Sunday, November 24, 2013

1.11 - #PrayForEE


THIS WEEK OF INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE PRESENTS
  • Lockheed/Universal/whomever land rezoning, acquisition, or whatever is happening now
  • Lorax is dead, long live Kong!
  • Walt Disney movies
  • YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Email us at parkscopeblog at gmail dot com or follow us at ParkscopeParkscopeJoeCaptMichael87MrX_381, and/or Sean_Huckel.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Breaking News: New Theme Park Coming to Orlando?

It's late, true believers, but here we are. Tonight, the UOR Buzz Twitter account tweeted that Universal City Property Management III LLC was planning to build a new theme park, a 663 room hotel, and a new, large retail area on land in Orlando. The company was once under the main Universal brand and managed the old plot of land that was once owned by Lockheed. When Universal sold this land in the early 2000s, the company also changed hands. Below we can see the land.
As you can see, it's a significant plot, and has been proposed for quite a few uses. We're attempting to figure more things out as the story develops as well as discovering what the intent and who is behind this new development.

Stay tuned to @Parkscope for more as it develops.

Monday, November 18, 2013

1.10: Kübler-Ross



Joe, Mike, and Nick brew a local craft harvest ale of theme park news and opinions. This week...
  • Univeral's new food options
  • Projector upgrades
  • Rumors of new attractions and how to handle speculation
  • New Universal ads
  • California Grill vs Jiko as Nick and Joe battle it out
  • Sid's eviction
  • Imagination's seasonal death spiral
  • the nature of nostalgia and enabling
  • Denial
  • The People's Public of Princess Land (someone make this a tshirt please)
  • Soarin upgrades and additions
  • Georgie's comments at IAAPA about MyMagic+. 
Make sure to vote for our home, Orlando United, as the best theme park blog of the year this week at Behind the Thrills!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

UOR Permit Updates: New Projectors for Simpsons and Forbidden Journey

Big news from yesterday's update on the Orange County Comptroller site as we now know two rides will be getting brand new projectors installed soon.

First, in an ongoing effort to roll out Springfield in style, The Simpsons Ride, which opened in 2008, will receive new projectors. Personally, I think this is great, as an update has been necessary for this attraction in the audio/visual department since opening.
Next is an upgrade for Forbidden Journey, which continues to receive love this year. It's great to see Universal stay on top of the ball for this ride.
As always, stay tuned to @Parkscope and my personal twitter @Sean_Huckel for up to the minute updates. And don't forget about our podcast!


Monday, November 11, 2013

1.9: Jiggasaurus



Straight from our hearts to your ears, here is this weeks episode of iTunes NEW AND NOTEWORTHY PODCAST in the Places & Travel section! This week we cover...
  • Jingle Cruise
  • Carousel of Progress/Tomorrowland movie and theme park movies
  • Sean gets some Disney Springs info
  • Disney doesn't understand concepts such as 'co-op' and 'food truck'
  • DIAGON ALLEY MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE
  • The Forbidden Journey of legend
  • Voldemort is a stupid character to put in an attraction
  • All The Small Things (music in the parks, Billy Hill leaving)
  • Iger and Star Wars land
  • Jurassic Park at Islands of Adventure
  • Hunger Gamez and how WOW THAT'S REALLY DUMB
  • Your questions, our answers
  • Vote for Be Our Guest on the podcastawards.com!
  • Be a helper computer and rate us on iTunes. Stop all the downloadin'!
Email us at parkscopeblog at gmail dot com or follow us at ParkscopeParkscopeJoeCaptMichael87MrX_381, and/or Sean_Huckel.

Monday, November 4, 2013

1.8: Freakin Mustard


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This week Mike really takes over as Joe has the flu.
  • CityWalk's look and new pizza
  • Jurassic Park stuff
  • Joe takes NyQuil and writes the show notes
  • Misc Universal topics
  • Disney drinks, mustard, bogs, holiday parties, and #WaltStache
  • Vote for Be Our Guest on the podcastawards.com!
Email us at parkscopeblog at gmail dot com, follow us at Parkscope, ParkscopeJoe, CaptMichael87, MrX_381, and Sean_Huckel.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Sidebar - Book of Mormon-scope


TONIGHT! Joe talks about music, Mike discusses Mormons, and Nick and Sean are totally missing.

Joe and Mike discuss the Book of Mormon, the theme park connections, our reactions, opinions, and thoughts on this smash musical. Find tour stops and purchase tickets at http://www.bookofmormonbroadway.com/

If you're interested in seeing more sidebar podcasts that cover topics we enjoy, such as video games, movies, TV, musicals, music, and more, shoot us an email or tweet.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Tony Baxter Tours the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion

Title explains it all. Thanks for everything Mr Baxter, congrats on retirement and your window on Main Street.


Dynamic Attractions

While we were busy recording podcasts and asking you to rate them on iTunes (do it please), two videos from entertainment manufacturing company Dynamic Attractions (a subsidiary of Dynamic Structures) came to our attention from WDWMagic and friend of the site HatetoFly.

First, little history. Dynamic Attractions offers 'turn key' (aka complete system) solutions to amusement parks. Where as B&M focuses on roller coasters and Sally on dark rides, Dynamic Attractions focuses on automation and robotics ride systems. Previous systems include Test Track (and probably Radiator Springs Racers), Soarin' over California, and the train and video systems for Forbidden Journey (Kuka supplied the arms, just as they did for Sum of all Thrills and the Lego attractions.)

Enough of my rambling, watch these videos.


In the above video, HTF suggested points in video at 57 seconds and 1:36 time stamps are of note, which while not stated, implies the Kong attraction ride system. Note the displays (probably 4K) on Kuka arms.

While HTF focused on Kong, I'm interested in the 4:00 time stamp, which appears to be the rumored ride system for the Avatar E Ticket. The Motion Theater offers flat level loading that then tilts up into a video screen.


Whats more interesting and pertinent is the video above, which is a proof of concept for what many believe is the Gringotts ride system. The vehicle design matches the Theme Park Insider leaked documents, while HTF's rumored ride experiences match up with the dark ride segments and thrill moments. Of course the coaster segments are actually significantly less intense than depicted here, but you get the idea. Whats most interesting to me is the track segment that slides sideways and down a small hill, a take off of the Space Mountain at DLR's load system for disabled guests.

If you want to read more about Dynamic Attractions and their offering, read their brochure.