The Internet is all A Buzz...

[Moonliner]

Reports seem to be flooding the Internet from the soft opening of buzz (yes it's open). Who will be the first to post a swanky review?

[Name]

mmmmmmmmm.........more soft openings..........:homer drool:

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Name

mmmmmmmmm.........more soft openings..........:homer drool:

Pluuuueezzz.. That's sooo 10 minutes ago...

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I'm trying to not read reviews. I want to decide for myself. But after I ride it I'll post, that's for sure.

[Name]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

Pluuuueezzz.. That's sooo 10 minutes ago...

Got caught in a time vortex for about 20 minutes, so I am still back about 30 minutes ago.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I rode it this afternoon. I'm too tired to get into detail right now but will post more in the morning. We did really enjoy it though.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Motorboat Cruiser

I rode it this afternoon. I'm too tired to get into detail right now but will post more in the morning. We did really enjoy it though.

It is the morning. You posted at 1:56a.m. I want to know now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

It is the morning. You posted at 1:56a.m. I want to know now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See, that's the problem with this country. You conservatives are waking up just as us liberals are getting to bed.

We went to the park yesterday to meet LSPoorEyooric and her boyfriend. As we walk up to them, she says "We have 4 fastpasses for Buzz and we can go on right now!" It was such an unexpected treat and we made our way there, to find out that the ride was down. Not a big deal because we understand the concept of a soft opening. They said it would be back up later and it was. A few hours later, we were able to ride.

OK, here are my thoughts. I'm using the spoiler function to err on the side of caution, as this is somewhat detailed.

Spoiler:

First, this wasn't a ride I was expecting to enjoy. It just didn't sound like my kind of thing. Still, it was a NEW RIDE and I'll take all of those that I can get.

We were told that the fastpass line would be about 30 minutes. That was more than likely because of the earlier downtime. Most of the wait was outdoors. Once we got inside, it didn't take too long at all. The ride appears to be pretty high capacity, due to the omnimover-type loading. The indoor queu wasn't all that impressive. It looked nice because, well, it is new, but I felt that they could have done more to entertain. There is one cool scene with a giant etch-a-sketch though. Once you are there, you are very close to being loaded.

We then boarded the ride vehicles, which were very cool, IMO. Pretty roomy too. Entering the ride, my first impression was, "Wow, they didn't really skimp here." There was lots of moving targets, the sets were more elaborate than anything in Pooh, and in essence, they put some work into this one, IMO. I would be able to go into more detail except that I was busy shooting everything. (I need to ride again and just look around)

Speaking of which, I like the fact that the guns light up when scoring a hit, but I didn't think they aimed very accurately. As someone who is a pretty good shot, I had a hard time adjusting to the sights. Or... maybe I'm just sore that Matthew beat my score x10 .

The spin control of the vehicles is cool. Make sure you remember it is there. We did a lot of shooting before we remembered "Oh, that's right, we can spin!" Finally, I was pretty surprised at the length of the ride. It seemed longer than any of the other dark rides. It did go into creep mode at one point and these futuristic barriers came rising out of the floor surrounding the scenery. (I have no way of knowing if it did the same thing in every room) You could not shoot while in creep mode, much to my dismay (I had some serious points to catch up, damn it)

Once we exited the ride, we were surprised to find out that you can email a picture from the ride to yourself at, (are you sitting down?) NO CHARGE! Although, imagine all of the email addresses they are accumulating this way. I didn't see any sort of "we won't share your address" disclosure. We tried to use this feature but our picture never showed up on the screen. There were many blank spots on the screen that said "Image not available". I'm assuming they still have some bugs to work out here.

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised. The ride was longer, and the queu shorter, than we had expected. It was more elaborate than we expected and, I have to admit, a bunch of fun. I saw a repeatability factor that I did not expect. I'm not saying everyone will adore this ride but you may just find that your competitive side comes out more than you anticipated. All in all, I think they did a good job. Thumbs up and a snap.

[Gemini Cricket]

Thanks for that, MBC.
Can't wait to ride Buzz.

[mousepod]

Thanks for the review MBC!

I'm really looking forward to Buzz - though I'm still wondering how it differs from the WDW version...

(note to self: future MousePod topic "How attractions with the same name are different in each Disney Park; or why do the Japanese have the best Pooh?" - maybe that title won't work in an audio show...)