TR Nov 2012: Another Aussie mad dash - Day 10: Final posts, TR finished #932 (02/21)

[rentayenta]

Speedy Gonzalez!! Next time wear your running shoes.

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by dhorner233

Gorgeous, crystal clear pictures! I had camera envy when I saw yours

I love having an EVC! I spent 8 days in the park and it would not have been as much fun without it!

Thanks Denise.

Originally Posted by Uncle Remus

And this is why I really love your pics, PIO, you see these fabulous details!


Well, that and you tell a great story, it's just like bein' there with you 'n Allison!

Originally Posted by ACDSNY

You TRs are always so fun to read and the pics are wonderful. I feel like I'm right back in Cars Land.

I'm glad that you find my TRs fun. I always like to think that I try to write them that way and there is nothing like feedback to confirm it for me. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Caroline NZ

Loving your trip report, you write brilliantly. I can't wait for the next instalment

Thanks Caroline. I'm working on it. Might be a couple of days, though.

Originally Posted by rentayenta

I. Must. Get. To. Carsland aka Radiator Springs. The detail looks amazing and the red rock really does resemble Souther Utah. I've spent a lot of time down there too. In fact we'll be in St George, Utah the weekend after Thanksgiving as Gabby has a soccer tournament. I love the deep red rock.

Have a great weekend. I'm envious. I really do love that southern part of Utah.

Originally Posted by franandaj

Yay! I get to relive the day all over again! I didn't see you take half of those pictures. Funny how you keep catching my backside!

Well.......you were always a little bit ahead of me and we were in But(te)-Ville.

Originally Posted by rentayenta

Speedy Gonzalez!! Next time wear your running shoes.

Next time, I'll have to come as Road Runner (Beep-Beep!).

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

PIO, I am so enjoying reading along with your TR. The pictures of Carsland are just stunning. It looks so well themed, very impressive.

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by Ms. Shuttergirl

PIO, I am so enjoying reading along with your TR. The pictures of Carsland are just stunning. It looks so well themed, very impressive.

Thanks Shuttergirl.

[PrincessInOz]

In Manual Overdrive



Alison had a couple of rides in mind…..or more accurately; she had one ride in mind, a couple of times.





I guess she figured that with the crowds, we were better off concentrating on the headline ride in CarsLand. Made sense to me. Afterall, I did provide her with my top 5 must-do’s for the day and this one was top of the charts.





So we got in the line and we headed in to test drive the racers for my very first time.










I drive a manual/stick shift car at home; but for safety reasons, I drive an automatic when in the US. It always is a mental adjustment moving from manual to automatic – more than left to right – so hitting the rental car for an automatic is…well……automatic.



Actually……it’s more about the fact that no hire car company in the US will rent me a manual.



Getting to manual mode adjustment on the Radiator Spring Racers (RSR) at Carsland took a bit more than a mental switcheroo!



I’d seen plenty of pictures and videos of the RSR. The one pertinent fact that I’d glossed over is that this ride goes from indoor to outdoor to indoor to outdoor to indoor in the space of about 4 minutes 22 seconds.



How the heck do you manually adjust the camera settings that quickly????



All I can say is that there was a lot of manual shiftiness going on my camera in that brief 4 minutes 22 seconds!





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[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)

Radiator Spring Racers - Must Do #1



Okay, here we go.





"Focus."










(Sadly, I seemed to have missed FOCUS with Mack.)






"Speed. I am speed."
(That first digit finger of mine is sure getting a work-out with the gadgets on this trip!)





















"One winner, forty-two losers."
(Y’all know that 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything, don’t cha?)















"I eat losers for breakfast. Breakfast? Maybe I should have had breakfast? Brekkie could be good for me."
(BTW - Alison and I picked up a coffee and bagel from one of those drive-through places. We ate in the car on the way to the parks, which is why there isn’t any food porn from the morning.)













"No, no, no, focus."
(Why? Because we're heading back outside again!)











"Speed."











"Faster than fast, quicker than quick."












"I am Lightning."














BTW – This is now officially my FAVOURITE ride in any of the Disney Parks I’ve visited. Absolutely fantastic ride! And I have to wait a whole year before being able to play Speedy Gonzales again!

Definitely a Must Do #1!!!

[tiggrbaby]

Oh, those pics are amazing! The ride looks like a lot of fun!

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I'm seriously drooling over the theming, it's stunning.

Your pictures are excellent, you are doing a wonderful job.

What camera are you using? Did you enjoy the photography side of the trip?

[zanzibar138]

Loving your photos of Radiator Springs and RSR

[KCmike]

Nice update. Put those pictures together and you would have a video of that ride. I agree it is very well done. I went in thinking I might be disappointed because I watched it on youtube before we went and I have to say the it shocked me with delight! A+ for sure. We rode it several times and loved every minute of it. We also enjoyed the other two rides in Carsland too.

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice update PiO. Glad that you and Alison were able to ride RSR that day. The pictures are very nice.

[ACDSNY]

RSR is my favorite too! I love all your pics, I can't believe you were able to capture everything so clear and focused.

[dhorner233]

WOW! Great shots, Princess! I could almost feel the wind in my hair!! I LOVED that ride too!!!

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by tiggrbaby

Oh, those pics are amazing! The ride looks like a lot of fun!

That ride is a LOT of fun!

Originally Posted by Ms. Shuttergirl

I'm seriously drooling over the theming, it's stunning.

Your pictures are excellent, you are doing a wonderful job.

What camera are you using? Did you enjoy the photography side of the trip?

Yes, I enjoy the trip side of the photography.




It's a great hobby to have and I'm shooting with a 7D.

Originally Posted by zanzibar138

Loving your photos of Radiator Springs and RSR

Glad you're enjoying it.

Originally Posted by KCmike

Nice update. Put those pictures together and you would have a video of that ride. I agree it is very well done. I went in thinking I might be disappointed because I watched it on youtube before we went and I have to say the it shocked me with delight! A+ for sure. We rode it several times and loved every minute of it. We also enjoyed the other two rides in Carsland too.

My one regret about the day was that it was only one day. I wish I had more days to enjoy it more. And because CarsLand was so busy, I didn't really get to explore it as much as I wanted...or enjoy the other rides.

Next time...for sure.

Originally Posted by mvf-m11c

Very nice update PiO. Glad that you and Alison were able to ride RSR that day. The pictures are very nice.

Thanks Bret. I do envy you and Alison being able to visit it as often as you do and practise shooting the ride.

Originally Posted by ACDSNY

RSR is my favorite too! I love all your pics, I can't believe you were able to capture everything so clear and focused.

Thanks Angela. You're really kind to make sure nice comments.

Originally Posted by dhorner233

WOW! Great shots, Princess! I could almost feel the wind in my hair!! I LOVED that ride too!!!

It's a great ride and fantastic theming.

[PrincessInOz]

What are the Astronomical Odds? – Must Do #2




We’d just finished riding RSR and it was time to move on. I think you would have seen that CarsLand was pretty packed that day and even though I would have liked to have spent more time there, I did have 4 other Must-Do’s to attend to.

Besides, it was time to get up close and personal again with my favourite park.





With the LillyBelle parked above the time tripping sign, we crossed into the land of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy!





I had hoped for a view of the Castle….





…but it seems like TVLand and my timing was not good.


What were the odds of me hitting Disneyland on the day that they were setting up for filming the Christmas Day parade? One out of 365!


Still, I made the best of it.










We kept heading towards the second item on my list.


Must-Do #2 for me was always the Star Tours 2.0. The last time I’d been on this ride would have been in 2010 and I was keen to experience the upgrade.
With stand-by wait times for this ride on the shorter side and fast passes still available, we were pretty much able to get on this ride twice.


I was underwhelmed to find that the entrance and the queue area hadn’t changed much. C-3P0 still took that moral high ground and ignored me.





And R2-D2 was still busy working on the StarSpeeder, whatever the number.





But beyond these superficial first impressions?



You could say that Upgrade 2.0 in 3D is just Out of this World. Literally.
The new upgrade put this old favourite close towards rivalling the Manual OverDrive for my favourite Disney ride.


I had deliberately not read up on this upgrade, wanting to experience it first before doing the research and afterwards Alison told me that there are four separate elements, each with different scenes, providing 54 possible permutations to this ride. With this many permutations, it may be that most guests never get on the same ride twice.


My luck was such that I got the same scenes in the first three elements the second time we rode it.


What are the odds?


Alison was bummed for me because she had really wanted me to experience more scenes than I actually did. Whilst I do agree that it would have been nice to have seen more scenes, what it did give me was an appreciation of the details and the visuals of the ride. I sat there believing that I was on Tatooine, pod racing amongst the stars!



Oh….and for the maths geeks. What are the astronomical odds?

The way I figure it, I have a 1 in 54 chance of getting that particular story scene the first time round and a 3 in 54 chance (or 1 in 18 chance) of getting the first 3 scenes exactly the same in the second round.

The odds of me striking the same scenes in the first three elements twice in a row are 1 in 972.





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