RailRider

^ I would disagree about looking like Easton or any other Town Center shopping center concept. Yes it does have some chain style stores, there are many that are not common as well. The various Disney boutique stores like World of Disney, one-off restaurants like BoatHouse, TRex or Morimoto and the cohesive theme will make the Springs a much better offering than previously. We have always visited DTD on our day of arrival and departure, it is a nice break from the parks yet is easy to get to for resort guests.

^ Just FYI from the parks FB page, they have commented that Switchback is not running at full speed yet. How refreshing to see a Wood coaster being built for a change. Seems like everything lately has been retrofitting woodies in to steel coasters.

Dollars spent on advertising = # of ballots received.

Just kind of amazed that this is the norm. Would KI, CP, HW allow a guest to hijack the mic on a ride? Also the mic while used for normal ride spiel is a safety device to notify all ride ops and guests that the ride is clear for dispatch or to recheck a certain seat/row. Do they let guests dispatch trains as well? For a park who has a shaky safety record this blows my mind, what if there is a ride accident while this kid is on the mic? Opening yourself up to this kind of liability is plain dumb, must be a Hart.

Those are amazing numbers and shows SEAS continues to loose the Social Media firestorm that they have done nothing but stoke and as the article stated they are loosing a generation of potential visitors.

Project Update. Star Wars Land will break ground next year (2016) in Florida and California. There are many articles that have this information but see here http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-disney-star-wars-breaks-ground-2016-20150910-story.html I am surprised it will break ground in 2016, even more surprised if it happens before Summer of 2016.

The drop is what makes a Dive Coaster and Valravn will have quite the drop. The rest of the layout is just icing. Also the entry plaza, color scheme and logo are all winners. The general public will love this addition and that is what matters.

This is the beauty of planning Disney and having been a few times. We won't feel cheated not visiting the Studios seeing as we have done everything there multiple times. We have always done AK as a 1 day park and were typically out of the park around 5 or so. AK is probably our 2nd favorite park behind MK so my tentative plan for now is an early morning at AK to catch rides and shows. Day 2 will be a later arrival for animal exhibits and nighttime activities. We have done a pretty poor job of taking in all of the animal exhibits at AK because it is difficult to hit characters, rides, shows, and animals all in one day. Plus Nemo and Festival of the Lion King can eat up a large chunk of your day Do you know when the booking window for Disney Resort hotels opens? I thought it was 11 months out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk All 2016 dates are available for booking now through the website and typically Disney releases all packages rates for the upcoming year in late Summer. I believe 2016 package rates were released in August of this year, but you can call Disney directly and book a room-only 500 days out (this room will be quoted current prices for that date and could go up since pricing has not been set that far out). We always try to book more than 6 months out, because this allows us to use the 180 day ADR window as a resort guest. Also by booking your package early you are guaranteed your rates will not go up but you can take advantage of eventual promotions. For example we will more than likely have a Free Dinning promotion or 20% room only discount. We love the dinning plan so have always done the Free dinning option. Once the discounts are announced it is a simple call to Disney to have the discount applied to your package.

At the time we are going I imagine the majority of the Studios will be under construction from Echo Lake, Streets of America and Pixar Place. Basically draw a line from Hollywood Boulevard to Toy Story Midway Mania. Everything to the left of the line will be under construction or at best surrounded by walls. I will pass. Instead we will more than likely spend 2 days at AK to take in all the new stuff, 2 days at MK and 1 at EPCOT possibly 2. Crowds should be non existent for the most part.

With all of the updates going on at Disney World it is making it difficult to schedule an ideal time to visit. We just booked our next trip for September of 2016. Should have all the improvements done at Animal Kingdom (that are not part of Avatar), Disney Springs should be done, and Frozen at EPCOT should be down. I imagine Hollywood Studios will be a mess by then, so we will skip the insanity.

Curious as to why safety glass is being used when something like Lexan(Polycarbonate) seems to be a much better and safer option. Polycarb is much better suited for taking impacts than safety glass, plus it doesn't shatter like safety glass. Nothing better than having that rain down on a boat full of passenger or spectators. While not sharp it is designed to fragment. Just seems like a few sheets of more expensive but safer Polycarb would have been the safer option.

I know many say that is a loop in the eye of the Blackout logo. The more I look at it, I see a lock, more specifically a shackle/pad lock when looking at the black in the eye. Maybe Im looking too much in to it, time will tell.

For KK it is more about the final attendance figures for the season than it is for money at this point. They must hit certain attendance figures with a certain percentage coming from out of state because of the tourism tax breaks/incentives they have received. Still find it amazing that the Ark Encounter did not receive the same benefits. Then again it is not located in Louisville. Just saying.

at the gate where they can choose to sell you a ticket

Operations, Operations, Operations. Amazed this park has survived in the state it was operating in. I am hopeful the new ownership group focuses on fixing operations before any major additions.

^ And they obviously do as well. Myself I prefer less of a reliance on screens and 3-d glasses and more on physical props, effects and animatronics. I will take a ride like Pirates of the Caribbean or Indiana Jones Adventure over something like the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. Thats just me and Im not saying its a bad ride, but Universal in my opinion relies too heavily on the same style of rides that are mainly projection screen based. Just to give you an idea of where I stand I think the Revenge of the Mummy is better than the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman.

And I am a sucker for immersive experiences with real effects. Sorry I am one of the few that misses Amity and Jaws. One of my favorite rides at Universal. Then again I think Indiana Jones at Disneyland is better than Spiderman and pretty much anything else out there.

While I'm sure many will enjoy this new addition, I will miss the removal of more classic Universal Attractions to make room for another simulator/screen ride. Just seems like Universal has gone the route of adding new attractions that are basically the same simulator/screen concept. Then again that is how they are able to roll new attractions out so quickly.

I assume you mean his calves were conceived prior to Blackfish, because 2010 was the last calf he sired and that also coincides with the controversy that was stirred up over SEAS breeding practices with Tilikum and the 3rd death he was associated with.

And a park that houses some of SEAS Orcas that have a reputation of aggression towards trainers and are offspring of Tilikum. Then again Tilikum has been the most successful sire in captivity with roughly half of the Orcas SEAS has in captivity having been sired by Tilikum. Editing for Reply: Roughly 20% of all of SEAS Orcas are Wild Caught. Of those that are not Wild Caught over half have then been sired by Tilikum who is Wild Caught and has a questionable track record relating to aggression. Is this a risky practice of using a sire that has shown aggressive tendencies towards people or is it best for business since he has sired over 20 Orcas in captivity? Are some Orcas just genetically aggressive and does it transfer from one generation to the next? These are justified questions that SEAS chooses not to answer because it all points towards the giant Orca in the pool whose played a role justified or not in the death of 3 individuals (Im not arguing it was the Orcas fault, just that he was involved in some way shape or form and has shown aggressive tendancies). Yet SEAS continued to use him as their main sire because his offspring had a better chance of survival, even if some of his offspring/lineage have shown the same traits that he has. Would SEAS still use him as their main sire if Blackfish would have never happened? I think these are fair questions and SEAS would have done themselves a great favor if they would have tackled these tough questions to start. You can't sweep the giant, potentially aggressive under the rug and hope nobody notices.

Just a bit of FYI. Sea World does still have many Wild Caught Orcas in their care, they no longer practice wild catch because they have been able to establish a very successful and lucrative Orca breeding program. Tilikum - the Orca who received the majority of the focus in Blackfish is a Wild Caught Orca who Sea World still cares for, breeds and uses for performances.

Welcome to KIC and interesting topic and subject to make your first post on. Just saying...

If the maze is pitch black then it will be interesting to see how they handle capacity. Very interesting. I remember a section of House of Darkness in the early years of Haunt (FF) that was pitch black. Great part of that house.

Great addition to the park.

Hello Action Theater