Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Disney Magic Kingdom

This was by far the busiest park of the holiday but it should have been expected after all it is Disney.

Space Mountain
I absolutely hated the version of this ride in Paris. My head came more bashed than a Tyson opponent (when he was in his heyday). This however, even though it was 20 years older, was great - really simple and enjoyable with some nice flybys as you pass the opposing train.
Coming off the ride you travel on what feels like a sponge travelator, very odd indeed.

Big Thunder Railroad
When we got to this ride, it had just been reopened following a "technical problem" and when we finally got on it found all the lights on which to some enthusiasts would be a dream come true, but to me just showed how bad some of the effects really are. Having ridden it a second time, with the lights off, found it to be a pretty good ride although the Paris version is much better, albeit newer.

Splash Mountain
Although I don't know the Briar Rabbit tale on which this is based, the ride is still ok with some good drops which pleasingly didn't get me as wet as the cali one did (given that there were 4 of us in excess of 14 stones each on that occasion, it's no surprise we got soaked)

Stitch's Great Escape
This was the new attraction for this year and I was fortunate enough to get a preview showing of it. A nice touch that on its official opening day they'd themed the park to the extent of having the main castle covered in toilet paper. The attraction was pretty good with some great animatronics and the grossest smell effect I think I've ever endured.

Philarmagica
Now I almost walked past this and I'm so glad I didn't because it was the best attraction on the holiday by a long long way. Take the 4D concept and let the disney imagineers work their magic and you have the best 4D attraction ever. I was really blown away by this attraction and unlike Spiderman was just as good on subsequent viewings. This is the one attraction I will recommend as a must see.

Pirates of the Caribbean
This was the 3rd version of the attraction I'd seen having ridden the ones in Cali and Paris.
This version was the weakest and ended very abruptly. It's only saving grace that it had a great looking girl in its gift shop. Hi Jessica (like she'll ever read this).

Haunted Mansion
This is one of their older rides, and has dated a bit but it's one of those attractions that has to be done. There's a clever animated gravestone in the queue that people often overlooked, which I've not seen before. The rest of the ride is much the same as in the other parks.

Buzz Lightyear
Similar to Men in Black in that you shoot targets through the ride. Unlike that ride, the guns were bolted down, making shooting tricky. But it's designed for the kids, not the shooting purists, so does the trick.

Tiki Rooms
This used to be an atrocious ride which had clearly dated, I think it first opened in the 60s.
It's had a bit of a spruce, introducing some animals from more recent Disney shows. It's actually alright and makes fun of the fact it used to be so bad, which again is different for Disney.

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