The Jimmy Thick reviews!!!

[Jimmy Thick]

I get asked quite a bit through the PM function just what my favorite rides/attractions/restaurants are that I thought it would be a splendorous decision to just make one big mega-thread containing all this information for the public to enjoy. I also encourage others to display their preference towards the current review I may formulate.

But remember, these are my opinions towards anything theme park related, my opinion may differ from you, but while I will love to debate compelling arguments, chances are I and most others are set in their ways on how they feel and just because you may not agree with what is written does not mean an opinion is wrong.

That being said, we will use the Jimmy Thick grading scale.

5.0 A perfect attraction, a must see, a show stopper.

4.0-4.9 Attractions that should be planned around and experienced

3.0-3.9 Worth your time, but could be skipped for a better one.

2.0-2.9 If there is no wait you should see them, anything above a 10 minute wait is not worth it.

1.0-1.9 Not really interesting unless you're a diehard. Consider the resort pool instead.

0.0-0.9 Bottom of the barrel attractions. Not worthy of vacation time or dollars.

Ok lets start off with quite possibly the best attraction in the Orlando area.


Splash Mountain review.

Youtube is terrible for theme park attractions.

There, I said it. Why? Simple, people go out of their way to film things on their vacation and its become popular to film rides and attractions and post them on Youtube. On of the worst rides you can possibly ever film is Splash Mountain, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your camera possibly getting wet...

Splash Mountain is an experience, its beyond the normal "ride" people go on. This is simply put, what Disney does better than everyone in the theme park world, I have never seen it touched in terms of quality or involvement.

My recent ride confirmed that no matter how many times I have ridden Splash, I always see something new, and this ride never gets old. Could it be just the simple thought of the thrill of getting wet at the end? I doubt it, I feel its the whole package this marvelous attraction brings to the forefront, and makes waiting worth it.

I cannot recommend this attraction highly enough and for those who are reading these words and planning to go to Walt Disney World for the first time, I can only express my most extreme envy that you will be able to be a Splash Mountain virgin, because once you experience this, you'll never be the same.

People close to me consider me a theme park junkie, and like a meth addict chasing that first high, rides like this proves them that yeah, I probably am.

Grade 5.0



Jimmy Thick- Hooked.

[yankeesfan123]

I get asked quite a bit through the PM function just what my favorite rides/attractions/restaurants are that I thought it would be a splendorous decision to just make one big mega-thread containing all this information for the public to enjoy. I also encourage others to display their preference towards the current review I may formulate.

But remember, these are my opinions towards anything theme park related, my opinion may differ from you, but while I will love to debate compelling arguments, chances are I and most others are set in their ways on how they feel and just because you may not agree with what is written does not mean an opinion is wrong.

That being said, we will use the Jimmy Thick grading scale.

5.0 A perfect attraction, a must see, a show stopper.

4.0-4.9 Attractions that should be planned around and experienced

3.0-3.9 Worth your time, but could be skipped for a better one.

2.0-2.9 If there is no wait you should see them, anything above a 10 minute wait is not worth it.

1.0-1.9 Not really interesting unless you're a diehard. Consider the resort pool instead.

0.0-0.9 Bottom of the barrel attractions. Not worthy of vacation time or dollars.

Ok lets start off with quite possibly the best attraction in the Orlando area.


Splash Mountain review.

Youtube is terrible for theme park attractions.

There, I said it. Why? Simple, people go out of their way to film things on their vacation and its become popular to film rides and attractions and post them on Youtube. On of the worst rides you can possibly ever film is Splash Mountain, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your camera possibly getting wet...

Splash Mountain is an experience, its beyond the normal "ride" people go on. This is simply put, what Disney does better than everyone in the theme park world, I have never seen it touched in terms of quality or involvement.

My recent ride confirmed that no matter how many times I have ridden Splash, I always see something new, and this ride never gets old. Could it be just the simple thought of the thrill of getting wet at the end? I doubt it, I feel its the whole package this marvelous attraction brings to the forefront, and makes waiting worth it.

I cannot recommend this attraction highly enough and for those who are reading these words and planning to go to Walt Disney World for the first time, I can only express my most extreme envy that you will be able to be a Splash Mountain virgin, because once you experience this, you'll never be the same.

People close to me consider me a theme park junkie, and like a meth addict chasing that first high, rides like this proves them that yeah, I probably am.

Grade 5.0



Jimmy Thick- Hooked.

You get asked that often what your favorite attractions are via PM? After posting (on this forum, at least) ONLY 12 times?!

I've never been asked even once! Man, I'm depressed now.

(Haven't seen you on the other forum lately, where'd you go?!)

[RunDMV]

You get asked that often what your favorite attractions are via PM? After posting (on this forum, at least) ONLY 12 times?!

I've never been asked even once! Man, I'm depressed now.

(Haven't seen you on the other forum lately, where'd you go?!)

Maybe he PMs himself?

[Jimmy Thick]

You get asked that often what your favorite attractions are via PM? After posting (on this forum, at least) ONLY 12 times?!

I've never been asked even once! Man, I'm depressed now.

(Haven't seen you on the other forum lately, where'd you go?!)

My PM box on the "other forum" was completely full, and still is, even though I no longer post there. I lurk, but until they clean up the place, and some of the things they do to members, I have no desire to post there ever again, its rather disgusting.

Plus that site is dying a slow death, a lot of fantastic posters want absolutely nothing to do with it anymore. And I don't blame them.

Jimmy Thick-Making fun of people's children is not my idea of a good time.

[Jimmy Thick]

Lets get back to some more reviews, this time I'll do a restaurant and a Universal attraction.

O'hana review.

I make absolutely no bones about the fact O'Hana is my favorite place to eat on Disney property. This is the one place I have to tell every and anyone is a must place to eat.

Why is it so special?

I don't know. Its an all you can eat Hawaiian style barbecue with fantastic views, especially at night, of the Magic Kingdom. If Wishes is happening that night, they will lower the lights and pipe in the music, if you have a window seat facing MK, its a perfect view.

The food? Everything is good, somethings are great, but there is something for everyone.

The bad? Only thing that comes to mind is the restaurant, along with the resort, in my opinion still looks like it was built in the 70's. The recent refurb of California Grill proves Disney can do something cutting edge, and O'Hana does need a make over.

Just not when I visit.

Grade 4.8.



Now, lets do a Universal Orlando attraction.

Dragon Challenge-Islands of Adventure.

Iam really starting to hate the fact I have become a theme park veteran, because now I can recall the "old" days at will...

Back in the day when Universal Orlando first opened I remember Dueling Dragons, a rather lackluster coaster with one side being fire and the other side being ice. It was ok, but I vividly remember once you started the ride you got a strong slap in the face of what I call the "Six Flags Effect", meaning you got wonderful views of parking lots and backstage areas. Not what Iam looking for in my theme park experience personally. But Dueling Dragons had, one of the best queues in any modern theme park attraction ever. It was so long getting to the end was quite an accomplishment, its was like a Legend of Zelda quest come to life and your reward was not the hand of a princess but a ride on a mediocre coaster...

Fast forward to the new Potter expansion and Universal advertising a whole new land featuring the boy magician.

The minute I saw Dragon Challenge, I new Universal creative pulled a fast one on the general public.

See, its the exact same ride as Dueling Dragons without the awesome queue. They dismantled the best part, put a few little Potter touches in the queue now, and basically just repackaged a lack luster ride of old into new lack luster ride. They couldn't even spend the money to hide the parking lot you see right after launch, couldn't they have put up a few screens Universal relies on to tell stories?

This ride is a complete and utter disappointment, and the wait times it has, usually under 10 minutes proves the general public knows its a turkey. Universal went on the cheap with this one. Value engineering at its finest.

Grade 1.4

[TheVBs]

Very fun idea! I agree with your comment about experiencing something instead of filming or photographing it. I'm often at war with my desire to just enjoy something, with my desire to get photographs of it. I rarely do a video though, and have never done one on a ride. Agree with your rating on Splash Mtn. too.

After seeing so many wonderful posts here about O'hana, I wanted us to experience it on our last trip. I was very pleased when an opening came up! I have to say, we weren't horribly impressed. The food was good, the service was good, but the atmosphere wasn't at all what we were expecting. We thought we'd really be wowed by everything and we weren't. I guess if I picked a rating from your scale, it would be about a 3.0 for us.

[yankeesfan123]

Lets get back to some more reviews, this time I'll do a restaurant and a Universal attraction.

O'hana review.

I make absolutely no bones about the fact O'Hana is my favorite place to eat on Disney property. This is the one place I have to tell every and anyone is a must place to eat.

Why is it so special?

I don't know. Its an all you can eat Hawaiian style barbecue with fantastic views, especially at night, of the Magic Kingdom. If Wishes is happening that night, they will lower the lights and pipe in the music, if you have a window seat facing MK, its a perfect view.

The food? Everything is good, somethings are great, but there is something for everyone.

The bad? Only thing that comes to mind is the restaurant, along with the resort, in my opinion still looks like it was built in the 70's. The recent refurb of California Grill proves Disney can do something cutting edge, and O'Hana does need a make over.

Just not when I visit.

Grade 4.8.



Now, lets do a Universal Orlando attraction.

Dragon Challenge-Islands of Adventure.

Iam really starting to hate the fact I have become a theme park veteran, because now I can recall the "old" days at will...

Back in the day when Universal Orlando first opened I remember Dueling Dragons, a rather lackluster coaster with one side being fire and the other side being ice. It was ok, but I vividly remember once you started the ride you got a strong slap in the face of what I call the "Six Flags Effect", meaning you got wonderful views of parking lots and backstage areas. Not what Iam looking for in my theme park experience personally. But Dueling Dragons had, one of the best queues in any modern theme park attraction ever. It was so long getting to the end was quite an accomplishment, its was like a Legend of Zelda quest come to life and your reward was not the hand of a princess but a ride on a mediocre coaster...

Fast forward to the new Potter expansion and Universal advertising a whole new land featuring the boy magician.

The minute I saw Dragon Challenge, I new Universal creative pulled a fast one on the general public.

See, its the exact same ride as Dueling Dragons without the awesome queue. They dismantled the best part, put a few little Potter touches in the queue now, and basically just repackaged a lack luster ride of old into new lack luster ride. They couldn't even spend the money to hide the parking lot you see right after launch, couldn't they have put up a few screens Universal relies on to tell stories?

This ride is a complete and utter disappointment, and the wait times it has, usually under 10 minutes proves the general public knows its a turkey. Universal went on the cheap with this one. Value engineering at its finest.

Grade 1.4

There is a separate forum for Universal!

[DonaldDuck1117]

The Dueling Dragon inverted coasters are great at what they are-Roller Coasters. Just because it doesn't tell a story doesn't mean it is a bad ride. You want to ride fun inverted coasters? Ride Dueling Dragons.

[TheHD]

Splash Mountain review.

Grade 5.0

I completely agree. My favorite attraction at MK.

[Sci Fi Dine In Fan]

This is a parody of something, right?

[Jimmy Thick]

My son is among those in Orlando for the Potter opening tomorrow and he has sent me several videos of DA that are pretty impressive.

I would love to post them up but for some reason I can't get videos from my phone onto my PC, in other words, my Windows PC is not detecting my USB connection from my Galaxy S3. If anyone has had a issue like this and knows a solution, please post it, I would love to share the videos.

Jimmy Thick- Scouring the web for help...

[yankeesfan123]

My son is among those in Orlando for the Potter opening tomorrow and he has sent me several videos of DA that are pretty impressive.

I would love to post them up but for some reason I can't get videos from my phone onto my PC, in other words, my Windows PC is not detecting my USB connection from my Galaxy S3. If anyone has had a issue like this and knows a solution, please post it, I would love to share the videos.

Jimmy Thick- Scouring the web for help...

Google or Samsung tech support may be better help than a Disney fan board.

[dnickels]

This is a parody of something, right?

It reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where a character of the same first name constantly refers to himself in the third person.

No, it's the old Attention-Victim "Beware the poster who puts an extra witty comment after his name" rule that dates back to Usenet.

Or when they self proclaim themselves a 'Legend' in their sig line.

[TheHD]

It reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where a character of the same first name constantly refers to himself in the third person.

His name was Jimmy. I believe it was the one where he slipped and fell on Kramer's drool, causing himself and George to lose their stock in basketball training shoes due to George having to carry-on the presentation with no "ups" whatsoever.

[TheHD]

the same first name

I just realized you knew the name. Oh well, at least I provided more context.

[baldburke]

Oh, it's a scene man!

[buzznwoodysmom]

You get asked that often what your favorite attractions are via PM? After posting (on this forum, at least) ONLY 12 times?!

My thoughts exactly!!!!

And so far, other than Ohana (which is really a love or it hate place it seems) I personally haven't agreed with a single one of his "ranks".

[baldburke]

Is this guy still reviewing? He was the best!

[ransam]

Keep going I like the reviews.

I agree with O'hana. It's so good.

[yankeesfan123]

Maybe we should all PM him again to ask his opinions?

Yankees fan - Forum Legend