Taylor Finn

Day 18 Extra Photos (mostly of It's a Small World) So I can maintain my sanity, I am going to post the remaining photos that I discovered were in fact from this second day in Disneyland. I think I may have even mentioned riding some of these things but just didn't post the pictures. Then I will hopefully sooooooon post the last two days of Disney pictures I got (way more of them than in this first report). Weird how I uploaded photos in my last report of me leaving Disneyland at the end of the night, yet there are pictures that appeared after on Google Photos that were clearly taken earlier. But yeah. Some more stuff. I have a bunch of pictures here of the new It's a Small World overlay. They added a bunch of characters from all sorts of Disney movies into the ride. I think it was done tastefully and why not? Frozen. Peter Pan. Brave. Tangled. Pinocchio. Lilo. Moana. Nemo. Little Mermaid. There you have it! This ride was consistently popular. Lines hovered around 50-60 minutes it seemed. Yeah, I wasn't a happy camper having to wait this long for Buzz. I have such mixed feelings about this ride. I love love Toy Story. But I also feel strongly that the shooting component of the game kind of sucks. And they oughta improve it. Even the fire extinguishers are stored in cute ways! Main street was BEAUTIFUL at night. They had this little show that lit up the whole street for the 35th anniversary. Yeah, that's all the photos I got for you. Hopefully will tag this post with the remaining pictures here soon.

I love, love these pictures. This whole page is lovely. Nagashima Spaland is a park that I would LOVE to have as my home park. So much goodness there.

Great report! I totally agree that The Beast is flawed. But, I LOVED going for the first time with my girlfriend last summer because she didn't know much of anything about the ride. She thought Mystic Timbers was The Beast when we were looking around the park from the Eiffel Tower. Didn't really tell her anything and waited until late night to get a night ride for her first experience. We loved it, obviously.

Oh my! Yeah. The ones by the Alice in Wonderland restaurant come to mind, especially.

Days 17 and 18: Tokyo DisneySea/Disneyland Hello again! It has been... too long. Need to finish this one up. Got loads of other reports in the wing here that I would love to also post. By now, we are so, so close to the end of the trip which was sad. But! It was also time for Disney, which was what I had absolutely been most looking forward to. The trip included a day at each of the two parks with the option to add two more days in the parks/hotel. I love my Disney, so it was a no brainer for me. I ended up getting quite a few rides. Stay tuned in my next and final report for the grand tally. I will try to include some of my general thoughts about the park as I go along. There are much better, more comprehensive reports of these parks out there. That wasn't really my goal when visiting, just was there to enjoy myself and eat lots of good food and ride my favorites as many times as I could. Also, I believe I used my work phone for pictures on these days a bit more and those may not have transferred over to the album I am pulling from on Google Photos. Enjoy! Tokyo DisneySea I really, really wanted to love this park. I really did. After seeing all the reports from Robb and Elissa, all the hype, etc. It seemed destiny that I would love this place. The anticipation had been building for well over two weeks of trip for this one park. ...and I did love it. I really did. The trip reports can never capture what this place is actually like to walk around. It was an absolute blast to experience a totally different Disney park for the first time. This park is unlike any other Disney park and I am so glad it ended up in Japan and not in California. Our day started out pretty early with breakfast at the hotel. Which was my favorite hotel breakfast of the trip! Lots of yummy options and a delicious chocolate bread that I ate every morning. Hopped on the monorail and headed to the front gate about an hour ahead of park open. This is customary advice if you are going. It makes a huge difference. In fact, someone in our group split off to go to the bathroom before we lined up at the front gate and sat at a different entrance to the side and got in 3-5 minutes before us and was honestly hours ahead of us the rest of the day in getting things done. Now, one more thing to talk about that happened. We were walking along with one box of popcorn shared amongst four or five of us. And then, a couple cast members approach us and explain that we have just won something. Not just any something. A popcorn pass that grants us literally unlimited popcorn for the rest of the day. At any of the MANY popcorn stalls selling any of the MANY different flavors (8 or 9). I can tell you right now my definitive ranking of what I had this day (some of these may have been exclusive to Disneyland but who cares?) Curry, Milk Chocolate Caramel Black pepper Blueberry Tomato herb Garlic Shrimp Now, onto some ride reviews: Toy Story: Yeah, it is great! Moving on. 8/10 Tower of Terror: Tower of Terror is a whole new animal here. It is probably better than Florida. But I dunno. I would say the pre show and story is better but the actual ride is a bit more tame. And the Tower itself is just stunning. And really fits into the area well. LOVE IT. 9.5/10 Indiana Jones: SINGLE RIDER IS MY LIFE. Truly, the single rider lines here are all unmarked and so I rode this 6 times at least in my three days at the park. I never waited more than 5 minutes and the wait was typically always 50-75 minutes. This is a lifesaver. Especially because it frees up a fast pass. You're in the dark the whole time. Why do you need to ride with others. I love how high capacity this thing is, too with the dual loading stations. 9.9999/10 Raging Spirits: This is a perfectly fun, enjoyable ride. Smooth, not too intense, the loop is good and the theming is solid. I totally understand why this ride needs to be here and I am glad they have it! It is difficult to make an outdoor coaster really fit the vibe of this park. And I think it does that. Ride it at night. And do single rider! 8/10. Nemo & Friends Searider: This was just alright. Worth doing? Sure. Top of my list? Naw. No reason to think this wasn't an improvement over StormRider since it now has an IP associated with it. 6/10 Sinbad's Storybook Voyage: Every Disney park can benefit from a nice boat ride like this. Always a short line which is another great thing. Compass of Your Heart is a jam and I am listening to it as I write this review just to get me in the spirit of this ride again. IT IS SO CATCHY AND UPLIFTING. Sinbad for life. 12/10. Journey to the Center of the Earth: NA/10. Tears. It was down for rehab. But honestly, it gives me a reason to be SUPER excited about re-visiting. I want to return to Toyko before 2022 when the huge expansion is due to be complete, but I cannot imagine myself returning to Tokyo and not spending time in these parks. 20,000 Leauges Under the Sea: Another ride I did enjoy, but didn't feel the need to re-ride (think I may have done it twice). FP seemed to always be available, but the line never really got above 20-30 minutes. It is done real well, no doubt! 7.5/10. Aquatopia: Oh, this ride rocks. I got real unlucky the one day when they had the Get Wet mode on and we arrived just as it was transitioning back to normal (getting dark out). Just pointless and fun. In the best way. If this ride was <10 minute wait, I would ride every time I walked by it. Just why not? Yeah, here's Toy Story's line. This ride feels *slightly* out of place in the American Waterfront part of the park. But they did a really nice job of making it seem more organic, honestly. For lunch, we went to Vulcania. This was fabulous. We all got meal sets, which included like three different things plus a drink. I got a dim sum platter, a sweet and sour pork, and a cold noodle dish (delicoius and refreshing). Why I got milk on this hot, hot day... I will truly never know. One of my favorite things about this park was the shear number of boats everywhere! And the fact that you could ride around in them was super nice and relaxing. Something that will rarely have much of a line even on busy days. Makes the park feel more alive. Got some nice shots along the ride. I also saw a couple shows today. Big Band Beat is a lottery show but they do have a standby option. Two of us ran up to the rope and asked if we could still make it in (we were one of the last 10 or so) and we still had a few others trudging along a ways back. The cast member was like rooting for them to make it to the entrance in time, like she would've been personally devastated if we hadn't made it. This was a GREAT show. Lots of big band classics (Sing Sing and If it Ain't Got that Swing). And Mickey played drums at one point! Super worth checking out. And a beautiful theater. The Cape Cod area was well-done. No rides here, but a cute transition area between the American section and Port Discovery. Everywhere you look, Mount Prometheus is there. Tower and Titanic. The little nook in the back of Mediterranean Harbor where the Gondolas load up is super cute. I did end up getting on them my last day and was glad I did. Offers some more nice views and the singing is great, too. None of these pictures are especially great. I know. Every so often, Mount Prometheus erupts and yeah. It's greta. Despite what this picture shows... our first stop when the park opened was Toy Story Midway Mania to grab a fastpass. This is so highly sought after, it is crazy. If you have one day in the park, I would highly recommend just skipping this fiasco. It is an identical ride, albeit loads of fun. But, I was here for the thrill. Thousands of people rushed in that direction. If you are an early one, you can easily get your FP, ride Tower standby, get another FP to re-ride it, ride your Toy Story FP and be on your merry way within an hour of park opening. If you are further back, your Toy Story FP won't be until 1:00 or so and Tower Standby will have gotten reasonably long already. If you don't already know, the paper FP system lets you get a new FP two hours after your previous one OR as soon as your current FP's window opens. So, if you get a FP for 9:20 AM-10:20 AM, you can get another at 9:20. A huge advantage. I believe we got our Toy Story FP and then went up and rode Nemo and waited a good while. From there, we may have rushed back to get a Tower FP and do our Toy Story one. But I honestly don't remember. There is no bad way to attack this park. Just take it all in! This was a delightful Tiramisu cookie sandwich. All four days at the park were blistering hot and without rain (good!) so this was a wonderful treat. The first of many good food experiences here. Raging Spirits is way better at night. The sensation of going through the loop after entering a big cloud of fog is super well done and disorienting. And yeah, here is a shot of Aquatopia at night. I did see Fantasmic both nights I was in this park. But I'll talk about it next time. Tokyo Disneyland So, I am REAL glad I did four days at Disney and that I did an after 6 night a few days prior to this visit. Because it was CROWDED. So crowded. One of the wonderful things about Magic Kingdom, Disneyland CA and this Disneyland (the ones I've been to) is that there are so many viable things to do even when it IS crowded. Many of the rides still don't have horrible waits and if you use your fast passes wisely for the rides that do get crowded, you can accomplish quite a lot. This is kind of how our day panned out based on what I typed into my notes: Rope dropped an hour early. Ended up next to Robb and some others and went in with them. We rushed to ride Pooh and waited 10 minutes. While we did that, Robb acquired Monsters Inc. FP for us (THANK YOU). Went to Space Mountain and waited 35 minutes. I also typed in that they separated our group so there was not only Americans in the car (#weightprobs). From there, I believe we went and rode Haunted Mansion while Robb got Big Thudner FP. We then used our Monsters FP, did Standby for Star Tours (30 minutes), Standby for Roger Rabbit, got a FP for Small World (yeah, this is very popular here), saw Country Bear, and Rode Pirates before leaving for lunch. That is a VERY productive morning. Then we left the park because it was getting to be a bit much and had lunch at Ikspiari (their version of Downtown Disney). Came back in and explored Tom Sawyer's Island, single ridered Splash Mountain (12 people in front of me in Single Rider with a 100 minute standby wait). Then did Snow White, saw the Electrical Parade, rode Peter Pan, FP Small World, and waited WAY too long for Buzz (an hour plus) before leaving the park for the night. Somewhere after lunch I think I must've rode Big Thunder FP, too. Really, really great day, despite the crowds. I was going to review all the rides. But I don't think that is necessary. I'll just make a few pointers about some of them. Pooh's Hunny Hunt: Luckily, rode this three times and got each of the three possible courses (you leave in groups of three). Truly, a marvel. Just a blast to ride and so much to see and it just doesn't feel like any other ride. It feels like you are a part of something. Is it the best straight up dark ride in Disney? Naw. I still love Mansion and Pirates so, so much. But, this ride is awesome and should 100% replace the other Pooh Rides, immediately. It would be a huge upgrade. 9/10 Big Thunder Mountain: Seems to be a bit slower than it's counterparts. Always a nice ride, just always my least favorite of the three mountains. 8.5/10 Monsters Inc. Ride & Go Seek: This was a blast! Basically, you shine flashlights on props to trigger different monsters to pop out. Yeah, there's a storyline that I don't remember off the top of my head...I wish there was some scoring component to the game since I am a competitive person at heart. But the sets are all physical and quite solid. And the ride vehicles kinda take you around in a similar vein to Midway Mania. 8.5/10 Jungle Cruise: Couldn't understand a thing they were saying for the most part. But was still funny. And the cave has some real nice projection mapping I hope they bring back to the States. Here we are on a Saturday in Tokyo Disneyland. SUPER crowded by all metrics. But we got a lot done! This electrical parade is on another level. It is a blast. Contemplated not watching it a second night. But reconsidered. It is worth it! The Genie float blew my mind. Just pull up a video of it because nothing I can show you here will capture that. I think I might have more pictures of the parade in my next report. Some new construction going on in between Tomorrowland and Toontown. Think Big Hero 6 is going here (and Beauty and the Beast?) or is that a different area? Either way, another reason to get excited about re visiting these parks. One of the things that I noticed was how large the walkways were everywhere. Definitely helped keep traffic moving and helped to allow folks to set up shop before parades. Like this. At like 9:00 AM for a 2:00 PM parade, I am sure. But parades are super important to them. I'll take it! The park had ropes all set up and would continue to expand the roped off sections as more and more people sat down. Smart. Dunno what this is of. Parade, ride, show? But one thing I will say I was disappointed in... lines for rides were not built out enough. Every day I was there, many of the rides had temporary ropes set up outside to house more people. The indoor portion of Pirates of the Caribbean only had about 15-20 minutes worth of line. That doesn't seem super smart. Just an observation. So yeah, we left and had lunch at an Australian based Mexican restaurant in Tokyo. Weird. But our timing turned out to be great. When we arrived, Happy Time (believe it was actually called this) for food was about to end. So we got some food at a discounted price. And then when that ended, Happy Time for drinks started. So we then went up and ordered 290 yen margaritas. We each had 3 or 4 of them and interacted with some Japanese people who were fascinated by our ever-growing tower of margarita cups. This was a much needed reprieve from the park. At some point in the day, we did the Tiki Room with Stich. He kind of just invades the whole operation. I remember finding it pretty funny. But the coolest part was that the cast members offered us translation devices which was super nice. Yeah, it is this crowded. Vending machines have lines. Here comes the ship. I bet it isn't too crowded? OH MY GOODNESS. Love these little touches. Like, who is actually looking to see these birds up there? Such a pretty park. A nice view on the way out. They were doing some work on the entrance area, so a bit obstructed. I do think there are quite a few more pictures next time around. So stay tuned. Hopefully get the final installment to you much quicker than it was to get you this one. Thanks for reading, as always!

I visited Lakeside last week and I wouldn't say it's a dump. I desperately wish they would invest $500k into ensuring that all of the rides operate (and at full capacity, some are missing vehicles). But what they do have is perfectly nice and the lights at night really are cool. We ended up having a really good time there, just had an odd mixture of feelings about the whole thing. Was sad to see some of the bad knowing how much potential the place has (literally unlimited). They seem to get decent crowds, so I don't know what to make of their financial situation. Just know it has been the same ownership for like 80 years, which in one respect has been good (they haven't veered from the retro vibe), but they seem to have become very complicit and lazy. Level your expectations and go at night and you'll have a nice enough time for the cost. Also, food is ridiculously cheap. $5 giant funnel cakes and $1-2 Icees.

I truly think Zamperla using Coney Island as a testing ground of sorts fits perfectly with what the area was all about from an amusements perspective during its hay day. Seeing these super crazy and unique flats here really just feels right!

LOVED your video walkthrough. The perfect length and totally captured everything. I also appreciate how there is limited signage directing you which way to go. Gives you the ability to just get lost in the area. Prices for food and drink seem absolutely insane, but not terribly surprised by that.

Visited the park Sunday night. Just poked in to give Ravine Flyer a spin (we were up in Wine Country for the day). Such beautiful views as it was near sunset. Park is super well kept. And they keep finding little plots of space for new rides. I like how they've kept this small park feel while offering a surprising amount in the way of flats and slides. Ravine Flyer itself seemed to be running better than ever. Super smooth and speedy.

I love going to Vegas, but really not to gamble. I will play a bit of black jack, but really not much. I enjoy just being able to walk up and down the strip open carry liquor. Also enjoy seeing one show every time and exploring Old Vegas, etc. I don't play too well into the hands of the casinos themselves. But we still make a nice time of it.

I’m willing to bet it won’t be open until July at the earliest. It’s not just going to be finished construction wise and ready to go. I mean, how does the rest of the area appear to be coming along?

Don't mean to hijack this, just offering up an option in the event you do want to do a general sightseeing tour. Girlfriend lived in NYC for a little bit. One general tour company we DID like was a walking tour not a bus tour (can’t speak for bus tours as we haven’t done one)! Free Tours by Foot. They operate in various cities. But in NYC, we took the Central Park tours, a Midtown Tour, a Greenwich Village food tour (and a normal sightseeing one), and a Harlem Tour. They are pay what you want, so super affordable (we tip $10-15/person for the two hour tours). For us, it was just a nice, easy way to just kind of not think about where we're going for a few hours and learn a lot of cool info. Just check out the website and see if any of them look fun to you and book in advance a few days and you'll be good.

Thank you for posting all these pictures and updates from the park. Definitely look forward to visiting again this year. I didn't make it out last year. Do you know if they've added more bumper cars this year? Last I remember there were only about 6. which just didn't seem quite right. Also, does the Music Express ride still run incredibly slow or have they fixed the motor or whatever was causing that?

Love it. Such an incredibly Pittsburgh thing for people to get up in arms over. Folks were calling it a yinzvestigation, just the best.

I am real pleased to see Kennywood get some love in the 50+ year old list. That's something I didn't totally expect to see.

I don't plan to go to Tokyo next year, because of the Olympics... but it seems smart to wait until 2022... but I don't wanna wait that long. I'd prefer to be in Japan literally all the time.

I missed this the first time looking through these comments. You really hit the nail on the head there. They didn't skimp in any way when they made this area. So many nice touches and just a sprawling new land in the back of the park. Yeah, I do wonder that, too. I know the ride flies pretty low to the ground and over some areas of the park. Maybe they thought it wasn't terribly obstructive and would help with loose articles flying out? I really have no clue. I think that terminology is just a little gimmicky. It is just Mexican-inspired food, at least as Americans know it. Bowls with some rice, pico, and meat, etc. But it is tasty and something different from the rest of the food in the park!

^Has any progress been made on the log flume and other additions? I know they had mentioned that the adventure course was due in this year.

^Check out TPR's coverage here! https://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1906229#p1906229

You're absolutely right. Looking this up after you mentioned it confirmed it! That's pretty neat. The food itself carried pretty much no noticeable heat. Mexican-inspired... but closer to a Chipotle than anything truly authentic. It has familiar components, but is perfectly suitable for anyone, honestly! I think it is a really nice food addition to the park.

Yesterday, TPR attended Media Day for the opening of Dollywood’s biggest expansion to date, Wildwood Grove. The new area represents the single biggest capital investment in the park’s history, spanning 6 acres and adding 20% to the size of the park, all to the ring of $37 million dollars. This, along with Lightning Rod, Firechaser Express, Dropline, and the DreamMore Resort, is a part of The Dollywood Company’s 2013 commitment of $300 million to the park. Wildwood Grove features 11 new experiences for guests, including six unique rides, one of which is a suspended family coaster called the Dragonflier. In addition, there's live entertainment, various indoor and outdoor play areas for families to enjoy, a new restaurant, shopping, and of course, the 55 ft. tall Wildwood Tree. The story behind the new area is based on Dolly's life, just like many of the other attractions in the park. Her dreams and stories are brought to life as you explore this section and it's easy to recognize the creativity and imagination that made it possible. From Dollywood: “Beyond an ancient hollow log and into a hidden land, Wildwood Grove beckons the explorer in all of us. Let curiosity be your guide as you journey ever deeper, past sparkling creeks, through a charming village, and under the mighty limbs of the great Wildwood Tree. This is where adventure takes root and dreams take flight.” Check out our coverage from the day’s events! We’ve arrived. We parked in lot G with the school groups, received a brief summary of the day’s activities, and were on our way! They led the media through a back entrance, across some train tracks, and into Wildwood Grove. The morning began with a media-only session, complete with some music from members of the Smoky Mountain String Band. Dolly knows how to put on a show. This is the Wildwood Tree. Pictures don't do it justice. There are hundreds of hand-crafted butterflies that sparkle at night. From Dollywood: “Encircled by a plaza rich with nature and plenty of spots for photo ops, The Wildwood Tree is bedecked with a collection of butterflies dancing colorfully in the breeze. The gnarled bark of the tree is subtly carved with oversized musical instruments, as if music rises from its very soul.” Craig Ross, Pete Owens, and others discussed the making of Wildwood Grove, repeatedly emphasizing that the area was designed to allow families to make memories worth repeating. The ride selection, height requirements, and plethora of shade and seating all prove that point. Anyone from toddlers to grandparents can ride together. Of course, Dolly made an appearance! As with other ride openings, Dolly sang the song behind the story. That's part of what I love about Dollywood, especially since music plays such an important part in my life. Flit and Flutter...or Flitter and Floozy (who knows, Dolly couldn’t remember their names) joined her on stage! My girlfriend's mom wanted one thing for Mother’s Day: a picture of her with Dolly. She took a few questions and then brought some kids up to release a bunch of butterflies into the area. Such a nice touch! From there, we were escorted to a tent by Dragonflier and tasted the food that Till and Harvest will offer guests come Memorial Day at Wildwood Grove. The eatery specializes in Smoky Mountain-inspired Mexican fare. Of course they had some delicious desserts, too! Here's our spread. Some chips and salsa, a delicious Mexican corn salad, a couple bowls with chicken/beef and rice, pico, and lettuce, and chocolate cake/strawberry shortcake for dessert. Everything was great, as expected! The drinks were strawberry and pineapple flavored and my girlfriend, Kylie, said they tasted like melted popsicles which isn’t a bad thing. After lunch, we had a few hours to explore the area before the soft opening at 2 p.m. These pictures are organized to show what you’d see as you walk through. You enter by Mystery Mine and the path is slightly elevated, taking you away from the coaster loop. It’s kinda funny to me that Thunderhead is front and center in this picture, despite not being located in Wildwood Grove. You’ll see the new restaurant on your right (still being worked on), and then Treetop Tower on your left. It's a really cute little ride, but definitely the least accessible for parents since the acorns are a bit snug. The ride takes you up maybe 25 feet and rotates you around gently to the top of the tower and back down. From Dollywood: "Every autumn a shower of colorful leaves blanket the forest in Wildwood Grove. Inspired by the floating leaves. Visiting guests soar through the sky on a lofty leaf canopy as it spins and soars overhead before gently drifting downward to the forest floor." The next thing you’ll see on your left is the Great Tree Swing. The lines are positioned to the side of or behind the rides to allow families to have a clearer view of their kids. There are little touches like this everywhere. I don’t usually enjoy these, but the operators convinced us to ride on “low mode.” We did and it didn’t upset my stomach! From Dollywood: "Fashioned from the massive leaves and vines of the Wildwood Tree, The Great Tree Swing takes riders breath away as they fly high through the skies." Moving along, they drew inspiration from Roaring Fork Motor Trail in Gatlinburg, bringing the sights and sounds of The Smokies to the area. For you Darien Lake fans, Dollywood clearly drew some inspiration from Moose on the Loose, adding a ride called Black Bear Trail. This is such a cute ride for parents to enjoy with their kids. Throughout the day, we saw so many smiling faces bouncing along the track. Sure to be a big hit! I'm not sure what the bear's name is, but they have a character meet 'n greet in Wildwood Grove, which is something new for the park. From Dollywood: "Climb on the back of one of the friendly bears that cavort in the sparkling streams of Wildwood Grove or through the beautiful backwoods." The bears gently rock back and forth as you venture through the backwoods. The POV you’ve all been waiting for. Happy to report, I secured some incredible footage on this beast. Later on, Dolly re-appeared! If you’ve not heard about it, look up her Imagination Library. They do great work improving childhood literacy! I'm not sure who the news lady was, but they did a little interview at Black Bear Trail and helped a few kids get on the ride. The kids clearly didn't understand the magnitude of the situation. IT’S DOLLY! Dolly didn’t ride, unfortunately, but I felt like the paparazzi. No shame! At this point, we’ve walked through the first half of Wildwood Grove and to your left is Wildwood Tree. I’m sad the park closed at 7:00 p.m. and we couldn’t get any night shots of the area, especially the tree. Time to check out some of the merchandise! We had a media guide who was available to answer questions and make sure our experience went smoothly. She brought us a gift bag with a nice hat and magnet from the new store, Mountain Grove Merchants. We both loved these shirts and were surprised how affordable the merchandise was. The hat was valued at and our magnet at . There were a variety of keychains, too, that were the same price. Wildwood Creek is the area where the presentation happened in the morning and it's a nice gathering place for families. From Dollywood: "At the heart of the Grove, directly across from the iconic Tree sits Wildwood Creek, a welcome “oasis” for cooling off, making music and taking a break. A scenic creek winding through the area, it invites young and old to roll up their cuffs, wade in and splash around in the cool mountain water." There are a few different drums and xylophones for kids, plus water features and lots of seating. I couldn’t resist a chance to play some music! This was a surprise for me. It looks like a kiddie ride, but there are two rows per car that allow adults to hop around alongside their kids. From Dollywood: "Frogs and fireflies live in harmony at Wildwood Grove. The friendly frogs chase each other in a quick hop around the lily pad on this playful round-about ride." The back third of Wildwood Grove features Hidden Hollow, a much-needed area for parents to cool off and let their kids unwind. We sat in here for a little while, enjoying the air conditioning and watching the kids explore. From Dollywood: "Near The Wildwood Tree, a secret play area named Hidden Hollow, beckons families with a collection of kid-friendly activities for participatory play." It’s a little hard to capture all of the features since it's so dimly lit, but it seems like they're making an effort to accommodate children with different needs. There's a memory game, a pogo-jump challenge, an endless floor, and a bunch of other activities. On your left, and right across from Hidden Hollow, are the fliers. Most of the flat rides are concentrated in the County Fair area of the park, so it's nice to see more in Wildwood Grove. This is an eight-car model that doesn't really allow for snapping, but it's a welcome addition that offers some nice views of Dragonflier. From Dollywood: "On any given day, a colorful variety of mockingbirds dart around Wildwood Grove. Celebrating the wonder of flight, guests take part in The Mad Mockingbird as they dip and soar in an aerial ballet." Last, but not least, you run into the headliner of the area, a new family-friendly coaster. It's quiet, smooth, and fits the theme quite well. The green track really pops too! Here's the test seat! A little shot of the train. The train is about to leave the station. From Dollywood: "Dragonflier mimics the flight of a Smoky Mountain dragonfly as it speeds through the terrain in a most unpredictable path. With the rush of wind and the thrill of flight, there’s nothing more exhilarating." It's hard to get great shots of the ride because of the layout and landscaping, but they ran all six rides for us from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. before opening to the public. After the lift hill, you drop into a tunnel and fly out over a pond, taking you through a few turns and over the paved walkway. I don’t know how anyone could dislike family-oriented coasters like this. It fits in nicely and it’s encouraging to see Dollywood investing so much into experiences for the whole group while still offering thrills and great shows! It’s an incredible juxtaposition of things. We love this park! As 2:00 p.m. rolled around, there were quite a few people lined up and waiting to enter. They officially opened the land to the public the following day, May 11, 2019, but this appeared to be an unanounced soft opening. Overall, Wildwood Grove is a stellar addition to Dollywood. It feels essential, even on day one. Dollywood feels more complete and well rounded as a result. It’s a nice addition to the back part of the park where you’d normally only find a handful of thrill-seeking coaster options. This now gives visitors a reason to explore all of Dollywood. Dolly and Herschend Family Entertainment exceeded expectations once again. They’re responding to increasing attendance by improving the customer experience. We’re super excited for what’s to come in a potential (seemingly definite) Phase Two. Thanks for reading and thanks to Robb for hooking us up! We had an absolute blast and Dollywood, including Theresa from the sewing department, took great care of us. I’ll leave you with a bonus picture of rope drop. I swear, I notice something different and hilarious every time I look at this picture.

I can’t offer much, except to say that Marineland for me wasn’t too great. Bears were throwing up and eating it because people were throwing marshmallows down to them. Not many attractions, a bizarre layout. Dragon Mountain is certeinly fun. Dunno if it helps you at all to skip it schedule wise. It just felt awfully expensive. Not to say you can always go by this, but: Marineland: (3.2 on Google, 3 on TripAdvisor, 2 on Yelp) La Ronde: (4.0 on Google, 3.5 on TripAdvisor, 3 on Yelp) I can honestly say I’ve never seen a park (or any food place besides fast food) that low on Yelp or Google. I’d 100 million % just explore Canada side of the falls before I’d ever return there.

Day 16: Benyland, Lina World (#300!), and Sega Joypolis Today was a VERY busy day. Some of the trip participants added two days to our Tokyo Disney stay (a really nice option for those that love Disney, like me). With that in mind, some of the folks who had only two days on Disney property (and others who didn't want to wake up at 5:30) decided to stay back for the day and relax or do Disney for a third day. NOT TAYLOR, THOUGH. We would press on. We took the resort subway to the gateway back to Tokyo, took one more local train to Tokyo Station, and then hopped on a bullet train that took us from Tokyo up to Sendai (230 miles, 4.5 hours by car) in 90 minutes. I cannot stress enough how much I LOVED getting around in Japan. I can honestly say it was the surprise highlight of the trip for me. Just relaxing on a bullet train watching the world fly by. So much less stressful than driving around yourself and obviously more efficient. Just a joy. Here is our ride for the morning. Thanks Elissa for clocking this! So, yeah, I mentioned before there are three tiers of Shinkansen. I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong), you can only take the two "slower" more frequent stop Shinkansen in most cases; however, the only way for us to get up to Sendai was via the fastest train, so that was allowed. Reservations for this tier train are REQUIRED, unlike the other two where it is recommended (guarantee a seat next to your group), but not required (they have reserved and un-reserved train cars). We arrived in Sendai. If you didn't know, in 2011, the fourth strongest Earthquake recorded and the strongest ever recorded in Japan struck Sendai. The earthquake and subsequent Tsunami waves destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings and killed roughly 16,000 people. It was the costliest natural disaster in history. We didn't see too much of the coastal area that was affected, but it was still surreal and a bit overwhelming to imagine the damage that occurred here. If you're interested in a very interesting video about the impact of the earthquake and how some of the community has responded in powerful ways, you can check out this link: What do you see over there on the right? Oh, nothing. Just an organized, orderly line of taxis waiting patiently for their turn to pick up people. We took our cab to the park and arrived a bit before open. Had some time to spare, so I ran over to the 7-Eleven across the street to grab a little snack. This is onigiri and is a delicious cold rice ball. They have salted rice, fried rice, as well as more elaborate seafood versions stuffed with salmon, etc. Benyland: Benyland ended up being a nice little surprise of a park. Two old Arrow coasters, lovely landscaping, and an empty park made for a nice couple hours. We have arrived! This park really surprised me. You look at the maps/websites for these parks and you don't get much of an impression. But, as was the case for the whole trip, really no park was a disappointment. This one had some unique stuff going for it! Your map. Little castle you walked under to get past the main entrance area where most of the flats were located. I probably rode less than a dozen flat rides the whole trip (not counting big wheels), and that's alright! Always so many dark rides and wonky things to check out. The little jet coaster thing they had was cute. Not much to it, but unique layout as usual and great landscaping! Employees often multi-tasked throughout their shift, landscaping while they were not operating (which was practically always, unless we were riding). They had this suspended Fiesta Express type ride. Was it fun? Eh. I guess. Here was cyclone, which was no doubt a one trick pony. The ejector airtime in the back seat on the first drop was remarkable and totally unexpected. The front of the train was basically at the bottom of the hill when you got pulled over the lift, so yeah... pretty wicked. The rest of the ride didn't do much of anything. But certainly a surprise hit. No shame. Obligatory (not so big) wheel. Probably because we weren't really right on the coast. The other credit here was Corkscrew. Which was nice enough. Nothing terribly unexpected. Nagashima's was smoother, but it was well taken care of in the paint department! A better view of that first drop on Cyclone. This was wonky. They had a train simulator. You had to stop at certain intersections for pedestrians/traffic. It scored you based on how effectively you stopped, etc. It was a cute idea for an interactive ride. Certainly the kind of thing that would be nice in the States (not super high capacity unfortunately). This flat ride looked promising but really didn't do much of anthing. Paid 300 yen for the upcharge walkthrough. I don't really remember there being any actors inside. Did get stuck in a circle one time, so I guess it succeeded there. From the wheel (why do I feel like this was a bigger ferris wheel that I didn't take a picture of)? An overview of Cyclone's layout. As I said before, the landscaping was really quite nice. I guess this is the same wheel from earlier. It's actually fairly big, I guess. Rode a little train through the park. Guy had to stop from trimming some bushes to operate the ride, so I felt a bit bad! They had this unique "Turnpike in the Sky" type ride that traveled around the front of the park and around all the flats. There we are! The main concourse was done quite well! The flats. I think you could read this NOT as Corkscrew. That big drop, though. And yeah, the jet coaster goes through the Corkscrew a bit. They had some unique retro games, which seemed a bit out of nowhere. But was cool! One last view of Benyland before we go! What a nice place. Lina World: So, we hopped back in a cab, returned to Sendai Station, grabbed a quick lunch, and then took a local train INLAND. For the first time, really. It was a bizarre trip, as I kept imagining how difficult it would be to construct such a line. There were a few stops where I truly wondered where people lived given how remote the area seemed But was cool to get a bit of perspective on what Japan looks like away from the coast and larger towns. Lina World was actually a bit more crowded because a few school groups were there. But nothing too bad. The park had a couple credits, a decent log flume and a couple interesting walkthroughs. Overall, I liked Benyland more, but this was a nice stop, as well! Got myself #300! Could really be #302, or something totally different. But, for the sake of my own sanity, it is #300. These pictures are obviously questionable. But I figure they are better than nothing, for you guys who want to see a bit of our trip between the two parks. We have arrived. Took a quick cab ride over to Lina World. The map! They really had a thing for Hello Kitty. There was a dark ride, as well as whole little themed Kiddieland. Another beautiful setting. The main walkway up to the Ferris Wheel is actually quite scenic. Here is credit number one. Here would be "credit" number two. However, it was not open. Which was... fine. Looked really fun, though. Let me tell you! There was a weird "4D" theater they had. Not too much in the way of movement, but a couple jolts in the chair and whatnot. They were actually way more intense than they had any reason being. But alas. The flume had a clever little plastic screen you could put up. However, most of the water came in from the sides, so it didn't really fix anything. They had a music express that had a covered. It was like a homemade caterpillar type ride. It was pretty fun! Here we are. The big one. #300. Jetcorster Discovery. Couldn't have gotten much luckier than this. Part of me thought I wanted #300 at Disney. But, it is sort of poetic to get it at some random a** park in Japan. They had a mirror maze with some trippy effects. They had a little go kart ride. And honestly, if there were places that had single lane go karts that went real fast, I would be all about it. These didn't go too fast, but the idea was nice. Some more goofy stuff. Another walkthrough. The area had some random paths that took you throughout the park. Didn't really feel like you were in an amusement park at moments. OH! The view from the Wheel was good, as always. Some more flats. Not so flats. Here was the other credit. Neither were anything to write home about. But I loved riding them anyway, because they're all so different from America. It's not doing much of anything. But in a weird way. The little hedges were really well landscaped. I really don't have the slightest idea what this was. But here you are. Nor this. But it came from here. They had an ice house, so of course we went in. I really don't like shrimp. One last photo. Headed out and had some more nice views on the way back to Tokyo. Odaiba Decks and Sega Joypolis: That night, after we returned, a few of us went to Joypolis for a quick evening trip. We needed something to eat and found ourselves a burger joint that looked pretty good! It was Hawaiian themed, I guess. A few locations over in the US where it formed and then one here. But Joypolis turned out to be a lot of fun. We got a discounted rate with our passport and for showing up close to closing. But Gekion Live Coaster was certainly the highlight. Didn't know what to expect, really. But it was nice. We also did a crazy simulator that later made me throw up (that night, I felt fine after it), because we probably flipped 30 times in 3 minutes. Did a couple more simulators, as well as the Halfpipe and were on our way. Halfpipe was really fun and unique and is another reason to visit. A poor picture. But yeah, my burger had pineapple on it and I enjoyed it! We had a nice view of the city, Rainbow Bridge, and Lady Liberty. That's where we ate. Sega Joypolis! Here is the pricing. And the only picture I took from inside (sorry) was this car simulator. That was pretty cool! Thanks for bearing with me through ALL these pictures from this update. Next time, and from here on out, all Disney pictures!

Well, yeah. The fast pass thing worked out in that folks who didn't necessarily have an interest in a particular coaster could pass them off. I rode Do-dodondpa an extra time because of that! Truly, nothing really happened bad that day. You gotta accept that the park is popular, so you're never going to just walk on these rides (especially given the capacity). But we did everything we wanted, some things twice, and yeah. Worth visiting! The Gyoza really was delicious. Loved that practically every place I saw to eat at was just a little nook. And I'm glad you're enjoying following along. I have really enjoyed posting these pictures and going into a bit more detail than when I showed friends them!

Day 15: Fuji Q and Disney After 6 Welcome back! Today was a bit different. Fuji Q Highland is a bit difficult to access. The best way Elissa figured was to charter a bus and it worked out quite well! This was a park I had been looking forward to for the coasters, but was a bit apprehensive about because of TPR's past experiences. I think this is how EVERY Fuji-Q report starts out. One thing you will not find in the pictures is this: the area you walk through before the proper park entrance is quite nice! It's a little village with shops and food. I think it is new since TPR's last visit and it is a quality touch. Another thing... it should be pretty clear from the name of the park. But Fuji-Q is located about as close to Mt. Fuji as you can get. So I was anxiously waiting to see if we'd catch a glimpse of the peak. Read on to find out if we were lucky! To give you a bit of an idea of our strategy... we were given three fast passes, one each for Eejanaika, Do-Dodonpa, and Takabisha (Fujiyama down for refurb). I cannot give you advice as to how they got it done. But Robb did manage to get through the gate before the park officially opened with a park rep to acquire them, which really helped. When the park did open, we were basically advised to run to whatever we cared about most. In my case, that was Do-Dodonpa. From there, the lines had accumulated to the point where it was necessary to begin using our fast passes. Gonna do this one a bit differently and give a little ride by ride breakdown for the major coasters. Eejanaika: Let me preface this by saying that my opinion is not shared by all. These 4D coasters are very polarizing. The loading for this was just a mess. Multiple restraint checks, no shoes allowed, etc. But we got on. Dunno whether the inside or outside is less rough. But whatever was supposedly better was where I sat. I don't think it is rough. It's just intense and a bit relentless. I like to know what's going on and this ride really doesn't do that. So that is why I say it is clearly personal preference. Felt about the same about X2. 3/10. Do-Dodonpa: This was the one I was most looking forward to and it did not disappoint. Unfortunately, fast pass was restricted to the last two rows (of four). Regardless, the anticipation for the launch on my first ride was nothing short of harrowing. The music that plays in the station gets you pumped up. And then out of nowhere once your train leaves the station and heads to the launch area, a loud voice just yells, " LAUNCH TIME!" and then it counts down and you're off. I remember Elissa or someone describing the sensation of the launch as roughly equivalent to the feeling you might get when you're hit by a truck. Can't confirm or deny that, but wow. It is a hell of a launch. The rest of the ride is pretty smooth honestly, but it's a one trick pony. The loop was fun, but the entrance INTO the loop was a bit jarring for me. 9/10 Takabisha: I had also heard this was a ride with an identity crisis. One half being great, the other being pretty rough (a la Jekyll and Hyde). But honestly, I enjoyed all of it and it was definitely my favorite Euro-fighter. The launch was fun and the steep drop was a gimmick, but still fun! 8/10. Fuji Airways: This was totally unexpected! Elissa mentioned they had a Soarin' ripoff, but I left this very impressed. The pre show was ridiculous as expected and centered around a character who had Mt. Fuji hair. Impossible for me to describe it any other way. But the actual simulator was quite fun! Super glad I did this. 7/10. They had some other coasters, but these were the noteworthy ones. Welcome to hell. Or maybe heaven. Depends how the weather and the park treats us. Nice little entrance area. I will admit, it is a clever idea for a ride. And I loved making screwed up ridiculous versions in RCT2 (constantly slowly flipping you as you ascended the lift hill. They had a rather nice Thomas Town area (with absolutely the lamest, saddest excuse for a kiddie coaster of the trip. But I have no shame. Nice cute little dark ride in the back of this section, as well as a handful of other rides. They were renovating the area, as well! And they may not have had a full size log flume. But you better believe I rode this. Naw. I didn't. But I DID take advantage of this luxury. Twice actually, throughout the day. The pretzels were cheaper here than in malls back home and I had a maple flavored and a regular one. Sounds pretty harsh, really. So yeah, the launch is in a tunnel which definitely adds to the sensation of it all. They had a cute little suspended coaster. Horrible capacity as was the case with the rest of the park. I think off in the distance there was a rapids ride that looked pretty nuts. It was a kind of rainy day, so I did not partake. Meat Meet or Meet Meat was for lunch. And it was really tasty! Got a meatloaf type thing, a piece of sausage, and some bacon, plus a whole stewed tomato, some rice, and soup. A nice meal, especially for a park. PITTSBURGH! Hometown getting some representation. This is something I can get behind. They had this really nice little area of the park where you could walk up some trails and get to a little bit of high ground to try to see Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately, no dice throughout the day. I got a better picture with Mt. Fuji at Legoland, to be honest. This loop is really, really big. The building on the left is the Soarin' ride. And Takabisha in the distance. Unfortunately, no Fujiyama this trip. No Fuji. Boooo. This drop is definitely a gimmick, but it is fun! Reppin' my black and gold. King of Coasters is a nice tagline. Sad go karts, not so sad coaster. Odd cotton candy, they also sold Ben and Jerry's ice cream I wanna say in some of the gift shops. Beer vending machine with no supervision. Wow. Only in Japan. Overall, we had a really nice day at the park. Were taken care of quite well and got on everything we were able to. They made some weird announcements throughout the day about wind and rain shutting down rides and how if you get in line before park close and then the park closes and you're not on the ride yet, that you're basically SOL. Other than that... great day! Still no luck on the bus. But yeah, we took a bit of an early exit from the park as we had completed everything folks wanted to do (another nice thing about the trip) and had a couple hour trip back to Disney property. I was hopeful we would return in a reasonable enough time to go to Disney for a bit. Tokyo Disneyland: I'd be crazy not to say Disney was what I was excited for most on this trip. Ever since seeing my first report on these parks from TPR, I knew I HAD to visit at some point. I cannot express how grateful I am to know that I got to do that before I even turned 25. Gives me more time to re visit down the line. This first day, I flew solo and actually punched in on my phone (as I did the other Disney days) what I did. So, here's a breakdown of how my quick 3.5 hours in the park went, according to my notes. P.S. I'll try to give my opinions on some of the rides in later reports, as I'll be re-riding all of these, I'm betting. -Entered Disneyland and in line for Pirates of the Caribbean by 6:40, waited 5 minutes -Got curry popcorn -On Pinnochio by 7:20 (I can remember eating the popcorn in line) -On haunted Mansion by 7:40 -On Splash Mountain at 8:05 (only 5 people in front of me for single rider) -In line for Pooh at 8:25, on at 8:50 -In line for Buzz at 9:10 -In line for Space Mountain at 9:40 So, in 3.5 hours, I did 7 rides and got some popcorn. I would say, not too bad an evening. And for $38... a no brainer, for me. I think I ended up getting to Toyko Disneyland around 6:30 PM. They offer an after 6 ticket for about , which is a steal of a deal. I am SO happy I went in this night. Can never have enough Disney. Honestly, didn't take many pictures because I was in a bit of shock/tried to get as much done as possible in a short period of time. Main Street is covered and beautiful as ever. My first stop was this. What a lovely choice. These little turners were different at every machine and I appreciated that! The curry popcorn was lovely. I am a big popcorn guy and I can really appreciate the emphasis Tokyo Disney places on it. And why not? It sells! I got the first of three rides on Pooh and was absolutely blown away. It befuddles me how Disney hasn't just cloned this ride or re-purposed this system everywhere. Buzz was fun as usual, though I really think they could do better on these things. The scoring system always seemed wonky and I feel like for sheer gamesmanship, there were better shooting dark rides all over Japan. Obviously this ride has other stuff going for it. With that, though! Get ready, because tomorrow, we are heading to two parks that are VERY FAR away from Tokyo.