anonymouscactus

More cuts coming to the parks in Orlando and Tampa. They are now going to be outsourcing the games departments. San Diego and San Antonio to follow. EDIT: Better article https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-bz-seaworld-layoffs-carnival-20200117-x7mu524zwfexvmzqtu7ydvouf4-story.html

AJR - Don't throw out my Legos Seeing them tonight in concert, after them cancelling last minute a few months ago.

Looking to plan an Orlando/Tampa trip at the tail end of September (whenever Howl-o-scream starts), just waiting for more airlines to release ticket sales for those dates. Hopefully all the new rides will be open by then and we can experience the Halloween stuff too before it really kicks into the season and it becomes unbearable. Always the best time to go IMO. Early September would have been better since HHN is starting so early this year, but usually Tampa is behind HHN and always hits around the weekend of the 17th/18tht depending on how dates fall. Don't know if we'll even bother with HHN but at the very least it would be nice to do Islands of Adventure again.

Just "finished" playing Celeste on PS4 (ie: I made it to the top of the mountain; according to the achievement less than 11% of people make it that far. On my playthrough I didn't make it a priority to collect the strawberry bullshits though) and thought it was a great platformer. I died less than 2,000 times, which is a shock! My next goal is to collect all the tumors in "the end is nigh". Hit the 100 mark recently. Over 3,000 deaths in that game, lol. Fun times!

Yes, unfortunately. Can I have your number so I can call you when I get home [emoji8]? (I totally had predictive text / auto correct on my phone write that entire question... lol!!!)

So many amazing photos! So much great information! Wow. Thanks for taking the time to write all this. I haven't seen much from this area, like you said, so it's awesome to see all the details I had no idea about.

Thursday (home sick) from a Thai place. Yum! What is the longest you've ever been home sick / out of work due to a cold/flu/bug? Edit: holy crap I totally messed this up haha. When was the last time you were home, sick?

But anybody that got the band legitimately should be good just by eyeing them. After working a ride for a day or two you learn pretty quick how to eye someone's height for your ride just by looking at them or comparing then to a railing or whatever. If they have a wristband and you need to question it, then chances are they obtained it "illegally" But of course some employees will see a 1mm difference and not allow it, so... more of a guide than an end all be all. I get what you're saying, but there would be a whole lot more stoppages on the platform waiting to send a train out without the wristbands on rides that don't measure behind the airgates.

Late to the party... Well I *was* looking forward to this ride... but I think I can wait a few years until I visit Universal again if we're putting it in the same league as WMG I did the tram tour in Hollywood and the fact they had two different screen scenes was overkill. I will happily skip fast and furious if it's anything like the sorta counterpart in Hollywood. Great report, though. Brings back memories, as I haven't been to Universal in quite some time. Going to make it to FL this year, though, just don't know if Universal will be in the cards just yet. We'll see. Too much awesome stuff opening soon or recently opened.

Just a friendly reminder that "Econo Lodge North" is what everyone is talking about. Don't be fooled by the other Econo Lodges in the area.... they may be cheaper, but don't do it. Here is my handy dandy map from a few years ago. I don't think the one Rodeway Inn exists anymore (meth lab explosion, perhaps?) and I think the place with the waterslides next to the thirsty pony is now a Holiday Inn instead of a Quality Inn.

Regarding height checks SeaWorld Experience many years ago: We measured all of our posts every morning at each ride, it was part of our checklist. We would even get a measuring tape from a supervisor if the parents got on our case, to verify the height of the posts. We also had wristbands at greeter so they wouldn't have to be rechecked on the platform if they were close. Problem is, we've also seen adults switch wristbands on their kids before (one that is clearly over X inches switches with someone under who didn't originally have a wristband, so they both can ride), and hence why sometimes we take the extra 20 seconds to recheck a child even if they have a wristband, especially if it looks suspicious and poorly put on. I can count at least 4 or 5 times (granted that's over several years, it didn't happen THAT often) where I've had to REMOVE a band off a kid because they had terrible parents abusing the bands, using tape, etc. Then they cause a scene when they are 4" under, security has to get called, etc. it does happen. If it's very close and they are ever so slightly under and have a wristband that's one thing, and they can ride, but if they visually looked under, we always double checked and reminded the parent it was for their safety and apologise for the inconvenience. I'm pretty sure the SOP's mentioned this as well, that it's always ok to recheck even if they have a wristband, because of those who will really do anything to get their kids on a ride. It's not any different from stuffing your shoes in the parental sense... people will always do anything to skirt around the rules. We didn't recheck often, but sometimes we HAD to. Obviously some judgement calls to recheck are better than others. It's one of those things as an op... you don't want to lose your job or god forbid have someone get hurt that ends up being your fault because a kid was clearly too short to ride. Does it suck as a parent? Yes. Is it an inconvenience? Yes. But we can't always have nice things because of the bad people who want to skirt the rules. Why have a wristband system at all, one could argue, but we wouldn't check everyone again just for the fun of it. Wristbands were more for the "how come they were able to ride this, but not this" when it's too close to call. Just explaining the other side of the story. It can be a sticky situation. What happens when someone shows you an on-ride photo of their kids riding earlier in the day, or a few days before, or whatever? As a supervisor, you don't know who let them ride, but now you are the one saying your staff was in the wrong and put your child in danger earlier in the day if you are saying you can't let them ride now for safety reasons. And that's why I'm no longer in ops

So... this just came up on my news feed (from July, sorry if this has already been torn apart)... https://www.thetravel.com/busch-gardens-best-worst-rides/ This might be the stupidest reading I have **ever** seen (and not just because of the spelling of Scorpion). -- Also: I think Coasterbill may have 3 actual, full-fledged heart attacks. (*Cough* #5, #3, #1) -- Warning you now. "You are then instantly brought back up into an upside-down loop before speeding off through the seven inverted tacks." -- huh? Tracks doesn't even make sense either. WHAT DOES IT EVEN MEAN. I mean, besides the list itself.

Still curious on your thoughts...

Last weekend I saw BEETLEJUICE on Broadway. Didn't know anything about it other than seeing the movie once, and I thought it would be terrible, but I really enjoyed it! I was laughing throughout (not since Book of Mormon have I laughed as much) and the set design and transitions were on point! Definitely my "style" of show. I think it's one of those shows that you need to see in person to appreciate, as I don't think the soundtrack would carry over well without the context of everything. Oh! And I also saw Les Miserables in Buffalo the week prior and thought the cast did an amazing job! Considering it was only the second day of the "new" Jean Valjean and Javert performing on the tour, I thought they were fantastic and you would never know just by watching. Still a novice to the scene (and Beetlejuice was my first broadway show in NYC), but I've really been enjoying all the theatre I've been going to lately!

Avicii tribute concert. The whole thing is worth listening to. Love the integration of the orchestra throughout. Very emotional at parts.

If there are no airtime jolts like the ending of Steel Vengeance this is looking to be the best RMC out there for my tastes. I'm cool with ejector air but the bunny jolts are just too annoying to enjoy for me. The elements and sheer height of this thing; I can't wait to see more of it.

Never go to concerts, but the wife got me tickets to AJR which is one of the very few pop bands I actually dig. Was supposed to go tonight, but they cancelled last minute due to illness. D'oh.

Sounds like a good time! Six Flags for the win, cold temperatures bedamned. Still amazes me that Six Flags continues to give 0 shits about temperatures or manufacturer errr guidelines? Hoping to get back to HITP since Wonderland's event doesn't look like any fun. I cancelled my membership and it expired Oct 30th, but supposedly I still get 3 months free even though there is literally no mention of this anywhere (I think that's the point lol) so hopefully I can make use of that.

Wonderland is an earshot away from Toronto. Staffing will not be a huge issue, and lots of potential local guests. Cedar Point is too far away from any metro for it to work, I would think. Plus they don't like to run rides, anyway. "Oh, America's roller coast? Wait, why is Blue Streak the only coaster open?"

Jackbox Party Pack 6 8)

?????? Edit: nevermind... pretty much this exact thing was already posted, haha. Here's a new one:

Thanks for the review and photos. With all the talk of animatronics and props I'm assuming there were very few actors in each house. I think the interaction with people makes or breaks a maze for me. If there are only 3-5 people in an entire maze than you know you are at Six Flags. How was staffing inside the houses?

I bought them in March. And yeah. You're right. Sorry folks! It doesn't say anything about expiration in the "mobile" terms and conditions, but it does in the printed version. Well... nevermind. Thanks for pointing that out, I generally just look at the mobile tickets. Glad my friends couldn't make it this past weekend, lol.

Was at the park yesterday and did all 9 haunts in an hour! They opened the holding pens and the houses around 6:40 and we didn't wait in a single line. They weren't spacing out groups properly despite the small crowds. Pretty lackluster year, honestly, but whatcha gonna do. They are fun, but I think I've outgrown the Cedar Fair haunts after going to so many others. Oh well. Still better than Six Flags [emoji769] and luckily all the haunts were included so no real loss there. Didn't do Zombies 4d this year since the screens are probably still broken, lol. I still have TWO free FastLane+ vouchers up for grabs to a good home for the last and final weekend. I'd hate for them to go to waste. Even renewing passholders get the free FL+ but they also got bring a friend tickets too so now you can get your friends free FL+ as well if you haven't used your stuff yet. Let me know.

We had a great time with little wait for the haunts on Sunday the first weekend of Halloweekends. It was a little busier than previous years but completely manageable. We will continue this tradition and make it our last trip of the year, every year. No scarezones or outdoor mazes, but, it's not worth all the people to deal with. The gold pass effect[emoji769] did not exist. I officially hate hearing the word "Gold" because it would have been packed no matter what. Maybe not as much, but it still wouldn't have been worth dealing, or enjoyable for US, for us regardless. Next year "regular season" will not be hitting capacity like this because of the pass.