Garet

I really wish with one train operations and no dueling they'd relax the metal detectors and let you leave things at the platforms, they wanded you at the end of the queue anyway and with one train operations that line really crawled. But then again I was equally confused by Mummy, we left everything since it said no loose items and then noticed people with their phones in the lines and that line also crawled. Not sure if it was operations or an issue since the ride went down ealrier in the day but they were not only running one station but seemed to be letting only one train on the course because cars were being double stacked after the unload.

Tokyo Disney have suddenly announced single rider will run on 3 more attractions: over at DisneySea is Anna & Elsa and Peter Pan as well as Beauty and the Beast for Disneyland. And that will start from today

I'm always amazed how much is packed into Sentosa for it's size. Your picture of the island from the front, also has the hotel we stayed (Outpost) in the top right corner and that was located right on the Southern Part of the island. Honestly, I think most people skip the Singapore Flyer. It's not too bad a walk but it feels really isolated from the rest of the bay and the fact Marina Bay Sands has a viewing platform and restaurants makes for stiff competition. We hadn't even planned on riding it but the restaurant with a viewing platform was closed, so we wandered over and it was so dead that they were giving private cabins to every group, even our small group of three.

We're looking into perhaps doing Tokyo in April. We had planned to do Universal Japan but with the cost of everything and crowds we might delay that until he's over 1.4m, so we're thinking of breaking the bank and doing the unlimited VP package for Tokyo. Had planned for March to avoid Sinbad/20,000 leagues closure but found out that Fantasy Spring rides will become unlimited from April 1. May for his birthday is also now looking out because Frozen will be closed and if we're going to go all out once in our lives it won't be when that is closed. Unlimited VP seems to be sold out but been refreshing the last few days and it does come up now and again for end of April, however that will put us in or around Golden Week. I remember a while ago Robb uploaded some stories of some nice homestay areas but that information has now sadly disappeared. We don't really mind being outside the city or commutes, our son really loves trains so he wants to ride the Tokyo subway a lot. You guys seem to know a lot of great places away from the touristy spots so wondering if you had any recommendations.

From February 2nd, Harry Potter will no longer require timed entry leaving only Nintendo needing reservations.

There were a lot of places in Vietnam that ran only in evenings/late afternoons because of heat and humidity. All the outdoor markets usualy were only fully open at night.

K Pop Demon Hunters TR: I have never been interested in being first and so was never going to join a 7 hour line or visit the park when it was that packed but knowing my son is a fan of the movie, I promised we'd head out once crowds died down. This weekend crowds seemed to be hovering around 30 minutes so we headed out to the park. We picked up one of the after 3pm tickets and joined the entrance line with the express purpose of K-Pop Demon Hunters (so no second panda house in this TR). Most people in at 3 PM heading for K-Pop Demon Hunters or the new panda house. Our son just hit 130cm so wanted to try a ride he'd hit the height for: T Express, Hurricane & Championship Rodeo. We beelined for T Express but he changed his mind because of all the 'screaming', the RMC track parks make it sound like the whole train is full of people screaming over the airtime hills, so we walked back and he rode the breakdance. For anyone hoping for any sign of the RMC Giga, this was the only construction wall we saw. Apart from the K-Pop Hunters, there's also a Wizard of Oz overlay in the park. I know TPR are fans of the col-pop, and Everland have upped their game there. The K-Pop zone had attracted quite a crowd so we opted to head back at night since most of it is inside anyway. The outside photo zone for those who don't want to queue. Some of the snacks on offer, the stand up tables outside were themed to giant ramyeon cups but there were just too many people to get a picture. The line had died down to 30-40 minutes so we joined the line ready to head in. The area has 5 areas. A Huntrix area and Saja Boys area both with photo zone and 2 mini games, a DDR area, Derpy mini-game and merchandise store. And plenty of outdoor artworks to pose and take photos with. The reward area for playing all 4 mini-games. Huntrix area consisted of a Golden photo zone, airplane photo zone as well as a light gun shooting and whack a mole mini-game. Most of the merchandise we saw was either themed around these ramyeon cups (key chains) or the tiger (headbands or Everland's panda mascot dressed as the tiger) We didn't stop in the store because it looked crowded and there was a strict 2 item policy since a lot of it has been out of stock and resold online. Saja Boys area was indoors and dark so I didn't take photos but had a tilting ball mini-game and button mashing to the lyrics of songs. DDR with one minute tracks of Golden or Soda Pop was included but not needed for the mission reward. The Derpy area was a single chance to win a bonus sticker if you could tip the flower pot upright in less than 5 seconds. Only our son succeeded. Each mini-game gave you a stamp, that filled out the card above and rewarded you with a random Saja Boys or Huntrix card but they would switch cards for children to get who they wanted. A very popular area for Everland and a successful collabaration but unless you have someone whose a fan maybe not worth waiting if the line is long, and definitely not 7 hours for. If this was anywhere but Asia I'd assume this was a meet n greet as part of the park. But we've seen so many amazing cosplayers across Japan and Korea that I can't tell anymore and since I couldn't find a single mention of them on Everland's Social Media, I've blurred out the faces just in case (See post above about Everland's rules on posting). Either way all credit to these girls, who despite the cold, once a line formed let every child have photos with them and do a selfie and gave every child a great memory. The final collabaration was a sing a long fireworks shows set to some of the hits from the show. I've attached a video, I'm not sure how well it will show on the forum so please let me know if you can't see it and I'll try to save it to my google account for Youtube. Sorry for the bumps but two problems I had: 1) Korea has a mat reservation problem (all parks, not just Everland). Imagine the hotel sunbeds and towels situation but across the parade routes and viewing areas. At least in Japan people stuck with their space but here they throw a mat down and leave for hours. Everland in theory, has a strict no mats policy and signs everywhere. Unfortunately it's impossible to enforce, because when there's 100s of mats and personal belongings how do you take them away without guests exploding or overwhelming lost and found. Also imagine that Titanic door scene but there are 5 Jack's and they all want to live. The tiny mats next to our space would have families of 6 show up and then all try to squish into their space and step over people 5 minutes before start time so I got knocked by some elbows a few times while filming. 2) Korean theme parks sell those telescopic stools everywhere. Since the fireworks are a sit down show, a lot of people used them to not touch the cold ground. However, once the crowds came in I noticed a few would slightly extend theirs just enough to give themselves a boost but not enough to be obvious to staff. Since I was shooting from below head height to not disturb people there wasn't much I could do about some of the heads in front. 27.MOV

Lotte World have added 3 new rides to the park: A children only mini-viking, a mini drop tower (Looks like a frog hopper, but the park already has one of those) and a spinning ride from Sunkid. The park has also added a single-rider line to the park but sadly it's only for the children's coaster and not the big Mack rides.

^ It's died down to 1-2 hour lines now. It was just mostly people who blog/video/instagram wanting to be first. It's become a bit of an issue with Everland even now banning live streaming in the park to protect guests portrait rights:

Made a rare day-time stop at Legoland with some in-laws who wanted to visit the park two weeks ago: The new Ninjago roller-coaster was one train operations and was still a ghost town. Dragon was one train operation with a 20 minute wait. I really wish they'd gone for something more unique to Korea, the Seoul-Jeju route is the world's busiest air route and Jeju Islands only existing roller-coaster is also a Mack Spinner. We've mostly visited the park this year in the afternoons and evenings when the park is open until 9 P.M. This day the rain had passed through in the morning and the fireworks were cancelled so we had the park to ourselves for 4 hours. He stayed on the Wave Racers for 30 minutes straight only needing to disembark when the employee changed shift. The park does put on an impressive firework display on Saturday's though and the crowds get a bit busier. You don't see many mortar fireworks in Asian park displays. IMG_2558.MOV A video I took of the Children's Day/Legoland's Birthday fireworks. Will probably visit the park for the final time tomorrow when we visit friends in the area. I tend to avoid Halloween when the Korean parks are packed but it's the last fireworks and last 9pm of the season before the park switches to winter operations and our season passes will expire.

The Demon Hunters pop-up zone (mini-games and photo zones) has proven very popular, 7 hour lines today:

^If this happens and it's still a big IF, the rumors are that Rolling X-Train (the arrow looper) will be removed to make space for the turn-around of the giga. Don't get me wrong, I'd love an RMC Giga down the road from me but.... a new coaster for an old one doesn't fix Everland's capacity/operational problems. Eagle's Fortress is gone for a garden, Global Village (indoor Small World boat) also gone for a garden, the Safari ride replaced its buses with jeeps and two trailers but for whatever reason that didn't work so they halved capacity by dropping a trailer off each jeep. It's been light rain today so T-Express, kids coaster, magic swing, viking ship, chairlift, top spin, top scan, and train are all closed. Rolling X-Train is the only coaster that runs in the rain and may be on it's way out. Frustratingly, even though it's one of the busiest holiday weeks in Asia with Korean Thanksgiving, and China Golden Week, and despite the forecast being known, and that a lot of big rides could be closed from rain, Everland still ran it's indoor rides on halfday shifts: Magic School 10:00-2:00 and 4D cinema 2:00-closing. Queue times were 120-180 minutes for 5 minutes in the 2nd panda house, and the K-pop Demon Hunter mini games/ photo area had a 240 minute line. On the one hand, I would love an RMC Giga, but on the other hand with the park full of aging equipment from the last 30 years, equipment that was built when the park wasn't one the world's busiest non Disney/Universal parks, and a very strict rain policy, I can't help but wonder if this is the answer for the park.

Panda World 2 will open October 3rd.

I wonder if this is replacing the original concept of it being a Spider-Man ToT ride or if the original plans were actually always for it to be an Avengers based ride. Original press release from August 2024: Source

Looks like the Hard Rock Cafe rides are homeless again: Source It'll be replaced by an entertainment complex and Vietnam's second-tallest building. A lot of the concept art shows the Ferris Wheel, suggesting there are plans to keep it as a separate attraction. Some reports also claim they will keep the Vekoma SLC and Hard Rock mine train, but I'm a bit more skeptical about how that would be developed into this high-scale area on their own. Sun World have a lot of parks in Vietnam so perhaps the rides could show up at some of the sister parks. Source Source