DBJ

I enjoy having the opportunity to sit on the USH tram tour for awhile after a busy day. Having F&F as the grand finale will be a great way to end the tour. In regards to the super bowl commercial, that is straight out misleading. I thought after Kong, they would not pitch tram tour additions as new rides. It shows guest sitting in a chair with a safety bar no less. There are going to be guests looking for the F&F "ride", would not like to work in customer service for USH this year.

Sounds like a pretty cool addition! Amazing to watch the park is transform so much over the last few years.

The projection mapping in particular is quite impressive. Also appreciate the original music. They mentioned that other parts of DL will also be using the effect. Any word on where the mapping will take place? Looks like Main Street is the ideal location to take it all in. Looks quite nice.

Toontown isn't amazingly vibrant. While I like Roger's, I can see them targeting that area for demolition eventually. The standby line is one of the best themed in the entire park, but it is low capacity with those ride vehicles. And the kids are not running around with Roger Rabbit merchandise, but certainly are with Star Wars and Marvel. I can see why it might make sense to do a star wars land there, the Toontown area could close for years and not impact the park. The height balloons did go up, and it is probably just a first step to see how the skyline would change at DL when they do decide to drop in a new themed land. I would not expect anything significant to happen to the park for at least 5 years or more. Unless USH manages to impact the attendance at DL with Harry Potter, I don't see the parks in an huge rush to build out another massive project for a long time.

I am glad to see SOC finally being upgraded though. The general land theme improvements sound like it will be a nicer transition from BV street into the GRR area. And the delay isn't so bad, at least it is not going away for an long, long time. Is 3D possible for this theater? I have always wondered about this style of theater being able to do a 3D/4D presentation.

Thanks for the reviews and the pics. Love the food reviews too! It looks a like a good first effort for the park to do something for the Christmas season.

I love this ride concept for a wood coaster. Hope it gets built somewhere nearby.

Interesting that they confirmed the theme of the area being "Screampunk". I took that survey a bit ago mentioning the theme. I hope they can pull it off better than the FT plaza. The coaster train indeed does look great. It will definitely be one vibrant ride. The color scheme, and the theme, also works in nicely with Scream. Not sure what they consider to be Screampunk food and retail for that matter. Very curious to see how all this comes together in 2015.

Looks like Knott's is being inspired by LEGOLAND just a bit. The boardwalk, similar coaster. Now, an interactive dark ride. Not on the same level as TSMM, etc., of course. I think this is fantastic as LEGOLAND is a great example of how to do a family park without Disney/Universal budgets. I thought they aimed really low on the creativity scale with the attraction choices for the boardwalk and camp snoopy, so I am glad they are doing an ambitious new attraction for the park. I can't even remember the last time they built a new attraction that was considered even being close to cutting edge that is still operating, maybe Xcelarator in 2002? This is a great direction for the park to be heading in going forward. I am hoping they do a bit of remodeling of the entire area around the theater and Iron Reef, especially the quick service food area. Great potential there.

This all sounds pretty fantastic. I am sure it will pretty amazing, given OLC's track record. An actual Frozen land, as executed at the level of the rest of TDS, just sounds amazing. Also, I love the idea of being in a restaraunt and able to have an good parade view. I am interested in their plans for It's A Small World. I have to wonder if they plan to alter the ride experience completely. Change it from flume ride to trackless ride? Random thought about their fantasyland expansion. Will it also be used as a template for Disneyland? Autopia at Disneyland has been rumored to be removed, as well as subs, for a bit now. I wonder if this will be proof of concept for a Fantasyland expansion at DL? With Matterhorn there, makes a perfect backdrop for a Frozen mini-land.

On my first visit to WDW, the year TOT opened, the family made the trip over to the park and experienced the view without the hat. It was just an "ok" view. It certainly was not like staring down a main street with a castle. The Chinese theater, now in LA called the TCL Chinese Theater (amazing Imax now), to me wasn't an iconic structure. I think they should keep the hat, but in a different location such as by Fantasmic. Makes far more sense over there. I think they should keep the Great Movie Ride, but change the attraction into a more dynamic dark ride. Whether that be a spin-off of Mystic Manor, or the ride vehicles of Jones, 4D like Spider-man, etc. l like the concept of traveling through movie history as the basis of an attraction, but the presentation has fallen behind the times.

After Universal caved with the issue over Bill & Ted, it is pretty easy for a lawyer looking for a quick payday to try to cash in on a guest being offfended. I visited the park for HHN first weekend. I will not go back until HP is done. Operations were pretty bad. Huge lines. Zero entertainment replacement for Bill & Ted. Once again, they kept Shrek 4d closed, even though it is about a ghost. They really neeed to up the budger and operate shows in the venues, including waterworld. With the price increasing, they actually offered less this year than ever before. Speaking of lines, all the posted wait times.were radically off. Just two examples. Despicable Me,.posted no wait time. Upon arrival, 20 min as told by staff, actual time 45 minutes. Maze line posted at 20 minutes, actual time, almost two hours. That bait and switch is unacceptable, and will not return for HHN. Maze wise, the only highlight was American Werewolf in London. That was impressive. I was very dissapointed with AVP. I was hoping for a sci fi look, but it was simply mostly a house set. Very little creavity in the sets. Make up effects were excellent. If they do sci fi again, why not at least try to do a spaceship? Walking Dead, good but similar.to before. Clown maze was a least colorful, and that is the only positive. Creepy clown maze really a worn out theme for halloween. Dracula untold should remain untold. The 2nd vampire maze, based on an ok series, was just ok. Did they spend ever dollar they had on Werewolf? I am a big fan of face off, but it is not scary in the least.

My thoughts on my recent Haunt trip to Knotts. I did eat at the new sandwhich shop that took the place of Pinks, Cable Car Kitchen. The meatball combo is actually pretty good. The only downside to the experience is tht the service was amazingly slow. From ordering at cash register to waiting for sandwhich, it took approx. 15 minutes. They also really should not be using bare hands to dish out potato chips, especially after bare handing the other sandwhich ingredients. After gets chips replaced, which did taste good, my opinion is that the new location is a fine replacement for Pinks. Overall, the Haunt was ok. However, they really need to work on Elvira's Big Top. As a production, the show went a bit flat. With an obscure dance number to Michael Jackson's Scream, an contortionist, sword swallower, Elvira's rapping and stand-up, it didn't really come together. Elvira's presence saves the show, as she is quite funny and personable. The Hanging was pretty funny as always. Very grateful that they at least had entertainment options, unlike Universal HHN, although I wish they would have used the bird cage theater, and the mystery lodge theater. Of the mazes, mostly well executed, a couple that are a tad stale. I appreciated being forced to duck in Toothfairy. I would not mind see them experimenting more with elevation changes in the future. I hope the creativity in presentation expands beyond the skeleton key rooms. All in all a good experience, and will return next year.

I will be there tomorrow night. Just checked the website, looks like the FOP pass is sold out. Eyegore awards ticket stil available, think I will pass on that. Looks like a busy night ahead indeed. I am hoping they open the gates a tad before 7. Nice that they are open until 2am.

While I love the idea of a Frozen attraction, I would have hoped for such a huge animated property, it would be more on the scale of Carsland rather than Little Mermaid at WDW.

I wouldn't mind seeing a variation on the MIB attraction from Florida in that spot, or a variation on the Space Fantasy coaster from USJ.

I love the fact that they are doing new dark rides again for Six Flags. I am sure it will be huge hit.

Wow! That is a pretty impressive design. I would renew my pass for this ride. So if they say spring 2015, adjusting for SFMM construction delays, late June until mid-July. Also, very glad they are looking at doing the infrastructre improvements, just praying it turns out better than Yolo plaza.

For SFMM - beyond the infrastucture improvements. 2015 - the year of Sally Corp. Justice League Dark Ride, from Australia. A dark ride make-over on Whistlestop park. Small 4D theater for kids movies. After watching people avoid Bug's Life and Muppets 3D over in DCA, don't think they need a massive theater, but a small scale one for the kids & parents would be a good fit. Also, a "Spinning Coaster" (ex. Silverwood), would be a nice fit. For slightly older demo, Zamperal Disk-O coaster. I do think they need alternative attractions, but if they can do coasters that deliver a similar experience to a flat, I think that is the way for SFMM to go. Yolo plaza is still barren wasteland. Time to complete that area for 2015. Riddlers Revenge, with backwards trains. 2016 - the year of RMC. Also, would extend the "main street" facades up to the security gates, to create a more welcoming entry to the park. Water coaster for Hurricane Harbor. 2017 - the year of the Justice League. With the DC movie universe really moving forward post 2016, SFMM should make the attempt to tie the park into the movie franchise. Tidal Wave = Aquaman, replaced by Mack model, multiple drops, part dark ride. Scrambler, painted red, Red Tornado theme. Bumper cars relocated, replaced by different flat based on JL character. A venue to have "meet & greets" with the characters. 2018 - Big new coaster year.

Great pic there! I wonder if the timing is off to use the KOD space for a haunt maze ? Really odd they will not use the Camp Snoopy area for the haunt at night if the rumors are true. I always liked how they were able to incorporate the environment into the overall design of the mazes. It is nice to have them spread out of a bit across the entire park just to split up the crowds.

That is a good rumor about Soak City. I would really like to see some water coasters built over here for our local waterparks. Knott's in particular has some good space to really take Soak City to the next level. Certainly not a great time PR wise to be advertising any waterpark during our drought crisis though. For KBF, I wonder how badly the install and removal of Windseeker impacted the cap exp. budget for the park over a 5 year plan? Good interview though , thanks for the link.

Very nice design. Looks like it is a way for a park to pull off a budget version of DCA's RSR.

Some water friendlier landscaping would be good to see at the mountain. There are thousands of examples in CA of how to make that kind of landscape look quite attractive. One option they could have pursued in addition to select tree removal is to build tunnels or sections of track with a roof to proctect the ride from falling branches. The Ninja theme of the coaster pretty much dies the split second it leaves the station. So what if the ride actually passed through and among some temples and ruins? Going with the barren hillside look though does fall in line with my expecations of the park though. And if they are serious about water savings, they should remodel the bathrooms to have the water free urinals. Be great to see some basic infrastructure improvements on a continual basis. Speaking of flat rides, or lack there of at SFMM, locals should check out the OC County Fair and the upcoming LA County Fair. They do have some of the KMG/Zamperla, etc. rides that none of our theme parks will ever get, well worth the visit to experience those kind of high intensity flats. Go on the unlimited ride days however. The fairs are quite overpriced on a per attraction basis, 7 to 10 dollars per ride, and often the amount of time on the ride is pretty limited.

I can't say I will miss house of horrors. I always thought it would be more interesting as queque line for an attraction. I am sure that Gringott is in the planning stages down the line. The location of it will be interesting placement, no doubt about that.

Wow that is one great pic! Love the use of the lake in particular.