AmyUD06

Yeah. Apparently Tom + Chee has moved into the old Hate Chicken spot.

Is Mind Eraser not being accessible really a loss? Really?

I'm glad that someone appreciated it, all this time later haha.

Hey, it's on topic! Check out my last report from possibly the last day of the last Kings Dominion Haunt before they make it a separately ticketed event! Oh, and what's this? I have an almost-forgotten Winterfest report as well? Hot damn! Who doesn't love Christmas in April? Photo TR: Kings Dominion Winterfest - Tuesday, December 20th, 2022 I arrived a little before 5:30 (for a 6:00 opening), and found the outside-the-gate tree properly decorated. I of course snapped a picture of Dominator that everyone takes from the smoking zone. And a shot of the nobody-sees-these-decorations. As always, hats off, KD. They opened the gates at 5:30, and allowed people in. Enjoy a bunch of pictures from the International Street area. Yep, it was a cold and ride-less night for me. Unfortunately, the frosted pretzels were pre-frosted, so I couldn't re-create my high-school "frosting on a normal salted pretzel" delicacy. Still good though. Awww, cute little mini-tower. Seriously, who rents these igloos? There were some delays before the opening show, but it still went off without a hitch. Of course, a video of the whole thing: Opening Show - Trim.MP4 Next up was the 2022 version of Tinker's Toy Factory, thankfully now indoors at the Kings Dominion Theater as opposed into the semi-outdoor theater in Planet Snoopy. Maybe something similar to the Halloween show happened where the production company bailed out, because this lost a lot from last year's show. Like...there was no positive message. Santa got hurt, elves freak out, turns out he wasn't as hurt as everybody thought he was. What's the message here? Trust people when they tell you things? A lot weaker than last year's theme of "even the simplest things can being people happiness." Did not cry. Anyway, enjoy some highlights. Tinkers 1 - Trim.MP4 Tinkers 2 - Trim.MP4 Tinkers 3 - Trim.MP4 Tinkers 4 - Trim.MP4 Tinkers 5 - Trim.MP4 Yeah, like I said, no coasters tonight. The star at the top of the Eiffel Tower has seen better days. At least the lights streaming down from the tower were refreshed, now with the newer high-resolution version. Big Tree - Trim.MP4 Candy Apple Grove's light-to-music synchronization has gotten better, but still nothing like it was when Winterfest was first a thing. Candy Apple Grove 1 - Trim.MP4 Candy Apple Grove 2 - Trim.MP4 Still the extent of their "winter holidays other than Christmas" display. Weak. Some of the other musical acts (that were totally not my speed). And finally, a bunch of pics of the various decorations across the park. I left before the parade, but I'm sure it was the same as last year's. See you next year (maybe), Kings Dominion! Thanks for reading everyone.

Who loves reading Halloween trip reports in April? I know I love posting them haha. Go check it out!

On the way back from Cedar Point (normally a 8-9 hour drive), I decided to "stop by" (ignore the fact that it adds 6 hours to my total drive time) Kings Dominion again to try to catch the full Queen's Ball show, that I missed during my initial Haunt trip here and my attempt after Kings Island to catch the show. Was I successful? Spoiler alert: I was! BONUS! Kings Dominion Sunday, October 30th. My only rides of this trip were Reptilian (3 train wait, front row, maybe my first time on this at night) and Intimidator 305 (13 minute wait for row 2). But rides were not the purpose of this trip: I did, finally, on the last day of the season, get to check out the Queen's Ball musical portion of the show. My review: Heads Will Roll (the 2021 Haunt show) this was not. The Astaroth and Burnette characters had almost all of the songs, and it actually had a cohesive plot to it, which is always nice to see, despite being substantially shorter. I was informed that the show production company that had put together previous shows had backed out of the contract with the park at the end of August, and the in-house park staff were left with two weeks to put something together, and this is what they did. Massive shout outs to George (Astaroth), Alex (Burnette the Barker), and Sheri (Queen) for putting together an awesome show on short notice, as well as David (unofficial park photographer) for the info on the production. They all have awesome Instagram profiles, go check them out. Tons of pictures: And of course, here is a bunch of highlights, in video, for you to enjoy: Queens Ball 1 - Trim.MP4 Queens Ball 2 - Trim.MP4 This guy's range will never cease to amaze me. Queens Ball 3 - Trim.MP4 Queens Ball 4 - Trim.MP4 And her powerful voice...OMG. Queens Ball 5 - Trim.MP4 Queens Ball 6 - Trim.MP4 Queens Ball 7 - Trim.MP4 On with the rest of the TR! Apparently they had been setting up for Winterfest already... But all of the Halloween Craft Booths were still set up. I of course had to head down to the Cleaver Brother's Stage for some more of the multi-talented Burnette the Barker, who is always hilarious. Barker 1 - Trim.MP4 Barker 2 - Trim.MP4 Barker 3 - Trim.MP4 Of course I got a picture with the man himself. Hey look, they fixed the winking tower! And that closes out my Halloween park trips for 2022! Thanks for reading everyone, even if some of it was a few months late.

And onto Cedar Point Day 2, Saturday October 29th, 2022. Same format as before.... Ride wait times and/or commentary from my notes (all times with FL+, arrival around 11:30) -Iron Dragon, 3 train wait, next-to-last row. Running kinda slow. -Millennium Force, 20 minute wait, row 2. -Gemini, 1 train wait, row 2, red side, did not win. -Steel Vengeance, 33 minutes (from entering line to locker retrieval), front row. -Maverick, 15 minutes, back row. -Raptor, 8 minutes, back row. -Maverick, 24 minutes, back row. -Midnight Syndicate show 2022. "Nowhere near as good as last year's, but very similar to last year's in that it seems to drag on and do nothing and then gets really cool right at the end, and then its over. So that's kinda meh but still good." Bonus here! Actually encountered another trans person in the wild while waiting in line. Like, I know that other ones of us exist, but it's always refreshing when you run into one at a "normal" venue like an amusement park. -Blood on the Bayou maze - A long, meandering walk through the Millennium Island with very few actors and very few decorations and kinda a whole lot of nothing going on. It took twice as long to walk to it than it did to walk through it. My sympathy to the kid who was having a panic attack near the end of it. -Cut Throat Cove maze - Not as good as last year; pretty much the same props but a lot less actors. -Maverick, 19 minutes, front row, to close out the night. So yeah, that was my experience at Cedar Point's Haunt, 2022. Overall a good time as always, but not a whole lot of innovation on the Halloween-y stuff front, and pretty much helped solidify my almost-definite decision to not renew my CF Platinum Pass for 2023. Anyway, may the pictures flow.... My favorite! Nerd shot. Busy busy. This is a panorama, gotta click to view the full thing to get the best effect. Kinda blurry, but this was the closeout on all of the remaining Top Thrill Dragster merchandise...the first clear indication that the ride would at least be getting a new name in the future. Motion blur intentional. And that puts a wrap on my 2022 Halloween park adventures....or does it?

Everyone loves when people forget about posting TRs until like 5 months later, right? Haha...sorry I completely forgot I had these to post. Enjoy a flash back to October 2022 before the parks open for the year! Cedar Point Friday, October 28th Okay, so since this was in fact over 5 months ago, this is just going to be largely a picture/video dump with minimal commentary, which I will cover all at the beginning. Ride wait times and/or commentary from my notes (all times with FL+, arrival around noon) -Raptor, 2 train, back row. -Blue Streak, 1 train, front row - tons of airtime, the train was flying through the course. -Valravn, 9 minutes locker-to-locker - was denied not only a row request but also a specific location within a row. -As of 1:00, the only food places observed open was Coasters Diner, Farmhouse, and Back Beat Que, all with massive queues. This included stands. Had to leave the park and go to Perkins in Hotel Breakers to get food without having to wait 30+ minutes. -Magnum XL-200, 16 minutes locker-to-locker, row 2. -Gatekeeper, 17 minutes locker-to locker, back row. -Around 3:30, left the park to take a nap in my car. -Millennium Force, 32 minutes locker-to-locker, row 2. -Fortune Teller - 16 minute wait, 5 minute reading. More than what they do at Kings Dominion, but less time with the fortune teller than last year. Got the Ant card, and had a pretty accurate descriptor. -Opening Scaremony show - Okay, I guess. I liked the "audience participation" factor where they had actors in the crowd that would act like they were being controlled by those on stage. -Skin-n-Bones feat. Vaze show - Not my scene, a little too hard rock for me. -Slaughterhouse maze - Meh as always. Not much else to say. The "inflatable walls" were not fully inflated, making so you didn't have to squeeze through them at all, which kinda makes sense in a post-COVID world. -Cornstalkers maze - No change from last year. Highly entertained by a group that was getting scared and stopping and running. -Fearground Freakshow maze - 99.9% same as last year, but I actually did get got by one of the actors, so good on them. -Bloodbath maze (new for this year) - VERY well done. Got a legitimate two scares. Great artistry; starts as a nightclub and ends as a hotel kinda theme. Not a lot of actors (a recurring theme), but overall very, very good. -Steel Vengeance, 36 minutes locker-to-locker, back row. "I hate this stupid f'ing locker system...it's such an insanely good ride but that locker system is just so f'ing stupid." -Eerie Estate maze - Supposedly this was all new? The only thing new I noticed was the Ouija board scene at the beginning where the "employee from the Sandusky Bureau of Paranormal Activity" talked about the place being haunted and then the board thing starting moving on its own. After this, I guess I left, since my next set of notes videos were from the next day. Enjoy the pictures and videos of day one! Yep, good to be back. At my happy place. Poor Mantis. This thing was kinda cool; I'd never seen it before. Lip Sync Monster - Trim.MP4 Fortune Teller tents. Many more than last year! I still like how Cedar Point keeps their scary stuff in one area. Par for the course for food lines on this Friday. Very detailed mannequin. Taking a smoke break outside the Magnum entrance (from the "good old days" of when I still smoked haha). Guess CF got a bulk rate on these things? This was animated at night; I tried to get a good video of it but failed miserably. I have a couple of friends who would absolutely adore this shop! I do like how they integrated the Mr. Midnight character into more than just the dedicated show. Enjoy some video: Opening Scarymoanie 1 - Trim.MP4 Opening Scarymoanie 2 - Trim.MP4 And that about wraps up day one. I'll leave you with some videos of rides in action that I can't quite remember when I took. Maverick 1 - Trim.MP4 Maverick 2 - Trim.MP4 Millie - Trim.MP4

Nah, the meme is still a multi-year refurbishment of a carousel, even if some horses needed woodwork. Any other park/chain building a new carousel from scratch would take less time.

You know there's a Skyline Chili like not even a half-mile from the park entrance road, right? Edit: Sorry, within a mile and a half.

Where's that guy who was saying a Fortnite-themed attraction would be an eternal success?

This makes sense. Thanks! I'm sorry to hear that. Thanks for the input, even if it is minimal! Awesome, yeah that's sensible. Thanks for the input! Message received haha! Thanks!

That actually makes a ton of sense, and sounds like a great solution! Thanks for the reply.

Thanks. That's one of the options my thought process was bouncing between.

That is certainly a good way of looking at it! It does help, Bert. You're one of the people I was looking forward to hearing from the most, given your residence in one of the states-with-unfriendly-governments. I get what you're saying, which was my gut original reaction. And that's exactly how I would have done a Dollywood trip given the current circumstances (staying on property and not patronizing neighboring businesses), but I guess I was still concerned that Dollywood pays taxes and those go to support their bigoted government. I guess that's not that much in the grand scheme of things, is it? Thanks for the reply!

(I'm posting this here since I didn't really think it belonged in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, and Donkeys, but if I was mistaken, please move the thread.) DISCLAIMER: This post will contain political themes that are pro-LGBTQ+ rights and pro-women's bodily autonomy. If this sort of thing offends you to the level that you feel it necessary to provide non-constructive commentary, please move along. ***** As most of you who live in the US should probably be aware, many states are passing (or have introduced with good likelihood of passing) laws that take extremely harmful actions against members of the LGBTQ+ community: from effectively banning medical treatments (not just for minors), to outlawing people wearing clothes that don't match their birth gender, to preventing people from using the bathroom that matches their presentation, to eliminating any reference to LGBTQ+ people from classrooms, and the list goes on and on. This does not even begin to describe the continual attacks on women's bodily autonomy or education of black history from these same states. I'm lucky enough to live in a solidly-good-politically state, but I had planned a road trip for this summer that took me through West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, including my first ever visit to Dollywood, which has been a park I've very much wanted to experience. Tennessee is, as we all know, the home to Dollywood, and also one of the states that has passed some of the worst laws, one of which could be interpreted to criminalize my existence. While I do not have much actual concern for my safety were I to travel there, I certainly would not want to give any fiscal support to a state government that enables such things. The same thought process applies to many of those states listed - Do I want to support places with my tourism dollars that are endangering women's health, supporting anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry, and actively harming people like me in their states? My question for others, especially those that do plenty of travel for parks, is how do you rectify this in your mind? Do you simply choose to not go to these parks? Do you justify it with a "well, I'm giving my business to Park X, which I know does not share the state government's views, so it's okay" - knowing that the state still gets taxes from that park/hotel and any ancillary supported businesses (food, fuel, etc)? Something else entirely? Like, I know I was never going to Dubai or Saudi Arabia for any of their parks regardless of what rides were put in, but this is right here in my own country. Perhaps I just need to get accustomed to that reality... I'm sorry if this all sounds disconnected and rant-y...but it's something I've been struggling with these past few months and would appreciate any advice that anyone might have to provide. Any thoughts on this topic (other than "it's good that states are doing these things") are extremely welcome. If anyone doesn't feel comfortable answering publicly, feel free to PM me your thoughts. Even if you don't have a response, thanks for reading my venting. (Sorry to call you out, but I'm especially looking for thoughts from @SharkTums, @bert425, @Nrthwnd, @coasterbill, @ytterbiumanalyst, and @KBrylczyk. Thanks if you can provide any insight.)

Yeah, the Free for passholders is a no-brainer (unlike when they tried to charge passholders for the Coaster Power Hours last year), but the non-passholder price is flat out ridiculous. Elissa, I didn't see where the upcharge attractions were going to be free? If that is the case, then yeah the price makes sense.

https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/events/scream-break It's $40+fees for night time only. Again, 3 HOURS. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah.

Yeah. Though nothing has been announced, the prevailing theory (based on that site as well as the hours posted in the calendar) is that they're going to a "separately gated event" model like Carowinds or the Universal Parks.

Okay. Pretty sure this could go in the SF Corporate Thread, if anywhere?

Well, it was possibly the worst coaster I've ever ridden when I went on it last year, so any improvement is welcome. That said, wasn't it literally just closed for like five years for "complete retracking" in 2016/2017?

If I had kids, I think I'd prefer this to the Skyline racing coasters going to the other parks. This does not leave me with any worries about consistent operations; those do.

Hey now, the new restaurant on the beach could be really good? And they might announce something about Dragster during the season, you never know haha.

@Haymaker You will have a PM in a few minutes demonstrating our point; not trying to clutter the thread with off-topic-ness. I expect a public apology to Bert and myself.