YoshiFan

Manta at Sea World Orlando 2 weeks ago.

I was there too and was happy to see the crowds were back to 2019 and earlier Sunday in April crowd levels. Other than the usual rides (Laff Trakk and Cupfusion) plus Lightning Racer, I didn't wait more than 20 minutes for anything. Even Fahrenheit was only around 15 minutes.

If you were going to get that amount of food anyway, it's worth it. A meal can be as much as $14 and if you get a more expensive snack that could be $9 or $10 (like a funnel cake), and the all day drinks is worth around $15 (if it's a all day drink bottle).

That's the first day of school for some local districts so it shouldn't be too crowded. I'd expect up to 30 - 45 minute waits for the big rides at the worst (in a normal year I would have said lower wait times but that's factoring in reduced capacities). I would also expect some non coaster rides to be closed as that time of year the park really struggles to have enough staff for everything to be open.

Guest Services was able to print a wallet sized card for me. There are also kiosks outside the park that are supposed to print them as well but they don’t seem to work. I stopped there first to print out my single ride Quick Queue. One kiosk was turned off, the second one wouldn’t scan the barcode and third one didn’t print anything.

I didn’t realize the San Antonio Platinum Pass was so cheap. I may consider that for some family members for next year instead of buying the Fun Card with BGT and Adventure Island that was $115 up until a few weeks ago so they can go to Sea World and Aquatica without using up all 6 bring a friend free tickets with my FL Platinum Pass.

It was May 20th

I visited on a Friday in May a few years ago, it was crowded with Music in the Parks and regular school trips. The big coasters had up to 90 minute waits. https://www.musicintheparks.com/WhereWhen It looks like Music in the Parks will be there that day.

I was trying to make a reservation for next month. The site stated you have to select a date and entry time but I only had the option to pick a date. Does anyone know if that is a glitch or is this a park that is just using a date only and not time as well? I got the confirmation and a print out, so it looks like the reservation went through without the time.

Trailblazer might be the only coaster they have a chance at riding. sooperdooperlooper might have been possible until a few years ago when they added stickers with green and red to where the bottom of the lap bar is and now the lap bar has to be in the green section. Fahrenheit shortened the belts in 2017 when they changed to the soft strap restraints and shortened the belts again last year. I know the newer coasters they will have no chance at. Laff Trakk is the most restrictive coaster in the park and Candymonium requires 3 clicks unlike some other B&M hypers like Nitro. They would likely fit on some non coaster rides like the tilt a whirl, monorail, train, cars, Kissing Tower (if open), whip, Coal Cracker, maybe Reese's Cupfusion (not sure if the lap bar has to be to a certain level in order to dispatch the car).

I know it’s a Saturday of a holiday weekend but I wasn’t expecting to see 4 hour wait times posted. I made the mistake of visiting the day before Easter years ago and decided to never try it again.

Looks like no Storm Runner this weekend

Thank you. I’m glad to hear I should be able to get to both parks on the same day.

I was looking into buying a Platinum Pass and had 2 questions after reading their website. The bring a friend free tickets states "Free Guest Tickets: Valid for Silver, Gold, and Florida Platinum Passes. Limited per Pass Member per initial term to your choice of Florida park(s) of membership excluding Discovery Cove. Parking not included. Valid for one-time use per ticket for one Single-Day admission. Pass Members must accompany guests for entry." Does anyone know if that means you get them every year you renew or just the first year? Intial term made me question if it was just a one time offer the first year. I also saw you can't reserve 2 parks for the same day. Has anyone been able to visit both Adventure Island and Busch Gardens Tampa on the same day if it was a low crowd day? I thought they might not turn you away from the second park if there was plenty of capacity.

There is a large group at the park Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I went to the park the same day they were there years ago and it was one of the most crowded I have ever seen the park except Fright Fest on a Saturday. http://www.ncsygreatadventure.com

The 2021 Operating Calendar has been released. https://www.dorneypark.com/explore/calendar-and-hours They are closed every Tuesday, they aren't even open during the week except Memorial Day until the middle of June and even that is only Wednesday - Sunday. Almost every day of the season is a 7 pm close with the waterpark never open past 6 pm. I'm glad other parks in the area like Great Adventure and Hersheypark have almost normal operating schedules and will be on daily operations starting at the end of May.

If they follow what other parks did, at the minimum, the B&M coasters should be loading every row. Maybe Maxx Force too since the seatbacks are so tall. I guess the absolute worst case scenario would be every other row on all coasters except X Flight and Superman unless the state decides to be strict and require skipping rows on all the coasters.

Skipping both SFGAM and SFOG when I visited Chicago in 2002 and Atlanta in 2003. I had a horrible opinion of Six Flags parks at the time because of how poorly Great Adventure was run (thankfully it's much better now) and wasn't an enthusiast so I would have skipped most of the larger coasters there even if I had gone but looking back it still would have been nice to add some more credits to my count. I also had the opportunity to visit La Ronde in 2006 when I visited Montreal but hearing about how bad the park was and riding past the park on a bus tour where you could look at a lot of the park for a few minutes and seeing no coasters running because dispatches were so slow, I don't regret not visiting.

I’m planning on only visiting local parks next year, Hersheypark, Dorney, Great Adventure and Knoebels. Maybe Legoland NY once too. I’d be happy just being able to go to parks a few times each month compared to this year where I only got to visit Knoebels twice and Hersheypark once.

New restrictions in PA starting Saturday https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/new-coronavirus-restrictions-just-announced-by-pennsylvania-gov-tom-wolf/A4KPJWHDJ5HNBP27NTUMMQQTKM/ It sounds like the park should be able to stay open but indoor rides might not be able to run and no indoor shows.

Normally I would say Thursday because almost (or all?) schools in the area including PA and NJ would be closed for election day and only NJ schools would be closed on Thursday. I have gone on that Thursday I think 2 times in the last 4 years and lines are usually very short, especially the last 2 hours the park is open. I looked up one of my reports from a previous Thursday at the beginning of November, I got 24 rides in 5 hours to give an idea of how low crowds were. The good thing is even on a weekday in November, Great Adventure is really good about having most rides open. Last year I went on Veterans Day on a Monday and only 1 or 2 rides were closed besides the rides usually closed that time of year and it was probably the least crowded I had seen the park in a few years.

Coal Cracker used to be listed as open for Hersheypark in the Dark but the last few years, even when it was warm out it was still closed and now it's not listed as running anymore except for Spring and Summer. I guess with staffing such an issue this time of year, with the ride taking so many people to run and temperature dependent, they probably would rather have those ride operators elsewhere.

I think the 35 - 38 degrees for other coasters is accurate. I was at the park 2 or 3 years ago and my phone was showing around 40 degrees and I rode sooperdooperlooper and the Triple Towers, then later it was down to the low 30s and the Triple Towers and all outdoor coasters closed. Edit, I looked up one of my trip reports, this was from 2017: "During my final sooperdooperlooper ride I looked up the temperature and it was 41, by the time I left the park it was 35 and the Triple Towers, Frontier Flyers and all the outdoor coasters except Cocoa Cruiser were closed. I had heard the lowest temperature the park will run the coasters is 38 degrees and that seemed to be accurate." Edit 2, I looked it up and here is the official policy: " What is your weather policy when there are cold temperatures? These rides MAY close when temperatures approach 38 degrees or lower. They MAY NOT open unless temperatures are above 38 degrees and rising: Fahrenheit; Ferris Wheel; Great Bear; Hershey Triple Tower; Kissing Tower; Lightning Racer; Capital BlueCross Monorail; Sidewinder; Skyrush; sooperdooperLooper; Storm Runner; Wild Mouse; and Wildcat. Candymonium may close as temperatures approach 34 degrees. These rides MAY close when temperatures are 65 degrees or lower. They MAY NOT open unless temperatures are above 65 degrees and rising: Bayside Pier; Breakers Edge Water Coaster; Coal Cracker; Coastline Plunge; East Coast Waterworks; Intercoastal Waterway; Sandcastle Cove; Shoreline Sprayground; The Shore; Tidal Force; Waverider; and Whitecap Racer. It may not be possible to identify which rides will be closed at specific times due to varying degrees of effects from inclement weather on our rides and attractions. We appreciate your understanding as we work to keep you safe and having fun!" https://www.hersheypark.com/info/faqs.php

I think this is a new record for wait times. I have never seen a wait time posted of more than 180 minutes as long as I have had the app or checked queue times.

The new forums look excellent, the new features are also great.