Voicetek

^ My wife and I were headed out to the Pass Holder Preview Night, but decided to skip once I started hearing reports and seeing pictures. A 4 hour wait for Mystic Timbers? Ain't nobody got time for that! Apparently there ARE that many passholders.

^Gosh, I hope he wasn't serious! Hopefully he was just pranking his family with this ridiculous story.

Some of the best memories I have are my friends and I out at KI in the summers. We'd go up a lot on weekday evenings in the summer and since it wasn't too crowded, we'd run from ride to ride. We'd joke, laugh, goof around. There's nothing like growing up at KI and getting to enjoy it with your friends. Good times.

Well, I wasn't just talking about the TVs. I was also referring to the groups of teenagers now adays that stand in line together with their faces in their phones. Mainly just making a point that 20 years ago, we didn't need electronics and media to keep us entertained in line. We just enjoyed each other's company and conversation, while looking for other ways to keep entertained such as joking around and such.

^ @KIBeast I too, remember standing for hours in line without anything to do but talk to each other. When I was a teenager, me and a couple of my good friends would visit KI on a regular basis. We'd stand in line and talk or whisper to each other while pointing out all the "hot" girls in line. It was a blast! We didn't need TVs, or even cell phones, to keep busy. It kind of saddens me to see a group of friends in line at KI and every single one of them has their face in their phone. Half the fun of visiting KI was goofing around with your friends and all the topics of conversation you could have while in line. Just a different time I guess.

^ @chugh43 I'd be ok with this too. It would fix all the issues I have with the ride, including the queue.

^ @SonofBaconator I wouldn't necessarily call it a "rant" per se, but rather just me expressing my opinion of what's wrong with the queue in it's current state and offering some suggestions on how to fix it.

Boy, does the Boo Blasters queue ever need help! What a horrible excuse for theming! I didn't think it could get any worse, then they went and added "FunTV" in there, and pretty much did away with any immersion they were trying to create before the ride. Nothing like walking into (what looks like) a haunted castle and seeing pop star Demi Lovato belting out "Let it Go". Where am I, Disney World? I thought this was a haunted castle? The last time I rode it, there was some sort of tax commercial playing on the tv. What in the world, KI? Giving up on the theming completely would just be to turn on the lights and turn off the music. However, it seems like they went out of their way to destroy the mood and theming of the queue by adding TVs and playing pop songs and commercials in the entrance of, what's supposed to be, a haunted castle. It's really in a sad state right now. In my opinion - and I know the general public probably doesn't care - but I would remove the TVs, add some lighting effects, some organ/spooky music, and maybe a ghostly voice welcoming you to the castle and warning you to be on the lookout for Boocifer. In fact, there could be several versions of a "welcome" script that could play randomly on a loop so that you don't hear the same spiel over and over. If they really wanted to go the extra mile, obviously they could add some kind of animatronic character (a ghost host?) up where Maestro used to sit. Heck, if they didn't want to invest in an animatronic, then they could always install a projection effect onto a black screen. The ghost could appear and disappear and, if being projected, could even appear in different places within the queue area. Each time he 'appeared' he could warn you of Boocifer and explain to you that, if you see him, you can destroy him with your boo blasters. I don't really care what it is, but they really need to add something to draw you in and make you a part of the story.

It'd be cool if coffee was an option also. Just sayin

I'm still holding out hope that Adventure Express can return to it's former glory!

Maybe it's just because I'm an artist/designer (and years ago, an aspiring animator), but one thing I've always been drawn to is the theming. I'm also drawn into shows and movies that have appealing characters where something about their design really ignites something in my brain - I can't really explain it. Even as a child, I was drawn to Hanna-Barbera Land and it's characters and always found their characters to be highly appealing (design wise). I felt the same way with the Nicktoons. Something about their design and their colors really appealed to me - ignited that thing in my brain - and I found I was really drawn to it. However, something about the Peanuts characters just never really did it for me, even when I was a child. Perhaps it's their simple designs, maybe it's the muted color palette, who knows. However, out of all the Peanuts characters, I find Snoopy to be the most appealing to me. I know that I'm evaluating things from a completely different perspective as pretty much all of the general public, but maybe this explains a little bit why I prefer the older characters as opposed to the Peanuts.

I'm hoping that they'll play some kind of instrumental Christmas music for Winterfest. My wife and I were down at Disney last November and when we visited Epcot, they were playing Instrumental Christmas music and it was amazing! I'm not sure what album it was (or if it was various albums), but the music was excellent and it really set the mood. Especially walking around Epcot at night and seeing the lights and hearing the music! I'd love to hear something similar to that at Winterfest this year.

Yep, I'm at work right now so I had to watch the video without sound. I guess being able to hear the cat would make finding that scene a little easier lol

I just took a look at the ride through video posted above, and unfortunately, the giant mouse is about 95% out of frame and the camera blurs right as it passes that scene. However, I managed to catch a brief glimpse of it. It looks like it was in the same scene as the sentinel with the projection face. To the right of him are some wooden crates and the mouse comes up from behind them and scares a cat that's standing there. This is the scene right before the boiler room.

I remember the the mouse popping up from behind some boxes or crates or something and scaring at cat. I believe it was towards the end of the ride.

Not sure why they'd switch the music back for Haunt a whole month before. Doesn't seem like something that should take a whole month to do. Heck, if they switched from instrumental music back to pop basically from one weekend to the next, if it was for Haunt, why'd they make the switch so soon? I'm not sure I'm buying this whole "it was turned off for Haunt" explanation. It just doesn't add up for me.

There are ride throughs on YouTube that you can watch. I pull them up from time to time just to get my nostalgia fix

Would you happen to remember the title of the book? I'd be interested to check it out myself. Thanks!

It's sad that we're losing so many of this older generation. These guys had a direct link to Disney's past history and even Walt himself. I love listening to these guys talk and tell personal stories and anecdotes about working at the company and with Walt. It feels like we're losing a part of that history as each one of them passes. Hopefully they've written their stories down so that they can be passed on to future generations.

Of course Cedar Fair renewed their Peanuts license. Any other kid-friendly brand would be WAY too expensive for them to use in their parks. Plus, it's not like they're going to drop the Peanuts brand and re-theme all of their kids sections across all their parks. I'm sure they're getting a heck of a deal for this licensing deal when compared to other brands out there, plus they get to use them in all their parks. I highly doubt we'll be seeing a re-theme from Peanuts any time soon, if ever.

The second to last time I rode it, the guns were so slimy/greasy that I couldn't stand to touch them. I immediately put it back in their compartment and tried to rub the residue off my hand. I don't even want to think about the combination of disgusting things that were smeared all over those guns. That right there is reason enough for me to forgo an interactive dark ride and welcome a classic dark ride where you just sit there and enjoy the ride and the scenery.

My favorite season is fall, but I'm anti-Haunt (pretty much any type of "haunted" attraction). My favorite holiday is Christmas. With that being said, I'm really looking forward to Winterfest this year!

Yes, it was many years ago. There were some seasons, when I was a teenager, when you were able to buy a pass for the next season and it was good for the rest of the current season. This seemed to be the case when purchasing late into the season as there weren't too many weekends of operation left.

A couple summers ago at Dollar Days, while standing in line for a (smaller than normal) blue ice cream, it suddenly hit me. I thought, "Why am I doing this? Why am I waiting an hour in this line, standing here in the heat and humidity, sweating, fighting ridiculous crowds, all to save a few bucks on some ice cream?" It was a sudden flash of reality and that was it for me. We haven't been back since. It's such as hassle to fight your way through the crowds and then wait in ridiculously long lines just to save a few bucks. I'd gladly go on a normal, less crowded day at the park and spend a few dollars more on a much bigger serving of ice cream. If I want La Rosa's pizza, I'll drive to the one that's 10 minutes from my house, sit in the air conditioning and enjoy it more. I used to sorta have fun at dollar days, then it just became a hassle. I've taken a couple years off, perhaps I'll have to get it another chance in the future.

I wonder why they just didn't line the logo up with the shed? It would've fit with the whole "old abandoned lumber mill" theme. It could've been like at one point everything was straight and level, including the shed, but over time it has settled and now it's sloped a bit. The fact that the shed is sloped but the logo is level with the ground, just makes it look like it was done intentionally and looks weird. I think it would've been less noticeable if the logo was crooked with the shed.