RailRider

That marker on Vortex is nothing new, it exists to help the park monitor the rate at which Vortex is sinking in comparison to the rate at which Magnum XL is sinking. ​Now I have a non soda themed structure that needs erected so that rampant speculation can reach towering heights...

The name I have heard rumored is Disney's Hollywood Adventure. I have also heard that there is more coming to the Studios besides what has been announced. Fantasmic revamp and the possible installation of an Indy Ride like the California version in place of the stunt show. The Star Wars and Toy Story additions are going to be amazing and will greatly revitalize a park that was lacking in attractions. There was a time that Magic Kingdom and EPCOT were the only parks that took a minimum of 1 day to experience if not 2. Now with these announcements and the additions to Animal Kingdom(Pandora, Rivers of Light and nighttime safaris) Disney will have 4 parks that will take 1 solid if not multiple days to visit. Spending $ to keep $ on site. Oh and lastly these will be amazing additions to the Studios. From the sounds of things Disney is taking a (DCA) A Bugs Life Approach to the new Toy Story Land. If you have never experienced the A Bugs Life area at California Adventure it is one of the most well themed and immersive environments Disney has done. I have a feeling they are taking the same approach but with toys from the Concept Art. All the Wizards, Monkey, Robots and Dinosaurs in the world will not equal what Disney has announced at the studios. Over 20+ acres of expansion, that is ambitious.

Dollywood clearly knows to how do an announcement and the ride looks insane. Looks to be another great addition to an already amazing park.

84% drop in revenue in 2 years since Blackfish, yet Blackfish is not the issue. They have publicly ignored it, yet internally they are running operations to infiltrate Animals Rights Groups as was posted to this site earlier. The good news is SeaWorld continues to supply me with teaching information for the Marketing classes I teach. Between, SEAS, The New Kentucky Kingdom and Hard Rock Park I have a plethora of material now. Keep up the good work SEAS.

Camping out in the picnic grove, meehh, but if I could campout in the woods by Beast or Diamondback that would be a different story. Also who wants to campout without a cooler or shower in the August heat?

^ Tracks can be, but usually aren't replaced on Arrow Loopers because they are welded in place.

How about shade? Forget retheming Planet Snoopy, how about re-shading the area?

See: Big Bad Wolf Drachen Fire Great American Scream Machine Double Loop Thunderbolt Express Shockwave Orient Express Just to name a few of the Arrow rides that were built around the same time as Vortex and they are no longer standing. All for various reasons, but there is only so much that can be done to upkeep an aging Arrow. They do not age well and as they get older the upkeep becomes more and more difficult and costly. I am not hating on Arrow either, there was a time when I loved Drachen Fire and would Marathon it gladly.

I hope that Club Blood is gone, along with others like Carnevil and Tombstone Territory. I would love to see KI introduce an Alone type of attraction and I have always loved true mazes when done right. Also I always thought the extremely long path to get back to The Bat or the trail for Whitewater Canyon would make for a great relaunch of Psycho Path. Then again I was one of the few that enjoyed the Freezer under the Torture Tower, so what do I know.

The ride on Vortex will only continue to get worse as the ride continues to sink... Seriously thought, the ride will continue to get worse and the ride ages and especially the metal continues to fatigue. The fact that Vortex was basically engineered on site like most Arrows makes them very difficult to reprofile. Instead you are left with a ride that has a finite life that will eventually rust away or be torn down because of the ride/maintenance nightmare it becomes. Vortex is approaching 30 years of operation and there may not be many more after that. I take one ride a season and that is it. Vortex has quickly approached Drachen Fire ride comfort and that is not a good thing.

EPCOT's crowd tends to be a bit more lively in the evenings, seeing as many try to drink around the world. Not saying the crowd is rowdy or dangerous, but it has a different vibe than the other parks especially towards the afternoon and evening hours.

So now what are we to do? I need to speculate on something, anything.

Still to this day I am saddened when I drive through Nashville and see the Briley Parkway exit. I spent so many Summers and Christmas' as a child visiting Opryland and the Opryland Hotel, too see the park paved over to put up a mall still bothers me to this day. A mall that was nowhere near the goldmine Gaylord thought it would be. Dollywood is as close as there is to Opryland and one of the main reasons I love that park so much today. Still it was a very unique and amazing park that is still missed to this day by many.

Potentially could have been inflicted by the rider next to her and their elbow.

Sleepy Hollow was a great haunt for KI. The pirate themed ones not so much.

New study released comparing the longevity of captive and wild Orcas. http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2015/07/new-peer-reviewed-study-about-killer.html Appropriate timing, shame they didn't take this route to start with.

I will just leave this here

Well played. Remember, When starting a fire a little gasoline goes a long way. Send in the white tents or the cranes... Something

This is a must read article regarding SeaWorld and their continued PR Meltdown and Failed Attempt to Infiltrate Orca Activist Groups. Truly Amazing the lengths this company will go. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-seaworld-mole-tried-to-catfish-me This article from Vice is an amazing look at how a Sea World employee began posing as a fake activist prior to the release of BlackFish. Seems like one of his main goals was to determine where information regarding the parks and practices was coming from. Potentially looking for who the inside sources were so the park could handle the leak? Amazing how SEAS continues to shoot themselves in the foot over Blackfish instead of resolve the problems or take a proactive stance against the movie.

This park looks amazing. We have honestly began as a family doing some very tentative discussion on if a trip to Shanghai Disney in about 10 years or so. Also the rumors that are starting to circulate now indicate that the Tron Coaster will end up in Tomorrowland as part of a major rehab, similar Star Wars attractions will be going in at the Studios, the Pirates of the Caribbean stunt show, and it is basically confirmed the Soarin over the Horizon will be coming to Epcot.

Was it a cable or bungee cord? Seems to be a much different ride than KI's Slingshot.

Can anyone provide some insight on the bus stop where this happened. Are there more park visitors or employees ridding the bus this time at night? Does it typically cause issues or is it a pretty quiet bus stop? Just wondering since I have zero experience with it. Thanks

I would also argue that having ridden both Dinosaur and Indy they are completely different experiences. Even if the ride system is the same, the experience is much different.

An article has been getting lots of run on various Disney blogs and news feeds that discusses the potential $3 Billion reimagining of Disney Studios. You can read the article here, it is worth the read http://thisisinfamous.com/3-billion-allow-star-wars-pixar-and-indiana-jones-to-overhaul-disneys-hollywood-studios-exclusive/ Everything mentioned seems very plausible and one of the most intriguing parts is an updated version of the Disney Land Indiana Jones ride(one of my all time favorites) would be making its way to the park. Also the article refers to the park as Hollywood Adventure towards the end of the article, interesting thought there. Like many I expect we will hear more at D23 in August, but this article is quite interesting and it is the first time I have seen something like this get any publicity on various Disney sites. Makes me think there might be some validity to some of these ideas.

Point of clarification. These are not OTSRs because they do zero restraining. They are nothing more than something that Busch asked be added to the trains to provide a sense of comfort and safety to their riders, hence the name "Comfort Collars". Also the general public has zero knowledge that these are merely for aesthetic purposes because they look and attach like OTSRs. I highly doubt the general public can differentiate between Comfort Collars and OTSRs, plus I would argue that very few enthusiasts knew these were not OTSRs. Anyone? I think the parks nonchalant response with little explanation are what is alarming to the rider. After all aesthetic or decorative items on coaster trains that can detach or fall off can be extremely dangerous to the safe operations of a ride and/or park guests. See the drag wheels that used to exist on Top Thrill Dragster.