Subsonic Radio

Just had a short trip to Orlando for business and only had one evening free so I decided to check out Disney Quest. If you've never been, think Gameworks on steroids. Very loud, lots of games, and kind of claustrophobic in a big dark building with no windows. Lots of track lighting though.

The virtual games (the main attractions) are not bad. The Pirates 3D game is the best, IMHO. You step onto a platform shaped like a pirate ship bow lined with three "cannons" on either side. One person steers the ship while the others run back and forth firing cannons. Surrounding the ship on three sides are giant 3D projections of other pirate ships in a virtual sea. You tool around this harbor and get along side a ship and blast it with your cannon. If you blow it up you get some treasure added to your ship. Very fun.

The Virtual Jungle Cruise was, by contrast, disappointing. The ride contraption was clever enough. Inflatable raft on a giant airbag that inflates and deflates in sections rapidly to simulate the rocking and rolling you'd feel as you go down river. Still, I had the feeling the oars you use to maneuver really weren't doing anything. The movement through the game seemed random.

CyberSpace Mountain lets you build a roller coaster (on touch screens) and then ride your ride in a motion simulator. Good idea, but the ride lacks a key component of a roller coaster - velocity. Since you're only doing the up, down, and lateral movements and not really moving you don't feel pushed into your seat when doing loops, for instance. That was a bit distracting. Plus it would be cool if they created some realistic environments to ride through instead of the lame futuristic ice planet and volcanic planet themes.

The Aladdin Magic Carpet ride was fun but I remember my friend testing this when it was being demo'd at Epcot before Quest was built. It was way cooler back then - you got to go through the village and interact with people. Now it's pretty much just like any computer driving simulator - only on a carpet.

I'll review the other two big things - Alien Encounter and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters - later.

So Alien Encounter is a virtual video game where you sit inside a 4 person pod and the storyline has you being transported to another planet to rescue people being attacked by the same monsters that were in the original AE attraction. All computer generated. One person steers and the other three are gunners. Very straightforward. Good theming on the pods and extra points for having Chairman Clench in the preshow video. Or for having a preshow at all for that matter.

Buzz Lightyear is one you've probably seen in ads and commercials. It's a full bumper car ride with enclosed 2 personcars. Scattered on the floor of the track are rubber "asteroids" (roughly 8" rubber balls) you run over with your car. When you do, they go into a little bin under your seat. One person drives and the other loads an air cannon with a ball and fires it at other cars. When you do strobe lights go off in the hit car. Fun, but hard to do with one person. I really needed a partner.

We have never been to Disney Quest but really need to fit it in next year. We always do the water park option too! Is it crowded there or often over looked? When is a good time of the day to go there? Do you have to pay extra for anything or is it all included in your admission ticket?

Disney Quest is not overly crowded, save for specific attractions. most everything is included in the admission, but for a few of the attractions, you must pay for the finished product (sid's Build-A-Toy comes to mind). there is also a couple of restaurants inside (a small snack window and a bigger cafe area upstairs) which obviously isn't free.

now, the last time I was there was in '99, so I'm sure they've updated some stuff inside. But, when I was last there, alot of the technology was outdated, and the graphics seemed clunky. but that is/was a personal observation. I'm sure they would have updated some of those things by now, though. alot of the attractions are kinda geared towards kids, but adults would appreciate them too..

in any case, I always recommend at least 1 visit to experience it...

Now that I have been on Midway Mania I see that they use the same "firing" technology as in the Virtual POC at Quest.

My teenage sons always enjoy spending time at DisneyQuest. Last trip, we used some days on our older multi-day passes, so we didn't have DisneyQuest in the "plus" part of the tickets. We were there for a week and rather than pay for DQ every day (since I knew they'd want to go there in the evenings after the parks closed) I purchased the DQ annual pass. It was cheaper in the long run and they could pop over there any time they wanted to go. They enjoyed the virtual reality games, but they really like some of the older arcade games, too.

We went to Disney Quest when it was in Chicago and I was not that impressed. This was year ago and I'm sure the games were different but I really wasn't a fan so we've never made it a point to go to the one on Orlando.

Has anyone ever been to another Disney Quest and then one that was located outside of Orlando?! Just wondered if they were different?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only DQ built outside of Orlando was the one in Chicago. I don't think they got around to doing any others since the Chicago one didn't do so well. I always thought it was a good idea, but never got there to check it out.

We have never been to DQ and have always had the water park option. That Buzz ride/game sounds really neat! I'm pretty sure now that I will make that a must stop for our next trip. Is there a time of day that would be less crowded?

sallyporsche wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only DQ built outside of Orlando was the one in Chicago. I don't think they got around to doing any others since the Chicago one didn't do so well. I always thought it was a good idea, but never got there to check it out.

you can read up on some of the external DQ sites (those built outside of Orlando) at this link.