Discovery River Boats returning?

I've heard the barest hint of a whispered rumor that we may see a return of the Discovery River Boats (also variously called Discovery River Taxis and Radio Disney River Cruise at different times in its history). The phrasing was tentative, so maybe it's only an idea being explored.

These boats functioned as the "steam train" of DAK, providing transportation to different parts of the park. They worked for the first few years of the park, but they had operational problems. The low capacity meant that lines built up for it, and people were mad that they waited up to an hour only to be dropped off in a location five minutes away by walking. Since the main idea was transportation, not show, they felt cheated.

There were a few show elements, like the stone dragon that breathed fire or the iguanadon in the water near Countdown to Extinction (now Dinosaur). But by and large, the point was transportation.

I'm not sure if the rumor to re-open is related to Avatar. If they do re-open, I hope they have a plan to address the problems from last time. Either add more show, or limit the line so people don't wait inappropriately, maybe?

For now, the docks sit empty still (except the one used by Tigger and friends near the front).

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Monorail wrappings - why aren't there more?

Walt Disney World only has a brief history of "wrapping" monorails: once for the second Tron movie, and once for the Avengers. Both were promotional concepts, and both came from the Walt Disney Studios (and probably came as a command to the park operations people, not a request). 

Reaction to the monorail wrappings online is mixed. But I was surprised to read one worker report online that people want so badly to get that perfect picture of a wrapped monorail that they sometimes interfere with the tight scheduling they need to keep on these transportation systems. That got me thinking. At least a portion of the regular visiting population (not necessarily the same crowd as those who post online) obviously really likes the wrapped monorails.

If true, that has me wondering why the Park operations folks, or the Imagineers, haven't jumped on the idea. Instead of Avengers and Tron, why not make the monorails something uniquely Disney, something that bespeaks the Disney brand?

It might look really wild to have the Seven Dwarfs represented by a monorail each. People wouldn't talk about Monorail Red any more (because apart from us nerds, who does now?) - but they will talk about the Dopey Monorail, wouldn't they?

Disney has taken a baby step here in this direction in Anaheim, where the monorails took on a "Cars" look/feel with eyes, partly to celebrate the opening of Carsland at DCA. But with Pixar moving from the Cars movies to Planes movies (set in the same universe) in the near future, I could see WDW using those eyes on their monorails, too.



Do you agree? Would it look good or bad? Less classy?

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Boo Blasters - Photos and Review

We ran into a haunted-house type ride called Boo Blasters on Boo Hill at King's Island, and it turns out Carowinds has one too (since Carowinds is also owned by Cedar Fair). This is not just a dark ride; it's also a "shooter" in the vein of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. My memory suggests that some of these mansions were previously themed to other things (like Scooby Doo), but the Boo Mansion brand is fine, too, even without recognizable characters.

They sell ChromaDepth 3-D glasses to make the 3D paint pop out in parts of the ride, but this is a flourish that you don't have to experience.

The ride is pretty fun. What do you think? Does it look like a quality themed ride?

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Carowinds - Trip Report

Carowinds, in North Carolina, was the final park on our road trip. It was a fine enough place, but it also paled in comparison to many of the other parks we visited, and in retrospect, we wished we had done it first rather than last. 

This park is another one of the "regular" amusement parks that feels corporate and unloved, rather than a darling of a family-owner. It has good coasters, including one particularly great one, and I liked that it had a mix of things to do. Among the mix was a water park. That was welcome indeed during our summer visit. In fact, we showed up after a day of 80 degree whether in Pennsylvania and were astounded that it was 105 degrees here in NC. Turns out, this was the start of the 2012 heat wave, but we didn't know that then. It kept crowds down, that's for sure.

Like most modern parks, Carowinds has a mix of things to do. Thrill seekers will find numerous coasters, most of them decent. I found the flying coaster to be particularly disorienting. It's not often that I forget where I am or what comes next on a coaster, but this one did it to me.

The gem in the line up is the hyper coaster, Intimidator (themed after the NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, who had that nickname). This beauty is all smooth, all steep angles, and all airtime. It succeeds where other hyper coasters fail, and I had to ride it over and over again. Oddly, though, the crowds didn't always care as much as I did. This ride had a much smaller line than the nearby flying coaster, for instance.

There are lots of kid-friendly rides, and a Snoopy section that truly comes alive with Christmas lights at night. Plus the Action Theater shows 3D movies combined with motion chairs for a theater simulator.

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Kennywood - Trip Report

Kennywood (outside Pittsburgh) is a traditional park, and a smaller one. It's also quite old. It's one of the main parks people think of when they say that traditional regional amusement parks can have "charm", and indeed Kennywood has lots of it. 

The buildings are sometimes old, but in a historic way rather than a dilapidated way. The rides are sometimes simple ("flat rides"), but they are apt to be things that are historic too. There's a kangaroo here, which is like a simple spinning ride that has a "hop" built into it. And it's the only one left in the entire country.

History is around every corner. The former tunnel of love (never named that, though!) is now a Garfield boat ride, with 3D paint. It was both oddball and awesome.

The haunted house ride, Ghostwood Manor, is a shooter, and it was one of the best ever. The effects were highly creepy, often realistic, and extremely impressive for a "regional" park like Kennywood. It was also too realistic for my five year old, so be warned.

The park just has a really great mix of experiences. There are water rides, swinging rides, kid rides, train rides, family rides, dark rides, carnival rides, and roller coasters. The coasters are famous.

The racer is fun on a wooden track, but nothing extreme. The Thunderbolt is a marvel of lateral forces - you HAVE to ride with someone else, or you aren't riding.

The Jack Rabbit is a terrain wooden coaster with tremendous airtime. Who cares that it's decades old? It's ideal for kids. And for adults, for that matter.

Such a fun park. They've added more modern coasters here and there, but at its core, the MIX is what makes Kennywood great. Tickets are reasonably priced on their own, but promotions at certain times of the year are even better. We paid $27/adult on a summer day to go. I can't imagine a bargain like that anywhere else in the country.

Kennywood was my wife's favorite park of the seven we visited. Not because it "won" with any one coaster, but because the atmosphere was just right. It was actually relaxing.

One last addendum. We ate fast food at the "Soda Fountain" counter and bit into their pickle spears, which amazed us. Frankly, I always thought a pickle was a pickle was a pickle. Not so, apparently. How odd to have your eyes opened only when you reach middle age. Anyway, weeks later I emailed Kennywood's PR department and asked for more info, not sure I'd get anywhere. A few hours later, I had the answer: Freestone's Kosher Spears is what they used, and I could even buy them myself online. Now THAT typifies the Kennywood attitude and friendliness.

Click for a larger panorama:

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Cedar Point - Trip Report

Cedar Point is a mecca for roller coaster enthusiasts. We were on a road trip partly to celebrate my older son's passing of 54 inches tall, so there's nothing he can't ride. What better time to take a young man on a roller coaster tour in general, and to Cedar Point in particular? 

There are more than a dozen coasters here, and almost all of them are notable (or at least should be attempted once). Some of them were more impressive in the past than they are in the present, and I'm sorry to say that my beloved Magnum XL200, the first hyper coaster and a lofty king in my imagination, has become one of them. It was bumpy and painful on this trip.

Millennium Force, though, the other hyper coaster (technically a giga coaster, I think, being taller), made up for it. It was great. Definitely in the top tier of such smooth, fast, airtime coasters. Though oddly, not as great as my favorites Goliath and Apollo's Chariot. Maybe I like a good view with my coaster?

Many of the coasters are historically significant, but I dwelt more on the ones that were fun to ride today. Gemini, a steel coaster that looks like a woodie (but is also a racer) is still a lot of fun. Maverick, a new coaster that leaps from side to side and up-down quickly in short sprints, was surprisingly agile and fun.

I could go on and on about each coaster. Most were worthwhile. But if I did that, I wouldn't be talking about Top Thrill Dragster, and that's not going to happen. TTD is not so much a coaster as it is a launch platform into outer space on rails. You are magnetically launched, go up vertically (very fast - 120 MPH), crest the single hill, and come back down vertically. The down part includes a twist so you're actually spiralling around a pole essentially.

Oh, and did I mention you are 420 feet in the air? It's terrifying, but also perhaps the most exhilarating thing you'll do on any vacation. And the view cannot be described. It's more hang gliding than roller coaster riding at those heights, though of course it's over so fast.

I'll remember Top Thrill Dragster forever. The same can't be said in the same tone of voice with the other coasters, though they are good to great individually. Cedar Point did not disappoint.

Today I'm including a panorama image as well. Don't forget you can always click images to enlarge.

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Zoologist tribute in Naked Mole Rat room at Pangani Forest Trail (DAK)

DAK is full of ephemera, scribbled notes, artifacts both real and imagined, and tributes. Most of the backstories on display are fake (the paleontologist and students in Dinoland are invented, for instance), but occasionally real stories and/or real people are blended in. It's what gives DAK its unique flavor of being both artifice and authenticity. Sometimes it's the real thing with fakeness wrapped around it (such as the safari or the animal walks that have been outfitted with fake theming), and sometimes it's a fake encounter with realness wrapped around it (such as Expedition Everest, where metric tons of authentic props weigh down the queue, but the core yeti experience is fake).

On a whim, I photographed a "letter" pasted on the wall in the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail ranger station (where you can find bullfrogs, dung beetles, and naked mole rats) because it mentioned a first and last name of a person. Sometimes a quick google search turns up an Imagineer by that name, and that usually means I've located yet another Hidden History tribute (the core of my book on WDW Hidden History).

Here's the letter:

I quickly found out that there is a Laurence Frank (different spelling) associated with both Berkeley and African predators, so I emailed him out of the blue to see if he had consulted with Disney.

He wrote back:

I believe I sent them some hyena ID photos from my field work to put up in their 'Research Camp'.  I have never been there, and your photo is the first I have seen.
Best,
Laurence Frank

Since the letter references hyenas, that made this the perfect tribute to Dr. Frank! I'll have to go back soon to see if there are hyena pictures on these same walls.

Pretty neat!

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Searchlights missing at DHS "icon"

A very old thread on the discussion boards at wdwmagic.com noted that the searchlights have been off behind the Chinese Theater at DHS for a long time... and by now, it's been almost a year.

Have you noticed the lack of searchlights? I confess that I did not, until reminded of this thread.

Nevertheless, I think the lights should have stayed there. They add a kinetic element to the nighttime atmosphere, since one of the lights is always in motion while the others stand still. And they make the place look festive. Disney parks are supposed to look different and "magical" at night, so if this is a budget cut, it's not a wise one.

Here's a look back at the lights when they were present (photos taken in 2010):

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.

Dinosaurs Alive - Trip Report

At both Cedar Point and King's Island, we found upcharge exhibits called "Dinosaurs Alive." We visited the King's Island version and offer the following trip report. Short version: definitely worth the $5/person upcharge.

The exhibit is one of only a few things in the park that is not included. I'm not that irritated by upcharge activities if they are things that not everyone can do (such as shooting galleries or video games - these have always been upcharge activities). Climbing walls are another example.

It's a walking exhibit; you walk a trail and see dinosaurs. But these dinosaurs move: heads shake up and down or side to side, tails swish (slowly). The belly of the T-Rex moves as its "breathes," which is a nice effect.

There are sound effects that go with the motions, so it can be a touch scary for very young children. Nothing too extreme.

But the movements are not constant. The dinos fall into a nonmoving state again after a few minutes.

Still, the effect is impressive. Often, movement of the visitors is what triggers the movement of the dinos, so they "come alive" when you get close. That's made even more cool because the path here is meandering and heavily forested, so there is a real sense of discovery.

It took us a full hour to get through this experience. Alas, we forgot about the air conditioned 3D movie nearby, so I can't report on that. But it would have made for an ideal follow-up.

Here's a video of the final portions of the walk-through at King's Island:




And here are even more photos of the event:

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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.