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Here's a photo dump for the rest of the visit! We never got to ride ET over 4 days, it broke down every time we got in line (3x) Never got on Rip Ride Rocket either due to weather, mechanical, or a 90 minute express wait. Mummy still kicks so much ass and might be the best example of a themed coaster. MiB still holds up. I have such a soft spot for Escape from Gringott's, I love that weird coaster so much. The airtime in the back row on Jurassic Park always hits so well. Fearfall was a new ride for me, welp so I did that! F&F is Cringe: The Ride. From the staff, the premise of the ride "don't touch your phone!!!!", the stupid club scene and the other 100 things wrong with this waste of space. The Bourne Stunt Show was totally worth the time investment, definitely glad TPR called that out! Hagrid's was new for me and honestly there was a lot about this coaster I forgot about! I intentionally avoided videos and pictures where I could since I didn't even experience the DD area/queue. I was pretty surprised with how creepy/dark/semi claustrophobic the line gets down in those caves. Hagrid's ran very consistently every day and the crew seemed to move as fast as they could. Over 3 rides, I got near the front and back and it's just so much fun. It's pretty crazy what all this ride does and how it was put together, but I totally understand those who prefer Dragons. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday we would go to dinner 4:30-5:30 and re-enter the park only to have storms and lightning end our nights early. Honestly I think we left soaking wet each night. We either waited for a night ride on Hagrid or Veloci, but never got rides, but we did get specific express passes exclusive for Hagrid/VC. Finally on Friday we just balled out with them and we ended the night in an amazing fashion: Friday night there was one cell that seemed like it would pass by just in time right before closing to allow VC to open. Our luck was such shit, but this time it looked like we'd FINALLY get a night ride in! The crowd thinned and thinned and thinned, and we watched the ops talk back and forth, look at radar, and at this point our phones were in the lockers so we just hoped. We ended up getting 3 back to back to back rides without getting off the back seat as the crew cycled everyone through, and a lot waited for the front seat. So after 4 days of being tortured by mother nature we had a banger of a finish to the trip. You're the best VC crew! Oh yeah, the other new Intamin I need to ride! I wish there was a better area to just sip on a butterbeer and watch this thing cycle but I understand why. There's a number of well hidden surprises and it's just a big twisted mess of rock and steel. Sweet view of the castle! I think we waited 45-60 minutes in the morning, it was just that crazy at the park even first in the morning. Vroom vroom! Do we see this going on Express anytime soon? I don't know, it still seemed to be the most popular attraction by far. Ello there headmaster. Such a cool room! It never gets old! The raptor cage was working on a few of our rides, so cool to see that working. Suck it JK! Another one that never gets old and was the winner for best AC! That line was amazingly frigid! Florida, land of the OG B&M's. Was very happy to get some front seat rides on Hulk this visit. Hey babes. Oh yeah, forgot to do this last visit so uh, this was fine! The whole super hero island needs an update. Lunch at the Irish pub was very consistent with good food and great service. Brendan Frasier and Imotep, the classic rivalry I grew up with! Even though the franchise as slipped, this attraction will bring back all the good vibes from the original movies! Mmmm...beer. The only attraction that has made me nauseous. How dare they tease me with the original Irish Coffee. If you've never been, get your ass to San Francisco! Nailed it Just checking to see if I have any coins left in my account and that's not a good look. Such an awkwardly-acted scene. Get to the vault!!! After getting shit on by mother nature 3 days in a row and trying to get night rides, it's time to use all of the passes on the last day! The park closes in 10 minutes, we're in line for VC. Most of the queue emptied, we were in the raptor room just waiting for good news.....and it happened. Lightning held off and they opened the ride and we got 3 back to back rides without using our express. Wow. Just the best, honestly. What a way to end the trip! I really enjoyed what the front seat offered as well as the back. 2 incredible experiences. So long Universal. While this trip was far from perfect, it was amazing to be able to travel again, experience new attractions, and see friends! Can't wait to get back there! -Zach

Today Space 220 Restaurant, the newest addition to EPCOT opened at the Walt Disney World Resort. TPR was invited to attend the grand opening ceremony and to experience lunch firsthand 220 miles above the Earth aboard the Centauri Space Station. This new dining experience offers prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner as well as lounge dining featuring an a la carte menu with an interstellar view. The restaurant is operated by the Patina Group, the restaurant branch of Delaware North that already operates a number of restaurants at EPCOT, Disney Springs and the Disneyland Resort. Guests take one of two space elevators to/from the space station from the restaurant lobby attached to the Mission: SPACE pavilion. Once above the Earth, a sustainable crop-farm in space and a space vineyard are the sights that tease the larger experience ahead before entering the main restaurant venue. Space 220 Restaurant is the newest addition in the ongoing transformation of EPCOT. The new restaurant is located at the Mission: SPACE pavilion with the new entrance tucked in the back corner of what was formerly an extended queue space for the attraction. The official sign for the restaurant out front. EPCOT Vice President Kartika Rodriguez was on hand to help ring in the grand opening. It isn't a Disney grand opening without an appearance from Mickey and Minnie! Space 220 Restaurant is officially open! Time to head in! The lobby for Space 220 is futuristic but subtle by comparison to what you experience miles above. A look at the "stellarvator" that takes you to/from Space 220 Restaurant. Ready to make our way up... You're given a boarding pass for each reservation/party. Next thing you know you're looking down on EPCOT as you are raised high into the sky... Just as you can look down to see the Earth shrinking below, you can also look above to see Space 220 Restaurant grow nearer. The view of Florida from the top... The experience concludes with the opening of the airlocks and a release onto the space station. Very different than what you find on the ground at EPCOT. Neat to see the crops the restaurant grows in space. Once inside of the main restaurant you're greeted with this incredible view. The restaurant of the interior design is just as impressive! The bar features a huge mirrored backdrop that allows guests to enjoy the panoramic view of space without turning around. Notice the X2 Deep Space Shuttle from Mission: SPACE floating just outside of the restaurant. Just taking it all in... The restaurant offers alcoholic and zero proof cocktails for flavor profiles of all ages. With each kids meal a set of collectible trading cards is given. There are three series in the deck (Earth, Venus and Mercury) along with three tech cards. Each deck comes with five cards. From our booth, we could see astronauts moving pieces across space for the new construction on the floor above us. The Blue Moon Cauliflower is a tempura fried cauliflower appetizer with housemade hot sauce (buffalo) and blue cheese dust. This was fantastic! The Centauri Caesar Salad is a delicious take on the more conservative appetizer. A fun souvenir cup for kids to enjoy during their meal. More pieces being sent upstairs! I don't often rave about sides, but these Roasted Fingerling Potatoes were showstoppers and nearly the best thing we tasted during our preview... Absolutely perfect. The Galactic Lobster Globe is the "Space Station Supplemental" option for the prix fixe menu. Available for an added $18, this Maine Lobster Salad includes Quinoa, Bulgur Wheat, Avocado, Lettuce, Mango, Citrus Dressing and Crispy Wontons. The portion size was incredibly generous and the amount of fresh, buttery lobster was a great surprise. I would absolutely order this again! The Lemon Mousse is incredibly picturesque and very tasty! Taking Astro on a space walk! This is really quite impressive. A reassuring sign for those visiting one of the restaurant's lunar restrooms... I thought it was pretty neat that this room is filled with bottles of wine in each of those tubes. Our elevator is here to take us back down to Earth. Down we go! Upon our return to EPCOT, we found a long line of guests waiting to experience Space 220 Restaurant for themselves. The entrance to the restaurant lobby is tucked into the corner on the righthand side of the pavilion. Space 220 Restaurant is a great addition to EPCOT and definitely a unique experience to be had! Reservations can now be booked in advance for the restaurant, which are highly recommended given the expected demand over the next few months.

Great report, this looks fun, definitely on my list of things to do whenever we get back down there. Not at all classy but I'd be amused by some sort of man vs food challenge, like the Mission Space Orange challenge where if you eat your entire meal and don't barf on Mission Space Orange you get a free meal or a free express pass for a ride lol

Soooo.... the business knows business economics. They don't have an opinion, they don't "hate" the park. They like money.

My guess is Six Flags Corp believes SFSTL has everything it needs - 9 coasters and a good selection of Flats. Corporate is not neglecting the park, it keeps things updated and running fine. What Corp neglects is the few Dozen Local Coaster Enthusiasts who wish SFSTL was King's Island. I am one of those folks so I feel your pain... but fortunately for us, KI isn't too far away.

Yeah, but you tend to use proper punctuation and actually spell things correctly. It was kinda just the combination of it all (and using that stupid name for SV) that I felt I needed to call him out on it.

^ as someone who also tends to type only in lowercase (unless a proper name is being used) - that's kinda a childish attack here, Mike. (and I have an English minor, so it's just an aesthetic choice) otherwise, your point is dead on about why CF won't give a crap about what SF does. (and again, IR is so short, no way will it *ever* operate with 3 trains. clearly the 3rd train is so there will always be 2 train operations while one is having refurb (lemme tell you, one train ops on IR for two summers in a row SUCKED).

^ that is one of my all time favorite tracks. . . EVER and now you've made me go listen to it as well (love the video too)

We are the children of those who tolerated this, but the Manics are still there for us.

6. Empty Field

5 for the foreseeable future, after all, "corporate hates this park."

That's dumb. Corporate doesn't find the need to add anything else to our park, because the profit margins are good. If they didn't care, the maintenance budget would be pennies and there would be no upkeep. They could have easily plopped Catwoman down on its originally planned location and left Superman SBNO, instead of recognizing an entire area needed to be gutted.

Theme Park Review was invited to a media preview of Fright Fest for 2021. Not so much a preview since Fright Fest opened up last weekend. Maybe they were still building up staff since Sewer of Souls was not open last weekend. We had some food, then heard about the two new scare zones, The Deadzone, and Terror Rising Dark Developments. As always, the opening of Fright Fest with Unleashed was awesome. The park was jam packed. Every place I've ever seen them park cars, was used. I almost parked next to the new roller coaster track. LOL I'm not sure what they need to do, but with so many people in the park, the scarezones mostly just became selfie zones with every teenager just wanting pictures with the actors. Not a lot of room for sliders to do their thing. The scarezones were just packed of people. Meanwhile, the mazes weren't as crowded. If you had an express pass, the waits were nearly non existent which was great. I assume SFMM is still trying to fill spaces in the mazes and scarezones since actors seemed a bit sparse. But still some really fun times in both. Here's some photos...