Stupid Guest Tricks

PatchOBlack wrote:I, for one, am a MSEP fan. While I am not against change, I feel that removing this parade diminishes DL a bit. Of course, I'm not saying that without it, the whole place is shot to heck. I am not against some updating of the parade, but like with most things at the parks, I think it should be handled with a soft touch. I am a bit disheartened to hear that, apparently, that the soundtrack is not up to snuff. Big fan of the ol' Baroque Hoedown, myself.

When I last heard the "refreshed" soundtrack it sounded fine to me. Its still the Baroque Hoedown of course. I'm sure that most guests didn't even realize that there had been a change.

If you want to hear the new version of the tune, check out this video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwPe8jT6eNY

Freak wrote:They'll probably ship the old rotting WDW one back to us....and maybe some Fort Wilderness Railroad Coaches too. Hah! :p:

Now, I'd love to see the train at Ft. Wilderness return. As for MSEP - I hope WDW keeps it for at least two more years, because unfortunately it will be that long before we are able to return :(

Zazu wrote:
Ah, no. The coaches have all been trashed. I can put you in touch with the folks who bought the FWRR locomotives, if you're interested. At present, none are in operation, but two show potential.

Zazu - as a model railroader, I'm always looking for this sort of thing...but in this case I've seen their web page - but have not looked in a while. Have they made any steam yet?

February wrote:
When I walked into MK a few weeks ago and heard the music for MSEP- I literally froze in my tracks. I saw the Pete's Dragon float (didn't watch the whole thing, I was with a friend and we were walking on to get out of the crowd) and I felt like I was six again. Like I should have been able to reach out to the right and left and take one of my grandparent's hands in each of mine. That is how strong a memory trigger it was for me.

I have not stopped thinking about it.


bru

Bru - I can't wait to relive this parade. It is a VERY strong memory, one going back to my early childhood...and to my first trip to the World as a parent.

See, my wife and I decided to bring our son to WDW - the Magic Kingdom, to be precise - when he was three. I knew I was headed for a lay-off at my job, and it was also spring break for my University, so we knew if we were going to visit, it would have to be at that time. It was a very cold, rainy early spring day...and we had a blast. We had a very full, very tiring day, and were headed for the exit when we heard the announcement for the Main Street Electrical Parade...we were right there, in front of the Railroad station...and decided to stay for the parade, which I hadn't seen since I was a child. It turns out the date was April 1, 2001...yes, the last presentation of the parade at the Magic Kingdom. I put Nate on my shoulders, and we watched and listened, and loved every minute of it. Now, 9 years and another child later, we cannot wait to share it with the kids...Nate again, Natalie for the first time. I fully anticipate tears as soon as I hear the music begin...life has become so hard and busy, to be a kid again and see and hear that bit of my childhood...with my kids...

Sorry for the drift....

scpergj wrote:Zazu - as a model railroader, I'm always looking for this sort of thing...but in this case I've seen their web page - but have not looked in a while. Have they made any steam yet?

Not that I've heard. The ones in California probably won't, as that state's steam boiler standards are well written (thanks to steam locos being operated by the State Park Service), and the Ft. Wilderness locos' boilers are too old. I don't believe the owners have the cash and interest to replace them, so are doing cosmetic rehabs only. One threatened to put a diesel in a box and push it around the track (heaven forbid!).

Yeah, our steam policies are pretty tight. When Knott's took ownership of the Cedar Point Davenport... which was originally the FIRST Ward Kimball, which was actually a train from Marriot's Great America (GREAT article here), the thing was basically stripped down on the inside and re-done entirely...even though Cedar Point had JUST done the same thing.

From what I've been told the Ex-Ward Kimball still hasn't ran the tracks @ Knott's yet. It's definitely ready though. I was a little concerned about this locomotive after hearing it didn't handle the coaches well @ WDW. The D&RG Coaches K's have are probably a LOT heavier than the in-house coaches of Disney...Not sure what it will pull when it starts steaming. Only time will tell I guess.

I have some pictures of the loco being taken off a lowboy that was driven from Cedar Point Ohio to Knott's Berry farm.

I still miss our old K-27 DRG&W No. 464 from Knott's. Though it was WELL before my time, I have some good photos of it. The Mudhen was so huge, she used to crack the rails right off the wooden ties on the backside of the park near Fiesta Village due to her size.

I'm a model railroad fan myself. I have several porters painted to represent Calico Mine Ride locos, and I want to paint some Mine Trains from Nature's Wonderland and some Fort Wilderness Locos, along with some 4-4-0s and 2-4-4s and 2-4-0s to make the Disneyland Railroad.

My prize piece is my On30 Galloping Goose #3. I want to get C-19s, but they're so rare now a days you have to spend $600 or so to get one. And I only want D&RGW 340 and RGS 41 for obvious reasons.

Freak wrote: I'm a model railroad fan myself. I have several porters painted to represent Calico Mine Ride locos, and I want to paint some Mine Trains from Nature's Wonderland and some Fort Wilderness Locos, along with some 4-4-0s and 2-4-4s and 2-4-0s to make the Disneyland Railroad.

If you don't want to scratch build or kit-bash, and you have the coin, check out what the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society is offering, http://www.carolwoodcollection.com/

Absolutely beautiful. Only problem is the scale. I can barely fit an N-scale layout into my apartment, and those are only in G!

I have some G equipment...this is tempting!

Freak wrote:From what I've been told the Ex-Ward Kimball still hasn't ran the tracks @ Knott's yet. It's definitely ready though. I was a little concerned about this locomotive after hearing it didn't handle the coaches well @ WDW. The D&RG Coaches K's have are probably a LOT heavier than the in-house coaches of Disney...

It should do just fine. WDW has 2% grades, and Disneyland has light bridges. Knotts has neither, so she should do just fine.

I still miss our old K-27 DRG&W No. 464 from Knott's. Though it was WELL before my time, I have some good photos of it. The Mudhen was so huge, she used to crack the rails right off the wooden ties on the backside of the park near Fiesta Village due to her size.

Yeah, I always thought she was oversize for that loop. I didn't hear about broken rails, but I did watch her roll a rail one day just out of the station. Hate to think about having to jack her up and rebuild the track beneath her while surrounded by tourons!

That may actually have been her last day of revenue service, for all I know.

I'm a model railroad fan myself. I have several porters painted to represent Calico Mine Ride locos, and I want to paint some Mine Trains from Nature's Wonderland and some Fort Wilderness Locos, along with some 4-4-0s and 2-4-4s and 2-4-0s to make the Disneyland Railroad.

I'd like to see those some day. A model railroader myself, I used to work for the NMRA.

My prize piece is my On30 Galloping Goose #3. I want to get C-19s, but they're so rare now a days you have to spend $600 or so to get one.

The geese are all fun, but you're right about the consolidations being overpriced today.

Pity Kemtron doesn't still make the C-16 kits, you could cobble a C-19 out of them without much trouble.

By the way, I don 't want to give the wrong impression;

If California ever gets the Electrical Parade back, I'll be happy. Its just that for now, I don't mind that DCA doesn't have the Electrical parade since World of Color is currently doing three shows a night, it would have been hard to present the parade.