Disney: Ride of a Lifetime

Its not everyday that someone can advertise a destination as the place where "Dreams come true" and live up to it every step. I have been fortunate enough to visit both Disney World at Orlando as well as Disneyland (Euro Disney) at Paris and must say my experiences in the magical land of Disney have been nothing but amazing. The support staff there are truly helpful and courteous and the rides are out of this world. But what takes the cake is a magical piece of paper called the Fastpass. The Fastpass allows the visitors to come back to the ride at a later time and wait in a shorter queue rather than waiting in the regular queue where one could end up spending twice or thrice much as time as the Fastpass queue. Fastpass thus allows you to plan and take as many rides as possible without getting stalled at any one ride.

But how does Disney know how long would it take on a particular queue (Fastpass/Regular) for any particular ride. How does Disney measure the wait times such that visitors get a reliable idea of when they might come out when they take any particular ride? All these questions were answered when i entered the regular queue for the Space Mountain. As soon as i entered the queue the service staff representative there handed me a card which had the current time on it and asked me to hand it over to the Disney staff only at the time of getting on to the ride. I held onto the card throughout the time I was in the queue and handed it over to the service staff only when I was about to get onto the ride. Simple as it may sound this might just be one of the ways Disney might be using to measure the end-end turnaround times for different rides on the park. With my curiosity satisfied I just went on to have a wonderful day at the Disney Park with several fun rides. Here are some rides which you cannot miss if you are visiting Disney World at Orlando:

1) Expedition Everest - Disney's Animal Kingdom

2) The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - Disney's Hollywood Studios

3) Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (For all the series fans who want to have a real time feel of how the action unfolds on the screen) - Disney's Hollywood Studios

4) Splash Mountain - Disney's Magic Kingdom

5) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Disney's Magic Kingdom

6) Space Mountain - Disney's Magic Kingdom

Additionally while traveling from one park to another try different modes of transport. I took a
bus from Animal Kingdom to Hollywood Studios, a ferry from Hollywood Studios to Epcot and the monorail from Epcot to Magic Kingdom.

I guess I created a record of sorts or at least joined a select few when I visited all the four major Disney World Parks (Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Magic Kingdom) on the same day. Do drop in a line if you visited all of them on the same day like I did.

Wishing you nothing but fun in the land of dreams. May you garner memories, experiences, excitements, thrills, etc etc which will last a lifetime.

Yours Always,
J.J. Chaitanya

Comments

Zamarrud Theatre Hyderabad

More than two decades ago a 5 year old boy (yours truly) found himself in Abids which was certainly then the microcosm of Hyderabad. Abids in the 80s <Courtesy: OkaTeluguAbbayi > The occasion was a family outing to Zamarrud Cinema. And we are stepping out for not just any movie my friends, my parents decided that nothing less than the Raj Kapoor blockbuster Chori Chori was good enough for us. To be honest I wasn't exactly enthused about watching a black and white film of a bygone era even though the movie had all the credentials of a classic. But that was before I saw Zamarrud, the theatre where the movie was being played. Nested in the heart of Abids, Zamarrud was the perfect amalgamation of Hyderabad's old world charm and new fangled ways. Zamarrud was not just any theatre, it was one of the first air conditioned halls in Hyderabad, a premiere cinema hall which used to host the best of what the film industry had to offer and the place to go for Hyderabad...

Three things which didn't work for me in Vishwanath & Sons

Plot Summary When a single father in his forties learns that his baby needs a bone marrow transplant, he reaches out to the child’s 20-year-old surrogate mother for help. What begins as a practical arrangement soon becomes an emotional journey that forces two people from different generations to confront their age difference, deeply ingrained ways of life, and growing connection. Suriya and Mamitha Baiju in Vishwanath & Sons Three things which didn't work for me Although I felt that the film handled the age difference between its leads in a largely progressive manner, there were a few elements that felt unnecessary or repetitive. Here are the things that didn’t quite work for me in Vishwanath & Sons . The whole Olympic shooting angle: The film opens with Sanjay Vishwanath ( Suriya ) winning a gold medal in shooting for India at the 2024 Paris Olympics. We are also told that this triumph comes after multiple failed attempts at previous editions of the Games. But apart from ...

Black Eagle (1988)

I have a soft corner in my heart for the action films of the eighties . I am also a huge fan of movies where stars are cast against type ( see Vera Cruz ). So, when I got a chance to watch 1988's Black Eagle pitting international action star Jean-Claude Van Damme as the 'villain' against acclaimed martial arts guru Sho Kosugi , I just couldn't let it pass by. Black Eagle 1988 Plot When a US F-111 jet carrying a laser tracking device goes missing in the Mediterranean, agent Ken Tani (Sho Kosugi) code-named ' Black Eagle ' is summoned to retrieve the device before the Soviet KGB acquires it. Ken unwillingly lands in Malta and is immediately targeted by Soviet Agent Andrei (Jean-Claude Van Damme). Will Ken acquire the tracking device? Who wins? (Guess that answer is obvious!) The Cliches Cliches are the life and soul of action movies. When you have a martial arts movie in the spy genre those cliches only double. So here are all the noteworthy cli...

Mr. Perfect as the WWE World Champion in 1993 (Part 2)

Mr. Perfect is finally sitting atop the proverbial World Wrestling Entertainment (Federation) mountain in 1993 . Our fantasy booking picks up on the Monday Night RAW after WrestleMania IX, where the newly crowned champion makes his grand entrance and begins what promises to be a truly perfect title reign. Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania 9 Mr. Perfect soaks in the rapturous reception from his adoring fans and vows to defend the title against all comers, determined to establish himself as the perfect champion. No sooner have the words left his mouth than Hulk Hogan’s theme music hits, bringing the crowd to its feet. Hogan makes his way to the ring and tells Perfect that he respects what he accomplished at WrestleMania, but admits that it was painful to watch his friend Bret Hart being stretchered out after the actions of the thieving, conniving Lex Luger. Hogan then makes his intentions clear: once he settles the score with “The Narcissist,” he is coming for the WWF Championship. Pe...

10 Random Things about the First IPL

It's IPL time, the time of the year where cricket turns from a gentleman's game into a three ringed circus for the stars, the people and the players. It's hard to believe that it's been 10 long years since the IPL started but I just seem to remember it like yesterday. As soon I thought about the first IPL I remembered some tight finishes, some great performances, raw emotion, glamour that was on display and some utterly forgettable moments. So here are 10 random things I remember about the first IPL: Teams of the first IPL <Courtesy: Reddit > Akshay Kumar , the brand ambassador (Oh! the brand ambassadors was one way franchises burnt their hard earned money during the first IPL) for Delhi Daredevils (DD) zip-lined his way into the ground for an IPL match. DD followed his example of daredevilry all throughout the league phase before their stunt went all wrong crashing them into the ground in the semis . Ricky Ponting (yes he p...

Life Etc Etc

Search This Blog