ROTM 5/21/04 AP Event.. a review

[Dznefreek]

A few highlights. . . . . . .

I arrived at the park at 7:00 pm only to find out that they were making everyone who was there for the evening festivities stay outside the gates (which were closed until 8:00 pm) while all of the day guests were filtered out of the park.

Jimmy Neutron, Shrek, Twister, and Revenge of the Mummy were all open. Monster's Cafe, Finnegans, and a few other shops in the area were open.

The single rider lines was opened and closed sporadically. People were filling it rather than wait in the regular line which went from 15, 45, 75, 90, to 60 minute waits. Shrek, Twister, and Jimmy Neutron were a constant 15 minute wait.

The first time through was 6 minutes from entry to load platform. When I went back outside the line was all the way down to Shrek. Since I was alone I employed a strategy which allowed me to ride 12 times in 90 mins. I think most of you know what that is. I did go through the single rider line once; it took 20 minutes.

They were checking AP's at the ride entrance for a bit and also making sure there were no bags, back-packs, etc. brought on to the ride. A lot of people were mad that they stood in the line approaching ROTM only to be told they needed to put there stuff in a locker.

Several "plus size" guests were upset that there were no test chairs in front of the ride. If there were, they misssed them. I don't believe there are any. Several times I saw people get in the ride and then have to get out due to the restraints. I felt bad for them.

There was a DJ across the street and a large video screen showing the first movie.

 

[hotveggy]

there are test chairs in front of the ride. they were to the right of the main entrance when we were there may 17-21.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

Thanks for the review, Dznefreak.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Well I'm a plus sized rider I saw seats the other day but went on without testing and I was fine. I'm a size 22/24 and shrinking!

 

[palmbeachguy]

I actually thought the preview sucked. I went yesterday, Friday, and stayed at Portofino. With my room key I rode tons of times. For preview I was in the park by 7, and they let us stay in the park. They opened the line up at 7:30 and let us halfway through. At 8 they opened it fully. I was very unimpressed with not allowing our fast passes to work. The wait got up to 90 mins and we decided to wait til today to ride it.

Just a note, at 9 this morning the mummy was down technical. They were announcing it as we were walking in so we went to Islands instead. I believe it opened a little later.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. So will the mummy have express/FOTL access? If so, when does it start?

 

[palmbeachguy]

It already has express access....It didn't have it for the annual pass preview

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Express is only valid during normal operating hours.

 

[highlander447]

Thanks for the review

 

[damo]

We only stayed long enough to ride Mummy once and do Shrek once. The line was up to 70 minute wait. It seemed pretty stupid to wait in line when I could ride it the next day with a very short wait.

On Saturday the express line wait was up to about 40 minutes with regular line being 70 minutes. On Sunday we didn't wait more than five minutes with regular line being about 45 minutes.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Thanks for the info!

 

[BarryHom]

I was there too! We took a crowd of 14 in at around 7:45. We were in the queue before 8, when the line started moving. We all got an onride photo that I will post soon.

The Mummy line was about 30-90 minutes all night. Shrek and Jimmy Neutron seemed to hover around 15 minutes. Twister was half full.

 

[Minniespal]

Great review ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Seahag]

We were in line around 7:30, got out around 8:15 & there was a 115 minute wait!!!



*Barry - if any of the "scarab" footage makes it to a video, I must have a copy! Especially if it includes Fly-Fly screaming!!!!!*



haggy (who, for Damos information, is a girl!)

 

[coopscs]

We were in line at 7:45 Sunday night as well. We rode the ride twice in 30 minutes....THEN the fateful third ride was crazy. The whole ride shut down while we were at the very top, right after the bug room. The guy said we stopped on the last set of brakes. We were at the top of the building, on that very steep incline where it shoots you into the full coaster part. When they turned on the lights, we could see the Kong track. We had to climb out and go down a ton of stairs. They led us around the backlot and stuck everyone in Express to wait. I had hoped to leave around 9 so, when they said they didn't know what time it would reopen, we left. I'm just glad we weren't stuck in the fire room, like a few guests I spoke with. WOW, talk about the Mummy Curse!

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

Originally posted by Seahag


*Barry - if any of the "scarab" footage makes it to a video, I must have a copy! Especially if it includes Fly-Fly screaming!!!!!*

Oh no!!!!! LOL!!!! That was horrible!!!

I had a lot of fun at the AP Event on Saturday, only went on Mummy once that time, but the dance floor was actually getting used...lots of stilt walker guys about, and everything....fun fun! Plus: NO SCARAB SCARES BY DARK MARAUDER!!!!!!!! lol always a bonus!

 

[Dznefreek]

Did anyone other than me think the launch after the Scarab room felt jerky at times. It felt like it was speeding up/slowing down during the launch.

 

[Seahag]

Originally posted by Flyfly_Eclipse
Oh no!!!!! LOL!!!! That was horrible!!!

NO way !! That was the best !!!!

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

easy for you to say!! LOL You weren't the one with major bug phobia, who all of a sudden got attacked by a toy scarab!

 

[AV8R]

We are Passholders and did not make the special events for ROTM, but we did decide to take a "long weekend" and stay at Royal Pacific.

We rode ROTM 7 times, between Sunday and Monday. Using the Express Pass, we were able to get onto the ride pretty quick.

We have 3 daughters - 12, 10 and 7 - They all rode and loved it. I think it is a great ride, with good script and special effects that have potential - but need some tweaking. Having ridden it several times, back to back, I noticed some inconsistencies from one ride cycle to the next.

Some of the effects were present during one ride, that were missing in another - and some of the timing of the physical effects with the audio were slightly off - But I'm sure this is normal for a first week ride of this scale.

Also - The logistics in getting on the ride and off need major help.

Do not even think about trying to get on the ride with anything you can't put in your pocket. They will make you rent (even though free_ a locker for everything.....fanny-packs, back-packs, gift bags, etc.

Although we used our Express Pass, so we were able to get on within 10 minutes of entering the building - It took longer (every time) to rent a locker and get it back out than it did to proceed within the building and ride the ride.

The bottle necks are major in front of the attraction. People (foreign AND domestic) are CLUELESS when it comes to how to operate the lockers. And, of course, you have to wait in line in utter frustration while waiting your turn to rent a locker. I think we pretty much saw it all in the 2 days we were there.....The finger scan REALLY throws them off.......

Anyhow, this is definitely a must-see attraction. I Think Spiderman has it beat on the effects and creativity and The Hulk has it beat as an all out thrill ride. But, it is right up there.

I'm new to these threads, so I hope this helps some.

Have Fun!!