Timchat2

I had some hope park management would sober up sometime in the next ten years and restore the Royal Fountain to its former glory but that felt like a long shot even before the merger.

The "plunge" mention is causing some to wonder if there will be a water element in the attraction. One corner of the building did have a deeper trench dug out, so perhaps that will have something to do with it.

No problem! While Epic Universe certainly has its share of impressive attractions, the park is best when savored across a couple days to just take in all the vibes and details. In a way Epic is a bit like Epcot with a bunch of pleasant corners to eat, drink, and hang out.

Monsters Unchained is a real people-eater (and not in the monster sense of actually eating people ) so the wait is almost always reasonable.

Except for Battle at the Ministry and its usual downtime we found most of the posted waits to be longer than the actual waits during our visit in May.

An indoor coaster has been mentioned but you'd think some evidence of footers would have been apparent when the building's foundation went in.

Kings Dominion at least got its own original song ("Right Here, Right Now!) for the 50 Years of Fun Street Party, although I'm surprised they were willing to put together a fair-sized cast of performers given the small scope of the overall "Golden Summerbration" event and lack of live shows throughout the park. Kings Island and Cedar Point were incredibly fortunate to have their major anniversaries occur at a time when Cedar Fair was feeling somewhat optimistic about the future post-COVID. It would be interesting to see what the KI and CP anniversaries would have been like in our current era.

The tater tots being the only included side often makes me think twice about Brewhouse, even though I like most of the entrees.

Yes, Trailblazers X-treme is produced by All Wheel Sports, which also produces NyteWalkers and previously Off the Rails for the Golden Celebration in 2022. This year Trailblazers X-treme opens on Saturday June 21st.

The trampolines and set pieces are in place for Trailblazers X-treme:

It will definitely be interesting to see how the new HFE plays out in comparison to the new Six Flags.

Hot Rhythm Nights has showtimes at 7:00PM, 8:00PM, and then performs roughly half of their set at 9:30PM. Saturdays include an additional 6:00PM showtime.

Looking at some dates in June, Gazillion Bubble Show is listed as 1:00PM, 3:00PM, and 5:00PM. Trailblazers X-treme is listed as 2:00PM, 3:30PM, 5:00PM, and 6:30PM. The days off for Country Crossroads is unclear since the sign at the Festhaus lists no shows on Mondays but there were shows listed yesterday (presumably since it was a holiday Monday) and then app does not show any times for Wednesday-Friday of this week.

Good to hear about the Pub Burger coming out well. We've had two separate experiences this year with subpar hamburger patties. One time the burger came with iceberg lettuce instead of the usual baby greens.

It will be interesting to see who ends up in those six regional park director roles. Jason McClure (former GM of Cedar Point) seems likely for the region that includes Cedar Point and Kings Island.

The thinking probably only went as far as the words "Beast" and "feast" rhyming with each other.

The new Kings Island’s Nighttime Spectacular debuted Friday evening. It continues the trend that began with the Golden Celebration to have an original soundtrack, drones, and lasers along with the traditional fireworks.

Food & Wine Festival prep:

With so many international guests there is still a need for cash transactions at the Central Florida parks. The mac and cheese bread cone was very good, although it is less of a cone and more like half a large hoagie roll. It kind of reminded us of the "everything" bread at DiBella's Subs.

Pizza Moon and most (if not all) food locations at Epic Universe have a place to order with a team member. Many of the larger ones appear to have been designed and built with the traditional counter-ordering setup, perhaps a nod to how much of the park was designed before 2020 made mobile ordering more common.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ-VI6YxgK6/?igsh=MTRsam4yYWp2Zmw0cg== Oceans of Fun has delayed its opening weekend due to weather. Six Flags might be quicker to make the call on waterparks on weekends like this if it means saving on operating hours.

Pizza Moon is something special. That interior is incredible (and the pizza is crazy good too)! We found that when the queue was open for Battle at the Ministry is tended to pull a bunch of guests that way leaving the other attractions relatively quiet. The biggest issue was attractions switching to "delayed" status, but we managed to just pivot to whatever was open at the time.

We just returned from two full days at Epic Universe. Monsters Unchained and Harry Potter Battle at the Ministry are two of the best dark rides in the world. The dining options are very impressive with many tasty (and very photogenic) offerings. Epic Universe is a wonderful addition to Universal Orlando and the world of theme parks!

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/events/food-and-wine-festival More details including the drink and food menu. It appears the new tent structure won't be used for the Food & Wine Festival.

The canvas roof has been installed at International Showplace: Also, the Bandstand has been set up for Hot Rhythm Nights: