bkroz

It's a fantastic ride! A real winner for Universal. I prefer Spider-Man myself, but Transformers is a really incredible ride.

Coast Rider is a play on the park's Ghost Rider... Which, by the way, needs some serious TLC if nothing's improved since my ride in July.

^^ I am personally not impressed by Knott's. It's not thrilling enough to be an amusement park, or uniformly themed enough to be an old fashioned theme park. They've made great strides in more recent years, I think, but it tries to straddle a middle ground between Disneyland's parks and Six Flags Magic Mountain. The result is that it doesn't feel quite complete. Now, Calico Mine Ride? I'd buy a day's admission just to ride that.

People who have been to Knott's will probably agree that it was the most obviously-Cedar-Fair portion of the park. It's very jostling. Entering it from the incredible Ghost Town, you're immediately bombarded by sea-foam-painted concrete buildings, that "Attitudes" shop with the awful barbed wire, ]a Johnny Rockets... It's just 100% unrelated to the original sections of the park. It will be nice to see it get a little sprucing up. It could take a lesson from California Adventure's pier area, too, shedding the awkward 1980's thrill park theme for a turn-of-the-century Victorian-romantic California pier. This looks like a good step in that direction.

Doubtful. Disney probably paid a pretty penny for the exclusive rights to use Avatar, and the Pandora land is meant to fill a huge, mostly-empty expansion pad at Disney's Animal Kingdom that has been waiting for its expansion since 1999. Star Wars wouldn't fit there, and that area (and park) desperately needs something. A popular thought that fans are salivating over: that all of Disney's "non-legacy" properties would create six themed lands in a third park at the Disneyland Resort: one land each for Star Wars, Avatar, Pixar, Muppets, Indiana Jones, and Marvel. It's the stuff of dreams, and certainly does fulfill the often-asked question of what a third park in California could be? With the San Diego zoo so near, an "Animal Kingdom" is out; with the real Hollywood an hour north, a "Studios" park is out; with plans for WestCOT already bashed against the rocks, an "Epcot" is out. Perhaps an Intellectual Property park (a la Islands of Adventure, for example, where each land is themed to a certain film) would be a great choice.

To some people, a new restaurant is a major new attraction. Or an updated menu. Or a new park playlist. Even new benches!

I think it's easy to look back now and say it was a stupid idea, and a lot of us even had our reservations before construction started. But to be fair, it seemed like a fairly cut-and-dry ride that would have the normal first-of-its-kind glitches, but even out quickly. That obviously ended up not being the case. But almost no one foresaw the extent of issues that the WindSeeker rides could have. It was a questionable choice, but not an outright stupid one the way that it appears now. That's my thought, at least.

Moderately priced, easy to duplicate, easy to market as a family ride and a thrill ride, and I would imagine that the cost of the second wave was somehow subsidized by the manufacturer after the problems from the first wave were "fixed."

I don't think any of the sentences in that paragraph have anything to do with the sentences surrounding them, and I can't make heads or tails of a single one individually. There is nothing omitted. The quotes above are all of your sentences, copied exactly, in order. I am absolutely clueless.

I don't speak freaky-deaky-Dutch, okay?

If the OP's friend video recorded his experience of being unloaded and having " to walk down what looked like a set of stairs off to the side and were then evacuated out by the path by the final brake run," then we know that the cobra roll wasn't the stopping point.

We 100% know that the cobra roll wasn't the culprit. AZ Kinda Guy confirms that there is no catwalk on which to evacuate.

Brings to mind images of a historic scenic railway leaping the dips along Sandusky's shores.

Vekoma's Giant Inverted Boomerangs had a habit of valleying in the cobra roll, and had huge scaffolds and staircases added pretty quickly once that started happening. BEFORE: AFTER: REALLY AFTER: Definitely not insinuating that Flight of Fear really did valley there. Just sayin'. Plus, the original poster is going by what his friend said. Even many of us here might be baffled by the layout of Flight of Fear, so it's much more likely that the ride was stopped on the midcourse brakes (more than it normally is, I mean) and people were unloaded from there. As you can see, the MCBR is about at the same height as the cobra roll, so a guest surveying the room in darkness would be confused.

Its installation was overseen by a dinosaur, as well. He's not in charge anymore.

Besides, a reason to not go on that ride again? Make whatever choices you need to make, but that's like hearing about a rollback and deciding to never ride Maverick again. Pony Express? That's a different story.

Some might say it is broke. Look at what SeaWorld in California is undertaking. A year-and-a-half-long expansion and remodeling of their entrance that will replace the very "1970s" set-up (also seen at Kings Island) with an immersive entrance that sets a tone and draws people in with unique architecture, touch pools, gardens, waterfalls, etc. Functionally, it also provides a more natural experience where people can easily redeem online tickets, use smartphone tickets to enter the park, purchase tours, front-of-the-line passes, dining plans, and more at one convenient spot, etc. The park wouldn't take on this massive project if they didn't think it would benefit them in the long run. I'm sure armies of industrial/organizational psychologists advise them that this setup will pay for itself. Buy a ticket, buy a dining plan, get a Fast Lane, and schedule your day in one spot. Meanwhile, major parks across the country are taking advantage of new technologies to make entering the park smoother. SeaWorld parks, Busch Gardens parks, Universal's Orlando parks, and Walt Disney World parks already use touch-and-go fingerprint scanning on multi-day tickets and passes (eliminating the need for costly, manned photographing of pass-holders or the absolutely ludicrous "sign your name on the back of the ticket" that Kings Island currently sometimes remembers to use). Walt Disney World has tested RFID technology that removes gates completely and allows radio-frequency-transmitting tickets to scan on contact at the open entrance. This allows one employee to man a number of entrance portals, and reduces the time taken to let in strollers or people in wheelchairs. In other words, Cedar Fair has (in the past) been slow or even resistant to allow technology into the parks. Just because we've gotten used to that doesn't mean it's still the standard. In fact, things can be much smoother and simpler while also benefitting the park. Not saying Cedar Fair's seasonal parks ought to switch to RFID scanners, but there's a happy medium.

Disney Parks. Universal Parks. SeaWorld Parks. Cedar Fair Parks. All Coca-Cola chains now! So will Luminosity continue next year without a sponsor? Or will it be Luminosity controlled by Coke?

Thought this was interesting. According to love-him-or-hate-him Disney watchdog Al Lutz (who admittedly tends to be more right than wrong, historically), the final plans (scroll to the bottom of the report) are underway for a new attraction based on Marvel's Iron Man film franchise to make its way into Disneyland Park's Tomorrowland. A Brief History For those who don't know, Disneyland Park's Tomorrowland has undergone radical shifts in theme. It held a very "sci-fi" vision of the future up through the 1990's. By the end of the decade (during which the powers that ran the company shifted money away from the parks division, and particularly mismanaged the West Coast resort, see Disney's California Adventure 2001), most of Tomorrowland was neglected to the point of disrepair. A misaligned 1998 renovation cast the entire land (including the iconic Space Mountain) in deep golds, bronzes, and greens that were meant to shift the land into the "fantasy" future instead of the "sci-fi" future, borrowing the aesthetics of Disneyland Paris' distinctly-European version of the land, but keeping the mis-matched American inhabitants of Star Tours, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Space Mountain, a lite version of Epcot's Innoventions, and a closed submarine ride. One of the few locatable photos of Space Mountain when it was briefly and infamously painted in rusted shades of copper and gold to match the rest of Tomorrowland's 1998 redo. Ever since, the park has slowly tried to undo the much disliked renovation, returning to silver and blue color schemes and trying to re-invigorate the land one feature at a time. A rumored full-scale refurbishment to unite the land with the Magic Kingdom's chrome-and-white intergalactic space-port (including The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter's return and the re-opening of the very much missed PeopleMover) never came to pass, so Tomorrowland remains a strange hybrid of colors, rides, stories, and time periods (now including Buzz Lightyear across from Star Tours, and Finding Nemo's submarine ride next to the gas-guzzling Autopia, all across from the aging Innoventions and the double-aging Captain EO starring Michael Jackson). The gleaming white "space age" future (above, 1996) was replaced with the dark, organic fantasy future (middle, 1998). In the third photo, you can see the "happy medium" being struck, with the return of silver and chrome instead of such heavily dark, gold tones on the Astro Orbitor and the buildings beyond. Now it just feels mis-matched though. It's widely, widely speculated that another floor-to-ceiling renovation of the entire land is in the works, and Lutz's report alleges that an Iron Man ride is all but greenlit, set to be the centerpiece of "New Tomorrowland." Already, Disney fan sites are abuzz. Some very vocal people (as usual) insist that they'll never step foot in Disneyland again if this comes to pass. They say that Disneyland is NOT a place to "ride the movies," but a place to experience cherished stories and meet friendly characters. "Leave the something-goes-horribly-wrong thrill ride formula to Universal," in short. The massive Carousel Theatre originally built for the Carousel of Progress stands at the center of Tomorrowland. It currently houses the West Coast version of Epcot's Innoventions, but may soon become the Stark Expo from Marvel's Iron Man. I don't know if anyone has any thoughts about this, but I thought I'd keep everyone in the Disneyland loop. EDITED to add photographs.

And inversions do not a great coaster make. Even with my small, 100+ sampling of coasters, I might even be able to construct a personal philosophy that ride enjoyment is indirectly proportional to the number of inversions a ride has. Arrow's mega-loopers, IOA's Hulk, and a couple SLC's come to mind.

I'll admit, this is a problem you'll find a lot of places. If you at one time had a membership or pass somewhere, you're likely to get a mailer asking you to come back in, promising that you'll get a free something or a discount something as thanks for ending your period of inactivity. Meanwhile, those who've stuck around from the beginning aren't rewarded - why should they be, financial wizards would say: they'll stay with or without an incentive! However, $79.99 for unlimited visits, unlimited free parking, unlimited Halloween Haunt, and Fun Perks is a fantastic deal. Six payments of $13.33 is the same deal, but spectacularly accessible to families who might not be able to invest up front. I almost guarantee you'll see a renewal discount once the regular pass arrives and the Gold Pass gets its annual price boost. But for now, you're talking about rock bottom pricing to begin with, and you can still redeem Fun Perks for the rest of the season, right? Sounds like enough incentive to me.

Looks good! I wonder if he or she had seen the Soak City entrance before designing the last two. The other style, though, is very cool! Reminiscent of Disneyland, a little. It would make a great compliment to Soak City's new entrance.

In short, yep. I even enjoyed it when it was on its "last leg" in the later years. It is truly a marvel that it ever existed at a seasonal, regional park. Rose colored glasses, perhaps, but I have always and expectedly will always rank it among the top three rides that I've been on. It is, without a doubt, the reason I enjoy theme parks and the impetus that got me started following the park and the industry. I say again that I was truly sad, disheartened, and a little empty when I first rode its replacement. You know you've made an emotional attachment to something when...

I bet that all of the money they make goes straight to Cedar Fair, where it's then divvied up between the partnership's many, many, many expenditures across all of its parks.