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I love that ride as long as you don't wait 90 minutes to be an engineer.

Last post was a catch-up, but these were the two pizzas we cooked up this past weekend: 1.) BBQ Pizza featuring brisket I had smoked the day prior, red onion and jalapeno. BBQ sauce was the sauce itself, of course. 2.) Pepperoni, pepper and onion with red sauce. 3.) Bonus... Picture of the brisket and bbq plate we made the day before! Brisket was smoked just over 12 hours with just a rub of salt and coarse black pepper. All sides (mac-n-cheese, bbq beans and cole slaw) were all made from scratch, of course.

Yeah a lot of people hate on Smuggler's Run but for me that was one of the high points of our trip. I know it's basically just a big video game but for me, piloting the falcon was almost literally a dream come true. And then looking over and seeing my daughter copiloting, a huge smile on her face, well I still tear up a little sometimes just thinking on it.

^^ That's the sort of crazy-ass, next level lifehacking I needed. Thank you so much!

All prices below include taxes. Cabana Bay June 16 - 19 (passholder rate): $748.13 Portofino Bay June 17: $603.44 1 Seasonal Annual Pass: $425.99 1 Kids 3 park-to-park ticket 3 days + 2: $343.31 (Orlando Informer) 1 Adult Volcano Bay ticket for the weekend: $90.53 Total $2247.40 and you have Express Unlimited on June 17 and Jun 18.

If you're going to be there for 3 days then I don't know if express is something i'd go for unless i have money to splurge. between the two parks, you'd be able to get everything done with time to spare.

is this guy serious

Just ended up booking a flight down to Orlando for my son & I during June 16th-20th, and we're planning on spending 3 full days at Universal Orlando for my first visit to these parks since... well.. since Back to the Future and Kongfrontation were a thing. Hell, I don't even remember if Islands of Adventure was even open the last time! Really looking forward to getting back there, and with any luck, making Velocicoaster the 400th in my count! I haven't booked hotels yet, but pricing out packages on their site, it looks like even with the included Universal Express Unlimited, attempting to stay at a premium resort like Hard Rock is going to be more expensive for two of us compared to staying at a place like Cabana Bay and buying the express passes separately. I'm not planning on getting a rental car or anything, just going to be taking a shuttle direct to Universal and back to the airport, so it makes sense to stay on site, right? Other than the current "buy 3 days get 2 free" deal that they have on their site (which I doubt we're even going to be able to take advantage of due to us getting in late on Thursday and leaving early Monday), is there anything else that might help us save a few bucks? I'm assuming the Express passes will be pretty necessary during the weekend? I'm thinking of splitting our days at the theme parks between Friday and Sunday, and then spending Saturday at Volcano Bay and Citywalk (and/or maybe swinging by SeaWorld later in the day if we feel waterparked out). Also, if I'm reading it correctly, it looks like both Hagrid's and Velocicoaster are back on early entry again? Can anyone confirm that's still the case? Thanks in advance for the help

I was there a week ago and I can't recommend springing for Genie/Lightning Lane or whatever the extras are called enough. I didn't do the planning or setting up, so I'm not entirely sure exactly what we used but it worked out well. The only things we missed out on were the ones we just had to skip. I have similar feelings about Rise of the Resistance. I would call it an "experience" not just a ride. Totally blew me away, even on my second ride last week. Smugglers Run gets a little overlooked, but I like it almost as much as Rise. I've stayed at Pop Century a few times, including last week. Being able to use the Skyliner to access Epcot and Studios is a game changer. It made taking the bus to AK and MK feel like a total beating.

I went to the park yesterday for my first ever visit! Loved the atmosphere of the park and was amazed by how they fit everything in the space. Cyclone was messy. No activity for the first couple hours the park was open. When we saw it testing we booked it there and there was a small line. Eventually it opened, and had one or two cycles with riders before it broke down. The ride operator told the line it would be a quick fix, it just needed to be released from the brake by maintenance. It was back up in 15-20 minutes. Again, one or two cycles with riders and then it broke down. This time there was no immediate reason given by the ops, maintenance came and shortly after that the ops said they were shutting down the ride and wouldn’t say if it was for the day or not. This was about the same time maintenance was pushing hard to get Lost Coaster open, so they didn’t work on Cyclone for a couple hours. We would walk by and see little activity. Eventually they were working on the top of the ride right before the first drop. While waiting for Hoosier we heard on the radio that they were going to open cyclone with one train, so we booked it there and were first in line. Shortly after we got there they started cycling consistently with maintenance riding. The ride operator told us that a train had ripped off a sensor right before the drop and that’s why the ride closed, that makes sense why we saw maintenance where they were. Eventually Cyclone opened and we got our ride, and it was running consistently for the two hours before I left. (At least from what I saw, it’s hard to see it operation from a lot of the areas in the park) As for the ride itself, it has major clearance issues, be warned. In the station they tell you to hold on to a bar in front of you, and I was thinking I’ve heard that so many times, it means nothing. Seriously, for half the ride, you will smack your hand on something if you don’t keep them in the vehicle. Something that shocked me - I sat in the front right seat of the car, and I am 6 foot 2. After dispatch you make a 180 right turn and then you start the lift. When you start inclining on the lift, there is track/structure above you and it was INSANELY close to my head. I ended up ducking a little to avoid it. I think I would have been fine if I didn’t duck, but it’s seriously that close. I would have closed my eyes and hope I made it if I didn't duck. The rider behind me said to me after the ride she wasn’t sure if I would have cleared it or not. Not so much that I care about the clearance, obviously if you stay in the vehicle you’re fine, but definitely worth noting. I can see an injury coming to people/kids not keeping hands in vehicles, but the ops made it clear to hang on the entire time. There's a wicked airtime moment in the middle of the ride, you get inches between your behind and the seat. Some wicked laterals too, specifically the last turn before the brake run. I think Cornball isn't ready for operation yet. I can't comment on Saturday, but it was closed all day Sunday and stated by the park entrance it was going to be. I saw lots of buckets and equipment on the track while riding Tig'rr. Speaking of Tig'rr, we found the train for Cascabel while riding. The flywheel looks like it's still on property. Steel Hawg got painted, and it looks great. HOWEVER, it looks like they cheeped out, because the paint is literally flying off. Whenever they sent a train it started snowing small pieces of orange paint and it is all over the ground in the queue. Makes me worried for Triple Loop repaint because that ride is a complete mess underneath any coat of paint they are putting on if they are using the same method as Steel Hawg. Speaking of Triple Loop, we saw them painting it. No train on track. The three curved drops are blue.

just curious but what about the park layout do you think is bad? I mean it's pretty big and spread out, but I don't particularly find it to be bad, but it's really not that different than any other theme park out there. A crossover between Stanleyville and the plaza by Falcon's fury would be nice, but it's not that far of a walk really.

Don't show this to the SFStL thread...according to their fanboys it takes two years to properly renovate a carousel.

I think it's going off discussion but i'll try and put a cap on this since Osaka is only a 90 minute flight we've been checking in quite often: The country is very likely to be opening up in the late summer or fall months but it's pointless debating until there's some kind of official announcement. In terms of this discussion about closed vs not closed, yes tourists still can't go in. Bert is also right that you can go for business through his work. HOWEVER, you need a sponsor and Japan as a culture are pretty respectful of rules. If you've gone on a business visa and someone be it a person or company have put their name and reputation out there by sponsoring you, you're expected to try and be a part of the corona fight by limiting what you are doing to business. I'm sure you could do a trip to TDL while there but your sponsor might not be too impressed.

Dude, in the second paragraph of that article... Emphasis mine. That implies that some visitors are allowed, which logically means that they are open. Maybe not "fully open," but open. And here's everything you need to know: https://www.japan.travel/en/coronavirus/ It's complicated and a little confusing, but Japan definitely isn't closed to all international visitors.

^ you are correct (and I was incorrect) it's open for Business travelers, thru my work. .. that's where I was getting the info from. (one just has to follow the 3 day quarantine) but I am seeing that pundits are expecting general open to tourists to happen in the next few months.. . so that's still a silly post joking that perhaps they would be fully open to tourists by 2027. https://www.insidekyoto.com/can-i-travel-to-japan-now

^ this is a silly comment. Japan's boarders are open to international travelers *right now*. . all you have to do is follow the procedures and you would be welcome. Perhaps you are thinking of China? (and no, not all Asian Countries are the same)

SFDK to Lagoon - 10+ hours driving with no stops. Add in food and fuel that's a FULL day of driving. Lagoon is most definitely a full day park. Elitch is trash. Either cancel Elitch entirely or do a full day at Lagoon and a morning at Elitch. Lagoon to Elitch is 8 hours (no stops) straight through the Wyoming desert. If you've never driven through Wyoming before I'd suggest you swap drivers once in a while. Highway hypnosis is a very real thing. Combine that with the unstoppable winds that will happily flip an 18-wheeler, just make sure you've got your wits about you. Elitch to World Of Fun is another 10+ hour driving day without stopping, this time through eastern Colorado and Kansas, two extremely flat areas. Same rules apply as Wyoming, just less wind. WoF to SDC isn't a bad drive and it gets really friggin' pretty south of Springfield. I would skip St Louis, it's out of the way from Texas and SDC is easily the superior park. SDC to SFOT is about 8 hours nonstop and you're worried about the trip home? At the point I'd say screw it, we've gone this far, let's continue to San Antonio. Fiesta Texas is 100% worth it. The trip back to the bay area I'd go the southern route through El Paso, Tuscon, and Yuma. Either go north through the Salton Sea towards Bakersfield or go all the way to San Diego and head north from there. Gorgeous driving either way.

Lagoon is great. Spend a whole day there. say hi to colossus the double looping dragon for me!

Kings Island is a fine example of what a corporate park can be. They do so many little things such as upkeeping iconic attractions like Beast, Racer, and Carrousel, while adding or restoring minor touches most corporate parks wouldn't care to do. Kings Island really cashes in on nostalgia, even with such minor details as hidden easter eggs in Mystic Timbers' shed, the SOB eternal flame in Banshee's queue, and going as far as repainting and renaming Flight Deck to The Bat. Not only that, but the park sells these things from a marketing and PR standpoint so well. Cedar Point is removing old attractions and replacing them with mediocre food venues, while Kings Island finds huge success just by adding what would typically be an outdated attraction like the Antique Cars. Despite the mega-park Magic Mountain, I still believe Six Flags Fiesta Texas is a strong contender for best park in the Six Flags chain. Likewise, as far as Kings Island goes with Cedar Point in Cedar Fair's line-up, I think Kings Island is the best single day park in the chain, if not one of the best in North America. I can't say enough good things about Kings Island. I'm glad I'm within six hours of it.

The water wheel has returned on Race For Your Life Charlie Brown (the log flume). It's an original feature of the ride and was removed around 2005 or so.

I too like to bang Cedar Downs.

I don't care about Soarin' at all. I probably wouldn't wait more than 15 minutes for it. The rides seriously aren't comparable at all. They're both simulators in the same way that El Toro and a Zamperla Volare are both roller coasters.

People crap on it because it’s the same ride system as Indiana Jones and Indiana Jones is a better ride. That’s true, but it’s also like saying “I’ve been on Rise of the Resistance so now I refuse to enjoy any other trackless dark rides”. I’m not saying it’s the best ride in the park or anything but it’s good and I would argue very underrated.

I can't believe you're already body shaming this coaster.

So happy "Galaxi" is back. Proving once more again there is not only more than corn in Indiana, but there are tiny carnival coasters so perfectly placed they are more fun than most GIANT coasters within a few hours. Coasters with staying power, no matter the forces. Hmmm... Everyone wants B&M and RMC but we are well saturated with those.