KBrylczyk

I think Valhalla covered the "really good dark ride" quota for the next century.

The beauty of the raclette stand is that it's so well tucked away. You either know where it is or you need to hunt for it, otherwise you'd never know it existed.

^ Probably mostly going to the actual train car motion base, if I had to guess. It looks like it'll be a walkthrough attraction with the VR portion being a motion-simulator subway car. Not necessarily a scary haunt, but that style with some cool effects themed to this guy's illusions. The only reason I'm guessing a motion simulator is because of the suspended subway car in the trailer.

^ Interesting. I'm kinda disappointed that the chairs don't swing like the classic vehicles do. It'll still be a fun ride, though, just not big on thrills.

^ But Americans are known for their love of soccer!

My one hope is that these VR experiences crash and burn faster than a drunk high schooler on prom night. That said, this seems like it could be a strange little side-attraction, kinda like that Krake haunt at Heide. That was fun but nothing to write home about.

Everything. Literally everything. Aquatopia on land.

Columbia only operated on peak days. Only one of my visits saw it running. Every other time I've visited it's been parked against the dock by Splash Mountain. Same for Fantasmic. The show is great but it was only performed on peak nights. It won't be a huge difference in operations for those two attractions to disappear. The Riverboat (not Columbia) and the train, however, will have an impact on crowds. Both attractions were huge people-eaters. While they weren't the most popular rides they certainly had their role to play. I'm afraid to think about standby lines without them.

Get out. Just go.

^ You're certainly not wrong. Expedition GeForce's first drop is nuckin' futs and that only twists 90 degree. Going the full 180 is gonna be pants-browning.

^ No official word yet, but figure end of 2017 at the earliest for the new land to open.

Cops: Disgruntled contractor stabbed former co-worker at Universal Orlando http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-universal-orlando-worker-fight-arrest-20160104-story.html

Atlantis is pretty terrible. I say kill it dead. Just don't touch Hollywood Boat Ride. That thing is a masterpiece.

^ Fair enough. I've never been unfortunate enough to visit on a busy day while Silver Bullet is running one train, so I've not a clue on how long the line would get. When they run two trains they run extremely efficiently. When they run one train (again, only been on non-packed days), the line still moves well. Pony Express, though, seems to take a bit longer. I blame the restraints and people who can't listen to the simple instructions of how to sit.

^ You're not far off. Last time I bothered to ride it we timed the ops. Triple stacked trains, 5+ minute dispatches. 5:15 was actually the shortest we saw.

Chiming in on the Carnival blood waterfall - Having first hand experience with Carnival's level of professionalism (worked for those pricks for 4 years), this doesn't surprise me at all. Lock out tag out was hardly, if ever, used on the ships. I was the only person in the entertainment department that ever actually applied it, to my knowledge. Too many times would I enter a space to see someone crawling around under lifts or turntables on the stage with everything fully powered up, no signs saying they were inches from death. Literally anyone (no locks on the backstage doors) could walk to the backup control panel and hit a button and stuff would be able to move. Hell, once during a dry dock I was walking through the elevator bank only to hear a ding, see the door open to an empty shaft and see an electrician swing down through the door from above and walk away, leaving the door wide open with a 50-foot drop to death. Oh, and was the electrician working in the shaft wearing a harness for fall protection? Nope. Honestly I'm surprised we haven't seen more stories like this.

...except that train has been "under maintenance" for over a year.

The road trip looks very do-able, if not a little tiring (driving-wise) the later into the trip you go. My main concern, though, is that you're finishing this trip at Six Flags America. That's like going to the prom with the hottest girl in school only to be drugged and sent home with Chester The Molester at midnight.

^ Silver Bullet was running 2 trains with no stacking when I was there two weeks ago. It was wonderful. Xcelerator, on the other hand, is nowhere near putting the second train back into service.

I mean, yay for new projects and all, but Atlantic City is pretty far beyond help. As soon as Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York got legal casinos, Atlantic City became an afterthought. Why would any residents of those places want to make the trip? The town is a toilet, the casinos are old and run-down (for the most part), and many of them shut down this past year.

Correct. I'm sure you've read some of your own posts. Burn unit, level 3.

^ Aw, crap, not this debate again. My vote goes to Pooh's Hunny Hunt. It's absolutely mind-blowing. I understand the concept, I understand the execution. I work with the automation system that runs the ride, FFS. It still manages to make me sit back in awe.

^ Don't give them any ideas.