MayTheGForceBeWithYou

^The midcourse was removed during the retracking.

Didn't get a photo of the safety announcements on some of the monitors, but they outright say EVERYTHING (their emphasis) that can go in a locker must be put in a locker. If it's not your shirt, pants, or shoes (except for Eejanaika), it's most likely going in a locker. Like I said, when people were prepared to deal with it, things went a lot more smoothly. When people weren't ready and spent several minutes digging everything out of their pockets (or even worse, forgetting to put something away), it made already slow operations much slower than necessary.

It was about 45 minutes most of the day, about midway between the flats and the coasters.

I did them, but I was more concerned with getting photos of the coasters. Thankfully, the waits for almost all the flats were quite short compared to the coasters (aside from the Soarin' over Fuji thing, nothing over 20 minutes), which made slipping a ride between the major coasters a bit easier.

I was honestly debating if going here was worth it based on the stories I've heard about this place, but I decided to suck it up and give it a shot, even if just to see how bad it really is. After going in with very low expectations, I actually ended up liking a lot more than I thought I would! Since it was a weekday with several area schools still in session, the crowds were fairly light. Longest wait I saw was 2 hours for Dodonpa at one point (understandable for being new), rest of the major coasters were in the ballpark of 60-90 minutes all day. Fujiyama stood out early in the day with consistent two train ops with almost no stacking. In normal Fuji-Q fashion, it dropped down to one train later in the day (but still only about 30 minutes). Operations were bad, but the level of badness varied wildly. A lot of problems seemed to stem from their very strict system of boarding and inspecting. Park takes their "no loose articles" rule VERY seriously, and makes you take off everything in the station in a separate area before boarding. After you actually board, there's seat belts that need to be checked before the restraints are closed and rechecked. Depending on how prepared guests were with their loose items and how fast the crew operated, turnaround times ranged from 1-2 minutes on Dodonpa to as many as 10 on Eejanaika. Anyway, photos! If I'm this close to Fuji, that must mean... Yep, I'm at Fuji-Q all right. Home of big coasters and even bigger lines. ...Or is it? Fujiyama's crew was doing a great (by Fuji-Q standards) job with two train ops. I timed the line at just over 10 minutes. Attack on Takabisha! Yep, Takabisha. It was alright. Japanese photo ops in a nutshell. Eejanaika! Advertised 70 minutes, ended up around 50. Eejanaika does this to you. Noted! Eejanaika's station. Got pulled into a group of people to do this with...great sets inside, but very few actors (8-10 at most for something 20 minutes to get through). On a busier day with full staff, I could see it being a LOT better. Oh yeah, there's Dodonpa too! And it has one of these now. And it does this to you. Sign credit. Looks like I'm doing this... Dodonpa is apparently so intense it turns people into 90s Nicktoon characters. Monitors had safety information mixed with ride facts and quizzes about the park (in Japanese, but still fun to watch if you don't understand). Noted! Dodonpa's station got the Tron treatment, it seems... Dodonpa's new restraints that are actually very comfy. I was rather happy that the vest's shoulders were attached to extendable belts so they don't staple taller people like myself. One more parting shot. For all the negativity this place gets, I had a ton of fun!

^

Hurt like hell, but I now have an Edo style Lava Monster on my left ribs.

Official announcement: Star Jets will permanently close on October 10.

Kawasemi, easily in my top 3 now.

Herb Tomato popcorn at DisneySea last Sunday. Last time you had sushi?

Most chairs have them (including Chair 5), but the operators tend to leave their use up to the passengers. If you want to lower the bar, you can reach up and pull it down: if you don't, it's no big deal.

I was always kind of curious how "Disney-fied" the Adventures trips are compared to something like a Disney Cruise, so I'm curious to see how it goes. So far, it's looking really good!

Wow, Phantasialand has been on a roll these last few years.

Local ramen shop is giving out discount coupons for Fuji Q, but they expire the day before Dodonpa reopens.

Mostly just my luck with Facebook if an update happens to be in my feed, I swear.

Building and facade going up:

Saw a video of Submarine Quest at Sea World San Diego, and well...

Ride itself is now being installed, and has a solid opening date projection: Source

^I remember finding a fanmade radio drama version of it a while back. Need to see if I can find the link...

According to a countdown page on their website, we have an opening date of July 15.

^They also have melon soda churros and potato mochi churros alongside the more normal ones.

Satire sites are still always a fun read regardless. Onion's still the king of that genre, but some of their other stories were still pretty funny.

Soft openings have indeed begun, and I just so happened to be there when they had the ride fully open to the public: Advertised two hours, but fortunately ended up being just over one. View from the extended queue... Even more extended queues waiting to be used. With Golden Week and the grand opening, that extended area should see plenty of traffic for a while! Every so often, a small stream of air bubbles would appear in the harbor and travel out to "sea", a nice little touch hinting at the ride inside. Best photo I could get of it. Obligatory sign shot. Just before heading in. Since it's still technically in soft opening, they did not allow any photos past this point. Personal review to follow... Okay, my personal thoughts: Like Sinbad on the other end of the park, this was a family friendly revamp done right. People were absolutely loving it, and the end of the ride brought cheers and applause from almost everyone I rode with. It's right up Ride and Go Seek's alley in terms of tone and style, and a good fit for rounding out DisneySea's family friendly offerings. If Disney wanted to give this new life, they definitely succeeded.

SeaRider, just soft opened.

I doubt many people visiting Magic Kingdom nowadays have ever seen Song of the South, but Splash Mountain remains one of its most popular attractions. Given how amazing this looks, I'm thinking a similar principle could apply here.