Back East from Out West, our every 15 year trip to WDW... (edited April 2024)

[Psymonds]

A side note on the disappointment of SF in Universal.... They have a Beer Cart, but no SF beers, they have the Buena Vista, but not the Irish coffee it's known for. Lombard's serves clam chowder... but it branded as NEW ENGLAND clam chowder, with Nary a bread bowl or sourdough crab sandwich to be seen.

They're 4 menu items from nailing it with authenticity:
*irish coffee at alcatraz
*crab sandwich (on sourdough)
*bread bowl the chowder
*any California Based Beer

I'm sure someone is going to tell me the Springfield food isn't authentic either.

 

[Sacahara]

I'm sure someone is going to tell me the Springfield food isn't authentic either.

Not sure if anyone's mentioned it but the Springfield food isn't very authentic either. I've heard that it's sourced out of Shelbyville. (But you didn't hear that from me!)

 

[Psymonds]

Not sure if anyone's mentioned it but the Springfield food isn't very authentic either. I've heard that it's sourced out of Shelbyville. (But you didn't hear that from me!)

DS14 asked why I was laughing "you wouldn't get it, it's more of a SHELBYVILLLE joke!"

 

[erinch]

Loving your report!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Not sure if anyone's mentioned it but the Springfield food isn't very authentic either. I've heard that it's sourced out of Shelbyville. (But you didn't hear that from me!)

Probably prepared by someone’s attractive cousin

 

[Psymonds]

added Busch gardens, need to edit photos and update my coaster rankings.

 

[Psymonds]

Added Busch photos. realized I took a ton of video, (some of which is in that video) not a ton of photos.

 

[Psymonds]

added Busch gardens, need to edit photos and update my coaster rankings.

1. Velocicoaster: A world Class coaster: smooth running, multi launch, multiple airtime moments, great operations, and good theming, interesting Queue. Wins out over Gwazi on operations and theming, may not be quite as wild.
2. Iron Gwazi: world class roller coaster, speed, power. No roughness. Train 3 hauls. It’s fast, powerful and a wild ride. Rightfully a centerpiece coaster in the park.
3. Montu: The Best B&M invert in the country. Running great. Their ride ops are proud of Montu (DS14 was wearing a velocicoaster shrit and they asked over the intercom on our second reride if it was better than velocicoaster…. Which it’s not but it is in the same room) and rightfully so. Well run, well maintained best of it’s class.
4. Hagrid's Magical Motorbike adventure: Not as thrilling as velicicoaster but more appealing to more folks. Well themed, and well operated when running. loses points for not as thrilling and high breakdown time. Still thrilling though especially the
   Spoiler: surprise coaster element

   Drop Track.
5. Cheetah Hunt: a multilauch coaster which integrates into the area, and over the savannah. The unique use of terrain in the second half is spectacular and this has a great set of elements.
6. Gringotts: This is a good ride more than it is a good roller coaster. Theming and operations are great, the tilt track is fun! The rest of the coaster/ride is ride centered and the coaster part does not do that much. less thrilling than mummy in that sense.
   
   
7. Hulk: one ibuprofen from a spectacular ride. A ride of it's era, a mid to late 90's launched B&M, characterized by high positive g forces and lots of inversions. A fun ride, but... No airtime... the launch is a little weak and the finishing elements are very similar to many other B&M rides of the same era. The queue was well themed but the ride is just a coaster (other than one tunnel)
8. Sheikra: I had not been on a dive coaster before and it is better than most of the category because it has a second drop and the water feature at the end.
9. Kumba : my least favorite of the “big” coasters
10. Mummy: An ok ride with good effects. Less ride than Gringotts and less story. The effects are much better than Hollywood. The ride is better too, but still not a lot of coaster.
11. Cobra’s Curse – Unique lift, backwards spinning coaster, but not as exciting as, say undertow at Santa Cruz beach boardwalk.
12. Rip Ride Rock-it: So much potential with so many block zones/brake runs. Doesn't live up to it's thrill potential. It also Kinda hurt.
13. Scorpion – a Schwarzkopf looper, which is hard to come by many places. I hit my knees against the padded seat pretty hard in the brake run, it has a loop and some helixes. It didn’t hurt too much.
14. Flight of the Hippogriff: A fun kids ride. loses points for long line relative to thrill. Gains points for 2 train ops for a kids ride and general fun! I believe it's identical to the one in Hollywood
15. Sand Serpent – a Midway wild Mouse… didn’t hurt as much as Goofy’s Flight School, probably because it’s not as big. They’ve already torn this down….
16. Air Grover – Kiddie Coaster. Kinda fun, not the worst.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

Great trip report so far - thanks!

We’re in a similar situation - WC’ers, and will be taking our once every 9 year trip in Sept/October. We’re also planning 11 days, but thankfully, no third park, we planned for a couple of waterpark/Disney Springs days instead. Just thinking about your schedule already has me exhausted! . But the info is great!

 

[Psymonds]

Great trip report so far - thanks!

We’re in a similar situation - WC’ers, and will be taking our once every 9 year trip in Sept/October. We’re also planning 11 days, but thankfully, no third park, we planned for a couple of waterpark/Disney Springs days instead. Just thinking about your schedule already has me exhausted! . But the info is great!

I grew up in Seattle, so my first trip in '92 was from up there. I would say that, the group that had not just come off a 12 day backpacking trip and associated training were strong advocates for a couple of non-park days.

I advocated against the waterparks because:

1. I dislike waterparks
2. we have one at home for free with our six flags pas

DW did go to Disney springs later (as did I very briefly, to be discussed)

I would agree to take some time off, especially just because the Heat will catch up with you. When we do DL we go HARD, open to close for 3 days and that's often 8-10 or 11. You can't do that in WDW for 11 days. We also don't do sit down meals at DLR, but we NEEDED the recharge of an indoor sit down meal at least once a day.

 

[Psymonds]

added MK, will get to photos tonight.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

I grew up in Seattle, so my first trip in '92 was from up there. I would say that, the group that had not just come off a 12 day backpacking trip and associated training were strong advocates for a couple of non-park days.

I advocated against the waterparks because:

1. I dislike waterparks
2. we have one at home for free with our six flags pas

DW did go to Disney springs later (as did I very briefly, to be discussed)

I would agree to take some time off, especially just because the Heat will catch up with you. When we do DL we go HARD, open to close for 3 days and that's often 8-10 or 11. You can't do that in WDW for 11 days. We also don't do sit down meals at DLR, but we NEEDED the recharge of an indoor sit down meal at least once a day.

My daughter loves waterparks - even though she isn’t quite ready for any real slides, so they’re a must for us. We don’t really have any around here unless you count Raging Waters… which I don’t! And yes, coming from Issaquah, the heat’s gonna be a killer.

 

[Psymonds]

My daughter loves waterparks - even though she isn’t quite ready for any real slides, so they’re a must for us. We don’t really have any around here unless you count Raging Waters… which I don’t! And yes, coming from Issaquah, the heat’s gonna be a killer.

I grew up with Wild Waves and loved it, but now I just can't bring myself to wait in a 60 minute line for a 45 second slide.

 

[Psymonds]

coming from Issaquah, the heat’s gonna be a killer.

heck it was 102 this weekend here in California and it felt cooler than any day in Florida.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

I grew up with Wild Waves and loved it, but now I just can't bring myself to wait in a 60 minute line for a 45 second slide.

Lol - I was reverting to my growing up years, with Raging Waters in the Bay Area. Yeah, Wild Waves was a good place to go for a while - always liked the combo of water and amusement parks. Unfortunately it’s definitely seen better days - the last 15 years have been pretty painful.

 

[Psymonds]

Are you Hooked yet?

 

[Psymonds]

View attachment 780381
Are you Hooked yet?

sorry, not sorry for the dad joke

 

[Psymonds]

Updated with MK coasters

1. Velocicoaster: A world Class coaster: smooth running, multi launch, multiple airtime moments, great operations, and good theming, interesting Queue. Wins out over Gwazi on operations and theming, may not be quite as wild.
2. Iron Gwazi: world class roller coaster, speed, power. No roughness. Train 3 hauls. It’s fast, powerful and a wild ride. Rightfully a centerpiece coaster in the park.
3. Montu: The Best B&M invert in the country. Running great. Their ride ops are proud of Montu (DS14 was wearing a velocicoaster shrit and they asked over the intercom on our second reride if it was better than velocicoaster…. Which it’s not but it is in the same room) and rightfully so. Well run, well maintained best of it’s class.
4. Hagrid's Magical Motorbike adventure: Not as thrilling as velicicoaster but more appealing to more folks. Well themed, and well operated when running. loses points for not as thrilling and high breakdown time. Still thrilling though especially the
   Spoiler: Surprise Coaster Element

   Drop Track
5. Tron Light Cycle Run: Cool Launch Coaster, with great theming and immersion. Short, and doesn't have much thrill after the first 10 seconds. Unique ride vehicle creates a unique experience. High on the Fun, lower on the thrill.
6. Cheetah Hunt: a multilauch coaster which integrates into the area, and over the savannah. The unique use of terrain in the second half is spectacular and this has a great set of elements.
7. Gringotts: This is a good ride more than it is a good roller coaster. Theming and operations are great, the tilt track is fun! The rest of the coaster/ride is ride centered and the coaster part does not do that much. less thrilling than mummy in that sense.
   
   
8. Hulk: one ibuprofen from a spectacular ride. A ride of it's era, a mid to late 90's launched B&M, characterized by high positive g forces and lots of inversions. A fun ride, but... No airtime... the launch is a little weak and the finishing elements are very similar to many other B&M rides of the same era. The queue was well themed but the ride is just a coaster (other than one tunnel)
9. Sheikra: I had not been on a dive coaster before and it is better than most of the category because it has a second drop and the water feature at the end.
10. Kumba : my least favorite of the “big” coasters
11. Big Thunder Mountain RR: A lot of fun and a little Thrill. Amazing how different the experience is in the back from the front (DS6 complained LOUDLY when we were assigned row 4, even he can tell). We rerode multiple times.
12. Mummy: An ok ride with good effects. Less ride than Gringotts and less story. The effects are much better than Hollywood. The ride is better too, but still not a lot of coaster.
13. Space Mountain (I will not be distinguishing between the two tracks although one is clearly running better than the other): not as good as Anaheim, and really that stuck with me. Fun, thrilling because in the dark but short on both of those scales.
14. Cobra’s Curse – Unique lift, backwards spinning coaster, but not as exciting as, say undertow at Santa Cruz beach boardwalk.
15. Rip Ride Rock-it: So much potential with so many block zones/brake runs. Doesn't live up to it's thrill potential. It also Kinda hurt.
16. Seven Dwarves mine train. Cute but doesn't do much. Like the rocking cars but not enough to wait 45+ minutes. Great Kid coaster, not much more than that.
17. Scorpion – a Schwarzkopf looper, which is hard to come by many places. I hit my knees against the padded seat pretty hard in the brake run, it has a loop and some helixes. It didn’t hurt too much.
18. Flight of the Hippogriff: A fun kids ride. loses points for long line relative to thrill. Gains points for 2 train ops for a kids ride and general fun! I believe it's identical to the one in Hollywood
19. Barnstormer: on the kid coaster scale this one is above average. longer and higher than most kid credits and has a decent semi helix.
20. Sand Serpent – a Midway wild Mouse… didn’t hurt as much as Goofy’s Flight School, probably because it’s not as big. They’ve already torn this down….
21. Air Grover – Kiddie Coaster. Kinda fun, not the worst.

 

[Psymonds]

OK, working on additional days. Did get all my photos sorted but I have work travel next few days (to Tampa so there might be some roller coaster time outside business hours) so maybe a small hiatus in posting.

 

[Psymonds]

OK, working on additional days. Did get all my photos sorted but I have work travel next few days (to Tampa so there might be some roller coaster time outside business hours) so maybe a small hiatus in posting.

back from Tampa, flew in and out of Orlando, because it was cheaper and faster. but got a photo flying out of Epcot, nearby resorts and DHS parking lot.