A.J.

You're dead to me.

See, a few years ago, it was at least tolerable. Unfortunately, Mind Eraser is the single worst kind of attraction that they could put this on - a rough-and-tumble Vekoma suspended looping coaster. When it comes to virtual reality, even the slightest bit of "off" motion, such as the constant jostling back and forth in an SLC's seat, could cause sickness. Honestly, as sacrilegious as this sounds, maybe they would have been better off putting it on Wicked Cyclone. Or as a new VR program for Superman.

That's the [unfortunate] reality of the situation. We're entering a new age / culture where everything is a work-in-progress. Incomplete / glitchy video games that are only "good" after a few years worth of updates (Ubisoft, et al). Encouraged / forced software updates (Windows 10, iOS). Unproven tech and the release of "upgraded" cars every year instead of normal model cycles (Tesla). Unfortunately, there's no better place to test these sort of things than in the real world on the general consumer base, especially if a company has money to burn if the new tech or experiment turns out to be a big old flop. If anything, Disney's slower roll-outs and "polish until finished" attitude under -most- circumstances make me more comfortable visiting them, but that's my personal preference.

There's the kicker. I enjoy water parks so I'd be in that minority that would go to Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach or even Volcano Bay on a regular basis. However, most tourist-y type people seem to relegate Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach to that awkward "day 4" or "day 5" of their Disney Vacation as an off day after romping around the four major parks once. I feel like if Disney were really "worried", if you could call it that, about Volcano Bay, we would be seeing new developments in their water parks on the scale of, say, Star Wars Land, Pandora or New Fantasyland. They know that people will always go to their water parks. That's why I think that they can be okay with a small, consistent base of attendance over the course of however many years, with the occasional "nice" new attraction that augments the existing offerings without any super-huge "whizz-bang".

If you just want to nail all of the coasters, then go ahead and make the (shorter) drive to Kings Dominion for a day, but if you want a better experience (still with some kick-butt coasters), go to Knoebels. Okay, I've done my part. Coasterbill, it's your turn.

Apparently work is progressing well, here's what the PTC said recently: But coming from Wildwood I would take Interstate 76 over the Walt Whitman Bridge anyway.

You're probably right about the lack of serious traffic on Sunday, but it's still going to be one slog of a drive. It's like Interstate 76 never ends.

You're going to be on the road a ridiculously long amount of time your Valley Forge / Gettysburg day. You leave from Wildwood and it's going to be two hours at least just to get through Philadelphia due to morning rush hour. Then it's going to be a half hour to Valley Forge. Then it's going to be at least two hours to Gettysburg. Then it's going to be at least another hour to Hershey with evening rush hour through Harrisburg. It's going to be very boring, and unless you're okay with the trip taking even longer you're also going to have to surrender to the might of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

I have never had any reason or inherent want to purchase the Fast Track pass, ever.

Yeah, you got lucky. Here https://goo.gl/maps/Xosd49w75rs and here https://goo.gl/maps/1pJS7hahPWk are where I've always run into problems. Rental car advice: Do not go the cheap route. Cars in "economy" and "compact" classes typically are not equipped with cruise control. Enterprise / Alamo / National's "intermediate" class is reasonably-priced and you'll get something "normal" but not "basic", like a Corolla, Sentra or Elantra, that will typically have USB and Bluetooth as well. Fold the back seats down and you'll have room for all your luggage too.

Hersheypark isn't "just" outside of Harrisburg. Mornings during the summer season, US-322 going toward Hershey, as well as Hersheypark Drive, can both get very crowded and turn your drive from Harrisburg proper to Hersheypark into an hour-long slog.

I would say the piers are the most out of the way for you. Assuming you nail those first, how about this order? Reverse would work too. Day 1 - Philadelphia culture, drive the Atlantic City Expressway / Garden State Parkway to Morey's. Day 2 - Seaside parks. Nice, relaxing few hours at the beach and Morey's, then active in the afternoon, driving to Playland to ride Gale Force and Casino Pier for Hydrus. Drive the rest of the way to Six Flags Great Adventure. Day 3 - Six Flags Great Adventure. Big park, full day. Day 4 - Two hours on 195 / 295 / 276 / 476 to Dorney Park, day at Dorney Park, hour and a half on 78 / 61 / 901 / 54 to Knoebels. Day 5 and 6 - Knoebels. Day 7 - Drive to Gettysburg for culture, drive back to Hersheypark for your Preview Plan ticket in the evening. Day 8 - Hersheypark in the morning and early afternoon, back to Philadelphia to fly out. If you were to take this in reverse, you'd do your Philadelphia culture and then Hersheypark's preview plan day 1, Hersheypark and Gettysburg day 2.

I'm sure it'll be cool, but I feel like you can only put so many track-based attractions above guests' heads before the park as a whole becomes overwhelming. Also, is that another Junior Immelmann?

It's all about the spectacle.

I mean, Steel Dragon 2000 got new trains from B&M. And some Vekoma coasters have trains from Schafer / Sunkid Heege. As unlikely as it is, it's still possible.

One thing that I'm curious about - are guests going to be confused about the labeling of the towers as Kisses, Reese's and Hershey's? Considering people leave their brains at home when they go on vacation, I'd feel kind of like we'll see a lot of guests try to take their small children on the Kisses tower because they're "tall enough" for the Kisses height category.

This is why people are freaking out. I know a lot of "Disney people" (I mean that lovingly if anyone is reading this) who have been going to the parks long enough and / or frequent enough that Wishes has been part of their childhood. Because it's been around so long, Wishes is synonymous with the entire Magic Kingdom park to some people. Obviously the initial knee-jerk reaction is to look at it in shock and horror, like Disney is taking memories away. But, the whole point of keeping it fresh is for new memories to be made, right? If you took a snapshot of Walt Disney World as it existed with Wishes, SpectroMagic, etc in the 90s / 00s and tried to make it work today, in 2017, I'd bet it wouldn't work out as well as people would want it to...

Never say never... Yeah, Six Flags installed the blasted things all over the place, but I see the Super Loop and Skywarp being targeted at smaller parks like, say, Lake Compounce, or Knoebels, or the Fun Spot parks.

I feel like S&S is testing the waters for a full-circuit winged coaster with this. This coaster seems like it takes up just as much space as a Sky Rocket II, if not a little more. I feel like this would be out of range for parks that are looking at Larson Super Loops and Skyline Skywarps.

Keep your hopes up. Zizzzazzaazzzz will come eventually. Probably. Maybe. If you're lucky.

Not even Tivoli Gardens is safe...

What are you talking about? Dollywood's next coaster is a Zamperla kids' coaster.

If they're using Vekoma's factory installation, each seat is equipped with two speakers built into the headrests, as seen here. The watermarks screw with the image but you can just barely make two speakers out on one of the seats in the front row.

I mean, the whole point of California Screamin' is to look like an old-school Americana roller coaster, right? I'd give 'em that one, at least.

Yeah, it's a shame about the Columbia mall. I personally don't think it's creepy but it's definitely an eyesore. We drive past it on Interstate 80 pretty often on our way to Philadelphia.