Remembering Nickelodeon

Hey,

Universal announced last week that they would be closing Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast, and now once that attraction is gone all ties to Nickelodeon will be gone.  We grew up on Nick and dearly miss the old studios at the park.  That's why we wanted to post 2 pictures of things still remaining at Universal that have been there since the closure of the studios and make us remember one of Nick's best game shows...DOUBLE DARE!!!

This was the blimp from the obstacle course and when you pulled on the string a ton of that great Slime would rain down on you and you would have to find the flag.

This was one of the pipes in the pipeline obstacle. We remember tons of lucky kids sliding through the much and mess of these to find the flag at the end.

Also on the left of this picture there is a metal cage, I totally forgot that this was also a stop on the course.

Here is an early video of the obstacle course featuring the cage pictured above

 

These old props can bee seen after riding Jimmy Neutron in the Nick Store.  Check them out while you still can the days are now numbered.  

Haunted Mansion Update 3/12. Lights, Camera, New room?

HI!,
We got another Haunted Mansion update for you folks.

First off the new queue is just about finished and from what we are hearing that some people actually got to test it out yesterday.    Due to our busy schedules we didn't make it out to the park Friday 3/10 but made it out late Saturday so all the pics we got are night shots but they are not bad.
Lets take a look.

Here is the entrance to the new queue

This will  be where you first enter, to the right of those plants are 5 busts

The best we can see the busts at this moment

The original queue has been cut in 1/2 with this metal fence with mesh that is very hard to see through 

Past the busts moving to the right (in the Orig. queue) is the organ

Then here is the sailors mausoleum

To the right of the sailor is this mausoleum is and to the right of this(not pictured) is a big set of stairs

That's the best shots we got tonight of the new queue but we should be there on Tuesday to see if we can see inside.

Hitchhiking Ghosts Update.

Also tonight we noticed yet another change to the Hitchhiking ghosts first off you could clearly see the cameras (that we reported on in out last H.M. update) even more today, and the big change was above the cameras there were big long strips of infrared lights that were on as we passed the "mirrors." Here is a link to video we got of the cameras and infrared lights: New Cameras and Lights  So this really shows us that there has to be cameras installed and that you will be able to get your picture with a ghost and take it home with you.  But where are you going to look at your photos you ask? Well I think we have the answer for that one too  If you remember in our first H.M. update we showed you a pic of a covered door that we speculated that that would be where you could view your photos, well tonight that door was opened and it was the "servants quarters" hallway. but It looks as if the hallway was widely expanded and the walls with stuff behind them have been covered.  I think that it is safe to think that this new area after the ride will be where you can view and purchase your photo.  

Here is the best shot we got inside the door before a cast member shooed us away.

If you look the beginning cuts around the door are still there, so it looks like they still are going to open frame up more.

If you are getting on the ride ride after you exit the stretching portrait room there is a "servants quarters" door on the right side his is where that room leads to.  like we said the walls are covered but it does look as if there is things under the covers.  Also there is about 3 big chandeliers in there like the ones while loading onto the ride.   So we can't say for certain what this room is but it really could be a possibility of the on ride photo room. Were not going to dismiss the On ride photos because we can now see cameras and infrared lights.  

Hopefully we will get to see all the changes unveiled. 

Haunted Mansion Construction Update 3/8/11

Hey,

We got a couple of new things to share with you about the Haunted Mansion today.  

First off Disney found our sneaky photo hole and closed it off. But that's OK.  Tuesday (3/8/11) crews were at it all day working on the new queue area.  They were at it at night too as you can see here they had some big lights on.  The workers had the lights on under the new walkway and they are different from the current lights. These new ones have a good candle flicker to them.  

As night fell some interesting sounds were coming from behind those temporary walls.  First off every minute or two we would hear a "woah...woah...A CHOO." Yep a big sneeze.  Its seems that one of the new interactive elements will be making that noise.   The second noise we could hear was of a deep voice making bubbling noises like he was taking a bath or he was drunk. Then the voice starts to sing the song "drunken sailor"  This noise obviously belongs to the Sea Captain mausoleum.   

If you don't know the song we are talking about here is a version of it.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGyPuey-1Jw&feature=related

Also there was more changes in the Hitchhiking Ghosts area.  Today the temporary screens were lowered very low and you could really see the track they are held on. But the big thing was you could see the top of the mirrors and in the round parts of the top it seems like there are big holes or cameras or sensors there.  This could be related to the rumored new on ride photo system on the ride.  It was noticeable if you were looking for changes, Marissa noticed it first.  We will say that it defiantly there and we were not just seeing things.

In this photo Alexx used his amazing photoshop abilities to show you bother were the mysterious holes/cameras/sensors are and how low the temporary screens are.  

Photo copyright Disney, Any changes were shows to illustrate current changes.
We in no way own or claim to own this photo.

The big White line is where the screen has been lowered to and the Yellow dots are where the new changes are.  

We took a video of this, We will warn you that once the video was uploaded to youtube the quality was cut and the changes are extremely hard to see. To be honest you might not be able to see them at all.  

New changes. Note: Very hard to see.

Our last thing to report.  We talked to one Haunted Mansion Cast member and he said that they were told that they were hustling along to open the the new queue area and that it could be opened by next week at the earliest..  Take this however you will, sometimes some cast members are right about things but sometimes they don't know a thing and just try and please guests with answers.   So if this guy was right we might get to see the new queue area soon, but time will tell for now.  

That's all the news we got about the Haunted Mansion today.

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What Is Missing?

What is missing from this picture?

How about the Back to the Future DeLorean???

Here is a shot of Alexx with Doc in front of the now missing car.

Yep its true the time machine itself has gone missing at Universal Studios.   The park needs to keep what is left of the Back to the Future stuff in the park since removing the attraction.   Lets hope this is a temporary thing, and they bring the time machine back soon.

Ripsaw Falls Opens

Howdy,

Our visit to Islands of Adventure had a bit of a surprise this Saturday when we looked at the board out front.

Looks like Ripsaw Falls is now OPEN!!!!

After the fire and the scheduled rehab we had to see how things in this closed half of Toon Lagoon were looking.   Here it is!

 There it is, oh how we have missed you.

 fresh

 Its all bright and nice

 Fresh painted walkways!!!

 Its looking good all around

 BOOM BOOM!

 Entrance

 It all looks very good, I think the water cannons were going at full blast.

The Fountain was ripped up and redone durring the rehab as well. 

Overall the ride looks great with its new paint.  But, we will have to complain about the loading process. It takes forever to load people and unload with those lapbars on the ride.    The was very long hold ups while loading and the boats were backed up to the unloading area and we were stuck for about 5 mins until there was enough room for our boat to unload.  Hopefully they will get better at it.  But overall the ride looks great and once aboard it was fun as always.  

Haunted Mansion Graveyard Construction and Hitchhiking Ghosts Update

Hello,
We got some new pics to show with you, they are of the new construction of the extended queue and graveyard at The Haunted Mansion.

 A view from the top.

 The graveyard come back together.

 First of 3 in a row of pics inside the closed area.

 Pic 2- You can see the new organ in the area.

 3rd pic- This is about half of the new queue area.

Last picture here shows the exit of the ride we believe there was a door under this black mesh. If you look there is cuts around the top of the mesh as if they are going to open this area up more.  If the rumors are true about new on ride photos added to the ride this could be where the screens would be to view your pictures.  We will have to see if any more happens here and see what happens when Disney shows off all the new changes to the ride.

As the week progressed we noticed changes to the new temporary Hitchhiking Ghosts. It was changes in the screen they were projected on. At first the screen was very tight and looked well placed. A On tues (3/1) the screens were very out of place and loose as if there was construction going on to the "mirrors" and of yesterday(3/3) the screens were placed back much better.
If you havent seen the Temp. change of the ghosts here it is.

Greetings from Alexx and Marissa

Hey
Welcome to Alexx and Marissa Around Orlando. We started this blog to tell people about our adventures living in the amusement park capitol of the world.  On here we are going to give our reviews, thoughts, rants and just some basic info about traveling to Orlando and going to the parks and attractions around town. Also we most likely are going to be very heavy on Disney and Universal posts too.    We hope you enjoy what we have to say!