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Continuing on from my Animal Kingdom report... We arrived at Hollywood Studios right at noon with a reservation at 50s Primetime Cafe at 12:05. I also came armed with an 11:30 Star Tours reservation (which I made so that I could hit it ASAP to open up the rest of the A tier rides), 3:30 Tower, 5:10 Rise, and 6:45 Slinky Dog (which I snagged a couple days before after initially being unavailable). We went over and scanned in at Star Tours, but it took a while to get into the ride and we ended up just running across to the exit to make our lunch reservation. However, I was now able to reserve Smugglers Run at 1:15. Lunch at Primetime was delicious and the atmosphere was fun. There were so many things about the rooms that reminded me of how my parents and grandparents would have decorated their kitchens when I was a kid. After lunch we stopped at Star Tours (which was a walk on) to actually ride it and this is still a really fun attraction. Obviously it has been well eclipsed by many newer rides but it is still worth checking out for sure. Continued down into Galaxy's Edge which was my first time there. This area is absolutely massive and it took a while to actually find Smugglers Run but eventually we were in. My wife and I ended up being pilots and were pretty f*cking terrible at our jobs. We loved the ride though and the theming is obviously incredible. After this ride we managed to snag a Toy Story Mania lightning lane at 2:30 despite it not having great times available earlier in the day (I have to say this system sucks in some ways but also was surprising in how much stuff would pop up out of nowhere unexpectedly). We ended up waiting standby for Runaway Railway which was posted at an hour but barely took 30 minutes. My wife was a big Great Movie Ride fan and thought this did not do it justice, but I thought it was cute and fun. Headed back over to Mania which I love. One of my favorite shooting rides (probably because I used to really enjoy Toy Story when I was younger) and it's just a great looking ride. I ended up snagging a Rock 'n Roller Coaster LL that overlapped my Tower LL which was perfect. Speaking of which, Tower of Terror is just a f*cking masterpiece. Despite the insane attractions Disney has built in the past couple decades, this is still my favorite on the property and everything about it has stood the test of time. Unbelievable theming and the ride itself is somehow way more thrilling than most modern freefall towers to me. I wish I had time to lap it over and over. On the opposite end of the spectrum, its neighbor just kinda sucks and I still can't figure out how this fits in a Disney park. There's some intensity, a lot of roughness, and I just think the premise of the ride is meh. I would rate this the worst indoor coaster at Disney by far, and I don't think that is a controversial take. Headed back down to the Galaxy to check out Oga's Cantina. Look, I know that it's a very cozy spot in the movies and they really wanted to go with the "exclusive club" feel and I get it. But having to cram into a booth with 2 other families, one of which had 3 screaming young children (one of which proceeded to dump an entire drink all over a bag of merchandise I had under my seat) kind of ruined the experience. It looks terrific and all, and I get that they want to take in as many people as possible, but that was a miserable experience. The drink was great however. Next was Rise and the theming on this was out of this world. I thought the ride might be a bit over hyped though. After experiencing Flight of Passage a few hours earlier and being blown away, I kind of walked away from this one expecting more. Not sure what else to say. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan and maybe that had something to do with it, but I liked everything else here so I'm not sure why Rise didn't do it for me. I had some time to kill before Slinky, so I reserved Alien Swirling Saucers which I then felt bad walking past a line full of 5 year olds just because I was bored. The ride is not great. We went over and saw the Muppets show afterwards which was a much better way of killing time. That show is adorable. Finally our Slinky Dog time came up and we even scored front row. Admittedly, as a coaster this thing has no forces whatsoever and it really doesn't need them. For the kids it's a home run of a ride and we loved it. After this we had one more park to check off, and hopped on the Skyliner to Epcot. Arrived shortly after 7:30 and headed over for my first Guardians ride. Upon reaching the first room at the top of the line, the thing broke down for probably 30 minutes which became a bit frightening, but thankfully it finally reopened with just one side. An hour later we were zooming around space to the beats of Conga. My thoughts? Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But I think I expected more. The top speed is 60 and it's 5500 feet long yet if you told me Space Mountain was longer and faster I would almost believe it. The visuals are incredible, absolutely amazing. I think I just expected a bit more from the coaster. Unfortunately due to the breakdown it was after 9 when we got off so we were not able to get on Remy or take in some of the amazing Epcot atmosphere and food. Next time. I love this park and only popping in for an hour killed me as much as rushing through Animal Kingdom. It was a long and tiring (and expensive) 14 hour extravaganza of a day, but we had a blast. Once we financially recover from the tickets, lightning lanes, food, and merchandise that we went a little too crazy with, maybe we'll be back sooner than later!

This past Wednesday I did a massive 14-hour park hopper marathon across 3 parks, hitting pretty much everything new to Disney since 2012 (except Magic Kingdom since I was just there in February). I started the day at Animal Kingdom right at 8am and marched right over to Navi River Journey since it was still a walk-on at that point (I had a Lightning Lane for Flight of Passage at 10:45). First off, Pandora looks absolutely amazing and I see what all the commotion is about. I only wish I could have seen it at night. Anyway, Navi is a really well done boat ride with amazing visuals. To quote my wife, it is probably now the best of the Disney boat rides. I wouldn't necessarily jump into a 60+ min wait that this sometimes gets, but otherwise I would easily ride this over and over if I had the time just to try to take it all in. Heading back into the center of the park, I noted that Kilimanjaro Safaris still had a 10 minute line. My only must-dos left were Dinosaur and Tough to Be a Bug, however I only had a limited amount of time in this park as we had to be at DHS for a lunch reservation at 12:05. I knew heading over to Safaris would probably remove the chance of trekking up a particular mountain in this park, but I've made that trek several times before and decided we should see animals while we were at Animal Kingdom. The safari ride was amazing as usual, and on a decently cool morning the animals were very active. When it was over I was happy to have chosen this over Everest. I had never ridden Dinosaur before, so we headed there next and walked right on. I don't know why I haven't heard more positive remarks about this ride in the past (honestly I had no idea what to expect) because this thing blew me away. The vehicle's movements are way more out of control than I expected, the darkness of the ride is pretty crazy, and overall I loved this thing. I hope they do it justice when they retheme it with the new area in a couple years. On the way back over to Pandora, there was a major nostalgia trip that I needed to make before it goes away this winter. I loved It's Tough to be a Bug when I was a kid and I just had to see it one more time. Unfortunately I did not get the full experience, as the water effects did not work in my seat nor did the "bugs leaving the theatre before you" effect. I guess they've already given up maintaining the ride. But it's still a fun show and I'm glad I got to see it one more time. Back into Pandora, I had a few minutes until my Flight of Passage reservation and spent that time at Satu'li Canteen chowing on Burger Pods. These things tasted amazing and that whole restaurant had a really nice atmosphere to it. Absolutely stop here if you're in Pandora. Anyway, 10:45 came up and we headed to Flight of Passage which I'm sure everyone else on this board has probably ridden already, but this thing was amazing in every way possible. The theming both outside and inside the ride, the presentation, and the ride itself. Incredible. After getting off Flight of Passage it was already 11:15 and we had to book it out to the car and head over to Hollywood Studios. I was sad to have had to rush Animal Kingdom, I love the park and definitely look forward to getting more of a full and more relaxed day next time I go. And I absolutely have to see Pandora at night. Sad to see Dinoland USA have to be killed off, but I'm sure they'll do a great job with its replacement.

Unless the crowd levels ever start actually dropping at Disney, hoping for a price reduction is a pipe dream.

For the low, low price of $449 you can skip every line at Magic Kingdom, as long as you've already ponied up $1k+ on a room. That's $150 more than I paid for a national Six Flags Platinum Flash Pass that is good for 17 months

I might stop in tomorrow if it's not too rainy. But tonight?...F that!

It's motorized swan boats that go up and down a small creek. There's a miniature train on the riverbank next to you and the Skyride crosses overhead. It's funny that Great Escape still has a Skyride considering that the incident that led to some other parks closing their Skyrides happened there. But yeah, the place was totally dead so we got a boat to ourselves and it's just a really peaceful experience and it feels like there's no way you're in an actual Six Flags park. Like I said, this park sucks from a thrill standpoint (aside from having two good woodies and an awesome skyscraper ride) but it's a park I would love to have as a home park as it's just a great place to have a relaxing day for a few hours. You almost experience withdrawal not having to deal with roving groups of teenage douchebags acting like idiots everywhere. For example... Fully operational freestyle machines right out in the open with no employees nearby to monitor them. Meanwhile, 200 miles to the south at Great Adventure they took all their freestyle machines and had to move them to where only employees can access them. Because New Jersey. I would love to see this park take out Steamin Dump and replace it with some kind of family launcher like SFNE is getting. But otherwise it doesn't bother me at all that their lineup is what it is. It's a nice family park.

I was at a wedding over the weekend in Albany and figured I should take a ride up to Great Escape today to check out the new hotness. I went into the day with a splitting headache and therefore didn't ride much (it was already building before the wedding and I can assure you the open bar did NOT help cure it ) but we still had a really nice day. Arrived around 1:00 and it was clear that mother nature was going to take Oktoberfest literally. While the forecast for most of the area was mid 60s and sunny, anyone from Northern New England or the Adirondacks knows a sunny but cool day in the fall really means it's probably going to rain anyway, and there were no less than 3 heavy showers that blew through with strong winds and would immediately drop the temp to the low 50s when they hit. So it was pretty much late October feeling in the park today, which to me just added to the festive atmosphere. After hanging out in the shops up front during the first heavy shower of the day, we headed up to Bobcat which was only running 1 train and had about a 15 minute wait at that point (and would grow longer through the day) and rode in the 2nd to last row. Like all family Gravity Groups, this thing is an absolute blast and glass smooth. It's zippy, has a few good ejector hills, and is just a total home run for a park like Great Escape. Kudos to them for being the only Six Flags park that managed to open their 2024 coaster in 2024. The ride and entire area looks great and I can't wait to go back on a random weekday next summer when 4 people are in the park so I can reride it over and over. Dodged the next shower by having lunch in the Festhaus, and then headed back to Comet. Running 1 train here also, but only about a 4 train wait for the front. Last time I was here I think I zen-rode this solo 4 times in a row, so it was weird riding with a full train. It rode a lot faster with some decent airtime and some pretty significant positives in the valleys. Even though the ride is perfectly smooth, it brought my headache back with a vengeance but what a great ride. Not sure why it says "world's best roller coaster" on the front of the train but it is really damn good and it's great that this park has two awesome wooden coasters now. Kind of moseyed around for a while, trying to get my headache to go away. We got some Oktoberfest food offerings and dodged yet another rain shower before walking towards the front. We hopped on the Skyride which was almost a downright cold ride in the whipping wind behind the rain shower, but is a nice ride over the pathways and I really started to appreciate just how much this park oozes charm. We further appreciated the charm by getting a zen ride on the Swan Boats next. This part of the park is absolutely gorgeous and it's such an unreal feeling knowing you're in a Six Flags park. Headed out after this as my head wasn't going to allow me to ride any of the thrill rides and it was hurting just to walk around at that point. Sad I missed ADK outlaw, rerides on Bobcat, and some of the other flats but we had a great day anyway. I would love to have this place as a home park. While there isn't much for thrillseekers and the place has the worst assortment of steel coasters anywhere, it's just such a relaxing and peaceful park and it's the kind of place that nice to just walk around and take in the atmosphere, which is in stark contrast to my home park SFNE and its blacktop pathways and lack of shade.

Today's featured wiki article I'm still sad that I've been to BGT twice and it was closed both times. Definitely the most unique drop tower I've ever seen.

Per the app, Log Flume has reopened. If they're going to debut the Flume the week before Labor Day, perhaps they can give us a sneak preview of the Flash in December?

So Cedar Point can give a months notice to ride a water ride before it closes, but Busch Gardens only gives 9 days for a classic coaster that I'm sure has been in the plans for months. Okay. I really need to ride Shockwave at SFOT, feels like it may be the last Schwartzkopf with intensity left (that hasn't been neutered by Six Flags).

That ballpark will have a roof....I think? I hope?

I mean I see people with hooded sweatshirts at parks when it's in the 90s but I see your point .. Honestly the summer heat doesn't really bother me that much anymore but I still can't stand those stretches when it won't go below 75 at night. Glad to have these 45 degree mornings back and humidity gone (for a few days anyway). I love fall.

The whole idea that they closed perhaps the 2nd most famous (and still very busy) casino in Vegas (only behind Caesars IMO) to replace it with a generic Hard Rock is sad to me. Treasure Island is right next door, a shell of its former self and usually a ghost town. Why not tear that one apart instead? The Trop closing was sad enough although that place was pretty dead and kind of a dump. But the freaking Mirage. I'll never understand the logic.

Hit the park for a few hours this afternoon to set up my season Flash Pass which came in handy as the park was pretty busy by Tuesday standards. Weather was gorgeous in the upper 60s and it's definitely starting to feel fall-like! If I had no Flash Pass today I would've just lapped Superman as it was a walk on the whole afternoon. Everything else I rode (Pandemonium, Skyscreamer, Harley Quinn, Riddler, Joker, Batman) had waits of 30 mins to 1 hour. Everything that could was running two trains but the dispatches on most of the rides we're definitely on the slow side. Skyscreamer was rotating about 270 degrees at the top with a pretty solid breeze! Meanwhile, on one of my rides on Superman they were dispatching us just as the next train was hitting the 2nd helix and that crew was flying the whole night. Wicked Cyclone had some breakdown problems as I encountered the line being dumped two separate times as I walked up. 3rd time I finally got on in row 2. Usually ride this in the back, so it was nice to get a different perspective. Always a great time, but when the train got back to the brakes they hadn't even opened the air gates for the next train. Kind of marched right back to Superman after seeing those kind of operations. Checked out that new (maybe? I honestly have no f*cking idea if it's actually new) bar under the Superman lift hill which had a really good selection of beers and I settled on a Del's Summer Shandy which is probably coming up on the end of its season. It was nice to actually spend some time in the park as my last few trips have been very brief. Good to see them running pretty much at 100% (other than Scream only running 1 tower) with nothing closed as far as I could tell (except some stuff in the waterpark apparently). Nothing new happening in the Quantum spot yet, hopefully they get going on time and don't follow the Great Adventure construction schedule! Also...how long have the M&M ads on the steps been gone?

I thought it pretty clearly said "admission and parking only" for the all park passport on the site but I was looking at everything closely so maybe it gets missed if you're only briefly looking at it.

I just think it's crazy to put a Maserati inside a 3 foot tall fence at Great Adventure and not expect it to get vandalized

I lifted this off Facebook. The Batmobile was replaced by a Maserati to advertise some show coming to Max. I personally think they're out of their minds. Not that they're advertising, but that they put a Maserati inside a 3 foot tall fence where there is a 99.9% chance it will get vandalized or broken into.

Finally got the add on to the legacy membership to work. $99 Cedar Fair season pass sounds like a deal to me They also suckered another $300 out of me for the national Ultimate Flash Pass which is good the rest of this year as well. That deal seemed too good to be true. I hope to take advantage and hit some new Six Flags parks (and it will also come in very handy on the new coaster at SFNE).

I'm kind of terrified of the capacity of this thing especially considering the park it's in. The Darkoaster line crawls at BGW, in all likelihood the ops here will be even slower, and hourly throughout with 18 passenger trains will probably be 300-400 per hour. Pandemonium and Thunderbolt often have the longest lines in the park for coasters due to their family nature and poor capacity. This thing will probably be incredibly popular and that is frightening to me.

I think a lot of people would actually welcome the change to separate gate considering the type of crowd and how big of a crowd f(r)ight fest usually brings in. They just need to be more up front about the change so people actually know. And make sure the upcharge is actually worth it (I have high expectations that they will make the haunts more Cedar Fair-esque and not try to keep getting away with the pitiful things they've been doing for years).

How are you all even getting far enough to see that info? I still can't get past this screen... When I put in the pass number and hit next it just reloads this page. This is on the app. When I try to do it on SFNE's website I can't even find where the legacy membership add on can be purchased.

I've tried on the app and website and no luck yet. I do see they are offering national season flash pass for $299 instead of $999 which is a hell of a deal. May come in handy if Great Adventure decides to keep running Medusa with 1 train lol.

I got to the part where you add the season pass number, hit next, and then it just reloads the same screen over and over.

Definitely worth going to once (do the whole shore, or at least do Ocean City and Seaside for the better coasters). As far as Wildwood, the boardwalk and town are as much fun as the piers themselves. Just wish prices weren't so insane. As far as single riders, I think there was a suicide on a wheel in NJ (it even may have been Morey's IIRC) but it's only a rule at Morey's, no such rule at any of the other shore parks from what I know. One time on the Flume I even tried walking up and asking if I can wait for a party of 2 so that I could ride in the back of their log, and the ops said no. It's frustrating as hell.

Well in that case, I'm sure there will be many others who aren't paying enough attention (like me apparently) that will be in for quite the surprise if they show up with a day ticket during fright fest. Anyway, I did stop by for a few hours yesterday. Just from the parking lot I observed KK sending test runs and Superman completely deserted. Went to El Toro first where...you guessed it...cycling empty trains. Thankfully it opened up pretty quick although what the app reported as a 5 minute line was really 20 (2nd half of switchbacks totally full). Nice ride in the magic seat although based on the reactions of the people in front of and behind me, the wheel seats are getting pretty brutal. Even got to meet eltororyan heading over to ride his pride and joy. Foreshadowing? Headed over to Medusa where there was more app f*ckery going on. 5 mins was the reported line, but the queue was half full AND only 1 train ops meant an easy 30-45 minute line so I skipped it. I've seen the reports of a lot of 1 train ops this year and I don't get it. Great Adventure has never been a park to run 1 train during peak season. I've always bitched that Medusa usually runs 3 trains which is unnecessary and results in getting baked on the brake run for 5 minutes. Now we're down to one. Is it a requirement to run an odd number of trains here or something? Hit up Mine Train next which was also running one train, though with a much shorter line just on the stairs. In 30 years I don't think I've ever seen 1 train ops on this. I know I'm not a local and not there every day, but something about this just feels off to me. Anyway, got the magic seat (back row of the front car) and was treated to the typical fare of being thrown all around on the ridiculous transitions and then being launched to the moon on the best airtime hill at Great Adventure. This thing is way more insane than it has any right to be. Made our way across the park, stopping at the saloon in Golden Kingdom for a drink (and enjoying those nice rocking chairs for way longer than I needed to) and checking out Dream Street which really looked fantastic. I have to give the park credit that it looks better than it has in years. I just don't understand why ops are suddenly falling off when that's been their one strong point all these years. Checked out Rave Mountain for the first time (since they decided they didn't feel like doing it last year) which was interesting I guess. A quick 2-3 train wait anyway. This won't get fixed in our lifetimes lol. Nitro was about a 25 minute wait including a quick breakdown and a couple test runs. Always weird riding it in the summer when it absolutely hails through the course. But it's weird not flying over a frozen tundra instead. Soon. Two trains ops here and typical lightning fast Nitro dispatches. Finished up with Batman which was a walk on with two trains (so again, wtf is up with Medusa) and was batshit crazy as usual. On the way out we tried doing some shopping for some 50th anniversary merchandise and we were quite disappointed at the lack of said merchandise. There were a few shirts left in the tent on Dream Street but almost all small/medium and a few XXL. I was really looking forward to picking up a couple shirts, hopefully they'll restock later this year. The stores up front had absolutely nothing. Oh boy I bet that new 50th anniversary coaster is going to be amazing! Oh. We'll just pretend you're not there for now. Hopefully be back in November for the true start of Great Adventure season!