DirkFunk

I assume you wrote the articles (which are clickbait, because the park is not a Disney park, its Paramount Studios) and are trying to syphon hits to them.

:looks at user name, raises eyebrow: If you are willing to part with the money for an express pass, yes. If not? Expect to spend a lot of time on your feet. Big on a Saturday, not as awful on Sunday. you sure you're off on the 20th? Really the only way to go. Consider looking at neighborhood rental locations. Enterprise has a huge number and Hertz has added a few of their own in recent years. If you're driving from Columbus, you've got a 2 1/2 hour ride each way, and that's less than when I've made single day voyages out there. You aren't gonna be feeling great when its over, but you'll do fine. Just stop and grab some caffeine in Mansfield. The rental car and gas is probably gonna run you about $60-70 for a single day. Express passes, parking, and tickets to get in will be like 2-3 times that. But if you have the day off, I'll say this: airfare from Gothenburg or Stockholm isn't gonna be cheap to Cleveland/Pittsburgh/Detroit until Norwegian Air or Wow starts service, and they're in no rush for that.

It's gonna get really uncomfortable if the next promo video says "They are cumming".

I thought the endless speculatory conspiracy theory talk on Twitter/Facebook was bad enough, but god help us all if it carries over to every aspect of modern life.

Everything is supposed to be reservation only. There are supposed to be no queues. They'd need a cutpoint for live guests trying to do a running of the bulls, which, seriously, good luck with that and not totally bulldozing the reservations later. The entire idea is to create a scenario where there is no rope drop. If everything is reservation only, you can force that a couple of ways. The easiest and most likely, in my mind, is hand out the wristbands only after entry to the park, which would then prevent anyone from going anywhere to ride anything (other than the pools/lazy rivers) without one. This also makes the most sense IMO because individuals entering via single day tickets, resort passes, and the like would all pass through the same turnstiles and then collect their Accesso band inside. Is that exactly what will happen? Dunno.

If the bands are anything like the other similar systems, you won't run to the ride. Also if you can only ride one thing, then do you want to get get in the "queue" for the water coaster instead of all the other slides if it is 6-7-8x longer a wait?

Go straight to the ride and do what? Wait in line? Everything is reserved with Accesso bands, remember? I recall the roll backs being later on in the ride, but I could be wrong.

Trims? Hell, that thing needs LIMs to ensure it makes the course.

Yeah, because they want to make sure if APs go to the water park that they limit it as much as possible during the prime season for water parks and make it as comfortable for their resort guests as they can.

I don't know that it means anything specifically. Blackstone probably prefers exiting the company than staying with it and hoping for SeaWorld to be able to collect license fees from Chinese developers. As for the new orcas thing at Ocean Kingdom: that was the worst held secret of all time. The orcas have been there for at least 3 years after being captured by Russians.

Insight on that? Uhhh, I dunno man. Did you try reading the last 6 months of posts on this forum?

If their attendance hadn't been dropping, they wouldn't be attempting to appease them. Just sayin'.

They're gonna provide financial relief. If they replace Manby, who are they gonna put in his place that's any better? What is it about a Chinese development firm that can change the American perception of animal shows? They probably were looking at buying the license for SeaWorld and realized simply acquiring 21% of the company was a better option than paying the licensing in perpetuity.

I don't disagree with you, but I still think there's a big difference between functioning effects and animations and stationary ones. I came across a POV of it last night and while it still seems like a great ride, you definitely notice the changes in a big way. You're right about the nonsensical storyline but that doesn't really bother me with dark rides, there are plenty of rides in Orlando alone with nonsensical storylines and nobody seems to mind. I'm still lost. Is the scene in Pirates where you cruise past a static scene of a skeleton in a bed bad now, or is it still good because later there's cannons?

I honestly don't get the internet's opinion. The ride has had a broken narrative now for probably a decade with the screens in the queue having been shut off in the early to mid 2000s. They eliminated it and got rid of the story entirely, which, by the way, is something that most of the all time great, classic attractions never had, like Pirates or Haunted Mansion. They're going primarily with just a basic environment and music. And people are...mad? You guys actually liked the seahorse more just because it was something to laugh at?

Yomiuriland has closed 2 of their largest coasters in the last 6 years and replaced them with Twist Coaster Robin (ran for maybe a month in 2014, removed since) and a Gerstlauer spinning coaster. I've never seen a trip report of the place when it was packed. Not saying it has never happened, but never personally seen it in 20 years in the hobby. A lot of the parks look like they're struggling. Isn't Parque Espana on their second or third name now?

Therein lies the problem. Can these rides be as easily repaired or fixed as traditional wood coasters? The company that makes the track now works for Gerstlauer, so how does that affect the ability for Intamin to source replacement parts? Can they? If that were the case Balder, El Toro and T-Express would all face similar problems either now or eventually. I kinda doubt that tbh. Colossos is the oldest of them all and thus it would be expected that if this was a condition that eventually came to bear, it would be there first. How can you be so certain that Merlin does a worse job maintaining rides than Six Flags?

Japanese parks in general have been suffering for awhile now with far more closures than openings and new rides being less frequent than in the 90s. A huge part of that is likely demographic shift. Disneysea was constructed specifically with an older visitor base in mind, and obviously Universal being a Universal always had its talons into older groups. They don't have kids because the overwork themselves and socially are a sexual disaster and they have no immigration to speak of. They're literally dying out, and the aging process has also caused the country to basically be in a state of economic stagnation/deflation since 1991. Spirited Away actually uses this fact as the basis for the abandoned theme park that the characters wander into.

Therein lies the problem. Can these rides be as easily repaired or fixed as traditional wood coasters? The company that makes the track now works for Gerstlauer, so how does that affect the ability for Intamin to source replacement parts? Can they?

Looking forward with Nintendo (which is intended to be a family friendly zone), Secret Life Of Pets (ditto), the only thing I've heard of that might actually be legit thrilling is the Dr. Doom replacement in a bajillionty years from now. And honestly, if numbers of international tourists keep trending down, it'll probably never happen.

I'm sure you've heard this plenty about it heading out the door, but when that was first presented to me, it was with the caveat of "well a new coaster will be in its place." What I hear round the rumor mill is that the replacement is something along the lines of Arthur at Europa Park or Puss in Boots at Singapore. That's not technically a bad ride, but what I WANT is something big and steel and like something Orlando doesn't have. A big launched wingrider would be awesome. If they still want to go the metal detector route for rides that pass over guest areas, then they can design all sorts of things to prevent that when doing the ride from scratch. That's the kind of ride I want. $45 million dollar Harry Potterized Puss In Boots is a "I'd rather be riding the Fun Spot woodies" attraction.

"It meets a need if they build a more family friendly dark ride!" is the often pushed narrative online, but honestly, I personally don't care. If people want a park full of family friendly dark rides, they'll go to Disney World. Point blank. Their entire marketing scheme is built around not being for little kids, so no one should know it better than themselves. Universal should be building rides with balls, and when they don't in favor of attractions that are intended to accommodate youngsters, a little part of me dies.

There aren't any drawbacks. Literally zero. Cruiselines basically just take the fee the website or travel agent would for themselves when you book through them. The only drawbacks are for those lines which are more challenging to book through a 3rd party like Windstar. But I'm gonna guess you aren't sailing them anyways...

People were certainly aware and excited, but when every CCI that year but Boulder Dash opened with Gerstlauer trains, the excitement quickly wore off and was replaced with disappointment. I still think that while Boss technically "tracks well", the G-trains are such lousy POSes that it is unrideable to me. And that's too bad, because CCI/TGG designs are traditionally my favorite by some margin.

They won't announce anything until August when its time to sell 2018 Season Passes.