EpcotServo's Updates #3.6: Springtime Across Spacetime

Hello everybody~! Sorry for the long Updatelessness, I was sort of busy writing a book. Like, with words. Lots of them. And less pictures. But the pictures roll on, and without really knowing why, they always say, WE MUST UPDATE!

ANIMAL KINGDOM


-I sort of forgot about taking pictures of Animal Kingdom in February. Yeeeaah. Sorry about that.

-I remember it being cold...And there were Animals.

-The new FOTLK theater is nice, show...enh. The same.

STUDIOS


-Hat is down. Well, not in the pictures. But in general, yeah.

-Other stuff, which I totally remember.

EPCOT


-Weather mild and pleasant, to stinky hot and rainy. Pretty much Florida in spring. And summer.

-Crowds medium

-Universe of Energy is really in a sad state. All environmental effects are broken. Two of four show doors not working. Curtains still broke. Ellen and dinosaur, missing.  Essentially an entire scene, empty. This is not only bad show, but a new level of ineptitude in quality control. They're letting energy, rot-and for what reason I can only assume MUST be stupidity or some malice and forethought.

-Another weird thing, in Theater 2 they've replaced the center screen with a digital projector. People won't be inclined to notice, but if you're a weirdo like me you'll find seeing the same movie being displayed in Digital AND film at the same time is a weird experience, much like Philharmagic-unless they've changed that since opening.

-Innoventions walls everywhere. EVVEEERRRYWHHEERRREEEEE

-So why the heck is Living with the Land closing after seven again? There's literally hundreds of people waiting for fastpasses or reservations to come in, and lots of rider swaps going on. Not to mention closed seating areas, this kind of cheapness is crazy.

-The Tomorrowland Preview is amazing. I just wish the people who run Epcot would take a look at it, and I don't know, throw some money into the ring for making Epcot an optimistic experience again. Just sayin'.

-Frozen coke slushees at the Outpost are still magic. 

-EPCOT!

YES, that's all for the words. On to the pictures!

ENJOY!^^

https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates36SpringtimeAcrossSpacetime?noredirect=1#6142891867353421858

EpcotServo's Updates #2.54- Spaced

Hello and howitgoes everyone, and welcome to a Star Wars Weekends Studios Updates! Lots to go to, so let's go to it already. LIGHTSPEEDOOOOO!

STUDIOS

-Star Wars Weekends 2012! Overall, I have to say one of the best events since 2007. While it may not look like much has changed, there's a slew of great new spiels, amazing new merch to get, and is much better organized and streamlined than ever. The real hit for me was getting to walk into the merch area without a big line, and then have plenty of space inside to shop and walk around. The art gallery is a great idea and you can spend loads of time admiring all the art, plus there's even a sneak preview of upcoming merch again that's great. Combined with the atmosphere of people dressed up, and lots of discussing and enjoyment it almost felt like an actual convention. It was pretty great!

-Speaking of the merchandise, the standout for me is the Star Tours nametag. For $8.95, you get the great nametag with your name in Aurebush and your home planet. (I'm from Bespin, myself.)

-Crowds were mild to extreme, starting nice and slow and picking up to extreme by 11am.

-Fantasyland Model: "I'M HUGE!"

-Star Tours is still incredibly great. Not only a great regeneration of the first, but a more enjoyable, re-rideable, detailed, and overall fun new attraction can not be found here in Orlando at least. Sure, rides like Forbidden Journey are amazing, but a ride like Star Tours 2 is always incredibly fun without being jarring. It's just fantastic, and always a highlight of the day. Even just one sequence changed completely changes the feel of the ride. I can't recommend it enough. Also the queue has not been trashed, a year after opening. WHATTTT (Oh, and if you've been following the Universal Updates-I can now confirm the 3D is much better at Star Tours than it is at the new Spiderman. New spiderman's 3D is darker and has significantly much more pixelization than Star Tours. Probably just because of the larger size of the image, but still-it must be said. Star Tours is still the crispest, cleanest, and has the most depth I've ever seen in a 3D image.)

-Build a Droid. Do it. So much fun. The Astromech figure you build is not only great, the range of choices are really surprising. It's ahoot and ahalf, and a perfect Star Tours souvenir. Don't let the line fool you, either-it actually moves fairly fast and is worth it. Even more so after Star Wars Weekends when the line may be shorter. I expect the demand to always be big though, as this is a great idea. And who doesn't want their own droid?

-Introducing R5-V0: The Tom Servo Astromech. MST3K meets Star Wars.

 http://twitpic.com/9mwvds  http://twitpic.com/9mwyk1

-In a rare Muppet effect working, the steam effect when the Theater explodes was working on the right side of the theater. I haven't seen this in so long I forgot it was a thing.

-Words, etc.

OK, that's about all for now! On to the picture portion of the Tour!

Enjoy! \( ^  ^ )/

https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates254Spaced?noredirect=1#5745115714808255570

EpcotServo's Updates #2.43- Fantastic Voyage

Hello and Hello, and in addition a very Happy Holidays Hello! Today we've got an Update with lots of last pictures from JAWS, and a few extra random pictures for random's sake. Proceed!

UNIVERSAL

-Crowds were high to Mountain Dew levels of extreme.

-Lots of rigging and diving for the show they should've announced by now.

-And lots of people waiting for the ride they shouldn't be closing.

-Bullwinkle is in this Update.

-Fact.

OK, that's about all, so click on and have a Merry Christmas, if that's ok!

ENJOY!
( ^ ^ )


https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates243FantasticVoyage#5688465366158043010

EpcotServo's Updates #2.40- Separate Ways

Hey everybody and welcome to a three-park hopping cross-universe Update! Got lots to start, so start we shall.

KINGDOM

-Crowds. THE UNBEARABLE CROWDS!

-Crowds were high.

-They need to bring back Davy Jones, Blackbeard's projection is unintelligible in both audio and face.

-The hat pirate did have hats.

-Haunted Mansion queue and ghosts are still baffling and bad. The ghosts at the end in particular are still very poorly done and boarding on flat out bad show. Mainly because they're just so flat.

-Big Thunder is still fun, but the missing wood planks are pretty bad, and pretty much all the effects aren't working or are flat-out gone.

-While Toontown station is closed, the train still stops there to refuel. So you just have to wait there looking at an ugly unkept wooden green wall. No signage, no decoration, just ugly wooden walls and trash people have thrown out. It's EXTREMELY bad show. At DCA the walls there are beautiful. Are you telling me they couldn't even put a single sign there? The spiel mentions "Look at all those posters!" so maybe they intend too, but it was still pretty awful and very Kingdom-typical.

EPCOT

-Epcot was just PACKED. ALL the parking lots were being used. Insane.

-Lots of drunken-ness. Hhhrrrm.

-Epcot is crazy pretty at night none the less.

IOA

-Sunday! Islands of Adventure!

-Crowds were low to mild.

-Went on spiderman really early, only a few people on the ride. But better yet...The ride kept stopping! Seemed just like blocking problems, I think they added a vehicle or something. It was awesome! Got to see the fire effect from the scene before, watching it float up into the rafters. But better yet-Got to see the "Falling building" reset. It's MASSIVE! And it just LAUNCHES up in three parts! They offered a re-ride to the other people on, but I loved it. Heh.

-Potterevent! We won admission into one of the panels, and that was cool. Just a Q&A with a few of the cast, and they were running other panels and making of sessions. So all of these events were for the people who paid for the package thing, but there was plenty of room everywhere and a public standby. The CRAZY fans were there, but all they had out was A-frame info signs, and no schedule or notification of the event to day guests. I think to get this to take off, they'll need to do the following...

1.Drop the paid event as the main thing. Make it a premium extra and the event open to all dayguests.

2. Let WB handle stars and such, and not be the headline thing. It just kind of seemed like a trade show.

3. The name. "WB presents Harry Potter Home Entertainment Celebration" is a VERY trade show name.

4. Again, make it public. Publish schedules and decorate it, have a firework show or something. I think Universal needs to take a page from Star Wars Weekends here. It needs to draw the dedicated fans and the undedicated fans. As it were, this was just a low-attended premium fan trade show taking place on an average day at the park.


-Speaking of Star Wars, to the teener behind me who said "Star Wars fans can suck it, we have better fans"- Shut up. You literally don't know what you are taking about. A: Star Wars fans actually love it enough to criticize it. B: You didn't have to find Harry Potter. You were freaking required to read it in school idiot. C: You know what they call "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter" fans? G'D EVERYONE. You aren't special in any way.

-Forbidden Journey and Frozen Butterbeer. Yes please.

-They setup a red carpet for the after-hours parties, but put up big blockades and mats out, complete with Team Members guiding people off the carpets. Needless to say, everyone finds this annoying and is all the more reason no average guest there and had no idea what this event was or if there was any benefit to attend. Hopefully Universal will make this a Star Wars Weekends-esque event.

-Doctor Who fans are better anyway.

OK, that's all for that. Now this is all of this!

Enjoy!
( ^ ^ )

 https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates240SeparateWays#5674963786578693186