cheski

Hey guys, just a bit of an FYI.... I know that Nearmap is a paid for subscription these days (used to have a free version several years ago), though through my research have found that Vexcel Viewer now offers free access to their maps also (via creating a free account). I am not sure how good/detailed/up-to-date the aerials are vs nearmap, though it seems better than google in most cases and can zoom in closer. The viewer also has incorporated tools so can measure distances between areas etc. Definitely worth checking out - https://anz-viewer.vexcelgroup.com Love to get peoples thoughts on this viewer ^ Picture of the future Wizard of Oz area at Movie World (aerial taken Oct 2022).

Am glad that someone on here posted a POV of the land in general and a POV of the Mario kart ride. The Land in General - The land itself looks a bit small, which I could imagine will get very congested once parks return to pre-covid visitor numbers. Once Donkey Kong opens up, that might help the land feel a bit bigger, though I still feel that they should of spread this out a little more. Although I love many of the scenery/theming elements (e.g. coins, question boxes ect), as most of it is plastic imo it makes it feel a bit cheap, and as such I wish that they blended this with real life elements, such as using real trees (or fake trees which look like real trees) for their fruit trees. Also, as most of the scenery/backdrop items in the land are brightly coloured I wonder how this is going to age, particularly as these items are outside and exposed to the elements. I love however how much interactivity they put into the land, and the different activities that you can complete throughout. Going forward, I hope that both Universal and Disney keep this level of interactivity in any new lands they develop in the future. Yoshi Ride - Im sure that this ride will be a hit with the little ones, though for us big kids I feel this ride will be a one-time ride only. Although I do not mind the ride going slowly through the land, from a scenic perspective I feel is a bit underwhelming and very basic. As noted about, I feel putting in some real-life elements, more detailed scenery and maybe a few more cool animatronics/cool props/effects would help elevate this ride. Mario Kart Ride - Since this ride was announced several years ago, I honestly did not know what to expect in terms of how the ride would operate/function, though I had high expectations for this ride. Seeing both AR and non-AR POV's for this ride, I am generally impressed with the ride, although am slightly underwhelmed with the speed and length of the ride. I love how they incorporated both real themed and AR elements, with the haunted library scene with the swinging chandelier being my favourite. This ride was definitely developed with families in mind, and as such I feel like its a higher-tech/ next level version of buzz lightyear astro blasters. With seeing how the land is at the moment and with the standard of attractions at the moment, I really feel that they will need to make sure that Donkey Kong is a high-tech thrill ride to really complete and solidify the land. At this stage, I think only Japan and Orlando are to receive Donkey Kong (please feel to correct me if im wrong), so I wonder how not having this ride will impact both Hollywood and Singapore. Would also love to read other peoples reactions and views on the land thus far. :)

Yes I agree. Any changes that are done, should be minor and done to complement/enhance the existing ride. The last thing I would want them to do is to remove all the existing props/scenes and put all projections in. It’s about improving the story telling and immersion of an existing ride, rather than changing it. There are many rides in the Disney Parks which are classics, though could be tweaked, incorporating modern enhancements in technology/special effects. I wish this was done more on older rides which feel dated, rather than removing them and putting in a completely new ride.

Seeing the POV yesterday (and another today) I am really impressed with how the ride has turned out. I think that the layering and incorporation of screens between the props really works with the retro/cartoon style of the ride. Having non-static backgrounds/backdrops just adds so much to the ride and in making it more immersive. Looking really forward to one day riding it in Orlando, or in Anaheim when it opens. Seeing this all, I kind of hope that one day they do something similar with the background/backdrop of the it's a small world ride. I think it would add so much to the ride (rather than just looking at painted walls of the show building).

So it has been announced in the last 24 hours that Bob Iger has stepped down as Disney CEO, being replaced by Bob Chapek who had been chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. Iger is to remain at Disney as an executive chairman till the end of his contract (expiring end of 2021); focusing on creative content within the company. Chapek will take control of day-to-day operations of the business, with Iger acting as a mentor to Chapek during this transition. Iger worked for the company for 27 years, with 15 being at the helm of Disney. During his time as CEO, he was involved in the acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, LucasFilms, 20th Century Fox, and launching Disney Plus. News article talking about this announcement is linked below: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/25/21153317/bob-iger-disney-ceo-steps-down-chapek-kevin-mayer-parks-products-succession I would like to gauge parkz members reaction to the news, and how they believe Chapek will impact/shape Disney theme parks globally. Reading several other online forums (i.e. micechat, reddit), many share a negative opinion about Chapek, stating that he has a focus on pushing IP's within parks rather than creating original experiences. According to these forums, he has also been responsible for implementing demand pricing at the Disney Parks, reducing the range of park merchandise, reducing live entertainment, cheaply re-skinning Pixar Pier, GotG ride (previously Hollywood Tower), and cutting budgets to the Avatar and Galaxy's Edges lands which has resulted in a shortened navi river ride, and less interactivity at each of the lands respectively. In my opinion, its hard to know with a lot of the decisions, how much input was from Chapek himself, and how much was passed down onto him by Iger. I respect that Disney is a business, though I wonder if Chapek will turn the Disney Parks into IP shopping malls and focus the rides on the IP's rather than creating genuine and immersive experiences.

Honestly not sure if its going to look like that of the above or this: 🤔 The whole area based on the concept art looks pretty incredible including the rock work and waterfalls around Leviathan, so lets hope they don't go too away from the concept art, and actually put the effort/money in. In regards to timeline, I'm thinking Easter/mid-year for the Vortex, with both Lethavian and Trident being pushed back a few months also. Idk.. based on progress, I just cant see Lethavian opening in December (I hope I'm wrong).

If she is staying at the Port Orleans Riverside first, then yes... luckily for her she can get one of the plain coloured magic bands free of charge :)

I know that this would be considered speculation, though does anyone know if the current takeover offers of Village Roadshow would affect the current timelines of the vortex, Lethavian, and Trident being built?

Thanks for the handy pick out Alex. That is correct, hotel guests staying at one of Disney's resorts can get one of the plain coloured bands for free (even if staying just for 1 night). In Ops situation, as she is staying at the B Hotel (which is not owned by Disney), you won't get a complimentary magic band. Her hotel however is eligible for extra magic hours (can enjoy extra park hours before/after opening hours on specified days).

Honestly don't get your Ash reference lol, though thanks for the thumbs up

So I recently just came back from visiting the US and Disney World and Universal in Orlando, so here are my thoughts and tips: Fast Pass Like others have said on here, place in your fast pass selections 30 days (or 60 days if staying in a Disney resort) for the more popular rides. You can make 3 ride pre-selections for a single theme park per day. Once you arrive at the park and use up these 3 selections, you may make 1 fast pass selection at a time until closing time. Therefore I strongly recommend you make all your selections for the morning, so that you can then make more fast pass selections once you have used your initial 3 up. We didn't book our fast passes in advance and were still able to get fast passes for the rides we wanted by constantly refreshing the app. People will cancel their bookings for rides throughout the day (opening up slots), and Disney does open up some slots here or there, so if you strategise and prioritise which rides to use the fast passes for, you should still be able to ride all the main rides in a single day. The Disney Parks have wifi throughout their parks which definitely makes it easier to use their Disney World app and not waste a lot of mobile phone data. Disney Magic Band Disney sells at their entry points and within their marks magic bands, which is essentially and watch looking wristband with an RFID chip in it. It allows you to link your entry ticket to it, so you don't need to carry around your paper ticket. Essentially you can use it to easily scan entry into the park, enter the fast pass queues of rides, and easily link photos taken by Disney crew to your account. For a lot of rides, your ride photo will automatically be added to your account also without having to do anything (as the RFID sensor on the ride picks up your magic band when taking your ride photo). This was a really cool and handy feature! Also if you are staying at a Disney Property, you can use the magic band to add purchases at the parks onto your room account (rather than having to use cash/card). At around USD$15 I would definitely recommend getting one for each person, even just for the conveience of not having to take the paper ticket in/out of pocket and worrying about loosing it. TIP: At the gate they only sell several plain colours of the magic bands (Ie: grey, yellow, blue, green ect). If you want more cooler designs, purchase one once you enter the park at one of the gift stores around the park. Disney World Parks Overview Depending on who you go with (just adults or with kids) will probably dictate which parks you will enjoy or spend more time at. At minimum, 1 day at each park (4 parks + 1 water park) is needed; though you may feel a bit rushed trying to get through it all. It is therefore recommended to get a 6 day hopper pass if possible to cover any parts/rides you missed or want to re-live again. In Ops situation, a 14 day pass will give you all the time in the world to experience the parks. Here are my brief thoughts of each of the 4 Disney parks (in order of which I preferred the most): Animal Kingdom - More of an African/Safari themed park, which centrepiece is a massive tree (tree-of-life). Contains a safari tour/ride, expedition Everest (roller coaster in a mountain), Dinosaur (underrated ride imo), and Avatar Land (including Flight of the Passage Ride - arguably the best ride Disney has produced to date). It has a good mixture of rides (for both adults and children), and I really enjoyed the African/Safari vibe of the park. Feels different to the other parks. Avatar land is amazing visually (on the same level as Star Wards Land), though I preferred the theming of Avatar over Star Wars. Also, don't stress if you don't get to ride the Navi river boat ride, as though its cool visually, its quite a quick and lacklustre ride. Disney Hollywood Studios - A universal studios/ movie world Gold Coast kind of park which contains also a good mix of rides for both adults and kids. Aerosmith roller coaster is the most thrilling ride, though I enjoyed Toy Story Mania (family shooting ride), muppets show, and Hollywood Tower also. This park contains toy story land, and the new Star Wars land - so is quite busy at present, and obviously riding both Star Wars rides within the land is a must. Magic Kingdom - The classic Disney theme park which obviously has the princess' castle in the middle of the park. Walking down main-street (especially at night) is truly magical, and out of all the theme parks, it definitely carries the most charm and beauty of all the parks. It's this what I loved most about the park. The rides are not as thrilling as the above 2 parks, and you can tell that this park is more catered towards young children. Space mountain was the most thrilling, along with Thunder Rail Road, though they are building a TRON roller coaster at present which will be opening in 2021. Most of the rides are more of the classic kind (e.g. its a small world, pirates of the Caribbean, splash mountain) which were lovely, though felt a bit tired/old and could use a few 21st century technological enhancements. Being the main Disney park, this park can get very busy so be prepared for long wait times for general rides/attractions (fast passes help here). Most popular ride at present: 7 dwarfs mine ride. Epcot - Out of all the parks, this was my least favourite and very easily can be all done within a day. Note however this park is currently being renovated/overhauled, and over the next few years some new rides and ride refurbishments are happening which will hopefully make it a much better park. Most of the rides are at the front of the park, with the world showcase taking up the rest of the park. The showcase is 11 different themed pavilions representing 11 different countries. All of these 11 pavilions/areas try to recreate the country they represent by displaying appropriately themed buildings/structures. Most of these 11 areas contain no rides/attractions, and only specialty restaurants, food stalls, gift shops, and meet-and-greets, which for me personally felt like Disney was just trying to milk me for more money. This will hopefully change with the addition of the Mary Poppins and Ratatouille rides. Mission Space (intense version) is definitely the most intense ride in any of the Disney parks, so unless you can take a few g-forces, I wouldn't ride it. Ride the less intense version instead. Also Test Track and Soarin' rides should be given a try at this park. A few child attractions like Frozen, Finding Nemo, and Imagination ride also exist. The bad/confusing park layout, with outdated and minimal rides, and lack of attractions around the world showcase (only gift shops and restaurants/stalls), made it my least favourite park. Transport If staying at a Disney Hotel or at a non-Disney Hotel in the area, they will generally shuttle you to the Epcot Park via a free shuttle bus. From the Epcot park, you can then transfer to another free shuttle bus to one of the other theme parks. From Epcot, you can also catch the monorail to Magic Kingdom, or go on the sky way to Hollywood Studios (note: to catch the sky rail from Epcot you need enter and walk to the back of the park). Some Disney Hotels are also within the Monorail route, which might make it easier getting to/from Epcot or Magic Kingdom. Due to the fact that there wasn't direct transport to each park, and buses being on a timetable, we pretty much used Uber or Lyft (another US ride share app) to/from each of the parks for convenience. Park Hours/ Time Different Parks are opening different durations throughout the week. Magic Kingdom may close at 6pm one night, and be open till midnight another night. Therefore find out the opening hours of each of the parks ahead of schedule and plan which parks to visit on what days accordingly. Also know that the timetable can change leading up to your arrival to Orlando, so if you make your plan far ahead of time, check just before you leave for the US (and even once you arrive) just to make sure the parks opening hours haven't changed. If possible, arrive 30 - 45 minutes before the parks opening time to easily clear the security and entry checkpoints, and be able to tick off popular attractions first thing in the morning before all the crowds come. It'll then give you more time to take it easy and enjoy the park in the afternoon.

Hey Guys! So I just recently came back from an epic US holiday, and I was fortunate enough to ride the Rise of the Resistance on opening day. I have tried to provide as much detail as I could below, and it should still be hopefully all current. (Note: Few ride spoilers may be present). Ride Queing/Reservation Process Disney were using a group booking system, where guests wanting to go on the attraction need to go to park first thing in the morning and reserve a spot via the Disney World App or on the fast pass kiosks located throughout the park. . You were allocated a group number once you have reserved your place. During the day, Disney sequentially called groups to come and queue up for the ride. This was done through app notifications. You could also check yourself via the app and see what groups are currently being boarded. Once your group has been called, you had 2 hours to get to the ride. Speaking to one of the Disney Team Members on opening day, all group slots for the ride were allocated just before 9am (park officially opened 8am that morning). I arrived at the park around 7:45am that morning and was allocated group 104. Our group number didn’t get originally called till around 6pm that evening. The ride broke down a few times throughout the day, and also while we were in the queue line. Luckily it got fixed and we got called back to ride it around around 8pm. As Disney staff were not sure if it would get fixed before the park closed for the day whilst I was in queue, they offered complementary express passes for that evening for other rides in the park (excluding smugglers run and toy story sling coaster). Depending on the situation, I saw some other people get their 1 park-per-day tickets changed to a park hopper (plus a next day ride reservation), or some people offered free next day entry into the park (plus next day ride reservation), so kudos to Disney for trying to accommodate guests when they thought they wouldn’t be able to get the ride operating again for the evening. Ride Impression Overall from an immersion and visual perspective, Disney gets full marks! The detailing in the whole ride, from the queues, to the space craft, the props, and the special effects were incredible and on a next level to anything else offered at Disney or universal, During the pre-show I was amazed at how they managed to get a hologram of Rey without no glass or material to project on visible. Once on board the transporter ship, the ship gets attacked and taken over by the First Order and taken to hangar bay. My (and pretty much everyone else’s) jaw literally dropped once the ships doors opened and were escorted out onto the hanger by the First Order. Seeing all the storm troopers standing in line in the massive hangar, watching on as we were escorted out of the ship for 'processing' was intimidating as. I loved how the ride operators/cast were in character and treated us like the enemy, telling us to "hurry up" and to "remain silent". It definitely added to the experience, although a few of them struggled to keep a straight face at times. The actual ride utilizes EGV which I’m sure would have costed Disney a pretty penny and probably will in upkeep. There was a lot of twirling, and spinning between rooms, going up a lift, and a bit of free-fall when going down one. The ride utilized a combination of real/physical special effects and virtual effects (on projector screens) which is nice and refreshing when compared to pure virtual simulation rides. HOWEVER, putting the visual aspects of the ride aside, I found the ride itself slightly underwhelming, with the vehicle spinning and a minor lift drop being the only thrill elements on the ride. You can definitely feel this ride was designed to cater for the whole family, Ride Length I have seen many people online include the pre-show and the transporter ship segments as part of the ride length. I would disagree in including these into the time lengths and would say that they are both pre-shows, as after you get off transporter ship, you need to essentially wait in line again (we waited around 15-20 minutes) to get placed into the cell/interrogation room; to which you then board onto the EGV. I would therefore say that the ride time truly is only really approx. 5 minutes, and not the 13-15 minute people are quoting. It definitely is nice that Disney did put a lot of effort/focus into the pre-shows. Im hopeful we will see more of this on future rides in both disney/universal parks. My Overall Ride Score Overall Score: 8/10 The only reason I scored so highly was due to amount Disney spent on the pre-shows, animatronics, props, special effects and on theme for the ride which was really incredible and allowed for an immersive experience. The ride on the EGV itself was a bit underwhelming (would rate 6.5/10). Overall, I still rate Avatar Flight of the Passage as Disney best theme park ride, and Harry Potters Forbidden Journey, and Hagrid's Motorcycle Coaster as better overall rides. I was equally underwhelmed with the Smugglers Run ride. Visually the cockpit on the Millennium Falcon was incredible, and all the theming was 10/10, though I felt the ride was a bit short and the actual simulation not that great. I felt that the older Star Tours ride (also within Disney Hollywood Studios) did a better job in simulating, and going into light speed ect. After visiting all the Disney World and Universal theme parks in Orlando, I feel overall that though visually Disney does well with rides on theming and effects (creating immersive experience), universal does better in providing more thrilling and exciting rides.

Looking at the rendering, I have to be honest and say that I'm not really a big fan of it. To me it looks like a modern corporate office/ local council building, rather than an entrance to a theme park ride. I think this rendering is a perfect example how Dreamworld keep on shooting themselves in the foot through mis-guided/miscalculated decisions. However as always, I'll reserve my final judgement until I see the final product. I am curious also how they'll blend it in to the existing structures around it (including main street).

Im guessing you mean 25k for flights, accomodation, transfers, tours, theme park admission, food ect.. IMO that would be far than enough money for you and the family to make a trip to the USA. If we are talking west coast USA, then you should be able to get flights $4-5k for the whole family, and $5k for decent accomodation (around $250 p/n). Try and find hotels with free breakfast to save a bit of money. Therefore $15k for food, admission, tours, and souveniers seems like more than enough. It obviously depends on your standards of accomodation (e.g. only like 5 stars or want to stay at a Disney hotel), and what (and how expensive) the activities you want to do are, how fancy/expensive the restaurants you want to eat at are, though normally when my brothers family of 4 go for 14 days to the USA, they normally do it for around $12k.

Fingers crossed that Dreamworld can turn this around. Some hope comes from the recent appointment of 2 Ariadne Australia (biggest Ardent shareholder) members to the Ardent board. Ariadne had been protesting for a while decision making by the then board and the underinvestment occurring in Dreamworld. Originally the Ardent board resisted allowing 2 Ariadne Australia members to join, though as tensions have grown amongst shareholders, Ardent allowed the 2 members to join in September prior to the AGM this month. Some further reading for those of you interested from the GCB: