gforce532

I'm wonder if they are trying to cut expenses. Superman is usually one of my favorites in park because they seem to always blast the A/C in there like crazy. (at least whenever I have walked through the queue)

I have always felt it odd that right after you see the Yeti you hit the breaks for the end of the ride while still in the mountain. But yes, even though I still love the ride. It is in my mind the most over rated ride in all WDW only behind Soarin'. And I to think that Matterhorn and the Thunder Mountains are so much more thoroughly done in terms of the amount rockwork and just things to look at with the caverns and props. Of course the queue is one of the best I have ever seen. The mountain also (minus the train going up the lift) is just beautiful to look at from a distance. And I am sure the Yeti was really cool when it worked, but you still would only see it for 2 or 3 seconds.

Mine will most likely be Gatekeeper unless I make a last minute trip to Florida or SoCal during Spring Break.

For Sure - Cedar Point Silver Dollar City (1st time) Six Flags St. Louis (1st time) Universal Studios Florida Islands of Adventure Sea World Orlando (1st time) Busch Gardens Tampa (1st time) Disneyland Disney California Adventure Six Flags Magic Mountain Maybe - Worlds of Fun (1st time) Six Flags Fiesta Texas (1st time) Sea World San Antonio (1st time) WDW – Epcot Universal Studios Hollywood Knott's Berry Farm Darien Lake (1st time) Kings Island Possible but not likely - WDW – Magic Kingdom WDW – Hollywood Studios WDW – Animal Kingdom Six Flags Over Texas (1st time) Coney Island (1st time) Six Flags New England (1st time) Lake Compounce (1st time) Canobie Lake (1st time) Great Escape (1st time) Hersheypark Knoebels Kennywood Waldameer Park Sea World San Diego California's Great America Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Santa Cruz Boardwalk

I like how they do not acknowledge Transformers at all in the new attractions of 2012 list.

Here is my updated list of maps. And sorry I am only interested in maps, not brochures. 2012 - Canada's Wonderland Cedar Point Disneyland California - Summer Disney California Adventure - Summer (with Carsland / Buena Vista Street) Dorney Park Hersheypark Holiday World Kennywood Kings Dominion Kings Island Knott's Berry Farm Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great America Six Flags America Six Flags Magic Mountain Universal Studios Hollywood - Summer (with Transformers) 2011 - Cedar Point Disneyland California - Summer Disney California Adventure - Summer Dorney Park Kennywood Kings Island Knott's Berry Farm Michigan’s Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great America Six Flags Magic Mountain Universal Studios Hollywood – Summer 2010 – California's Great America Cedar Point Disneyland California – Halloween Disneyland California – September Disneyland California – Summer Disneyland California – Spring Disney California Adventure – Halloween Disney California Adventure – September Disney California Adventure – Summer Disney California Adventure – Spring Knott's Berry Farm Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Magic Mountain Universal Studios Hollywood – Summer Universal Stusios Hollywood - Spring

^Great Adventure was $22 when I was there last month. But yeah its funny how instead of rasing the gate prices they raise parking.

^Screamscape reported that they may make an announcement on Jan 24th about something. Along with Jaws replacement they have also yet to say anything about the new water show or an opening date for Despicable Me.

Okay okay I'll take back what I said. I just figure if they were going to build a Hogsmed area they would want to design it in the way that when you are inside you can't tell that the rest of the park was around it.

^I'm assuming if they are going to build an outside area. And want to keep that part hidden from the rest of the park.

Except the problem with the ideas (including mine) of keeping Waterworld is that I would ruin the atmosphere if you hear explosions and see fireworks coming from WW. So they would have to build forbidden journey or something else in between the two, Or downgrade WW.

Ive been looking alot at Google maps of the resort alot the last couple days. And I am wondering what is the area behind Simpsons and Men in Black used for. Because that can be room for another expansion that is actually a little bit bigger than Jaws.

^But I think if they were going to do something that big of a scale it would be much easier to throw away their Universal Village plan and build a second gate over in the Falls lake and War of the Worlds area. Not to mention you would have to find a new area to put their studio tour tram storage and maintenance area. But hey 2015 is a long way away so you never know.

Thinking about this more. I wonder if they would just make a chopped down version to the Florida counterpart. Similar to how they did the Jurassic Parks, where IoA gets a whole land while USH gets a version of the feature ride with a restaurant, and a shop. If that is the case I think they could fit it just in the Gibson area and leave Waterworld for something else. Then they can use the Gibson's current entry path which has this kinda hidden in the trees and secret away from the park type of entrance. Or this guess could be completely wrong and the entire upper lot becomes Harry Potter. Also last year they reopened the New York area in the backlot. But I still think Kong was the major reason for their attendance increase last year.

If it is a carbon copy (which I hope it isn't). The only people that are going to be upset are the enthusiast who travel to both resorts. Which let be honest, a small percentage of people actually do that to the point universal doesn't look to attract them hardly at all because they would still come anyway. And lets remember about other remake rides between the two resorts. The Mummies are both pretty different experiences. And the Jurassic Parks though the skeleton of the rides are almost the same, the themeing and scene setups are pretty different between the two.

Didn't the Studio Tour entrance use to be in the Lower Lot? I think Jurassic Park's queue use to be the queue for the Tour (hence why it is so dull), or I could be wrong. Then they moved the tour up to the upper lot when they built Jurassic Park. But yeah like what was just mentioned, they just finished remodeling the current queue area. And actually I think they are still working on it.

Now that I looked back on the topic I would have to say that I feel Leviathan is the ride I feel is most overrated. Mainly its just a B&M mega with a bigger first hill and a layout that doesn't look all that impressive. Of course I have been on rides that I thought I wouldn't care for but ended up liking. And rides that I thought I would love but didn't really care for. And in regards to my early post. I wasn't referring that I don't care for Verboten. I just feel that won't like it as much I hope I will (I should have thought about the topic more). It is afterall the roller coaster that I am most excited for next year. Like how this pass year I was really excited for Little Mermaid but then I found to it to be a disappointment when I rode it.

^Yes, but I feel that Potter is on the same level as Star Wars and Star Trek where it has such a stong fanbase that its popularity will not die anytime soon. Of course the Star Wars and Star Trek universe are still expanding, whereas from what I know Harry Potter is just going to be the 7 books and 8 movies.

I will have to go with Verbolten or Transformers. Not that I think they are overrated, just that I have a feeling they are going to be a big let down from their hype. But they are the two rides I'm most excited for, mainly because they are are a little unknown to us of what the ride experience is going to be like with the theme mixed in.

- Star Tours 2.0 - visiting SFGAd, SFGAm, and Kings Island for the first time and riding those coasters.

^I actually always forget that Terminator and the Europe area are on top of that parking structure. Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying don't build Potter or rides. I'm just think they should to hold on to being USH rather than become Universal Orlando west coast.

In regards to the upper lot attractions. The only reason I would be against them taking out Waterworld is because it would leave the park without a live action stunt show (unless you count Terminator) which is something that I think a park like USH with its movie making theme should always have. But then they can always build a new one because Waterworld seems to me as something that they have milked along for a quite few years longer than it should have. Unless they see keeping it around longer as a way to save money after the movie flopped so badly (actually I get the impression that most people don't know it is based after a movie). And yes I would miss the show, but there is always Youtube. Next I think that the Special Effects show should stay because of it fits with the movie making theme that the park is known for. But its castle theater setup feels kinda temporary for me even after they moved it from the Transformers spot two years ago. So they very well might move it somewhere else again. Shrek and Terminator I have seen them enough that I won't really miss them at all. Animal Actors and Curious George I wouldn't personally miss but they are the only family attractions that the park has right now, so it would be kinda weird to take them out without family attractions to replace them. And the whole Europe area around Terminator has always seem kinda pointless to me, unless you like taking pictures of you in front of those buildings. To me it was them recreating Europe streets sets from the backlot and putting it in the park. But as far as the upper lot goes the only things that I don't think are in danger are the entry gate, Simpsons, and the Backlot Tour. (unless if they reconfigure some of the tour by the parking garage. I always found it weird to compare USH to other Socal parks because the park really hasn't been about rides but more so the movie industry and how movies are made. And a lot of non theme park tourist to Socal tend to be very interested in that rather than going to park like SFMM or KBF that to them they see no difference from their local park back home.

Last year they got 5 million, which is still a good amount of people passing through its gates. The park is a very popular spot for non-theme park tourist of Hollywood and Los Angeles to visit thanks to the backlot tour. They also make a fortune off their $129 front of the line passes that seems like 1 out of 5 guest will buy. Harry Potter I feel will make the park much more popular among the locals to visit more often rather than just going to big brother down south.

I'm really interested to see where they are going to put this. ^That seems like a good possibilitty. Another guess I have would be where Waterworld is because that has been on the chopping block for a while. And along with getting rid of the Gibson Amphitheater, that would open a big footprint, but I don't know how likely that would be. And also currently they've been doing a lot of construction around the Studio Tour's queue area, so I wonder if that is somewhat related. They had also had a long term plan to redevelop part of the backlot. They had said they were going to get rid of Falls Lake, War of the Worlds, and Wisteria Lane. But we have not heard anything about that in a while. I would much rather prefer to have this one be different from Florida. Maybe have Diagon Alley instead of Hogsmead.

^But remember Six Flags announced Kentucky Kingdom's closure in February.