Let's actually head into the park this week. =)

Welcome to Hong Kong Disneyland!! 

The first family of the day. Absolutely love this tradition. 

Main Street Station ... 

You know you are in for a magical time when you see this sign ... 

Opera house ... 

A look up at the Main Street Station ... 

A great morning at Disneyland

Attractions and wait times

Main Street Trashcans ... 

Bakery and Tsum Tsum

At the middle of Main St

Let's head up to the hub and take in some music from the Disneyland Band 

Hey, that castle looks familiar

The hub

Love that you can get pictures without tons of people in the way here

Let's take a look at nighttime in the hub ... 

Great lighting effects on the castle

They wisely left some trees out of the hub to give unobstructed views of Fireworks shows

Main St Windows for Michael Eisner and Bob Iger. 

Say what you will about Eisner, but this is a very well deserved honor. 

Fire Dept ... 

We end our look at Main Street with one last look at the Main Street Disneyland Railroad Station. 

So which update would you like to see next? Vote below and let us know. 

Thanks again to Inside Universal for these amazing pictures, we hope you are all enjoying a look at this beautiful looking park. 

Something a bit different today as we talk about something beyond our normal Theme Parks and Halloween stuff. Something that's been hyped up a lot this week ...

​Unless you've been living under a rock you'll know that there is a new Star Wars movie coming out this December, and that this week a new trailer was released and that online tickets went on sale and broke all kinds of records and the internet (sorry Kim Kardashian). 

And along with all the posts that are excited about the movie you will inevitably see some post from somebody asking the very legitimate question "but what if it sucks". 

And this is a very fair question. Afterall, in six Star Wars films there are pretty much 3 good movies. Episode IV - Great. Episode V - The best. Episode VI - Great moments, a few missed opportunities (especially in the "Special Editions"). 

And then there are those other 3 movies we don't like to talk about. But let's face it, they are part of the Canon, they are part of the history of the franchise and they aren't going anywhere ... although from what we've seen on The Force Awakens they aren't really referring to those movies at all. But we won't know for sure until December 18 (17 for us hard core nerds). 

But there's one huge reason why Episode VII isn't going to suck. And that's the fact that George Lucas isn't involved. AT ALL. 

Let's run down the career of one Mr. George Lucas so I can make my point. 

THX 1138 - This is pretty much a student film, has some interesting moments, more a must-watch for the future references made to this movie in Star Wars. 
American Graffiti - A fun movie, easily his best non Star Wars movie, but if this was all he'd ever done we wouldn't be talking about George Lucas today. 
More American Graffiti - Full disclosure, I didn't even know about this movie until I Googled it. 
Red Tails - We're going to skip ahead a bit and just look at the movies he directed, and this was the next non Star Wars one. I tried watching this once, it looked like a video game. Sad because the story is a good one. 

Indiana Jones Series:
Raiders of the Lost Ark - My favorite movie all all time. Hands down, no question, end of story. Speaking of the Story, it was George Lucas' idea, but the Screenplay is all Lawrence Kasdan. And of course directed by Stephen Spielberg. He would continue to be credited as "Story by" for The Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade and that other one we don't talk about Nuke The Fridge, er, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Obviously we aren't sure what happened there, but I'm guessing Spielberg gave him a bit more control than he had on the previous 3. Just speculation on my part though. ​

Star Wars
Episode IV: A New Hope - The one movie that George Lucas both wrote and directed that is a masterpiece. It introduced us to the Star Wars universe, to these characters we've loved for almost 40 years and pretty much changed cinema forever. So a billion kudos to Lucas on this one. He deserves the praise he gets. 
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Widely accepted as the best of the original Star Wars Trilogy and by default the best Star Wars movie. Why? The darker story? Sure. The characters growing a bit? Absolutely. A director that wasn't a George Lucas "yes man" and was willing to push back and make the movie he wanted to make, undoubtedly. So really, we have Irvin Kirshner as well as writers Lawrance Kasdan and Leigh Brackett to thank for that one as they made an absolute masterpiece. 
​Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi - The last of the original trilogy, not directed by George Lucas but by Richard Marquand who really didn't have the balls to push back to Lucas and make his movie. Coincidence that Lucas was back as the primary screenwriter on this one? So the Ewoks, the yub-nub song, etc ... all Lucas. 

And of course, this doesn't even take into consideration the "Special Editions" that Lucas took control of. But if you look back on the original trilogy which film has the least bit of additions? That's right, it's Empire Strikes Back. Which is also the one Lucas was presumably the least involved in. Hmmm ... 

Which brings us to the Prequels. All 3 George Lucas directed, executive produced and was the head writer on. 

Episode I: The Phantom Menace - This is where people start bringing in their comparisons of the hype for Episode VII because, really, the only thing that can match the hype that we are experiencing right now is the hype we experienced in the months leading up to May of 1999. It was huge. Which meant the let-down was also huge. I remember seeing this movie 4 or 5 times in the theater, hoping each time it would get better. Even going to the "all new digital projection" showings they added a few months later. It didn't help. 
Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Finally, after all this time we were finally going to see the Clone Wars Obi Wan referred to back in 1977. Oh wait, flat acting, more CGI than any other movie ever and a love story that, well, makes most Jennifer Lopez romantic comedies look good. 
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Finally, clone wars, a fantastic battle sequence, clones and ships and heads chopping off. Sure, a lot of CGI, but whatever. And then, wait, Darth Vader became Darth Vader because he had a bad dream? And he's the one that killed his wife? And he never put two and two together that the Emperor was manipulating him? I will give this movie one thing, the fight between Obi Wan and Vader is amazing, it's just too bad that wasn't the end of the movie. 

Where George Lucas' true genius lies is in innovation. Yes, he went overboard with the prequels, but the creation of Industrial Light and Magic, the things they have been able to do since it's inception, without ILM and Lucas, movies today wouldn't be like the movies of today. And nobody should ever try and take that away from him. The sheer amount of films he's had a hand in from a technical standpoint is simply staggering, far too many to get into here. 

Which brings us to Episode VII: The Force Awakens. 

Now, on Wikipedia it lists George Lucas as a writer, he's not. I'm guessing that was something with the Disney purchase of LucasFilm that any future releases have to have him credited that way due the the "Characters created by George Lucas". And that's fine. But he's not involved at all. And this is a VERY good thing. 

Look at JJ Abrams track record. Alias (one of the best TV shows ever). Lost (amazing until it was ruined not by JJ Abrams but by Damon Lindelof). Seriously, look at Lindelof's track record ... Tomorrowland anybody? Star Trek, yes, Star Trek. The first one is amazing, the second one, well, it's not as good, but it's still a really good movie. I don't know how you ruin the character of Khan, but they did manage to pull it off. Super 8, fun and exciting. Give this one a re-watch if you haven't seen it lately. 

And the last reason this is going to be great, the cast. No, not Luke, Han and Leia, although having them back is going to be amazing. The panels for Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher at Star Wars Celebration were amazing, and they seem genuinely excited to be back. 

No, I'm talking about the new cast. Their reactions to the trailer that came out the other day, priceless. They are as excited to see this movie as all of us are. Sure it's going to be life changing, their lives will NEVER be the same. But they are fully embracing this. 

We haven't seen some of the other cast members out in the public eye as much as we're seeing Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaacs, something tells me that's being carefully managed due to their roles in the movie. And the fact that there is still so much mystery surrounding the plot of the movie is amazing. 

I can't wait for the lights to go down on the evening of December 17, seeing that "LucasFilm" logo, the theme, the scroll and then being fully immersed in the Star Wars universe I grew up with. 

And when that's done, I'll get right back in line and watch it again. I won't be alone ... 

​Gregg

So what do you think? Are you approaching Episode VII with caution or are you fully on the hype train? 

Written by Gregg Condon
Pictures courtesy of Inside Universal

Let's head into Tomorrowland and take a look at the Iron Man Experience

For more info on Iron Man Experience be sure to check out our update from D23. 

Iron Man Unveiled for Hong Kong Disneyland

Iron Man landed at D23 EXPO today for a special appearance, and soon Hong Kong Disneyland guests will have the opportunity to meet and take photos with the Super Hero himself. Set to open in 2016, Iron Man Experience will be the first Marvel attraction at any Disney park, taking guests on an epic adventure over the streets and in the sky above Hong Kong.  The adventure will begin at the new Stark Expo where guests board the Iron Wing to take flight and battle Hydra alongside fan-favorite Avenger, Iron Man.

A look at construction from the Autopia entrance, which looks to be temporary during construction. 

The entrance for the Iron Man Experience will be placed near Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Autopia

The ride will be the first Marvel ride at a Disney park and will be a motion simulator as well as house a meet and greet area. 

Thanks again to Inside Universal for the awesome pics. We'll be back with our next update from HKDL later this week. 

The entrance to the Ghost Train

The loading area, very well done and starts the fun off with a great little song. 

Get off my lawn!!! 

Feed me Seymour!! 

Awesome graveyard scene near the load/unload. You get to pass by this twice. 

Dead Men Tell No Tales

Dia De Los Muertos

Lots of great lighting, which is no surprise as this is the same group that does the lighting at ScareLA. 

Clever play on words ... 

Our conductor

Awesome Tesla Coil!!

Blocks should say "Creepy Bear".

Clowns selling fireworks, always a good idea

Hi everybody, can you pick me up on your way back around? I've been here awhile

Is it just us or does the guy in the picture look like Neil Patrick Harris? 

There's only 2 weekends left to experience the awesomeness that is the Ghost Train, so be sure you head out to Griffith Park and have a great time. You won't be disappointed. Grab your kids, nieces/nephews, brothers/sisters, whoever. 

Just remember, this is a family event, so go expecting to have a great time, don't go in expecting to get scared. But it's definitely a can't miss event. We can't wait to go back next year!! 

Written by Gregg Condon 
(non cell phone pictures courtesy of Evil Twin Studios)

The basic story of Ward 13 is that this is a secret ward of Raymond Hill Sanitarium for the criminally insane, which is of course affiliated with Raymond Hill Mortuary. And we all know their reputation isn't the best. So it's definitely a continuation of what they've already built on. 

But instead of simply going with a similar theme and experience as last year they've totally changed it up, made it even more interactive and added some things that we've never seen in a Haunt before, and that's really rare and awesome. 

Our journey begins within the doors of the Asylum where something has definitely gone wrong and the patients have taken over the asylum. You go in with your group of no more than 6 people which definitely means you get some amazing interaction with the talent and the amazing sets. 

From the first minute of this event you know it's something totally different and unique and again, something I really don't want to spoil for you. 

The walk-through plays with your mind as well as your soul and what follows is a good 15-20 minutes of fun, scares, amazing sets, great talent and a cohesive and engaging story that will leave you wanting more. ​

The maze isn't a traditional maze and there are definitely some physical elements and small spaces you will have to go through. But if you have physical limitations there are ways around that as well. 

Throughout the maze you are taken through different rooms including waiting rooms, dr offices, patient rooms and the most awesome element we've ever experienced in a maze, which we will definitely not be spoiling for you here. Check back after the season and we'll give full details. 

All of that eventually leads you into Ward 13 itself. 

Ward 13 is basically what you'd expect from a highly secure and secretive psychiatric facility where bad things are always happening ... =)

...but there are some surprises in store for you so beware of the dark places.

We spent some time talking with the creators this past Saturday night and their passion for entertainment and this haunt is tremendous and they promise they'll be bringing something new for 2016 and beyond. 

Thank you again to Evil Twin Studios for having us out and being awesome to us as always. See below for all the information on Ward 13 and be sure to get your tickets. It gets very busy and for good reason. 

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. ​

We'll be adding to this over the weekend as we'll be experiencing one of our favorite Haunters, Evil Twin Studios and their all new Ward 13. We'll also be experiencing the Ghost Train for the first time, so look for more on those next week. 

​Click on any of the titles below to see our reports. 

Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest

The transition of Fright Fest from an event that was pretty much attended by those already at the park into a destination Haunted evening is continuing this year with some tremendous improvements. 

We also heard last night that the Aftermath maze will be leaving after this year so you only have 9 nights left to get into one of our favorite mazes from any event. Check out our walk-through of the maze below. 

Magic Mountain's Fright Fest was also just voted the best Halloween Event by USA Today readers. Congrats on this well deserved honor. 

Six Flags Great Adventure Fright Fest

Not to be outdone, Great Adventure in New Jersey stepped up their Fright Fest this year with all new mazes, new shows and what looks like a pretty incredible parade. Check out Chris' report from Fright Fest at Six Flags Great Adventure. 

We also should have some more Fright Fest fun from Six Flags Great America soon. 

Knott's Scary Farm

The granddaddy of them all is once again amazing. With the addition of the Scary Farm Pass it fives fans the chance to go on repeat nights and see things we may not see by just visiting once per night. 

Be sure to check out our opening night report. . 

Knott's Spooky Farm

Not content to rest on just doing scary stuff, Knott's has expanded their daytime event for families. Check out our look at the event from this past weekend. 

Halloween Horror Nights - Universal Studios Hollywood

What some will say is the best Halloween event around, and who are we to argue. Movie quality sets, amazing talent and a chance to walk around the backlot. 

Halloween Horror Nights gets VERY busy so be sure to check out our Survival Guide as well as our update from opening night of the event which includes our maze walk-through highlight videos. . 

Halloween Horror Nights - Universal Studios Orlando

Not to be outdone, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando may have the same name as the one in Hollywood, but the results, at least from Renée's report appear to be vastly different. 

Who says we can't have two great events on both coasts. 

Howl-O-Scream - Busch Gardens Tampa 

Howl-O-Scream is one of those events that we seem to hear gets better and better every year, and this year certainly appears to be no exception. 

From the rides, to returning characters and all new mazes, check out Renée's opening night report. 

Queen Mary's Dark Harbor

One of our absolute favorite events of the year, Queen Mary's Dark Harbor knows how to bring the fun, the scares and with their vast array of characters they can always keep you laughing.

Whether you like to just sit and watch sliders, take pictures with scary Drag Queens or get scared, Queen Mary's got it all. Check out our report from opening night. 

Boo at the Los Angeles Zoo

For those with children or who want to have some halloween fun without all the scary stuff, the LA Zoo has got an event for you. 

Of course you've got the animals, but add in pumpkin carving, hay mazes, music and more and you've got an amazing event. Be sure to check out our report. 

Ward 13 - Evil Twin Studios

We haven't done this one yet (that's tomorrow) but judging from what we've heard so far and our visit to their haunt .last year we have no doubt this will once again be at the top of our list for 2015. Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with the creators of this amazing event. 

Drunken Devil - Sinister Soiree

This freshman event brings the fun along with the scares and ends the way every maze should, at a bar. 

Set in the swinging city of New Orleans this event is sure to provide a tremendous amount of fun and scares. Check out our opening night report. 

LA Haunted Hayride

This is still one of the most unique events in all of Southern California and it's expanded to New York this year. 

Be sure to check out our pictures and video from the recent media night.