Gabe

Definitely have to disagree with you there. Other than the fact that they both have to do with America, the HOP and The American Adventure are totally different shows. The HOP is a collaboration of our nations presidents with a short movie, and a speech from Abe Lincoln and our current president. The American Adventure on the other hand is a very intense walk through the history of the United States, with Disneys most advanced Animatronics figures, that is hosted by Ben Franklin and Mark Twain. It's considered the most elaborate Animatronics Stage show at any Disney Park Worldwide. I also think you underestimate the World Showcase pavilions. Every pavilion has things to do and things to see. Literally off the top of my head is: The British Invasion, The English Hat Lady, MoRockin, Off Kilter, French Waiters, Italian Mime, World Showcase Players, Masquerade (Italy), Morrocan Belly Dancers, Dragon Legend Acrobats, Matsuriza (Japanese Drummers), Voices of Liberty, Shows at the American Gardens Theater, Spirit of America Fife and Drum Corps, Si Xian, Mariachi Cobre (Mexican Band), Miyuki, the show at the African Outpost, and I know I'm missing a few. In addition there are the more subtle details, such as the Mexican animal sculptors, the Japanese tin toy museum, the Twinning’s Tea Tour, the French Perfume Seminar, the Viking Museum in Norway, the model city in Germany, and more. Honestly the Pavilion with the least to do is probably Germany because 60% of the Pavilion is taken up by the Restaurant and Dinner show, which is fantastic by the way. Also I assume you have not been there since the release of Kim Possible's World Showcase Adventure. I don’t care how much anyone wants to judge it, it is very cool. Though I know people do, it's definitely something that you should not put down until you try it. One thing I learned from working in Disney (and I'm not saying that you did) was to never say something sucks unless you can really back it up because there is a good chance whoever you're talking to will love it. My roomate told me that the Comedy Warehouse at Pleasure Island was terrible so I didn't go for the first 2 months I was there. Then I went with a different friend and found out it was AMAZING. Unfortunately by then, Pleasure Island only had a little more than a month left before it was to be shut down forever. Boy was I ****ed at that roomate. Lesson learned, think for yourself because you may have an idiot for a roomate. Sorry if I come of harsh. Epcot will always be special to me. Especially considering the EPCOT was the original focus of the Disney "Florida Project." Well, I didn't say anything sucked. I just said that if you are more of a ride person, then there are things at epcot worth skipping. The American Adventure is a larger show than the HOP. However, unless they've updated the animatronic figures, I don't think they're the latest and greatest. I think that honor belongs to Obama in the HOP and the Wicked Witch in the Great Movie Ride at the Studios. As for Epcot, I too like the park, but I can tell you that Walt's version of Epcot and what eventually became the park were two completly different ideas. Walt wanted Epcot to be more like what Celebration is today--a stand alone self-contained community, albeit dedicated to science-type endeavors. After Walt's death, company execs soon realized that this idea would never earn the company as much money as a theme park could. I worked at Disney on the College Program, so I do know of what I speak here. For years, the park was seemingly never updated like the other parks. Indeed, well into the 90s, Epcot had a feel of a park that was still stuck in the 80s (heck the last scene on spaceship earth showed a kid at a computer with the voice of walter cronkite saying that in 50 years saying we'd all be using them..) In the end, it all comes down to preference. If its just rides, then my recommendations would be good to follow. If you're into more than just rides and want to stop and look at details, your version is the way to go. That said, I agree that the resturants for the most part are good in the world showcase, esp. France Morocco and Japan (IMO).

The last 2 opening days have been pleasant weather-wise. Not quite shorts weather but maybe a long sleeve T and jeans. I noticed KI is one of the first midwest parks to open for the season, so hopefully the weather Gods will be smiling for DB's opening day!

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090409/N...1/ENTERTAINMENT

I often saw Splash Mtn at WDW testing w/o water on the final drop and it was always neat to see them turn the water on, so to speak, just before opening.

I still have a metal Eiffel Tower replica I bought at the park when I was a kid..circa probably 1978 or so. Also, my parents still use old stadium cups featuring The Beast to this day as well!

Smurf (are we there yet Papa Smurf:0), when are you hitting the parks in Nov? Tgiving week is very very busy and you can expect long lines for all major rides. In general, the MK can be done in a long day, but every other park can be shortened by just hitting the highlights. In Epcot, the future world stuff is all def worth riding (though the Living Seas isn't really a ride), but the world showcase, aside from Mexico and Norway (which have boat rides..Norway's being the better of the 2) are just a loose collection of shops and restaurants with a couple of films (China, Canada) and a show in the American pavilon which is basically an expanded version of the show at the Hall of Presidents)..so, if you breeze through the world showcase, epcot can be done in about 3/4 of a day. the studios and AK you can def do in one combined day..just be sure and utilize your fastpasses as much as you can to save time. Also, for a romantic evening, consider going to the top of the contemporary hotel (the giant toaster) for a drink at the Bar..the bar overlooks the MK and is a great spot to watch the fireworks at nights' end.

At Disney, the policy has been and will continue to be that as long as you are in line for a ride at closing time (as signaled by the riverboat whistle on the Lakes of America in Liberty Square), then you are allowed to ride.

or better yet just give them deflated balls in a plastic sleeve that they have to blow up at home! they could tell people the ones blown up sitting below the hoops are for display only!

I agree the Disney bus system is very good. Keep in mind that the WDW resort is over 42 sq miles (about the size of metro San Fransico!), so that's a lot of ground to cover. Again, from experience, I know that the busses are very clean, efficient and get you where you need to go as quickly as possible. At some point in the far distant future, I know the master planners at WDW want the monorail system to connect all the parks and major hotels, but that is a very costly undertaking and one that would ultimately be implememented over a number of years. Also keep in mind, however that Disney stipulated in his will that only 25% of the total area he purchased could be developed. The rest had to remain in its natural state. To date, the park has developed somewhere between 10-15% of the available land..which tells you just how massive the resort is.

I agree that The Racer has needed a new paint job for a few seasons now, esp the station. The ride looks very tired and run-down when seen up close. Also, I hope they have scraped away all the gum in the final brake run tunnel before you reenter the station..it always disgusted me to see wads of who knows how old old gum wads stuck in there.

Well I for one am a pretty decent jumpshooter when it comes to basketball, so the good thing about this is that it is the only game where the odds are in your favor if you're a good shot (ie there is nothing skewed to the park like in the Coke bottle ring toss or the peach basket toss, etc. ) Like all prizes, they can be bought much more cheaply offsite, but if you're a good shot and can hit about 80% of your shots, you can win something decent. I've never played the game, but I know that its location attracts a lot of players on their way to/from BLSC.

If you can stand the raindrops hitting you, riding The Beast in the rain is a great experience, since the rain adds just enough wetness to the tracks to reduce the friction normally caused by the trains, which allows the ride to go faster! I love racing through those tunnels when the track is wet!

Hopefully you didn't alarm any of the residents! Since I live 2 hrs away, I made sure to process mine last fall, since I knew the processing center wouldn't be open during any of my monthly visits to cincy in the interim.

Just hope that the motor doesn't break again as it did a couple of seasons ago which shut the ride down for most of that season while waiting for a new part to arrive from Bremen, Germany! I often enjoyed getting about 5 rides in a row on it last season during the morning erts in Action Zone.

I'm with Kat. I just call it the waterpark (esp since I really don't go there all that much in a season). Likewise. I couldn't tell you the old/new names for rides there, except when I'm standing in line and have to endure Paul Hogan's voice telling me 50x an hour if I'm ready for "Blank!"

Terpy is right--I can rattle off just about every attraction at wdw--you work there long enough, you know. Also, about a road trip--I'd avoid Indiana Beach. They may advertise there is more than corn in Indiana but that park isn't worth the money. The new coaster looks cool, but that is about all they have to offer..the Cornball Express is on par with The Racer. They have a 'waterpark' area that incorporates much of Lake Shaeffer, but that lake (at least around IB) is pretty dirty. I know the park is pretty dirty as well, but hopefully the new owners have cleaned it up. Most of the other flats are carnival type rides you can find in your avg summer carnival staged in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Yeah, at busy times, there is still about a 15 min wait even with fastpasses..and I know from working at wdw that during busy times, they can 'speed up' some rides like spalsh mtn..normally, the ride is about 15 min long (it's not your reg flume ride..its one of the best rides they;ve ever built, IMO), they can speed up the current so your boat sails through in about 7 mins if need be. There are differences btwn DL's MK and WDW's MK..and in my opinion, WDW got cheap copies of all the great DL rides--esp Pirates and the HM! Although Splash is much better at WDW than at DL.

I seem to recall an industrious math geek person (sorry Kat!) who, after meticulous research at Disneyland about ride capacities, fastpass, time of day, time of year, etc. invented an algorythm software program whereby you entered into the program the rides you wanted to ride,along with your time entering and leaving the park and the program spit out an itineray for you to follow to avoid the lines..it cost 20 bucks, so I figured I'd use it on a trip to DL a few years ago..surprisingly, it worked like a charm! The program didn't guarantee no lines, just that the lines would be short. At the time, he was working on a sim program for wdw..in essecnce, here were the basics of his program: 1. do Fantasyland early..rides are low capacity and long lines..esp if you have little ones..also, at the same time, have 1 member of the group get fastpasses for every ride you can..most rides are linked so that you cant have more than a few FP at one time, but I recall some (Mansion, Pirates) not being on the system, whereby you could basically get those as bonus passes and not have them count aganist your allotment. 2. The FP for big rides run out early on busy days..usually by lunchtime all the FP have been issued for the day; however, what you can do is get a fastpass and use it AFTER the time alloted on your tix..the Cast Members are trained to frown upon that practice, but they will not stop you from riding after your alloted time. 3. Time lunches for off hours-11 or 1 pm..and NEVER around parade time, when crows gather at various points. Also, despite popular myth, not everyone sees the parade, so the lines for popular rides arent really affected that much 4. for the fireworks show in the eve--the best view of them wo having to fight the masses is at the top of the Treehouse in Adventureland..there is a clearing at teh top where you can look out over the castle and get a tremendous view I used to work there, so I have other tips as well..if anyone wants more advice, feel free to pm me.

Terrific! When I worked at Disney World on a college internship back in 93, I helped out with the Give Kids The World event, where Disney hosted thousands of needy and sick kids from all over the world for a weekend of fun. I was lucky enough to escort a group of kids around to all the different rides and seeing their smiling faces is something I have never forgotten!

I also recall reading in the paper that there is a park in Lebanon that is installing one of the biggest ziplines in the midwest in time for the summer season. I recall reading that it goes out over a gorge. I don't know the cost, but it sounds like fun! There used to be an attraction in downtown cincy that allowed you to walk over an old railroad bridge that crossed the river they converted to a pedestrian bridge, but high insurance costs (which in turn prompted high admission prices--think $50-60) eventually caused the attraction to close after only being open a year and a half. The ironic thing is that the operator of that attraction was one of the 'founding fathers' if you will of Kings Island waaaaaay back when before selling to Taft.

Not sure if this post belongs here, but I haven't seen any mention of who from KIC will have the pleasure of being the among the first riders assuming the $600 bid holds, which I'm almost certain will. I personally don't care, but I'm just curious?

It's the ride with the one long row of seats, over which a plexiglass shield is lowered. While it wasn't working, it looks like the ride spins you around in a circular motion at fast speeds. Hats off to Kat for a good trip report!