OK you asked for it... here is a fairly detailed description of the Stormrider attraction in Port Discovery.

You enter a briefing area once inside the building. The CMs direct you to get into queues like in Star Tours, along a row of closed doors. You then turn around with your backs to the doors for the pre-show. This is led by a live CM who is there to brief you on your mission. Unlike many of the rides, there is an English translation that scrolls across an LED sign above her. Chinese too. The backstory here is that the Stormrider team are Storm destroyers. If a big dangerous storm brews up, they fly into the eye of it and set off a huge explosion which causes the storm to dissipate. They roll out their latest invention, the "most powerful explosive missile ever invented", and show you how it works. They tell you not to worry though, because your Stormrider plane will be miles away before it goes off... ya know the old theater adage "show a gun in the first act, use it by the last"? They also explain that you will be riding in an observation Stormrider, as backup to the real Stormrider which will be doing all the heavy lifting. She briefly chats with the 2 pilots, one looking very professional, the other looking like a hot-dog slacker... guess which pilot is yours. You then get the safety spiel, no flash photography, keep your ruddy hands in the plane etc. The doors open and you are ushered into a ride vehicle about 20 people bigger than a StarSpeeder. We got the back row again, which was really cool. I'm assuming that most of you have ridden Star Tours, and that many of you have ridden its cousin Body Wars. To compare the motion sense you get, with them for reference, it has none of the motion sickness inducing undulations of Body Wars, and it lacks the rush you get when you are speeding across the surface of the Death Star in Star Tours. It is more flight oriented than space or submarine influenced, so for much of the ride it's like California Soarin' in DCA. Then you get to the storm. Let's all say it together shall we? "Something goes terribly wrong". First off, the Stormrider you've been following gets hit by lightening and has to go back to base. (Unlike the pre-show, there is no English translation so ya gotta just flow with the visuals to figger out the story). I'm thinking our plane was told to return but our pilot assured base he could handle the storm.... We get violently buffeted around as we penetrate the storm, then there's a lull as we enter the eye. All is going well. We shoot off our big missile and watch it fly off to the direct center of the storm... and get hit by lightening. It doesn't explode, it just flips around and comes right back at us! Our pilot tries to fly out of its way but he's not fast enough. At this point the ride stops being like Star Tours. The missile hits us and comes through the ceiling! There are sparks and explosions as panels come loose and wiring hangs out of the walls. The missile is ticking away! Somehow the pilot manages to keep us aloft and the missile slowly raises back out of the hole in the ceiling. Using the motion of the plane we dislodge the missile completely and speed away from it, but not fast enough. It explodes and we are sent tumbling into the storm. More internal explosions occur and we feel the rain and wind getting into the damaged Stormrider. We spin out of control, and as we watch the storm dissipate (whoa the missile worked) we actually crash into the ocean. More water in the face and great motion. (Hint here, unless you LIKE crying terrified children, don't bring them on this one). A rescue craft comes and lifts your Stormrider out of the water and presumably (the blast shields are back up, you can't see anything) deposits you back at base so you can leave. All around great ride. Lots of stuff happening inside the vehicle so keep an eye out. Unlike Star Tours, there are side windows which, while small, do add to your peripheral-vision and overall feeling of being there. You don't get too wet so don't worry much about that.

Return to the

Picture and Slideshow