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We're really setting that bar six feet under to begin with, eh?

Be sure to update your life insurance policy before visiting. I mean that in the best possible way, both this park and the waterpark next door are two of the most memorable places I've been,

Yeah. She obtained all of her wealth through Dollywood, and nothing else. It's no surprise parks are offering less services at increased costs. Go out to eat recently? You get less food, or less quality, with an increased price. Check your stocks or 401k. Your grocery bill. Your utilities, which directly impact the park. Airline costs are up 42% from last year, not to mention rental cars from pre-pandemic prices. Yet, there's an expectation that parks are still going to charge less than $100.00 for park passes, with the same quality services. I can speak of this personally. We can't take the type of vacations we used to, without growing our savings, especially since the money we have has been devalued by 10% due to inflation. The years of 6-7 trips for us are over, if we want to continue to financially better ourselves. Our $2,000/week condo in Pensacola is now $3,000. Gas prices are higher to get there. Even a modest trip to Vegas was $4,000 for us, two years ago. A priced out trip to Orlando for four days, with the parks and activities we wanted to do, with our hotels for free, was at least $4,000. To top that off, imagine people who are leaving more stressful jobs for less pay. It's been a trend since COVID. I did. We're visiting parks less. Imagine starting a family during all of this? All of us have to be smarter with our money, including corporations. Unfortunately, survival means passing some of these costs on the consumer to pay for debt from attractions we demand. Maybe part of the gripe is that theme parks are somewhat of an escape from reality. Well, you can't completely escape it, so live with it. Take whatever political stance you want to form your opinions about the reasons behind this, but this is reality. Although I suspect people who haven't made efforts to do so aren't paying attention. Watching mind melting TikTok is more fun than paying attention to national and global events. (Still searching for an independent source...) Many people are watching their credit debt from vanity expenses (more than it ever has historically), and hoping for the best. It's coming to a head. Good luck. Again, these aren't political opinions. I kept that out of this. These are observations. Start f***ing paying attention and you won't be shocked when there are less scare actors and you're paying more at the gates.

oh. . before Part III. . the swag from Tripsdrill: my Shot glass that I used for wine sample: the shotglass I was gifted as an extra souvenir (from James, I believe). . there were several options that were handed out. and the two magnets I picked up. . still not at a park yet with larger size shirts (that I liked enough to buy) yet. . . lenticular. . it moves when you tilt it.

Day 4, part II - evening rides on Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park! the sky is starting to look a little angry (Andy!!!) . .but we made it here to Holiday Park. .and we quickly made our way towards the front gate to meet our park guide it didn't look too busy up here, by the impressive front gates. . but then again, it was fairly late in the day (I think around 5?), and the park closed shortly. artsy shot of the drop tower thru the front gates soon enough, we were in the park, and being led back to the tell-tale orange track of this famously brilliant coaster - the crown jewel of this park: Expedition GeForce the ride is sponsored by a local rock station, and there was some pretty heavy music playing over the speakers in the station (if I recall, Metallica, W.A.S.P. , Slayer, etc) oh. and yeah, it lives up to it. . this ride was SO good. TONS of airtime, and that first angled drop? in the back? amazing. Intamin goodness, and proud of it! it doesn't look too intimidating. . but oh my, what a great ride full of airtime hills, and that speed. TPR got a bunch of rides in before the sky decided it was gonna start raining. taking a break to go to the bathroom. yes. . the toilet over here by GeForce is actually called the "Pipi station". . . . wheeeee! cant' recall his name, but here's a pic of our park rep/guide . . and Andy looking guilty for the coming downpour once it REALLY started coming down, several of us abandoned the coaster (we'd gotten multiple rides already, and were gonna be back in the park tomorrow). we put on our parkas, and huddled for cover under a covered portion of the queue. . . while a few of the more enthusiastic enthusiasts on the trip, braved the pouring (and stinging) rain, to keep riding. the park kept running the coaster for those who wanted to keep riding. . .even tho they all came off *completely* soaked. Here's Robb headed to join us under the shelter, and modeling the TPR Parka that many of us made use of. eventually, the ERT time (and the rain ended). . and we all made our way back towards the bus. . thru an eerily deserted (and very wet) Holiday Park. we'd be back tomorrow morning! but for now, it was past 7pm, and it had been a long day. We headed back onto the bus for the short drive to Hotel Löwengarten in Speyer, Germany. we had to unload the bus, check in, and it was still early enough (and the rain had stopped) that we had time to head out into the town to explore a bit - and find something for dinner. to be continued in part III with pics of the town, and the lovely brewhouse we found for dinner. .

I took some pictures of the construction when I was at the park yesterday

I think the website has already stated it's 54 inches. I feel like the point about height requirements at SeaWorld is one that everyone is making, myself included, but maybe they don't care about having things for people under 54 inches? For now atleast? I mean my youngest hit 54 inches when she was almost 7 years old, maybe they realize that in the Orlando market that if you've got little kids and want rides for little kids you're gonna go to Disney, no matter what SW builds, so why go after that market? And with as many "adult" events as they offer (7 Seas Food Fest, Brews n BBQ, HowlOScreams) maybe they'd rather focus on thrill rides for those guests.

Certainly an interesting choice for a ride. Anyone know the height requirement for it? The other big 3 rides all have a 54" requirement and I know green lantern at great adventure is 54" so was thinking this might be the same. For a park that I always see as more of a family park it feels like they need something like invadr so kids have something to ride once they age out of the sesame street area but aren't tall enough for the big 3 and possibly now 4.

Enjoying all of your TPR-Euro TRs, Bert. Lots of my own TPR Euro-Memories from earlier TPR tours, in these parks you visited. And those random (sometimes moving) figures in Tripsdrill park were awesome! And some of them are scary-creepy at the same time. Eep. Hugs for the share.

Here's your Ginuwine. . . you're on your own with the bottle. . .

If I found a genie in a bottle, my first wish would be to remove the tunnel and animatronics on Adventure Express, not because I dislike it, but only to hear everyone bitch about it being gone. The shed would be my next victim. Finally, I would make Top Thrill Dragster even shorter of a ride. Sorry world peace.

Same. In-laws will not be renewing their passes. We're still on the fence, but I don't know if we'd even go more than once. Like... what's the point? HITP brought a different crowd. There weren't any turkey leg fights. I saw a lot of families. I can see a lot of people like that buying passes strictly because they know they're going to go to HITP, and also another day during the summer.

I cleaned up a bunch of crap that has nothing to do with anything. Can we please talk about all the exciting things going on at Worlds of Fun lately like uh.. ... nevermind.

Cincy's average high is 10 degrees colder in January and they average 3x the snow annually that Richmond does. Plus Cincy can sometimes get in on that bullshit Arctic cold that the midwest gets but usually modifies before reaching the east. Similar places in the summer but winters are very different.

I'm sure it will be much more tolerable in the US than Japan. When we went to Fuji-Q Highland park in December 2003, they would not allow any loose articles on the coaster. And by loose articles they meant ski hats, scarves, and gloves. So we rode Dodonpa in 30 degree weather with NO hats or gloves. THAT was torture!

I'm with Elissa on this; you can always bundle up for the cold, but there's no escaping sweltering heat. I'm very curious what the ride lineup is going to look like during these winter months, especially given CF's reluctance to operate rides outside of manufacturer recommendations. Last Winterfest they shut down Dominator when it hit 40 degrees.

I wonder how long before it’s converted into a floorless

Exactly. I've always had the mantra "You can put more layers on, you can only take so many off!"

People like different things. I'd much rather go to a park when it's 35 (if coasters are running) than go to any Orlando park in the summer. You can dress for cold.

Rumor is Cornball and Hurricane (in dire need) are slated for Gravity Group work. Long overdo, hope it happens. The current owners inherited a mess, they're working on getting everything together. Let's give em props.

A faulty sensor wasn't the problem. Ride ops weren't the problem. Circumventing and altering manufacture regulations and design was the problem. Follow all the manufacturer rules and safety features and I'd hop on it again.