PayneTrain

The back half of this ride looks just plane insane. Very excited.

This would also allow you some time to get Dole Whip from Pineapple Lanai or the alcoholic Dole Whip drink from Trade Sam's. Get Dole Whip! One of the less pleasurable things about going to WDW and planning on short notice with lack of experience means you will need to apply patience in waiting, especially during peak periods. This includes Advanced Dining Reservations. I recommend looking through the Walt Disney website to read actual menus and look around for reviews to suit your tastes. Absent that, Biergarten in Germany at Epcot is good food, not too expensive for WDW, and not too difficult to get an ADR. It's a buffet featuring German food. Whispering Canyon and Ohana always review well in the resorts. I liked the Skipper Canteen in the Magic Kingdom when they had a very different menu near the opening; no idea what it's like now. Liberty Tree Tavern in MK is also a winner for family style. In all honesty, there are so many restaurants there that serve so many different foods in so many different ways, you're best off going through the My Disney Experience app, poring over the selections, and reserving what you like when you can for table service. For the parks, I would avoid parks with morning extra magic hours if you are not an onsite guest. Thousands of people will be in queues already, no matter how early you show up for the general crowd. Compare and contrast park hours and nighttime show offerings. One move that usually works out pretty well is showing up to Magic Kingdom about 30 minutes before the last nighttime show if the park is closing later. Get around the crowd that is watching the show, go ride on the rides. You might not be able to avoid a 60 minute 7DMT line, but at least it is dark outside. Other rides like POTC and Buzz Lightyear can be nigh walk ons, and Astro Orbiter is a more valuable experience at night, imo. The FP+ system is handled through the My Disney Experience/MyMagic+/Walt Disney World mobile and web app. It's too complex to walk you through it verbally here, but simple enough that you can read on the site, follow the prompts and be aware of your options, and put together an FP+ plan that can work into a larger plan with ADRs and park times.

Pretty much. I say this as a shameless nerd and fanboi for all of the work WDI has done over the last 60 years, I don't get how this upcharge service could be seen as some reckless subversion of THE ONE TRUE DISNEY or whatever. As an out-of-stater and AP member, I don't find it difficult to say "this [specific thing the company offers] does not actively cater to the way that I want to plan our family's trips to WDW, but I can work around it/have it work for us." Would we ever use the Disney Dining Plan? No. Do we sit at the computer or on the phone to get that one KILLER ADR? No. Are our vacations structured around a rigid schedule that includes specifically timed FastPass+ experiences, show times, and bathroom breaks down to the minute? No! Would we ever buy this bus service? No! We like to drive everywhere. But bully for you if you do! Thanks for spending money for my personal pleasure of getting you out of the general security line! Not everyone has the desire to fully immerse themselves in all of the neat subtleties that make up all of the parks, but that does not detract from my experience and the experiences of my friends and family. We can be really weird talking about disco Yeti or obsessively ride the Tower of Terror without lording our nerd cred over other people. I don't really care about listening to a podcast on NBA history, so it's easy to understand why a minority of people want to sit down and listen to a podcast with Tony Baxter interviews or comment on a theme park enthusiast message board. There are so many things to do on Walt Disney World property. We have yet to do them all, and we go way too often for people who don't live in central Florida. Some families only go once or twice in their life! Disney has a very captive and global audience for Walt Disney World. TWDC can keep going in to foreign countries to build parks, but people still leave soil they share with a Disney park to come to Walt Disney World. If people want to spend a bunch of money to squeeze out all of the juice in a trip to WDW, great for me! Hopefully we can see that money to be put to good use with regards to future attractions in progress, rumored, or sorely needed, or critical infrastructure upgrades to security checkpoints and the monorail system. tl;dr as a shameless nerd of the Walt Disney Company, I don't get it either

Denying a ride concept over the fact it uses a similar system to something already on the property is a non-starter. Umpteen Omnimover rides, I'd love to see a second attraction with the Test Track/Radiator Springs system and definitely something else in DHS with the IJA/Dinosaur/Journey to the Center of the Earth ride system.

I think WDW should be showcasing the really great movies WDAS has been putting out and with an Incredibles sequel in development, that's a "franchise" that has no attraction presence in the American parks. Cars is going to be a cash grab with whatever attraction they theme to it.

The one thing everyone seems to be in agreement with is that this park is going to have to undergo a DCA-esque demolition and redo. While I'm not someone who expects a new E-ticket every year I go to Disney (those people are crazy) DHS was dated 5 years ago and now it's just a mess. TWDC has acquired and developed so much strong intellectual property that they doubtlessly will use well in whatever they want to do here. The two things I'm most curious to see are what's going to become of the Great Movie Ride (great concept but it needs a re-do that could result in a new ride system or even new ride building depending on how far they take it) and how they plan to keep this park open while they will probably shut it down to a point where it has fewer attractions than it did 20 years ago. If they end up totally dumping any trace of "studio" themes, will we look back on the late 80s/90s as creating an industry fad that manifested into an entire type of theme park? I guess most of them evolved into a "ride the movies" mission instead of a "go behind the camera" one, but it's still a little funny to think about when Disney and Universal tried to have all of this live studio programming and film-making in Orlando. DHS definitely has the most potential of all the parks in the Disney stable. It has tons of land, has 2 of the 5 best rides on the property, and WDAS has put out a lot of great movies back-to-back that can be incorporated along with Pixar and Lucasfilm properties into a theme that fits. DHS shouldn't be in the basement of the major Orlando parks (if there wasn't going to be an overhaul of DHS, IOA could overtake the park eventually). This might sound insane, but in 15 years it could be the number 5 or 6 park in Disney's stable (Definitely not going to pass TDL/TDS or the American flagship).

I really thought/passionately hoped that Disney would put in a trackless ride system for the Imagination Pavilion, which is practically a dead pavilion walking along with the Universe of Energy. As much as I find some parts of the World Showcase charming, bringing the trackless system to Norway and really knocking it out of the park with a strong Disney property would be great for that half of the park.

It unfortunately was probably mostly in part with bad press and ignorant people. Tourism has been "off" in Williamsburg for a few years now; historical sites aren't the big draw they used to be, and the local hotel operators are always crying in their beer about it. BGW hasn't opened a major new attraction since Verbolten, either. On top of that Verbolten cost something around 3 times as much as Griffon and attendance only increased what, 4% that year compared to 12% with Griffon? Granted one could argue Griffon was working with the 400th anniversary down here but I don't know how true that could be. I am definitely not an expert but I feel like the change in ownership that resulted in some rocky transition. They aren't exclusively negative or entirely on park personnel but also how park profit was viewed when they were an entertainment division of a beer company vs an exclusive entertainment business. I'm not saying the parks were never required to/didn't make a profit before 2009, but now that the ONLY business SWE has is the parks success and the appeasement of public stockholders, all Busch parks are in varying degrees of chaos. My friends and family notice the same kind of indentity crisis the park is in and they compare it to the first two years KD changed hands in the mid-aughties. I know enthusiasts are more on the beat with the nuanced changes a park has, but the attendance figures may show even the general public has picked up on it. I don't think the drops in the Busch parks, especially the one in Virginia, can be easily tied to Blackfish. It's mostly an accumulation of having more false starts than successes at a local level over the last 5 years.

People keep saying how this would be good for Kentucky Kingdom. Personally, I'd rather see Kentucky Kingdom get something different. This ride obviously didn't help Hard Rock Park stay in business so why would it be the savior for Kentucky Kingdom? If anything, I'm more interested to see how Thunder Run operates after it's been given some Rocky Mountain love! I wouldn't expect them to pick up an old coaster that had to be intentionally designed to be average like Led Zepplein/TTM, but maybe they'd pick up another thing to plug in the park somewhere. Rocky Mountain treating Thunder Run and KK putting in something new and exciting but not world-title-belt holding would be more worthwhile considering the cash they want to sink in.

Seems like something Kentucky Kingdom would be interested pursuing, but they probably would've made that deal before the open sale went online, right?

I believe my first inversion-filled coaster was The Loch Ness Monster, which I believe is the third oldest operating full-circuit coaster with inversions and the first and only roller coaster with interlocking loops. Coincidentally, my last coaster I rode with any inversions is Revolution at SFMM over the summer, the oldest operating roller coaster with inversions.

RMC is on the brink of being an industry titan if this goes over as well as everyone wants it too. Derivative coaster design is dead to them. They can be credited with two of the biggest developments in the industry with the topper track and now with these inversions and banked turns. I can't wrap my head around how they are actually pulling off some of this stuff, but I said that with some of the turns on NTG as well. I keep throwing money into the double barrel roll but I still can't ride it! This might be the first ride I will actually build an entire trip around.

RCCA picked up where Dinn left off: ruining the reputation of wooden coasters.

I only rode this roller coaster for the credit. I think Cedar Fair kept it so they could have one wooden coaster in the chain more dreadful than Mean Streak. Realistically, they probably went to the Rocky Mountain team and they came back with a big price tag and/or bad prognosis for restoration. They have neutered the Beast at KI as well, but that's a story for another day. I guess we could see a Giga pop up here seeing as the major parks in the chain have them and this one doesn't (It's fair to call CW and KD major parks in addition to KI and CP, right?). They might carry over the Leviathan name and maybe even a similar track layout. It would be weird having a B&M Hyper and Giga in the same park, but they also have that at CW. If Cedar Point actually gets a wing rider, I doubt KI would get one a year afterwards unless CF is trying to roll out the wing model to certain parks with some haste. I can see some dragon name going in there, seeing as we have moved from fictitious hawks to snakes and racecar drivers to dragons as the ride namesakes/mascots.

^If that was a serious question, then it's because BGW doesn't have a great relationship with the company after Escape from Pompeii for having mechanical problems when it opened. This is the textbook definition of "irony".

I know the folks at Disney are no slouches when it comes to capacity, so I found it odd when they were sending what I can only assume to be malfunctioning cars through the ride (taped off or at least blocked by CMs. I guess either they didn't have enough functioning cars to replace them with or they didn't want to waste time replacing them. Either way, RSR was a great experience. As an East Coaster and someone who isn't big on the movie Cars I'm biased towards Test Track, so I wouldn't say I preferred it more, but I'm so glad this park got such a worthy investment. This is the first time I've ever been to DLR, and I told my friends and parents what DCA used to be like, they didn't believe me. It was just so fantastic. I had no idea I would like Buena Vista Street so much. It's weird, but everything about it is great. In addition to hearing stories about how half-baked DCA had been before I saw it less than a month after its completed transformation, I also heard stories about how sad, disorganized, and soulless Tomorrowland was. It's... bad. It's got the corporate sellout feel that MK has with the dead PeopleMover track covered by tree limbs and the square pegs of Star Tours, EO, and Innoventions in the circles of formerly great things. I hope that with DCA done they can fix a 15-year old problem by walling up the whole place (except for Space Mountain) and make the place worthwhile. I know it gets talked about to death, but I personally couldn't believe how messy and un-Walt the place was. Do executives consider what their founder would think of their actions, or is it all about the shareholders and ESPN now?

My shoulders are really wide on B&M restraints, and the fact that I am a good 40 pounds overweight even for my body type doesn't help. I can fit into any seat except for stand-ups. It's difficult. I'm sure the restraints were designed for people no taller than 6 feet and no bigger than 225 pounds, and I'm over both of those so I've had to adopt strategies to get in. Never had a problem with anything else, including Intamin lapbars.

They drained the lake/"river" so maybe they tied them to a place where they won't hit the bottom? That last drop looks more intense than the Wolf's. I don't believe it...

They need Mock Tower to open before they can begin to tease the 2012 project. Be surprised if MT doesn't open by Saturday. And be upset. It's getting ridiculous.

I heard they'll dress up the Mach Tower queue as a maze, to make the area useful for once this season. /kidding

Well, I've been had. Looks like the secret is out, and I need to return my Busch Gardens-issued internet defense computer and look for a new job. I've dealt with many a Kings Dominion troll before, but even this is ludicrous.

So, the plan to put together a trip to Disneyland/DCA/SFMM/Knott's/CGA next summer may take a turn to the East. I feel like I'll have more chances to go to California than Japan.

I'm shocked that people are shocked the Wolf closed. Inverted Suspended Arrow Coasters are the Sega Dreamcasts of roller coasters. The outlook for them hasn't gotten any better since they were first built. I made a post on an relatively obscure BGW board in late 07 or 08 --I'm not tracking it down-- about then BEC sitting on a large plot of land, with the Wolf acting like wall blocking any expansion. People forget Drachen Fire wasn't successful just because it was an insufferable engineering nightmare that beat park guests to a pulp and acted as one of the pillars of Arrow Dynamic's destruction (here's to you, X!), but apparently park guests couldn't figure out how to get there. It's understandable. Instead of pulling a number out of my head, I'll just say the entryway to DF between the Wolf/Bumper Cars and the Festhaus was very small. It also fed into an absolute dead end, unlike the train-linked Festa Italia, which has a large entry bridge and even larger hyper making it more noticeable than DF ever was. I think Project 2012 at BGW will solve that problem, but that's not this thread. Point being: Combined with being a maintenance nightmare, the ride limited the park's potential in more ways than most would care to notice. It was coming. In all honesty, the closing of AstroWorld is the strangest, saddest, and most senseless removal of anything ever. Geauga Lake's fate was sealed when Busch pulled out of Aurora, instead of doing the risky thing and buying the park over the already unstable Premier Parks. AstroWorld may have had dipping numbers, but I'm pretty sure no one is making money off of the land right now. The park was an icon, a right of passage to the people of Houston, and now it's a piece of land used as overflow parking, because it's hard to develop some 60-odd acres of land for anything but a small stadium or theme park unless you plan on building a neighborhood next to the South Loop. It's senseless. It's shocks me still. It's criminal.

Yes, we can trust Intamin to change the design drastically while under construction. I can also trust that an Intamin at BGE will have gratuitous amounts of downtime to help complement the Alpengeist lift and motor made out of toothpicks, paper clips, and hamster whheels.

I wouldn't recommend doing this. The old entrance is meant for staff and tour buses (they also use it for media days), and I doubt the park would look kindly on others trying to use it. There are two times I have used it. I used it for the Jack Hanna breakfast (which is a special event) in 2008 and once in 2009 when I was at the McDonalds eating breakfast and remembered the entrance. It doesn't seem like it's eve a difficult transaction: no money ever changed hands. A showing of the right pass and a green England hanger is given. Now, I'm not saying that everyone is going to use it now that they know, or that everyone should use it, but in my prior, but limited experience in doing this, there have been no quarrels. As I also said, I do not know that this was/is an allowable practice now. If you choose to disagree with me, ok. Feel free to never try it. I'm not saying I have some overblown sense of entitlement that says I can go in through that entrance, but there was a will and a way, and it worked rather swimmingly. For the record, on the hundreds of other times I visited the park, I used the main entrance, because it usually is not backed up across the bridge when I arrive, I just get sucked into the line through traffic flow, or prior lack of knowledge of the old entrance still being in use. **On another note, I would appreciate if I can be spared public shaming for a disagreement.**