bkroz

I've taken about a dozen extensive trips to Disney World and a half-dozen to Universal. Both are really great. If you've never been to a Disney resort, I'd choose Disney World just for the sake of being there. If you have been to Disney World (or even moreso Disneyland), I'd favor Universal. Two days at one and three/four at another would be better than cutting one out completely, if you ask me. Universal Orlando is much, much smaller and more easily navigated, with two theme parks connected by a kidney bean shaped CityWalk entertainment / food / bar district. The second park there, Islands of Adventure, is really a triumph with or without the new Harry Potter island. The original park, Universal Studios, is not generally a favorite, but it does have some really great rides. At Universal, staying in the on-site hotels (there are three, and all are fairly expensive) gets you free Universal Express - your room key gets you to the priority boarding line on every ride that offers it, unlimited, all day. Depending on what time of year you go, that's very valuable (since a one-time-per-ride option retails for $50.00 per person during the busiest days). I used Universal's Meal Deal and really found it beneficial, but I'd always suggest at least a day without it to try the resort's world famous Mythos restaurant, which may or may not be around much longer if Potter's island expands further into the park as is perpetually rumored. Disney World is just very different. The four parks that make it up are miles and miles apart, so resort transportation is the only surefire way of getting around, and it's not always dependable. People wait 30 minutes through a deluge of busses to find one headed toward their destination. The thing I find "awkward" about Disney World compared to its Californian sister is that it basically has the same number of major, E-ticket rides as Disneyland, just spread across four parks instead of two. The result is that there are massive, beautiful, interesting parks that you can more or less finish in a day if rides are your primary interest. Still, it's wise to plan for five or six days at minimum, but there's much personalization that has to go into that: some people say Epcot is a two-day park. Some prefer to skip it. Would you spend a whole day enjoying the beautiful World Showcase area, sampling international food and watching "CircleVision" films of countries' terrain and industry? If not, you can plan less time there. Disney's Animal Kingdom, as its marketing constantly reminds, is not a zoo, but if you're not interested in animal exhibits and walking trails, you can really be done before the park closes. Dinosaur is a unique ride there, and Festival of the Lion King is a can't miss show. Expedition: Everest is a fun coaster and the safari ride is a must-do. After that, you've got a 3D Bugs Life show, a Finding Nemo show, and a white water rapids ride. All are very well done, but you can see how you might be finished with the park at four or five and think, "what now?" At Hollywood Studios, the "big rides" at the recently-redone Star Tours, Tower of Terror, and Rock n Roller Coaster, but I wouldn't skip the Little Mermaid show, the Great Movie Ride, the Indiana Jones Show, or the Lights Motors Action show. Toy Story Mania is also there, and garners the longest lines of any ride at the resort (and without FastPass). Another question is how you want to vacation. If you want solely to focus on parks and immersion, Disney World may be best. I like to arrive at the parks early each morning, ride what I like, go back to the hotel, then return in the evenings. At Disney World, you've got to consider about 45 minutes of transportation both ways, so it's almost impractical to do so. Disney World also offers "park hopping" tickets for a price more each day. Truly consider if you want that add-on, because it's quite expensive and given the transportation, may be impractical. Even if you plan to park hop on the fifth day of your trip, let's say, to reride your favorites at each park, you'd need to add the Park Hopper option to your entire trip which can be expensive. I'm sure there are many of us here who would love to add our input and help you plan, so ask away.

Flight of Fear is my favorite roller coaster at Kings Island. For the first ten seconds of the ride, it's nearly impossible to tell if you're upside down or not, and when the colored lights are in inside the "spaghetti bowl" (you'll understand why it's called that after your first ride) it's an especially spectacular experience.

"Pardon our dust while we await a part from Germany!" How many seasons did we see that sign in front of the ride for at least a month?

I know I felt it last season, and last season is when the initial discussions about it took place, so I can at least promise you that it's not newer than 2011, at least.

It's been discussed on here quite a bit that people feel a tug in Delirium when it changes direction. Some people say it's been that way from the beginning, others say it's new. Like most new HUSS rides and all Giant HUSS rides, it's a fickle contraption.

.. During the seasons where the A/C works! Some years, it smells like a sweaty gym locker room in there.

I'm really hoping you meant "collar." Ah, spelling!

And imagine if Paramount had bought a half-dozen Giant Top Spins and put them in all of their highest performing parks! Ten years later... Oops. I don't think it's that bad, though. And we don't really know what's wrong with Knotts' ride.

I think Knott's has been down, too, and at least one other... Don't quote me, though. EDIT: Yep. Knott's has also been rigged with a big piece of metal that Westcoaster.net says it to hold up the outer ring. Looks like heavy duty work.

I wonder what Mondial's return policy looks like, and how the company feels about having just built three more of these...

Improvements, improvements, improvements! So awesome to hear about the great changes taking place at the Cedar Fair parks this season. Infrastructure is receiving a much-needed refurbishment, which I love. Some things are just so nonsensical, like Power Tower's old entrance being so far from the main midway. Whether you were coming or going, you'd pass the old entrance by time you got to see the ride in action! It just makes sense to change it. Lighting packages are great, and I'm happy to hear they're noticeable. Sounds like I chose the wrong year to take a break from the Cedar Fair parks... Or maybe it'll make trips that much sweeter when I return in a year or two, with a whole new atmosphere in a whole new park. Thanks!

The park's official Twitter made note that the Crypt's ride building will provide a fantastic Haunt experience "for years to come." Could just be PR, but it sounds like their plans for that area aren't developed or won't be developed for a while.

It just seems unnecessary. Dozens of things are claimed here day in and day out. Most end up being wrong. His hopes of a hidden message in a commercial are at least more founded than hope in a Son of Beast Facebook page making a difference, or of Boomerang Bay returning in 2013! You win some, you lose some. I'd bet sums of money that he's wrong, but it's among the least disgraceful things I've heard this week! I certainly hope you don't hold onto this until the real 2013 addition is announced... That would speak more than the OP's observation ever could!

I don't really know if it's worth being that serious about... Who exactly plans to hold the OP "accountable for his actions?" This isn't some dramatic Lord of the Rings style epic quest... I don't think "disgrace" will come to the OP even if he's wrong.

The mind sees what it wants to see.

If we'll get a major new attraction for 2013, it would doubtlessly be announced late in the season next fall. In some cases, things have been announced after the park has closed for the season, well into the winter. More times than not, construction is the first indication of a new attraction.

That was the original title of this topic. You (or hopefully, someone else) changed it to appropriately read "theory."

Not sure what a Theroy is... Sounds like a first name. The roller coaster you're talking about (shown twenty seconds in on that commercial) was Invertigo at California's Great America, which had the exact same color scheme as our Invertigo used to, but with blue supports instead of red ones. That roller coaster has now been transported to Dorney Park where it's blue all over, and Kings Island's was painted the same way shortly after. I haven't seen the 2012 commercial, so I don't know exactly which ride you're seeing, but I promise it's a ride that already exists, and probably at a Cedar Fair park. Parks (especially within the same company) borrow from eachother and use stock footage. For a while, Kings Island's Vortex was on the splash page for all the Cedar Fair parks. More recently, it was Cedar Point's Maverick. I'd wager that nine times out of ten, even regular visitors don't notice.

As was mentioned, the ride was confirmed by the park as testing as recently as days ago. It was placed on the map and (apparently) a ride operation crew had already been assigned to it. These actions seem to indicate that the plan was to open the ride for the 2012 season, but that something happened that changed their minds. If it was something severe (a third dangerous malfunction in just a few years) then you can bet even Mr. Kinzel wouldn't have let it operate, much less the state of Ohio. Would it have been SBNO to be a "placeholder" in the record books? Maybe. But if it's unsafe or unenjoyable to operate, then it's closed no matter who's at the helm. We at Kings Island should know that better than any other park... Maybe... But how many parks would judge their own worth on not having removed a roller coaster for X number of years? Not many. A lot of parks are willing to change and expand in order to cater to a greater demographic. Cedar Point may be becoming one of those parks...

And do we think Kinzel is rolling in his proverbial grave right now? "My precious... My precious..."

The Beast became an ERT ride last year when WindSeeker wasn't ready to open in time for the start of the season. I wouldn't expect the ERT lineup to change this year because if one of the rides becomes unavailable, the rest can compensate for it. Things may be added, but I'd be happy with the expanded offerings and extended time slot! Under the new CEO, the Cedar Fair parks are transitioning from "teenage thrill parks" to "family parks." We're leaving behind the awful "Bred to Shred" and the flatlining "Ride Warrior Nation." Now, "Thrills Connect!" for the whole family! New slogan: "Sometimes the best way to find common ground is twenty stories above it!" "Best day of the year experience" is the new target. This is no longer a park where teens rule. Now, the whole FAMILY should get gold passes, because Planet Snoopy opens early for Gold Pass holders! Compare that to recent years when one family member would get a gold pass for parking and the rest would get regular passes. What difference did it make? A family with two young kids doesn't care much to get in early and marathon Diamondback. But now, they can and will spend the extra money to get the whole family in early. That's extra snacks, extra souvenirs, extra park-time, and extra memories. Interviews make it abundantly clear to me: Ouimet is a genuinely good human being. He is passionate but realistic; confident but grounded. He's personable and approachable. He knows what he wants the parks to be and what they need to be. The new ERT is a magnificent reflection of that if you ask me.

Best start parting with Disaster Transport and Cedar Downs then, at this rate...

With many of the food and drink places having monitors now instead of price boards, they can change the prices on items much easier. But will the price of an ice-cold Coca-Cola look different on a packed Saturday with 90 degree heat waves and full humidity than it will on a cool, misty Tuesday in August? Changing the price at the drop of a hat is convenient, but for whom? Hopefully we can count on pricing integrity, but "test and adjust" isn't just a process in the attraction world!

Long waits don't necessarily mean anything. Take a local carnival ride with wild-mouse style loading and configuration and put it in the 2nd most highly attended seasonal theme park on the continent and voila. Compare that to the new Little Mermaid ride at California Adventure, which some insist on labeling a commercial failure thanks to its 10 minute lines on even the busiest of days... They forget about the 3000 pph, constantly-loading Omnimover ride system, I guess. If your talking about Wildcat going to Dorney in 2013, then you need to read the whole story. It's a joke since Dorney unexpectedly received another Cedar Point ride (one that made similar sounds to the Wildcat coaster, actually) that appeared ready for a scrap heap. A real sign of change, I think. Even being decades old, I always thought it was a low blow to try to hold onto the record that a ride that was so obviously portable made the line-up. And Celebration Plaza? Do we see the emergence of distinctly labeled areas emerging yet again?

It's just sort of "industry standard" terms... Inverted, flying, suspended... No different than "Megacoaster" or "hypercoaster." They're used interchangeably by some, have strict definitions with others. Humans sure love to classify things!