azza29

That Indy ride photo is really impressive - definitely worth shelling out extra for. Great TR, by the way - looks like you guys had a fantastic time in Japan!

Are you seriously suggesting that parks deliberately have tight restraints in order to rip off fat people? Most new B&Ms are fitted with bigger seats in at least one row, which seems to indicate the complete opposite to me. I've never been to a park where there weren't at least a couple of rides that would accommodate the average biggest loser contestant. From a personal perspective, getting kicked off a ride for the first time was a good thing! It might have only been a kiddie coaster but the reality check inspired me to get serious about making some healthy lifestyle changes. So I absolutely don't agree that parks need to make special concessions to fat people, at any level.

That's good to hear. I can understand why ADHD, autism or aspergers might be problematic with regards to waiting in line, but am somewhat skeptical when it's wheeled out as a reason why somebody needs immediate access to a ride and cannot just get a return time. Doesn't Universal have something similar to the DAS system in place already?

^Weird. I didn't get the update but did get the task. Good to see new content incoming though.

New credit today - 'Taipan', a Pinfari Zyklon at the Melbourne Show. Hooray for traveling coasters!

^Universal have definitely set an aggressive pace, but that's what market challengers do. It's not an apples to apples comparison though - I can appreciate why something like Be Our Guest would take longer to put together than Moe's Tavern (although both look great).

^I think the main thing here is that Disney have removed the perceived 'preferential treatment' of anyone with a GAC pass, which will no doubt go down poorly with anyone who was abusing the existing system. The DAS setup seems pretty fair, good to see that they're keeping the front-of-line passes for the Make-a-Wish kids as well.

This ride looks great, yet it's being sneered at as a 'D-ticket' ride that took too long to build on certain Disney fansites. I can't wait to check it out!

^No. There are at least two of us. That's not to say it can't be improved, and some sections are severely lacking. And I definitely don't get why some people line up for 3 hours to get a good viewing spot, that's just crazy.

^Haunted Mansion Holiday is easily the better version of the ride, too. Especially if you like Nightmare Before Christmas!

I used my Knott's cup at CGA, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Dorney and Kings Dominion with no problems.

Indy all the way. Arkham Asylum gets an honorable mention, given that most SLCs don't get any theming beyond the ride sign.

^You're right that the VRTP have been smart with their investments. The Arkham Asylum retheme is really impressive - the park has turned an awful SLC into a great ride, at what I assume would have been a fraction of the cost of adding something new. They've also replaced a terrible simulator with a decent dark ride and added a compact but awesome El Loco. I think these changes have given the parks, particularly Movie World, a better 'base' to give people enough to fill a day. Granted, we're talking about a 10-5 day since their operating hours still appear to target the 'young family' demographic, but at least there are now enough non-headliners to spread out the crowds a little. Hopefully this is making the place more profitable, and will justify more (and larger) investments in the future.

^I think a lot of Arrows (along with the Vekoma SLCs) would get new life from having better trains/restraints, and certainly much cheaper than building a new ride.

Looks like some solid improvements coming to the park next year. Kumbak built a decent new train for Sea World's Arrow loopscrew, something similar on Anaconda would be great!

Score! Just tried the 99c donut lottery and got 100 donuts twice in a row! So Disco Stu is now living in my town...

Thanks again for adding this feature Robb - it's made trip reports so much easier!

Part 6: New York, New York! The Big Apple. The Melting Pot. The Empire City. New York has a list of nicknames longer than the line at Katz's Deli, and after three days in the Yosemite wilderness it was time to venture east toward the glittering lights of Broadway and 42nd Street. I come from Melbourne which, with its 4 million residents, is hardly a small town, but arriving in New York City and walking up the subway steps into Times Square there was a definitely a sense of awe. The weather was often uncooperative during the week we were there, but that didn't stop us from doing all the regular touristy things, seeing plenty of shows and heading out to Luna Park. I thought it was just an OK park, and in many ways similar to its namesake in Melbourne. Both have an old, classic wooden coaster that isn't as good as you'd hope, complemented by a bunch of somewhat stock-standard flat rides and smaller coasters. For some reason I had been quite excited about the Zamperla Volare and Air Race, I'll let you guess which one of those was actually any good. But overall we had a great time, New York is a wonderful city and I definitely want to head back again someday. On to the photos! We flew over a LOT of desert on the way from Oakland to New York. And we're here! Everybody loves a good fountain. The police box. Run-of-the-mill to locals but fascinating to a foreigner. The city has some awesome architecture. The first play we saw was Peter and the Star Catcher. This was off-Broadway, then on Broadway, and now it's off again. At any rate, a brilliant show that wasn't too "Disney", and had us in stitches. I went to see this because it had Tom Hanks. That is all. I was very, very excited to see Book of Mormon. I'd booked tickets almost a year before and was not disappointed. Absolutely deserves all of its accolades. Newsies. Because I don't think anyone has mentioned this on TPR before. ACERS. They are taking over the world one subway car at a time. What you can't see in this photo is the smell. New York subways have a distinct aroma that I call "humid garbage." Times Square! To promote a new model, LEGO had built a giant X-Wing and put it in the middle of Times Square. This was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. No visit to New York would be complete without a trip to the Apple store, although the humidity was making the nice shiny glass box fog up. Zoltar does indeed speak. For a dollar, of course. It was only mid-May, so there was just one day on the trip we could make it out to Coney Island when Luna Park was open. On the left you will observe Deno's Wonder Wheel, also known as motion sickness: the ride. This is what we'd really come here to see. Freshly cleaned up after the hurricane, Cyclone was once again taking passengers. The seats were very well padded, which should have warned me, but this was easily the roughest coaster of the trip. The parts that had been re-tracked recently were OK, but the train tended to fall, rather than roll, down most other hills. At nine dollars a ride, it wasn't something I needed to try twice. Luna Park is basically a Zamperla showroom, and would no doubt be lovely on a sunny day. But on this damp, overcast Saturday afternoon, it was all a bit "ghetto". The uninspiring lineup of coasters didn't help either. It's a good thing they are adding Thunderbolt next year, because the park really needs a standout ride. As for Steeplechase, I really like the motocoaster concept, but like Pony Express at Knotts, this one was just too short. The Tickler was OK for a spinning mouse, but featured one of the surliest ride ops I've ever encountered. Then there's Soarin' Eagle. Eggbeater lift, 'flying' restraints, this ride promises so much! I wondered... why haven't we seen more of these around the place? But after being strapped into the iron maiden restraints and enduring the ride, I realised it was probably a good thing there are only a handful of Volare coasters in the world. More 'caged lab rat' than 'soarin' eagle'. Ah, the Atlantic! It looks very similar to the Pacific, in case you're wondering. The Coney Island boardwalk is kind of fun, and would no doubt be great on a sunny day. For all the average coasters, Luna Park is worth visiting for one ride - the Air Race. My new favourite flat ride, this thing is insane! I had heard very good things about Scott's Pizza Tour, mostly via TPR. So the next morning we found ourselves at Lombardi's to learn about this iconic New York dish. Scott himself would be our guide. This guy's passion for pizza is absolutely infectious, and he is one of the best tour guides I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Here he is in front of Lombardi's oven. Lombardi's pizza! The pizza elite (of which I am now one) do not simply bite into a slice, there are three key steps to consumption. First, one must observe, or "taste with the eyes". This is where pizza ovens are born! This dude was hanging out outside the pizza shop supply store. One day some kind soul will adopt him, wipe the bird poo away and give him a new home. Next stop was Joe's Pizza. On the way over Scott had asked people what the weirdest topping they'd ever had on a pizza was. Somebody said egg, which is a key component of the 'Aussie' pizza back home. I was baffled. Joe's pizza! The second stage in pizza tasting is to smell the slice, sniffing gently around the flavoursome crust. The final port of call on the tour was John's Pizzeria. Scott was aware of Melbourne's pizza scene and asked me to suggest my favourite. The pressure caused me to panic and forget the name of every single pizza restaurant I've ever been to. John's pizza! The final stage in pizza tasting is, of course, to actually put it in your mouth. As we would find out at Hersheypark later in the trip, the steps involved in chocolate tasting are very similar to those of pizza tasting. We did all the usual touristy crap. This is 'The Beast', which is basically the best way to see the Statue of Liberty if you don't want to waste half your day on a sightseeing ferry. You get all the great views of the longer cruise, but are out and back in 30 minutes! Just enough time to get the obligatory photo with the lady herself. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is a nice way to see Manhattan. Unfortunately, everybody else thinks so too. This is a cool little tradition, but the combination lock is kind of non-commital... We received numerous warnings at the Empire State Building that it was 'a bit foggy'. But this also meant that there were no lines! It was neat to see the Freedom Tower rising out of the fog. We spent a long time staring down on the city - there aren't many places in the world with such an eclectic mix of architecture. Then it was time for some culture. To escape the rain we visited the Museum of Modern Art. This is what happens if you leave your couch out in the humidity too long. A lot of the "modern" art was clearly edgy, and challenged convention. But that doesn't automatically make it good. Genius or nonsense? I can't decide. More culture can be found at The Museum of Natural History! There were lots of animals to see. Some were gracefully posed in picturesque dioramas. Some were not. Look into my eyes! More culture. Some sort of elephant bowl, complete with genitals. More nudity in the name of culture. Superman can't go near this stuff. On the other side of central park is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This was a very interesting place to visit, and I could easily have spent more time there. There was a wonderful diversity to the collection, and it was less pretentious than MoMA. Some Pacific island totems. Art. They don't sell these at IKEA. More art. Faberge eggs are art too. So are Egyptian tombs. This was very impressive from a distance but up close there wasn't a lot to look at. One more touristy activity. Top of the Rock! NYC at night is pretty cool. Looking back toward the Empire State Building. That's all for this update, coming up next we head to Six Flags New England, Lake Compounce, and Quassy!

For me, Boulder Dash and Apollo's Chariot are the standouts. Steel Force and Wooden Warrior are definitely up there too.

^Thanks for the tip, I have been using Wotflight and Expedia but always good to find new flight pricing sources!

^I think you're spot on. The local parks just don't get the attendance figures to justify investing in a nice big B&M. I read recently that WVTP's annual capital works budget is around $15m across all three of their Gold Coast parks, which means to add something like Banshee would be 2 years' worth of investment!

I'm doing the same - I have no idea what a ticket from Melbourne to Helsinki "should" cost, so I'm going to watch and wait for the next month or so to see what happens with pricing. Elissa - are there likely to be any add-ons to the Scandi trip? If not I'm thinking about a stopover in Hong Kong to check out Disneyland and Ocean Park on the way over...

The Pirates segment is definitely the best part. The 'Under the Sea' clip works pretty well in the show too. On my last visit I got a spot right down the front for the first time and I noticed a lot of laser and fountain action happening right down on the water that I'd never seen before. But it's not worth lining up early just for that - and I certainly don't get the people who camp out for two hours before the show just to get a certain view.

^Done. Go TPR!

I completely agree. One of the pitfalls of movie-type parks is that any brand that doesn't become a classic can quickly become dated, and the park gets stuck with a pricey attraction themed to an unpopular license. Think Indiana Jones vs Lethal Weapon - both well-known but the latter lacks the 'timeless' aspect. Plenty of comic book characters, on the other hand, are already perpetually popular, so whether they're Batman or Snoopy they're a safe bet for a ride's licensing budget. Movie World are, slowly, creeping towards becoming a full-day park. It's a radical idea, but I'm hopeful that at some point they will extend their operating hours beyond 10-5. On a busy weekend or public holiday, perhaps? One can dream...