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I was stuck at home all day yesterday due to an ice storm. It seemed like a good day to take care of a little project I've been toying with for a while: my Haunted Mansion Tribute Shelf. Disney has been offering some pretty cool HM souvenirs. Some of this stuff comes from the Memento Mori shop--my favorite shop at the Magic Kingdom. The photo quality isn't the greatest--maybe I should set up some spooky lighting, too. Welcome, Foolish Mortals, to my scarily cluttered home office! Bwa-ha-ha-ha! The Shelf of Terror! Madame Leota is ready to tell you your future--if you have one! There was a "Bride" diorama, too. I think the carpet is nice touch. Yep--they followed me home! Damn you, Paul "Ghost Host" Frees! The Hearse is the oldest piece. I think I bought this at Disneyland, but I'm not sure. This print came from the Art of Disney store at Epcot (great shop). I picked this up at the Wonderland Gallery in Disney Springs. Marvel Comics take on the Haunted Mansion (also from Wonderland Gallery). Grim Glowing Ghosts .

Too bad Volcano isn't still around. It was ahead of its time not only technologically, but it already had limited capacity down to a science.

“Let’s open two months late for no reason and then give everyone free money as an apology for how stupid that is.” Hey from a guest’s perspective... yay! Did I mention that Six Flags managed to charge a huge percentage of their member base every singe month they were closed and every single month since because they gave them all an extra line skip benefit for a few years that cost them $0? Lol god, I’m sorry. I really do like this company. I’m trying to stop endlessly dogging on them but like... they make it so easy.

They are going to move the museum from the factory in Arendal to on top of the new parking garage. https://volvomuseum.com/ /// Marcus

Infinity Falls is drenching and my shoes got totally submerged on it. I’m never riding it again. Atlantis isn’t terrible unless you’re in the front. When you get to the grouper, beg and plead to be anywhere but the front. If they direct you to the front anyway, honestly just fake a 102 degree fever and leave (not really lol). It also had water guns which could change everything but otherwise the only problem is the tiny unassuming drop after the main drop in the front row. Edit: Elissa beat me to it. Front row sucks. Also, not that you asked but you’ll be fine riding solo on Stanley Falls in Tampa. Packed boats get soaked but you won’t. You’ll get wet but it’s not bad.

Avoid the front row on Journey to Atlantis and you'll be ok...if it's even open.

Due to life and other stuff I haven't got time to do a photo update until now... First som photos from 20210103: And now to the photos from today: They have started with the roof construction and also with the entrance Liseberg has also started the construction of the waterland beside the hotel. The old SAAB transmission factory is now gone and the construction of the new parking garage and Volvo museum can begin.. View from the south end of the old parking lot. And I did som experimenting.... /// Marcus

I got pretty soaked on Infinity Falls since I ended up facing backward for the large drop at the end, but luckily I came prepared with a poncho. There are lockers near the ride's exit, and I believe there are a couple of those full body dryers too if I remember correctly. Journey to Atlantis was closed for annual maintenance when I visited, but that was almost a month ago so it might be back open by this point.

Orlando airport is ridiculously easy and tourist friendly. Also, rental cars are ON SITE, which makes a huge difference. No shuttles or any annoyance like that. You'll be fine, just follow signs.

Yeah my bad, when I said EZ Pass above, I just meant the electronic lanes. Couldn't remember that it's called SunPass in Florida...sorry for the confusion.

EZ Pass is only accepted in certain places Orlando and on certain parts of 528 and from what I can tell it won’t work on the portion of 528 between MCO and I-4 which is where you’ll probably use it the most. Also, there are no signs indicating where it’s accepted and where it’s not. Don’t bother bringing your EZ Pass to Orlando. You can buy a SunPass at Walgreens, Publix or CVS (it works in lanes branded Sunpass or E Pass (not to be confused with EZ Pass) so every Florida toll road. If you plan to go to Orlando a decent amount in the future (even like once a year) just buy it. There’s no monthly fee so you just have to buy it and then load some money on it. If you don’t plan to do that just pay cash, avoid tolls or just deal with the overpriced rental company fees, you’re on vacation. We bought a Sunpass and haven’t looked back but we go to Orlando a lot.

When you show up at the second Fun Spot for the day, you can have them add the park for $10. They will scan your wristband and it'll work there. You can use Waze or Google Maps to get anywhere. There is also an option in each to avoid tolls. Waze is usually a bit more aggressive and has social traffic and cop alerts. Put in rental car return and it'll get you there.

Exactly. I am 5' 1" and sit so far below the restraints that I was jammed up into them with my shoulders. Being so short I have had the head banging issue on several different rides. Thankfully I have a hard head.

Another thing to plan for: the weather. Should be nice the first two days then much cooler the 2nd. Also, Wednesday may be a total washout so keep that in mind. I have seen way too many tourists show up at the parks in shorts and t-shirts thinking 60 degrees is warm only to end up buying sweatshirts and coats to stay warm! Wed 17 78°/69° Thunderstorms 83% Thu 18 86°/63° Partly Cloudy 21% Fri 19 66°/43° AM Showers 46% Sat 20 64°/46° Sunny 3%

I will but not too worried. They were open today but I checked the website and several rides were closed and then park closed rest of the weekend, so I'm thinking even if I don't get hold of them they will honor the QQ's.

I'm not as much as a frequent visitor to Orlando as most people here, but I did do BGT/SWO just last month so I can probably share a few things: I also rented through Hertz and as mentioned above, it wasn't difficult to find. I just followed the signs to ground transport/rental car center. Once you get to Hertz, there's a big board with everyone's name and the corresponding area of the lot to go to. Also pretty easy to follow the signs on Jeff Fuqua Blvd. I'm pretty sure Hertz is only running out of Terminal A right now, so just stay to the left as you approach the airport and you'll see signs for rental car return. I'm normally in the 1.5-2 hour range for airports as well, but MCO was pretty dead for my flight out on a Friday afternoon. At the security checkpoint, enter to exit took maybe 10 minutes. Although I was flying out of terminal B which might not be as busy as A. I'm not really a go kart expert but I did try them out when I was at the Fun Spots last March and they were pretty fun. The elevation changes seemed legitimately dangerous the first few laps but I learned how to take them at full speed pretty quickly. I am not an expert at all here either, but I did get nailed by Hertz from the tolls. I just went through the EZ pass lanes assuming that Hertz would have it covered, which they did, but they added on a rather large processing fee so it ended up being almost 20 bucks. So maybe take the cash/card lanes if possible... I didn't think Quick Queue was necessary at either park (I also did BGT on a Thursday and crowds were very light, Montu & Kumba were both running just 1 train), but it sounds like they're pretty cheap and useful for the shows, which I wasn't as interested in. The post above is also correct about doing both Fun Spots in one day, it's just an extra 10 bucks plus tax. Hope that helps!

If you have access to ticketsatwork or similar, they had a good Fun Spot pass. ~$38 got you an all day band and a trip on the sky coaster. I think it's just another $10 if you hit their other park the same day.

New photo posted of finishing up on CARStastrophe Canyon (hee hee). Looking good, down there. It was also alluded, that a possible change in the attraction's name will happen. From "Cars Route 66 Road Trip" to just "Cars Road Trip". Apparently they are finding that "Route 66" (even though it is a part of the entire movie) doesn't equate to certain European languages. "Road Trip" is easier to translate for some reason or other. There's also a rumor that "maybe" an entire Lion King themed LAND might be a future addition to the back lake area of WDS. Along with Frozen's Arendelle and Star Wars' Outpost in their respective places. That could give the entire back park area, an "Adventureland" of it's own, lol. Interesting. EDIT: The Lion King Land rumor has been around for a long time, apparently. Oh well, you never know, hmm? Photo by Disney/PIxar ~ Thanks!

Just follow the signs to rental car pick up (which I believe is in the terminal but not sure) as well as rental car return. It shouldn't be too confusing. Hertz is in Terminal 1 Ground Transportation Level 1. Really easy to find. Give yourself 2 hours to get through security. You may breeze through but it's hard to know for sure. Walgreens used to sell discount tickets to Fun Spot. Worth checking out. You probably won't need Quick Queue at either park unless it's the weekend. But if you got a deal on them then use them.

I've never had a problem with the restraints. I'm 6 feet tall, 200 pounds. I've seen many people that couldn't get the restraints pulled down though and had to get off the ride. It seems like the ride operators used to push down on the restraints to get the lights to turn green, but not anymore, maybe due to COVID or other safety reasons. I really didn't notice it being rough last season, but some people did complain.

Nothing about the trains/restraints. The did mention changing part of the first outside section. Reprofiling a little after the brakes and that first vertical drop.

Fixed.

Holy Jesus. Something in the water up here.... Now that I think about it, Disney could go for a two park resort, Fantasy Island is available and less than 15 min away. Just saying.

I also think new enthusiasts confuse intense with rough

Geographically, yes. Operationally, not so much...

I’m really not, I love the company but this last year-or-so... lol But they technically eventually opened their parks in the states where they could and then closed them super early for the season for no discernible reason, yeah. Lol

At least there's no food or shopping to worry about once you've paid your $90!

I think I might start using some of those lines myself. 'Sir, you have to pay for these donuts. ' "Yes, there is some money that is owed, but let us work together as partners to make sure we are each taking a fair position."

Posted pics to the FB group, but figured I'd add my reviews to the park here. Spent about an hour and a half in the park on Friday. Obviously $62 is very steep for just an hour and a half, but it's right in line with my Jersey Shore pier experiences over the summer. Good news (for me, not the park) is that it was pretty dead and I had free reign the entire time I was there. Hit each coaster at least once as well as a couple flats. If I had time I would've loved to hit more of the flats and reride the coasters some more as they have a very good lineup. Here are my thoughts on what I rode... Sandy's Blasting Bronco was my first ride of the day...rode in back and it was a blast. Totally smooth, fun floating sensation through the immelmans and some good forces. Very strong launch, especially the unusual backwards launch. Rode it again later in the front. Definitely a different ride up there...thought the floating sensations were more prevalent in the back but more positive G's up front. Shredder was a solo ride for me and therefore I didn't spin a whole lot. Much longer layout than I expected and while there's nothing crazy in the layout, the ride is great for families and could get pretty intense if you can get a good spinning ride. Was surprised by its height as well. While I've definitely ridden spinners that give a wilder ride, the length of this one puts it right up there as well. Shellraiser was a love/hate ride for me. The layout is insane with a good powerful launch, that awesome drop with the holding break on top with the view of New York, and some great inversions. However, some spots got so rough that it was bordering on being brutal, especially at the bottom of the big drop. If they can do some work on those spots, this ride would be top 20 material for me, but I just can't put it there the way it is. BTW, the rest of the park patrons were avoiding this thing like the plague. I thought it was closed because I never saw it run the first 20 minutes I was there, but just turns out no one really wanted to ride it. Not sure if it's the buried entrance, the intimidating look, or if the word is out that you get pretty beat up, but it was a ghost town in that station the whole time I was there. Slime Streak had some pretty terrible trains (and I'm only 5'8") but the ride itself was actually really fun. You get some minor floater over the hills and this thing cruises along pretty good through the course. Also surprisingly tall with a big drop for what is intended to be the small family coaster. Timmy's Halfpipe Havoc was my first Halfpipe coaster because I've never wasted my time with Elitch Gardens. I was totally alone on the ride and it was really damn fun. Sandy's was my favorite coaster in the park, but this was my #2. Got some good spinning going and the airtime was a fun sensation. It feels like a glorified swinging ship but just a lot of fun. Unfortunately I was too short on time to hit many flats, but had to hit a couple of the unique ones. The S&S tower was a must ride and for some reason it was almost freaky the way it went up in its own shaft, which really added a sensation of height to the ride. Not sure what the actual height is, but between being way above the mall roof, having a long view of the NJ Turnpike, and being face to face with the NYC skyscrapers, it felt a million feet tall. It was running in combo mode and while the launch was pretty good, the drop sucked. But the uniqueness more than made up for the lame drop. Also, not sure what the name of it was but had to get a ride on that modern looper style ride. Instead of having to work a floor pedal to get the car flipping, you simply had to use the joystick to flip either forwards or backwards. Very easy to ride in "flying mode", stay upside down, or just flip the thing manically forwards or backwards. I don't get nauseous easily but I held the stick forward for like 7 or 8 consecutive flips and was almost ready to hurl. This stupid thing is insane lol. Wanted to get on the Air Race, Frisbee, and maybe some other stuff but had to hit the road. If you want to check this place out, right now is a great time to do so as crowds are very light and you'll get to just do whatever you want as much as you want. Just remember you can't re-enter once you leave so plan accordingly. Plenty of food and restrooms inside the park. Didn't encounter any unreasonable security (I was alone while my wife shopped) which was a positive. The free lockers were very easy to use with the same wristband you get when you enter the park. For me, skiing is my #1 passion (parks are #2) but I didn't end up checking out Big Snow as the real season is only a few weeks away. But I did see quite a few people heading in with equipment. Maybe next year in July I'll have to stop by if I'm in Jersey. For now, I'm still trying to get over the shock that this place is actually open and that I can do my two favorite things (neither of which ever involve a roof) under one roof.

I withdraw my question.

I heard back from the park. Single riders are allowed on the water coaster as long as they are 150 lbs.