A.J.

Spaceship Earth will be going down for its extended refurbishment as part of EPCOT's new transformation starting on May 26th. https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2020/02/the-reimagining-of-spaceship-earth-at-epcot-begins-may-26/

I was thinking "Alternate Universe Mako".

That's exactly what baffles me. I feel like for this ride, they don't even need the shin guards either (except for the front seats of each car).

Part of the reason why I still love Knoebels is that they focus so much on "quality of life" improvements to the park each year instead of the latest whizz-bang attraction.

Because "cramming another park in" means driving all the way out to Altoona when he's in eastern / south-central Pennsylvania. It's a two to two-and-a-half hour drive from both Hershey AND Knoebels, and close to a four-hour drive from Philadelphia. Plus, if you're going there from Hershey or Philadelphia, you're paying PA Turnpike money and that's a torture I wouldn't wish on anyone. Unless you're from around there, Altoona is really only "useful" to traveling as a pit stop between State College and Pittsburgh. Trust me, I'm originally from Pennsylvania and still travel back there often. You can avoid tolls AND expose yourself to a little culture (ahem) by sticking to PA-283, US-30 and US-202 instead of taking I-76. It will take longer but you'll save some money and might enjoy the detours. Do NOT try to drive out of Philadelphia on the night of July 4th, you will perish in flames. Find a hotel, bite the bullet on parking, and just stay put. You'll be happier.

Another thing that apparently came out of a recent presentation from the park is that Impulse is receiving new trains that will allow riders from 48" to 52" to ride without booster seats.

That is most certainly a Vekoma.

The wealthy benefactors of 2020 don't see "a classic piece of amusement park history that needs to be preserved and modernized", they see "prime real estate for a profitable mixed-use development with high-end apartments".

I thought very hard about going today, too. The weather is a lot cooler today than it usually is around here.

Tesla lets you skip on their "full self driving" option and charges whatever the "current" price is (which can increase), plus $1,000, if you enable it later in your ownership.

Oh yeah, there are plenty of classics still around, thank goodness, but the 80s Zierer / BHS / Schwarzkopf coasters are the endangered species of the bunch.

An interesting development. This social media screenshot has been floating around... It's caused a flurry of speculation that Fun Spot may be in talks to purchase some rides from the park, or, as some are speculating, the entire park itself. Steel Hawg in Orlando, anyone? https://www.facebook.com/CoasterNerds/photos/a.257902394564903/1047865132235288/?type=3&theater

On both coasts it's that you have to be in the park (Disneyland / DHS) to get a boarding group. But once you get your group you can basically do whatever, including park-hop.

Money, sure, but not time. Think about how long it takes to get all the way to the entrance, hop on the tram, go to your car, drive all the way out, go to your local McDonald's, drive all the way back in, re-park your car, etc etc...

Ready? All together now... Ugh. The modern theme park has not been kind to these classic Schwarzkopf coasters. Kudos to Grona Lund, Liseberg, Barth, Bruch, and Triple Five for keeping theirs running.

Manta's always been the same as far as I've noticed - lockers next to the queue entrance, and small open bins on the unload side of each station.

Yes, but Hagrid's also has a double-digit number of trains on the circuit, key show elements that must be working at all times, onboard audio, a unique seating / restraint system, two separate freefall drop tracks, and... Sandy's Blasting Bronco is nowhere near a follow-up to Hagrid's. It's another Intamin LSM coaster that's just like all the others, but also happens to have a turntable. For all we know, the delays could be coming from the park, and not Intamin.

That's how I've done it since I started going on a regular basis. Personally though, I'm just not a fan of possibly having to go all the way back out to my car to grab my camera bag if I can't get a locker rental because they're all sold out!

Apparently one of their readers told them that the new policy has gone into effect already and that they are walk-of-shaming people who attempt to leave items on the platform, but I'll believe THAT when I see it first-hand. This new loose articles policy is awful if true - not only are they money-grabbing by forcing you to rent lockers, but now that everyone has to rent one, it means that there will likely be scenarios where entire banks of lockers are sold out. What does the park expect people to do then? Walk all the way back to Kumba to rent their locker, then all the way back to Cheetah Hunt to get in the queue? If this policy is "successful" I can see SeaWorld Orlando doing the same in short order. This has also been the case for Tigris since it opened. EDIT: Hello word filter, my old friend. It's been too long. Has anyone had any noodles today?

It's unfortunate that this has become the mentality of the people and groups that gobble these small parks up only to attempt to resell them later... If it's not a good short-term return on investment, then dump it! Who cares about slow, steady long-term growth, am I right? It's times like these that make me thankful Knoebels has always been run by the family.

That's what's implied on their calendar - it's general admission from 10 to 5 and then hard-ticket Scarowinds afterward. They're weekend only for all of October, and every operating day has Scarowinds. Historically according to Queue-Times, it's always been busy those days. Looks like Fast Lane will at least come in handy for Fury 325 and Copperhead Strike! Now, now, don't raise my already-high expectations!

^ Yeah, well, but then I would be flying Allegiant, so...

Smoky Mountain National Park in autumn color was the main motivation for this trip in the first place, so I'm partial to going later for that reason, and you nailed it on desired re-rides. That day is "successful" so long as I get on the four rides you mentioned, and get some photo time in. Everything else is a bonus. Thanks for the assurance! Not ideal, though thanks for suggesting it. I want to be able to keep round-trip out of Charlotte to save on airfare and my rental car. I know, like I said, when I visited Dollywood on Labor Tuesday back in 2015, I actually ran out of things to do. I'll have to do some poking around Queue Times' histories to try and figure out a good couple of days to go. The "I hate photos of empty trains" side of me wants to find a day at when it's predicted to be quiet, and then a second day when it's predicted to be busy.

So why would I spend more time at Carowinds when I'm using Fast Lane, in a slow part of the season? If I were to purchase the earlier ticket I would be going on a day when the park is open from 10 until 8.

Hey everyone - I'm planning an autumn trip this year for myself! Tentatively, the plan is to spend a day and a half at Dollywood, a half day checking out Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, two days poking around Smoky Mountain National Park, and one day at Carowinds. Basically, fly out of Orlando on a Monday, trip Tue > Sat, and fly back on Sunday. The motivation for this trip is to check out the National Park in its full autumn colors glory, go to a park I've never been to (Carowinds) and finally go back for that Lightning Rod credit I miss... I MEAN go back for that cinnamon brea... I MEAN darn it Dollywood is so amazing. However, Cedar Fair just threw a wrench into my plans with their Presidents' Day sales - admission AND Fast Lane for $60! So now I'm torn. Do I: - Bite the bullet on the sale ticket to save $100, but lose out on the autumn colors since the ticket is only valid through the 13th of September OR - Go during October, but only get 10 AM to 5 PM at Carowinds, because I'm not interested in attending nor paying for the extra hard ticket of Scarowinds I'm running under the assumption that I'd have regular TimeSaver for at least one of the two days at Dollywood and Fast Lane at Carowinds. I really want more than one day at Dollywood because it's seriously one of my favorite places. Whether the half day ends up being an evening or a morning is still to be determined, though I'm leaning more toward evening. If I go with the sale option I'm thinking about going Labor Day week - when I visited Dollywood in 2015 on the Tuesday after Labor Day, the park was really slow and I got to do everything I wanted multiple times. Or am I just completely crazy? Advice is appreciated!