DBJ

In regards to space for coaster/attraction expansion. Do they need the lake? When it comes right down to it, is the lake that critical to IOA? Look at an overhead map of the park, and then plop TDS's Mysterious Island in that exact same spot. The lake then becomes a circular river around the island. If done well, the faux mountain would serve as a backdrop to Harry Potter Land, Jurrasic Park, perhaps enclose part of the Hulk, useful as a platform for nightime shows. Each side could even be tweaked to reflect a themed view for each land. Such as jungles for JP, the Rockies for Do Right, etc. Imo, not being able to see the other lands across the lake would add to the general immersiveness of each land.

Cedar Point over Universal Studios Hollywood (unless it's multi-day and you can hit up SFMM, DL/DCA, or Knotts). USH is literally a 1/2 day park when it's not crowded. Universal Studios Orlando over CP. If time permits, can easily bounce over to Sea World for Manta, and of course, WDW looms large over the region. I think most of the decision really is based upon available time and budget; airfare, hotels, perks that come with the hotels, etc. CP won't be beat for the coasters, but USO is the complete theme park experience.

I appreciate the fact that it looks like the viewing area is multi-level, so that will help quite a bit with sight lines for the most part. Good to see they recognize the issue with Fantasmic and the Fireworks at DL, and are taking these steps. Hopefully one day they can tier the area over in New Orleans Square. Looking at the model, I kind of wish there was a reserved upper level seating area behind the last row of planters, before or instead of the trees. Certainly would be nice after a long day to be able to sit and watch WOC. Imo, the EP should stay at DCA, that park needs all the help it can get.

If that Beastly Kingdom rumor turns out to be true, then that is awesome. The only question now is it a low rise structure like Dinosaur or another mini-mountain Everest? Imo, they could probably save themselves a ton of money if they didn't use the same ride system from Test Track, but instead a coaster car like Mummy's Revenge. I guess the question would be is the trade off of range of motion versus the more traditional launched coaster car? I hope that Beastly Kingdom does include another E-ticket, on a lesser scale, and a few mid-range attractions to make it a complete "land". Everest is incredible, but notice how most rides at AK are an island unto themselves? It's like they built the E ticket for the area, but then budget cut out anything else. While the animal exhibits in each area are decent, it's not like they are presented in a way that is remarkably different than other zoos. The amazingly off the shelf Dinoland USA is the most complete land - with multiple rides unified in theme, which is not saying much. It's like over the years they moved away from the concept of using theme to tie multiple attractions together. Typically, the best we see now is the E-ticket, with a gift shop, and then possibly an eatery. And it's so weird that WDW would turn down Star Tours 2, but then greenlight JTCE and the Fantasyland revamp. I wonder if they are evaluating what the ultimate goal of DHS is to become. Maybe Star Tours 2 turned down(rumored via other sites) for - this is my own speculation -TSL after the Paris and Hong Kong installs? Pixarland on the way? Here's my wild rumor and opinion. I think DHS should dump the Indianna Stunt show. The money saved from the fee to expand Star Wars into it's own proper "land". Put in the Star Tours 2, build the Cantina for the food option, build the speeder bikes using Vekoma as the vendor, some lesser rides themed to the Star Wars universe (Ewok tree village? Tatooine "main street"?), and viola. Then moving on, completely embrace Pixar's movies. Leave Magic Kingdom as the mouse's house. The have Pixar's best ride, TSM, currently, so bring in the TSL from Paris, Crush from Paris, Carsland from DCA (border buster -, jump the street, or take down some of the "backlot" or the Lights Motor Action - Disney loves to save on labor costs after all). One fun thing I do on occasion is look at the parks from aerial and birdseye views from either Bing or Google maps. There is huge amounts of space by most of the WDW parks. Epcot is probably the most landlocked out of all the parks. AK has the potential to be epic in scale, and some of the more large land concepts could easily find a home there. Magic Kingdom has quite a bit of space past it's borders, example - using "Floridain Way" as the actual border of the park. DHS also has huge tracts of land next to it, some amazing things could be done with in those areas.

Pixie Hollow looks way too big to be part of the re-do. A play maze? boo! They could drop a flat themed to Fairies in there, some kind of invert spinner/fairy flight attraction good for kids. The Pixie Hollow lighting effects at DL are well done, but when you look at it, you can picture the effects being part of a dark ride. Or, since Little Mermaid is going to be massively popular, they would need an overflow q somewhere. Not a fan of duplicate rides being right next to each other. Certainly there is another family flat that would fit into the Dumbo/circus theme. In general, it would be extremely be nice if they took the design concept from Mermaid Lagoon over at TDS and applied it here.

That commerical is impressive! Thanks for that. I also wish DL & DCA would step up their Halloween efforts for the states. A few of their attractions already revolve around horror themes, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

The primary benefit (to me) is the free parking. At $15 bucks a pop, the savings add up real fast. And the discount on the food and merch is good too. Especially considering the food prices are typical "theme park high", the discount drops the price to a more reasonable level. And, there's the 15 off the price of the Flash Pass/Qbot rental, and that is very, very nice to have on hot, busy days.

Thanks for the Captian EO. That was my first theme park 3D movie ever. Brought back some good memories. I think it would be fitting if Michael Jackson did have a permanent attraction attraction built in the Disney parks. Clearly, his popularity remains high and a musical retrospective attraction of some kind would likely be a draw for the Disney parks, especially in Asia & Europe.

That's a cool shot with the art overlay. I'll be interested to see if the Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Mansion ride systems are cloned over to Paris, Tokyo or to CA one day. Seems like GC especially is an attempt at a less expensive version of Everest. There was an off the wall rumor about adding another ride to DL behind the rivers years ago. Maybe this GC could be that ride? I agree with everything about Toy Story Land. It doesn't really fit with the natural feel of the two new lands, or with the Jungle Cruise. And it's clearly is a land on the cheap if they are not including Toy Story Midway Mania in TSL, and instead throwing in a generic set of themed carnival rides. Worked out so well for them at AK and DCA! At this point, they might as well scrap TSL, and focus on expanding the two lands. Surely if they are going to do themed carnival rides in TSL, they could be adapted to the themes of MM and GC?

I am intrigued by the show. It's quite ambitious. Not sure if it will help the park that significantly next summer. Imo, Little Mermaid should have been completed first, then WOC, then Carsland. But I suppose they have their reasons (maybe hotel construction?).I am curious to see how/if they still use the E. Parade prior or after the WOC show ends. My tentative plan is to see it when the AP's are blocked out. I've read the trip reports of what happens when the AP flood DL to check out new shows - like Nightastic, and after being in that kind of crowd during Christmas season, no desire to experience that again. Also wondering if the AP will park hop from DL to DCA for WOC, and then back to DL like a mass exodus. From a crowd control perspective I'll be interested to see what happens.

Wow! That is one fantastic looking Splash Battle attraction!

Well, they have Marvel Superhero Island - so a "Wolverine" coaster would be good, maybe have it done by the time the 2nd movie comes out. Steel of course. Maybe like SROS up north - in a silver color scheme? Or they go crazy and build a mini-mountain to suggest the Canadian rockies as the theme of the ride. It may be redundant now that Manta is open, but a B&M flyer for Jurrasic Park, "Terrordactyl!". Too bad Land of The Lost stunk, because that would have been a natural fit for that area. Maybe a attraction based on Ice Age 3?

Thanks for all the info in this thread. I think they will come out of the bankruptcy in much better shape than before. I always wondered why they didn't declare before they started selling off parks in the prior management. I will definately hope for the best for the chain.

Nice video! The park does look quite nice.

And Silver Bullet was built well after Batman. It doesn't really matter if a park has similar attractions to the competition, in this case Knott's to SFMM, and vice versa, as long as it's solid ride that enhances the park.

On SFMM's wikipedia page, they do have the coaster listed for 2010, and Wiggles World along with Hurrican Harbor expansion for 2011. Who knows if that is really accurate or not. My personal experience with spinning coasters hasn't been that positive , so I kind of hope they don't clone something like Sierra Sidewinder. Are the Tony Hawk's better than SS? I've seen some of the footage from the European spinning coasters thanks to this site, and some of those do look pretty impressive. I do think SF in general is on the right track with adding themes to the coasters despite the cool reception people gave the Dark Knight. I don't think they can afford something on the level of Mummy's Revenge though. After seeing the popularity of even pretty modest 3D/4D movies at Seaworld CA, imo, that kind of install (Magic Moments retrofit?) would be a nice addition to the entertainment side of the park. Also, while I know they could never spend Buzz Lightyear level money, would be nice to see something like LegoLand's shooter attraction installed at SFMM. Even Oregon's very modest Enchanted Forest has one of these, and if they can afford it, certainly SFMM can as well.

That's an interesting concept about the Seuss Trolley taking the place of the old metro line. Maybe Zamperla could adapt one of their train rides to run along the old rail line.

They should do "Johnny Rockets: The Ride". A flywheel launch coaster with 50's era style race cars for the coaster train. Place it near any of the current in-park restaraunts, and viola, instant themed mini-section. NASCAR has yet to be added successfully to a theme park so far. If it was a mini-land, that would be huge in certain parts of the country. Something along the lines of what's in Vegas. Star Trek is still up for grabs isn't it? Probably expensive, but maybe they could strike a deal on the remains of what was at the Hilton in Vegas. In terms of hotels, everyone of the SF parks should have them. However, I don't think SF should pay for them out of pocket. If they got another chain, ideally like the Great Wolf Lodge, or even Nickelodeon hotels to build on/near their property, that potentially could be a good move.

My 2 cents. I'm thinking it would be Splash Battle attraction in the former Flashback location, the one back east turned out quite well.

The problem with a 5th park, is that it might be incredibly repetitive. There's not much else they could do, and even a park like Tokyo Disney Sea would bomb hard there in Florida. It would be beautiful, but unique enough to stand apart from the others? All the currently existing parks need new attractions, more than a simple retheme. Imo, Disneyworld borders on stale. I think they tend to coast on past success a bit too much. I think there is room for DCA's Paradise Pier to be incorporated into either Epcot or Disney Hollywood Studion, TDS's Mysterious Island into AK, Carsland to DHS, and so on. One thing Disneyworld doesn't have is a hotel with an indoor waterpark. That is something they could build that would be unique on their property. Something on the scale of the Ocean Dome in Japan? For a 5th gate, I think it would have to be a radical depature, it would have be a Six Flags on crack. Located well outside of the sightlines of MK, AK, Epcot, etc - clearly don't want to ruin the view of those parks. A series of record breaking coasters, with air conditioned queques. Coasters for kids, familys, and thrill seekers. A park that combined the appeal of a Disney midways with the thrills of a dedicated coaster park. A coaster park is the one thing they don't currently have.

That sounds interesting. Curious how they are going to handle the sight line issues for people sitting in the middle of the tram. The tram seating doesn't seem to lend itself to an unrestricted view of the filmed segments.

I believe that $25 deal expires on May 22. However, usually there is a promotion through either a local grocery store like Ralph's or through bringing a specially marked can of Coke to the park where admission is discounted.

If your'e in the Hollywood area, then Hollywood & Highland is really the main focus. From there, you can take an bus tour of stars homes/beverly hills area. Also, the El Capitan theater is a pretty nice place to see a movie, and there is the historic Chinese theater. It's also incredibly easy to catch the subway from there and go up to Universal Studios/Citywalk in in the valley. Santa Monica is a more "fun" beach, and the famous Venice Beach area is very close by. Santa Monica's Pier is the best developed on in our area, and the 3rd Street Promenade is Santa Monica is decent. Many, many restaraunts on the Promenade. There are also a number of waterparks in the area. Knott's Soak City would be the nearest to your hotel, and Raging Waters in San Dimas (30 minutes by car) is by far and away the largest. San Diego would be a fun day trip. 1.5 hours from Anaheim. Not only is there SeaWorld, but the Zoo, Wild Animal Park (outside of San Diego, by Encinitas), Belmont Park, Sea Lions at La Jolia Cove, the Gaslamp District, and Old Town. If your'e into malls, the best looking one in the LA area is Glendale's Americana on Brand. It would be an easy place to stop on the way back from the Getty.

In the spirit of questions. I renewed the Xtreme Flash Pass yesterday, and went through the FP training video. What is the percentage discount for XFP for the Flash Pass, and does it apply to only 1 per person per unit? I actually got 2 different answers at the park from employees. I bought it for myself, the rate was $19, reduced from regular price of $34. So like 56% off, which is an unusual percentage. Just wondering is that percentage applies to parties of 2 or more. Thanks. And it did work wonders. Started using it at approx. 11:30, by 1pm, knocked off Deja, Tatsu, Superman, Goliath, Collosuss. Extremely effective on Deja Vu, Superman and Collosuss. Tatsu you merge a wee bit early in the line imo, but then again, only 1 side was running. I'll be interested to experience it when both sides are going. Goliath, they didn't scan the unit, and you just kind of join the herd on the upper level. I noticed the times come up real quick, 20 minutes apart, and this was the regular FP. I did not opt for the X2 upgrade, only because I theorized that I didn't want to block out hours waiting for X2 to be available. But if the reservation comes up that quickly, then that might be worth it next time.

The video looked great! I finally saw the ride in person yesterday, May 16, and it's a really great looking ride in person. Kind of suprised that there looks to be quite a bit of station work left to be done in such a short amount of time. After that heat yesterday, I hope they are able to get line misters up and running in time for the next heat wave. Imo, I think this pretty much is the perfect style of coaster that SFMM needed. Not a kiddie ride by no means, not a terror ride like X2. And it looks to be a fairly high capacity ride, which is really needed.