azza29

May/June 2013, did six weeks around California, then the Northeast. Included plenty of non-theme park activities as well, but was planned around park visits. The northeast segment alone was about 3000 miles, New York to Cedar Point, down to Busch Gardens, and back to New York.

Wildfire is my most anticipated, with Taron not far behind. Mission Ferrari is up there too, although that might still open this year.

Dodonpa's airtime hill. Holy crap.

My thoughts were less about the grab bars and more about this area...[attachment=0]Untitled-1.jpg[/attachment] Just looks a little cramped to me... Looks similar to the new Kumbak trains Movie World put on their SLC. Those didn't strike me as being particularly cramped, and they're certainly much more rideable than the typical Vekoma train.

Kidzania looks great - "edutainment" that isn't dumbed down at all!

Great pics, Caesar - thanks for the report. Looks like you had a great time at the media day!

^San Andreas was a fun ride. Standard popcorn disaster fare with a plot that doesn't exactly leave you guessing, but the dumb ridiculousness of it all is very entertaining.

Of the GCI's I've been on recently, most weren't terrible. Apocalypse was running really well last year, and definitely felt "wilder" than my previous visits, without being rougher. I liked PowerPark's Thunderbird quite a bit, not going to be in anyone's top ten but still a good ride. Even Gwazi wasn't as bad as I was expecting, there are definitely much worse woodies out there.

I checked out Spy last week. Much better film than I was expecting, well written with some decent action sequences to boot. The banter between Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne's characters is hilarious. Definitely recommend.

Looks like a great event. Thanks for the updates, Robb. It was fun following your posts on Twitter throughout the day here!

Enjoying this report, Martin. Always interested to see these lesser-known parks in Asia.

I've been enjoying this show since the start, but I'm finding the current season a little tedious. Too many "soap opera" plotlines, and the overarching story doesn't feel like it's building up to anything anymore. Kind of reminds me of the third season of Lost, when so many non sequitur plotlines were thrown in that it became impossible to follow the story.

Intamin: Balder B&M: Top Gun/Flight Deck (CGA)

I'm sure they'll figure out a way to shoehorn Baymax into the next one...

Over the past couple of years Warner Bros Movie World have introduced various evening events to boost attendance and add some extra passholder value. The first two were the standard Christmas/Halloween offerings, but in July last year they debuted "Carnivale", essentially a Mardi Gras/New Orleans mash-up with elements of Epcot's Food & Wine thrown in. Nine months later it has returned for a second outing, so I headed up to the Gold Coast to check out Carnivale Mark II. The overall atmosphere was pretty similar to last year, plenty of lights, music and entertainment, but everything was a little more focused and refined. The steel drummers were (mercifully) departed, and in their place were performers on stilts and fire-breathers. The booze offerings had been stepped up a notch as well. Last year the single alcoholic drink was hidden away prohibition-style in a back corner of the park, but this time around the whole main street area was licensed to serve. The centrepiece parade reused most of the same floats but was again well executed, particularly when one considers that the park layout does not lend itself to the concept of a parade at all. Carnivale is probably my pick of the events Movie World have introduced to date, and definitely has more all-ages appeal than White Christmas or Fright Nights. It's free for passholders, has good food and entertainment, and despite the park being fairly busy most rides had only a short wait. For an event that ran for a total of six nights, there was a lot of effort involved, and it absolutely paid off. It'll be interesting to see where the park takes this concept in future years, but I can definitely see it becoming their flagship event. Enough words. I have some photos... Let's start with a shot of Superman. Still the best ride in the country, and I figured there should be at least one photo of a coaster in the TR. There would be no night rides on Green Lantern tonight, on account of the incident two weeks earlier. Really hope this reopens soon, and isn't SBNO for too long. In case you forget which event you're at, it's right there on the sign! Hooray! This is Colin. He holds stuff so I can take photos. Here he is showing off his food pass, for three items. Given that most items were in the -12 range it doesn't really save you any money, but is convenient. The event was opened by the King of Carnivale, riding a flowery skull! I call this the "I am dancing on stilts and therefore must concentrate" look. I assume there was some bulk deal on stilt performers at the local circus supply store. There were a lot of them. A lot. Bubble lady was... you guessed it... also on stilts! The park decked out Main Street very nicely, lots of lights and fog to build "atmosphere". The food offerings varied from the safe (pizza) to the moderately adventurous (gumbo). Our first pick was Skipper's Southern Fish Fry. Twelve dollars gets you this much fish and shrimp. I know, right? It did taste pretty good, though. Colin with his cone of fried seafood in a grainy, blurry photo caused by terrible lighting. Another look down Main Street. The music and performers kept going throughout the evening. There was a real party atmosphere, and the crowd definitely seemed to be having a good time! Fire! There were a lot more fire performers than last year. This is a good thing. I assume she's dressed that way to reduce the likelihood of unfortunate clothes-catching-fire accidents. Right? Lots of cirque-type acts were happening on the main stage throughout the evening. Here we have some aerial dancers! This moonshine jar might well be the best souvenir cup ever made. Colin looks pretty happy with it too. Another look at the "atmosphere". The lettering on the roof is a nice touch. More lights, more people on stilts. Food selection two was clam chowder in a bread bowl. This chowder was pretty good, the bread was plentiful. Random performers kept popping up on small stages throughout the night. I feel like if I could do a handstand on the floor, doing it on a chair wouldn't be that much harder. Um. I'm not sure where his hand is going either. Best not to speculate. Colin and Harrison holding our dessert pies. The key lime one was pretty tasty! So 3 wins from 3 for me on the food options this year, not bad for a park where the most exotic day-to-day offering involves putting more than one sauce on a hot dog. Another photo of Main Street, angled because it helps crop out random strangers. The event ended with a parade. It's at this point that I'll point out that they have called this the "Main Street Electrical Light Parade". Yup. Just like Disney, without the eighties electronica. Carnivale! The parade started with people on stilts. Because why not? Then fire-breathers! The performances were synced up with flame machines attached to the light poles, which looked really cool. So the thing about Movie World's layout is that it really isn't suited to a parade. The floats have to go all the way down Main Street, wait at the front of the park, then turn around and come back the way they came. On the plus side you do get to see everything twice. Rabbit butt! The alligator king is back from last year, but with the addition of (aforementioned) electrical lighting around his crown. The Little Mermaid is public domain, ok? No copyright infringements here! More performers entertaining the crowd while the floats turn around for their encore journey. Is the peacock pulling the jester along in a chair? It's all a bit high-concept for me... At the end of the parade... confetti! The finale is an all-in dance party thing. Which was our cue to leave. One last photo of Colin. Obvious joke is still funny. Overall we had a pretty good time, I look forward to seeing Carnivale grow further next year!

^It's anyone's guess, really. Deal could have been signed, or this could be nothing. It is interesting that Premier are exhibiting at a local convention (AALARA is held in Queensland), as I don't think they've built anything in Australia yet.

Thanks for sharing this Robb, and I like that you include international parks in these articles. 2015 is definitely looking like another exciting year for new rides!

Looks really good, thanks for the update. I knew very little about Djurs before visiting last summer, and it was surprisingly awesome. Great to see them improving even more!

Twisted Colossus is looking the goods! Definitely a reason to head back to LA sometime soon.

Looks like my next will be Tokyo Disneyland, in about a month and a half. Just a little excited...

Book of Mormon is finally getting a Melbourne run, announced for early 2017. Better late than never, I guess!

^There is something to hang around for mid-credits, but just a Marvel logo at the very end.

Went to see Avengers: Age Of Ultron tonight. Pretty similar to the last one, not really better or worse, still a fun film with great action sequences. It's a Marvel superhero flick that will make a billion bucks before lunch. So you know what to expect, that said I liked the story more than their previous effort.

Sea World Australia have quietly announced a revamp of Beach Break Bay (kids area), including a new "mini rollercoaster". Nothing too thrilling, but definitely an area of the park that needed an update. Link: seaworld.com.au/animals-rides-and-shows/rides/beach-break-bay.aspx

Phone, wallet, and a ziplock bag to put stuff in on any potentially wet rides. Used to take my DSLR all the time too but now only if I'm in the mood for photography.