TBpony414

That castle is massive!!! Whoever visits PLEASE take a ton of pictures and post a very detailed TR!

This, but Sky Ride is a ridiculous people eater the way they run it. They have an incredible crew and average less than 10 seconds per dispatch per side. I just really enjoy the views and the experience of riding it though. It's the oldest ride of its kind in the country. Thanks CP Mav and Bill. Makes sense. How often does the train dispatch? We waited and waited and waited for one at the stop near Iron Dragon but after 15 minutes gave up. The amount of other people waiting too was a clear indication that it's popular and I remember hearing on here that it is a fun train ride.

Bill I have a question about Sky Ride. When we were there last year the first few days in July, the lines for Sky Ride looked like they would be about 15-20 mins long, it was packed with people. Seemed silly to wait when the ride doesn't even go that far. Is it really a people eater and we should have waited? We could walk from Gatekeeper to Maverick in about 11 minutes. Just curious. We were limited on time during our visit otherwise would have gone on it for funsies.

This seriously made my night!!!

Thanks for the info on the Otters Goats Cubs! EL TORO The descriptions from everyone on their days at the park and love bruises from rides are killing me!

Awesome pics and reviews from the first opening days! We'll be there Wednesday. In order to see the new cubs, do you have to go on the whole safari? We will definitely be doing a lot of safari trips but seeing as we'll be getting to the park early/mid afternoon, not sure if we'll have time this trip. However I may be willing to bypass a few rides to see those cubs if they're part of the tour.

I'd grab it! Send us all the link so we can take advantage too! Figure this- an average lunch (food only, no beverage) runs $10- $14.....so for $29.99, you've got nothing to lose! Thanks for confirming guys! I got the 2 passes. We always eat one meal, usually at that ice cream palace place, in the park and mom likes to get ice cream at the end of the night. I can only think of one visit where we got 2 meals. Since we drive from DC we often get to the park in the early afternoon. Knowing I could get a snack too would be pretty sweet! (Ha!)

I got an email from GADv for a 48 hr sale of up to 2 Basic dining passes for $29.99 each, normally $169 online. It includes lunch and a snack each visit, the dining page says lunch is 11am-3pm. It seems like a great deal since we missed the sale for the other dining passes but am I missing anything? The Combo Gold passes are on sale on their website for $94.99 but we don't usually eat more than one meal in the park. Thoughts on if there will be other sales or should I snatch this up?

As of the information released, a 2,000 ft long wooden coaster isn't going to get me to race up to the park next year the same way Lightning Rod is calling us to drive all the way down to TN for the first time ever. We go to BGW once every 3-4 years and will ride it and probably enjoy it for what it is. Absolutely wish they would've picked a different manufacturer and taking the trains from Gwazi isn't giving me warm fuzzies, that's for sure. It'll add an easy coaster to the collection and the fact that it doesn't spin makes me happy!

Love me some Woodstock Express! We ride it every visit.

^ Yes, I have wondered this myself... WE NEED TO KNOW!

After watching that video..... OMG!!

I maintain that every park should have a log flume. They are relaxing, you get sprinkled not soaked, there's a hill involved for thrills and family members of all ages can ride. I think Splash Mountain is the best of them because it's super long and has fun things to look at.

I remember hearing that the TPR trips were going to be on hold and figured that more than a couple people contributed to something that put a stop to them. Now that's been verified and it's very disappointing but not entirely surprising to hear that was the case! Bummer, however I still love reading everyone's TRs whether it's from a small or large trip.

Fantastic coverage DubaiDave and the POV is really neat too! Thanks very much for your efforts to keep us informed all over the world. I love the look and style of Flying Aces and if I ever find myself in that area of the world you better believe I'll be in line to ride it!

Please take tons of pictures and post lots and lots of details!!!

Very, very sad news. It was nice of them to present such an honest and heart-felt video about Tilikum, his keepers and his care. Seeing them love on him and play got me a little choked up. I can't believe how large he is! A very close friend of mine worked at The National Zoo for over 2 decades. She was a sea lion keeper but also worked frequently with the bobcats and river otters. The stories she tells me about those animals and how they actually DO become like members of your family are true. There was one old sea lion who was very sick like Tilikum and it was clear that after a very long battle she wasn't going to make it. My friend and another keeper stayed the night with her in her small wading pool holding her until she passed away in the middle of the night. To hear her tell the story will bring even the most cold-hearted businessmen to tears! I can't imagine how it must feel for Sea World to be facing this with such a wonderful whale. I'm curious, does anyone know if Sea World would at some point choose to euthanize him? Or are they strictly treating and letting nature take its course either way? I'm not sure on their stance with that sort of thing. I'm pro euth if at a certain point there's no way to manage pain/quality of life. But, to each their own.

LOL spot on! Great looking trains and the layout sure seems exciting.

I was under the impression it was an uncharge but hearing that it's not, I'm in! Slightly concerned about dispatch times being longer with the VR sets but time will tell. The only ride I ever see the ops hustle on there is Joker's Jinx. SFA is going to be seeing more of us with this and now HITP this year too!

We need more adorable cub pics and less VR nonsense. Good freaking god they're cute!

Watched the video and now I'm very excited for the new show. Love me some DAK!

Bill - did I read correctly that there will be a lion cub AND a tiger cub raised TOGETHER!?! That might make my head explode more than front row on Kingda Ka

What a mind blowing ride it is. The list corrected accordingly - I'm in your debt, good sir... +1 Sky Ride and two thumbs up from me for Sky Hawk. It was an absolute surprise to me how fun and scary that ride was. We rode it at least 4 or 5 times during our 2 days there last year. --------------- Valravn track work complete, huzzah! Now that it's together I'm really liking the looks of the second half.

Yes, locals were very much against Disney's America and felt that park would ruin the "historic" character of the Bull Run battlefield and the town of Manassas. Of course, now the area is covered with housing developments, suburban strip malls, and Cracker Barrel restaurants. Oh, well . . . Spot on, Chuck. It's really sad what the area has become. Fortunately, the Manassas National Battlefield is still pristine when you're on the property. It's a shame everything else went to hell. Getting there is a combination of driving thru a Nascar race on the highway and a ghetto filled with endless strip malls. Bull Run park is equally beautiful but much smaller, even locals don't even know about it which is sad as it's only 3 miles down the road from Manassas Battlefield. "Bull Run is the place that has all those Christmas light decorations that you see from the highway..." "Oh YEAH! Wait, that's a park too?" My family was always for Disney building there as it meant lots of money with incentives to keep things looking nice. Nature took its course, or something like that, and the reality isn't quite what locals thought it'd be.

I have no desire to design rides but it's really interesting to hear the different experiences, thoughts, credits needed, etc. in this topic! I frequently wonder how people get jobs like designing coasters. As far as dreams - work hard to achieve them! You may achieve what you want or you may find out you actually like working in another aspect of theme parks that doesn't have to do with building rides. Or, you could decide to just love rides and create a cool website called TPR where park fans from around the world can gather to talk about awesomeness.