azza29

Great photos Neil. Cool to see there's more than just one reason to visit this park!

I think you might find more LED in Cars Land than you'd expect. Sure, there is probably a fair amount of neon there but I suspect a lot of it is simulated with LEDs, and it looks awesome! Melbourne's new observation wheel got the LED treatment too, took them a little while to figure out the best way to use the lights but the overall effect has been pretty impressive lately: 400 feet of glorious LEDs!

I bought a 9th Birthday magnet when I was there in June. Thought it was funny that they were celebrating that particular milestone. But then again, it's not like Disney to pass up any opportunities to celebrate an (albeit minor) anniversary!

Thanks for the review - sometimes local/independent productions can really shine. I've definitely seen a few "amateur" shows that were easily of a professional standard.

I'm only rating coasters I've been on, but it looks like 1986 was the year of the painful death machine: 3. Grizzly (CGA). Makes the list for notoriety more than anything. 2. Shockwave (KD). Another torture device. 1. Wild One (SFA). Yep, this is the *best* coaster that was built that year. Honorable mention: Orkanens Øje - looping Pinfari death machine at Tivoli Friheden. I ended up riding four times to help others get their credit, since the park wouldn't run anything but a full train.

Good to hear that Maze Runner is worth checking out. I saw The Boxtrolls last night, definitely a good surprise. Might not be to everyone's taste but if Nightmare Before Christmas and Paranorman are your thing I would certainly recommend this one. Not the typical plot-light kids film - superb animation, unique story and some very memorable characters. Judge for yourself whether it's better than Frozen...

I can offer a few answers based on my experience. Yes. Once you use the first day you'll have 14 days in which to use the other two, before your ticket expires. If this is your first visit to Disneyland I'd recommend getting the one-park-per-day ticket instead, and spending two days at Disneyland and one day at DCA. Not sure about Knotts and SFMM, but Disneyland tends to update about 6 weeks out. Typical hours for Disneyland in February would be 10-8 Mon-Thurs, 9-12 Fri-Sun. Knotts probably 10-5 on weekdays and longer on weekends, and SFMM 10-6 on weekends only. Drive drive drive. LA traffic can be daunting at first (especially after a 15 hour flight!) but it's not really any worse than Melbourne. Just don't expect anyone to use their indicator and you'll be fine. In the past I've had good experiences with rentalcars.com. They are just a broker, but their prices are good and include all the insurances you'll need over there. They also let you pick which car rental company you are actually renting from - Alamo have always been good for me, but avoid Dollar if you can. Disneyland will let you take pretty much anything on a ride, within reason. I don't wear glasses so can't speak for Knotts or SFMM, but as long as they are secured with the strap you should be OK. All parks have lockers, again Disneyland is much more relaxed about what you can take on a ride (although, to be fair, most of their rides are fairly tame so bags don't present much of a risk). Knotts has all-day lockers near Ghost Rider. SFMM has $1 single-use 2-hour lockers outside a lot of rides. One more recommendation - grab a Gold Flash Pass at SFMM, it'll make your day far better!

Couldn't agree more. Disney have had a few OK animated films since The Lion King, but none of them captured imaginations the way that movie (along with Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid) did. Even though I merely enjoyed the film and don't really get the hype, it's clear that Frozen has also strongly resonated with the public. It's not just any film that can get people to wait 3 hours for a meet and greet almost a year after it was released!

Dreamworld's original incarnation of Tower of Terror was my first Intamin, back in 2000.

Thanks for the update Brent, looks like the Sky Fly is a good replacement for Reef Diver. Great to see Wipeout getting some much needed TLC, that was my first "big" flat ride and still a favourite!

Thanks for the report, Robb! Looks like a great selection this year, definitely keen to check it out in a few weeks!

I almost always watch on my phone or iPad, generally through Facebook or Twitter links. I do subscribe to some channels but only occasionally look at those. Definitely share via social media if I like something enough. YouTube seems to attract the worst of online discussion, I don't think I've ever commented there!

It looks like the ship might have sailed on that one. They might get away with an explanation that "The Snow Queen" is a traditional Scandinavian fairytale, and Frozen is based on that. I'll be interested to see how the story is presented - will they try to cram the while story in like The Little Mermaid, or will it be more of an "expanded slice" like Radiator Springs Racers? Kind of hoping for the latter.

I hear the new ride won't be opening until 2016, so it sounds like this will be more than a quick retheme. It'll be interesting to see whether it's another Little Mermaid-style dark ride or something completely different.

^Agree about Wicked. It's a crowd pleaser with some catchy tunes, but is starting to age poorly and not one I'd go back to often. The Melbourne production of The King and I was excellent. Have tickets to see Les Mis in October, I've heard good things.

Maverick's neck chop is nothing compared to Tornado at Bakken. And even that you can brace for, after it happens the first time... I didn't find Mantis to be as rough as some of the other B&M stand-ups, the track layout is decent enough and it might make a good floorless coaster, being over the water.

Really looking forward to riding this one when I head to Florida in November. Very happy to see it open at last!

Balder makes me all gooey inside. Is it possible for a coaster to be perfect?

Both look great. I'd go for Twisted Colossus if it's running both trains, otherwise Wicked Cyclone is my pick. And Five Guys > In N Out. I think both do good burgers but when your menu has like three things on it there is no excuse for making people wait 20 minutes for their food...

If anyone's after an elixir boost I'm only defending castles at the moment (as you can't collect nerds without doing so) and letting all other attacks run their course.

Of rides that haven't already been mentioned, Green Lantern is pretty solid given it's size. Not fast, but some crazy twists and turns. And they're everywhere now, but I remember when the Aqualoop slides were new, exciting and thrilling. The Skypoint Q1 climb is decent too, although perhaps not as intense as going to the top of Eclipse

I'm inclined to agree with this. If the park can't even get approval to add what is essentially a walk-through attraction then it's hard to see what they would possibly be allowed to build! It would have worked better as a dark ride, I reckon. The walk-through section just felt like an extended queue, and while the drop ride was well themed it didn't offer much of a thrill.

I'd be interested to find out how difficult it was to arrange the license when Lethal Weapon was re-themed to Arkham Asylum. Movie World is definitely a different kind of park to Six Flags though, and they did more than just slap a new name on the ride.

The new plans look great, kind of remind me of Sea World Australia's huge dolphin enclosure in the way they're making it seem more like a "natural" environment and less like a giant swimming pool. In my view, there is absolutely nothing SeaWorld can do that will make PETA and other activist groups happy. These groups exist to protest and they are more interested in making noise than achieving an outcome. If a park caves in to their demands, activists will just find something else to complain about. If PETA were really interested in a the well-being of a bigger number of fish, they should go after anyone who keeps goldfish! I mean, how many million goldfish must be out there stuck in tiny bowls, as opposed to a hundred or so killer whales living in amusement parks?

Thanks for the report, Robb. Glad to see crowds are easing up a bit, heading there later in the year so hopefully the queues stay manageable. I have heard that mid-afternoon is when Diagon Alley starts to slow down a bit - I guess everyone rushes there first and they're mostly done by about lunchtime. On the merchandise, maybe there's just too much of it, and the films aren't as fresh in people's minds anymore? It looks like a lot of the product is targeted at the Harry Potter superfans, possibly a little too niche or expensive for a GP's souvenir budget. I kind of like that Knockturn Alley isn't all that busy - seems like somewhere you might "accidentally" come across if you didn't know it was there, which is consistent with the story. This whole part of the park seems like a giant walkthrough attraction in itself. Did you see anyone using the RFID-enabled wands? I'm curious to know how popular that has been.