E.T. - Most Underrated Attraction?

[tinkerdorabelle]

I LOVE ET!

 

[cieslack]

/

 

[Friendly Frog]

I think ET is a cute ride, but it is really the queue that is the best. That smell and feeling of being outdoors is great! I think they should keep it but do a little update and drop the part of getting your name at the door ( if they still do that) it slows the line down too much.

 

[JulieSharp]

Our autistic son loves ET and always wants to go on it again and again.

 

[n2mm]

We also enjoy this ride and rode it about 2 weeks ago. Sadly, it really needs some tending loving care. The "passports" are so beat up and throughout the ride you can hear ET saying the names before the bikes arrive. I've not heard our names in the last 6 times we rode it. We are AP holders for US/IOA and it is sad that US doesn't keep up with the maintenance of some of these great rides. I have a wonderful picture of my GD on the Seuss/carosel and it would be a better picture if all of the paint wasn't chipped and worn away on the "creature" she was on.

 

[disneyfan67]

I like the ride myself and it just needs some updating in certain places like what Chris had mentioned. I like the feel of entering the woods and it looks pretty realistic, especially when you see some of the older dark rides at the Magic Kingdom. For example Snow White's Scary Adventures has wooden cut outs of trees and is just so cheesy looking. Just update ET the ride in places and it should keep entertaining people for years to come.

 

[Metro West]

I like the ride myself and it just needs some updating in certain places like what Chris had mentioned. I like the feel of entering the woods and it looks pretty realistic, especially when you see some of the older dark rides at the Magic Kingdom. For example Snow White's Scary Adventures has wooden cut outs of trees and is just so cheesy looking. Just update ET the ride in places and it should keep entertaining people for years to come.

 

[ChrisFL]

I remember the first time I went on it...spring 1990...it was amazing and the one thing that stood out was the audio...it really sounded like the people in the forest were right there...I thought at first it was the people behind me on the ride who were yelling!

 

[Flyin2MCO]

It's a classic and hope it stays but, as others have said, they need to drop the whole passport and ET calling (or trying to) out your name thing at the end. Maybe something generic like "thank you, friends".

Also, there is no excuse for the tube TVs out in the front queue....update with some flat screen LCDs. Same goes for any ride area with tube TVs.

 

[disneyfan67]

It's a classic and hope it stays but, as others have said, they need to drop the whole passport and ET calling (or trying to) out your name thing at the end. Maybe something generic like "thank you, friends".

Also, there is no excuse for the tube TVs out in the front queue....update with some flat screen LCDs. Same goes for any ride area with tube TVs.

What you wrote makes a lot of sense. You do end up wasting a lot of time in the waiting que with the TM entering names. I agree scrap that part of the ride, touch up the ride scenes and update the audio and tv's.

"Thank you, friends, and enjoy your journey", would be better than to try and listen to all the names being read off.

 

[brenda1966]

I wonder if all of us E.T. fans should write to US and tell them how much we love the ride. Once they are finished with Harry Potter, maybe they could spend a bit of time sprucing up E.T. I really fear they will replace it with something else, like they did in California.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Just be sure to express that you want ET to stay. Otherwise if they get a lot of letters asking ET to be updated, they might take that as a signal that it is time for it to go.

 

[xApril]

I think Steven Spielberg wouldn't be very happy if Universal got rid of E.T..

I think they had some kind of agreement where they wouldn't get rid of it from Florida.

 

[MarilIncredible]

I always thought the second half of the ride was some creative-type's interpretation of an acid trip, right down to the music.

The [indoor] queueing area is really amazing, though.

 

[jarrdisney]

Ahhh the smell. ET and Jaws are our two faves!

 

[Josh Hendy]

I really like ET. I consider it, Peter Pan and Spaceship Earth to be the best dark rides in Orlando. The secret sauce is the extra 3D element of going up and down, flying through space, etc. Because of their flat layout, other dark rides like Pooh and Cat in the Hat just can't compete. (I would however put interactive rides like Buzz Ranger and MiB in a different category.)

Peter Pan has cheap-looking painted sets and figures, but there is one thing it has that really beats ET - the moving headlights on the cars! I heard on a podcast that those are nothing but dots of glowing paint on bicycle chains. Cool

Other posters have raised all the points I could think of about ET - the preshow is boring, the inside queue is the greatest, the audioanimatronics (or mannequins) need work, ET's planet is bizarre, like visiting a department store Christmas display on acid (er, I mean, like what I *imagine* that would be like ), and ET hardly ever seems to get anyone's names right.

If I had a couple of mil and was told to fix the ride, I would redesign ET's planet. It should be more earthy and homey feeling, like the forest scene at the beginning but with alien touches. That would explain why ET was so happy visiting earth and collecting plants, because it reminded him of his home. The cedar/spruce smell of the earth forest could be replaced on ET's planet with something a little more exotic, like sandalwood or some other far eastern or african wood smell, which to the average North American nose would be alien and exotic. Some unusual, exotic but real-looking plants could be added, not too freaky like the Little Shop of Horrors, just unusual. Sort of like Endor without the teddy bears. George Lucas may be frightful at coming up with offensive stereotype aliens, but he's absolutely a genius at designing believable alien planets.