kidcoaster 2

Remember when in Fuji-Q it is against the rules to fight bears... Save it for the parking lot.

Here is a small preview from today at the show. Full report coming Sunday. The entrance to the show floor! Who wants to get me a birthday present? Just one of the many aisles. This place was huge! If you like Vortex's there many options of them at Transworld! Of course there would be boobs! Ohhh and there was some time spent exploring the city museum! There were many actors wandering the floor.

I'll be one of the couple there wearing Ghoul Mansion swag. More than likely I'll be wearing a hoodie today.

I am doing the Darkness aswell.

Ohh there will be ^^ Yeah it was tough choosing from the many different things to do but I had to choose the museum from all the reports from here. I will save the Price is Fright for next year. I will keep my eye out for you this weekend and I'll be sure to say hi!

Those knock-off theme park simulator games looks better than this. Looks like theme park studio is the one getting my money.

Yup, I will be there! I was planning do a report after the event but there is so much going on that one report won't be able to cover it at all. Are you doing the City Museum event Friday?

Idlewild just announced the closure to their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/idlewildpark?hc_location=timeline http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_B3FSvYem4 Though during an event in Pittsburgh last week Idlewild's PR person said that the Trolley ride is just closed for the 2014 season to allow enough time to make the conversion. http://www.post-gazette.com/local/westmoreland/2014/03/12/Idlewild-and-SoakZone-to-replace-Mister-Rogers-Neighborhood-of-Make-Believe-ride/stories/201403120160

This is what King's Island does for their Skycoaster. The price changes every hour based on the rides popularity.

I have been in the Halloween mood lately so I am going to start my October trip to LA. my day started with a full shift at work before leaving at 3pm to head to Cleveland to catch my direct flight to LAX. The flight was uneventful but we did fly right over Las Vegas so that was neat. We arrived and the LAX magic started already with us having to wait on a gate. Finally we got a gate (In a different terminal from what we were told originally). I grabbed my stuff at met up with Ryan outside so we could make our way to Long Beach for our first haunt. Queen Mary Dark Harbor First you have to pay the parking fee ($20! And people complain about SFMM...) as you enter the lot you instantly see the Queen Mary dominating over everything. Next you have to find the entrance which was like a maze before coming to the security lines. Being from Western Pa I have never experienced the intensity of the security as they have at the LA haunts. It was weird getting a full pat down before entering they were much more thorough as my CDG experience... Anyway we than met up with Kevin and made our way in. With our fastlanes in had we made our way to our first haunt. The Village This was the first one you came across and with our fastlanes we breezed right past the line. Now something I didn't expect were how long some of these mazes were and this one was a long one! It had many great actors such as the doctor who was excellent at improving. The "Here piggy piggy" guy was also excellent with the tone of his character. The Circus Next up we made our way to the new haunt this year which was in the big dome and as I am sure you guessed was themed to a circus with lots of clowns and many performers. The first time through I think we caught the actors during break rotation so I wasn't impressed but the second time was much better with many of the spots filled in. Containment Next up was our first haunt in the ship and this one was unfortunately my least favorite. It felt like they struggled to fill in much of the attraction with there being several rooms completely empty. Some with an actor and some not. This haunt was themed to an illness going through the ship and had lots of blood. HellFire The continuing along the haunts in the ship we come to Hell Fire which one again is obvious of it's theming being put to fire. The haunt also takes you through the ship's engine room across a bridge (that may or may not drop) with lots of sparks and heat. Once again several great actors and some hot ones . Submerged Next up was the last haunt in the ship which was themed to all things water. Many of the actors reminded me of Davy Jones's crew from Pirates of the Caribbean with sea creatures growing on them. Once again many great actors and even had two signature characters first was Graceful Gale who was set up in a large room half way up the stairs. Next was Scary Mary who is based on a little girl who drowned in the pool during one of the ships crossings. She is set up at the ship's pool which the haunt goes through. DeadRise Next was the last of the 6 haunts and was built around many storage containers. Once again had many good actors but the lighting and fog really made this one for me. Once again this one was pretty long. Freakshow Having completed the haunts we had time left so we decided to check out the freakshow. Funny since we were going to plan a stop at the real Venice Beach Freakshow but unfortunatly they were out of town. Anyway there was 5 freaks and to see each was a dollar each. It had talking crabs and many cheesy things but the best was for the dark ghost. All the shows were you walk through two storage containers see the freak and come back out the side so we were expecting that with this one too. But that was not the case. It was completely dark and had several turns. With how wide the containers were it was tricky to get through but me and Ryan managed to but we did lose Kevin for a bit . After that we grabbed a snack and did the Village again aswell as the Circus, Hellfire, and Submerged before making our way out. One more really cool this was the huge party area they had set up in the center of the haunt complete with a DJ and staged. Many of the roaming actors were jumping in an partying along too. Overall this event blew me away. It was much better than I thought with a very professional set up and a great value compared to the other haunts in the area. I would highly recommend it if you are planning to do an event in the area. Here is how I would list the attractions. 1. HellFire - The use of the boiler rooms was perfect. 2. Submerged - A very subtle creepy vibe and going with legends was a smart move. 3. The Village - Great actors make this one. 4. DeadRise - Not many actors but good use of effects. 5. Circus - Fun circus theme with lots of clowns but when compared to the rest this one is really short. 6. Containment - A lot of wasted space and a lot of room for potential that was not reached. On the way out I grabbed a TShirt and said good bye to Kevin and me and Ryan mad our way to our hotel. After checking in we went to check out In and Out which I never had and I was not disappointed. We also drove right by Knott's so it was a nice preview for the next day. We returned to our hotel and crashed. We had a long day of Knott's ahead. Waiting at Cleveland international. First time flying out of here. Shame United is pulling out. I must be at LAX! Las Vegas! Hi Kyle! Queen Mary! A real beauty of a ship! This must be the right place. First haunt! It was a very great set up they had here! Who doesn't like clowns? Time to head into the ship for the 3 haunts! Doesn't get more authentic than this! The infamous pool. It looks nice though! Deadrise! Just follow the blinding lights. Let's check out freaks! We were gonna make a stop at the Venice beach Freakshow but they were out of town so this will have to do. With the haunts complete it's time to explore the rest of the event. The first one we did. They had 5 freaks to see His victim. The Dr. If you can be sure to check this event out! A sneak peek of our next day! Thanks for reading. To give you an idea of the layout of the park. Finally after about 3 hours it was time to head out. Glad we stopped by!

^ Yes, there used to be a road the went by infront of it and you would cross the road and enter the park (through the sign) before the park closed the road and expanded.

That last update was great! Looking forward to finally trying it out!

Doesn't surprise me with how big Hello Kitty is in Asia. I took a bus from Singapore to LEGOLAND Malaysia and the bus stopped at a Hello Kitty "theme park" as they advertised it. Even though it wasn't that big most on the bus choose to visit it over the full sized LEGOLAND.

Welcome to my last day in Japan First of all thanks a ton to Robb and Elissa for a great trip! You guys did great pushing all 38 of us through a very busy country and figuring out all the busses, trains, taxis, and planes for this trip! Looking forward to my next trip! Ok so I only had a few hours to spend but I knew I didn't want to spend my last day in the hotel so I opted to add a 4th day at Disney (For only $25!). So me and Matt knew we wanted a last ride on Pooh so we made our way to Disneyland. Crowds were already heavy but we made a b-line to Pooh and got our fastpasses and even hopped in the short queue. Since we had time to spare till our Fast Pass time was up we went into Toon Town to do Rodger Rabbit but it already had a line so we went over to Fantasyland to do one more ride on the Haunted Mansion. Finally our time was up for Pooh so we did it than made our way to DisneySea for one last visit. We opted to head to Indiana Jones to use it's single rider line followed by our last ride of the trip on Raging Spirits. After such we took our time walking through the park taking it all in one last time and even stopped for one last Popcorn. It was than time for us to leave so we grabbed the monorail and returned to our hotel to grab our bags and wait for the bus. It was an easy 45 minute bus ride to the airport even with a checkpoint before the airport to check Passports (Do anywhere else do this?) We were dropped off at our respective terminals. We grabbed lunch before splitting ways to head to my gate. The TVs all over the airport were showing the news of the tragic San Francisco crash which happened a few hours earlier. The plane was a 777 which was the same as I was taking and they had let to learn the cause so you could tell some people were nervous. The crew was making announcements about evacuation procedures every 5 minutes and again before we landed. The flight was nice I got an upgrade and caught up on some newer movies (Seriously why doesn't Delta do this???) After a quick layover in Chicago I made my way home. It was off to bed and to work the next morning. That is it for Asia guys thanks for reading! Still to come are Kennywood, and a bunch of LA Haunts and Parks! Back at the hotel Walking into Toon Town once more Rodger Rabbits Time to go... Time for one last Pooh You are walking right into the story book Pooh's Ballon Rabbits Howse The castle looks beautiful today! See that plane? It is a sad reminder it's my last day in Japan World Bazaar one last time Decorations were everywhere for the 30th anniversary DisneySea! New York Can never have enough pictures of the Mountain Last ride of the trip Congo Area Random map of the Transit Steamer Line So beautiful! One last popcorn for the road (Or air) Goodbye DisneySea hopefully we meet again Our last morning got us a beautiful view of Tokyo Bay! Heading into the park you could tell it was going to be a little busy Waiting for the bus That is it for Tokyo Disney Resort and Japan! Thanks a ton for reading! The resorts main gift shop

Great photos, funny how winter is my favorite time to be in the park!

There is enough room infront of the current park and where the second park would be if the decided to put a downtown Disney in.

This next update takes us away from the Disney resort for awhile ( ). A group of us met in the lobby at 11 to head into Tokyo to sightsee which was good because we were hearing that Fast Passes were already gone for the day! From the monorail you could also tell the parks were busy so leaving turned out to be a good idea. It started a little rough as we figured out the rail systems we needed but once we got going it was a really nice trip. Shibuya Crossing Our first stop was the Times Square of Japan and a spot I was really looking forward to checking out. It is a lot more exciting at night but I was excited to see it anyway. Our first stop out of the station was the statue of Hachikō. Hachikō was a dog who used to meet his owner out side of the station everyday after work until one day his owner passed away in 1925 but Hachikō still waited for him every day for 9 years outside the station. This was not the original statue as that was scrapped in WW2 but this was a recreation and is still a favorite meeting spot. Next we headed to the crossing it self. We waited a few seconds before we crossed trying to dodge the many people in a hurry going every direction. Once we made it across we went down a back alley where we grabbed lunch at McDonalds. I finally got to try Shaka Shaka Chicken. Cheese was pretty good. Some got the Gold quarter pounder with the 5 pounds of packaging. It was pretty weird. Next we crossed Shibuya once again and grabbed a train to our next stop. Harajuku District Harajuku is famous for fashion but also home to a Japanese dollar store which we wanted to check out. We took a quick walk around before doing some shopping. The Dollar store offered many different types of snacks as well as souvenirs and random Japanese finds. It was worth a stop. Roppongi Tower Next up we headed to Roppongi Tower. Tokyo Tower used to be the best place to go for views of Tokyo but now they have Skytree which towers over the entire city but Roppongi Tower now towers over Tokyo Tower. When we approached we were nervous because of a HUGE line wrapping around the building which we thought was to get to the top. In a way it was. See the Harry Potter exposition is in town and it is at the top of the tower (Yes it don't make sense). So it was a several hour wait (I see why Universal Studios Japan is building WWoHP) to get to the elevators to the top. Luckily though if you are only going to the top for the view there was only a small wait to buy your ticket and none for the elevators. We got our tickets and took a lap admiring the views and taking a bunch of photos. We also took a quick walk through the "love" art museum. Akihabara District Next up we headed to the Akihabara District where they are famous for all things electronic. We walked through several arcades and took in some of the "side stops". Plenty of cosplay going on in this area. Next we headed back to Disney were we took a short break before me and Robert headed back over to DisneySea. First we grabbed some dinner in the cape cod area before finding a spot for Fantasmic unfortunately the show the day before was canceled due to weather but this show was going on! It had many floats, dancers, pyro and a giant dragon! Mount Prometheus was even included in the show. It was awesome and we even scored a great vantage point! Next up we met with Steve and Priscilla at the lounge in the SS Columbia where we hung out and chatted for awhile. I wasn't hungry but the food everyone else had looked great. The lounge itself is really nice with some very friendly staff. We also took walk on the ship's top deck. It was a really well done bulding and felt exactly like a cross Atlantic steamer. We than walked back to Indiana Jones at about 930 but it was already closed for the night. We ended up taking one last spin on 20,000 Leagues under the sea before heading out. It was a really great day of exploring however the next day was my flight home. But I still managed to pay one more visit to both parks! That small update is next! Nice little lighthouse The Arabian section Cape Cod is really beautiful at night "The Grand Staircase" A look at New York Harbor The Little Mermaid section The entrance to the Arabian section Well that is it for this update. One more coming in a few days. Awe no Gyoza The Double Carousel The main square of the Arabian section Looking from the bow of the ship with TOT looming the distance Next we headed into the SS Columbia Simba! That's means it's time for Fantasmic! Sunset over Tokyo Disneysea The New York section at night Fire! The Dragon! Let's take a stroll around Robert enjoying his drink in the lounge The Princesses and chip and dale! The finally Suddenly we were transported back to Disney Sea! Getting away from Disney for a bit we end up in Tokyo! Akihabara District is next So much to see I wish I had more time More of tokyo This was a really cool section of the city Be careful when poking your head in some of these DVD places Who doesn't love some Donkey Kong? Mario! Some old school games One last photo Roppongi Tower dominates everything! Taking a side street to lunch. Hachikō I think Hachikō is bigger than the Godzilla statue. Some serious wrapping for a burger.... Ryan and his Gold Quarter Pounder An overview with Tokyo Tower and Skytree off in the distance. You can buy some heads at the dollar store. ... than there is chaos. A seriously awesome city! Tokyo Tower again from the top of Roppongi Tower The infamous Intamin half pipe that never opened. Mhmm... what's that? Tokyo Tower Roppongi Tower Giant spider! Hey I know that name! Lady Gaga does her shopping here Ok really creepy. What's that? Kinda creepy... This sounds better! Sounds.... tasty...? Harajuku District Shibuya Crossing It's all calm... The "Times Square of Japan"

Leofoo Village Theme Park I remember seeing those mascots before and it was from the trip reports from the TPR trip to Taiwan last year. I did a quick google search and matched that train and mascots to the parks website. www.themeparks.net.tw/eng/park/park05/

I wondered all over the SS Columbia but only walked through the fortress. I got one or two more updates to do which will cover some more. Wish I would of been there to witness that! Too bad the lady who measured you our last day wasn't as excited.

I take the snow as something you are getting away from and the many airports meaning your destination requires many stops. Also thinking of where you have not been and one that keeps popping up is South Africa. They love races and of course there are coasters there.

The sling shot ride going in near Gemini?

Will this upgrade allow the ride to run more cars? I thought I heard it was restricted to 3 or 4 for safety concerns.

It is time for Tokyo DisneySea! Once again we woke up early to beat the crowds to the gates. As we ate breakfast the wind and the rain was already hitting the window so we knew it was going to be a wet day but it worked in our favor and kept the crowds down a bit. We made our way down to Bayside Station and it was just one stop over to be dropped off at the park gates. We waited for about 45 minutes till the park opened. Journey to the Center of the Earth Once inside the park some split off to grab Tower of Terror Fastpasses and we met them at Journey's entrance for our first ride of the day on the park's signature attraction. It was a very short wait before we boarded our elevator to travel down to the cars that will take us to the center of earth. The ride starts out gentle with a trip through the gem filled caverns of the earth coming across the occasional creature. Eventually things start to go horribly wrong as you are diverted off course and end up in the middle of a huge storm as the lava starts to flow and you come face to face with the horrific LAVA MONSTER! You than make your daring escape as you pop out of the earth before diving right back into before arriving safely at the end of your trip. This ride kicks a$$! 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea This was the next ride we came to. It was a walk on which was really nice. The ride is just as the name makes it out as a journey deep under the sea. you will pass shipwrecks, treasure, and merpeople! It is not crazy but it is neat. Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster Honestly this was the most "boring" or "bland" ride here. Every other attraction is impressive with amazing theming but than you have Flounder's... a roller skater with very little theming. But it does have the famous fish no-smoking sign and it is at DisneySea so it is automatically 150x more awesome than any other roller skater! Raging Spirits Next we got the other credit at the park. I missed this at Disneyland Paris so I had no idea what to expect but really it wasn't that bad! Add some fire and fog and you got a pretty sweet ride! Indiana Jones Adventure We got Fast Passes earlier so this was our next stop. I have never been to Disneyland so I knew very little about this ride besides the ride vehicles. It had some of the famous scenes from the movies including snakes, insects and many booby traps especially the giant stone ball! Electric Railway It was almost our time for our Tower Of Terror Fastpasses so we made our way to the other side of the park via the very convenient railway. Tower of Terror Shiriki! That is all........ Ok no. But if you flash back to my Hong Kong Disneyland report I mentioned about the connection between Mystic Manor and Tower of Terror. See the Hotel Hightower is owned by Harrison Hightower III who is a member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers along with Lord Henry Mystic who owns Mystic Manor. During one of Mr. Hightower's trips he returns with an idol named Shiriki Utundu along with the curse in it. One night it comes to life and takes over the Hotel and is responsible for Mr. Hightower's mysterious disappearance. So first you come to the preshow room where (In Japanese) you learn the back story and you get your first introduction to Shiriki. Next you board your elevator after passing through "the hallway". During your ride Shiriki causes all kinds of mayhem and you run into Mr. Hightower one last time. If you want to skip it because you think it is the same as the other towers DON'T. One thing that was weird was the ride operators here would not even let you take photos in the queue and would ask you to not use your phone if you were texting in the queue. Very weird especially when considering Disney is the most relaxed for on ride items out the industry. Our group on Tower of Terror. Aquatopia Next we did one of Tokyo DisneySea's most famous attractions Aquatopia! It uses the trackless system on the water as you follow a very random course! It is weird and it is awesome! Stormrider Next up we caught Stormrider. It is a really weird simulator but it wasn't terrible. Do not miss the different endings. Under the Sea Next we headed into Mermaid Lagoon... It was impressive right away. It had several family rides and was themed really good to look like you are on the ocean floor! Our destination was the Mermaid Lagoon Theater. We were told that this show would be getting a complete revamp soon so we made it a point to see it. The entire show takes place above your head and it is really neat to watch the performers swinging (swimming) above your head and dancing. The giant Ursula was neat too. Next our group split up for dinner as we wanted to eat different things. Me and Anthony grabbed some pizza in the Mediterranean section followed by a Turkey Leg and a frozen beer in the mysterious island section. Sadly the frozen beer was nothing more than a frozen head. But it was beer so yay! Sindbad's Storybook Voyage After we met back up we took on Sinbad's Voyage. The ride is a small boat ride like small world but was a lot better than I expected it with some really cool animatronics and a fun story and characters defiantly check it out! Next we walked around exploring the park for a bit until I retreated back to my hotel for a bit before returning later in the evening to grab another ride on Journey, TOT, Indy, 20,000, and ofcourse some night rides on Aquatopia. We also checked out Toy Story Mania all lit up which I was surprised to see the park do since it was down for it's annual maintenance. We tried for one last ride on Indy but one thing the park does that is inconvenient is they shut down the queues 30 minutes earlier than the park closing. Eventually we headed back to the hotel for the night. It was a great day at an amazing park! I defiantly understand now why people love it so much! Get to Tokyo NOW! To enter the park you must first pass under the park's hotel. Eeeee! YAY we made it! Mount Prometheus! A look over at the New York harbor area First ride of the day! Next up was 20,000 Leagues under the Sea! Mysterious Island Captain Nemo's submarine More of Mysterious Island My Jaw was on the floor at this point! No seriously a park sweep came and picked it up! The park also had a great transportation system of boats. GYOZA!!!!! First credit of the park! Just felt out of place? But this sign is awesome! The park is really beautiful anywhere you look! Looking toward the Arabian Coast area. Raging Spirits is next! I loved this sign! The loading platform. Fog makes anything better! Walking through Lost River Delta It is pouring and we have a long walk.... let's hop on the Electric Railway! Aquatopia! We will get back to it later. Heading into New York Beautiful! (Besides the fogged windows) The other side of the park. Tower of Terror! But more important... Shiriki! Actually it is the Hotel Hightower... I thought we were at Disney not Six Flags? Watch out for Icebergs and stuff... I really loved the ship! Heading back toward Mount Prometheus A look at the Mediterranean Harbor Still dragging my jaw! What is the point of this thing? That's right! There is none! Finally time for Aquatopia! Back toward Lost River Delta That's my flight out of here in the next few days! But this area felt very empty and there is a large plot of land behind those trees? Future expansion maybe? This ride was awesome! Mount Prometheus again! Let's go check out Mermaid Lagoon The exterior is impressive! Is it Mermaid Lagoon or is it Triton's Kingdom? What ever it is it's awesome! Under the Sea! Whale mouth gift shop! Back in the Arabian Coast Magic Lamp Theater Looking back at the entrance to the section Arabian Sequester? Daisy Duck! Next up was Sinbad! Was way better than I was expecting! Stitch was awesome and while we waited for the rest of the group he grabbed a seat next to me. You see this great statue on the way in. Tokyo DisneySea's version of the Universal Globe Looking back at the park entrance on our way out. Who wants the front right seats? Loading platform The queue Queue theming is just as impressive as the ride theming Hey guys! I love this quote! The onride photo caught me at a really weird time. Seriously I look like a ghost! But look for our special rider! The area is impressive! Tokyo DisneySea is an amazing park and it should be on everyone's bucket list. Thanks for a great day! A trip through Tokyo is next! New York harbor at night Night time at Disneysea is something special This ride was really cool and the Lava Monster is my third favorite Disney ride character behind The Jade statue at Mystic Manor and Shiriki. Time for another ride! Let's go! Mysterious Island is beautiful at night. Time to try this out! It was really good. Aquatopia is even more awesome at night! A shot of Toy Story Mania all lit up even though it was closed....

^ Ah we missed that one! Great report Rob! I really liked Hirakata. It was a really cute little park.

It is coming out that Wednesday is PUSH's last day. www.insidethemagic.net/2014/02/push-the-talking-trash-can-could-get-canned-at-magic-kingdom-fans-rise-against-walt-disney-world-entertainment-cut/ The story mentions a contract? I thought this was something Disney came up with?