ytterbiumanalyst

That looks really cool, even just as a prototype. Would love to see a full sized version of this somewhere.

I feel like this lawsuit will be dropped in November. The timing seems...awfully specific. It screams publicity stunt.

Catching up on this. Great move having so many Disney days...you definitely got to try a lot of things. DCA is very underrated. Fewer rides than Disneyland, but the ones they have are very good, and the food and drink scene is unreal.

^ Never been to that event, but going to Dollywood during the Christmas season is 200% worth the drive.

Looks great! I love seeing all those theming pieces already in place.

Yeah, Fiesta Texas is awesome. Love that Festhaus. Every park should have a big air conditioned bar like that.

Yeah, that's a fair point. I just looked it up too, and SDC is going for $114 atm (though we paid $98 adult/$88 kids since we renewed our '19 passes before the end of '18). Seems like a lot of money, and it is a lot of money, but the value is there.

The payments work out to $129 for just Dollywood, so apparently peak season pricing will be $149. Wow.

^ I'd agree with you if Knott's didn't exist. Knott's > Kings Island > Cedar Point.

I agree, KI's food is much improved the last couple of years. The Miami River Brewhouse is much better than the Reds restaurant was, and Tom and Chee's is really good too.

Glad to see the most famous resident of Nixa, Missouri get his due!

Ooh, nice, Blue Bayou. That's a $$$$ one, but glad it's worth it. The museum stuff is cool too. Those maps look...really empty. The park's come a long way since then!

Seattle Center looks really great. High on my list when I eventually get to the Northwest. Great photos, and greater captions.

That's fun that they can customize the ears. Didn't realize they do that.

Very fun day! That's just about everything. There's so much to this park.

Literally any ride that requires a 355 foot height waver sounds fun to me!

You definitely want Old Time Christmas. The after-7 free is not running during Pumpkin Fest, but it will be again for Christmas. Just keep in mind that SDC is very strict on operating temperatures for the coasters, so you want to go while it stays above 45°F. They start closing rides at 42°, and that's as measured at the top of the lift, so as long as ground temp is 45° or more, you're all right. Fri-Sat will give you the most time in the park on a one day ticket. For example, you could go on Fri Nov. 8 from 7 to 9 and on Sat Nov. 9 from 11 to 9:30. It'll be busy, but ride queues may not be too bad depending on weather. If the high is in the 50s, smooth sailing. If it's 70 or so, I'd recommend Trailblazer Pass.

Wow, that looks so huge already, just dwarfs all the buildings there.

Thanks, yeah I probably will when we get a bit closer and I have exact dates and such. Appreciate it.

Looks like a great time! Fast, a lot of stops, but good fun nonetheless.

Oooh I like the sound of that.

Pumpkin Nights!!! On Saturday evening we headed down to Branson to experience the new Pumpkin Nights. It's really great to have the park open later more of the year. Most of the time we wake up early on a weekend to get there for the 8:30 opening (yeah, SDC is an unusual park in a lot of ways), but when it's open until 9, we can easily go down about 4 or so and stay until close and have a good time. There were a lot of people in the park, far more than I have seen on a fall Saturday typically. This time of year has up to now been very slow, even on a weekend. Not so with this event. There is really now no weekend that is slow any time of the year, and that's great for SDC. Most of the fun took place in the Grand Expo, where they had a ton of foam pumpkin animals with LEDs and a typical Halloween soundtrack (Monster Mash, Rocky Horror Picture Show, etc.). The Pumpkin Nights stage area is in a part of the park that is typically backstage. They opened up the large gate next to the Elephant March, and had a big dance party with face painting and specialty food and drink, including cider and pumpkin-shaped pretzel. The coolest part, though, was the pumpkin trail. They had real, hand-carved pumpkins on pedestals set up on display (a lot of the pumpkins in the park are foam and LEDs). The trail connects the Pumpkin Nights stage with the Boatworks Theater. So cool. Park staff also did a great job of keeping people to the right so that traffic could flow in both directions. Excellently done. Le Tour de Citrouilles Crafts by day! They have a cider kiosk in the square, where the wassail kiosk is during the Christmas event. Yum. We didn't end up getting the churros, but they looked great. We thought we might come back up here later that night, but after dinner and popcorn and ice cream, we just didn't have room. Across from the glass blowing place Near Time Traveler. I'll take this time to say all of the pumpkin carvings were themed to a nearby shop or ride, like pottery near the pottery shop, instruments near Echo Hollow, etc. It was impressive. Where the fun will be later. The Apple Fritter is back! I didn't forget about you construction nerds. And now, the main event! This kiosk had the cashew chicken in a waffle cone from the Festival of Wonder! So good. Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men!

No ponies!? The new BBQ place looks great, as does the new fire pit. And one thing that really stands out to me every time I see a Knott's photo--those palm trees against that cloudless pale blue sky. That is so California.

Looks like a fun event! Agreed on Cyclos and the Flyers. Love all the Mardi Gras stuff...very cool.

Looks like a fun event! Agreed on Cyclos and the Flyers. Love all the Mardi Gras stuff...very cool.