Tasked with creating a new signature image of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I wanted a shot that conveyed a feeling of foreboding, just like the iconic attraction itself. I already had a spooky nighttime shot I liked, but needed a daytime shot, as well (always good to have options, you know).
It’s hard to make something look creepy on a sunny day, so the natural inclination is to wait for a cloudy afternoon, right? The trouble is, normally on a cloudy day the dark hue of the tower wouldn’t contrast enough against the sky. I basically needed the impossible: a bright, sunlit tower and a dark, creepy sky.
Anybody who’s experienced summer in Central Florida knows the area can be prone to near-daily “sea breeze” thunderstorms that pop up in the afternoons, as winds from both coasts meet in the middle of the state. It means you can be in the middle of a thunderstorm half a mile from someone else who is enjoying a sunny afternoon, and vice versa.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror catches nice sunlight in the afternoons based on its perfect positioning at the end of Sunset Boulevard, and I found the angle I wanted by standing on a nearby rooftop. The secret to getting my impossible shot was watching the radar every afternoon and waiting until one of these cells passed just to the north of the park with dramatic clouds.
Catching that exact scenario was easier said than done. More than half a dozen times over three weeks I drove to Disney’s Hollywood Studios when conditions looked promising, only to have the clouds shade the tower, break up and disappear, or pour buckets of water on my head, instead. Finally, the heavens took pity on me and all my necessary conditions lined up, with dramatic clouds behind a beautiful sunlit tower. The resulting image you see here perfectly captures the dimension of sight I was going for.
Ready to take your picture-taking skills to the next level? Head over to the Disney Youth Programs Kahoot! page to learn photography concepts used by Disney photographers!
From our friends at disneyparks.disney.go.com Filed Under: Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World Resort, DHS, Photography, WDW
Ever since The Dress Shop opened at Disney Springs it has become increasingly difficult to resist the precious dresses that are available there. The two latest dresses we’ve found at The Dress Shop have wonderful details that you’ve just got to see – especially if you’re a fan of Minnie Mouse or The Haunted Mansion.
Up first is the Minnie Mouse dress. The base of the dress is black, with the skirt being a bold black and white polka dot pattern, a red band around the waist and a red and black polka dot cape-style collar with a black button. On the skirt, in the lower left side, is Minnie Mouse embroidered in a fashionable style. Minnie’s signature autograph is embroidered on the back right shoulder.
There’s also a new Haunted Mansion dress with a teal blue bodice and black patterned skirt. The pattern contains cartoon-style characters and scenes from The Haunted Mansion. A black sash ties around the waist, but the best detail of all is on the back right shoulder: the famous singing busts are embroidered along the back – so neat!
Both dresses are $128.00 and do not appear to be available on shopDisney online just yet.
Although the above dresses aren’t online yet, I found two new dresses that are online and are equally as tempting. The Hollywood Tower of Terror Halter Dress has the iconic burgundy, black, and gold colors, with The Hollywood Hotel logo embroidered on the back right side of the halter.
Tower of Terror Dress – BackTower of Terror Dress
There is also the Oogie Boogie Dress for The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is basically Oogie Boogie’s song come to life with black and bright green, with the words “Oogie Boogie” embroidered on the back left shoulder.
Nightmare Before Christmas Oogie Boogie DressNightmare Before Christmas Oogie Boogie Dress – Back
Each dress is $128, both online and in store where available.
From our friends at touringplans.com Filed Under: Disney Springs, Merchandise, haunted mansion dress, minnie mouse merchandise, nightmare before christmas dress, tower of terror dress
As the new school year quickly approaches, and many teachers, students and parents move to virtual learning environments, we’re excited to share that the popular ‘Imagineering in a Box’ program is expanding its accessibility and is now available with subtitles in additional languages – Spanish, Portuguese and French, with Chinese coming later this year.
If you’ve ever wondered how theme parks come to life, Disney Imagineers from hundreds of career disciplines around the world share how they use a wide range of skills – from story development and conceptual design, to math, physics and engineering – that all come together to create immersive experiences. ‘Imagineering in a Box’ aims to ignite curiosity, inspire creativity and encourage innovation in the minds of students, teachers and parents alike.
The free one-of-a-kind virtual learning experience, created in partnership with Khan Academy and Pixar, offers 32 videos for three interactive lessons and also includes an educator’s guide. Each activity is designed to be scalable, allowing for individuals to learn on their own or in an online classroom setting.
Learners of all ages can join lessons in theme park design and engineering, experience a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of Imagineering’s development process, and even the opportunity to design their very own theme park experience!
Click below to get started in your preferred language:
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio has asked residents to avoid unnecessary travel to Coronavirus hotspots, including Florida.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 18, De Blasio reiterated his commitment to protecting the low COVID case count in the City. He specifically asked residents to refrain from visiting a list of 35 U.S. states and territories that are currently experiencing high levels of Coronavirus.
Source: NY.gov
The New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state region continues to require anyone arriving in the area from a high-COVID spot to quarantine in place for 14 days upon arrival. This latest statement is a step further, with De Blasio specifically asking New Yorkers not to visit states such as Florida that are currently experiencing Coronavirus outbreaks.
De Blasio told the New York Times, “If you have a choice in travel, don’t go where the problem is.”
In addition to the previously announced COVID checkpoints such as airport arrivals, New York hotels and short-term home rentals will now require visitors to complete a Coronavirus tracking form before getting a room.
If you’re from the greater New York area, will De Blasio’s statement impact your decision to visit Walt Disney World?
Yes, it is true that wait times are at all-time lows at Orlando’s theme parks right now, but sometimes the posted wait times are not accurate. And some days are busier than others. We’ve also found that overall wait times are longer at Universal Orlando theme parks, compared to Walt Disney World. But just when we were starting to see a pattern, Universal Orlando temporarily closed some of their attractions, which has had an impact on wait time data. On top of that, Universal offered Florida residents a deal so amazing that thousands took advantage of it: Unlimited admission between now and Christmas for the price of a single day!
More importantly, during our visit we experienced multiple instances in which the posted wait times were significantly higher than what our Lines app showed as Expected Wait Times, and what our team actually experienced. Would Universal inflate their posted wait times to sell more Express Passes? Is it a way to discourage people from getting in line to control for social distancing? Or is there another reason? The question is, how should you plan your day if Universal’s Posted Wait Times aren’t all that accurate?
Universal Orlando CityWalk Crowds – August 15, 2020
We will not just look at posted wait times, but rather dig into the expected wait times calculated in our Lines app, as well as the actual wait times experienced by members of our field research team. We have found after multiple visit that our Lines app is much more accurate than the posted wait times which allows the app to optimize which attractions to go to and when.
Actual Wait Times at Universal Studios Florida on August 15, 2020
Universal Orlando’s theme parks do not require reservations, but there is limited capacity. It has been a rare occurrence that we’ve seen Universal’s park reach whatever their limited capacity is. Like the Disney parks, hours have been reduced compared to previous seasons.
Universal Studios Florida is open 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Recently posted wait times at Universal’s theme parks have been higher than Walt Disney World’s in most cases. One contributing factor to this is that Universal Orlando is continuing the use of Express Pass whereas Disney is not currently offering FastPass+.
Universal Studios Florida Crowds on August 15, 2020
Our team visited Universal Studios Florida on Saturday, August 15, 2020. At 9:15 a.m., just after park opening, the posted wait times for most attractions averaged 20 minutes. However, about one hour later posted wait times jumped to about 65 minutes. And yet, our Lines app showed expected wait times that were about 20 minutes less than what was posted. And the cherry on top is that our team experienced actual wait times that were 40 – 50 minutes less than what Universal posted! That’s right – as usual the Lines estimate was more accurate than the posted time.
Universal Studios Florida Transformers Posted Wait Time – August 15, 2020Universal Studios Florida Men in Black Posted Wait Time – August 15, 2020
While it is a nice surprise to wait nearly one hour less than the posted wait time of any attraction, it can really mess up someone’s planning if they don’t have the right tools. Let’s dig into the posted, expected, and actual wait times so you can see what we mean. Expected Wait Times below are the wait times expected based on data calculated in our Lines app. Any Actual Wait Times below are from people actually waiting in line and riding.
10:58 a.m. Universal Studios Florida Expected Wait Times Lines App – August 15, 2020
11:23 a.m. Universal Studios Florida Expected Wait Times Lines App – August 15, 2020Men in Black Actual Wait Time is 6 minutes! – August 15, 2020Hogwarts Express Actual Wait Time is 67 minutes – August 15, 2020
Transformers the Ride
10:00 a.m.
Posted Wait Time 50 / Expected 45 / Actual 38
Men in Black: Alien Attack
10:45 a.m.
Posted Wait Time 65 / Expected 14 / Actual 17
The Simpsons Ride
11:45 am
Posted 65 / Expected 42/ Actual 8
E.T. The Ride
12:40 p.m.
Posted 55 / Expected 60 / Actual 29
Hogwarts Express
2:45 p.m.
Posted 105 /Expected 82 / Actual 67
Overall, our Lines app had expected wait times within 15 minutes of the posted wait times. However, there were two big anomalies with Men in Black and The Simpsons Ride. Universal’s posted wait times were off by 50 minutes or more in those instances.
The Simpsons Ride Pre-show
Someone not using our Lines app would have anticipated waiting 340 minutes for the five rides listed above. Using the Lines app and seeing the Expected Wait Times, you can see where wait times are reporting to be much less than the Posted wait times and adjust your day accordingly. In total our field team waited 159 minutes for the above five rides, compared to 340 minutes of posted wait times — in other words Universal’s Posted Wait Times were double the Actual Wait Times our team experienced.
All in all, it appears that Saturday was a busier day than anticipated by Universal, because that afternoon Universal unexpectedly extended park operating hours by an extra hour. We have not seen this happen since the parks reopened in June.
On our site you can view graphs with observed wait times compared to expected wait times for any past days. Anytime you see a green dot, that is an actual wait time submitted by a Lines app user, or a Liner as we affectionately call them.
Universal Studios Florida Diagon Alley Crowds on August 15, 2020Transformers the Ride Loading Area
As I was pulling together this information I became curious about previous weekends at Universal Studios Florida. Something to consider when looking at recent Universal Studios Florida’s wait times is that last week on August 9, 2020, four attractions became temporarily closed for the foreseeable future: A Day in the Park with Barney, Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl, Fast and Furious: Supercharged, and Fear Factor Live!
Fast and Furious: Supercharged – Photo by: Michael Carelli
These attractions are not major attention grabbers, but losing these four attractions at once does impact overall capacity. Every little bit helps in giving people a place to go and spend some time. Without those extra four attractions it is reasonable to think wait times at the remaining attractions will be impacted. And when you look at the data of the three Saturdays prior to this change, versus the this past Saturday being the first one after the change, you can see an increase in observed wait times nearly across the board.
Universal Studios Florida Saturday Wait Times Comparison
The closure of the four attractions may not be the main reason for the increased wait times at Universal Studios Florida this weekend, but it is easy to see a change in the wait times that followed the closure. To try and prove this theory one way or the other, I looked at August 8, 2020 – the final day the four attractions were still in operation, versus August 9, 2020 the first day the four attractions became temporarily closed. There is not a large scale difference in wait times across the board from one day to the next, but there is a fair amount.
Universal Studios Wait Times ComparisonUniversal Studios Florida The Simpsons Posted Wait Time 75 Minutes – August 15, 2020The Simpsons Actual Wait Time 8 minutes! Lines App – August 15, 2020
What impacts you the most here is that Universal’s posted wait times are significantly higher than the Actual Wait Times and Expected Wait Times calculated in our Lines app. Using the Lines app can help you plan accordingly so you will know how to plan your time in the parks for less stress.
What do you think of this wait time data? Have you been to Universal Orlando? How was your experience?
From our friends at touringplans.com Filed Under: Dos and Don’ts, Hollywood Studios, In the Parks, Trip Planning, Universal Orlando Resort, universal orlando attractions, universal orlando crowd levels, universal orlando wait times
