DBJ

I guess as a holding pen for the WOC crowds, it will do.

I would not be suprised if the coaster was held up to due to permits. Possibly related to the height limit issue? Or maybe it's an issue with the terrain chosen by Deja Vu? I also agree with the above when the coaster may be held back until 2011 for the 50th, as part of a celebration. Maybe American Adventures' Ridgeline Racer (it is buffalo themed - so SFMM will get El Toro!) will also find a home at SFMM in 2011, joined by the previously rumored 2011 adult coaster. A 3 coaster install, one for each age group, for the anniversay sounds like a good marketable promotion.

I agree with the above that the ads are starting to get out of hand. If the entire park is plastered with advertising, it cheapens the "theme park" experience. The escapism, which is what Disney & Universal excel at, gets flushed straight down the toilet and the SF parks look like a string of tacky strip malls with rides. Sacrificing what remains of the atmosphere for advertising is not going to please the guests. I understand that the company needs the money from the corporate sponsors, but the integration of outside brands into the parks is at times questionable.

I would love personally to see a new Tycoon game actually be made. It's been an extremely long time between the releases. With PC's being so much more powerful now, the game could be even more amazing. As far as the movie, that's going to be a tough script to write.

I wonder if the decision to close SFKK also played a role? There was no reason to close the park prior to finding a buyer if the park was still a profitable property at the end of the season. I

I agree with the James Bond rides. Easily one of the biggest IP's in the world that has yet to be adapted into a amazing theme park attraction. I could see a Test Track / Spider-man style fitting that quite well. Agree with the above about Alice in Wonderland. Disney should immediately begin discussing updating all the Alice In Wonderlands chain wide into "Tim Burton Presents...", great companion piece for Halloween season. The new Alice is now one of the top 10 grossing films of all time. And then there is Avatar. Universal or Disney should step in asap and secure this one. With it's eco-friendly message, perfect fit for EPCOT which at one point was looking to add additional thrill rides to the park. And it's not like Ellen's Energy Adventure is packing in the crowds. An indoor launch coaster, with filmed segments of course - maybe a next-gen version of Mummy's Revenge.

Nice pics! 9000 people looks like quite a stretch actually. And the reserved spaces mentioned in the article wipe out the best spots, with 1500 bad spots by Golden Zephyr. Talk about a flawed plan from the beginning. Imo, the model should have been more similar to DHS Fantasmic. A place to sit down in an themed auditorium. At least that way they could have a more realistic seat count instead of being suprised by a 1/3 capacity loss estimate less than 2 months to open.

What I don't like about them generally is that you don't get a feel for the park as a whole, especially their current offerings. I remember the KK one, and they literally passed right by El Toro, just to show KK, even though El Toro was the newer coaster. Or when they go to Cedar Point to show MF, but not Maverick. Or to SFMM, to show X/X2, but not Tatsu and so on. Compared to the ones produced for the Disney parks - season of Disney & Samantha Brown's shows - the coaster focused ones are just usually a mess of old / stock footage.

Notice though that now they will hold your purchases for you at the exit, so you don't have to haul around merchandise with you. Nice to see the focus on customer service still improving.

To be fair to SFMM, I've seen plenty of effects over the years at Disney and Universal that go unrepaired. I generally find myself to more critical of Disney when it comes to the upkeep simply because they do have the money, unlike SF. SF has been in near bankruptcy for how long now? And SFMM still managed to improve over the years since the management shift. Not everything works out for them 100% of the time, but I am glad they are trying even with their limited resources.

My theory is that they will not close the back 1/3 of the park. Instead what I think they will do is "close" off the sections of the Pier from people who want to squat/camp alongside the Wheel and Screamin' to get the back view of WOC. Keep the area less congested for people who want to hit the attractions and wouldn't care about the fountain show. At least that is my hope.

I am quite stunned actually they are going through with Maliboomers removal. To replace it with essentially nothing, in a park known for not having many quality attractions. They are worried about capacity issues because of WOC, but then remove a ride that does draw a line before summer even starts! This makes zero sense. I agree though, I do hope SFMM did buy the ride from Disney. That would be the silver lining.

I did DCA by myself last year, on my birthday. Slightly depressing at first. So I decided to make the best of it and used the spare time to take pictures of the park, enjoy the shops & food at your own pace, and the single rider lines came in really handy as my b-day happens to hit right across spring break for so cal. It's more of what you make of it.

Thanks for typing up all that info! The thing about SFA is that, imo, a lot that park's future is more about what land there is available to them to expand. It certainly won't be the best park in the chain attraction wise, so maybe it's a question of the overall aesthetic appeal? Because it is smaller, it will not cost them as much to improve the overall infrastructure of the park, which is very important. 99% of the appeal of the Disney park experience is the decoration / theme, that isn't limited to the rides, but to every visible structure. In that sense, a completed themed out section of the park like a Thomas Town vs. a cul-de-sac, takes the park to another level. Imo, the park with the greatest potential is SFGADV. If they would take the Wild Safari in the direction of say Disney's Animal Kingdom / Busch, that would take them closer to being the Disney of the north east. Also, just from the call, the enthusiasts seem too focused on flat rides. For SF to go where it needs to go, that is not the answer. Flat rides just are too carnival. I think they are great for small pockets of usable space, but that is about it. SF is positioning itself as an alternative to the more expensive destination parks like Disney / Universal. To that end, they need to bring more of a similar experience to what those massively popular parks offer their customers. Going after carnival rides is aiming way to low. There have been positive developments like the refurb of Monster Plantation, Buccaneer Battle, Dark Knight, Glow in The Dark parade, attemtps at theming coasters (Terminator/Bizzaro), committment to live entertainment, etc.. The only problem is that SF has to split these attractions among so many parks, that each park feels incomplete or out of balance, some more than others. That is probably what enthusiasts are picking up on when they ask about additional flat rides. It's the diversity of the ride and attraction experience that guests are experiencing. In future guest research for SF,they should ask what is your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd favorite attractions - after the roller coasters - at Disney and Universal? Then, for each park, fill in the appropiate gaps.

They are spending 2 billion yen...so like 22 million dollars for 1 kiddie flat ride? That has to be like 99% decorations and theme.

That video is great! For a young park, it's really off to a great start.

One thing that is a recent-esque development on the Citywalk is IflyHollywood. Indoor skydiving, unique in the immediate area.

The only thing that strikes me as odd is the upskirt / crotch view of Buzz Lightyear. Really unusual placement for guests, although the photo possibilties have taken on a whole new dimension. I thought I read somewhere that TSM was too expensive for them to add? I agree that it is the perfect attraction for future expansion.

Yes, that is possible to make that commute during mid day. USH is actually more relaxing than exciting actually. Especially compared to Magic Mountain or Knotts. And it can be a 1/2 day park especially with few lines or the pass. Most of the park is a sit down / show experience. Really, it's only the Mummy and Jurrasic Park which even qualify as thrill rides. Not sure about the timing of the tour, but they do run it fairly close to closing time. Would definately ask upon arrival when the last one departs.

I really hope this works out for the ride. If it does go from a below average wood coaster to a great "steel" coaster, I doubt very much the "woodie" fan community would really even care. Wouldn't they be more concerned with whether or not the ride is a good coaster? I certainly would not mind seeing SFMM's Colossus or Knott's Ghostrider receiving the same treatment.

That is sad to see. I first saw Pleasure Island in 1992 - had a pretty good time there. For a section that is supposed to be done by 2011, seems like there is some work to be done. I read the faq on their site to see if there was any info and saw this.."We're also currently considering a number of other unique concepts from around the globe." That sounds promising. Hope they take a look at Sega Republic in Dubai.

Maybe the whale could be put on display, but never used in a show or letting it interact with guests?

Looks good! Although, I do think they should have painted the supports of Fire & Ice a different color to blend into the trees a bit better. The village looks great, nice bit of immersion. Really interested in the tech behind the ride, see how that works out.

I agree with the overexpansion into Europe and the buying spree did them in. They did very little with the existing parks beyond just adding a new thrill ride. The upkeep budget just collapsed. That was very obvious to the customers. It wasn't until the end when they invested in a hotel, SF Great Escape Lodge, that I thought that maybe they were on the verge of turning a corner where they would take the chain up to the next level. I hope in the future that they pursue the hotel / indoor waterpark strategy once again for the remaining parks where they have the available land. Imo, that is the only way that they can grow the parks from the cheaper regional day trippers to a Universal Orlando / Disney-esque experience. In SFMM case, they certainly have gambled on coasters! In one sense, I respect the risk they took with Superman (and Ka back east), X / X2, and Deja. Certainly those three caused SFMM to have a greater financial burden than what they forecasted. Going forward, I also agree that SFMM has to have a highly marketable ride /angle for the 2011/12 seasons, because both Disney and Universal are targeting similar demos with Carsland and Transformers. For non-locals who come to CA for one or both of those attractions, it would make sense for SFMM to have a massive coaster ready to be advertised. One of SFMM greatest strengths is the location. They can build whatever they want practically. And maybe that is the master plan. With the continued painting and other misc. improvements, installing a relatively cheap ride by SFMM standards in 2010, maybe by 2011 they will be ready for their close-up for coaster #18.

At least they are realizing that building the smallest Disney park in the chain wouldn't be the best idea! The only successful new Disney park built (from day one) in recent history was done by OLC. I think it's very reasonable for them to question Disney's plans at this point. They could wind up with DCA - Disney's China Adventure - and then watch the new park underpeform and have to go through an overhaul.