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If a park can reasonably do what Dollywood did and delay opening when the storm is only an hour or two away to save money on staffing for 2 hours when nobody would be there that’s entirely practical and parks already do that all the time. Looking at Queue Times, the storm in Branson hit at 8pm, It was a busy day, Time Traveler got up to 80 minutes late that afternoon. They even reopened after the storm and still posted at 45 minutes. They weren’t going to close the day and they shouldn’t be expected to.

I would love something to break into the Jets game I’m watching right now and put me out of my misery. There’s an F5 shitstorm in the middle of MetLife stadium right now and it’s called the New York Jets. … anyway. I get it, storms are dangerous. If you want to talk about how these businesses like this need to invest in large storm shelters and comprehensive plans then I’m with you. Cedar Point putting up “storm safe” signs everywhere with little tornado icons on them when their plan is literally “I don’t know, everyone run in this bathroom I guess” that’s dumb but it’s entirely impractical to close Disney World 100 days a year and close every large venue in the Midwest any time there’s a chance of a tornado developing at some point that day.

Have you ever stopped to consider the idea that maybe the reason that almost nobody (here or anywhere else) agrees with you is that you’re wrong and not that you’re just smarter than the rest of the world? Everything in life carries risk but you have a better chance of hitting the powerball than being killed by a tornado in most years.

You’re acting as if we’re saying that there is absolutely no risk of the worst-case-scenario happening here. We’re not, but you have to weight that risk with other factors and put it in perspective and I don’t believe that you’re doing that because it’s what you’re surrounded by at work. In each of the last five years, US Tornado deaths have ranged from 9 to 76 per year. More than 38,000 people die every year in car crashes in America. You’re not suggesting that the park remove the parking lot to encourage other means of transportation though because you’re a storm chaser and not a DOT employee. You can’t close Disney 100 or more days per year. You can’t close every park in the Midwest multiple times a week for storms that may-or-may-not materialize and even if they do, have a tiny footprint and you’d have to be ridiculously unlucky for it to matter. Also, these are regional watches and warnings at regional parks so you’d just be sending people to other places or to their homes within the same warning zone by closing the park. Perspective…

and here I thought someone "explaining to me" that a coaster built on part of the SFFT Parking Lot is NOT a Parking Lot coaster would be the most exasperating interaction I've seen today on TPR. Personal responsibility. the 20K+ people who went out to SDC can check the weather, and then it's their decision to go out or not. (or leave as a storm approaches) it's just silliness to say that the Park shouldn't have opened because their customers are too dumb to understand weather risk.

Laugh it up all you want. My above statement stands. You people are probably the same ones that throw fits and whine when storm coverage breaks in over your precious "sports games".

Imagine telling parks and sports teams in the Midwest that they couldn’t open or hold events on days where a tornado watch might be issued. Imagine telling Disney to close when there’s a chance of a severe thunderstorm warning being issued that afternoon with radar indicated rotation in the forecast every single day all summer. Lol, get real.

Drove out to Hershey on Friday to attend the holiday lights event. Having been a handful of times before, not much different in the lights and such (if not less coverage than in years past in certain areas), but the main reason we came out is to ride Candymonium and see the new entrance, which was beautiful. (On a side note, crazy to think this event used to be like $20-25 to attend if I recall, and now it is basically double in price with no real additional attractions/areas open beyond what it was many years ago. Really happy Candymonium is on the ride roster list, but would be awesome if they could add one or two additional 'big' attractions for the full-ticket pricing... Skyrush, Great Bear? Thankfully, it was completely dead... Candymonium was walk-on or a single train wait front seat dead all night (two trains running). The ride was hauling and still catching on the two trims, it surly was not feeling the cool weather at all in terms of pacing/speed. Couldn't ask for a better time to go try this thing out! Grabbed a few front and back seat rides during the night, along with the other stuff going on at the park. Great airtime on all the hills in typical B&M fashion. Smooth as can be, no rattle to be found anywhere on this thing. Because they are most similar, between Mako and Candymonium, it's a tough call. I think Mako has a stronger first half with some stronger elements outside of the typical hammerhead/airtime hills up to the MCBR. I really dig that first turn as well as the twist dive and small airtime pop sequence on Mako. Just some additional uniqueness to the B&M typical formula. From around the MCBR on (or low speed hill in the case of Candymonium), I really liked the helix/twist dive of Candymonium and the helix finale much more than how Mako finishes out. Both great rides, but I think the edge might go to Mako between these two. Such a fantastic addition to Hershey though. The way they integrated it with the beautiful new main entrance is just stunning!

Enough of this insane conversation. It’s spiraling out of control. Let’s drop it. Edit: Not sure what part of “Let’s drop it” people don’t understand.

Thank god you're running after thunderstorms and not running a massive tourist destination. You're now equating schools with entertainment options. C'mon, man. And finally now you're insulting everyone on this board with your stupid little sign-off quotes. Get bent. You might have some idea of what weather can do since you claim to be a storm chaser, but there are also legitimate meteorologists on this board who would also tell you to take a hike. Climb down off of your high horse and let people make their own decisions. You're not their dad. Edit - Furthermore, as an actual father myself, if my son told me they wanted to go ride coasters with the chance of a storm rolling through I'd tell them to keep an eye on things but to have a blast. Do you have the slightest clue how small of a chance there is of a tornado sucking you into the sky? I would hope you do, seeing as you're a storm chaser, right? Holy crap.

It is 100% not an exaggeration in Orlando. It’s probably actually low. Severe weather is possible almost every single day from at least mid June to mid September and tons of days outside of that. For other parks, closing parks on days where the weather is guaranteed to be crappy to save money has been common practice for years anyway but nobody is going to close on a nice day with a chance of evening storms. It’s the summer… Based on posted wait times, they were right for opening.

Ok, thanks, that makes sense. I'm sure that was the problem. I'll have him work on it when he gets home, in fact that will be one of his jobs tomorrow while I am trying to pack to give him something to do!

You always make such amazing projects. Though I may not comment often... I'm always impressed by your work!

^Does your son have his own account or do you 'manage' his account? Anyone with their own account can link up, but if it's a managed account you cannot.

A few days ago Canada's Wonderland released their operating calendar for the 2022 season. They have opening day set for Saturday, April 30th! Looking at the months of July and August, it looks like they will be bringing back regular operating hours of 10am to 10pm daily! The calendar can be viewed on the park's website.

Well, I got in to CA yesterday and hit up the Santa Monica Pier and their coaster. Unfortunately I was dead tired after that and went right to bed, sleeping 13 hours. Now at KBF a little early .. I didn't hit as much traffic as expected driving down from Santa Monica LOL.

Media Night at WinterFest When last we left Kings Dominion, evil boogie-boogie eyes glared at guests from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and the forces of Darkness held sway. But on Friday, December 3, the tower sported brightly colored, ever-changing lights, and the air was filled with the sounds of Christmas music and the smell of gingerbread. Yes, it’s time for WinterFest, the park’s annual holiday celebration. Kings Dominion invited Theme Park Review to experience WinterFest Media Night last Friday. The center piece, of course, was the Eiffel Tower, which was lit up like an enormous Christmas tree. The pool in front of the tower became a skating rink named Snowflake Lake, and all of International Street offered all sorts of holiday cheer, drinks, shows, and food. In fact, the entire park, with the exception of Safari Village, was open and decked out for the holidays. There were quite a few rides running, as well, including Dominator and Twisted Timbers. What was new for 2021 was the WinterFest Wonderland Parade, which starts in Candy Apple Grove and swings by the front of the Eiffel Tower. The parade features all the characters wandering around the park that evening, including Scrooge and Company from Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and the big man himself, Santa Claus. It’s a nice way to finish your evening at WinterFest. Prepare to be jolly! Or maybe merry. Possibly tickled. Santa and his sleigh welcome all to WinterFest. Busch Gardens isn’t the only park that has a tree with big balls. Scrooge, Marley, and the Ghosts of Christmas Present and Yet to Come wandered all over that park that night. They even chatted with guests in the restaurant where I had dinner, telling everyone who would listen that Scrooge needed to learn a thing or two about Christmas. Boy, they leaned him good, I'll tell you what! I imagine this would be Robb’s first stop if he were here. Jack Frost, the coolest guy in town, and two of his buddies hanging out at Starbucks. I think they all had iced coffee. What else? You do not want to be the reindeer behind Blitzen if he’s been eating burritos. Snoopy is here to get this party started. He's even more important than Santa. One flick of this giant switch . . . . . . and WinterFest begins in a flurry of snow. The Eiffel Tower really dominates the park during WinterFest. I wandered through Old Virginia in search of dinner. Hmm--this looks promising. They serve a pretty good turkey dinner here. You can get Virginia ham, too. There are plenty of other food options, such as a donut bacon cheese burger and crepes. What’s happening in nearby Tinseltown? “I really can’t stay . . .” “But baby it’s cold outside . . .” Yeah, typical dude making Christmas time. Coca Cola Santa--this one’s for Elissa. I took two rides on Twisted Timbers that night. The second one was kind of chilly. Candy Apple Grove featured music and synchronized lights. If you miss the Nativity show . . . . . . you can feed an honest-to-god camel instead. My favorite decorations are in Planet Snoopy. I like the gumdrops in the trees and all the lights on the topiary Peanuts characters. Of course, the best laid plans of mice and beagles oft go astray. If you still need to fill some time before the parade . . . . . . you can always go skating on Snowflake Lake. Or you could do some shopping. Tumbili is all set to brighten up your Christmas tree. Or this ornament could put your yule log in a twist. Who’s up for some hot chocolate and a bit of ritual Christmas cannibalism? A band of reindeer warm up the crowd for the parade. These guys were all over the park that night, too. And here it comes. Jollity on the move! One of Jack Frost’s buddies waves while a KD employee watches warily in the background (her eyes are on you, people). Hey, less cavorting and more baking! Them cookies ain’t gonna make themselves! Mrs. Claus is happy to finally get outside after decorating cookies all evening. “OK, it’s sing-a-long time! How about ‘Simply Having Wonderful Christmas Time’? Wait--where’s everybody going?” The safest way to ski. “That’s right. I am the coolest guy in town. I bestow my coolness on you by pointing.” I failed at getting a good picture of Santa. He’s going to leave this in my stocking for taking such a bad photo. The crowd follows the parade out. Thanks for the fun evening at WinterFest, Kings Dominion. Merry Christmas!

^ 1000% worth the visit to Vegas just to experience (in the order of show greatness: "O", "Love", "Mystere", "Ka" . . . then any of the other options, (I'm just not a Michael Jackson big fan, but I've heard "One" is fun). "Zumanity" seriously under impressed me, but I think maybe that shut down?

You don't have to actually buy Lightning Lane to access the single use passes I don't think. I think optimal strategy is to scoop up Slinky or Falcon at 7 and then the other at 9 sharp.