X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

05/05/2006: Nintendo Wii / Disney Blah.

Anticipation rules and anticipation has ruled my life. Anticipation of fun, of holidays, of things supposedly arriving in the mail any day now. Of movies, of upcoming limited edition 7-11 Slurpees. Half the fun’s in getting there, even if it sometimes means enjoying things more before they happen than when they’re actually happening. In other words, I am having a motherfucking blast reading all of the Disney World vacation guides I bought a few nights ago.

I am so, so, SO looking forward to this trip. If it was math, I was doing it: I haven’t been on a “real” vacation (for me this means, “something outside of New Jersey”) in like, damn, fifteen years or something. I’ve gone to Salem twice and had a couple of fun overnight trips, and some business trips that could be construed as vacations only by those who never go on vacations, but this, THIS…wow! Six nights! Seven days! Nice hotels! Fancy drinks and rides based on Honey, I Shrunk The Kids! I can barely digest the idea that I’ll be vacationing in a place where there’s actually more to do than just get loaded and gamble, and I refuse to believe that any amount of preliminary anticipation is overkill. I’ll keep reading and planning even if it’s all pointless in the long run, because thinking about what I need to buy and see in Disney World sure beats thinking about when my assignments are due or how we really need to start painting the apartment.

I’m so glad I didn’t listen to everyone who told me not to stay at the Polynesian. Little know Matt fact: He loves Polynesian shit. I have a collection of Tiki mugs that rivals Trader Vic’s. If I met someone named Raphael I’d insist on calling him Raffiael. I’m going to really try to enjoy myself first and worry about articles second, but this being X-Entertainment in Disney and all, I don’t think we can possibly avoid at least a few bits.

Work-related endeavors have brought me closer to the Nintendo Wii than I would’ve gotten otherwise, and I’ve gotta say, the name has kind of grown on me. No, I’m not saying that I like it, or that I completely disagree with the millions who’ve griped on their own blogs. Though it was only just a code name that too many took to heart, “Revolution” sounded pretty pretentious and basic when you get right down to it, and I only say this because defending “Wii” means entering an arena where I really am going to debate the importance of a system’s name over its capabilities. Then again, I do work in marketing. There will be creative ways for Nintendo to use the name in campaigns that’ll get players off their collective giant company back, but more to the point of this blurb, I’m definitely looking forward to actually…you know…playing it. Check out 1UP’s list of upcoming confirmed/tentative games to find out why. Rarely do I look at a list of upcoming video games and want 50,000 of them, but here it is. Tack on the novelty gimmicks and the fact that you can buy/play virtually every old Nintendo game worth buying/playing, and we’re looking at a system that I refuse to protest merely because it’s named after a second grader’s penis.

First Post! And I agree with you on the Wii thing. The games make the system, the processor power behind it is just for guys bragging about the size of their e-penis.

love the site matt i am a long time visitor and i love the nintendo Wii even if my friends make fun of mefor laking the name lol

I can’t wait to play all those old NES, SNES and N64 games on my Wii. I love playing with my Wii. I’ll play with my Wii 24/7.

Matt, way to provide some free advertising for Nintendo and Disney, without your grassroots campaign these 2 mom and pop operations would surely disappear.

By the way, I only got the fundage for Playstation 3, yes, baaaah goes the sheep.

Before trips I LOVE to just spend hours on whatever-hotel-I’m-staying-at’s virtual tours. "Oh! The pool! I’ll be standing right there in a matter of weeks!"

Yes, I expect both Disney and Nintendo to profit greatly from these paid endorsements.

Anticipation can be pretty great. Right now I’m anticipating a nice relaxing weekend full of ice cream and My Little Ponies. Though one there’s the package I’m anticipating and it never seems to come. That sort of anticipation can drive one looney.

Sadly dear, WDW is not what it was once. Have fun though!! Ride the Haunted Mansion for mE!

Ok, there are alot more games I’d like to play on the … Wii … than I figured. But still, that name, and controller, have GOT to go.

I can’t wait to see the 4 gabillion pictures you’ll most likely take at Disney, Matt.

I’ve never been there, so, I’ll live vicariously through you.

This is the first I’m hearing of Wii, probably because I stopped following that stuff in second grade or so, when my guy friends stopped humoring me and letting me lose to them at Mario. Still, sounds fun.

Redkat: Oh hush up you! Matt’s going to go and have an excellent time, better than anyone who has ever been to Disney World -regardless of whether you think it’s past its prime- because he MATT, and he appreciates this stuff like none other.

I lok at it like this. The hardcore will call it Revolution, the average gamer will call it Wii, and our parents will continue to call anything that plays videogames Nintendo - regardless of what company made the console. Personally I was a little annoyed by it, but then again I own a Playstation 2, XBox, and a Gamecube among others and when you think about it they are kinda lame sounding. Quite honestly the last system to have a cool name was the Genesis. If the Wii was all about a name they would have announced it months ago, but instead it comes back to what matters: gameplay. And on a side note, how awesome is the recent announcement of the original trilogy on DVD?

Actually, Matt, I understand how you feel. I’m also going to be taking my first vacation out-of-state (and without family members) in five years. I’m going to visit my best girlfriend, who lives in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachussetts, in July. We’ve only e-mailed and snail-mailed each other, but we’ve done it for three years and have grown very close and have sent each other all kinds of pictures and things, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m also looking forward to getting the first season "Sailor Moon" DVD set I bought off of eBay.

And yes, this means I’m finding all the books I can round up about New England. I’ll be staying at her house, not a hotel, and I’ll be taking the bus, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help a little with the itinerary.

Have fun, Matt! You deserve it, considering the amount of work that you put into the site, nevermind your actual job.

We’re two peas in a pod at this moment. I, too, am excited at the prospect of my upcoming Disney vacation, and I’m also completely psyched about the Wii. I love my DS, and hope that lighting can strike twice for Nintendo.

Click on my name to go to WDWMagic.com, which is probably the best WDW site ever. They have everything: News, weather reports, stuff about new, current & old rides, Rehab Info (very important to be on top of if you wish to go to say, Magic Kingdom and find out that Pirates of The Carribbean is down, which it will be after easter to add stuff from the movies), trip reports, forums with some of the biggest obbessive Disney fans ever, and all sorts of other crazy crap.

For nostalgia wise, there’s Yesterland.com, which showcases almost every ride that’s been closed at Disneyland (with humongous tributes to the Main St Electric Parada & the Submarine Voyage)

I’ve personally been looking forward to Red Steel for Wii. As for the name, I really could care less.

Maybe I should mention that you also use a sword in that game, 1up only mentions a gun.

Who’s to say what’s too much anticipation? Maybe when you’re looking back on the trip, part of what you’ll feel fuzzy about is how excited you were leading up to it.
My grandpops is in Vegas and I’m thinking about going up there for the Lumos convention in July. It seems like a really silly thing to do, but I’m intrigued by the idea of being in Sin City surrounded by Harry Potter nuts. Funnily enough, thanks to X-E I totally associate "vacation" with "ability to gamble".

I have been to Disney only once and, sadly, that was 13 years ago. Back then, Disney would take your picture and put it on your ticket, b/c supposedly the ticket never expires. I still have a day left on my ticket with my very nerdy 12-year-old picture on it. Oh, how I long to go back.

As for the Nintendo Wii: "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Hope you have a great time at the Magic Kingdom. You’ve earned it. It hasn’t been the same since Mr. Toad left but there’s hope with the new AVALANCHE ride. This is the longest stretch in which I have not been (havent been since 2000).

I’ve never heard of this Wii thing. How are you supposed to pronounce it? Is it like "Weee" or "double-u-eye-eye"? The second one sounds kind of like World war 2, but with a W missing.

Oooooh. I see. Because it sounds like a penis. Hah. Yeah, I see what you all did there.

I don’t care if they call it "Super Fun Penis Machine." If they eventually release a Legend of Zelda game and a good Mario game, they have my money. Hell, if they allow me to play the old NES Maniac Mansion game, I’m sold.

I’m looking forward to vacationing vicariously through you. I love love love Disney World. Especially Star Tours.

The wii Looks like a pretty decent console with all the titles that are coming out for it, Im really more impressed with this system than the xbox 360

even tho the 360 is pretty cool..

The Wii, in my opinion will live and die by the virtaul console. I hope to see flat rates in a tiered system. 4.99 for NES titles, 9.99 for SNES and no more than 14.99 for the N64. I somehow doubt this will be what happens as this is the same company that sold the original Super Mario on the GBA for $19.99. *sighs* E3, which should shed some light on this and other so called features of the Wii, cannot come soon enough.

Granted that 19.99 was too expensive, they were half novelty and you were buying a hard copy. For the download service, all they’ll be paying is for the server to host the files. They don’t even owe themselves licenses. I’m betting prices will vary since any other company that jumps in board for it, will likely get to set their own price, just like for any game today.

It’s been pointed out that Nintendo could have called its 16-bit machine Powerful instead of Super, making us all have to refer to it as the PNES.

I’m looking forward to Wii too. I just got my DS Lite import today. I love it - you don’t realize how clunky and dim the original DS is until you play the Lite for yourself. As a bonus, the Japanese system instruction is pretty hilarious with all the little cartoon pictures of what not to do to the system (you can Google it to find it online somewhere).

Oh yeah - I picked up a box of Tangergreen and a box of Crazy Citrus whatever today. Unfortunately, it does not say "Ecto" on the receipt, but it did lump the two boxes together under the Crazy Citrus name, so they must really be the exact same thing. And yes, the Citrus does taste exactly the same as Tangergreen and presumably Ecto itself (if my pre-pubescent memory serves).

Second tme poster, long time disney world affecionado. Just Thought I’d drop my list od top 10 things to do in each park. In no order. Just the top 10.

Magic Kingdom
1. Pirates of the Carribbean
2. The Haunted Mansion
3. Space Mountain
4. Tomorrowland Transit Authority
5. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
6. The Country Bear Jamboree
7. Splash Mountain
8. The Carousel of Progress
9. Spectromagic Parade
10. Wishes fireworks

Epcot (My personal favorite park)
1. Spaceship Eath
2. The American Adventure
3. Living with the Land (boat ride)
4. Maelstrom
5. Honey, I shrunk the Audience
6. Club Cool (Free "around the world" Coca cola samples)
7. Test Track
8. El Rio Del Tiempo (this one is "hidden" in the Mexico Pavilion and is so bizarre, its awesome!)
9. The Living Seas
10. illuminations: Reflections of Earth fireworks

MGM Studios
1. Star Tours
2. Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror
3. Rock’n’ Roller Coaster
4. Muppet Vision 3D
5. Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
6. The Great Movie Ride
7. Fantasmic! night time show
8. Sci Fi Dine In Restaraunt (you must eat here…it is awesome (food pretty good, but its all about eating in a fake car at a fake drive in showing trailers for old b-movies)
9. That’s it. This park is a 3/4 day park.

Animal Kingdom (again, not a complete ten)
1. Expedition Everest
2. Kilimanjaro Safaris
3. Majarajah Jungle Trek
4. Dinosaur
5. Its Tough To Be a Bug
6. Festival of the Lion King
&. That’s it.

If you have time, run over to universal.
Islands of Adventure has the SPider-Man ride that is absolutely amazing and Studios has Revenge of the Mummy, Shrek 4-D and Men in Black…plus that ultra campy Jaws ride.

I hope they revamp the old nintendo classics with online modes, like the 360 have done with a few. If not then i do not see the big deal, seeing as I can play them all any time I want anyways on other systems.

Off-Topic: Today is Free Comic Book Day. So head on down to your local shop and get some.

(Scratch what I said about Lumos. I’d forgotten it’s not really a convention proper, it’s some boring educational blah blah blah. I just want to wander through a dealer’s room full of bootleg wands.)
Hey Dr. Acula, you still posting around here? You might want to check out televisionwithoutpity.com, they’ve got a shirt with your name on it

If Nintendo made Punch-Out Wii, I’d actually consider giving a Nintendo another try.

EPCOT, man. Spend all your time in freakin’ Epcot. Last year was my first trip, and it was 4 nights in Disney, 3 days on the cruise. It was Star Wars Weekends’ last weekend when I went, so most of my time was spent in MGM and Epcot. Hope you reserved spots at a few restaraunts!

The Tepenyaki House in Japan is amazing. Anyway, I really hope you have fun with your trip! In Japan, I suggest you get some Konpeito; this little star shaped candy.

And I have to say, I’m so happy you’ve been doing so many articles! All those months where there were few coming out, I was very sad.

I SO didn’t read that post. Um, Polynesian was a NICE place, stayed there too.

have fun at WDW, I really enjoy the site and have (ahem) connections there so look me up if you go to Festival of the Lion King show. You will love Epcot. There is just enough good old 80’s carpet walls still in existence to make you faint from nostalgia and their musty fumes.

Yes, I remember Disney World. I went there in 7th grade and damnit… I had a good time. Except for the day I got sick from Polynesian food. I’m not making this up. Luckily that was the day my group was going to the ocean so I wasn’t missing as much. One word of advice: Get a GOOD hotel. The expensive ones are really nice but the cheap ones are horrible… Of course, that information is like 8 years old so really, you shouldn’t take it seriously. Things have probably changed since then. Somebody tossed a dirty diaper in the water fountain.

Matt, you totally have to goto DisneyQuest when you go to disney world. It’s a 5 story indoor theme park. They have a virtual Space Mountain simulator, where you can literally create and ride your own personal rollercoaster. They have tons of Virtual Reality Games, and they have a whole section dedicated to arcade games from the 80s

I’m glad you went with the Polynesian resort Matt! Like I mentioned in my email its one of my favorites and its great being within a monorail ride of the MK & EPCOT.

You gotta ride Mission:SPACE for me and give us a review! I haven’t been on it yet. I hear they put barf bags in the seats, thats how intense it is.

I haven’t been down there in quite a few years. When I worked for Disney I was going like all the time because we got free passes! And I miss my merchandise discounts… !

Hey, if you ever go online with the Wii if and when you get one, lemme know. We’ll have some Smash Bros matches and I can tell all my friends I lost to the X-Entertainment guy.

I coulda toldja Polynesian was the most fun of the three on the main track (though my personal fave is the Contemporary because it’s just cool to ride the Monorail straight through the building.)

The reason Pirates is closed is because they’re adding Capn’ Jack to it. I was there a while back and got to ride Expedition Everest… that was one kickass coaster. In the dark, one inversion, BACKWARDS… animatronic yeti’s trying to rip your face off.. it was the stuff.

Of course, being persona non grata disallowed me from sharing such tidbits of info, but that’s the way it goes with Net friendships, isn’t it.

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 5th, 2006 at 7:14 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.