Gabe

If I recall, at The Beast station, the arrows indicating which rows were designated for rerides are still there. There was also an overhead metal frame with a sign indicating that the ride was one featuring rerides. It was a nice perk I took advantage of a lot during its time.

Ah yes, Terp, "Disney's America"..the park that was to be built on top of Civil War era battlefields..not to mention in your backyard of Virginia if memory serves. What a PR nightmare that turned out to be. As for the Disney characters making midwest apperances..they do quite frequently in their stage and ice shows that tour throughout the year. Those productions are handled by Feld Entertainment, with oversight and input from Disney.

People who hold up every line because their kid has to get measured. Please take advantage of the several measuring stations located throughout the park! It takes 30 econds to measure and get a wristband. If it were up to me, each ride wouldn't have a measuring platform. In order to ride, you must get a wristand if you're a child.

I'm sure Ed Hart studied that fact that tics for the Indiana State Fair, held over 18 days in mid-late August are about $18 at the gate and a few bucks less if purchased in advance. I agree that this is going to be a zoo. If I were the operator of a midway who had recently contracted with the KY Fair Board to operate during the fair, I would be seeking to cancel that agreement post haste in light of this news.

This is no more out of place than seeing a plush Olaf being offered as a prize at the goblet cup game in Coney Mall.

An email I received from Disney yesterday indicates that over at DHS, Frozen is getting some major love. Events featuring characters from Frozen happen all over the park beginning with a welcome parade at 11 and moving to other venues throughout the park (including the now-renamed 'Premiere' theatre--former home of Idol). The email also mentiones being able to purchase new Frozen merchandise, which comes as no shock. The event runs July 1-Sept 1 and is included in park admission. No doubt Disney is hoping this will relieve some congestion over at MK where the waits to meet Anna and Elsa are still sev hours at peak times of the day.

If they do this right, they will have the characters rotate to all the tables, much like at the Disney character breakfasts. It prevents a mad rush to to see the characters.

It was used for Diamondback's SRL for a time during its first season. They didn't last long.

I assume the Fair Board was smart enough to get indemnification from Mr. Hart if and when the ADA lawsuits are filed.

Paging Mr. Hart, come in Mr. Hart..one would think he should be front and center on this issue, not somewhere else ignoring the PR (and now legal) fiasco that his park has found itself in. Sounds like his lawyer(s) are about to get some more work.

It's not like the cups are made from high grade plastics like you'd find on baby bottles or even the cups found in the gift shops. They are mass produced for pennies, so they use the most durable materials they can find within the budget. Replacing x number of cups is built into the equation so it isn't like the park is losing money.

For future reference, ALL plastic cups, whether labeled so or not, should ONLY be placed in the top rack of the dishwasher. As you saw, putting them on the bottom rack exposes them to temperatures that produce the shrivelling.

The park opens at 10 for non gold and platinum passholders, though I drive opens at 9:30. On a weekday, you wouldn't necessarily need to get there right at 10 to experience short waits.

I mujst say in all the times I've ridden Banshee so far this season, I usually make it a point to sit in the 2 outside seats. I'm not a fan of the 2 inside seats as I don't think the ride is as intense. Thus far I've only sat in the inside seats once or twice. And, yes, to paraphrase Terp, the front is the best!

The dragon in the new parade at MK moves quite a bit and breathes copious amounts of fire for those who want to see such a thing. No CGI GOT dragons there!

In the first tunnel, there were SFX to simulate the spears coming out of the walls and for a time, the spears did move back and forth (the ones piercing the skeleton). There was also a spiel with the Indiana Jones Theme song played in the station for a time.

Simple metal-sided prefab buildings can be erected in a very short time--see Club Blood.

When it first opened, it provided quite the scare factor, esp amongst the smaller set. Eisner himself ordered the ride neutered somewhat about 6 months after it opened. I experienced it in its original state and even as an adult, I found it to be quite a thril. It was also Eisner who "plussed" (Walt's phrase for improving a ride experience) TOT by having it reprogrammed to have random drop sequences.

Celebration has run afoul of House Mouse on more than one occasion as of late. See: education, building standards, affiliation with Disney, etc. I think it was a well-intentioned development but Disney didn't count on a lot of angry residents.

Last Friday at 6 PM i was actually on WindSeeker about to ascend when it was shut down due to high wind. It tested briefly about 9:30 that night but didn't see anyone on it. Has it been down continusously since then?

It sometimes opens a few minutes after the park opens since its daily testing takes a bit longer than most rides. If it isn't open right at 10, don't worry; the ride ops at the entrance will likely tell you it will be open soon thereafter.

Personally, I think the VIP tours offered by the Mouse are far better than anything KI offers. FL Plus will accomplish what you want to do minus the food and backstage tour. An all day dining plan is 29.99 so when combined with the FL plus ticket, you're still saving over $100 pp over the VIP Tour.

Universal Florida was never designed to be a "look, I'm a backlot!" kind of park like its counterpart in Hollywood. Even when it first opened, I recall going there and having the 'backlot tour' be very small and short. The tour at the CA park evolved over time. Even the DHS backlot tour is basically a shell of what it once was and it at least attempted to be a true backlot tour once.

Terp--The Indy zoo gets 0 tax dollars from the government to help run it. Therefore, things like dynamic pricing serve to help its bottom line.

I was there last Friday from 2:30-10 and I didn't have any wait above 30 mins. A lot of ride ops were commenting on how light the park seemed. Banshee was 15 min, DB, FOF and FH were all 30, Beast was about 20-25. The rest were 15 min or less. I was actually on WindSeeker when it closed as we were about to ascend due to wind about 6 PM. (I was told by a supervisor there that too much wind causes the vehicles to bump together, but isn't that what the shock absorbers they added 2 seasons ago were designed to prevent?). It briefly reopened about 9:30 but I didn't see it ascend past 9:45.