disneyboy98
07-12-2007, 12:23 AM
Let's journey back, for the last time this trip, to yesterday night when I left you (we are in Minneapolis now). Off to Epcot and Japan for supper!
After that we headed over to The American Adventure and were sidetracked to go and see Bjorn Again, a tribute band to the group ABBA. Now, I am going to play my youngster card one more time. I know who ABBA is from word of mouth and such, but I guess I never did catch on to any of their songs. The only one I really knew was "Dancing Queen" and that is because it plays in alot of movies.
After that we wound our way around the rest of WS. As you can see from the pics, the weather did not cooperate much during the night.
After collecting our wrist bands for the EMH at the old Odessy restaurant (good to know that the space is being used for something), we headed over to Figment.
After that we seperated for a bit and my mom went to look for a Beatles shirt in the UK for my brother-in-law and I decided to go and take a few more pictures of the crane that will soon take that wand and sign away from SE.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. As I was taking the pictures of the exiting dock inside SE (where Project Tomorrow is now located) two people approached me (s man and a woman. The man was wearing a "manager" kind of outfit and the woman was in a CM outfit) and were wondering if I was a fan of SE or something because I was taking pictures of the exit area. I did tell them that I was and then we had a little small talk. I told them where I was from, how long we had been down there. How long I had been coming for (since I was four years old), blah blah blah. Well then, I asked if they knew what was going to be going on with the rehab. At first they started talking about the wand and phases that it would come down in. They did say that, barring any complications, it would be down by late September or early October. The one interesting part was that, as all of the construction for removing the wand and sign would be happening at night (because they would hate for that thing to tip over during park hours) all of the CMs and Security guards that work during the night to get the park ready for the morning will be sent to their vehciles in the parking lot for awhile during the night while the construction crew does their "blasting" to get the parts out of the way. The people that work in WS will be allowed to still work in there because it is far enough away from the constuction. They said this will only happen a few times during the course of taking the wand down.
Then came the part I hoped they would get to, the actual refurbishment of SE. They were actually the ones to bring it up and the man said that he was an imagineer for Disney company and did I want to know what the "tentative plans were" for SE. Like a dog panting in the heat and begging for water I was like "uhhhhh, you know what, no thanks. I want to be surprised." WRONG!!! I said "YES PLEASE!!!":thumbsup:
Now again these are the tentative plans, there may be some changes but he was able to give me the basic idea of what they hope will happen when the ride is completed.
First of all, the ride will remain the same ride as it did when it closed down on July 9th. He did say that they are going to be doing some touch ups here and there with the animatronics, sound, and lighting. He did mention that they will be putting some new "skins" on the animatronics to give them a more "uptodate" look.
Second, once you reach the top of SE and start coming back down, that is when you will really start to notice the difference. He says that the finale scenes will include what the future may look like at a certain time. He said that there will be more scenes in the finale then there was previously, including three extra scenes that will go in to the light tunnel (the last little part of the ride where all you see is lights twinkling around). They will include a personal look at the future for everyday life, business life in the future, and one the includes our use of resources (that one didn't make sense to me).
Now, the last difference was the one that interest me the most. It seems that in each of the ride vehicles will include a flat screen pannel for each of the riders in the vehicle. So, if you have been on it, each vehicle has four seats. Therefore, there will be four monitors. As you are going through the ride, you are going to be given a series of choices of what your idea of the future is going to look like. As you make these choices throughout the ride a computer is building your idea of the future and storing it into its memory bank. Then, if it isn't already interesting enough, at the end of the ride, your monitor (or something in it) actually takes a face scan of you and stores it into it's computer bank. Then, when you get off the ride there are going to be many kiosks set up all around Project Tomorrow for you to go and get a print off or an actual view of you in your version of the future. It kind of blew my mind as they were talking about it but with Disney I will never say never. So, that's where SE stands. Now, whether they were feeding me a bunch of nonsense or not, I cannot be sure, but it sure did sound like he knew what he was talking about.
So, after many thanks and goodbyes, I headed off (late) to meet mom and dad. After telling them about my adventure, we headed off to The Seas, again, to ride the clams and catch a show with Crush. Man he is funny!!
Well, after that, we decided to walk around WS, again, and began our snacking around the world. Again, the weather was not being super cooperative but it had cooled off the evening nicely and had limited the number of people walking around WS.
After our snacking around the world we headed off to MouseGear to pick up our last little bit of stuff (fine alot of stuff) and head back to The Swan for our final night in our heavenly beds.
To see the pics, please, for the last time, click here (http://picasaweb.google.com/brettyoung321/WDWJuly10th2007)!
The next morning we got up, checked out, headed over to DTD for a quick breakfast at Earl of Sandwich (yes, they are open for breakfast and make good breakfast sandwiches) and then head to the airport for our 1:10 flight to Minneapolis.
Now, here I sit and realizing that, "hey, I just spent a week in WDW...where did the time go." Well the time did fly by. As always, the magic is still there! However, the magic was missing one element. If you have kept up with the reports, you know that Beckie was not here with us this year. Yes, she was missed. The part when I realized that "OH MY WORD she isn't here" was yesterday when we were on RNRC at the MGM. If you ever see a guy and a girl walking along and belting whatever Aerosmith song is on the speaker at that time, most likely it was us. Then, when I got into the limo and looked beside me it just didn't feel right. Don't get me wrong, I still loved the ride (I got to ride it twice in a row..come on now) but yes not having my sister there made a difference.:cry: If I am going to be totally honest, I missed her on any screaming ride!
Some people still say to me, "Why do you go all the time to WDW? Honestly Brett, you should try going here, here, and here. You need to get out there and experience other places." Fine! Maybe I do, but now I am going to start asking the question back to these people, "Have you ever been to Disney World before?" I think it is more of those people that haven't that ask that question. I know, in my heart, I will never be one of those people that will be able to sit on a beach, gamble at the slots, view nature from a distance, or go do something extreme. Once a year I love to go to a place that I am familiar with and that I know I can go to have a guaranteed amount of fun. I can go to a place that has limitless options of activities for me to participate in. Most of all, I am going to a place where I know I can go and reconnect with my family again.
Next year, whether it be in March or in in July, I get to make that special trip with my mom, dad, and sister again. But this time, it will be MORE special because now we get to share the magic with two people that have come into our family.
Kevin (brother-in-law) who has never been to WDW before. I will say this, he has been such a trooper. He knew way before he married Beckie that we were OBSESSED with Disney. He has sat through a few years of Intercot discussions, resort discussions, vacation videos, and pictures. If there is anyone that deserves to visit this place for the first time ever, it is HIM!! It is time for him to experience this place with us and we can't wait to see the expression on his face when he sees this place for the first time.
Of course if you have been following the reports, you know the second person is little Chloe (my sweet niece). Even though she will just be under or just over a year old, we cannot wait to have her here with us. We know that there is no way she will get much out of it, but just to have her here, to get those pictures, to watch her interact with this place and the characters will be memories we will cherish forever! Plus, do you know how spoiled that girl is going to be? I'm guessing...ummmm...very!! We even started planning before this trip for our next trip when she will be here. This trip was "Oh maybe she will like that or maybe that will be too loud for her." Plus there won't be any baby clothes when you folks go down there for your trips because we brought it all back with us! :mickey::blush: Just Kidding!
Well folks, that's it for another year! Next year will be amazing. I hope you can all joing us next year for "Chloe and Kevin's 1st Adventure in WDW."
Until next yer, I hope you all have a Disney day!:mickey:
!
After that we headed over to The American Adventure and were sidetracked to go and see Bjorn Again, a tribute band to the group ABBA. Now, I am going to play my youngster card one more time. I know who ABBA is from word of mouth and such, but I guess I never did catch on to any of their songs. The only one I really knew was "Dancing Queen" and that is because it plays in alot of movies.
After that we wound our way around the rest of WS. As you can see from the pics, the weather did not cooperate much during the night.
After collecting our wrist bands for the EMH at the old Odessy restaurant (good to know that the space is being used for something), we headed over to Figment.
After that we seperated for a bit and my mom went to look for a Beatles shirt in the UK for my brother-in-law and I decided to go and take a few more pictures of the crane that will soon take that wand and sign away from SE.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. As I was taking the pictures of the exiting dock inside SE (where Project Tomorrow is now located) two people approached me (s man and a woman. The man was wearing a "manager" kind of outfit and the woman was in a CM outfit) and were wondering if I was a fan of SE or something because I was taking pictures of the exit area. I did tell them that I was and then we had a little small talk. I told them where I was from, how long we had been down there. How long I had been coming for (since I was four years old), blah blah blah. Well then, I asked if they knew what was going to be going on with the rehab. At first they started talking about the wand and phases that it would come down in. They did say that, barring any complications, it would be down by late September or early October. The one interesting part was that, as all of the construction for removing the wand and sign would be happening at night (because they would hate for that thing to tip over during park hours) all of the CMs and Security guards that work during the night to get the park ready for the morning will be sent to their vehciles in the parking lot for awhile during the night while the construction crew does their "blasting" to get the parts out of the way. The people that work in WS will be allowed to still work in there because it is far enough away from the constuction. They said this will only happen a few times during the course of taking the wand down.
Then came the part I hoped they would get to, the actual refurbishment of SE. They were actually the ones to bring it up and the man said that he was an imagineer for Disney company and did I want to know what the "tentative plans were" for SE. Like a dog panting in the heat and begging for water I was like "uhhhhh, you know what, no thanks. I want to be surprised." WRONG!!! I said "YES PLEASE!!!":thumbsup:
Now again these are the tentative plans, there may be some changes but he was able to give me the basic idea of what they hope will happen when the ride is completed.
First of all, the ride will remain the same ride as it did when it closed down on July 9th. He did say that they are going to be doing some touch ups here and there with the animatronics, sound, and lighting. He did mention that they will be putting some new "skins" on the animatronics to give them a more "uptodate" look.
Second, once you reach the top of SE and start coming back down, that is when you will really start to notice the difference. He says that the finale scenes will include what the future may look like at a certain time. He said that there will be more scenes in the finale then there was previously, including three extra scenes that will go in to the light tunnel (the last little part of the ride where all you see is lights twinkling around). They will include a personal look at the future for everyday life, business life in the future, and one the includes our use of resources (that one didn't make sense to me).
Now, the last difference was the one that interest me the most. It seems that in each of the ride vehicles will include a flat screen pannel for each of the riders in the vehicle. So, if you have been on it, each vehicle has four seats. Therefore, there will be four monitors. As you are going through the ride, you are going to be given a series of choices of what your idea of the future is going to look like. As you make these choices throughout the ride a computer is building your idea of the future and storing it into its memory bank. Then, if it isn't already interesting enough, at the end of the ride, your monitor (or something in it) actually takes a face scan of you and stores it into it's computer bank. Then, when you get off the ride there are going to be many kiosks set up all around Project Tomorrow for you to go and get a print off or an actual view of you in your version of the future. It kind of blew my mind as they were talking about it but with Disney I will never say never. So, that's where SE stands. Now, whether they were feeding me a bunch of nonsense or not, I cannot be sure, but it sure did sound like he knew what he was talking about.
So, after many thanks and goodbyes, I headed off (late) to meet mom and dad. After telling them about my adventure, we headed off to The Seas, again, to ride the clams and catch a show with Crush. Man he is funny!!
Well, after that, we decided to walk around WS, again, and began our snacking around the world. Again, the weather was not being super cooperative but it had cooled off the evening nicely and had limited the number of people walking around WS.
After our snacking around the world we headed off to MouseGear to pick up our last little bit of stuff (fine alot of stuff) and head back to The Swan for our final night in our heavenly beds.
To see the pics, please, for the last time, click here (http://picasaweb.google.com/brettyoung321/WDWJuly10th2007)!
The next morning we got up, checked out, headed over to DTD for a quick breakfast at Earl of Sandwich (yes, they are open for breakfast and make good breakfast sandwiches) and then head to the airport for our 1:10 flight to Minneapolis.
Now, here I sit and realizing that, "hey, I just spent a week in WDW...where did the time go." Well the time did fly by. As always, the magic is still there! However, the magic was missing one element. If you have kept up with the reports, you know that Beckie was not here with us this year. Yes, she was missed. The part when I realized that "OH MY WORD she isn't here" was yesterday when we were on RNRC at the MGM. If you ever see a guy and a girl walking along and belting whatever Aerosmith song is on the speaker at that time, most likely it was us. Then, when I got into the limo and looked beside me it just didn't feel right. Don't get me wrong, I still loved the ride (I got to ride it twice in a row..come on now) but yes not having my sister there made a difference.:cry: If I am going to be totally honest, I missed her on any screaming ride!
Some people still say to me, "Why do you go all the time to WDW? Honestly Brett, you should try going here, here, and here. You need to get out there and experience other places." Fine! Maybe I do, but now I am going to start asking the question back to these people, "Have you ever been to Disney World before?" I think it is more of those people that haven't that ask that question. I know, in my heart, I will never be one of those people that will be able to sit on a beach, gamble at the slots, view nature from a distance, or go do something extreme. Once a year I love to go to a place that I am familiar with and that I know I can go to have a guaranteed amount of fun. I can go to a place that has limitless options of activities for me to participate in. Most of all, I am going to a place where I know I can go and reconnect with my family again.
Next year, whether it be in March or in in July, I get to make that special trip with my mom, dad, and sister again. But this time, it will be MORE special because now we get to share the magic with two people that have come into our family.
Kevin (brother-in-law) who has never been to WDW before. I will say this, he has been such a trooper. He knew way before he married Beckie that we were OBSESSED with Disney. He has sat through a few years of Intercot discussions, resort discussions, vacation videos, and pictures. If there is anyone that deserves to visit this place for the first time ever, it is HIM!! It is time for him to experience this place with us and we can't wait to see the expression on his face when he sees this place for the first time.
Of course if you have been following the reports, you know the second person is little Chloe (my sweet niece). Even though she will just be under or just over a year old, we cannot wait to have her here with us. We know that there is no way she will get much out of it, but just to have her here, to get those pictures, to watch her interact with this place and the characters will be memories we will cherish forever! Plus, do you know how spoiled that girl is going to be? I'm guessing...ummmm...very!! We even started planning before this trip for our next trip when she will be here. This trip was "Oh maybe she will like that or maybe that will be too loud for her." Plus there won't be any baby clothes when you folks go down there for your trips because we brought it all back with us! :mickey::blush: Just Kidding!
Well folks, that's it for another year! Next year will be amazing. I hope you can all joing us next year for "Chloe and Kevin's 1st Adventure in WDW."
Until next yer, I hope you all have a Disney day!:mickey:
!