nickbuol

Hmmm.... What about Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl at USO?

Agreed. I struggle to see where a flat ride would fit in. Just because they have a flat ride does not mean that it is a good idea. When my family goes to IOA, the one current ride that seems blah and out of place is Dr Doom. It also has a relatively short line and people aren't exactly lining up to ride it. They go for the unique ride experiences, not for duplicates of rides from "regular" amusement parks.

I know that there are a lot of "Disney is the best for theming" people around here, and my family was die hard Disney fans for many years (we used to go to Disney World every year for about 10 years in a row (sometimes twice a year), but a few years ago, the kids decided that they wanted to go to Universal too. There was one year where we did both Disney and Universal. We have not been back to Disney since. We actually liked the theming better at Universal. Now, after about 5 visits to Universal parks (one to Universal Hollywood which doesn't even compare), and we are going back to Orlando this year. My daughters are now 20 and 15, and we are meeting up with some extended family. They have multiple kids between the families that are 10, 8, 6, and some of them have been to Disney once, but not Universal. They ALL want to go to Universal due to the rides and experience. I would have thought that with a couple of 6 year old girls, that they would love the princess factor, but I guess not. Now I just need to convince my wife that we need to NOT hang out with them all of the days that we are there. We are in the "go go go" group and really navigate the parks well. They all are at a different pace with lots of stops and "breaks." We are the believers that if you are going to spend the bucks, then you get to the park before open, and stay until they are closed each day and grab snacks vs. meals to keep moving. Total exhausted after about 3 days, but what fun! Thanks to all that are able to provide sneak peak images for the rest of us!

Bummer. Yeah, my "after discounts" pricing was based off of Undercover Tourist's "special" pricing on regular tickets (not the buy 2 get 3rd day). Still not sure if the train ride is worth the extra $144 for our family either, but having a park-to-park for the the "3rd" day would possibly be nice. Who knows.

I have a silly question. Does anyone know if there is going to be some sort of ticket "deal" after May 20th? Before May 20th, you can buy 2 days and get a 3rd day free, but it must be used prior to May 22nd. We are going at about the worst time ever this year (July 27th start date) due to other factors that cannot be changed. We have been there quite a bit, and there was always some sort of deal... Buy 2 days, get a week free, etc which included the year that they opened the first Harry Potter expansion. I know that I will probably just have to wait until it gets closer, but I didn't know if people had any reliable source for such things. We were hoping to do 2 days, but with the prime time of the year and the new expansion, we are thinking that 3 days may be in order. Of course it costs $36 more per ticket (after discounts) to get a park-to-park, which we wouldn't care too much about except to ride the Hogwarts Express, but it seems pricey at $144 for our family of four to be able to ride the train, simulated travel to/from Hogwarts or not...

Kokomo Kove opens today June 22nd! Only 3 weeks late, but with all of the rain the past 6 weeks, no wonder it was late in opening.

Yeah, I know that there used to be something else where the Inverter is now, but it still is very much under-ridden to stay around too much longer. As for the Splash Over, it was shut down last season (it's 2nd season) more than 27 times according to a report from A-Land. I would say that constitutes a lot of problems for a second year ride. That number did not include when the water jets weren't working (which many times were on the typical 85F and hotter days)... It gets ridden, and should stay, but I still say that it is plagued with problems, especially since it got stuck with riders upside down already this year. Just seems "buggy" for a new ride. Kokomo Kove is so close to looking complete but this stupid rain (and flooding).... It stinks for those of us that paid an extra $10 per season pass this year to cover the cost of Kokomo Kove and we won't get to use it until 1/2 way through the year. Our family loves A-Land, so I just want the best for them, but they are hitting that "odd" size where they are bigger than a tiny little park, but not big enough to compete with the likes of SFGAm, or for people that want more coasters, WoF/OoF in KC...

Cool. It is one of those things where just watching it makes you wonder if it helps or hurts the ride experience. I just wouldn't want to ride it and then have to sit out for an hour or whatever. Thanks guys!

I've never been on a coaster like this where the "cars" rotate around. Does that increase the "puke" factor, or just add to the experience. I can ride about any coaster with loops, corkscrews, or whatever, but you put me on a ride that spins around a lot, like many flat rides, and I get nauseous.

Agreed. The Inverter is barely ridden, even on busy days, and there is a good chunk of already unused space right by it that could make way for something bigger and better.

I got my DVD set something like 2 days after I ordered it. I put in disc 1 last night and I must say, you guys (gals) are crazy, and it looks like it was a lot of fun. I don't really know any of you, but just how tall IS Casey? Then I watched a few select coaster POVs on disc 2. Nice...... I was watching them in my home theater on my 104" screen, so it was like being there, but not really. I did have to "stretch" out the screen to make it fit the wide screen, so everything was a little "fatter" but it was fun just the same...

At Adventureland, they call it the "Splash Over" and it was put in 2 years ago. You are right though, it almost always has some problem. Either the water jets aren't working, or the whole ride is shut down. Plus after the first year, it started making a lot of metal on metal squeaking sounds which can't be good. I've always thought that they should tear down the Dragon and put up a new coaster. I've been to some other parks with some great coasters that don't take up a lot of real estate that could fit in there (when looking at satellite images via Google and comparing ride sizes at the same scale size). For us, we live 5 minutes away and have 2 kids that love the place, so it is a no brainer, but every year I keep telling them that we need to go to what was my "home park" growing up, and that is Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL. (I still remember when it went through all of the name changes like Marriot's Great America, etc). Anyway, it does need SOMETHING to draw in people from a distance. The water area is a nice addition, but I think that the local crowd will go there more for it than someone travelling.

Kingbooba, Yup. They just call it the "Splash Over". It seems to be either partially or completely broken down a lot. Sometimes the whole ride, sometimes it just isn't spraying water. After the first year it sure seemed to squeak a lot (metal on metal squeaks)... That can't be good.

I'm going to try to take some photos in the next day or so of the construction of the area. It is starting to look like something now, which is more interesting than photos of the cement and plumbing.... I'll post what I can. In the meantime, here is a video of what it should look like when it is done: Kokomo Kove Preview Video

110% agree about the Dragon. I love coasters, and I refuse to ride it. It is a steel coaster that rides like the worst old wooden coaster over with loops thrown in. The Outlaw is my favorite there, even if it is a bit tame. My family lives about 5 minutes away, so we get season passes every year. It is worth it to be able to go on a Sunday evening for a few hours when it isn't busy and know that you can ride whatever you want without wasting a whole day standing in lines. I drove by the new water area 2 nights ago. It is coming along. I am not sure if they will make their deadline of June 1st for opening, but it is getting there. I should take some pictures and post them... Here is a preview video of what it should look like when it is done: Kokomo Kove Preview Video

Purchase made.... Can't wait to get it.

What a fun video. I know what you are thinking, who the heck is THIS guy? I've been a long time lurker around here, I get the emails, I read the forums, I watch the videos... Living about 5 minutes from Adventureland (I know, it is pretty small), I was originally planning on at least saying "Hi" when people were there, but I was out of town with my kids. Anyway, I think that I am actually going to buy this video. My parents took me to Great America every summer starting when I was 5, and I continued that tradition until I was 24. I miss that place. I've been to Cedar Point only once, but now that my kids (14 and 9), especially the 14 year old, are into coasters, I need to go back. Been to the Dells many times. This video will bring back so many memories of years past and just help to reinforce a family vacation to some of these places soon.

From their website (updated just yesterday)..... I've seen areas where a nice coaster could be put in without even removing anything (despite my opinion that the Dragon should just go away). Maybe in 2010...

I just bought my season passes on Dec 31 (to save a few bucks). My kids love this place, of course it only takes us about 7 minutes to get there from our house, so we can just "stop in" for a couple of hours and hit the rides we want to without feeling like we need to make a full day out of it. I agree 100%. The Dragon just stinks! I LOVE loops, corkscrews, and all the smoothness of a steel coaster, but the Dragon is terrible. Just last week I was at Silver Dollar City in Branson for Christmas and rode their 3 main coasters in the nice warm (HA!) weather. Two we rode during the day when is was about 42F and the other we rode at night in 35F temps. It was cold, but they were great coasters, and didn't seem to take up a lot of landscape. Why not dump the Dragon and put something else in there? Well, I know why.... Money, but still... Get something to attract some of the coaster riders. Hopefully the water feature addition will do well and draw more people in.

Dollywood is a great park. Very scenic and fun for the whole family. Sure it isn't coaster packed like Cedar Point, but I took my family there 2 summers ago and we had a great time.