bert425

^ FREE for Pass Holders.

Day 12, morning: Walt Disney Studios up and out for rope drop, as today was going to be a slamming busy day. It was Saturday, so knew the parks were going to be PACKED. as an alternate plan, I had weeks ago, booked a visit to the top of the Eiffel Tower Saturday afternoon, with the Alvey's to get away from the crowds during the busiest part of the day. James wasn't going to do that (tho a few others on the official trip did join us too), so we planned to go to the Disney Studios park at rope drop, I'd leave for Eiffel Tower around lunch time, and then would meet back up with James at Disneyland later that evening. plan locked, and off we went: Lovely entrance. . thru an indoor section (that I think was mostly shops - we never actually stopped here on any day - tho Brown Derbey looks like a food court) Up ahead the main park, and the Walt & Mickey statue. noted - we'll be back for you this morning. . . but first, we are following the crowd to the right side of the park. Aladdin's flying carpets. . never really had much of a line, but I don't think we ever actually rode it here at Disney Studios.. . . I mean. . it's right next door to where everyone was going. . . Crush's Coaster. and yeah. . . STARTED off the day, at rope drop, with a 30 minute wait. (we had some skip the line passes, and would use them later in the trip. . but we wanted to not waste one right away and joined the flood of folks headed here) a few other TPR folks were in line here too first thing. . . the theming, as expected, was well done. it's a fun spinning coaster. is it great? no, but it IS fun, and if the line is shorter than a 30 minute wait (or you have skip the line), I'd say it's worth it. Capacity seems to be pretty bad tho. . . so never really saw it with a "shortish" line after a fun ride on Crush, we headed out to continue our way around the park. during our trip, lots of construction walls were up - Avengers Campus area opened shortly after we were there. So there really wasn't all that much to do at the time at Disney Studios. But I did have a fun time there, and the rides they DO have, are mostly pretty great. this ride (cloned at several Disney parks) had really no line - I think maybe folks just miss it's there? so James and I hopped in the queue for it. it would have been better if it hadn't been out in the direct sunlight. . . . but with both of us in the back seat, we got some decent "whip/swing" action. Crush's coaster does have this interactive section where the cars zoom by outside, enticing those walking by to come take a ride. is it as Detailed as Car's Land at Disney California Adventure? I dont' think so (tho never have been there since they opened it). . but I thought it was really well done here. outside of Cars land is Toy Story area. . . with a bunch of rides that LOOK way better than the actually ride. but man, do they look good. we passed by tho, as first we wanted to ride Ratatouille. . . I'd only heard raves about this, and couldn't wait to experience it. the Gusteau animation in the sign comes "alive" and chats with the people in the queue. Ready for our 3D adventure! trackless ride, similar to Pooh's Hunny Hunt system and you ride inside a rat! that's scurrying under counters and thru the kitchen during your adventure. I LOVED this..and think we rode it at least 6 times during our visit. thru the windows back there is Remy's. . the sit down restaurant, where you are shrunk down to the size of a rat for the meal. the food there was good, but well worth it for the theming, which was amazing. an ok. .let's head over to Toy Story Land, entering thru the Barrel of Monkeys really well done. . the queue for RC Racer is great. . and the look of the ride is great. peeking across the way at Slinky Dog. . we'd be there next unfortunately, RC Racer looks way more thrilling than it actually is. the restraints weren't my favorite, and the ride is really short and doesn't do much. I think I got more airtime from a giant frisbee than this. I'm glad we rode it, because it looks so neat. . but yeah, this was one and done for us. same with Slinky Dog. . . it LOOKS just amazing. and as a Toy Story fanboy? I loved it and no way would I pass up a ride on it. but it doesn't really DO anything. (another 1 and done). but it looks so great. this is the only ride over here that I did more than once. which is surprising, because it looks like just a standard Parachute Drop ride. but it actually holds in spaces, and goes up as well as down during the cycle. It was quite fun, actually. Pic from Slinky Dog queue too much of a glare. . but "I've been Packaged!" Rex is eating his head!!! ooooooooo I have ZERO memory of what this is. I recall it's from the food truck that was near the Cars Roadtrip tram ride. . but hell if I can recall.. it didn't make much of an impression, I guess. ham and cheese? hell if I know? ah. .the infamous (ly) bad "Cars roadtrip". . the replacement for the Studios tour. we're here, and it's a people eater, so let's ride it. huge queue space, not many folks in line. . . I know that look - "why do you wanna waste time riding THIS???" but we did ride it. and even got a bit excited (tho that might be because we got to sit down after a full day yesterday and already a lot of walking today) hmmm. . THIS looks . . . "familiar" FIRE FIRE!!! sparks! and water! lots of water lots and lots and lots of water yup and once we saw the Eyefull tower , it was over. really? yup. but the toilets over here had car part themed toilet seats. . which were cute. I still had about 40 minutes until I had to head out to the train station, so we decided to hit the only other ride here we hadn't gotten to yet: Tower of Terror. the line wasn't "short". . but it was moving. . . nah. .it was closer to 20. . but the sign was right there and with permission took a pic. spooky. . . and love the uniforms here too. . . we moved pretty well, and made it all the way into the gas pipes room.. . THIS close.. and the ride went down. and stayed down.. . 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 15 minutes. I started to panic, as I still had to leave the park and make it to the train station. . . so at the 20 minute down time - KNOWING it was coming back up shortly - I flagged down a cast member, and told him I had to exit the line, as I had to meet up with folks. and he walked me (and a couple of others - mainly parents with kids who had to pee ) out the back way and thru to the exit. I powerwalked over the train station at DisneySprings. It had been a really fun morning. . but I was pretty psyched for the trip into Paris and to the top of the Eiffel Tower. to be continued. . .

look at the pic I posted up in the thread. . . one area of poles had the canvas.. . for a couple of weeks. Rest of queue was in sun, and then they apparently decided it looked stupid just to have one section of canvas up, and took them all down. ugh. . was horrible in the direct sunlight.

Today would have been my Nick's 64th Birthday. Despite knowing the parks would all be gigantic overcrowded clusters? I just couldn't bear to sit at home alone and be sad. So I called a friend and we drove to San Antonio to go to SeaWorld the park was ABSOLUTELY *slammed*. . .we're talking 45 minutes to get to a parking spot (and that was WITH preferred handicap parking), with the line to get in stretching well past the gates onto the main road out front (Ellison). And if you've been to SWSA you know how much "driveway" there is between the main gates, and the parking gates! speaking of, they had all the parking gates open, and staffed with both sides open. today was also opening day for Aquatica as well, and once we actually got into the park? crowds in the walkways weren't bad at all - so Aquatica was drawing quite a bit of the crowd from the parking. Oh the shows were ABSOLUTELY packed. I dont' think I've ever seen standing room only in Orca Stadium But rides remained walk on for most of the afternoon. . . even the two water rides open only had 20 minute waits or so: Journey to Atlantis & Rio Loco (which had waterfalls on and SOAKED the one of us who wasn't ok getting wet - and only sprinkled me, since I declared to the universe upon entering the queue that I didn't care if I got soaked but here's probably what you really care about. . . the progress on the park's new 2023 launched flume with lift. it's coming together really quickly, and looking great: it started to warm up and got too crowded to be comfortable for me (the line for the Carousel was an easy 40 minute wait). . .and the food lines were all pretty nuts. I didn't really want to eat any of the Generic park food, so we decided to take off and stop for some good Tex Mex for early dinner on the way back to Austin. so after about 4 hours we headed out. in that time tho, we -rode 4 rides: Stingray 2x, Journey to Atlantis, and Rio Loco (could have also walked on to Steel Eel and Great White, but passed on those this visit). -saw the Orca show in standing room at the back (which worked out well as a very nice breeze back there (AND - barely - out of the splash zone. . . seriously, those splashes got all the way to the upper rows!) - Got a frozen drink from the bayside bar - got a cookie and a drink from Coaster Coffee - stopped and looked at construction (so we basically walked the entire park - even seeing the Count out for pictures over in Sesame Street. . with an INSANE line). & - went into Discovery Cove on the way out to see the Dolphins and Sharks. all in all, a pleasant day, and kept me distracted.

yeah. . ."Gotham City Crime Wave" was a much better name. they changed it a few years ago to match the same name (and signage) that SFFT has on theirs. that said, the area that SFOG considers DCU does have the Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Joker ride. tho the Superman B&M FLyer sits in an area they just call "Metropolis". . LOL. . so the park has the rides too spread out to combine into one section.

100% if no one told you? pay for Preferred parking. It's not that much more expensive, and lets you park in your own lot way up at the front. it also has a dedicated entrance to the park. AND a dedicated exit from the parking lot at the end of the day.

buh bye, joker. . .

it's one of the last remaining (if not the last remaining) of that ride type. from what I heard (rumor, but no reason not to believe it) - what broke is not easily , or cheaply, repairable. Hence decision to just throw in the towel after they had just spent so much time & $$ refurbing it. so I say the odds of it going anywhere other than a scrap yard are basically 0%

park opened for the season yesterday, and the new maps show location of the Kid Flash Coaster - confirming it is replacing Joker Larson Loop - which has already been removed.

the only thing memorable about the one at SFOG was the giant Joker face in the center was kind of cool. and that queue - out in the sun - with NO coverings. Oh, they had the poles there to put the canvas coverings up to cover the queue.. they just never did. so. damn. hot. in that queue.

Soooo. . .with "Kid Flash" confirmed being part of DCUniverse section (which currently ends at Superman. . and then turns into Thrillseeker Park / Spassburg area). and Skyscreamer sitting *between* Superman and the new Kid Flash coaster. does this mean a re-theme to Skyscreamer at SFFT? (I suggested either to Hawkman or maybe Shazam). . . the response by the Park President to me is making me think . . . yup, we're getting a retheme, tho nothing has been formally announced.

^ it's not just enthusiasts. SFStL's Mr. Freeze (and Screamin Eagle) make it a destination park for anyone outside the area. when we were in area? it was for Freeze and Superman (because it had been Dungeon Drop at Astroworld and I had ridden it when I lived really close to that park). But my Spouse? not an enthusiast at all. ..and yet, he was most excited to see Freeze. from the parking lot he was excited about it. (and he totally forgot we had the only other version of it ~5 hours away).

^^ your own newpaper link notes: "The Rookie Racer will be located near the entrance to the Boss, a wooden roller coaster" That's the old go-karts track.

well. . even tho that IS Wallace in the ride sign there. . the original Kid Flash was Wally West. and there's also Impulse as an option. . . so they could still end up naming the two tracks.

Six Flags updated their websites this morning across the board, and spoiled a bit early the announcement of the naming of the new coaster (as well as giving away the info for the new SFStL (not Skyline coaster) and SFOG info as well). but here it is:

not sure there's a way to discuss it without getting political. so my only two cents on it is: nothing is gonna change. (or, I'll be shocked if anything changes). to be REALLY simple about it: from what I understood is that to "buy out" the Disney Stewardship of that area the State would have to pay the Walt Disney Company a pretty large sum of $$. I dont' really see that happening, as how would it have the $$ without raising taxes across the State? so yea. . I'll surprised if anything really changes.

^ your outdated source is incorrect. Chick-Fil-A - thru it's owner, Dan Cathy, continues to donate millions to anti-LGBTQ groups. so yeah. . .screw their Jesus Chicken. and as Detox sings,

this calls for Willam, Detox and Vicky Vox to do their thing:

here are some of my pics from Fiesta Fest yesterday at SFFT. (many behind the scenes shots. . . and as always, gotta get pics with the #1 & #2 reasons to go to SFFT - Park President Jeffrey Siebert, and Sweet Sweet Connie in the Sangerfest Halle. Jeffrey: Sweet Connie: she even got some company in a new Mural painted on the back wall near the bathrooms! the shows were excellent as usual. . the Jamboree one is kinda adult, but really fun too: and the Saloon show is great too. and of course, some rides were done before the backstage tours. (I actually rode a LOT of stuff today, but only snapped a couple of ride pics): We got a tour of the new virtual Gaming center they are building in the old restaurant space in the central plaza: and then went upstairs for a tour of the new Diamond and Above VIP lounge they are building on the 2nd floor overlooking the main plaza (with some nice views from the balconies, including some great viewing space for the evening fireworks): and then a treat, we got to go back to the machine shop to see the pieces of the 3rd train for Iron Rattler: and the refurb currently going on for the Giant Cowboy Hat that dumps the water from the top of the Play Area in the waterpark: then across to the other building to see the 2nd train for Iron Rattler (back on the tracks by next weekend!) and the pesky little pneumatic safety locking mechanisms that were on back order and is why IR has been with one train ops for SOOOO Long: if you're wondering why Wonder Woman is only running 2 trains? here's the 3rd one. (yeah). luckily a new 3rd train will be coming when they work on the track later this year! we got to walk by the floats that most of us would be riding on later. . . .this is the newest float, the amazing Crocodile. not only is it awesome that they have this sign in the backstage area from an old bet with Kings Island. . . look. .it says "Bert" right there in it time to drink and ride some more things! until we got called back to get ready for the parade. first they dressed us up all pretty like: and then we got assigned floats. got lucky, and we got chosen to ride on the front section of the newest float! we threw so many beads, and the park was so crowded, that we were completely out before the end of the parade route! luckily there were many other floats behind us with lots of beads for everyone. a great event and a great time at SFFT.

^ my thought on it as well

direct from Park President's mouth yesterday (was there for Feliz Fiesta event): -- WW will be going down for track refurb later this summer. Two train ops as the 3rd train is currently in pieces (I have pics of it from "backstage" yesterday) , and they WILL have a brand new train coming to go along with the refurbed track. -- Iron Rattler is still one train ops, because the Pnematic safety lock parts they were waiting on from Gerstlaur (back ordered for almost a year at this point) actually arrived earlier this week. (have pics of those too). The 2nd train WILL be back on the ride by next weekend, bringing it back up to full ops for Spring Break. 3rd train also arrived (have pics of that too). . but that one is now waiting for the same safety lock parts before they can have that ready for use on the ride. -- Cliffhanger is running two trains as it was having TONS of issues yesterday due to an issue with a part at the 2nd brake - it was triggering estops with three trains running, so they took the 3rd train off (that's' why it was only running two trains today, with the 3rd on the transfer track). Jeffrey said they have the replacement part at the park to get it fixed but as that will take a few hours to fix, they are going to do it during the closed days this coming week, so this too will be back up to full 3 train ops by next weekend. -- Bugs has been undergoing refurb the past few weeks. They have put all the refurbed figures back onto the ride, but have not reopened it yet. That too should be open by Spring Break. meaning the only rides that will be down for a while still are: Gully Washer (they are still waiting for that replacement pump, but hopefully it will be back up by Summer), Miss Kitty (refurb almost done, but they are not quite ready to get the train back up and running yet) & Boomerang. . .going down for refurb very soon. (ie: by the end of March). Per Jeffrey, SFFT's Boomerang is the most ridden one in the Six Flags Chain. the Refurb will switch the ride to Magnetic Breaking System, and the park will be getting TWO new trains for it, featuring the Vekoma Chest Restraint system (comfort collars ?). They are getting two, so they can always have a train for the ride, when they need to refurb the other train (same reasoning for the 3rd Iron Rattler train) since SFFT is a year round park. oh, and the cameras are down/GONE on all rides, as they are in the process of switching to a new Photopass vendor. but again, supposed to be back and operating by Summer. hope that info helps

^ was there yesterday (might put some pics up eventually). . but grab that souvenir cup from Member Services. (it's that red "Member" tumbler you see many people carrying.). Gets you free drinks (Soda/Powerade/water) all season at any fountain service or self service place. I use mine mainly for water or Powerade.

just noting for those that didn't see it. . Today is the last day for this sale at SFFT. was at the park yesterday for an event and had a chance to ask upper mgmt about this sale, and why SFFT was the only park that offered it. response I got was that the other parks will be starting their Spring Break Sales "soon" . . . but that SFFT did their sale early, and "was the *only* park that would have the offer to buy Platinum and get upgrade to Diamond free". . . . that the other parks will only offer buy Gold and upgrade to Platinum free. the person I spoke to did not want to specify why SFFT was able to make this offer, or why other parks are not going to be offering it. but did state that once this sale is done? the deal is gone for good. just noting, for anyone thinking of getting a pass? today is the day, I'd buy it.

because not all press is "good" press. also the park hasn't issued an official statement on the incident, nor has any reputable news source picked it up. it's not that I don't believe it happened, but when the source is a viral tik-tok? I choose not to give it more air.

the pool was closed for Renovation during my visit. *but there was a LOT of stuff undergoing construction/updates/renovation, so didn't really impact us. we had a "parking lot view". . but the truth is we were barely in the room, so the view didn't matter all that much. but a lot of greenery, was kinda nice. lemme look and see if i have any pics from the window. . . here ya go. . I think these are from the hotel room window.