Movie World's White Christmas 2012

[joz]

All except Wild West Falls.

[Brad2912]

Great night & considering the sell out, pleasantly surprised at the wait times Green Lantern - 10mins (though broke down at 8:15 and didnt re-open.) mark me down for now 10 rides with no sign of audio on any Superman - almost died of shock - 10-15mins wait. See how easy it is with 2 trains!! God knows why they were only using 1 last holidays & fright nights! Arkham - 15-20mins - could really use a 2nd train, but certainly have got better at load/unload times. Audio working great Spaceshot - 10mins Considering also had time to watch the pre-lights show, the lighting & the parade, it was a very productive 2.5hrs! Very impressed!

[Bmull19]

I'm quite surprised at everyone complaining on the Facebook about health and safety issues regarding the number of people in the park... It seems to me as if one person posted something about it so everyone else who had some sort of problem with the night caught on and decided to post about H&S too.

[Brad2912]

Well it was sold out. The park certainly was flat out generally. It took me 45mins to get out of the Carpark and that was leaving 30mins after official closure. Only health & safety issues for me were no air con in the SE queue, it was like a sauna but fortunately only a short wait

[joz]

I know I'm flogging a dead horse but I think they could go a long way towards fixing the perception of over crowding by moving the ice skating out of the central plaza. Considering the whole event is based on entertainment in that small space I'd have thought having as much of it free as possible would be a good idea. I'm not saying get rid of it (so long as people are spending money there's no hope of getting rid of it), but it should be moved somewhere else in the park (near superman, or in the now blocked off entrance to Lethal Ally. That would take a lot of pressure off main street and I think would really help with the over crowding.

Edited June 8, 2013 by joz

[kujotess]

I know I'm flogging a dead but I think they could go a long way towards fixing the perception of over crowding by moving the ice skating out of the central plaza. Considering the whole event is based on entertainment in that small space I'd have thought having as much of it free as possible would be a good idea. I'm not saying get rid of it (so long as people are spending money there's no hope of getting rid of it), but it should be moved somewhere else in the park (near superman, or in the now blocked off entrance to Lethal Ally. That would take a lot of pressure off main street and I think would really help with the over crowding.

Definitely the most crowded spot in the park. Very annoying to cross when there are people with prams. Everyone complaining reminds me of the Grinch. Edited December 17, 2012 by kujotess

[Gazza]

Did anyone else see that the old Shrek Shop has had its trim repainted Maroon (From the old lime green) and is now the "Village Bean" coffee shop, selling cakes, coffee, frappes etc. The interior has faux brick walls (Like in a typical subway franchise) and there is outdoor seating in perspective alley.

[Bmull19]

Yeah, I thought they did a good job in making it look like a sort of New-York-Style Cafe. Although I don't like how it has taken over the perspective alley.

[westical]

I was surprised to see it there, was a photo op location for Halloween not long ago. I wonder where Batman poses now for photos. Other things I noticed on Sunday night -

• [*]GL - they've given up on the comic book wallpaper on the operator booth which was starting to peel not long after opening. None of the trains had the audio turned on, unless they fix it during maintenance I'm afraid it might be gone. [*]JL3D - lack of signage about a ride being inside is still confusing guests going by the conversations I overheard in the BS queue. I couldn't see any sign about it still being in test mode either. Wind effects are definitely new. [*]Main Street isn't designed to hold 90% of a packed house, I bailed before the parade to beat the traffic. Did the high platform on the right before the Roxy Theatre have a role? [*]Disappointing that they still haven't touched Chinatown and the pathway remains blocked, would help with managing crowd flow. [*]Great to see lots of street characters walking around, must have listened to the feedback about the Halloween events. The lady waving from a window on Main Street was a nice surprise, never seen anyone up there before. [*]Is that a dragon sitting on the roof of the building next to Guest Services?

[mba2012]

the platform above the roxy theatre is where the snow queen flies from.

[westical]

I missed the Snow Queen?!?!

[joz]

I got an iPhone quality video of the parade the other night, the Snow Queen shows up in the first couple of mins

[mba2012]

I missed the Snow Queen?!?!

Don't worry. I did too. I was stuck by the entrance. A few meters away from kujotess apparently.

[kujotess]

The Snow Queen is there at the start of White Christmas (around 6pm).

the platform above the roxy theatre is where the snow queen flies from.

She's a bit further across then there, her platform is located directly above the Movie Memorabilia store. Edited December 18, 2012 by kujotess

[rappa]

She flies all the way from one end of the street (well the covered part) to the other. I've never got the 'leaving early to beat traffic' thing. You go to an event, concert, whatever, surely you want to see all of it rather than miss probably the best part just for the sake of some saved time at the end of the night.

[westical]

I don't normally leave events early as I like to see everything and get my money's worth, but entry was essentially free with my Gold pass and I've been spoilt by DL and WDW parades. Unlike concerts and sporting events, theme parks offer multiple types of entertainment so naturally not everyone is going to watch or experience every different type.

Edited December 18, 2012 by westical

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I went last night. In short - I was disappointed. They rushed everyone through the gates so fast (turnstiles were folded away, and they weren't scanning tickets), but then blocked us off around the fountain - so we were just one crush of thousands of people. They had an 'opening ceremony' of sorts with the high-wire performer and a bunch of stuff up main street, but to be honest, apart from the highwire performer, I couldn't see anything. I did notice Michael Croaker standing on top of stars cafe taking photos of the high wire, but this sea of people was crazy. I didn't ride anything. I didn't see any of the performances or parades because of the crush. The closure of chinatown meant that to get from front to back, you had to walk past the two stages (the carollers or the main stage). It was a terrible pinch point and left a bad taste in my mouth. Although main street was covered in lights, snow makers and fog coming out of the drains, the lights struck me as 'less of an effort' than last year. It looked like they'd been put up by maintenance guys rather than technicians who have an eye for detail. The park soundtrack was confusing as well - Scooby still had the 'xylophone' music playing outside, whilst wild west had the western themed music and superman had his theme song. Some of the christmas soundtrack was great, and others didn't even sound 'christmassy' - just a lot of synth and bells in a messy arrangement. On a good note - the wild west burger joint is now the wild west road house (or something of that nature) with an entirely new menu. Don't know if this has been mentioned anywhere, but it was a first for me - new menu includes chicken tenders, fish pieces, southern style (tasteless) chicken wings that come with two different dipping sauces, and half a kilo of baby back ribs for $30 odd dollars, which were dry, but so so tender. I've been to normal operating days in the middle of christmas holidays that had less people than last nights event... and this was an event without wild west falls, stunt driver, and show stage to absorb some of the masses. I got my ticket with my gold pass, like westical... however i'm not as blase about it as he is. I didn't have to 'pay' for my ticket, but I did by virtue of my gold pass, which has it as an inclusion. I also agree with Joz - move the ice rink out near wild west, or the old blazing saddles, somewhere out of the way. I also scream for them to reopen the chinatown scooby cut through. If you're not going to open the main-street front part of chinatown, at least open the scooby-arkham cut through - thats less than half the space, and would REALLY ease the traffic trying to get through mainstreet. If you're concerned about losing revenue from all the shops people bypass, put one in the Arkham courtyard... god knows theres room! I'm normally all praise for VRTP, even when they are being critiqued I can usually see the upside. Last night I could not. Also - I don't normally engage in conversation with vendors about park operations, but this from the 'dippin dots' rumor mill (ok not quite, but a street vendor) - apparently the 'regular' entertainment cast refused to work on the christmas events, so the majority of performers were all brought in from external, or from other park general staff.

[kujotess]

- The big inflatable santa wasn't in the parade tonight.

Edited December 19, 2012 by kujotess

[kujotess]

- No smoke coming out of the Polar Express train float.

[rappa]

Okay Alex I'm going to take you task here, completely objective and stating fact free from opinion. Firstly what crap, the story about entertainment case is a load of bullshit. There are heaps of ADDITIONAL performers but that's it. As for the lights, really??? The installation is much neater and with way more attention to detail than last years. The designs are also the same as last year so NFI what you're basing your comments on.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Rappa - I did ensure to post that it was rumor mill. I don't normally post that sort of thing (i don't normally engage street staff in conversation), but it was mentioned, and I repeated. I don't claim that to be a fact, just mentioning it to add to discussion. To be honest, For an entertainment cast that does the day shift, I wouldn't want to be doing an extra 4+ hours at night too, so I'd be in support of them if they did refuse anyway. Re: lights, I'm taking your response to mean you did have something to do with it as you're quite defensive. I was under the impression you'd had less to do with it than last year... Anyway - I visited WC last year twice - once for a corporate, and once for general admission. I didn't do the corporate this year, but i'm basing my opinions on photos I took last year (and i'm not talking dodgy camera phone shots either). The area outside Roxy was better lit up than it was last year - that was a plus, but the strings just didn't seem as 'tight' as they were last year - they appeared to me to be a little 'floppy'. Smaller details - like the blue and white icicles in the hedges outside Dirty Harry's just seemed 'messy'. I love that attention was given even to the tall hedge trees next to intencity, but it just didn't strike me as being done with any finesse. Obviously you have an insight into the work behind this, and i'm not criticising those who have put in the hard yards, it just didn't look as clean or as neat as last year, and that is my opinion. Whilst I didn't specifically disclaim my comment as 'my opinion' - I did say that the lights 'struck me' as etc etc. I'll be honest - perhaps the other faults with the night made me view smaller flaws in the installation a little too critically - i have to allow for that possibility, and perhaps I didn't view them so critically last year because the rest of the experience was an enjoyable one. You and I have discussed at length various 'technical aspects' of various things done by VRTP, and i've picked up flaws which usually go unnoticed by the general public that you've agreed were an issue. I sincerely doubt that you personally installed and strung every bulb in that installation (forgive me if I am wrong) but can you state, categorically, that everyone involved in the installation has as much care and attention to detail that you do? Something I didn't mention in enough detail though was the fantastic coverage of snow during the opening ceremony - i've seen the 'snow' efforts last year, and believe wholeheartedly that this years efforts in that regard were far superior.

[jayw]

I attended last night (Wednesday Night) and really enjoyed the evening. Overall, the park to me didn't feel as full as the previous years sell out white christmas events and while it was busy, largely it didn't detract from the event or experience. The theming, roaming entertainers and parade were all great and for me continue to cement this as a great family event. I've expanded on the trip below. Arrived at 4:40PM and they were just setting up the segregation zone. This for me is probably the worst part of the night only in so much as communication as to what is going on is limited and there seem to be a number of people confused as to why they were in a tightly packed, non-moving crowd. I don't realistically think they can avoid the situation, and what appeared to be a separate exit on the other side of the green lantern seemed to help things but communicating that the "holding pen" is only for 30 minutes or so while they clear the park would help, even adding to the voice over they were running announcing the park is closed with more clear info regarding the situation and white christmas starting at 5:30 could help. I quite liked the small opening item they did with the fairy and host / elf thing, it kicked off the night nicely, though a raised position for him would have helped. The first thing I noticed and loved seeing was all the street performers this year! The different elves getting around with various props such as giant paint buckets and brushes and an oversized "santley" spanner were great, as were characters such as scrooge etc. We didn't hang around for the first couple of show items and decided to grab a couple rides as we didn't have any children with us in the target age bracket. Superman was first up and essentially a walk on! Can't remember seeing a queue so short with the park so busy and it was great to see it running two trains. We then headed to the green lantern which had maybe a 15 minute wait. On a side note, I have never had a ride with audio on board including this occasion and noticed the train in front had it turned off. We were then going to try justice league but the cue was considerably longer, at least 30 minutes and we decided to pass as it was approaching 7PM. I think the JL queue length demonstrates nicely the target market for JL and it's popularity with that target market which they seem to have hit well. It is unfortunate, but not a deal breaker, that it doesn't quite translate so well across all ages quite like the buzz lightyear or toy story attractions. We then hit main street to see the lights turn on with the snow, I think it's a great moment for Kids and Adults alike. They didn't seem to run the snow has heavily throughout the whole night. i've seen in previous years enough "snow" to essentially wet the street so I think the lighter approach works well. We then wandered down to the WB kids area for a quick run on the road runner coaster. I seem to recall that area not operating on white christmas nights a year or two (or three??) ago, but I could be mistaken however it's great to see it operational and is obviously popular with all the families in attendance. We managed to squeeze a run on Arkham Asylum with only a 20 minute queue (I really quite like the lift hill audio and am continually amazed at how fun this ride is now with the new train and the new lease on life it has been given in its refurb) and got out just in time to catch the return run of the parade which was great like previous years (love the inflatable frosty) and jumped into the last ice age show to wrap up the night. I didn't think the ice age film was as good or widely appealing as the polar express last year. Here is a couple of images (just from my phone) caught from the night. Jay

[rappa]

Like I said I wasn't putting any opinion into my statement and wasn't being defensive. To me your 'rumour' posting seemed to imply an insult. No I had nothing to do with the lighting installation and in your original post you said main street lights. Not park wide. And I state again the main street lights are without doubt the neatest they've ever been and I have photos to show this. I feel you didn't like aspects of the night and then starting finding other things to pick on. I know people who do work on the install read this stuff and if I were them I'd be pretty upset to read such comments after they worked so hard.

[kujotess]

Anyone know where this is located?

[Reanimated35]

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