The Woo-Hoo? Post

This week was the first week that the new Simpson’s ride is open to the public. Part of a soft-opening before the grand opening next month, the ride is already pulling in large crowds to check it out. Bruce and I stopped by yesterday to give it a whirl, and while it was an enjoyable ride and pretty funny, the whole thing failed to really strike a chord with me. I just had an overwhelming sense of ‘this is just Back to the Future with a new coat of paint’ and despite the massive Imax screen and moving vehicle-seats, I never felt like I was doing anything more than watching a Simpson’s movie while my chair wiggled. Waiting in line was pretty cool though (as cool as waiting like a lemming can be I suppose). There where flat panel TVs each with a different character on them placed in walls and behind stands that made it look like the character was actually there talking to you. Its kind of weird sounding, but works really well. The ride doesn’t take itself as seriously as many others do and pokes fun at theme park food prices, gift shop placement and queue lines, as well as even taking a few jabs at Disney and SeaWorld, which also helps take the edge off the wait. Simpson’s fans won’t be disappointed though, the whole experience drips with Springfield’s finest and their accompanying sense of humor and the production values are clearly high. I just wish they did something other than a verbatim theme-swap from the old attraction. Maybe being around theme parks has jaded me and turned me into a ride-snob. I hope so, because I really want to like this ride a lot more than I did after my initial spin. D’oh.

The Pass Post

Due my recent need to be in the parks more and more for various projects, I was issued a Walk-On ID pass for Universal today. The pass allows me to walk onto Universal property to work on our various projects. While the pass is nothing particularly revered (thousands upon thousands of Universal employees, affiliates and vendors are issued them) it’s a big deal to me, as it’s proof that I’m getting to be a part of bigger and better projects at work. I’ve already been included in many off site meetings with creative, mechanical and architectural teams as well, and with the future looking ripe with exciting new projects and collaborations with the park, I am sure this pass will get a lot of use. Plus it looks pretty damn sexy around my neck. Man I am so important!!

The Little Brother Post

Jake visited me down here this past weekend for a short but sweet visit that we have both been looking forward to for a while. This was the first time he’d flown solo and I got the sense he was a little nervous, but he did fine and arrived with little issue (besides crazy people on his flight, but that’s his story to tell).

We had a great time hanging out, catching up, playing Xbox and going to theme parks. We hit Disney on Saturday and put a sizable dent in all 4 parks before putting a dent in some bangers and mash at the Rose and Crown restaurant in Epcot. I’ve never gotten the chance to eat at the pub before, only drink in the front area, so it was really nice to be able to get a reservation in early and plan around the meal (which was delicious incidentally).

Sunday we hit the Universal Parks and met up with Bruce and Stacy. Had a blast running about the parks trying out some of the rides Jake hadn’t had a chance to check out yet, plus all the classic coasters he loves. I went on Ripsaw Falls for the first time and got absolutely soaked. Unfortunately we waited till the end of the day to give it a whirl, so the sun was all but vacant when we needed it the most, and we stood around shivering and dripping wet until we made it to the gift shop to get some drier clothes. On a hot summer’s day the ride would be awesome. But in 50-degree January weather….not so much. we filled our faces with far to much food with the 'Meal Deal' plan they have at the parks (pay once eat whenever you want at specified locations). I don't want another cheeseburger for a year.

Took Jake back to the airport this morning before work. Shame to see him head back so soon, but nice to know he had as much fun hanging out with his brother as I did.

The Grinch Returns Post

Universal Studios is brining back its seasonal celebration “Grinchmas” at Islands of adventure this year. The event features a holiday parade, some themed shows and Christmassy decorations throughout the park. The star attraction though is that the mean green one himself is available for a character photo with guests. The picture is taken by our company in front of a green screen that has some artwork I drew up for the event superimposed behind the photo. I would have through that getting to work on these sort of projects would have lost its luster with me, but over a year of working here, they still get me excited. Grinchmas is a pretty big deal for Universal this time of year and its just cool to see billboards and television commercials advertising a character photo that I had a hand in. If you get a change to make it out that way say hey to old Grinchy for me.

The Colchester Vistors Post

Childhood friend Melanie, from the UK visited this weekend as one of her stops on a tour across America. She’s travelling with a buddy of hers; Craig, and has so far been to New York City, somewhere in Ohio, Boston and Texas. They where only in Orlando for four days before they head on to San Diego. While they were here I tried to show them different aspects of town; we hit Millenia’s BJ Brewhouse for some awesome food; Minigolfed on I-Drive, hit a few malls and the Van’s Skatepark, and went downtown to some of the more eclectic bars like Spybar and Independent. I think they had a good time. Yesterday they did an all-day-er at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. Stuck around late for Halloween Horror Nights, which they said, was really good. All in all I think they had a pretty decent trip, albeit a small stop on a long list of many. It was weird to be playing host in my new apartment though having just been there for a week myself.

The Advance Screaming Post

Halloween is in the air and its time again for Universal Studio’s to put on their Halloween Horror Nights event. The park is transformed at nightfall into a creepy carnival featuring haunted houses, eerie actors and long lines. Tonight was the employees only advance showing of the event for this year and I got to go thanks to the awesome efforts of Rich and Henry at the office. Unfortunately I was seemingly unable to coordinate the other people who where going and ended up toughing the night out solo. While there is a lot to do and see and some really cool effects and scares to be had, it definitely loses something having to do it on your own. I saw a lot, but not nearly everything, and look forward to going again on a regular night with Sarah when she is down for Halloween next month.

This year’s theming was much more impressive than last year’s and overall it was a better production. Featuring characters like Leatherface, Freddy Kruger and Jason and some awesome carnival creepiness the whole park really came off a lot better than last year’s attempt. Unfortunately the food wasn’t free this time, and there where no light up glasses with interesting beers (beer came in plastic cups and was limited to Bud only). The Bill and Ted show had its wings clipped noticeably from last year’s raucous show, though still posed a few good pop-culture oriented jabs. Unfortunately it kept falling back to making fun of Britney Spears (though the ‘leave Britney alone’ audio was classic). They where forbidding any and all photography and filming during the show this time too which is a bummer. But any show featuring a phone booth transformer-ing into Optimus Prime while Leonidus the Spartan tosses javelins at Lindsey Lohan is ok in my book.

The Advancement Post

This week was a bit of a ride for me at work, but one that ultimately paid off in the end. I’ll be able to move into a nicer area and start to save some money each month (finally). Had dinner with Bruce and his buddy Greg at CityWalk last night before catching the team-member only, advance screening of Bourne Ultimatum (see review below). This weekend it will be time to kick the apartment search into high gear and hopefully lock down something for the 1^st of October. Monday will be an interesting day as I’ll be taking Bruce’s place at the Universal creative meeting while he is in California for Siggraph.

The Potter Park Post

Concerning something I mentioned a few weeks back, Universal’s Studios officially announced today that Island’s Of Adventure will receive a “seventh island” based off of the Harry Potter franchise. Harry Potter Wizard World- as it is tentatively titled will be a recreation of Hogsmeade, a small magical town that lies at the base of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry (which will be the new islands main attraction. The new location will lie between Jurassic Park and the Lost Continent and will acquire land from each, plus a lot of currently unused land neighboring an employee parking lot behind the park. The ‘island’ will be over 20 acres, which is the biggest island by a fair margin, and will feature many rides and attractions themed off of the Harry Potter universe. The set designer for all of the films will head the project. Though not officially announced at this point, the Erlando Sentinel thinks it is very likely that Dueling Dragons and the Flying Unicorn will receive complete overhauls and will be acquired from the Lost Continent by the new area. Concept sketches and models are on the cover of today’s paper, and from the looks of things this is going to be absolutely fantastic. Groundbreaking on the project begins late this summer with the new section currently scheduled for a 2009 opening.

The Week O'Ferrara Post

This past week Eric has been here in Orlando. It’s been great to see him and I’m glad he finally made a trip down here. Coincidentally a buddy of his was in town also as well as a friend from college so it was a productive trip for him on the social front. I pooled my recourses at the office to snag some tickets to Disney and Universal during Eric’s stay, and while he wasn’t keen to go on as many rides as I would have liked, we had a great time exploring all the different parks and seeing all there was to see.

We hit Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure on Saturday then followed up with all four Disney parks on Sunday. Got some great food at Mythos, which was a first for me (the #1 rated theme park resultant for six years running). Epcot was awesome as always, wandering about the world showcase and checking out the German beergarten in particular. We caught ‘pirates at Citywalk on Friday and hit a few of the clubs there as well as grabbed dinner at the Hard Rock with Marlow and Antoinette. Somewhere out there, there is footage of Eric “repping the V” with light-up LED teeth (an early birthday present) so keep your eyes peeled and let me know.

The rest of the week was filled with random trips about town, checking out places like Millennia, Tijuana Flats and the Ale house and a lot of poorly orchestrated Davy Jones/debutant voice impressions for whatever reason.

Yesterday we went to Medieval times, which is a longtime favorite and family tradition of ours. Eric had never been, and I hadn’t visited in a fair few years. We were stuck with the yellow knight, who regrettably wath slain posthaste, but we cheered the hell out of him (and his horse) regardless. Any place where you can chug beer, eat half a chicken with your hands and yell statements as ridiculous as “I like your ponytail…I was being sarcastic!” (credit Eric Ferrara) I ok in my book.

All in all it was a fun week, and while we didn’t get to any beaches or downtown bars it was awesome to have Eric around, and I think he enjoyed himself as much as I did.

The Simpsons Ride Post

So it is official now, after long being rumored and pretty much expected at this point the new ride that will replace Universal Studios recently retired Back To The Future Ride is… The Simpsons. The ride will utilized the previously existing screens and cars for BTTF but with a total Simpsons makeover and up to date technology to create a whole new experience. Set in the Krusty Land theme park the ride will most likely poke fun at theme parks from within a theme park. Promising for the Simpson’s fans out there (and everyone who got leg bruises from Back to the Future’s spastic jolting). The new article that announced the ride also hinted at the possible addition of a Harry Potter themed ride.

Harry Potter has been tied to Disney, Universal, and a few other parks in the ongoing battle to procure the rights and build an attraction. Rumors have been flying back and forth for over a year now as to which park will eventually book the license. You can read up on in at the industry insider blog Screamscape if you so care. Imagine though.. that would be pretty freaking sweet. Re-brand ‘Dragons as a broomstick themed ride, maybe a Quiddich match. Turn Mythos restaurant into Lumos or the Leaky Cauldron…. Sorry I realize that not everyone is a fan, but yeah, I’m stoked to see where this goes.

The Saturday Post

Meant to get this up sooner, but figured spending time with Sarah was more important that writing about spending time with her.

Sarah and I scored some free tickets to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure this weekend from my buddy Craig. We hit the parks early on Saturday and blew through ‘Studios in a couple of hours. We hit all the good rides (Mummy, Men in Black etc) and managed to sneak in a trip on Back to the Future, which incidentally is being closed down to make way for a new ride in 2 weeks. We got all our ride photos for free as well cus…well you know…I got the hook up. I think I got quite obnoxious wandering the parks commenting on how I never usually have to wait in lines and random facts about the park. Sarah put up with me though, which I am appreciative of.

Lunchtime came and we hit Citywalk, eating at Margaritaville which was pretty awesome surprisingly. Had me a Landshark Lager (which I am determined to make my new beer) and a crab cake sandwich. Both were excellent. Sarah enjoyed her veggie-mushroom-thingy too, so all went well.

Next up was Islands, which was loads of fun. Did Spiderman and both the Dueling Dragons before it started to belt rain. Hoped inline for Hulk ‘cus the wait was 20 min and it was indoors, hoping to ride out the rain…nope. We rode it in the POURING rain and got absolutely saturated. The rain was beating down so hard it actually hurt to open your eyes. Fun times. Soggy. But fun times.

Later that night, after a nice nap and a good shower, we met up with Buck and Lola downtown for some Thai. Never eaten at a Thai place before, so it was a bit of an adventure for me. I tried the red curry with shrimp and chicken, after a recommendation from some of Buck’s DJ friends who ate with us. I really enjoyed it and think I might try whipping it up here sometime. After dinner we hit Crooked Bayou for a drink then headed to Suite B to see the aforementioned DJ friend running his set. Didn’t stick around for long because I was knackered after a long day.

The Ride Photo Post

Here are a few ride photos from Universal the other day. My favorite is probably the Hulk, though the Men In Black shot is pretty humorous. It was a great trip, hardly felt like work at all.

The Second Shoot Post

Friday we had a pretty cushy day at the office. And by at the office I mean at the theme park. We spent the whole day running about riding various rides and posing for photographs, all on company time. Got a free lunch out of the deal too at the employee cafeteria on the studio back lot, which was pretty cool. On one ride (Men In Black Alien Attack) we were supposed to pose with the laser guns (it’s a target shooting game but in a moving car) away from our faces and looking forward, but the guy who was next to me (some guy who worked at the park) kept holding his gun gangster style and allover his face. I kept yelling at him to put it down lower, but he ignored me. So come time for the photo I’m reaching across pushing his gun down and yelling at him. It makes for an amusing photo, but unfortunately and unusable one. I’ll post the actual ride photos when I can get at them (they are saved somewhere on the server at work), but until then you can enjoy my little clip show of shots I took while we were there.