BoddaH1994

Seems like the meatloaf burger is the winner so far. Give it a shot!

I ran into Rick Bastrup (the guy from the video above / designer of PT) at IAAPA a few weeks ago. I told him about our discussion of "bring it back right or don't bother" and he was totally on board. I get the vibe from his Q&A as well as my conversation with him that he feels like PT was done perfectly the way it was done. I'm not sure if he's wrong about that. Granted, I'm sure with more money and more technology more could be done, but I don't think Phantom Theatre left anyone wanting more.

What side item do you get with the Meatloaf Burger? That's definitely on my radar. But I would have been remised if I didn't eat Mac n Cheese Bar on opening day.

Plus, the lights are twice as dense as previous years on the strands. Definitely new. Christmas stuff, as a general rule, has about a three year life. This is year four of Winterfest, since we didn't have it in 2020. We are at the point where most stuff has probably been replaced since 2017, and the stuff that hasn't sticks out like a sore thumb. You'll notice that every once in a while there will be a strand that is much dimmer than the rest. That may be why. The Twelve Days of Christmas display looks pretty bad. That stuff is almost certainly all original. My guess is they are decided what they want to do with the train in the future and that's why it hasn't been touched. I'll make that sacrifice this year for something different next year. With that being said, I want to share my thoughts. This includes observations about changes, so if you want to be surprised, skip the rest of this post. I only got to do a few things: 1. Tree lighting - Completely reworked show. I'm glad that things aren't getting stale; however, the one show we had so far was pretty bad. Missed mic queues, volume issues, etc. Not the fault of the performers or even the techs. They probably were very pressed for time and had to rehearse this in conjunction with Cool Yule. It will improve with time. I'll hold judgement until next weekend. 2. Tinker's Toy Factory - It's the Christmas Fever edition, except Santa got over his fever (probably best) and now has a back ache. I loved the new set and lighting. The end has completely been reworked, which includes audience participation. They also have confetti on the stage and then two different stances of crowd streamers that are the loudest and most "present" thing you'll hear all night. Tinker's is where it should have been all along - in the big theatre. I loved it! 4. Parade - The parade was not identical to last year, as they added some minor new elements. They did add snow during Jungle Bells at the end, so that added a big "wow" moment at the end. The snow is done differently this year (technology has improve) still "snoap," but made in a central location and pushed with fans. Kind of like how they did for the fireworks. Works much better and it doesn't make a mess like the old way. I'll keep reporting back once I experience more things.

For those who didn't get to listen to the whole pod, here is our interview with Bram and Carin from Vekoma as they discuss Big Bear Mountain and the Tilt Coaster.

Sorry to blow y’all up recently. In the latest “official” episode, Don and I discuss the passing of Alberto Zamperla, Iger’s back, and what we are thankful for. Audio options: https://linktr.ee/attractions_group

To clarify one of the questions listed above, the trains of the coasters, once rehabbed, along with the flat ride vehicles, are often stored in the Picnic Grove.

IAAPA special episodes 1-3, interviews with RMC, Skyline Attractions, Ride Entertainment, Vekoma, ACE, and much much more! If you are an audio person: https://linktr.ee/attractions_group

The mud splashes by the wheels look amazing!

Trust me, that was all the buzz down there.

That’s just my personal YouTube. It’s not terribly interesting. A lot of it is just stuff I posted on here anyway. Thanks for the complement, though!

No way?

I wasn’t at IAAPA Friday, so I don’t know what the end result was, but the Zamperla booth closed up very quickly around 5:00 (convention ends at 6:00) on Thursday and had tape around the booth to stop people from going in. I’m wondering if they heard about Alberto and closed up shop. Antonio was there, and I don’t remember seeing him at the time. I wonder if he headed right for the airport.

Got to see this at IAAPA!

Thought this would be of particular interest. Didn’t know much about Orlando Informer, but we were connected to them through IAAPA and asked if we’d be interested in having them on, which we accepted. Their content is some of the best Central Florida park news I’ve seen. They don’t mess with rumors or anything like that, they just get people the latest news about the parks. They also have legendary meetups (after hours) at Universal. www.OrlandoInformer.com Their VP, Matthew Miller, is very knowledgeable and passionate about the parks. He is formerly of Universal Creative. Give it a listen if you wish.

Are you saying Skyline was available at the Deli?

The Chinese restaurant was Mandarine Cuisine. I think it was only in 2004. Edit: 2003 Discussion: Side note: that post is older than some of you.

Plus the time period. If that happened in 2022 it would have been a national story.

According to “the book.” It was the result of an injury, as quoted from those who were there. Kings Island: A Ride Through Time https://a.co/d/dVu2sAH

I wonder if this will be a chain-wide thing.

Flight of Fear could have various hangar variations and videos. Action Theater (if they reopened it) would be pretty obvious. Boo could have the ride behave differently based on what you shoot.

I have to admit, I hadn’t seen this before:

Sad part is, I’ve actually paid someone to build the coaster cutout for me.

But is any of it very complex? I feel like if it were made right the first time it wouldn’t be a maintenance nightmare.