EpcotServo's Updates #3.5- Train Man

Hello everybody and welcome to the first Update on the fresh new UpdatePage! Lots of captions and pictures to take in, so click on friends!

UNIVERSAL

-New Universal entry sign, very nice.

-Weather cold and windy, crowds not very bad.

-Had more amazing experiences with Team Members than usual on this day, had loads of amazing interactions and even had a magic moment at Transformers where we got express'ed on just for bein' around, so super amazing thanks to the loads of great Team Members out there that made a usual parkvisit just a little extra special.

MAGIC KINGDOM


-Hub is super torn up. Castle Crane up as well.

-Tiki, Country Bears, Progress, Peoplemover!

-Mine Train is still Mine Trainey

-Got stuck for nearly twenty minutes on Pirates right before Unload, which was the fun part of an interesting Pirates experience-Including a grouper who wanted to stuff four large adults into the FIRST row, which we the guests had to instruct isn't humanly possible. And to top it off, we got SOAKED at the bottom of the drop. I don't mean the "Ha, Pirates was a little splashy today!" wet, I mean drenched. Only getting stuck at the end helped to dry my jeans out before leaving. Thankfully we got a re-ad, but either Pirates was having a terrible night or George the ghost was having a laugh. Yeah, interesting ride on Pirates.

-Got FerstPassesPlus online this time, worked out really well. Got on Mansion, Pirates, and Big Thunder with them.

-As an aside, the beach shacks along the Polynesian waterfront are pretty visually appalling from around Bay Lake. Blergh.

-It was still a great night for Kingdom though.

-Huzzah!

OK, that's about all there is for that. On to the Pictures!

ENJOY!^^

 https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates35TrainMan?noredirect=1#6112815164761565074

EpcotServo's Updates #2.94- Gem and the Holograms

Hey everybody and welcome to another Update! As always, we start with the words and whatnot!

STUDIOS


-Weather hot, crowds medium.

-Star Wars Weekends! Organized pretty well this year from what I could tell, though the merch was better in the tent than the soundstage. Met Steve Blum, the voice actor of Spike Spiegel which was amazing!

-Student film groups were filming on the Streets of America which was interesting!

-Also they were filming Rebels B-Roll.

KINGDOM


-Crowds medium, weather was night. Night weather.

-Fastpass still working alright, came in around 8 and got Fastpasses for Mansion at 9 and Big Thunder at 10:45-11:45.

-Astro Orbiter is Astro-gone.

-Mine Train! Really fun. Got two rides in, and best of all two people jumped out of our car at load on the second ride, so we got to just really get it swinging side to side (yo) which was alot of fun. My only gripe is the interactive portions of the queue, which are nice but feel like an inescapable playground. The outdoor queue is really nice though, so there's that. It ain't no 20K, but I guess it's my favorite thing in the whole expansion.

-Got to ride Mine Train twice, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Big Thunder, Pooh, and Mad Tea Party twice. Nine rides in two hours, whichisnotbadifIdosaymyself!

-Oh, nice things are nice

-No flash pictures in the mine thankfully, but one or two people drinking from the musical thing. THERE'S A DRINKING FOUNTAIN RIGHT NEXT TO IT!@   -   @

-Peoplemover is under rehab. Meh.

-For fun.

OK, that's about all, except for the rest of it!

ENJOY!^^

 https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates294GemAndTheHolograms?noredirect=1#6026380522872602386

EpcotServo's Updates #2.93- Getter RoboDragon Z

Hey everybody, It's UpdateTime again! Meaning this stuff! Read on!

KINGDOM


-Crowds Crowded and Weather hot enough for you.

-Dwarvesorama Train Ride was in a weird "Invited Cast Members Only" preview which no ride in my entire histories have done. It's usually Unannounced After Hours Testing, Park Only cast but-we'll-let-you-in-if-you-work-at-another-park-anyway Preview, and then Cast and Soft Opening. Never had nor seen any that required a special permission slip and was turning away non-kingdom Cast Members despite running with barely any people. The slowness and seeming indifference towards getting this thing open versus promoting it with the Media is something that defies most ride I've ever opened and I've opened quite a few. Blergh.

-Also Universal closed Jaws.

-Fun things are still fun though.

-Pirates Mermaids seemed to be off totally. If you think you were seeing Mermaids and/or Sea Monsters, you may have been submerged too long.

-The hub-bub construction is weeeeirrrddd

-Parade! New parade was good. Much better. Thank you. How are you?

-No further boarding MEANS No further boarding

-As a personal aside, PLEASE see GODZILLA in a theater this weekend.

-Because, GODZILLA.

-Look busy, GODZILLA IS COMING.

OK, that's about all! Enjoy the presentation on the ViewerScreen!

ENJOY!^^

https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates293GetterRoboDragonZ?noredirect=1#6013514756340292482

EpcotServo's Updates #2.88- Log Horizon

Hey there everybody! It's Updatetime, because time is for Updating! Read on, if reading on is what you're intending to do.

MAGIC KINGDOM


-Weather cool, crowds mild too

-Jingle Cruise is pretty fun, if you have the skipper for it.

-Pirates has new plasticity boats which makes terrible noises at Unload.

-The PirateQuestVentureThing is actually really fun and cool, and the cast there are very nice so make sure you stop by and quest up.

-MyMagicIsStillBelrg

-So I had three bad experiences with CMs being unhelpful or disrespectful, which is three more than I've had at Epcot, Studios, Animal Kingdom, Universal, and Disneyland Resort this year...Oy. Imma stick with going to the other three more. So much hassle.

-Space Mountain Lights On Stuff

-Peoplemover too

-In Updatenews, the Updatepage recently passed 20,000 hits under the internet. My Ultra-Thanks to all those who continue to visit my crazy thing here and thanks for enjoying!

Speaking of which, ENJOY!^^

 https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates288LogHorizon?noredirect=1#5958079527812189202

EpcotServo's Updates #2.75- Kingdom Crawl

Hey everybody! It's once again that time for Update, so let's engage, warp factor: Kingdom!

KINGDOM


-Crowds mild, Weather rainy forcing excess crowd out.

-They have a REALLY snazzy SOTMK leatherbound binder, if only it weren't $40 and the game and boosters built around an actual Deck/Booster/TCG rule base/economy. Seriously Disney, rework SOTMK from the household game up.

-The free cards are still a must though.

-Peoplemover Peoplemoving

-Work lights were on in the vignette before the shop windows, bad show.

-Playing LOUD Justin Bieber and Katy Perry in Tomorrowland is just...the...worst...

-Also, they are terrible people

-And they have weird faces

-The Snow White N' Roller Coaster is coming along

-As beautiful as New Fantasyland is, after only a few visits I find myself with no reason to go back there.

-TANGLED TOILETS! Look, I applaud the nice things, but this is almost overboard. And the tower totally messes up Mansion and Liberty Square.

-The newly spiffed up Bicycle ghosts in Mansion were not moving.

-The CGI ghosts have held up terribly. Projectors not aligned properly, image faded and pixels apparent. Plus the light shining in your face for (also not working) face capture dims your actual view of them. An absolutely horrendous bad show and needs to be 86'ed immediately.  BRING BACK THE REAL EFFECT.

-I've mentioned this before, but this version of Hall of Presidents may be the best yet, really good show.

-Tiki Birds & Jungle Cruise & Adventureland

-They've forever demolished our great start to our Pirates queue by knocking a hole out in the side, and making it switchbacks on one side, and a new Fastpass queue on the other. SIGH. NEXTGENNNNN

-Also one of the walls in Pirates' queue was horribly mangled with graffiti etchings. 

-The Mermaids are still cool, but can we PLEASE get Davy Jones back? Blackbeard is SO blurry and mumbly it just plain confuses everyone.

-The hat Pirate was completely stationary, and IMHO this should mean the attraction was down until fixed or removed. Bad show.

-So in things that surprise me, I actually enjoyed the interactive things added to Big Thunder's queue. Story contradictions and artificially extended waits due to Fastpass and Nextgen aside, they were pretty cool and not out of place or stupid like Haunted Mansion's.

-Monorail is good, but I have to say the Ferry experience seems more enjoyable nowadays.

OK, that's about it!

Except for the more part! ON TO the PICTURES!

ENJOY!^^

https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates275KingdomCrawl?noredirect=1#5859426182524267890

EpcotServo's Updates #2.69-The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

IT'S THE MOST...WONDERFULLLL TIMEEE OF THE YEAAARRRR! And Merry Holidays to you all, we got a short and sweet Kingdom stuff for you, so click on!

KINGDOM


-OK, so you never really have to click on, just keep reading. Doesn't sound as cool, does it?

-Crowds were low, weather windy

-Parade Taping was fun. Of course, it's all live...in your region.

-Peoplemover seemed to be a little bjorked, with a large gap and the trains at Load rushing up and bumping on to the next train with a jolt. Strange.

-They've made the Mermaids at Pirates show up on the right side of the flume a little more. It's still really cool, but I'm not sure if it was better when it projected less. But then again, there was one whole ride last time I didn't even see any, so it was needed. And is still really cool.

-Little Mermaid is still going fine

-It's a tiny world, it seems

-Finally saw Country Bears. Really didn't like. It's like the reader's digest version, there's just a whole lotta' charm and wit lost in those five minutes they edited out and the show doesn't hold up as well ironically, being the reverse effect as intended.

-BUT...AHolycrap, new Test Track is AWESOME.

-I mean, really, REALLY AWESOME.

-I hope to have pictures and further words on how fantastic it is, later.

-More then.

-Hello!

-Pictures now.

OK, that's about it for that-Continue onwards!

And ENJOY!^^

https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates269TheMostWonderfulTimeOfTheYear?noredirect=1#5817551854421906994


EpcotServo's Updates are made possible thanks to viewers LIKE YOU! 

EpcotServo's Updates #2.63- Cloudy Kingdom Atlas

Greetings peoples. and welcome to an overdue Update with some Kingdom stuff you can click right on to.

KINGDOM





-Crowds medium to light, overcast and windy, chance of Servo 10AM-3PM

-MOYMAIDS! The Mermaids have the Pirates of the Caribbean, and they are very cool. A great series of subtle effects and an overall spookier beach scene that works much better. Really, really like it.

-MOYMAIDS! Under the Sea is still solid with a pretty spectacular queue.

-MOYMAIDS! Wreck-It-Ralph has some merch in Emporium. Please to see it Nov.2nd, it's very excellent.

-MOYMAIDS! The CGI MansionGhosts are still just terrible.

-MOYMAIDS! Peoplemover is still movin' people.

OK, that's about all. Please click on!

ENJOY!^^

 https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates263CloudyKingdomAtlas?noredirect=1#5804843590040482882

EpcotServo's Updates #2.61- Ride Art Online

Hey there peoples! Let's switch to a new Update exploring new stuff, shall we? SWITCH!

KINGDOM

-Crowds were crowded to "meh, s'alright"

-Weather was nice and warm, to just plain nice and lovely

-Fantasyland was new, and open.

-So ALOT of people have been comparing all this to Tokyo DisneySea, but after conferring amongst others I feel I agree with another conclusion-Whilst the quality is on par, it's nowhere near the scale or the content. It's just all rather small and either a great small ride or a restaurant or meet n' greet or something. The lead-up is great but there still really isn't all there much to do unlike a Carsland/Potterland. Now it might be different once the largest ride is done, but opening it without it as they are, it does detract from any kind of comparison to stuff like that. Because one side is amazing, but as soon as you exit that thing, you're looking at construction. It'll be great but the poor phasing of it all is a big detraction.

-The REAL star of the whole expansion, as it is with most of WDW, is our reliance on Fastpass meaning WDI gets money to do a lengthy and lavish Standby line you shouldn't technically have to wait in. But along with Everest and Midway Mania, this is one of WDW's star queues for sure in it's ambitious length and detail. And the best part for sure is the return of water, palm trees, rocks, and sand to the area.

-Speaking of which...I'd still take 20K thankyouveramuch

-But this is finally the not that bad thing to be the bad thing to replace 20K

-Also, and in a VERY rare case, and my most glowing compliment: Our ride is better than DCA's. Yes!

-I tried the TotallyNotButterbeer drink, and have to say it was alright, probably healthier, but still just frozen apple juice. Just TotallyNotButterbeer. And worst of all from a service standpoint in the COMPLETELY unreasonable pricepoint. Both are about $5, but whereas butterbeer was like a few dollars more for something that is THEME and gets you cheaper refills elesewhere, here it's a cool $10 for drink and cup and unlike Butterbeer the cups just look cheap and out of place. What the heck happened here, management? It's a pretty simple idea: Pricey specialty drink nobody needs, sell them all on it by offering a slightly cheaper souvenir that makes them feel at home in the land. The price point blows all of that, let alone really strange looking cups that seem not to really entice everyone as the Butterbeer does. This isn't a complaint, just a note on pricepoint you should've taken a cue from Universal if you wanted actual more monies, not just stealing an extra dollar or two from those who bite.

-Kingdom is the best at night.

-Big Thunder!

-Night Cruises!

-Finally got asked if I wanted bumped up to medium on SOTMK. Also, free cards are great. JUST LET ME REWORK THE GAMEEE ALREADDDYYY

-Pirates' cannon splash got me soaked. I've only been soaked on Pirates once in my life, and that was at Disneyland. And you are no Disneyland, sir. No Disneyland.

-That said, Pirates is great. No Moymaids yet

-Other stuff!

-Pictures!

OK, that's about it. On to the pictures and I hope you ENJOY! ^^

https://picasaweb.google.com/116649166152221553706/EpcotServoSUpdates261RideArtOnline?noredirect=1#5799386452405280210

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

EpcotServo's Updates #2.24- The Magic, The Memories, The Goings Ons

Hey everyone, long time no Update! Let's do this thing, the way we do it!

KINGDOM

-Crowds were light and fruity, fresh and tootie.

-The....What's it called again? The....Whatever it's called Memories celebration is ongoing.

-I don't remember, I don't recall. I have no memories, of anything at all!

-The majority of cool TRON merch is gone, sold out, or just plain vanished most everywhere except for a handful of diecasts, lightcycles, and books. It must have sold well because there's no overstock, but I guess not well enough to warrant keeping an abundance of stock.

-Tigger's Bounce Zone Area was closed, but this did not keep kids from sneaking in, and getting evicted when Cast Members found out.

-Mansion's turnstyles are all gone in preparation for the Mansion Queue's New Groove.

-40th Merch is pretty good, and most everywhere.

-Listen to the Land, we all love. Nature's plan will shine above.

-Hats were most certainly there on the Hat Pirate.

-Big Thunder was running alot of trains.

-And the Railroad was running few trains, really fast...

-What does it mean?

-Tiki Room was maximum closed.

-AquaDuck

-The weather was beautiful.

-The Magic, The Memories, and You has respectively Started, Happened, and Is.

-It's a very cool show, and I like it, but it's clear it needs to be part of an actual show instead of a kind-of-weird-proto-show. After it ended, in a PACKED hub, there was virtually no applause whatsoever. I mean NOTHING. I went to clap...but there was no clapping. It's like nobody really knew just quite what they saw, or why they waited for it. It's like they were kind of just waiting for Wishes, and that show happened to run while they were waiting. I'm not saying this as an observation that they didn't like it, it just seemed to inspire very little excitement. It was really bizarre.

-I think the banner thing at the station also looks very good.

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

ENJOY!
<(^ ^ )

http://picasaweb.google.com/EpcotServo/EpcotServoSUpdates224TheMagicTheMemoriesTheGoingsOns#5568081081783948866