AndrewRnR

I know the park says the opening date is TBA but isn't it safe to assume May 4th will be it with the charity auction for first rider earlier that week? Either way I found a cheap flight today from Orlando and plan to check out the Bay-Area parks that weekend. What are the best tips for a first-timer visiting the park? Since this is a spur of the moment trip I haven't really been following the park in recent years - does the park take a full day to complete?

I think part of the disappointed with the MF trains is the fact the park did a great job of a complete retracking of the ride - only they did it a year before the MFs arrived so the PTCs had plenty of time to beat it the track up. I'm no engineer so I could be completely off here but is there a bigger issue than just the track? Was the ride built different because it was one of GCI's first? Does the MFs trains require a different support structure to brace their weight (I assume they are heavier than PTCs)?

^ The holiday itself is usually not too crowded it is more so that Saturday and Sunday that see the crowds (I used to go every year but haven't been in a few so things may have shifted slightly). While we are talking crowds at the park one of my favorite tips for those who can only go on weekends... Sundays in June (with exception of Father's Day) are some of the best days to go during the busy summer season. People have graduations parties and most of the the big Detroit auto plants don't go on their 1-2 week shutdowns until after the 4th leaving the Sundays to be on the lighter side (compared to other weekends later in the summer).

^^ The go-kart prices may seem steep but you get what you pay for - some of the craziest tracks around.

^Most interesting takeaway from the article is that Playboy did a photo shoot on the ride. Who knew?

Regarding Fastlane... It simply is supply and demand. Demand was higher than supply so prices were raised. I don't see it as a cash grab but rather it makes perfect business sense - I would've been more surprised if they didn't raise prices after how popular it was later year. It is called yield/revenue management... Matt Ouimet has said he wants to bring that discipline into the chain even more (not surprising for an ex-hotel guy). My guess is they did a simply elasticity test and saw the potential to optimize the price to the point where they can balance the demand while increasing revenue.

I swung into Epcot this evening to pick up my pass and it couldn't have been easier. I was the only guest at the Odyssey pavilion and there had to be at least 30-40 Guest Relations cast members on hand. They have greeters explaining things, probably 15 stations to actually exchange, then a bunch just roaming to answer questions. Took all of two seconds. Best of all I walked over to Test Track and was able to use my pass to design my car... even though I knew it was suppose to work like that, seeing that in action was pretty cool. From talking to a few people I know at the parks Disney has drained the Guest Relations talent "pool" (Disney term for waiting list) to staff places such as the Odyssey as well as all over the parks. Disney is doing this right - despite being the only person there tonight seeing a full staff and operation setup shows they are serious. It is funny... if Disney wasn't spending money on all this the fanboys would be complaining Disney is falling behind the times. I'm all for them trying new things... sure there will be bugs, but what new concept (theme parks or not) hasn't had issues? Wasn't there problems at Disneyland on opening day...?

Great news! May have to swing by Epcot tonight or tomorrow to swap out my pass. I'm just glad to be able to have a plastic pass... seems I'm constantly getting my Sea World or Universal pass reprinted because it is worn out.

Maybe I'm the only one who noticed this but.... I think the Adventurer's Club fans ruined the experience. I went twice (both were during final year) and nearly every punchline was ruined by fans eager to chime in the line themselves and laugh. I tried it a second time and the same thing!

As someone who used to be the parking manager at DTD I have to say I'm most excited about the parking garages! Someone mentioned a dedicated ramp... I'm not sure it is needed but rather better signage pushing people to the Epcot/DTD exit vs the 535 exit - that exit can handle the traffic much better. Before I left we were planning a test with eletronic signs on I4 to help shift that traffic - not sure if that ever happened.

That was my thinking - ATVs are loud. It will be interesting to see what city has to say. Couple this with the Festival Bay Mall potential make-over and that side of I-Drive could come back to life - still don't think this is the best location for a park. Seems to me the company behind it didn't want to let the thrill park's plans and research go to waste.

Same people, same location, and nearly same site plan - just different rides than Orlando Thrill Park? That is a pretty dumpy area (especially the housing it will back up - a VERY high crime area) and not understanding how if the Thrill Park was denied this would be any different.

^ I've looked into that flight a few times (I'm hoping to fly out there for a day or two in the coming month) but there just isn't much flexibility. For nearly the same price you can fly into Springfield (usually by way of Atlanta) and there are plenty of times to choose from.

I flew into London and while it seems crazy taking 4 trains and a bus to the park actually worked out flawlessly. There is buses from the local train stations and they drop you off at the front gates. Again... I was surprised as how easy it worked to take public transportation so don't let all the options "scare" you off. The park does ever shuttle service from Stoke as well as Uttoxeter as a few other area cities. Bus information here. It was pretty cheap and they offered several times. You can take the main rail lines from Birmingham or London to Stoke - it seems like trains run from those major cities nearly once a hour. We actually transferred to a small, one car, train in Stoke to go to Uttoxeter because the shuttle ran earlier from Uttoxeter to the park. Let me know if you have any questions - I did this just last summer so most of the details are still top of mind for me.

Swinging by on my way home... White Lightening is growing! There is assembled pieces of the structure laid out across most of the site which leads me to believe anyday now this thing will start going up really fast.

^ I second the Wingate suggestion. It's really nice (for what it is) and you can be at the park in 5-10 minutes depending on how fast you walk. Factor in the cost of parking and the free "breakfast" you get and it is usually a pretty good deal.

^^ That's going to be the best advertising - as people are leaving the garages at Universal they'll have a nice view of all the new attractions! Just snapped this on my way home from the office... Construction Photo taken on Feb 26

^^ That is correct. They can also input the number of trains that are on say a roller coaster at a certain time so it is taking into account the capacity that the ride is running. Also, they enter downtime information so again the distrubation can be adjusted to handle the larger crowds once the ride reopens. As for the app... make sure you are using the newer "My Disney Experience" app. It looks nearly identical to the older "Disney Parks/Mobile Magic." I had the same issue - I can see WDW from my house but couldn't get wait times until someone pointed out I was using an older app. And I should note on the My Disney Experience app I don't have the location turned on either and it still works. Hope that helps!

This is one of the biggest weeks in Central Florida due to school winter breaks, the races at Daytona, and the holiday. I know the hotels I support in the area are completely full through the weekend.

I wish I could take part in the TPR Mexico trip but my work schedule doesn't allow me. However I am planning a trip to Peru in May and the routing on Delta could put me in Mexico City for nearly 24 hours. Which leads me to thought of squeezing in some coasters - however I will say I am traveling alone: I would potentially land in Mexico City in the evening and would stay at the airport (my company operates a hotel at the airport). My flight to Peru departs at 6pm the following day. I figure arriving 3 hours before hand would give me plenty of time. That puts me due back at the airport at 3pm. - Six Flags opens at 10am. Could I potentially get in some credit-whoring that morning? Would 10am-1:30ish (I figured about a hour-ish back to airport) be enough time? (I have a SF pass so I'm not worried about cost/value). Is there safe transportation from the airport to the park and back (are taxis considered safe?). - La Feria Chapultepec Mágico. Closer to airport. Perhaps easier to tackle than SF? Or am I just crazy and should route through Atlanta (same price) and tackle Mexico City another time when I have someone with me (I live in Orlando so Mexico isn't crazy far away)? Thoughts? Thanks!

To answer your questions... 1) That time of year I don't think you'd see a big difference between any of those days. To be honest I don't think Friday would be much worse either. I usually go a dozen or so times during the summer and its always "busy" but never been really bad. The park is actually designed for crowds quite well with the biggest coasters at the opposite ends of the park, add in the many shoes and family attractions and crowds spread out pretty good. I was just there a few weekends ago and the parking lot was full and Kumba was a 2 train wait. 2) Not super sure on ticket prices and deals so I'll leave that to someone else. 3) I'd go for it - compared to most other parks it is on the "cheaper" side. If you plan on spending most of the day there I would opt to get the single-ride (not the unlimited) one.... because if you get there first thing you can knock out all the coasters (except Cheetah Hunt) pretty quickly. I usually pop in after work in the summer and the lines seem to die down at night. So the Quick-Queue would be good to help get you through the middle part of the day and for Cheetah Hunt. Let me know if you have any other questions - one thing I would recommend is the Yuengling beer tour. Its right next to the park (as it was one of the old A-B places). Free one hourish tour with free beer at the end. Something different, fun and free if you have some extra time in the area.

^ A large group of us stopped there on the TPR trip last year. It is pretty cool and really well thought out from ordering to a lazy-susan for condiments and to place dirty dishes. To answer the question about where the drink holders go... Once they come down the track and go completely around the table they fall off the track into a collection bin.

^^ Agreed. For those who haven't ridden this ride - what you think is bad would be Intamin smooth compared to this piece of junk. On the Europe trip I remember our group thinking... "how bad can it really be?" considering we were subjected to several SLCs, Anaconda, and Bandit in the days prior. It really is that bad! After we got off we stood there and you could easily see the train shuffle (or rather get thrown) into every curve. It was easy to spot on the track... as the paint was quite worn from the train slamming into it. The best part (or rather the redeeming funny part) was either the half put together train sitting next to the ride (have to wonder if the ride ripped it apart) or the fact the ride had at least 2 hour hour wait! (Thanks to the TPR we didn't waste more than 2 minute waiting!)

House - About 2 miles from Rock N' Roller Coaster at DHS. Office - Just under a mile to Universal... and yes I've gone there on lunch before. And those two reasons are why are I live and work in Orlando. Heck on my drive to work I can easily see 6 coasters from 3 separate parks (and can see 4/6 from my office window!).

This ride is looking so good I may actually consider flying Allegiant Air from Orlando to check it out...!