xmichellex

New pics posted to the Canobie Facebook page... great shots of the cars!

This TR is making me smile so much - looks like so much fun! I don't know if I'm more jealous of the trip in general or the fact that you have hung out with koala bears multiple times.

Thanks for the help so far, you guys are the best! * What about flights? I'd be going from Boston to (most likely) Florida to get to the ship... Does it makes sense to just book flights through the cruise line? I don't know how much of a difference there is between the prices through the cruise line vs. just booking flights separately or even later on closer to the sail date (like last minute fare deals, etc). I have gone through the Royal Caribbean site a few times choosing different booking options just to get an idea of prices, but haven't seen a package complete with airfare. * Also, I would love to go on the Oasis of the Seas, since it just looks amazing, but I also like some of the stops that the Freedom of the Seas makes, so I've been keeping it as another option. Besides the obvious size difference, how does the Freedom (or Freedom class ships) stack up to the Oasis?

Ok, so Robb and Elissa's recent trip on the Allure of the Seas inspired me, and I'm thinking of booking a cruise through Royal Caribbean at the end of Oct/early Nov (probably on the Oasis of the Seas) for my 30th birthday. I have been on a cruise before - the Disney Magic - but I've never actually booked a cruise on my own. I have a bunch of questions and I thought I should start here since so many of you probably have great advice/resources. * What are some good websites/forums to check out for information? I know there's Cruise Critic - anywhere else? * I'd like to do a Eastern or Southern Caribbean cruise, but I know hurricane season runs through the time I'd like to go away... has anyone here ever gone during hurricane season? Have you ever had to be diverted to miss a storm? The prices seem to be a little better during that time, but I'm afraid of being unlucky enough to have to deal with severe weather. I also wanted to try and go at some point NOT during the colder/winter months since I'm in Boston and don't want to put up with flight delays/cancellations due to snow. * Should I go through a travel agent or try to set up things on my own? Didn't know if it was worth it to go through an agent. I set up trips all the time, but not cruises, so I'm afraid I may miss something. I'm looking to book within the next month, so I'm trying to gather all the info I can before I set something in stone. Any and all advice is welcome! PS - wasn't sure if I should start a thread just for this or not... figured anything that was posted might help others too, but I don't want to hog up space, so let me know if it should be moved!

^ Glad you got to ride it again! It was one of my favorite things to do when in Vegas... I have a gut feeling the Sahara won't reopen... they've let it decline so much over the years that it seems like there's no interest in bothering, but you never know. Last time I was there ('09), it was noticeably dirty and more rundown than I had remembered, so I can't imagine how it must look now. I would love to see the ride saved, but that probably won't happen either. I kind of hope that if they decide to open again at some point that it would remain the Sahara, but it would probably be re-branded into a nightclub-like douche fest like some of the other hotels have become. Oh well. Who knows, maybe Vegas will get some worthwhile rides if they ever end up building the proposed park.

IOA Coaster: Fire - one of my fav coasters in general. Just seemed crazier than some of the other B&M inverts. Water: Popeye & Bluto - I don't really like getting soaked, but this is the funnest water ride I think ever, and totally worth it! Dark Ride: Spiderman (I haven't ridden FJ yet). Always smile ear-to-ear on this ride and feel like it never gets old. Studios Used to be Back to the Future (was always the first ride that popped in my head when thinking about Universal), but I guess I'll go with MIB. Haven't been there since the Simpsons/HRRR opened. Man, now I want to go back to Universal!

My head almost exploded from the insane level of cuteness in those baby cheetah videos...

^ Wow, TDL looks pretty solid during that shaking, you could barely tell there was an 8.9 earthquake happening. I guess if you had to be stuck somewhere, this was one of the better places to be. Still amazed at how orderly everything is - they should come here and teach seminars!

Agreed on CNN being kind of ridiculous. It's really bothering me that they keep going on and on about the "nuclear disaster " which, according to most experts, is under control. They are pushing it to the point that I swear they are waiting for it to really happen just so they can be even more dramatic.

I think I'd book a trip to Vegas just to watch that thing be taken down!

Every time I've gone to Vegas I've gone in the summer - last time was 2009 - and on that trip, and the couple years previous to it, they always waited about 15 min. between launches. Not sure about hotel guests complaining about noise, but the ride ops explained to us that it was due to the heat since in July and August (when we were there) it tops out around 100 during the day and still around 80-90 at night... Don't know if year-round they do the 15 min. wait, but every time I've ridden it in the summer months, there's been space between rides.

It really is an impressive contrast going on over there... the insane footage of the buildings shaking and the tsunamis was so scary, but there's a weird sense of calm and order that I can't wrap my head around. I'm sure that there is fear and there are certainly more fatalities/injuries we'll see down the line, but the fact that millions of buildings withstood this is mind-blowing and that people seem to be so patient with figuring out the next step is incredible. With so many people over there it seems hard to believe that things weren't worse, but that just gives credit to the whole country...

According to Las Vegas news reports this morning, the Sahara Hotel is closing on 5/16 with no plan in place to re-open (although they are saying it *might* re-open down the road if economically feasible, but it looks pretty bleak). Wonder what will happen to the coaster... I love that ride, would be a shame to see it go down with the hotel - hopefully it will be saved in the event that the Sahara is taken down or any new owners decide not to keep it. I read this on the Las Vegas Sun website (as well as a few others). Didn't want to post a link since I'm still under 50 posts, but the articles are easy to find.

The footage of this on the news is absolutely unreal... like watching a movie. Seeing tsunami waves speeding into land in real time was terrifying... on top of earthquake damage. I feel so terrible for everyone affected, what a horrible situation.

Just watched it (it's back up) - sure seems like it still rides like a wooden coaster Prob just the camera though. Looks pretty bad-a$$ - those overbanks look insane!

Did they post a new video? That Facebook link isn't working for me so I can't see it.

I think I'd have to go with Splash Mountain or Spaceship Earth. I love the "thrill" rides, but when I think of WDW those 2 rides immediately come to mind... for me they sort of encompass the Disney experience. I'd be bummed if one of those was closed if I was there, as opposed to if one of the coasters or faster rides was closed.

I wasn't sure about this ride until now that I've seen all the recent pics of it almost complete... it looks like so much fun. Looks like I'm going to have to plan a stop at BGT before or after the Royal Caribbean cruise Robb and Elissa's TR convinced me I have to do! I didn't mind those restraints - I experienced them for the first time this past summer (at SFGAdv and Hershey) and was wondering how they'd be after reading everyone's take of them on here. I was totally fine and I'm short enough where I'm definitely in the head-banging range. Maybe because of the tight space in the trenches, and some of the quick transitions, they opted for these restraints to contain the riders more? Just a thought, don't know if that would really be the case... Regardless, I'm completely impressed with this ride!

Very cool idea! Filled everything out - excited to see the final product!

I use Firefox on my crappy old Dell and the index loaded in 3 seconds which is awesome! I did not try to scroll until the page was done loading...

Thanks again so much for all the pics! I need to show my bf this TR because he's kind of afraid of going on a cruise... I don't think he realizes that you can go on a ship like this where it's seemingly endless. Of course, he's still terrified of rogue waves, haha, so hopefully he can get over that one!

Loving this TR!! Can't believe how gorgeous that ship is... and the cupcake class is so cool (the finished products were great!) Seeing your pics really puts in perspective just how big the ship actually is. My savings account is in danger of being drained. I need to go!

Thanks so much for the pictures! That ship looks amazing! Those pics are making me want to book a cruise right now as I freeze up here in Mass... Hope the rest of your trip is awesome!

Awesome!! Thanks so much for posting this!

BEAUTIFUL pics! Thanks for sharing!! I love the Jurassic Park area shots...