December 18 [Hollywood Studios]
December 18
I wasn't the first one awake in the morning. Gusty was already up, and she'd already taken a shower and brushed her coat and was brushing her mane when I got out of bed. She had a towel draped over her since she wasn't wearing any clothes yet. And Miss Russi had gotten up, too, but Miss Parker was still asleep in the bed they'd shared.
She said that she was going to order us some coffee and then take a shower unless I wanted to go first and I thought I'd wait until after she had, 'cause since she'd got up first it ought to be her turn.
As soon as Gusty was groomed she opened up one of her bags and got out her clothes and she retreated back into the little room by the bathroom to put her clothes on and she asked me to guard the entrance for her. And while she was getting dressed I asked her if she was going to keep on wearing clothes when she was back in Equestria and she said that she thought she would, at least at first, because it was going to be really strange to go around naked.
And that seemed really weird to me. I was going to be happy to not have to wear my flight gear, wasn't I? Or would I feel like I needed it when I went flying? I hadn't even planned to take most of it back with me, but now I was thinking that maybe I should.
Our coffee arrived before Miss Russi got out of the shower, and Gusty brought it in and set it on the little tables for us and then took a cup and sat in the armchair that was by the window and looked out over the park.
Aquamarine and Miss Parker got up at about the same time and we let Miss Parker take the next shower while we woke up Cayenne. She hadn't gone to bed any later than the rest of us and she hadn't had anything to drink either unless she'd woke up in the middle of the night and gotten a bottle out of her bag, which I suppose was possible, but she was still sleeping like a log until Gusty levitated a cup of coffee in front of her muzzle and that persuaded her to open her eyes. And for a moment there were two fields around the cup and then Cayenne took it and sort of sat up in bed and took a sip of the coffee.
We got breakfast at Chef Mickey's, which was a buffet so we got to pick whatever we wanted to eat. And we had to keep reminding Gusty to eat, 'cause Mickey was walking around to the different tables and greeting people and she kept watching him instead of paying attention to her food and we had to tell her a couple of times that he was going to come over and see us and so she'd eat a bite or two and then look around to see where he was now, and a couple of times she didn't even get the food to her mouth before she got distracted 'cause she'd seen him move out of the corner of her eye and so she just left her fork hanging in the air with a little bit of food on it. And Cayenne decided to teach her a lesson and got some jalapenos from the buffet and when Gusty was distracted put them on her fork, and she didn't notice that they were there until she was chewing her food, and then she had to drink a whole glass of water but after that she paid a little bit better attention to eating.
Mickey did come over and greet us and he was really happy to see ponies in his restaurant. Gusty hugged him and then she used her portable telephone to take a selfie with him and then we all posed with him for another selfie and gave him hoof-bumps, and she got out a little autograph book she had and asked him to sign it.
I wasn't fooled by him; he wasn't a real mouse but a person wearing a costume. And Gusty must have known that, too, but she was still really excited that she'd seen Mickey.
When we were done eating, we got in the Suburban and Jeep so that we could go to the Hollywood Studios, and on our way Mister Salvatore told us that they were going to try launching the rocket again today and if we wanted to go look we could see it.
Well, I knew that Gusty wasn't going to want to, but I did. And Aquamarine asked if it was okay if she stayed at the park and he said that that was fine. That was why most of the helpers were here, in case we all wanted to do something different.
I said that I wasn't gonna be mad if she preferred the park—yesterday had been lots of fun and I was sure that there were going to be all kinds of fun things to do here and I kind of didn't want to miss any of it, but then I didn't think I'd ever have a chance to see a rocket getting launched if I didn't take this opportunity. So Aquamarine nuzzled me and said that she'd stay at the park with everyone else.
It was overcast and I'd thought that maybe the weather had been bad before and that was why they didn't launch but it looked worse today than it did then. And I guess that once the rocket got above the clouds it didn't matter what the weather was like, and it was going to go outside the atmosphere anyways where there wouldn't be any weather at all.
We parked in about the middle of the parking lot, 'cause the front part had filled up already. And then we walked in and had to use our magic bands to get into the park and there was an attendant there who was looking at a big portable telephone as we went in and he made sure that our bands matched our cutie marks. He was a little upset that he couldn’t see Gusty's 'cause of her skirt, but Mister Wayne said that she was legit and showed the man his wallet and so he nodded and let us continue on.
The first thing that we went to was the Jedi training, which was from Star Wars and that was really exciting. We had to wait in line before we could go in and there were a couple of Stormtroopers who were patrolling the line and asking people questions and they made some people get out of line and talked to them before they could go back in line. And when they got to us one of them crouched down and asked Cayenne if she'd seen any droids and she said that she hadn't and I told her that she should have said that we weren't the droids that they were looking for. I guess she hadn't seen Star Wars, so she didn't know that.
I wonder if Christine has been here? It's not too far from New Orleans. I bet she has, 'cause it seemed like the kind of place she'd like to visit.
When we were inside we got trained in how to use lightsabers and they even had ones that were hoof-friendly for us to use. Gusty and Cayenne got to choose which kind they wanted, since they could also hold the human ones in their auras.
If they had a longer handle like a glaive I thought I could use a normal one but the handle was too short. And we could touch the light part because they were fake, but if they had been real light sabers we wouldn't have been able to.
It was a good thing that we'd gotten to train some, 'cause Darth Vader came in and we chased him off before he could do anything bad.
Then we got to go to the great movie ride, and there were a bunch of costumes on display in the waiting area and a rope maze that we had to go through to get to it. We could all fit under the ropes but that was cheating. And they had some movies playing on a big screen so we could watch them while we were walking along.
We had to wait in a short line and then we got into a little car that was going to take us on the ride, and we had a tour guide who was named Rima. She got to stand up but we all had to sit down.
She was really enthusiastic, and she told us what the movies were about as we went through their scenes, which had people acting them out. Gusty said that they were actually robots, but they looked real to me.
We had to wait for a red light and then a bad man in a suit told Rima to get out of our wagon and she wasn't supposed to but she did and then he stole ours and said that he was going to hurt us if we weren't good but he was really a new tour guide and he took us to see John Wayne, who was riding a fake horse.
And we got in the middle of another gunfight, and then went into a spaceship with Sigourney Weaver, and there were lots of alarms going off and we got chased by an alien into a temple full of snakes that looked like something out of a Daring Do novel. And our ride thief got out of the car and tried to steal the temple's jewel and Rima outsmarted him and got our car back.
We went into a little jungle and Tarzan went swinging by, then we saw an airplane and Humphrey Bogart and then it was dark for a little bit and we got to see Mickey Mouse who was making water come up, and that was from the movie Fantasia.
Then we went to Oz and there were lots of funny people called Munchkins singing about him, and a witch came out and said that Rima had killed her sister, but she really hadn't, and the witch let us go on and see Dorothy and her friends, and then our little wagon came back to the entrance, and Rima thanked us for going on the tour with her.
Then we went to see Muppet Vision. I didn't know what Muppets were but there were pictures of them all around and it, and Gusty said it was made up to look like an old-fashioned production studio, which was where they made movies.
We went into a room that was full of props and there were televisions all over showing different things which were part of the production, and a big box that belonged to Sam the Eagle, and we got to look around there until it was time to go into the theatre and see the actual show.
We had to wear special glasses that let us see in 3D (which I thought was odd because I saw in 3D all the time but maybe humans didn't). And they had special ones for us ponies to wear that fit comfortably unlike the earmuffs we'd had to wear on the airboat.
Kermit the Frog showed us around their 3D studio in the movie, and it was strange because sometimes things seemed to pop out of the screen and made us jerk back, and Fonzie got in a fight with two grumpy muppets who were up in the balcony. And he threw some water at them and I got splashed with a little bit of it, which I wasn't expecting.
The show was a little bit confusing because it didn't seem like they really knew what they were doing but I think that must have been intentional. It was pretty chaotic though and I thought that maybe the Muppets shouldn't make movies, especially after someone blew up the screen with a cannon and there were actual muppets who had gotten out of it walking around in the theatre.
We had to give our glasses back so that the next ponies could use them, and everyone went off to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular except for me and Mister Salvatore, 'cause we were going to see a rocket launch instead.
The weather had cleared up a lot and there were only scattered clouds, so we'd be able to see the rocket on its journey into space. And I bet the rocket pilots had been hoping for that.
I helped him fold the top down on the Jeep and then I got to ride in the front and we left the park and drove back to the coast. We stopped on the way to get some food to eat, and he let me stop at Taco Bell 'cause the Jeep didn't have a top so it was okay if the burritos gave me gas.
We went all the way back to the Kennedy Space Center, and then got to take the bus to a place where we could watch the launch. It was still pretty far away and so I couldn't see too much, but Mister Salvatore had gotten two pairs of binoculars that we could watch through.
I could see some big towers with white tops and behind that was the rocket, and it just sat there not doing anything. There was someone who had a radio that could listen to their communications, though, and everyone got quiet and focused on the rocket when they started the countdown to launch. And then a whole bunch of smoke came up around it and the ground started shaking and I thought something had gone wrong, but then the rocket started climbing and it took off into the sky a lot faster than I thought it would be able to. And it curved off which seemed silly to me—they'd get to space faster if they went straight—but I was sure that they knew what they were doing.
We watched it until its trail disappeared on the horizon, and then when we got back to the Space Center, they told us that it had successfully gotten into orbit and was unloading its satellite, and they had movies that they showed us which were taken from a lot closer to it. There was even a camera on the rocket that looked back, and so we could the whole liftoff from that view, and even when it dropped its boosters behind it and then the first stage, and that was really neat to see.
You could see a lot more in the movie, but it wasn't the same as seeing it with my own eyes and I was really glad that I'd decided to come.
Mister Salvatore had left the top on the Jeep folded down because it was nice, so we just got right back in and went back to Orlando, and I kept looking back 'cause you could still see the rocket trail up in the air. I was kind of curious what it was like, if it was a cloud or if it was something else, but I was sure that I wouldn’t be allowed to fly out there and play with it so I didn't ask.
When we got back to Hollywood Studios, we had to park in the very back 'cause the parking lots were full. Mister Salvatore said that we could drive around some and maybe find a closer spot but I thought that it would be just as fast to walk back to the entrance from here. And I helped him put the top back up before we went into the park, just in case it rained. Mister Salvatore said that back in the old days, Jeeps had insides that could get wet, like a boat, so you never had to put the top up if you didn't want to. And he said that the first Jeeps didn't even have tops at all. They were designed for soldiers, who just rode around in the open.
He used his portable telephone to call Miss Cherilyn and find out where everyone was, and we met up at the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which they had skipped so that I could see it with them, 'cause it was about the ocean and they thought I'd like it. So we went inside and got seats and it started out with a ship coming and mermaids swimming around, and then a weird red crab started singing, and he had some other fish-friends who sang with him.
And then a real mermaid came out (sort of real, 'cause I figured out that her fish-tail was fake) and she didn’t know what you were supposed to use utensils for, and she sang about wanting to be where people were. And there were some bad morays who told a big octopus-woman what she wanted and she offered the mermaid legs in exchange for her voice.
None of us thought that we'd want to give up anything to become another kind of pony, 'cause we were all happy with what we were. Sometimes I wished that I could use casting magic, and Aquamarine said that there were times when she wished she could fly off into the sky but not enough to sacrifice part of her.
In the end, though, her father turned her into a human 'cause that was what she really wanted, and she went off with her man.
I wasn't sure what I thought about it. Maybe next time I saw a seapony I'd ask her if she'd rather have four hooves so she could walk on land. I bet that they liked it in the ocean, though.
Gusty told me that while I was gone they'd seen the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and she'd gotten picked to be on stage which was really fun, and it was just like being in a Daring Do book but it was real. And Cayenne had taken a movie of it which she said that we could watch tonight once we were back at the hotel, 'cause there was still a lot of stuff to see here. And they'd gone on a roller coaster ride with Aerosmith, which was a band, and had lunch at a restaurant called Hollywood and Vine.
Cayenne said that we should go to the Tower of Terror and I wasn't so sure, 'cause the building didn't look very safe, but it had been made that way on purpose, so it was okay. And there was a fancy bellhop that let us in and then then we saw a little movie where a man told us that we were going into the Twilight Zone, and it told us about how the hotel got hit by lightning and we had to experience it ourselves, so we walked through a bunch of rooms that were kind of creepy and rundown and looked like they'd been abandoned.
Then when it was our turn, we crowded on the freight elevator—which I didn't like too much—and we had to wear special harnesses that attached to the seat belts and I didn't like that too much either, 'cause they pinned my wings down. Our attendants helped us get settled and then the doors closed and we started going up the shaft.
It was a little bit nicer than a normal elevator, 'cause you could see the walls moving as it went up, and then we saw a hallway and there were people in it who got hit by lightning and then disappeared and the lights went out and then when they came back on we went around a dark room that was filled with sparks of electricity and stars and then we were in the dark for a bit and then the elevator went up and it plunged back down again and lots of people were shrieking and I was, too, 'cause I couldn't get my wings out and fly to safety.
I was a little shaky when I got off of it and I think I might have pulled a wing muscle trying to fly. So after we got out of our harnesses I stretched out my wings and my left wing was a little bit stiff but still worked.
On our way to the next ride which was called Star Tours, we met some ponies who were just visiting Earth. They were crystal ponies, named Golden Wheat and Arctic Lily, and they'd both decided to spend a week here. She said that they were part of a tour group that took them from the portal to Walt Disney World, but when they were here they could go around and do whatever they wanted to.
Golden Wheat said that everypony had kind of stuck together the first couple of days but after they'd gotten used to all the people they'd decided to split up some and do what they thought was the most fun. And we all agreed that it was good to stick together but sometimes it was also fun to be on your own.
They hadn't been on the Star Tour yet, so we invited them to join us.
On our way in, we saw C-3P0 looking over the crowd as they came in, and there was a little robot who was trying to get someone to claim some underwear. And there were lots of signs on the wall telling us about the spaceship that we were about to get into and there was a line so we had plenty of time to look at it.
When we got to the front, we had to take on 3D glasses again, and then we all got into the spaceship together, and we got instructions from a robot who told us how to put on the seat belts and these had special fittings for ponies and separate instructions. And we found out that C-3P0 was our pilot even though he didn't know how to fly and Darth Vader tried to get us but we made it out of the launch bay before he could and then went into hyperspace and wound up on the Wookie planet and hit a Wookie but he was okay.
Yoda told us that we'd joined the Rebel alliance and there was a lot of cheering at that. And then we had to fight our way through an asteroid belt and flew through a space station and got chased by a bounty hunter and landed on a rebel ship and everyone said that we were heroes even though we hadn't really done anything.
We were all pretty hungry 'cause it was dinnertime, so we went to the Backlot Express and had sandwiches. Gusty wanted the peanut butter sandwich even though it was on the kid's menu, and they let her have it. And me and Cayenne each got a Sea Dog Sunfish Ale with our Caprese sandwiches. And we didn't have to use our money cards, 'cause our magic bracelets let us get food.
All of us went together to the Toy Story Midway Mania, and everything there was really big so it made us feel small. Gusty said that was because toys were small, so everything else looked big to them. And there was a talking potato who talked to us as we waited in line, and then we got in little cars that sat two abreast on both sides and we had little cannons that we were supposed to shoot at targets as we moved around and we got points for the more that we hit, and our ride attendant gave us little hooks that we could put on a forehoof so that we could use it, and that was really fun. I was riding with Arctic Lily and she'd trained a lot in archery, so she had really good hoof and eye coordination and after she figured out how to work the cannon she was very accurate. I wasn't so good at it, 'cause it wasn't something I'd practiced very much. I was a lot better at dropping things where I wanted to but that didn't help much on the ride.
We got our scores when we came back out and we'd done the best out of all the pony teams. Cayenne and Gusty had been second-best, 'cause they'd both used their magic to aim, but I guess Gusty wasn't very accurate—she was worse than even me.
Then we wanted to go see Beauty and the Beast, and Arctic Lily and Golden Wheat had already seen it, and they said that they were going to ride the movie ride so we all nuzzled and said that we hoped we'd meet up again.
It was a musical which was really nice and we saw how a Prince had been cursed 'cause he was selfish and thought too much of himself, and I heard Cayenne mutter that that sounded like Prince Blueblood. And then later Belle found herself in his castle, where a lot of the furniture was alive because of the curse, and Gaston who wanted Belle for himself told the villagers to kill the Beast. And when he was mortally wounded, Belle confessed her love for him and then he turned back into a Prince and then when the show was over, Belle and the Prince came out in the audience and gave a rose to a couple in the middle of the theatre. I thought that that was a much better play than The Little Mermaid, and Gusty must have, too, 'cause she had tears on her cheeks at the end of it even though she also had a really big smile on her face
We'd wanted to see Fantasmic, but it was canceled because of rain, even though it wasn't raining yet. I could feel it in the air, though, and I thought it was gonna get here pretty soon. I was looking forward to it, 'cause it had been a hot day, and I was getting kind of tired out even though it was still pretty early, 'cause the day had been really intense. So we split up, 'cause Gusty wanted to see a little museum about Walt Disney that she said had historical things, and I just wanted to spend some time outside where I could find a little bit of quiet. There wasn't really anyplace for that here, though, so I did the next best thing and there was a little pond and I sat beside that. Miss Cherilyn came with me and she sat with me until it started raining and then she went back to the tables that were by Min and Bill's Dockside Diner.
And the rain cleared everybody out, 'cause at first it came down gentle and then it started downpouring and so people ran off to buildings and stores and that was nice, 'cause for a little bit it was just me by the little pond with the rain and all the water on the sidewalks reflected the Christmas lights that were all over everything and it was very pretty and relaxing, and I held out my wings and let the rain spray off them and cool me down. And when it finally passed I felt reinvigorated, and I shook off most of the water and tucked my wings back in and then went over and sat with Miss Cherilyn. The seat had some water on it, 'cause the umbrella hadn't protected it, but I was wet enough that it didn't matter.
We met back up and went to see Olaf, who was a dancing snowman, and then we went to the Frozen Sing-Along and that was a lot of fun. There were words up where you could see them but most of the people there seemed to know them already, even the ones who weren't very good singers. Mister Wayne said that he'd spotted our crystal pony friends up in the front, but there were too many people for us to get to them.
And when that was over, we went back out to the parking lot and went to the Suburban first and all our helpers but Mister Salvatore got in and us ponies had decided that we'd all ride back in the Jeep. We told Gusty she could sit in the front and the three of us would crowd into the back and he liked that idea.
Cayenne was a little mad that it was parked so far away, but we couldn't help that. And so our helpers had gotten back and changed into their sleeping clothes before we got there, and they were already relaxing in bed. Gusty had to find her sleeping clothes and then she went into the bathroom to get dressed and Cayenne had already fallen asleep by the time she joined us in bed. It had been a really good day.
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Disney should totally pay you to write their advertisement. You managed to make Disney World sound far more exciting then any of their commercials could.
Studios are pretty fun! Too bad Silver couldn't see Star Wars land.
Wonder which park they'll go to next. If there's a vote, I'd say Magic Kingdom!
And it's impolite to upskirt a lady.
And don't argue with the FBI Batman.
Silver Glow got dat reference.
And Silver Glow shall endeavor to talk Mustang Man Salvatore to death with her tacos.
Only if you want an orbit that intersects Earth.
Silver Glow, please don't play with the poisonous rocket exhaust.
Aaaand Armageddon flashbacks.
The magical wireless communications technology.
Silver, take back your harness to show the next Pegasi what you need to fly on Earth.
Drinking water after eating a Jalapeno is a Bad Idea. It gives a weird, nasty after taste & sets it. You need either milk (to coat your tongue) or something fizzy like beer or soda to cut the taste.
It's been 40+ years since I was there & everything is different +it seems more interactive. They had little signs in the rope maze. "You are 1Hour from X ride" (or 2 hours, etc.) The person who set those signs out was a -ING optimist. My sincerest advice is Go on a weekday, the crowd is much less.
It's my head canon that aliens visiting Earth would want to see Mickey Mouse and be disappointed that they couldn't except for his avatar.
I love the idea of Disney providing things like the hooks for Toy Story or the extra harness for Tower of Terror! I'm also not surprised Rock N' Rollercoaster was skipped. As great as Disney is, I don't think they can get a pony into a Vekoma train.
As an unrelated side note, it's fun to think about what would happen if My Little Pony existed in this story. Just imagine the copyright nightmare of a FiM character at Disney World. The lawyers of both Hasbro and Disney would have a nervous breakdown!
7962166
Canonically, Starlight Glimmer can conjure up a pretty good-looking cake, but on the other hoof she's good enough at magic to be able to spar horn-to-horn against an alicorn with a magic-based cutie mark, so she's hardly your typical unicorn.
7962180
Seriously, could you imagine the demand Disney would have for pony -actors-?
Has Silver seen anything with Mickey Mouse in it?
7961999
Two more years and we'll be graced with Star Wars Land. But I WANT IT NAAOW!
Pandora - The World of Avatar is on schedule for summer of this year though.
7962068
Yes, visiting on a weekday is a good idea. And this time of year (in story) is the best time to visit. Well, October to February when the humidity is low and the crowds are far less than compared to the summertime.
7962180
Well, Hasbro did win the license for the Disney Princesses dolls so who knows?
Too many people for my taste.
7962068
I know what you mean. The last time I went there was in the early 90s. I did some checking on Wikipedia a while back, and a lot of the attractions, especially at Epcot, have changed dramatically.
7962034
Hopefully without Ben Affleck trying to make animal crackers sexy.
Water has little effect on jalapenos because the capsaicin is mostly nonpolar. Whole ultrapasteurized milk is better. If one has a toothbrush and toothpaste, that is best.
One has to move laterally at 8 KM/S to miss the Earth (the Earth curves away at the same rate one falls).
7962278
You just did.
It is interesting that Disney have pony equipment for all their rides, I wonder how big the pony tourist trade is?
Were their helpers with them on most of the rides? If they were I guess Silver wasn't paying much attention but it would have been fun to find out that Salvador is a Beauty and the Beast fan or which team is the best shot in the Toy Story game.
She's wondered into Westworld!
Someones been playing with the dynamic queue manipulation parameters. Alien visitors getting to go on almost all the rides in a single day without waiting? Then again, its the same algorithms Intel uses for out of order execution on their CPUS.
Which ride is the replacement for Back To The Future, or am I getting confused with Studios again?
Another day of #SilverGlow going viral... And some1 making mad dosh at YouTube.
It's actually C-3PO (hyphen in a different place) but I suppose Silver Glow wouldn't know that if she's never seen it written. I feel like such a nerd now.
I was at Disney's Hollywood Studios a bit over half a year ago, and Silver's visit reminded me of all the great things I got to do there. I kind of wish I could have shared the experience with her.
7962218
Admiral mentions The Sorcerer's Apprentice segment of Fantasia (probably the most famous segment of that movie). That's pretty much all Mickey.
7962068 By 20 years ago (and my experience is mostly with Disneyland in California) they had figured out the wait times well enough that the actual waiting time in line was usually a bit less than the signs suggested. Plus there are often interesting people from all over the world to chat with while you stand in line, and Silver probably enjoyed that part.
7962278 '91 for me. I haven't set foot in america this century.
7962262 way way to many people
Very perceptive Silver.
I never really liked Disneyland to much. I watched more Pixar stuff (yes I know they Disney owns Pixar).
Objects need horizontal velocity to maintain an orbit.
7962841
My first thought was that they'd hired some mental defective to put up the signs. After years of
brooding on the injustice of it allreflection, I've come to realize that they weren't the ones waiting that long in line. So, who's the REAL mental defective here?As to Disneyland having Pony friendly equipment, I see 2 possibilities.
1 It's still too expensive, there can't possibly be enough Pony visitors to justify it -yet. But, Disney is looking ahead. They know their visitors will talk when they get home & spending a few $ now will pay big dividends down the road in Word of Mouth advertising.
2 Someone in the government had an attack of brains & called ahead to warn Disney the Ponies were coming & they should get ready
7963295 Knowing Disney, I would put good money on #1, plus some investment to advertise in Equestria. I could see them maybe having a long term plan/hope of opening a park in Equestria (though that is a long way off) and also wanting to be able to hire ponies on staff and for magic as needed.
At this point I wouldn't be surprised if they have a couple of pony central movies in production. Maybe a Daring Do movie, that would probably play well on both Earth and Equestria.
7962200 Heck, NASA would spring a couple mil for a dedicated pegasus team to keep the launchpads clear of weather at launch time.
7962500 Disney will break an arm to make you happy at their parks. It would not shock me to find a week after a Pony Portal opened to have Disney World offering guided tours, free tickets, and specialized equipment to make their trip more fun. Details on how they cater to kids with disabilities here.
7962841 The Behind The Scenes tour at Disneyland (CA) was astonishing. The work they do on even minor details really shows.
7963559
Oh, I'm sure they got Pinkie herself to personally check the ponability of every ride, the odd thing was she turned up several weeks before the portal opened
I'm thinking they checked things against an earth pony which is why the tower didn't seem to be entirely Pegasus friendly.
7963559
Lightning struck Apollo 12 in 1969, which could have lead to disaster, and did cause an overvoltage which did cause malfunctions which almost caused an abort, and lightning caused a computer-malfunction in 1987 of an Atlas Centaur, leading to the destruction of the rocket. Cold caused the Challenger-Disaster in 1986.
As it is, NASA can only launch when conditions are within very limited parameters. A Pegasi WeatherTeam would be very welcome. Before NASA gets a Pegasi WeatherTeam, I am certain that the DoD (Department of Defense), specifically the NRO (National ReconnaissanceOffice), will get a Pegasi WeatherTeam. Although the NRO goes back to 1961, it was 31 years before its existence was declassified in 1992.
Apparently, Tara Strong has come up with an idea that Meghan could use to emigrate to Equestria:
https://twitter.com/tarastrong/status/833501576023179265
7964353
Tara Strong is my hero.
And yes, that is totally Meghan's plan C.
"The Cold Equations" should have discouraged interplanetary stowaways.
Just because 'portal' doesn't mean there wouldn't be ramifications.
Not sure what they'd be, just that they'd exist and bite.
7963978 I'm sure the NRO and other three-letter agencies would love weather control, but the problem becomes exercising that control inside foreign countries.
7963559
7963978
orig01.deviantart.net/0625/f/2017/051/a/2/launch_weather_assistance_team_by_totallynotabronyfim-daztt9e.png
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7962636
Yeah, that's at Universal Studios. It is now "The Simpsons Ride". Same building, same "vehicles", same screen, I swear it's even the same motion track. All they did was swap out the old ride set for the new one. The only thing they couldn't replace was the Time Train which is still sitting outside the building. They put the DeLorean in rotation with the rest of the cars they display throughout the park.
I've felt like that many times about her journal as well, as evidenced by the fact that I'm commenting on past chapters instead of current ones. I keep falling behind.
The last basketball game I saw was when the Harlem Globetrotters came by. Normally, no one ever visits this town, despite it being a state capital, so that was pretty exciting. I think I still have an autographed foam hand around here somewhere.
Don't make the pun, me; it's already been made in this story. Don't make the pun, me; it's already been made in this story...
Now there's a sight I'd love to see.
I love clown acts. I've never been able to understand why some people have a phobia of them.
Several circus acrobatic acts I have seen included staged "accidents" to add a bit of drama. I know they were staged because when I was in Boy Scouts, I'd work concessions, selling popcorn in the stands. The circus was shown twice, and the same "accident" played out the same way at the same point both times, with the announcer saying the exact same thing. I've also seen the accident occur on several other occasions as well.
And this is why, no matter how badly I want to, I will likely never visit Disney World. I don't deal with heat well, and Florida has plenty of heat.
to the great movie ride
a talking potato
It takes more than that to fool a smart pony like Silver.
"Pardon me, miss, but please lift your skirt so I can identify you by your butt tattoo."
Look at the eagle-eyed pegasus!
Silver should watch this movie with Meghan.
7961997
Seriously, though, now I want to go to Disney World. (and I'll be really sad when there aren't any ponies there.)
7961999
Mmm, if she comes back to Earth for a vacation sometime in the future, that would be a fun place to go with Christine.
How can you go to Disney and not go to Magic Kingdom?
7962034
Can you imagine, though, if that was normal in Equestria? Like, they do use their cutie marks for ID, so if it's covered, you've got to uncover it and nopony minds, since they don't normally wear clothes anyways. Plus, that's probably why a lot of ponies don't wear pants, just so you can see their cutie mark all the time.
Christine was a good influence on her.
But the top's open, so it's okay.
Silver Glow is not entirely up to speed on orbital mechanics.
Yeah, probably not a good idea to breathe that stuff. Although I'd imagine it's mostly water vapor. If Silver Glow wanted a really good starting point for a giant penis cloud, a rocket trail would be perfect.
Isn't tech wonderful? Those bracelets are magic!
7962068
Heh, they probably wouldn't believe her if she told them. Good thing that there are certainly pictures of her flying in gear in her photo album.
Cayenne would like the idea of having beer with breakfast. Gusty, not so much.
As I recall, they had those signs at Cedar Point, too. What I always liked was riding the rides that were older, 'cause there was almost never a line for them. Also, bringing a good book to read while waiting in line is one option to help get through the crowds.
7962085
Yeah, depending on how they'd been exposed to human culture and what they'd seen . . . plus, for the ponies at least, a human-sized sapient mouse actually existing isn't unreasonable.
7962200
Anybody, really. I would think in the US alone, the first few thousand would have no trouble finding employment, and could probably just tell their employer how much they wanted to get paid. Especially for stuff that can't be done by humans.
7962180
I think in general, big tourist attractions are going to do their damndest to make sure that their pony guests can have a good time. And Disney is very good at catering to their guests, from what I've heard.
"Oh, you're going to have to change your name when you're on Earth. That one's copyrighted. Sorry!"
7962185
I've always thought that in general, conjured food doesn't taste as good as proper food, no matter how pretty it looks. And it's probably a pretty uncommon spell anyways. Like, if you have to, it's a way to avoid starvation, but if there's any way to get proper food, that's a better choice. Maybe if the unicorn in question was also a baker, it would taste better, but mostly it's just a generic spell.
7962200
If Gusty wants to turn back around and go right back to Earth, she'll have a job before she even sets hoof outside the transport center.
7962218
At Disney? Of course she has--basically everythinghas Mickey Mouse on it.
7962230
I remember one time I was watching a movie (as an adult, mind you) and there was a preview for something that I really wanted to see, and I said, loud enough for everyone in the theatre to hear, "I want to watch it now." That got me a few laughs, and probably mortified my girlfriend.
That sounds pretty cool. I liked that movie.
Weekdays and off-seasons are really the best for any amusement park.
7962262
That's the one downside of amusement parks. Some of them, you can rent for the day in their less-busy seasons, and if there were enough ponies, it would certainly be possible that they could do that. I doubt that Disney would do that (you'd need a really big group and dump trucks full of money).
8034106
Probably.
Probably why all the dress "bottoms" are all so open too.
7962278
I've never been there
7962363
Not much chance of Gusty packing a toothbrush at breakfast. There's probably a unicorn spell that could get rid of the burning, too, although Gusty doesn't know it.
As Randall Munroe says, getting to space isn't hard; getting up enough speed to stay there is.
7962500
Besides the students, it's pretty likely that about a third of the pony visitors to America go to Disney World. And even if every pony tourist there so far is a net loss financially for Disney (in terms of new equipment, etc.), they would be very interested in making sure that they're the go-to theme park for all the ponies in the future, too. Every pony who goes back to Equestria and says what a great time they had at DIsney and how friendly everyone was is just more free advertising for them . . . not to mention, ponies will want to start buying licensed merchandise.
So in short, right now for Disney it's not a very large number, but it should grow in the future. (I did some googling, and apparently in 2014, between the different parks in Orlando, Disney had over 58 million visitors.)
At least a pair of helpers went with them on most rides, just in case anything went wrong and they were needed. The helpers are mostly staying quiet and out of the way, to let the ponies have fun.
7962636
They did have to wait in lines, but Silver Glow just didn't mention it. Ponies probably love queues anyways; heck, according to Ocalhoun, they even have LineCon.
7962679
I know, right? If Silver Glow had the slightest idea of how viral videos of her were going, she'd probably be embarassed.
7962700
It's probably written down on a sign somewhere. I just assumed . . . .
Ah well. Correction made, thank you!
7962754
I went to Universal Orlando maybe 15 years ago? I haven't been to any theme parks in a long time. . . .
7962841
Yeah, they do seem to run a bit quicker than the sign would suggest, at least at Cedar Point. And yeah, Silver and company would have liked talking to some of the people who were in line with them, she just didn't put that in her journal.
7962922
You thought that Sarnia was an urban wasteland, maybe next time we meet we can go to Melvindale or Inkster.
7963263
She's a smart pony
(She might have thought when she just saw pictures, though, that the characters were 'real.')
I've never been.
Something that she should have learned from her astronomy class (since essentially what works for planets works for satellites, too) but she probably just didn't really stop to think about it when she noticed that the spaceship was curving off.
7963295
In the story, they do have some pony-friendly equipment, especially for stuff where it's quick and easy (like hoof-hook for some of the rides, or pony-friendly 3D glasses). Yes, there aren't enough visitors to justify major changes yet. But you're right on about word of mouth--they want everypony who visits to go back to Equestria and tell all their friends how wonderful and friendly Disney World was.
That could be true of some places that the ponies visit, but Disney is smart. You can bet the day after first contact, Disney brass was figuring out how they could make money off ponies. (And they wouldn't have been the only company to think like that; huge, untapped markets don't come along every day, after all.)
7963470
Yeah, that'd be their primary motivation. A park in Equestria isn't an unreasonable plan for the future, and the more ponies you have wanting it, the easier it's gonna be when you get down to negotiations. And of course Disney would want to have ponies in their park; that's another attraction that would draw customers.
Probably at this stage they're just importing and dubbing movies, but that would still be an enormous source of revenue. Might be a few more years before they could get a decent pony-centered movie off the ground. I have a feeling that's something that Disney wouldn't want to rush right into, in case they screw it up and alienate their audience.
7963559
Heck, NASA would spring a couple mil for a dedicated pegasus team to keep the launchpads clear of weather at launch time.
Oh yeah, they would. I can't imagine how much a scrubbed launch costs, but it's probably more than keeping a team of weatherponies on standby.
That's what I got from Closet Brony, too--they're going to make sure you have a good time, and they're going to make any reasonable accommodation to make it happen. While they might not have been quite that quick out the gate to actually have pony-friendly equipment and tours, they would have been working their tails off to make sure it was something that ponies would enjoy, and there's a very good chance that they got a group of pony consultants--all expenses paid, of course--to come to the park and not only show what they had to offer, but find out what they could do to make the ponies have a better time.
7963764
The nature of the ride--a freefall--is going to make it not pegasus friendly. And yes, they probably did do most of their initial work with earth ponies. But you can bet that every time they get a complaint from a pony, they do their best to fix whatever went wrong.
7963978
I wouldn't be surprised if in this AU, there are ponies who are working 'black' jobs with various governments. Although that would be a very delicate balance, because a: they might report back to Princess Celestia (either intelligence, or just what they're doing) and b: they might not be loyal to the country that they're serving, especially if it came down to a pony vs. pony confrontation (say pegasus spies working for both the US and Russia).
8034112
Mouthwash and brushing teeth stops the fire:
I was on a date in a Mexican Restaurant. I accidentally bit into jalepeno. Luckily, I had a crossbody messengerbag with me full of essentials like socks, underwear, lubricant, condoms, shaving cream, razors, mouthwash toothbrush, and toothpaste (the usual kit men bring on dates with women). I ran to the bathroom with my kit. I sure was glad that I had the mouthwash, toothbrush, and toothpaste because brushing out my mouth stopped the burn. Later, I sure was glad that I brought the rest of my kit too.