EpcotServo's Jan. 23rd Studios/EPCOT Update: Friday Flashback

Hey everyone! Had a great day at the parks on Friday and thought I'd share in some of the photography update-like. Let's get right down to it!

STUDIOS

-American Idol was Idol-ing at full force, with many showtimes and a BIG PUSH on auditioning. I can't say they were meeting their goals, but they were giving call time tickets for auditioning at Park Entrance, Hollywood Junction (Tip Board, Fountain) and back at the Audition Center.

-Sci-fi Drive In is still "the awesome"

-Midway Mania was running smooth.

-Crowds were Medium to Light. Not too bad!

-Hat Painting is continung and is looking bright and cleaner.

EPCOT


-Crowds Medium to Heavy. Soarin' was at 180 Mins., Didn't check the rest.

-Celebrate Today banners outside park, didn't see anything else major.

-Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure was running ENTIRELY yesterday! (That means it was going full force, all Countries, all sign up Centers, everything in operation) and it is SMOOTH. It's extremely easy to do multiple different countries with large groups, small groups, alone, what have you. The technology was packing them in the countries, but still managed to time it so you never came upon another team doing exactly what you are doing. With World Showcase PACKED, you did come across teams more often, but it's still perfection. The big new country for me was China, and even though I did this kind of thing three times during the R&D days, and had done Mexico recently, they managed to surprise with unique applications on this adventure, and a surprising Finale. As I've said before, this is one of WDI's best new offerings, and if you aren't in on it, you may just pass it right by. My congratulations to the entire team of Imagineers and Cast Members who brought this from a simple Research and Development Project to do something unique and cool, to a full-fledged Walt Disney World offering, and best wishes as they finish the last few days from full on Grand Opening!

-Spaceship Earth seemed fine, nothing new to report on the way down. Like others have said, you now get to E-Mail your entire video to yourself. I hit a small bug in that it didn't capture the AUDIO, but I'm sure they'll work the little kinks out.

-As I'm sure you know: Fountain of Nations is all walled off.

OK, that's it for the words. On to the pictures!

Enjoy!


http://picasaweb.google.com/EpcotServo/EpcotServoSJan23rdStudiosEPCOTUpdateFridayFlashback#5295310547042753778

EpcotServo's Jan. 15th UPDATE *EXTRA*: Throw me the Idol

Hey there everyone! Went to the Studios last night for a short while, to take in the cold and the First American Idol Finale Show (with guests). I bring ye back pictures!

STUDIOS

-So....American Idol.





Yea.



Ok, so it wasn't horrible. Honestly only one of the singers made me want to smash my head with a hammer, and the Judge's banter helped bring be back from being tone-deaf. The pre-show "warm up" host was awesome, and the quality of the Cast Members (not the contestants) is what made it so exciting. The singers chosen, did actually step up and sing pretty good, and again, the Judges made up for any flat spots. What was weird though is that I think the general audience was more "Ehhhh..." about it during the actual singing than I was. Maybe it's because I was coming in thinking the singers would be lackluster, and the majority thought otherwise? Odd, Odd attraction. Anyways, the Cast Members are awesome, and the excitement they pitch really sells it. But once THAT wears off, and as long as the crowd is lukewarm to a show that's exceeding MY expectations...It might be dead in the water.

In terms of how the show went, for the First real Finale show, pretty good. There was a hiccup in the doors opening early, and the results being given to the host, but other than that it went smoothly. They didn't do the confetti, but the fans went off and I saw some drop. The Finale show is definitely the one to attended, although it might not be so well attended because 7 to 8 is like the PRIME TIME for getting on rides and queuing for Fantasmic.

OK, that's about it. On to the pictures!

Enjoy!


http://picasaweb.google.com/EpcotSer...57246587786066

(A NOTE: Picasa's incredible storage as allowed me to keep Updates for a MUCH longer time than ever, but it's starting to run low! By the next update a few older ones will start to be removed, so if you're looking to do some catching up, do it soon! http://picasaweb.google.com/EpcotServo )

EpcotServo's Jan. 10th EPCOT Update: Ah, See the Moon

Hey everyone! Had a great night at EPCOT last night, cold weather, no crowds, and an extremely full Moon! Even got to see Illuminations for a change! Lots of pictures, so let's get right down to it!

EPCOT

-As I said, Crowds were light and lines were mostly walk-ons save for Soarin' (50 Minutes) and Test Track. (40 Minutes)

-No signs of any Kim Possible testing today, though the sign up areas in Future World are being built and have added details.

-There is indeed a new display in the final Living with the Land Greenhouse, very neat to see.

-All signs of Christmas were gone, except for Napkins and Cups and such.

-Illuminations went great, I didn't notice anything wrong with it.

OK, that's it for that. On to the many Pictures!

Enjoy!


http://picasaweb.google.com/EpcotServo/EpcotServoSJan10thEPCOTUpdateAhSeeTheMoon#5290110859718287282

EpcotServo's Jan. 8th STUDIOS Update: Idolocalypse Now

Hey everyone, and welcome to the first Update of the NEW YEAR! Seeing as how it's a brand new year, I figure this is worth a might bit of celebration, so I made a Video to get the ball rolling! Please do enjoy!



So yesterday was a quick morning jont to Studios, and here is the resulting Update!

STUDIOS

- Despite rumblings of Idol Soft Openings, none was to be had. Though they were cycling the preshow throughout the day.

-Golden Age Souvenirs is now completely devoted to Idol, and is scary. As someone who was a miffed about the lack of Midway Mania merchandise, I actually became offended at the amount of Idol-branded Disney wares. Even more original items than Expedition Everest! Since the main argument of SGE is that it was created to sell Stitch merch, and they easily have FIVE TIMES more attraction-related items than SGE had, I can see it being used as a "This show was made to cash in" conspiracy for a long time to come. Again, I'm not the show's biggest detractor, but it's darn hard not to stand in the middle of all this stuff and not say that it was made to sell novelty stuff to the contestants of the day's shows.

-The Hat is being Painted/Refurb'ed.

-Backlot Tour is aclose-ed.

-Everything inside Midway Mania was working good and looked fine.

-YOMD banners outside (and some inside) were still up.

-Crowds were medium to light, not too bad.

OK, that's about it for that. On to the photo-tour!

Enjoy!



http://picasaweb.google.com/EpcotServo/EpcotServoSJan8thSTUDIOSUpdateIdolocalypseNow#5289365463685255634