brenthodge

Ummmm wow.

Nope-it’s still cringe in person. The ending was so odd. It felt like it was just “oh crap-this has gone on for 20 min. Let’s just end it quick and close with a big number.

I don’t know about cirque (I think that had run its course as well) but yes. It was cool last year as a nostalgia piece for the anniversary (but even that was odd since it was in no way an original attraction to reference) but it’s lost all uniqueness by running it again. People jump me and say “but the development costs for one year!!” Ummm can you say “Haunt show?” Or pull it out the year that the Phantom rises again. It’s not like development costs are lost if you give it a break or don’t have to develop a new haunt show.

Lol. That sky ride footer has like 9 lives. It’s like a monument to KI of yore!

You just hit on why I think they didn’t go to the extra expanse. If capacity could be higher by adding more single seats, then yes, I think they would’ve done it, but the way it’s structured I think they didn’t see it changing things too much throughput wise.

See I think that’s flawed thinking. Yes, customers should be grateful, but it’s not like the attendance and spending numbers don’t justify the investment. Statements like that make it sound like it’s a “gift” not a solid business decision. Investments are planned and budgeted corporately as well as locally, so the money spent reflects both corporate desire to increase attendance and spending as well as reinvestment of the financial contribution of the specific regional park.

They usually do a “day of” social shout out if they are.

Exactly! Plus over time I think it will even out.

Wonder if there will be a “preview night” of Phantom like last year. Would love to go Fri to park for first night fireworks AND a show.

They usually shift to allow performers to move over to parade roles.

Had a “back deck” early lunch there today. Agree the two sauces are nice. They’ve got to get Grain and Grille figured out. It’s all over the place quality and operational. On a slightly related note (as they were evicted for G&G, the Skyline pavilion is getting sone love and attention-now if they could somehow reconfigure the building to have a second small order window on the side facing the seating…

I love that certain places are doing special deserts, but they need to 1) get a separate line for these and highlight them and 2) figure out how to get them to you since I waited in the full prep line at Enrique’s then another 5-10 minutes to have them pull it out of the fridge and hand it to me. I think people would eat this up (no pun intended) if they made it way easier to get. But on a related note. This thang is GOOD!

Totally agree. When people broadcast “hacks” like they are the smartest people in the world, they often screw up the very hack they discovered all for the narcissistic reason of seeing the likes on social media.

Or bite the bullet and invest in larger, more mature trees when they DO plant them. They always get the baby’s that take 20 years to add anything.

There sure is a lot of queu back there for Sol Spin. I guess pouring concrete is less expensive than the upfront cost of a 48 cap ride. Interesting choice going smaller.

Just getting rid of the portion cups would go a long way to elevating the “feel” of this place.

Agree. It looks awesome. Love how they blend in more and you really just see the rich red track.

Weighing in. WANT THIS TO BE AWESOME. It’s exactly the type of food that needs to be on International Street, it’s got a great location, it could set the bar for food service going forward. Unfortunately, it stops short (for me). The order process is easy and the food looks generally great on the serving line, but things need to be turned more frequently (especially the meats) the pork and beef looked dry (were). The roasting pan full of “eye candy” ingredients they were cooked with was empty of meat, and the meat just sort of “there” in another dry pan. The food will never look like the ‘glamour shot’ but the paper boat with the big newspaper liner makes the food look way cheaper and smaller than what they are aiming for. Don’t understand not using the “wood texture” square paper plates, but those would help. Putting all the servings on a plate without serving portion cups would help as well, as it would allow spread that would make the plate look fuller. Even a quick micro gree garnish like they do with a lot of the Carnivale items would help. I feel like this concept could’ve been another “modified table service” location like BrewHouse if they had created some dedicated covered outdoor seating where the fastlane building is and even included a bar with “international cocktails” ( in a build that looked similar to the vip lounge). It’s like they are trying to be opposed ends of the spectrum here… elevated “farm to table” food as a fast food cash and carry order line. Even with a few tweaks I think it could be closer to what it seems like they were aiming for.

Definitely something going on with a new chain. Unpacked and staged by parade tent along with a lot of propping.

Crème. Brûlée. Cookie. That is all! (dang that was good)

Wow. Didn’t realize there wasn’t even water/waste lines. That’s dumb. They could’ve made the center a mini “bar” with that and like you mentioned even had a drink machine. Seems like a lot of build for little useable infrastructure

I agree that it could surly have a better use. It seems so dated (do people even buy airbrushed stuff anymore? Must or it wouldn’t be there) but I agree that making it part of AdventurePort seemed odd (especially if they kept it airbrush instead of making it more of an “outpost explorer” themed shop…unless it had been a “travel supply” shop themed to outpost 5! Maybe it could find a new purpose if they reworked that entire area around the pond with VikingFury to open up the path around to Festhaus and clean up the queue.

That could even be an exit point as well at close if needed.

unless they made a dedicated "exit" at the far RIGHT when looking at this - switch the exit turnstiles to the side by guest services which might make sense anyway as a main exit side. At full close all of these lanes could swap to exit only. The long median leading to the "main" security point could use a "cut" in it about halfway down to allow access to both check in sides easier. Or maybe the lane in the center could be dedicated exit. I think this set-up could work, and I like that it opens up the entry plaza - could maybe even make the entry plaza a little nicer since the crowd would be pushed a I bit further out. I would maybe push these checkpoints right to the end of the path before you get to the plaza to use the full length of the walkway leading up as a queue line

I like that they are also using this to tie into (at least in name) to adventure port. Wonder if it will tie in visually in any way or just be general “adventure” in the park.