RailRider

^ Smells Like Dippin Dots

Very interesting note about student field trips. That is one way to get group sales up.

And here I thought we were going to get your next trip report... Hmmm, I guess since IoA has Spielber Disney can have Cameron. Should be interesting to see how this develops.

Wow, so a few days turned out to be 10. Life is a little busy, but I want to finish this trip report. I think people are reading and following along, but then again one never knows. Back on course. We exited EPCOT via water taxi to the Yacht and Beachclub Resort for an early dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. The Yachtsman Steakhouse is the signature steak house of the World and was a last minute addition to the trip I had tried unsuccesfully to make reservations at Le Cellier Steakhouse in EPCOT, but that never happend. I think this was a blessing because the meal at the Yachtsman was fantastic and how many resturants have an all glass meat locker displaying their fine cut meats while they age? Amazing food. They also had one of the neatest desserts for the little one. White chocolate puzzle pieces that could be assembled to form a Mickey portrait as well as a few other sweet treats. Oh did I mention that it came with 3 different colored sauces (chocolate, strawberry, and a citurs) and a paint brush to paint the Mickey portrait. Zoe had just as much fun painting as she did eating this one. (Jesse I had to look extra hard for this picture, because it was a cell phone shot, but I knew you would appreciate another food shot) After our meal we caught the water taxi and headed back to EPCOT to finish our world tour and to catch Illuminations to wrap up our trip before we headed home the next day. Once back in the park we toured France and spent quite a bit of time in the numerous shops. Also since we were going to be traveling on Mothers Day I let Zoe go in to "Plume et Palette" and pick mommy out a new perfume. She did quite well and the store cast member was nice enough to wrap the package. Mrs RailRider got to open her mothers day gift in the middle of EPCOT, whose ever opened a present in EPCOT before? Beauty and The Beast and someone still feels like a princess. A surprise encounter with Tiger and Pooh! We were the only people around when these characters were out. As we finished out the World Showcase we began facing our reality that this was our last night at Disney World and our last night of an amazing vacation that started off running. We actually decided to wrap up our evening early at EPCO forgoing Illuminations and choosing to drive back through the night rather than get up early the next morning and head home. This was a great choice on our part because the extra day at home before we had to return to work was well worth it. All in all an amazing day at EPCOT and we only saw a fraction of it and the Flower and Garden Festival was amazing. I want to share some Photo Pass pictures at EPCOT before I wrap this trip up. Hi, were the Griswalds! As we left the park and shortly after this were on the road back to reality. Thanks for taking the time to enjoy this trip and over the next few days I hope to have the wrap up complete of this trip. Once again what an amazing time and I always enjoying sharing our memories, I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have putting it together. The Magic Lives On...

The details are still somewhat vague. I am not completely sure that the park is being sold with all rides or if it is more of a land purchase by JMA Ventures. Should be interesting to see what their plans are for the park, and future opperations of said park.

I wonder if I bought enough advertising for my Roller Coaster Tycoon park with Amusement Today if I could get an award? Chances are very likely I could.

Cedar Fair wins in this deal. They are out from under the uncertainty of the land issues with the park, dealing with the city and the 49ers. Also $70 M in cash to go towards Senior debts is great news for shareholders and for the financing capabilities of the company. Also Ouimet has already been a part of some big changes at Cedar Fair since he has stepped in. I am not sure how much of these actions are his doing or are Kinzel's last actions before stepping down. Interesting non the less.

More to Follow

Thanks for sharing and the pics were pretty good.

Then again I think a Beast Recycler would be more appropriate. <iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Aw3LEuik6Y0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

^ Funny, but I was expecting something more like this...

Nail in the coffin???

The location of this ride really minds me of how Wildfire at Silver Dollar City is perched on a hillside. Wild Eagle looks to have a very similar vantage point. Although I think it will be hard to beat the view from WildFires lift hill.

Fairytale Dinning at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. While many consider the best princess dinning to be Cinderellas Royal Table there are many who argue that the dinning at Akershus is much better. Figured we would try both out, because they offered different princesses and once again if you are on the dinning plan the Akershus is a no brainer. Belle Greats us as we arrive. So far my first impression is the setting is neat, but not as cool ast being inside Cinderella's castle. Also notice that Belle here is wearing her fancy dress compared to the dress she wore at CRT. Glad to see Aurora again. Aeriel Here is a new Princess, Snow White. And here is the shocker of the group and a pretty cool addition if you ask me. Marry Popins So final verdict on Akershus, the inclusion of Marry Popins and Snow White make it unique, but still just ok. The food is more regionaly themed since we are in Norway, that is not a plus or minus in my book. I still think the overall atmoshpere of Cinderella's Royal Table is just better and the character interaction is more personalized. Smaller space, means less patrons and more interaction with the Princesses. Also who doesn't want to eat inside Cinderella's castle? After lunch we headed to China. Another Princess! Mulan Snow White Lots of willing photographers today. Germany Rapunzels Tower Italy Time for a nap in America Morocco Time to head to the Yachtsman Steakhouse for an early dinner and then come back and enjoy the remaining countries. What a fun day EPCOT has been. Stay tunned I hope to have the final few updates up over the next couple days.

Saturday May 7th Around the World in Topiary... Our fiinal day at the World, bitter sweet, but it has been an amazing trip to this point. So for our last day we ventured to EPCOT to travel to world and take in the Flower and Garden Festival. Also for the day we had a great character lunch reserved at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall and our last signature dinning at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Looking forward to a great day ahead and a great way to close out our trip. This was another morning that we were at the park for Rope Drop and we made our way to Soarin like everyone else. We were the 2nd ride cycle of the day, not bad. Great ride and Zoe really loved the experience. What was really neat for us is that we had spent a lot of time in California the year before and visited most of the sites covered in Soarin, just a different perspective. If you view my trip reports linked at the bottom you can see our California Experience. Anyone that has never been to either Disneyland, the SoCal coast, or Yosemite need to do so. This ride honestly made us want to go back even more and now we are torn if we want to go back to the Disneyland resort and Tenaya Lodge before we come back to the World. Tough decisions. After Soarin we made our way to the Seas Pavilion to ride Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush. While Mrs RailRider and Little Miss RailRider attended Turtle Talk I go Fast Passes for Test Track. Which of these 3 attractions do you think Little Miss RailRider will enjoy the most? Did I mention this is the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT? The flowers were gorgeous and the charachter topiary's were awesome. See how many I can sprinkle in during this update. We will see these guys latter. Hidden Mickey? After our trip through Under the Seas with Nemo we headed over for a ride on TestTrack. Yes she still takes after Daddy and loves thrill rides. Nemo was fun, but TestTrack was her favorite of the day. Rode the whole thing with her arms up giggling the whole way. She has now grown 3 inches since this trip putting her over the 44' mark. Mrs RailRider is quickly loosing the arguement "your not tall enough" to keep her off of bigger rides... Time to head towards the World Showcase and Norway for Lunch Mexico Yah Norway Home to Voss Water and Trolls. Quick ride on Malestrom before lunch. Stay tunned much more to come...

Ahhh Drachen Fire, one of my favorites. Violently Beautiful...

hopefully this doesnt interfere with the ziplines... Already has see lawsuit http://themountainpress.com/view/full_story/14351300/article--Zipline-company-sues-Dollywood-

Name change of the water park to get in line with Cedar Fair and a wave pool. New trees, 1000 new lounge chairs and Cabanas. Not a big surprise here, just wish they would have put in a new slide complex. Hey more families visiting the water park means more nickles.

Friday May 6th, continued... A Fantasmic Evening... After leaving the Magic Kingdom we made our way over to Disney Studios for a Fantasmic Evening and dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby. Also Zoe wanted to get another ride on Toy Story Midway Mania, which she rode the day before and rode at California's Adventure the prior year. We walked around Disney Studios a little bit before our dinner and Zoe just took in feeling special in the park. Like Avatar mentioned the cast members go out of their way to talk to kids that have gone to the BBB and even other guests were making it a point to talk to her. She definately felt special. We took advantage of the Fantasmic Dinning package since we were on the Dinning plan and ate at the Hollywood Brown Derby. Really a great meal and the Cobb Salas was fabulous. Also the previous day at the Studios we dinned at the Sci Fi Drive in, which if you haven't experienced that it is awesome. Great atmosphere, food was good, and who doesn't love classic Sci Fi movies. The dinning at the Studios really amazed me and was quite surprising. The Sci Fi drive-in is a really neat experience and I think it is a must when you are at the park. Make sure you get reservations. Toy Story Midway Mania is a combination 4-D dark ride and incorporates some of your favoirte carnival games. I loved this ride in California and it is just as good at the Studios. The que theming is awesome because it reminds me so much of my childhood toys. Is Toy Story really for kids or more for us nostalgic adults? The lines for this ride can be huge so it is a FastPass must, but those are usually gone within the first hours of the parks opening. We planned to finish the night here after the showing of Fantasmic. Not much of a line after the show. Thank goodness. One of her favorite games. The que is awesome with the giant toys strewn about. This may be one of Disney's best ques. Notice the barrle of monkey's hanging from the ceiling, the ceiling is a scrable board and yes that is a life size Lincoln Log house. Monkey! Cool Animatronic Mr. PotatoHead Sorry. We have the park pretty much to ourselves. Thanks once again for stopping by. What an amazing day had at both parks and the BBB is a very unique experience and must for any princess. Tomorrow is our last park and our last day at the World. We have had a magical time and sad to see it ending so soon. Stay Tunned... Around the World in Topiary...

I dont't think there will be a need for a trailer tower this year, but a trailer tube might be more appropriate.

Looks like the ride roatation program is alive and well.

Great experience and trip report! Ive gotta ask were you just a bit tempted to try a little bump drafting or atleast put a doughnut on a buddies truck?

No land clearing as of yet, makes me wonder as to what will happen next year. Additions to Bomerang Bay (New Wave Pool, Cabanas, Name change), some camping facilities ala Lighthouse Point at CP or maybe a flat ride. Not sure as what to expect, but KI has done nothing to promote or tease this event. I cannot imagine it being a very big announcement. Only time will tell.

Some really neat additions to SIX like X-Flight, Superman, and the SkyScreamer rides. Now SFMM superman ride will be like the Tower of Terror and the Giant Drop at Dreamworld. Interesting. Also glad to see Six is still practicing the shell game with rides.