better_by_design

Utterly fantastic news for an utterly fantastic resort! It's pretty clear when you visit TDS that the last major plot of land big enough to hold a whole new port is the one they're aiming at now... although they could shoehorn new attractions in ala DL Indy-style "build on the parking lot, walk past the berm" type designs, this looks like the last shot at an entirely new port. (Unless they reclaimed more land on the New York / Cape Cod / Discovery Cove side and widened the whole park... but... yeah). So, I was always a little surprised that basically Tokyo Disney SEA has basically *1* boat ride (Sinbad) as an attraction, excepting the steamer transportation boats... which would conceptually leave room for a new Frozen boat ride? Or are we all too caught up now with the Maelstrom/Frozen thing and just aren't thinking as creatively as the Oriental Land Company will be? That said, a "turning" boat ride system ala some of the assumed-to-be-for Shanghai Pirates-land could be pretty amazing if used for this concept too... And they're moving Small World? Are we going to see a truly modern take on the classic? That could be amazing!

I sure hope they do it properly - accounting for the crowds - and not just a budget/time constrained shoe-horn job. And MAYBE - just maybe - it'll prove enough of a boost to attendance/spending to encourage some further investment in World Showcase ATTRACTIONS - which have been overlooked since every pavilion got built, basically. The only mild updates were bringing Donald & pals to the LAMBR, and film updates to China & Canada... LOTS of restaurant upgrades (where the $$$ gets made), continually improved Food & Wine Fest ($$$)... but nothing attraction-wise since... ? Epcot still has a TON of room for expansion, and lots of room in the existing infrastructure for bigger crowds... best case scenario is that Froze-strom spurs crowds and further investment. Can't ever see an E (or even D) ticket being brought forward if this isn't a wild success.

I mean, Akershus is pretty consistently booked already... why? It's a princess meal in WDW. Which is also important to note - the themeing ship has sailed, friends... since Cindy, Aurora, etcetera have been "visiting" Norway for what, over a decade now? This is all going to make Norway the biggest draw in World Showcase by a LONG shot. At least in terms of pavilions/attractions. One has to be concerned that doing this as an overlay/gutting of the existing buildings/ride system is going to leave poor Norway overwhelmed by the Frozen-obsessed guests. I mean, seriously, I can already name families that will be planning trips JUST FOR THIS as soon as word gets out. So, the bigger issue is this: Maelstrom already had lines... at times. For Epcot, that's a big deal! Add Disney's most successful movie in 2 generations? Nightmare! Not going "full boat" and putting in a higher capacity ride system is going to bite them in the butt in 2016. Anyone have thoughts of whether they can reverse the ride pre-show/post-show flow and use the giant theater area as a pre-show? Or are we all just assuming that space becomes a meet-and-greet and there's going to be 2 hour standby lines snaking out to the World Showcase promenade somehow?

We went to Holiwood Nights last year, and the ERT on the watercoasters was more fun than the wooden coasters... which was also awesome at night - which tells you how awesome watercoaster ERT is This is absolutely true - the Holiday World coasters are awesome/inspiring, but the watercoasters are uniquely amazing - folks can legitimately debate where Voyage and Raven fit in the pantheon of woodies, debate their "Mt. Rushmores" of coasters, but I have yet to find anyone who debates that Mammoth and Wildebeest are the 2 best water slides in the world.

Greatly appreciate the in-depth report in this colorful park! Planning a work trip to Bangkok and am wondering if any of the parks are worth taking time to check out, so this was very helpful!

After flipping through 20+ pages of complaints from the "haters" and counter-complaints from the "lovers", I think we've all missed an important question: Will the ride ops uniforms for Fury:325 be like this? Or this... Or this:

Great mix of rides & attractions, including something for all ages... gorgeous theming... nice setting on the lake... timeless theme that appeals to the target audience (kids in this case)... a strong weenie in the drop tower... this is all win! Very nice addition to provide some balance after Outlaw Run! Another great investment from Herschend.

Very nice job! The direct comparison on this makes it actually intelligible, I usually have a hard time visualizing construction photos, this is awesome! Thanks! -------------- Coming to Holiday World 2016: The Butter Churner

If only that could be said for all theme parks. Absolutely! HW completely deserved the Applause Award, and keep earning it every year. Add to the list above: Very quick, efficient ride ops. Fairly priced food & souvenirs. It seems so simple, but as well know, it really isn't or it wouldn't be so unusual in this industry!

So, to change the subject a little, what else should HW think about populating "Thunderbird Plaza" with? They're going to have a nice little farm theme going on, with maybe some bathrooms... assuming those are what the two smaller buildings are in the detail artwork (along with a photo/gift shop)... but what else? Petting zoo with farm animals? Thunderbird themed Frog Hopper? Maybe a chairlift to get to/from the main gate area? One has to admit, this would be pretty awesome, and HW doesn't have any transportation ride systems yet... plus a nice alpine themed chairlift building would be lovely in the Christmas area. Constructive thoughts?

Exactly - this looks like the best wingrider out there IMHO - but it was pretty hyped. Overhyped? Maybe, but that's a testament to both our high expectations of HW and the great PR skills of Raven Maven and her folks. I was absolutely hoping for something... I don't know. A B&M, even a launched, unique, great looking B&M just wasn't it. Though again, this does look really great. Roller coaster existential crisis?

They did say "first launched wing coaster in the nation" so, yeah. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is going to be MUCH better than Baco though. Although, interestingly, Baco had/has critics saying it ruined the area it's in.

Looks very legit - for a wing coaster. And obviously the launch into the massive Immelman is impressive. The keyhole barn thing at the end looks great... it all looks great. It all just seems a little un-Holiday World-ish to me. Great, but... I'll shut up now.

This really in fantastic looking - and quite frankly, it FEELS right that it's in this theater, in Harambe... where it should have been from Day 1, if they hadn't thrown together Camp Minnie Mickey out of budgetary purposes. Of course, I can't discount the fact that the show itself wouldn't be there without being thrown together out of used parade floats if not for budgetary purposes, so I guess all's well that ends well?

Great TR, and I love seeing HKDL get some well-deserved love. It may not be the best or biggest Magic Kingdom, but it's pretty great, and has some awesome, unique attractions now. And then there's the Golden Mickeys - which makes more sense once you realize they borrowed the show from the cruise line. Hopefully now that the building spree is over, they'll take the opportunity to put a new & original show in that theater. That said, it is a very easy show to offer to a multilingual audience, so there's that I guess. Also very thankful that I'm not the only guy out there who had visiting all the Disney Parks as a life goal. A life that is so empty and devoid of meaning now... or at least until Shanghai DL opens! Thanks again!

Redundant WOW. In addition to the Dead Man's Disco Laser Skull Rave Room, I am also incredibly impressed with how contiguous they made the flume and the surrounding landscaping whenever possible. And the speed of the switches and lifthills. And how come no one has mentioned the ride vehicles? How many flumes have cooler ride vehicles? This is just awesome stuff. Even the ride logo is fantastic!

Disney runs lots of 3 and 4 day cruises that would a be a great appetizer-size vacation if you don't want to commit to a full week-long cruise. We did a quick 3 day cruise back in the Dream's first year, just to see it - a little hurried, but you get to see Castaway Cay, and experience the ship and definitely NOT get bored in that few days! And Palo was a spectacular experience - my fave meal on ANY cruise I've taken so far - the antipasto cart alone made it an amazing experience! Great TR, looking forward to going on our 2nd Disney cruise in a couple years!

What fits the available evidence: - Sawmill theme = log flume - Robb is shocked and amazed and "dropping our plans" Clearly the answer is: LOG FLUME WITH VERTICAL DROP. And onboard soundtrack/flamethrowers.

Based on the rides they're adding for this coming season, it seems pretty clear that the Koch's agree with you! Here's hoping that Dan & his crew have success and support to execute their 5 year plan and make this a great family destination.

Totally true - from the press release, I'd bet they filmed several little segments of different things (hippogriffs, Hagrid, Dementors, etc) that are probably pretty short in and of themselves, and then are stringing them together with landscape shots (to establish the trip, train speed, etc). Even if the actual travel time is 7 minutes, they probably don't need more than 2-3 minutes of real "action" to make this interesting. Now that they're on record as making each direction different, one wonders if they'll swap out or randomize any of the clips... or make the landscape shots seasonal? This would KILL for Christmas, as an example...

Thanks for the great TR! I've been to both HKDL and Ocean Park, but there's been so many great looking additions that I need to find an opportunity to visit again! I mean, if nothing else - PENGUIN RESTAURANT!!!

It's pretty obvious walking outside of HKDL Park that they have a master plan that includes a DTD type area... lots of blank land along the main walkways, mainly fronted by shrubberies now. The new hotel looks awesome - kind of like the Adventureland version of Animal Kingdom or Wilderness Lodges! I also appreciate that rooms in the hotels mainly have either views of the water or of the park... great positioning! I think it's great that they're taking a measured approach to expansion... hopefully this will avoid the financial debacle that overbuilding hotels at DL Paris - this financial drag caused a lost decade for that resort that resulted in a sub-par second park and stagnant DLP park, whereas DLHK now has some top-flight new (and original!) attractions to boast of. We'll see how things go once Shanghai DL opens, but I'm optimistic that the Greater China area can support both North/South parks, much as the US has totally viable East/West coast resorts. The big question will be - when do we start hearing about a second park in Hong Kong? Not soon, but announcement in 5 years? 10? When this happens, I'll be waiting to see them build an in-park or park gateway hotel. Time to see when I can visit again...

Looks great (as expected), not a lot of new news (as expected). I really hope they work an appropriately awesome Bruce/Jaws homage in somewhere...

Totally agree on both points - some great docs, well deserving of their nominations - "20 Feet From Stardom" is a great movie. Glad to see these choices over an editorial film that is being refuted and disputed by people deceived by the director.

Hey, we're TOTALLY fine with that being an outcome too... and of course, I hope they'll be smart enough to do a pre-show dinner menu / preferred seating for Y&Y!