, so the CM paused our photoshoot to let the kids watch it go by. And while the kids were watching, he got some awesome shots of them smiling and waving at the characters. Just outright great photos all around, and I am so happy that we purchased it.
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Apr 15, 2024 21:04
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Aphrodite posted:You get ride photos with Genie+ now I think? You do. I have an incredipass with the memory maker add-on simply because I know I'm doing trips this year with people who will never go again and I wanted to make sure I got those photos. I was really blown away by how good the majority of them are. I think I only had one in February that I was not too thrilled with out of uhh, well I'll say a lot. I don't know what the cost would be for 3 or 4 days at the park, but I'd say it's probably worth it.
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Apr 15, 2024 23:00
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How much is the add-on? I have a pass and would never use the photos, but I do go with family once or twice a year.
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Apr 15, 2024 23:23
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Thought you guys might like this. I'm not sure it's actually supposed to be online as I saw it on YouTube before but it was deleted. So watch while you can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYERl03yLLI Might give you a little more appreciation for Transformers. I'm an AV nerd and I feel that Spider-Man and Transformers have the best audio and video quality. Top Left = on-ride view Top Right = the actual screen animation Bottom Left = looking at the vehicle movements with the lights on Bottom Right = The scenes with show conditions. Something that riders might not be aware of is that in addition to the panning and tilting the vehicle does, it also lurches along the track to thrust your body back and forth. It doesn't just park in each scene. You can also observe the lift mechanism in this video.
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Apr 16, 2024 01:46
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Top-right can't be the actual animation, can it? I thought that the key to making Spider-Man and therefore also Transformers work was that the animation was pre-warped in the inverse of how viewing it from an angle would warp it, so that if you ever watched the screens head-on the whole time, you'd see the figures constantly stretching this way and that to compensate for ride vehicle motion.
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Apr 16, 2024 01:51
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CapnAndy posted:Top-right can't be the actual animation, can it? I thought that the key to making Spider-Man and therefore also Transformers work was that the animation was pre-warped in the inverse of how viewing it from an angle would warp it, so that if you ever watched the screens head-on the whole time, you'd see the figures constantly stretching this way and that to compensate for ride vehicle motion. Top right appears to be a 2D version of the CGI scenes. Probably a near final cut so they can review it without the glasses. As a 2D version some of the most extreme camera tricks may be toned down. Even so, you can see some of the fisheye effect and stretching in a few scenes. Especially if it has a far background and lots of movement. It's probably not what you expected because the requirements for the effect are not as severe as you thought. Transformers has a lot of smaller screens you mostly watch from head on with little movement of the ride vehicle. Then it spins away to the next scene. You don't linger on each screen as you move.
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Apr 16, 2024 02:11
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It's a compressed, 2D version of what is projected on the screens. You actually can see the parallax effect ("squinching"), just look at the backgrounds instead of the characters.
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Apr 16, 2024 02:51
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Aphrodite posted:How much is the add-on? I have a pass and would never use the photos, but I do go with family once or twice a year. It’s $100. We add it on to my wife’s pass - six photos or so and you break even.
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Apr 16, 2024 04:42
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Gonna need that tiki cat mug for may the forth to come to Disney World, thank you very much
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Apr 17, 2024 03:44
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Any worthwhile off-site restaurants nearby the WDW complex? Got plans to visit family there this weekend.
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Apr 17, 2024 05:27
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Quixotic1 posted:Any worthwhile off-site restaurants nearby the WDW complex? Got plans to visit family there this weekend. Nile Ethiopian on I-Drive. Domu ramen in Dr. Phillips. Best two restaurants in the area in that order.
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Apr 17, 2024 06:18
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