Leaderboard

I'd almost take that over the discourse on Reddit which mostly claims that it's a horrible waste of space because it's not as tall/fast as Kingda Ka was and because it's a shuttle and the "capacity will be horrible" as if this park gets the crowds it did in the early 2000s.

NOT SO FAST! The upside down launch has spawned Facebook chaos with the question of should launches while in motion continued to be called "launches," or are they technically "boosts?" People were going at it. Full ChatGPT and Google shots fired. I stayed in character with my response of, "Who the fuck cares?" Give it time. It's only been close to two years.......

I'm so jaded that part of me wants everything related to the SF franchise memory burned to the ground, but the Loony Tunes nostalgia would be nice. Dumpster all of the comic book shit, though.

Great yummy tour of the event, Bert! Very envious of you and Jim, being able to do this more than once.

Jim is off on Thursdays, so we took a day trip with our friends down to SWSA to check out the 2026 Seven Seas Food Festival. lots of changes for this year, including massive adjustments to the 7 "areas" they used to have, and 90% new menu items. (and from what we tried, I'd say most was excellent or very good, with a rare dud here or there). Since some booths such as "Japan" are no longer there, the "water garden" show is now gone, but a new drumming show has been added to the "Africa" booth, and the "Groove Chefs" (think Stomp with pots and pans) are back again, as well as stilt dancers over near "South America". . . so there are still a number of shows to catch during any day the food festival is running (Thurs-Sun most weeks thru May 17). another change is that the Deserts are now all at one booth, instead of being shared across all booths. all in all, there are 10 booths, plus 3 "drink" stations - and yes, you can use a sampler click for a cocktail at the drink stations as well as for any drinks at each individual booth the biggest change? this year, SWSA gets concerts added to the lineup! The first weekend was Ginuine, and tonight is "Expose', Tiffany, and the Jets" Upcoming weeks include the "pop 2000 tour" (with some boy bands you've heard of), Hoobatank, Fuel, & Lit, Blackstreet, and the big finale show is Souljaboy & Ying Yang Twins. . all included with park admission. ok.. let's get to a trip report! here's the event booklet - and you want to have it because of the big changes this year . . . here are the new Food Stands, as well as the 3 places that offer non-food stand specific drinks/cocktails/mocktails. the only thing that really has not changed, is that 9 of the 10 food stands are around the lagoon portion of the park. if you get your booklet stamped at all 9 stands (the "tiny travelers" stand is a "gimme" and is already filled in), you can show your passport at the exit gift shop for a small gift: there's also another "game" for the littler ones, where a Shamu is hidden in the area of each food stand, and if you connect the correct Shamu to the correct food stand, there's a small gift for that too. as usual, passholders get a special badge with 18 samples for the price of 15 - and since they are also offering passholders one free sample, between Jim and I we had 20 samples (too many, but we took some home) front gate advertising, and we were hoping it wouldn't be too busy on a Thursday and would be able to get some rides in too. but we ended up not riding anything, as they seemed to be a bit low on staffing today (which was A-OK, as all food festival booths were fully staffed, just some shops and stores were not open). all rides other than Rio Loco were up and running too. . . but Barracuda Strike is still having some "new ride issues" and due to breakdowns the line looked like at least a 40 minute wait, so we didn't bother. it will BE there, we'll ride it at some point. Catapult Falls was walk on tho, as were most of the other coasters. we always we started backwards and what used to be the Mexico booth is now called "the Gulf" and has a separate Cantina booth set up next to it. we had the pork and pineapple & the Shrimp tacos. The shrimp was ok, tho a little overcooked, but the avocado crema was fantastic. we all agreed the pork and pineapple is the way to go here - it's excellent. after our 1st stop and a quick drink break, we made our way to the main lagoon - where the rest of the food booths are located. great view across the lagoon of LtR: Steel Eel, Wave Breaker (the launch building), Catapult Falls (the final drop lift tower) and Great White. and here's Texas Stingray (the best woodie in Texas) and Tidal surge had to snap some pics of the new hotness - Barracuda Strike, cycling at the moment. . it looks so good going thru the lift hill for Steel Eel what used to be "France" is now a Coca-Cola refill station. . . so the next stop was actually what used to be "Germany" - and tho they covered the signage up with multiple flags to make it "Europe"? it's still basically the Beirgarten section, which I'm sure will be back in full german swing for Oktoberfest. I will easily admit that I'm thrilled that almost all of the crappy German food is now gone, leaving on the returning Schnitzel with Spatzle (which is just ok). the new stuff tho??? fabulous and there's a new "travelers Cafe" stop next to it for those that want more alcohol. we got the Lobster Ravioli (only two pieces, but fine for sharing, and the butter sauce is incredible), and the Bangers & Mash - which was Jim's favorite bite of the day. and yes, it's VERY good, and would make my top 5 as well. Janey was really wanting something sweet, and we had about an 45 minute to kill before the Orca show, so we decided to bypass a few booths and head to the brand new "Seven Sweets" stand - where the now have ALL the deserts located. we tried the Pineapple Tres Leches (Janey loved it and had it twice during our visit), the Dubai Chocolate Croissant (also very good, but it's very much Pistachio forward, so if you love pistachio, you'll love this), and the Haupia (a smooth, wonderful coconut pudding, that was MY favorite desert we tried). the Crepes from France, the Baklava, and the Bread Pudding are all returning from last year, so we'll get those another time, but have all been good in the past. and then it was time for the Orca show. despite it being a slower day, and a Thursday, the stadium was full to capacity. so I'd guess most of the people in the park today did the shows. after the show, we continued to eat our way around the world, and next was a new booth set up near the stadium (and the Dipping Dots) as the kids food area. as you can see, they pre-stamp this one, so foodies don't need to stop here, tho Janey was really wanting to try mac and chicken, so she got that (and said it was good) while we went around the corner to what used to be "Italy" and got the Bahamian Crab N Rice. that's SUPPOSED to be it in the picture on the bottom of the page, but it really didn't look like that at all. it was OK, but tasted a lot like Spaghetti O's to me, and wasn't that impressed with it. Russell did the BBQ Jerk Pork with Cheddar mac and said that was decent. . but honestly, I'll probably be skipping this booth when we go back. Sadly, the Greek booth is long gone, and where it used to be is a popular Boba Stand - so I guess the park made the right call on that one. tho the Lamb sliders were always a favorite of mine continuing around the lagoon, we passed the wine bar stand, and then made it to "Central America". . where we really wanted to try the Ceviche (but as with a few other places, they have new dishes dropping in later in the festival, so we were just too early for it). good plan, I think, makes us want to go back. so Jim and I shared the Chile Rellenos. it was so good, we dug right in and forgot to take a pic. . but at least I got one before it was all gone. very highly recommended, it was probably my 3rd favorite thing we tried. we were getting full. . so slowing down to take in shows and people watching. but dang it, we were gonna complete the circuit and get our lanyard. . LOL "Africa" is the spot I recommend highest in the park. we shared the Sosatie (lamb skewers) which was my #2 favorite thing in the park today, and the Hawawshi that came with possibly the best tahini I've ever had. very, very good. the Chicken curry looked and smelled amazing, but we still had other booths, so passed for the moment. and besides, we know we're coming back for the Chicken Tagine when that is avail. later in April. Russell tried the Maple Serengeti and said it was good. the drum band. . who were great, and very very friendly (and drew a crowd during their performance) the Egyptian stuffed bread (top) and the EXCELLENT lamb skewer. relaxing to enjoy the drummers. whoops. . one out of order, but Tidal Surge doing it's thing, from our location in front of Journey to Atlantis - which was down (and drained) when we got there at 11:30, but running by 2pm. it was then time to look at some animals - to walk off some of the food. the penguins are adorable as always (and yes, they still reek to high heaven) the moving walkway was not working today - which made for a people cluster-f in front of the display. one thing I'd recommend to the park is to have someone staffing the main room if the conveyor is not working, to encourage folks to keep moving. as noted earlier, sadly the "Japan" booth is now gone, and it's morphed into the "Pacific Ocean" they did keep a couple of the Japan offerings (tho we lost the Tuna Sashimi i liked), but other than the two Japanese dishes, everything else here was made fresh by the chef (as opposed to just dropping frozen battered prawns or Gyoza into a fryer). the Bulgogi Bowl (I chose Jackfruit) was my #1 favorite dish I ate today. it was absolutely fantastic, grilled fresh and put together fresh in front of me. I'd imagine that this booth will have longest lines on busy days because of the amount of work needed for most f the dishes. if you didn't know it was jasckfruit? you would have sworn it was braised beef. it trly was that good, and the pickled veggies were incredible. we also tried the Gua Bao, and it too was very good - tho more "bun" than "pork" - the pickled veggies inside were again incredible, and the chili sauce wonderful. Jim is a fiend for Cold Brew, so I paid to get him a full size cup of the Vietnamese Iced Coffee Mocktail, and he really enjoyed it. the bun: the Jackfruit bowl: we were pretty full, but made sure we saved space for the "Indian Ocean" booth - which replace the "Hawaii" booth. sadly, as we got up there, they had an issue with one of the propane tanks, and it took the grill out of commission so tho was really wanting to try the Jamal (Camel) burger, and they looked good, even tho it was pretty small and the most expensive thing at the food festival at $15.99 each if you paid cash for it. . . we were unable to do that, or the butter chicken. luckily we were there on 4/9, and he was still able to make the Mie Goreng Jawa from Indonesia. we totally forgot to get a pic of that - and I'll be honest, it LOOKED like a sad cup-o-noodles. but it ate very well, with lots of small shrimp and beef (and some chicken) without the cup-o-noodles broth. so it didn't satisfy what we wanted to try, but it WAS good. will have to come back to try the butter chicken and the camel. Russell needed the passport stamp here, so he just go the cucumber cooler drink. and after a sip he offered to anyone who wanted to try as he was going to toss it. I tried it and thought it was rather vile. the cucumber flavor does not go well at all with rum. so he dumped it. our last stop luckily kept our favorites from "Brazil" even tho it's now called "South America" forgot to get pics of these too. . but as we were too full to eat anything more, we pulled out our trusty zip lock bags and ordered the Beef & Chicken Empanadas - bringing home 4 each (they reheat wonderful in the air fryer). the Argentinian dish looked great too, but didn't look like it would travel well, so we passed for now. while we were there tho, the entertainment came out. they moved really well together considering one was up on stilts. we had eaten our way around the world. . and had been in the park about 5 hours at this point. so we did some animal viewing, and sea lion feeding (a tray free for passholders) since it was such a cool day, all the alligators were out - instead of hiding under the dock in the enclosure, so it was cool to see so many out and about. the sea lions were acting like they were STARVING. . . feeeeeeeeed meeeeee and the lil otters were just begging for food - guess they can't read the signs that ask guests not to feed them no matter how much they beg we did go back over to Barracuda Strike to see how the line was, only to hear the announcement they were having technical difficulties. so we shrugged and headed back towards the front of the park. Jim wanted a pic of me on this truck. I'm impressed my big ass got up there after eating all day we made sure to bring our passport books up to the store in the front on the way out for our lanyard gift. and I'll admit, the freebie is kinda cool. the lanyard still had the $9.99 price tag on it (really??) but the 3 pins are pretty nice I got penguin Turtle and orca and Jim got the Dolphin instead of the Turtle oh, and the prize if you match up the hidden Shamu with the stands? a sticker of your favorite Shamu! so I got "South America Shamu" and Jim got "Seven Sweets Shamu" it's a great event, especially with the changes they made this year, and very highly recommended. we'll be back, and probably will buy another tasting lanyard.

Six Flags Great Adventure has shared official construction photos of their upcoming, record-breaking launched coaster set to debut in 2027... https://x.com/SFGrAdventure/status/2041954822404874476 It’s rising and it’s unlike anything you’ve seen before. More track is in place, and the layout is starting to come into view...where things begin… upside down. #AdventureAwakens #SFGAD2027