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^Lets be real...if you really wanna follow those guidelines you wouldn’t even be going to amusement parks.

Looks like we hit a milestone today. Lightning Rod 2.0 ran all day.

Update: El Toro ran a bunch of test runs today and should open any day now

^ Exactly We all know that there is some degree of risk whenever we leave our homes and we've all decided long ago what we're each comfortable with. Hilltopper is 100% right. Less and less people care every single day at basically every park. Even at Disney, which is really the gold standard there was a huge difference between our August trip and our trip a few months ago. As for Kings Island, personally I hope the park pulls back on some of their policies like loading B&M's in such a stupid manner that I would rather sign a waiver that says "I would rather get covid and die than watch you load coaster trains like this for one more cycle". As for social distancing? Yeah... people should do that. Even without a global pandemic I like my personal space but people love crowding people in line for reasons that I will never ever understand.

I don't mind myself, but the alcohol is creeping further into Disneyland. I always wanted to try a Meyers Rum/Dole Pineapple Whip, so maybe someday! "Disneyland adding a second place to buy alcohol in the park The Blue Bayou will serve beer, sparkling wine and Hurricane cocktails when the New Orleans Square restaurant returns after Disneyland reopens on April 30." https://www.ocregister.com/2021/03/31/disneyland-adding-a-second-place-to-buy-alcohol-in-the-park/

I don't think you'll see any enforcement of the CA resident rule at the park. It's just there for show and to discourage what they can for immediately flying out to CA.

Front row was still brutal. What about Comet? Comet rules! Coal Cracker is a ton of fun, too.

Can’t wait for everyone to see Jurassic world 2.0 and secret life of pets. Pets is the desperately needed family dark ride USH needed, though the capacity is very low. The enhancements to Jurassic really addressed all the dead spots on the ride. And even better: LA and OC will be entering the orange tiers!

I always tell you Happy Birthday, and I missed it because was tied up with Covid vaccine and after effects Happy Belated Birthday, Bill !

This actually reminds me of Buzzsaw Falls/Powder Keg at SDC. Most of the GP don't pay attention to know, but there's an old Buzzsaw Falls car wedged in the roof of the queue building and parts of the old track is reused for theming, most notably the "broken" rollback hill and the pieces of track littering the area around the launch. I can definitely see them following suit here since they are both Hershend parks and they like to theme their rides pretty well.

What a magical day!

That is the million dollar question right now! I assume we'll see info released next week. They won't want to release anything tomorrow due to April Fools Day, and then it's the weekend, so hopefully ticketing/pass info the week of the 5th.

It's true. This is why I held off last year (and cost myself 9 parks, 5 new, idk how many new creds) it's really the only way to fully comply with the guidelines. We can wear masks, maintain distance in the park, from the person in front of us in line (we cant control the person behind us) wash etc but there's an inherent risk. We can minimize it and take it, or eliminate it and not go at all. This year, Im willing to take the risk while ofc minimizing it as much as I can, and I will self quarantine when I get back just for total safety. But yeah....if one goes to a park ya really cant talk bc you're taking (and to be frank adding to others) some risk, and I wish all complied, but we know that's not happening. Esp in areas like the South (lived in FL during the 1st waves, then lived inthe Northeast later, huge difference in how people cared/seriously they took it) and this year as the vaccine is rolling. Its not great to think about but it is what it is.

Really happy that they can finally open back up! Slightly crazy that it took 10 MONTHS longer than Universal Florida!

We bought season passes in November 2019 to run through 2020 season. Didn't visit last year. Got our first Vaccine shot last week, so we plan to visit before our passes expire on June 15th. I pretty much expected compliance to be very very poor at Dollywood. The demographics are so different. Not only are you in a different part of the country, you have a large portion of the guests coming NOT for thrills (ie- older). I'm sure we'll be a bit unhappy at the lack of compliance, but I'll be at ease because I'll still be doing the right thing and have my immunity. It just wasn't something I felt like I could handle without having the vaccine, but acknowledge everyone's situation / tolerance is different.

We will have to wait and see. There's no reason to get lax about social distancing and wearing masks now when a possible 4th wave is around the corner. We should be even more vigilant now, even though we are all tired of the mandates. They are there for a reason and until we get heard immunity, if we ever do, then I expect the mandates will remain in effect to prevent employees and guests from getting Covid while at the parks. I don't see why Kings Island would not be doing the same protocols as last year since most Americans still have not been vaccinated. I also think being outdoors helps, but distancing is still possible and should be followed. You don't get on the rides any quicker by standing close together, so what is the harm in spreading out some for everyone's safety? It's common sense. Here is the link to the full article. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-to-stay-safe-from-covid-this-summer-according-to-experts

Drake's is a pretty solid place that I'm pretty sure has a location not far from Kentucky Kingdom. Just a typical sports bar but really good "bar food" and big beer selection. It's a chain that started in Lexington so it's kind of local, but they've got quite a few locations across the area now. Depending on when you're there in the Summer Churchill Downs is right across the street from Kentucky Kingdom and has live Racing May-June. They do a Twilight Session on Thursdays and Downs after Dark on Saturday nights which is a lot fun. General admission is like $5 so it's a pretty fun way to spend an evening even if it's just to check the place out for a few hours.

15 minutes or so

The idea of you waiting out a tornado in a porta-potty makes me really, really happy. Also, Balder in a Box would be the best roller coaster in the world. Just sayin'.

While I do agree with you. The rules are the rules at this time. The difference between Kings Island and Dollywood in terms of enforcing COVID rules is like night and day. Both parks employ 16 year olds, but at Kings Island, they have employees actively going through the queues and and making sure groups are spaced at least 6 feet apart. I also feel that since we've been doing this for a year now that people should know better. Guests should not have to be told to stay on their blue lines (the circles are gone) or ask people to wear their masks properly. It should be automatic and there should be no argument or begging people to do the right thing. It's not a big deal and everyone knows what six feet looks like. People have the right to get bent out of shape, especially now that cases are up all over the country. The fault falls squarely on the people not following the posted rules and not on the guests that want the rules enforced.

I love all seats on Wildcat.

Do they plan to just leave the extra MM track as "broken theming" or are there plans to remove it and spruce up that a little? Could use a little TLC with some flowers or make it not so rigid looking being next to a busy walkway. Assuming they opened it to get butts in seats for the ride. Didn't know if anyone knew more. With respect to LR, I'm also VERY interested in the problems now. Is it a train and launch software/hardware not marrying correctly? I don't recall reports of SO many rollbacks. Lucky I got to ride it the opening month of its original debut years ago.....it was mind blowing.

I live in Knoxville and in all of Eastern Tennessee, but especially Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlinburg, the COVID mask mandates and social distancing are almost entirely ignored. Just last night, the Knox county commission voted to strip the health department of all powers in the fight against COVID. That's how backwards it is here. However, I have found compliance at Dollywood to be pretty good, at around 75% percent for mask wearing, but no social distancing, which is unfortunate. When I am in line and ask people to step back, they get an attitude, like I am making my own rules. There are blue stickers on the floor that are supposed to be adhered to, but ignored by 95% of the guests. I so see and hear ride operators asking people to wear their masks when on the rides, but nobody is enforcing it while in the queues. CDC guidelines also state that masks must still be work after vaccinations have taken place, so having a vaccine is NOT an excuse to not wear a mask. Dollywood needs to do better with enforcement, but they just don't have the staff. Everyone knows the rules before going, so if you are anti-mask, don't visit the park. They need to start removing guests that aren't following the rules.

Seeing the pictures are making me even more excited for the park! Seeing it come to fruition is amazing! I can't wait to see how this park grows! I think it'll be incredible!

I am very ignorant to Polynesian culture/history so my initial assessment may be a stretch, but it is very similar. It'll be interesting to see how it all develops and matures as the park is built.

^&^^ Thank you both for your reports. I really hope Lightning Rod can get somewhat reliable, I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous after this long and after taking it down for over half a year. I really hope that we can get the Covid thing under control because the reports I keep hearing from everyone about Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg make me want to stay away. I was pleasantly surprised while in Texas as we only ran into two places in a week that were scary no masks as if Covid didn't exist. Sounds like Tennessee would be worse.

New addition to TDLR's Monorail Family.... "Blue" is the new "Type-C" monorail at the Resort. Thank you to Twitter user @P29294180 for the photo.

I'm not sure what will happen of this but I'm all for expanding Disneyland and DCA, and adding more shops, restaurants, hotels and experiences. I would love to see a Disney water park on the West Coast, like a cross between Blizzard Beach and Volcano Bay but with its own theme, and it could fit easily on that Toy Story parking lot plot of land.

I finished my Master of Arts in Professional Creative Writing with a concentration in Professional Dramatic Writing from the University of Denver. Started in summer 2019 and finished mid March 2021. Most of the work was done during the pandemic! And I did this a full 34 YEARS after getting my B.A. Anything is possible! Now (fingers crossed) waiting for my return to work call from Disney....

I see the KK thread got that good crack again.

It will be interesting to see how this develops. Being a regular SDC passholder (being my home park) it will be neat if HFEC will soon offer a Platinum Pass like Cedar Fair to visit all the Herschend owned parks. Right now it's just 50 percent off admission to Dollywood and Wild Adventures.

This is going to spoil everyone who is used to the smoothness of the Coney Island Cyclone or a Zamperla coaster.

Wow, glad they are seeing success with their 2020 investment! People seem to like it on a Mystic Timbers level.

Queue Times says it topped out at 75 minutes, which means if you waited 4 hours for Candymonium then you deserved to stand there for that entire time and suffer for your bad decision making.

Just realized I posted this TR on page 420. Score!

Don't ride it, it's brutal as others have said. Ride Lightning Racer -- it's a blast...

Yeah, I mean I get it...these are not exactly simple toys and it is still kinda early, kinks will always need some time to iron out (and I'm assuming they will be in a month and half from now) but it IS a little odd that after the huge retracking it's running....not terribly consistently and with just 1 train. I guess this is where I wish I knew the engineering aspects....like I have no doubt there are understandable reasons, but to a pleb like me it is like "what's the issue?" "How can there be issues running 2 trains its all RMC, whats the problem?" "I thought the problem was track deterioration, with that resolved why are the trains acting up?/Whats going on?" if anyone knows feel free to let me know! (If don't wanna make it a public thing esp as they tend to draw random debates feel free to PM me) EDIT: On another note. Even some of the not usual grumblers were a bit grumbly about the MM changes. Well, looks like they added trims to the already neutered part? (Note: No idea if active, didn't take photo etc but gotta share)