SDC's 2018 Project(s) and Park Developments

sanddunerider · March 13, 2018, 07:48:04 AM

Quote from: Swoosh on March 12, 2018, 10:21:36 PM
Added another photo. The queue looks great

It does look great, I did expect a bigger piece in the middle, rather than the hanging clocks....

BUT it looks good, and we all knew it would when they were finished.

mhguy77 · March 13, 2018, 08:40:27 AM

QuoteIt does look great, I did expect a bigger piece in the middle, rather than the hanging clocks....

BUT it looks good, and we all knew it would when they were finished.

Do the cogs and belts move? I was expecting more than this as well. I wonder if the costs of Valley Road ate up the decore fund. While looking at pics of the track the other day I noted some footers that had nothing attached, I wonder if they went through with the decor in the valley as shown in the artwork. If temps are nice next week
I will try to go up on a weekday to check this out.

sanddunerider · March 13, 2018, 09:38:30 AM

Quote from: mhguy77 on March 13, 2018, 08:40:27 AM
I wonder if the costs of Valley Road ate up the decore fund.
I will try to go up on a weekday to check this out.

Doubt if Valley road would have any effect... I am sure all the decorations were ordered early in the project.. And cost overun, IF any would just be additional cost and handled accordingly.

Good luck on weekday trip... PICS!!

kbosch1 · March 13, 2018, 11:15:40 AM

FYI....Sir Willow is live on YouTube with Press conference right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM2lr9PoDu0

shavethewhales · March 13, 2018, 11:42:47 AM

The station ~~appears to be very underwhelming~~ (actually the live stream just doesn't show the lower station off very well, see the following discussion). There's the cool clocks and gears on the upper level, but the bottom floor that was supposed to be the "clock shop" is empty. Looks like they decided to cut the theming budget and pack more queue space in. Perhaps they know that in a few years that level won't be used much anyway...

I mean, it doesn't even look like there's any of the typical signage or anything. Did they just not get it done in time and more is coming later?

The ride sign appears to be in front of Thunderation? You can see TNT's diminished sign off to the lower right in most photos. Or did the Thunderation queue move over? It's hard to tell from the glances I have been able to take at the live streams.

Meh, theming wise this has been mostly disappointing compared to past efforts, but hopefully it's a good ride. Curious to hear the reviews coming in tomorrow. I'm sure the media riding today will talk it up either way.

shavethewhales · March 13, 2018, 11:55:39 AM

It looks like the actual loading station has some neat spinning cog effects. The lowest level has nothing, and the second level has that one little wall and the hanging clocks.

Thinking over it more, I do think it comes down to them not expecting them to use that lower space much in the long term. A lot of that Wildfire theming is probably considered wasted effort since people only see it a few days a year.

Swoosh · March 13, 2018, 12:48:49 PM

Quote from: shavethewhales on March 13, 2018, 11:42:47 AM
The station appears to be very underwhelming. There's the cool clocks and gears on the upper level, but the bottom floor that was supposed to be the "clock shop" is empty. Looks like they decided to cut the theming budget and pack more queue space in. Perhaps they know that in a few years that level won't be used much anyway...

I mean, it doesn't even look like there's any of the typical signage or anything. Did they just not get it done in time and more is coming later?

The ride sign appears to be in front of Thunderation? You can see TNT's diminished sign off to the lower right in most photos. Or did the Thunderation queue move over? It's hard to tell from the glances I have been able to take at the live streams.

Meh, theming wise this has been mostly disappointing compared to past efforts, but hopefully it's a good ride. Curious to hear the reviews coming in tomorrow. I'm sure the media riding today will talk it up either way.

I know this is your board, but how about you wait to see it person before casting shade on the theming.

chittlins · March 13, 2018, 01:14:46 PM

Quote from: shavethewhales on March 12, 2018, 03:51:26 PM
When Outlaw Run first opened, the line went through the entire queue, including the overflow directly in front of the station that has since been taken out. It wound down all the way past The Giant Swing from what I've been told. People have been known to wait 4+ hours to try out a new coaster. I remember waiting at least a couple hours myself during that first year.

I am sure this will be much the same. There's been a ton of publicity on this ride with people from around the world writing about it. I would not be surprised if the line goes all the way to the main square this weekend. I will be in it, and I'll probably be live-updating our FB page about the experience.

Most of the afternoon yesterday when I checked, Flight of Passage was 240 mins plus. It's not really new anymore.
We are going to suffer a Disney timeshare pitch immediately after the cruise for an extra 3 FPs for a total of 6 next Monday at WDW.

I'll compare this to Baron at efteling next year and see if the added money for a preshow would actually be worth it.

shavethewhales · March 13, 2018, 01:16:38 PM

^^This isn't TPR, we can be at least a little critical here. I like to stay positive and don't plan to bitch too much, but it's pretty obvious that there isn't a whole lot of theming compared to past efforts. It's more like Wild Eagle than Wildfire, but at least the actual loading area looks nice. I was simply expecting more after all this build-up. I'll have to watch the video from the big reveal ceremony again to be sure, but I was sure there was a lot more mentioned about the theming that clearly isn't there.

Perhaps it does look a lot better in person though, that is usually the case.

At the end of the day, the ride is the important part, and I am sure they have a winner here. I understand cost overruns, and it's clear they had to cut back significantly on some of the non-essentials due to the effort of building in such a difficult location. Hopefully they can come back later and add a little more detailing, though I know that is very unlikely.

Swoosh · March 13, 2018, 01:22:49 PM

Go watch the video just posted of the walk through of the queue. It is on par (if not even better) than the other queues at the park. Definitely more themed than Outlaw Run. It honestly reminds me some of Lightning Run

chittlins · March 13, 2018, 01:23:41 PM

Quote from: shavethewhales on March 13, 2018, 01:16:38 PM
^^This isn't TPR, we can be at least a little critical here. I like to stay positive and don't plan to bitch too much, but it's pretty obvious that there isn't a whole lot of theming compared to past efforts. It's more like Wild Eagle than Wildfire, but at least the actual loading area looks nice. I was simply expecting more after all this build-up. I'll have to watch the video from the big reveal ceremony again to be sure, but I was sure there was a lot more mentioned about the theming that clearly isn't there.

Perhaps it does look a lot better in person though, that is usually the case.

At the end of the day, the ride is the important part, and I am sure they have a winner here. I understand cost overruns, and it's clear they had to cut back significantly on some of the non-essentials due to the effort of building in such a difficult location. Hopefully they can come back later and add a little more detailing, though I know that is very unlikely.

I'm still bummed there's no show building mid course.

shavethewhales · March 13, 2018, 01:27:51 PM

Quote from: Swoosh on March 13, 2018, 01:22:49 PM
Go watch the video just posted of the walk through of the queue. It is on par (if not even better) than the other queues at the park. Definitely more themed than Outlaw Run. It honestly reminds me some of Lightning Run

I hope that's true. I would certainly love to be wrong about this and have egg on my face (again). I've just been watching the SDC livestream and didn't see much when he was walking through.

Watch some of SirWillow's stream, and Brad talked about the theming again and even gave a run through of the story and characters... so am I just not seeing it? Maybe just a bad angle on the stream?

I will say that the big elements of theming like the station cogs and the main ride sign out front are awesome.

shavethewhales · March 13, 2018, 01:33:19 PM

OK, now I'm seeing it: there are at least a couple thematic displays right as you enter the actual building. The guy doing the SDC stream barely pointed the camera at them for a second. The rest of the queue area down there that you can see behind him is pretty sparse, and that's what I was seeing originally. There are also a lot of blank walls throughout. I guess it's quality vs. quantity, and the big things to look at are concentrated in various areas.

So Swoosh is right, I should probably see it for myself before commenting too much. Lol, not the first time I've jumped the gun with my criticism, but I do have high expectations that they usually meet.

chittlins · March 13, 2018, 01:49:53 PM

Quote from: shavethewhales on March 13, 2018, 01:33:19 PM
OK, now I'm seeing it: there are at least a couple thematic displays right as you enter the actual building. The guy doing the SDC stream barely pointed the camera at them for a second. The rest of the queue area down there that you can see behind him is pretty sparse, and that's what I was seeing originally. There are also a lot of blank walls throughout. I guess it's quality vs. quantity, and the big things to look at are concentrated in various areas.

So Swoosh is right, I should probably see it for myself before commenting too much. Lol, not the first time I've jumped the gun with my criticism, but I do have high expectations that they usually meet.

After seeing a non spinning pov

#1) first drop should have been into a cave

#2) should have been at leadt one show building at first launch

#3) I don't think it spins enough and I hurl on tilt a whirls and tea cups

shavethewhales · March 13, 2018, 01:56:57 PM

Yeah, the outside stuff would have been nice, but we knew that stuff was already cut - if it ever even was planned originally beyond the initial concept art. As long as there's some decent theming somewhere I'm happy.

I just shared some great photos from the Theme Park Digest page on our FB page. There are at least a couple extra walls on the second level that are really cool. All together it is a really nice effort overall and indeed better than the one spot of good theming at Outlaw Run.

Someday I'll learn to hold my tongue before I experience it myself, but the advent of all these live streams makes it feel like you are seeing it all ahead of time.

The reviews so far are very positive, and a lot of people are saying that the launches are surprisingly fun.