bkroz

It doesn't matter how many people read the back. "I have read and agree to the terms of service." How many people read that? Still not invalidated. If the fine print on the back of passes and tickets / Rider Safety Guides wouldn't hold up in court, what would? That's what they're there for!

While the complexity of the figures inside Phantom Theater were part of its downfall, I think that the thing that would prevent it from being built today is the lack of "interactivity" (read: laser guns). It's simply more marketable to make a "blasting" dark ride than a classic one. It also takes pressure off the designers (and budget) when you can count on a guest's focus being in a particular place for only a fraction of a second before it's pulled elsewhere. A real shame, because it's difficult to tell a story when explosions surround you. And if you ask modern park goers, maybe they don't want a story. Maybe if guests could ride Boo Blasters and Phantom Theater back to back, they'd prefer the former in overwhelming numbers. Worth noting: technology is minimizing the big parks' reliance on Audio Animatronics, too. This year's two big ticket additions were both dark rides, and neither contains a single Audio Animatronic. That's a major shift from the past, where a ride's robotic figure count or robotic figure quality was proportional to its budget (and often to its esteem). Digital does it these days. Heck, Canada's Wonderland debuted a nifty "interactive" "dark ride" that required no Animatronics... or sets... or lights. A couple shameless plugs to share my opinions: TRULY Interactive Attractions That Don't Require Laser Guns (link) 12 Dark Rides You CAN'T Ride at Disney or Universal Parks (link) 20 Most Incredible Animatronics Countdown (link)

To be fair, anyone who didn't exude confidence (earned or otherwise) wouldn't have been able to empower Kentucky Kingdom. The place needed a loud, protective, exciting, invigorating person to stand behind (and in front of) it and trumpet. Mr. Hart does that.

If Kentucky Kingdom LLLP and Ed Hart are in the right here, courts will determine it. Mr. Hart flapping his gums won't make a bit of difference except to go against the park's own insistence that it doesn't comment on pending litigation. Vigilante justice is what he's doing here.

Absurd in so many ways.

Can we briefly recall how Kings Island had the audacity to sell disposable 3D glasses for $1 a pop in the line for Boo Blasters for a time? That's to say nothing how long they sold the things in line for Disaster Transport... for years after the queue's 3D rooms had been sealed and the ride took place in pitch black darkness. That, to me, is symptomatic of the Kinzel Cedar Fair style. But I digress... Awesome article. The ride was an unexpected anomaly that bested expectations for a seasonal park in the Midwest. Kings Island has a rich history of those, doesn't it?

That is some handsome track there.

It CERTAINLY just got very interesting.

Wow. That's something!

Count me among those who didn't know that this was a humongous property with grounds, a lake, and nice recreation amenities. A shame that the hotel wasn't cared for. It could sincerely be a premium destination for families.

Protesting implies that there's something to be done. Folks apparently don't understand that the park is razed. Gone. Plumbing, restrooms, paths, planters, wiring, bricks, etc. have all been entirely bulldozed. This isn't one of those skeletal parks that has creepy abandoned buildings to explore. There are no buildings. Horrific and wildly depressing. You could get a hundred thousand people to stand outside holding signs and it would make no difference. This isn't a Kentucky Kingdom case where someone can swoop in and re-open what's left and add a little more. It truly is a vacant lot. The concept that an amusement park belongs there is alive only because one used to be there. Independent from that, any vacant lot is just as likely / able to support an amusement park as that one is.

Yep, Fantasyland was quite a bit less than that. Like, a fraction of that. To put things in perspective: $4 billion built the entirety of Tokyo DisneySea - the most expensive park on Earth at the time - in 2001. That same year, Disney California Adventure's opening day version was $1 billion. A second $1.5 billion from 2005 - 2012 practically rebuilt it and easily doubled the park's lineup of attractions (adding Cars Land's three attractions, World of Color, The Little Mermaid, Buena Vista Street, Carthay Circle, Red Car Trolley, Toy Story Mania, and placemaking in each of the park's eight lands.) $1.5 billion is also the figure associated with Walt Disney World's MyMagic+ and FastPass+. Some estimates say it's cost much, much more.

The article constantly makes the point that Disney's biggest expenditure is in its parks division. Not always true. It wasn't long ago at all that the Parks and Resorts division was left to practically wither as Paul Pressler and his minions cut every team to the bare bones, reduced upkeep, shortened hours, darkened lights, lessened maintenance, and closed rides. They then happily reported massive gains in the division's profit. It looked great on paper, but that strategy has terrible consequences. Those consequences are still being felt and contended with today, which is perhaps WHY the parks division necessitates billions per year today. It wasn't an absurd strategy. The parks are huge earners and can "coast" for periods without major additions and still be the company's highest earner (see Walt Disney World Resort). Problem is that lack of maintenance, care, and attention trickle down and visitors stop coming. If it wasn't for the cost-cutting of Eisner's era at the hands of Pressler, Disney California Adventure probably wouldn't have needed a billion and a half dollars just to stand on its own. Walt Disney Studios Paris might not exist at all, and that would probably be for the better. Hong Kong Disneyland wouldn't have needed three new lands just to be a full-day park. New Tomorrowland '98, Epcot of today, The Disney-MGM Studios... The biggest expenditures of Disney Parks & Resorts today are not because the company is charitable. It's because they're recuperating. By the way, Mr. Pressler took his slash-it-all-then-victoriously-trumpet-profit ideology to his new career at the Gap. It didn't work for long there, either.

Hollywood will have a far more built-out and photogenic version of Springfield. That said, MOST of Hollywood's will be facades, disguising the back of the Hogsmeade Village stores. Yep. Behind the flat facade of Krusty Burger may be the Three Broomsticks. Clever way to create two new 'lands' at once.

Keep your eyes on Disneyland Resort in 2015 to see the next evolution in nighttime parades. If you don't mind squinting, you can see it already in action a world away... Good ideas never die!

The photos, especially, are really great. http://www.yelp.com/biz/kings-island-resort-and-conference-cntr-mason

This was tested a few months ago on Soarin'. It didn't stick because folks rioted. "What do you mean it was either reserve a ride a month ago or miss it entirely?" Imagine the confused hordes running to the ride first thing only to find that it's "reached capacity for the day.." mere moments after opening. At least Soarin's test replaced stand-by with a paper return-time ticket (like... you know... old FastPass...) Is your vacation easier yet? More fun? Less stressful overall? All Fastpass+ does is shift the planning from throughout your trip to before. There are very sincere benefits to that - no more FastPass runners, for example. There are very sincere detractors. If you think this system's primary goal is to make people's trips more fun, you're not looking at the big picture. Not that Disney shouldn't pursue profit. But don't misunderstand this is a giant, billion-dollar favor.

Yes, probably following the lead of Boeckling and probably sincerely intended as an allusion to park history that not many would "get." Problem is, the Plarr family is still around... Not only that, but the Madame Plarr the maze attempted to reference is traceable to a very real person... whose granddaughters are still in the area, and still care for the park their family had such a hand in creating. The one interviewed said she rarely saw her grandmother without knitting in her hand, waving at park visitors from their home on the property. To (even inadvertently) recast a very real person in the park's history as a maniac is... unfortunate.

Already done. Taken off website, covered on in-park signs.

Said Sally Plarr Zelker, granddaughter of the Madame Plarr in question:

When America Sings opened in Disneyland, it had two trios of singing ducks (for a total of 6). Only 4 made the move to Splash Mountain in 1989. The other two had actually left two years earlier, in 1987. They were stripped of their feathery skins to expose their wiring and hydraulics, cast as Droids in the queue for the brand new Star Tours. They say good ideas never die at Disney. Sometimes they don't resurface for decades. Sometimes when they do appear it's continents away from the original planned destination. Same can be said for good props. (Did you know Disney had been working on a re-telling of The Snow Queen through most of the 20th century? Plans were reignited after Disney found unparalleled success in Hans Christian Anderson's other big name story, The Little Mermaid. A famous attraction concept earmarked for Disneyland's Fantasyland was dedicated to the Snow Queen. Wasn't until a few years ago that storytellers finally cracked the tale's icy plot and created Frozen. Good ideas never die.)

Lots of things will come up if you look around on the forums a little or use the search feature. We have a thread for the least scary houses and ways to avoid being scared, a thread for a great ticket combo to explore, a thread for wait times, a thread about the scariest houses, and many, many, many more sources to draw from. In general: waits will be long on Fridays and Saturdays; waits are much longer on Saturdays than on Fridays; Fast Lane Presented By McCluskey Chevrolet is good; Fright Lane With Skeleton Key is not a bad idea; people get crazy.

Wow! This has got to look even better in person. An unexpected combination, but I'm a big fan! Almost a pinkish orange with those nice teal supports. Very cool. I hope it's not a flat, standard orange in person and keeps the cool sunset look seen here.

That can go quite a few ways, too. Disney doesn't own or operate Tokyo Disney Resort. Instead, the Oriental Land Company owns and operates it, investing huge money into the park (evidently, more than The Walt Disney Company would) while also paying Disney huge licensing fees to use its names, logos, identities, characters, and intellectual properties. Wowza.

I don't know if / where they're out this year. Someone else can help there. When they were put on display in the past, they were obviously not powered. Just standing like mannequins, and exposed to the rain, wind, leaves, and even snow of Ohio Octobers. Satisfying to see them, disappointing to see them in that way.