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well.. . can't really post about it anywhere, because I know so many are suffering right now (certainly not mentioning it on FB). but this thread does seem to be the perfect place. so will just be vague and say that I got an unexpected bonus yesterday. I mean, I knew the company had hit the goal numbers to give employees a bonus, but the actual number is the biggest I've ever gotten in 35+ years of working in the tech industry.

Nothing like cutting down a wild grove of trees to create a land themed to a wild grove of trees

I wonder if some of the tree-chopping is to make sure there's a wide enough berth around the park in case they end up with bad wildfires again. Also, Herschend is well known for its conservation efforts, particularly when it comes to replanting trees. Mary Herschend was very adamant that no trees be harmed, and if they needed to be taken down, then two trees for every one cut down had to be planted somewhere else to make up for it. As such, her son Jack Herschend was raised to cherish trees and in 1992 created the Gift of Green tree farm which grows and donates trees. Also, a funny anecdote: Jack was actually fired by his mother several times because of trees cut down that she felt didn't need to be touched. Here's an article from 2003 talking about the stats from the program's first ten years: https://www.ksmu.org/post/gift-green-program-provides-free-trees#stream/0 And here's an article from 2011 talking about how the program was going to be closed, but the Joplin tornado prompted them to keep it open and help plant new trees in the city: https://www.bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_b4215d94-f137-11e0-b4a6-001cc4c002e0.html

The implication is that the land will be around for long enough that all the foliage will eventually grow back in.

Going backwards in time, before my stop over at Islands of Adventure to check out the Jurassic World VelociCoaster I made my way through CityWalk and went to Universal Studios Florida to experience Mardis Gras: International Flavors of Carnaval. On the CityWalk front, it has been a time of change as all signs of Blue Man Group's presence at Universal Orlando are quickly being removed, while work starts to wind down on the construction of the giant, new Universal Studios Store location and the existing store begins to transition into a new legacy content theme. Mardi Gras 2021 looks very different than previous years because this year there are no concerts and no parade. Building off of the approach of November/December's take on Universal Holidays, Universal has adapted the popular event to shift the focus to food and beverages while enabling a more stationary version of the Mardi Gras parade. Similarly, a new Mardi Gras Tribute Store has opened where the Halloween and Holiday tribute stores opened before. Entertainment and decor can be found at key locations throughout the park, adding a little bit of Mardi Gras flair to the event. Major credit is due to the Universal culinary team for blowing out their menus to add a bunch of new F&B tents and booths to the park--only a few of which were offered in previous years, so many of these culinary experiences are new. The best part is, with thirteen countries' worth of food and drinks to enjoy (check out the full menu here), you can buy a sampler lanyard with 10 items for $55 plus tax, or if you're an Annual Passholder, 15 items for $65 plus tax. Basically, that equates to $6 per item for the base lanyard or around $4.70 per item for passholders. Almost all items are eligible to use the lanyard on and with generous portions, a lanyard could easily be shared between two people (or could really fill up someone visiting on their own like me). Honestly, the food quality was pretty exceptional... Quite possibly my favorite seasonal food offerings I've experienced at Universal Orlando to date. While I look forward to the return of the standard concerts and parades that make Mardi Gras even more memorable in normal years, I really do hope that this food & wine festival-style experience carries over into future years' events. This has been a top notch event! On the way into CityWalk some Blue Man Group advertisements could still be seen. The new Universal Studio Store in the former PiQ/Fossil/Island Traders space has really taken shape! The concept art looks really nice! The space is going to be huge compared to the current store. Some interesting concept art from the inside of the new store. I've arrived! Plenty of new Mardi Gras merchandise can be found in the Universal Studios Store inside of Universal Studios Florida. The Blue Man Group sign has been removed and the side entrance/exit to the park leading to the former Sharp Aquos Theater has been closed. Over near the Music Plaza Stage you start to see themed food and beverage booths themed to different countries and cuisines. In case you're in the market for a Bloody Mary... Two sizes available. Floats from the Universal Mardi Gras Parade are parked strategically to allow for photo ops and entertainment interactions. Hashtag the Panda waves at guests from above... Credit given for putting some cleverly themed booths together! Despite the floats not moving, the combined energy of bead throwers and authentic jazz bands brings an energy to the park that is reminiscent of what you'd find during a normal year's Mardi Gras. A few of the existing food trucks are being used for the event. The Brazil booth proved to be one of the most popular during my visit. Tasting lanyard front... And back. I was excited to the find that the arepas from the previous food truck menu were brought back for this event and this picadillo arepa was delicious as ever! Added a few weeks into the event, a tent offering some of the more popular drinks from across the event can be found opposite Race Through New York starring Jimmy Fallon. I really appreciate the fact that they've put out entertainers as opposed to just parking the floats. It makes this a much more high energy experience when walking by. Even more floats to see... More details on the Tasting Lanyards... I appreciate that they can be used beyond the event for select snacks and bottled water. The Pineapple Trini Chow had been offered at last year's event and I loved it then. This year's version is a more substantial serving with two skewers, well charred and seasoned. This was the the one item I went back for seconds on later in the day. I had heard good things about the Italy booth's Arancini and I was not disappointed! Some more fun photo ops with entertainers can be found throughout the park. Some of the booths leverage existing F&B locations during this temporary event. Fast & Furious Supercharged has reopened for anyone that's interested... Fresh meat over at the Cuba booth! I was truly excited to see the Germany have such an extensive menu. Beers and brats for the win! There are no special Mardi Gras offerings in Diagon Alley, but there are plenty of delicious options to enjoy here year round! The Jerk Chicken and the Goombay Smash were both great surprises at the Bahamas booth! Doc Brown was out and about for socially distanced photo ops! A dance party was going on in front of this float! Belgium had fresh waffles in case you were wondering. Canada gets its own quick service venue! Beef poutine and a maple sugar doughnut that looks suspiciously like a Beaver Tail... Both delicious! A It was quietly confirmed a few weeks ago that "A Day in the Park with Barney" had permanently closed after a 25 year run. It closed when the parks shut down and never reopened. Signage and the Barney fountain were both removed around the same time the permanent closure was confirmed. No replacement for this show has been announced at this time. The Spain booth makes really clever use of a quiet corner of the park. This delicious paella is served in a themed disposable paella pan! Central Park Crepes offers the event's sole French-themed food item, a Poached Pear Crème Brulee Crepe. This pavilion near the park's lagoon has been turned into one of the New Orleans-themed booths, this one offering seafood boils and beignets. I forgot just how many floats the Mardi Gras parade normally has! Pretty neat to see during the day! Drinks and coasters... Always a fine pairing. You can still get your beads tossing fix in! Time to head into the Mardi Gras Tribute Store! The theming in these stores continues to be on par with the interior of a Halloween Horror Nights house. Lots to see and potentially buy inside. A clever way to mask the Made to Order system... Very Horror Nights-esque. Fans of the classic Mold-a-Rama machines will be happy to know that Universal continues to update theirs for the rotating Tribute Stores. Pirates are a prominent theme at this year's Mardi Gras and thus an entire section of the Tribute Store carries that theme. A pirate-themed Mold-a-Rama... My favorite part of each Tribute Store is the food section! Lots to choose from! This event's unique gummy is a moving sour gummy skull. The jaw moves while at rest here! The Vegan Skull brownie makes a return from the Halloween Tribute Store, albeit with Mardi Gras touches... It is still an absolute knockout! One more Trini Chow for good measure! Stuffed to the brim, I finished my culinary journey with a strawberry & pineapple caipirinha and a bag of beignets. I was covered with powered sugar when finished, but the end result was well worth it! One last look at the former Universal Studios Store before the new location opens up!

They have a page for ride closures and maint schedules: https://buschgardens.com/tampa/park-info/ride-attraction-schedule/

^ or you could have just gone to the TPR Facebook group - which I referenced as my source (and I pulled the screencap from). but tomato toma-to

So, the kiddo and I ended up taking a drive down to SFA yesterday to kick off our 2021 season after a limp 2020. This was our first time actually riding stuff at an amusement park since last September and October, when we took brief day trips to Dorney and Knoebels. I didn't have super high hopes for the park, given two previous bad experiences down here, but my son and I both left with pretty big smiles on our faces, all things considered. We got there about 15 minutes before their scheduled 11:00 AM opening. The entrance procedure was pretty similar to what we experienced at Dorney last year, with a touchless thermometer screening that we just walked right through. Thumbs up and we continued on. They moved the metal detectors in front of the main gates since our last visit, and they have one of the new ones where you don't need to take anything off, you just walk right through with all your bags and items in your pockets, etc. Well, that's the theory, anyway, as it ended up flagging me and I had to give them my backpack for X-raying, then I ended up getting wanded. Still, many other patrons were just walking through without any hassle at all, so I think it's a win for them even if it wasn't for me personally. While we were waiting in line, I noticed that everyone was masked up and giving each other space. I had heard stories about this kind of being overlooked at other Six Flags parks during the 2020 season and was very happy to see everyone going along with it down here. Since our last visit, my kid ended up reaching that all-important 54" height requirement, so our number one goal was to hit all the coasters that we hadn't previously ridden here. That includes the three back in Gotham City, Firebird, and Mind Eraser. We started off by beelining it back to Gotham, and walking into an empty station for Joker's Jinx. As we queued up for the front row, they were sending off their final test train of the day. The employees made it back safe and sound in one piece, and so off we went. The kiddo has been on the KD Flight of Fear, and he was excited to try this outdoor version. Needless to say, we both loved it! While the indoor's version of disorientation is cool and all with the low lighting, it was like a wholly different experience to be able to see just how much you flip around during those first few elements. The ring tube halfway through the layout is also a cool visual trick. And it's just a solid coaster from launch to finish. We ended up riding this three times in a row; once in the front row, once in the third row, and once in the very back. The ride ops were great about letting us switch rows or stay in the same row without having to walk around, and this was something that was true for all of the rides we went on throughout the day. No matter where we sat, it was all great and it was my son's favorite of the day. 5* out of 5. From there, we made our way a little bit further back in Gotham, taking a detour through the eerily deserted Whistlestop Park kids section. This section is just plain weird, I don't have any other words for it. The Bugs Bunny kids section up front is much more successful it seems. I can't remember ever seeing any kids doing anything back here, to be honest. We rounded the corner and saw Superman: Ride of Steel in front of us. We wanted to save this for later, so we tried to walk down towards Batwing, but there was a rope up blocking the path, and so Superman ended up being our second new coaster of the day. Overall, we both really liked it. It's not the best hyper out there, but it was plenty entertaining. We started off with a pair of rides in the third row. As we were getting off of our second ride, we noticed that the front row was now empty, and we asked if we could move up. As it stands, they decided to take the train out of active service and give it a sanitization cycle. So we went off to Batwing and did that, then came back to Superman for a second pair of rides. This time around we ended up in the front row, which is super thrilling, and then moved all the way to the last row which just cranked up the intensity to a whole new level, especially going over that first drop and through the airtime hill after the first helix. For whatever reason, though, no matter where we rode on the train, we got zero airtime on that first hill. My son was waffling all day long over which one he liked better between Jinx and Superman, and although Jinx eventually won out in his heart and mind, we're still giving Superman a very respectable 4* out of 5. (I personally prefer the Superman hyper up at New England, and hope to get back up there this year with him so he can get his first rides on it.) So, yeah, Batwing! For him, this was his second Vekoma flyer after Nighthawk down at Carowinds, and for me, it was my third behind Nighthawk and the now defunct Firehawk at Kings Island. I'm not particularly a fan of these coasters, but he had an okay experience on Nighthawk and was looking forward to trying it. It ended up being the worst out of the ones we've ridden. Staring directly into the sun as you're going up the lifthill and trying your best to avert your gaze or block out the sun is always a bad time and just a bad design in general. Overall, it was hecka rattly, shaky, and just left us both feeling dazed as we got off. We both agreed that this would be a one and done, with him stating "glad I never have to ride this again!". I'm probably not so lucky, as I'm sure I'll be riding it once more when my daughter gets up to 54"... unless they scrap it before then. 1 out of 5. After our last ride on Superman for the day, we took a brief break from rides to grab some souvenirs and some lunch. We used the iPhone app to do their mobile ordering. This was my first experience with this part of the app. It was easy and painless to navigate, it linked directly to our passes to calculate how many meal credits we got from our season dining plans, and gave us a number to pick up our food from the window. We ended up grabbing some food from the Gotham City Food Court; he got a cheeseburger and fries, and I got a chicken caesar salad. They had some socially distanced tables with umbrellas set up in between the food court and the arena. Unfortunately, it was kind of a windy day, and this section was one of the worst for being hit with wind gusts. All I have to say is if you have a container filled with food that doesn't weigh a lot, such as french fries, you might want to hold onto it with one hand... The food itself was fine. It's your average park food, nothing to write home about but not blatantly offensive. It's... fine. Just fine. After getting in a quick ride on their Riddler-themed Round-Up named Riddle Me This, we left the Gotham City section behind to check out the rest of the park. Next up on our list was Firebird. I had never experienced this ride in its original stand-up form and honestly from the sounds of things, I hadn't missed much. We walked through the queue, passed the remnants of what appeared to be a Skull Mountain structure, climbed up the stairs and got to the station. This was probably our longest wait of the day, with about 10 minutes of waiting all told. They were loading all rows on the train; there was one empty row as we made it up to the top, and so we filed into row 6. They had big plastic plexiglass barriers between each row's queue, and the groupers were good about making sure only one party ended up in each row. Ridewise, it reminded me a lot of Rougarou at Cedar Point, just a whole lot smaller and more compact. This one definitely felt like it was twisting in and over itself to make the most of a small footprint. I got a little bit of headbanging thanks to the OTSRs at some points, but overall it was pretty manageable. Definitely not high on my list of favorite floorless coasters, but I'd give it 3* out of 5, and a passing grade overall. We killed a little bit of time on High Tide, their pirate ship which ran a really short cycle. It didn't even feel like a whole minute from start to finish. After that, we did a ride on Roar. We had both been on this twice before and couldn't remember whether we liked it or not. After thinking about it, our first ride was during a rainstorm where we were desperately trying to hide inside our hoodies to prevent getting soaked, and our second ride was at night during their Holiday in the Park event in 2019. We had never ridden this during a beautiful sunny day. We walked into the station and got right onto the front row. It was a little bit rough, but a whole lot of fun! The layout was excellent and kept us guessing. I was hanging onto the grab bar for dear life though. Asked the kiddo what he thought of it, and his response was "It was pretty good! It definitely wasn't as bad as Wildcat or Thunderhead. I'd ride it again!" (For the record, he's had some pretty bad experiences at both Hersheypark and Dollywood on those two specific wooden coasters, so those are his bottom of the barrel woodies that he refuses to give any more chances to.) We didn't end up riding it again, but definitely will do so the next time we come back. And while it might be a good candidate for the RMC treatment at some point in the future, based off how it was running yesterday, I'd say it's definitely got at least a few more years of life in it for now. 4* out of 5. Our final new coaster of the day was Mind Eraser, and we took our time getting over there. First, we made a stop to pick up some fruit snacks from the shop in Coyote Creek. Then, we did a couple rides on Rodeo. Neither of us had ever been on this kind of flat ride before, and we ended up really enjoying it! It felt like a scrambler mixed with teacups, or maybe a Tilt-A-Whirl multiplied by three and all spinning around each other. Whatever it was, it was fun enough for us to ask to stay on for a second ride. Afterwards, we walked over to the Crazy Cars, where we got our bumping action in. Between the wild west theme and the sounds of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" wafting through the ride's speakers, it almost made me think I was back in Pigeon Forge for a second. Well, just a second, because then I got jolted back to my senses from my son gleefully ramming his car into mine. Always a fun time. We also briefly checked out their arcade, or what passes for an arcade right now. Between it being comprised mostly of claw machines, and the fact that their change machines gave you 12 "tokens" for $5 (even my son could figure out that that math didn't add up), we wisely decided to pass. I say wisely, but then we walked over to Mind Eraser, so I don't know who had the wisdom in this scenario. It certainly wasn't us. I'm not going to make this a long paragraph. We've been on a number of SLCs before, but this was the worst one we've rode to date. The literal worst. It was just non stop headbanging and elbowbanging from start to finish. Straight up, f*ck this ride. Unless they pull a SFNE or a Morey's and commit to replacing track and/or trains, I'm not going to be riding this one again, not even with my daughter when she gets tall enough. 5 out of 5. After a ride on their actual scrambler, we found ourselves back at the beginning of the park. We decided to try and fill in some of the remaining rides we missed on our first loop through. The kiddo took a ride on their Wave Swinger (I sat it out). We walked over to Ragin' Cajun to find them only running two cars and a full switchback; we decided to skip it. We went up to the Zydeco Zinger and got a ride in on that. They only were loading about 1/3 of the actual ride capacity, with empty benches left in every direction between any occupied benches. As such, this was our second longest wait of the day, but we still only had to wait one cycle. We were going to hop on Wild One next, but the chain was up for unspecified reasons, and so with limited time left in our day we decided to skip it as well. The kiddo was going to do Voodoo Drop by himself as well, but then just as he was about to get on it went down for maintenance as well. Some bad luck to round out the day. At this point, we had factored in a 5:00 PM leave to make it back home, but at 3:30, we were running out of things to do due to all these closures, so we decided just to call it after a ride on their antique cars. Since I was gonna be making the drive back up 95, I let him take the wheel for a few minutes. It was a good way to round out the day, and with a pretzel and bag of popcorn for the road, we left as two satisfied parkgoers. Yeah, it wasn't a perfect day, but in the scheme of things, we both felt that it was a much better experience than we had previously had, and so we'll probably be back at some point in the future. Maybe just as a pit stop on the way to Kings Dominion or Busch Gardens, probably not a whole destination like today, but it's definitely not being completely written off by us anymore! All in all, a great start to the 2021 season and a more than welcome return to something resembling normalcy for our family.

That would be correct.

OK OK I know this ride is a meme, and it's not helping its own legend by being down twice in its first 2 days, but maybe the "obvs failure, shoulda scrapped it, this is gunna wreck the parks image" seems a tad much? Esp bc it operated all day today https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-03-14

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Busch Gardens Begorrah! It's almost St. Paddy's Day and the wee folk be on the loose at Busch Gardens, looking for their Lucky Charms, drinking green beer, and scarfing down corned beef. Wait--that's just the guests at another BGW special limited-attendance event, although you might spy a few leprechauns if you look carefully. This marks the first time that the entire park has been open since. well, 2019. That's not to say that everything's running. The water rides remain closed, but you can ride all the coasters, except for Loch Ness Monster and Tempesto. My understanding was that Alpengiest was to be closed, too, but it was running last Saturday with both trains. No Skyway or Rhine River Cruise, though. The Smokehouse is still closed, but the Brauhaus in the Festhaus is back in business--yay for beer and German meatballs! If you want green beer, corned beef and cabbage, and bangers and colcannon, Grogan's is the place to go. But if you want your photo with Clancy the Leprechaun, you'll have to walk to France. It looks the park has been doing some work on Pantheon. One train (covered with a tarp) was on the track, and the other was in the barn. I haven't heard whether they've done any testing, but there's been some more painting and other "finish" work on the station and queue since last October. It's projected to open this year. For now, we'll have to content ourselves with views from the Apollo's Chariot lift hill, Verbolten's covered bridge, the top of Griffon, and the train. Let's look for leprechauns and beer, shall we? I think Bill and Brit are around here somewhere, too. You just might see a few of the photos they tagged me in on Facebook here. Welcome to Busch Gardens . . . who the hell is that looking over my shoulder? Everything is green from Big Ben . . . . . . to the traditional tree balls of Italy. Pantheon sees you shiver with an . . . . . . tici . . . . . . pation. But Apollo’s Chariot is open. Let’s start there. Sheesh! They’ll let anyone in here. “Aye, they will, me bucko!” N-o-o-o-o-o-o-o . . . A leprechaun in lederhosen? Has the world gone stark raving mad? Look at all these hopeless drunks lining up for beer before noon! Well, when in the Festhaus . . . What excites Bill almost as much at the Brauhaus being open again? Good guess. Here’s a good spot if you want to see a bit more of . . . . . . Pantheon. Sigh! Opening this year, I hope. This ride has some crazy airtime potential. Meanwhile, back at St. Paddy’s Day Central HQ . . . That’s the biggest freakin’ leprechaun I’ve ever seen. If you’re in Ireland, you must have either green Bud Light or Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale with bangers and colcannon. It’s the law (at least until March 17). “When Irish wolves are smiling, they’re about to eat your leg.” With colcannon, no doubt. “I’ll swallow your soul, begorrah!" All in all, a very nice day with great company at Busch Gardens--just watch out for soul-sucking leprechauns.

I mean....this happens. It is what it is, and that seems a little....much? Esp since as you say the changes should have 0 impact on the launch then why would you thus consider a lawsuit? Unless its for a general "You gave us this problematic ride!" but I mean....no one wants to be Six Flags lol Did Cedar Fair sue Intamin for TTD? And talk about the quickest way to totally wreck your sterling reputation with the coaster community....sue the most beloved manufacturer of our time lol

^I was thinking something more along the lines of donkeys to pull it up the side of the hill. That way there's NO debate it has been slowed down. It would fit the theme of the park perfectly!

This by no way means the launch system failed. Someone described it as starting out fine and then felt like it slammed on the breaks. That sounds more like a failsafe sensor not letting it complete the launch. It's like one of the maintenance guys told me one time, this ride has no other place to "stop" so if it needs to fail, it will stop at the point of launch. I believe this gives the launch a bad rap

eh, more like a failure of the launch system. I was expecting it to get near the top and just fail to make it over.

Rollback video from yesterday. https://youtu.be/IiU2E5dNcDs

I was hoping they would make the train two stops instead of the loop. I'd like to see a second train station in Wildwood grove. That would save a lot of walking since they don't have sky buckets.

Give it a week or two. When it's running every day without major problem, take a shot and come down. There's a coaster event in a month or two. Not sure which group. Might be a good time to hit the park, get some ERT and only spend a bit more than regular tickets. And their coaster event Thrills in the Hills is in June, I think. This has to be temporary. I'm hopeful it'll be up and running as much as all their other coasters not named Mystery Mine very soon. The site times posted pull from the parks wait time system. You're seeing what is displayed on the tvs in the park and app. queue-times.com to look at more parks.

Just finished doing my taxes, and it turns out I might get a few $$$ this time 'round! As I get older I am finding, that filling out the forms by hand (& mind) is getting tougher every year. But, I'm hoping I was good with all of it. And mailing it in early, means they can check it quicker ..... ...... and then the $$$ will go directly into my bank.

If it can run consistently over the next month and MM reopens with no issues, I gotta visit. Really LR's unpredictability was the only thing keeping me from going down there.

How can you even pretend that it doesn't? Even my 5 year old knows putting racing stripes on things makes them go faster. I mean sure his paint of choice is somehow play-dough but....but... SCIENCE!

If the only change was that they painted the cars a new color you'd still get people claiming it rides different.

If operating Kraken (SWO) taught me anything, it's that run times vary GREATLY depending on weather/weight/etc. There is a timer for every cycle that showed on the screen and it always shocked me how big of a variance there was from a cold morning to a sunny afternoon. A 2 second difference in the videos you saw doesnt mean anything. Just as any other coaster I'd assume you'll see a much wider variance than two seconds even during the same day for the exact same ride so comparing the two isn't really a fair comparison if it's only 2 seconds because I'm sure you can find two POVs on the old lightning rod or two POVs on the new lightning rod and see the same variance. All of that being said, looking forward to trying this again! As someone else said, visibly I've seen el toro crawl through the layout on a windy day (and subsequently valley near the end of the ride, lol) which is unheard of to most people.

I really can't stress enough how people have been saying since half-way through the first season that the ride has been slowed down, the launch is slower and whatever else. I'm not saying that people should be happy with a diminished ride experience and suck it up so it operates, I'm saying that it's **probably** not diminished and the "I rode it when it was better" crowd is lying to themselves so they feel cool for being one of the six people to successfully ride it when it first opened. I have no doubt that the day the ride opens and the train is half empty for social distancing and it's cold and crappy out these people will be blowing up the internet talking about how much better it used to be but let's wait and see if that's actually even true. I'm optimistic that it won't be. PS: everyone also complained about a pothole endlessly that won't exist any more, so maybe it will actually be better! Now Mystery Mine? That's a different story. lol

Lol, they just did a report on the local news about the park opening on the 20th and that it was the 50th anniversary; the stock footage they were showing included Tidal Wave and Superman and the entrance to MT from about a 100 years ago. Maybe they could get out there and record some footage from this century before the next news blip

That's awesome that you got to ride this already. Also, how do you rank Taron?

I haven't ridden it and I completely disagree with your second point here. I made my only trip to Dollywood a few years back and would have very happily ridden it running slower than normal, instead of not riding it at all. These changes are finally making me consider a trip back to the park as long as it helps the reliability. Coasterbill's side-by-side more accurately describes my 2+ days at the park than the other side-by-side. That said, sure the ride is running slower in the new video but this isn't even a remotely fair comparison. Look at any video of any roller coaster running an empty train in the cold next to a full train in warm weather and there's going to be a difference. If you were going to try to compare a POV, at least do it with something comparable like a POV taken before the ride ever opened with topper track. But still, just don't because it's pointless.

Did I call this or what? Anyway, I did better side-by-side comparison for you.

It's not done yet. They are still waiting on parts. I loved it the way it was, but some people found it too jerky, so they are trying to fix those rough spots. I'll be there tomorrow for season pass holder preview day and I'll take a look because Mystery Mine won't be running, but we can still walk underneath the track and take some photos.

I suspect it's for ADA reasons. I know that ramps can't be steeper than a certain amount to meet ADA standards, and I suspect the signs are there to let people know when the walkways exceed that amount. I don't know why these signs were only put in now. Perhaps it's a change in park policy or local regulations, who knows.

Two weekends ago I made my way back to the Universal Orlando Resort to experience the new Mardi Gras offerings, but also to get a chance to see Velocicoaster testing. I'll have photos from Mardi Gras to share soon, but I figured I'd start with the most exciting update first, which is a giant Intamin coaster opening in Orlando! Entering Islands of Adventure, you'll notice something new on the horizon... I thought my timing couldn't have been better... A few seconds later I stood corrected. I finally had the chance to see the Velocicoaster in action and it looks ridiculously fun! Jurassic Park wasn't the only section of the park that was looking great today! Passing through Hogsmeade towards Jurassic Park, you get a view of the bowl section of the second half of the coaster... Making its second loop around before making its way back towards the station. New Velocicoaster signage has been put up in Jurassic Park matching the styling and theming from park signage shown in Jurassic World in the film of the same name. The entrance path features several raptor statues. It is going to be neat to walk this space with trains flying upside-down overhead. There are few spots in Jurassic Park where Velocicoaster can't be seen running at this point. This is a pretty awesome thing in that it adds a new kinetic energy to the land. Definitely cool to see! The walls have come down around the first half of the coaster. I was so excited to see the coaster running up close that I totally forgot to get an overview shot of what the area looks like from behind the themed barriers, but as you'll see in the following photos, they allow you to get some really fantastic, unobstructed views of the ride in motion. The entire first half of the coaster can be seen from this side of Jurassic Park. I absolutely love this angle... So I stayed in this same spot for a few minutes to watch the trains cycle. Velocicoaster weaves in and out of itself in a really neat way. Time to fly into the second launch! It really is a spectator-friendly coaster! The rockwork does a really great job of framing the coaster elements. Dive! Dive! Dive! It looks so great! I also love the design of these trains! The transition into the 2nd launch is really quick. Rockwork appreciation... Zoom... Zoom... Zoom... I feel like this will probably end up being the most photographed section of the Jurassic Park after the coaster opens. More fun angles. I'm ready to ride. How about you? The skyline at Universal Orlando has definitely changed!

Looks like my missed opportunities thread could have some new visitors.

I try my best. But seriously how many times are people going to judge a ride before it's actually open based on some testing videos? This isn't anything new, just wait to ride the thing before calling it slow, or bad, or disappointing or whatever. Personally I think it's kind of cool to have the first half of the ride be a little slower through the scenic elements and the rockwork, then hit a mid course launch into a second half that's way more intense and exciting. It's such a brilliant design concept that it's almost like they planned it that way or something.......

Walt Disney World has announced today that Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure will open Oct 1st, 2021! Yay! Here's a ride through of the attraction in Paris to get you ready for this new Epcot experience!

You shouldn't have squashed the rumor mill so quickly. If you would have let this go a while longer we would be seeing maps for a layout of the giga coaster that was going to go over the parking lot and all the way to the highway. What a buzzkill you are

You know that saying "Not all heroes wear capes?" If it was up to Edna Mode, none would.

^ We wanted to see all four of those films, "Raya/Last Dragon" especially in a movie theater. And "Chaos Walking" was intriguing to us for the cast, and the way the trailers have been done. Thanks for your input on them. We're still undecided... but then, we ain't got our vaccines, yet. EDIT TO ADD: Also, want to see "Soul" and "Onward" "Mulan"and a few 2020 others on The Big Screen again. I mean, once rules are in place and we can see movies in theaters again, why not studios bring back the ones that didn't make it there, the first time, due to you-know-what? I know people would flock to the complexes again. Not huge numbers. But you never know hmmm?....

LOVED "Judas and the Black Messiah." We've been fans of the Black Panthers for years, ever since a co-worker was involved in our local chapter and told us all about the great things they do for the poor. Fred Hammond is an American hero. He deserves so much more recognition for what he accomplished.

I know who you're talking about, and I'm with you. I'm embarrased that he's from Missouri. Such a hateful man. Glad he's gone.

It wasn't packed full of people, but it was enough to give Prowler, the only high thrill ride open, a 1hr+ queue. But then again, it was running one train and was cursed by WOF's typically abysmal dispatch times. So that might not have been the best judge of crowd levels. Jokes aside, from my experience, they definitely drew in a decent crowd size. But when I visited, the park cleared out well before closing. There just wasn't a lot to do outside of Prowler or Spinning Dragons, if you didn't want to watch any shows or live entertainment, that is. Knowing that most WOF's clientele doesn't visit the park to see shows or entertainment, but instead visits for rides, it would make sense that the event may not have been as popular as they had hoped. There was a demand for that type of event, but it must not have been as big of a demand as they would like to see in order to keep running it. It would make sense to cut it after such a financially hard year like last and with this year not looking that well either. Just my guess.

Great for you guys! We have to wait until at least April or May till we get our first dose. Up here in Canada, they're announcing that the time period between the two dosages might be a bit longer, since they've found the first dosage is working significantly better % wise, and a longer time between doses seems possible. Which means a lot more people can get their first dosage, sooner. Which is great! Whatever the case, we hope everybody IS getting their vaccine ASAP. And to all you people who are against getting vaccinated...

I wouldn't say surface transmission isn't a thing. It just isn't the BIG thing and the the virus is pretty average at surviving on surfaces, so it's not really the thing we should be worrying about. But if someone snots on their hand and grabs a coaster restraint and then you touch that restraint and then your face some period of time after that there is still a transmission risk there. It's kinda like worrying about the electric fences after an outbreak at Jurassic Park. Sure - electrocution is still a risk if you touch it, but there are more pressing matters.

This morning it was announced that construction on Universal's Epic Universe theme park will resume after being paused due to COVID-19! https://blog.universalorlando.com/destination/universals-epic-universe-is-back/ Work is resuming on Universal Orlando Resort’s Epic Universe, the widely anticipated theme park that will create an entirely new level of theme park entertainment. Work on Epic Universe paused in July 2020, as the company adjusted plans in the midst of the pandemic. The restart will begin immediately, but is expected to take several months before reaching full-speed as Universal restaffs for the project and reassembles its vendor and contractor teams. Restarting Epic Universe will result in hundreds of jobs within Universal and thousands of jobs across Central Florida. These positions include highly-skilled professional positions, all levels of construction jobs and more. The Epic Universe project will infuse billions of dollars into the Florida economy and generate more than 14,000 permanent jobs in addition to the thousands of jobs that will be created during its development. “The restart of construction of Epic Universe is a terrific moment for our employees and for our theme park business in Florida,” said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “It is our single largest investment in the state and represents our enthusiasm for the spectacular park and the economic opportunities it will generate.” “We are excited to begin work on Epic Universe again and for what this moment means for our industry, our community, our business and our team members,” said Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO for Universal Parks & Resorts. “Our confidence in our collective future is as strong as ever.” “The resumption of the Epic Universe project couldn’t come at a better time,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings. “Our community has so many talented workers who will benefit from this massive project. I am confident it will deliver a huge economic boost to Orange County.” Epic Universe will feature a new theme park, an entertainment center, hotels, shops, restaurants and more. It will be located on a 750-acre site that nearly doubles Universal’s total available acreage in Central Florida. It will be located a few miles from Universal Orlando’s current theme parks in Southwest Orange County (specifically, south of Sand Lake Road and east of Universal Boulevard). “Our vision for Epic Universe is historic,” Mr. Williams said at the time the project was announced. “It will build on everything we have done and become the most immersive and innovative theme park we have ever created.”

They could do a text replace on Invision too. I wonder if the carpenters are building bins or shelves like some of the other parks already have? That'd solve some of the clutter problem. Ninja has the plastic totes already. Add pouches to coaster trains like some of the other parks might enable more stuff to ride on - then again that's a touch point.

finally "won" the lotto. . . Austin Public Health announced that they were getting 4000 vaccinations in tomorrow, and they would open up the sign up site at 6:30 pm. my Spouse and i both got online, and waited - they do it by assigning random numbers to everyone logged in, and then they just go in order to see who can sign up. I lucked out with a very low number, and the spouse ended up with a number around 2800 - which was still ok, we reasoned, since they had 4000 appointments available. we both now have appointments for our 1st shot of Vaccinations tomorrow - at the same site, within a 1/2 hour of each other! (so we can go together to do it). FINALLY. . such a relief to be able to get an appointment (it's been rough, since he's so high risk, and had thus far had terrible luck getting an appointment!).

the Lockers at SFFT are closed off (all the ones at the front of the park have caution tape over the rental kiosks). I would suspect due to Covid, they don't want so many folks touching so many doors (and being so closed into the locker area). - or more likely, dont' want to put forth the $$ to have someone standing there with a spritz bottle wiping down every locker every time someone comes into that area. will be interesting to see how they proceed in Whitewater Bay once that opens for the season. . as you kinda HAVE to use the lockers there. But those are more "open air" covered locker areas, rather than just tucked away in an enclosed area - such as at Iron Rattler (never used), Superman (never used) and the ones at the front gates. and because I miss it, since no filters in NU-TPR: FLUFFY FLUFFY BUNNIES FILLED WITH MEDICINE AND GOO !!!!!!

um... Concentrate more on just getting the job, first. You can figure out what songs to sing and what rides to go on with your power ranger friends at a later time. Seriously though, don't mention any of this crap in an interview. Talk about being a responsible and friendly hard worker and not what gimmicks you have in mind for dispatches or what rides you will or will not ride on break. Let us know how it turns out.

^ Thank you for this story. It's not easy to share something this personal. Hopefully people will see that their actions have consequences.

...and from the "I LOVE IT!" Dept.... Hasbro Toys has decided to de-emphasize the Mr. in it's future branding of Mr. Potato Head. Apparently, they're still keeping the Mr. and Mrs. Heads available, but with the "Mr. and/or Mrs." not as in-your-face on the box. etc. Some LGBTQ2+ groups are applauding the effort they're making. I'm just looking forward, to when they come out (come out, heh) with a boxed set like this... Potato Head Dads and their bouncing baby tuber. And the set of Potato Head Moms, too.