OrlandoGuy
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Posts posted by OrlandoGuy
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Buzzsaw Falls, the Premier coaster, did not have a launch. The launch was entirely S&S's work. It is also the exact same technology that is being used on MaxxForce, so no, the assertion that this is a first of its kind in North America is just wrong. It's literally been in the next state over for a decade and a half.
We get it, you have the biggest d*ck in the room because you keep track of different ride technologies. Aren’t you one of the guys on here that constantly berates “enthusiasts” that nerd out about random stuff? The pot shouldn’t call the kettle black.
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Thanks! I'm an engineer for a large company that requires me to visit several of our company's other sites plus vendors, customers, and conferences.
Very cool! All your trips must be a great perk of the job.
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I really enjoy reading your reports! But I have to ask...what is it that you do for a living that sends you all over the country for what seems like non-stop work trips?? I can’t help but wonder every time you take a day trip to a random because you’re in the area for work
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Looks cool. Too bad I’ll never step foot on a Carnival ship. Here’s hoping a version makes its way to Disney, or even just one of the newer Royal Caribbean ships.
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I admittedly haven’t read the whole thread, so apologies if I repeat anything, but a few from the Orlando area for ya...
-Just outside Universal on Kirkman Road is a great Venezuelan joint called Arepas de Cacao (or something along those lines) that serves huge, authentic arepas that are amazing. Next door is also one of the best burgers you’ll ever eat, Colombian Burger.
-Also down the street from Universal along Vineland Road is a great little hole in the wall Mexican joint called Border Grill.
-Down the opposite way from Universal, Gyu Kaku is a pretty great Korean bbq place on Turkey Lake Road...you pay for your meat and cook it on a grill in the middle of the table.
-Somewhat between Universal and Disney (maybe <10 minutes from Uni, <15 from Disney) on Dr Phillips Blvd is a great collection of restaurants called Dr Phillips Marketplace...BarTaco is where you go for small plates style tacos, LemonShark for made-to-order poke bowls, and Flame Kebob for Middle Eastern fare (there’s also a great Lebanese place called Habibi down Metrowest Blvd <10 minutes from Universal property
-The area immediately surrounding Disney has mostly chains in my experience, as it’s much less local than Universal’s location. I will say that Sea Dog Brewery practically across the street from Disney Springs is a great brewery with a 10pm happy hour that’s the best bang for your buck in the area.
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I don’t usually comment on these types of threads but I really enjoyed this report! You have a fun and engaging way of recounting your experience and I really like your photos from lesser-viewed angles as well. Hope there’s more to come!
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^From my research the Shawarma place has actually been on the Magic exclusively for a long time now. It may have been under refurb at a few points but it keeps coming back even though everyone is always terrified it won't! It's right next to the more normal 'hot dog/hamburger' place by the pool.
Ohhhh Boiler Bites right? Maybe that does ring a bell...on our last trip in passing it just looked like an expanded toppings bar lol.
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Great report...haven’t been to BGW since before Griffon was built, but it’s a beautiful park and one of my favorites regardless. Kings Dominion is totally underrated, and I don’t get why it doesn’t receive more hype from people. It has a stacked lineup, is clean, and in some sections kind of pretty. Easily second to Cedar Point in the CF chain for me and even though I haven’t been to a whole lot of parks in the Northeast, it looks to be competitve with the best of them.
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Love Disney Cruises...lost count on how many we’ve done but it’s got to be upwards of 20 since 1999. It’s been really cool to watch the ships grow and evolve, and though I’d probably say The Fantasy is “the best”, the Magic is probably my favorite. I was actually just on the same itinerary in January, and I don’t remember the shawarma place being there yet. What did it replace?
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I think you’re selling Universal short personally...the drive from Atlanta to Orlando, in my experience, takes roughly eight hours at least. I’d choose my half day at Sea World or Aquatica, and use two full days at Universal. Also some of the hotels in the area offer shuttles to Busch Gardens Tampa, so if I were you (as someone who likes to minimize driving on vacation) I would seriously take that into consideration when looking for lodging.
Depending on where you stay and what you like, I know I and a lot of other posters here have good information on nightlife and non-theme park activities as well.
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If you're staying at that Wyndham, definitely consider the area around Orlando Eye for your chill drinking nights. Tin Roof is a great live music spot that draws a more fun crowd than your typical O Town tourist bar. Yardhouse also has a great happy hour after 10. Be weary of Sugar Factory--lots of money for little alcohol. Also, while I haven't been in the aquarium or wax museum, the Eye is a fun thing to check out at night while fireworks are going off around the area...especially if you find a deal on tickets.
ETA: If you find yourself at Player 1, do yourself a favor and hit up Sea Dog Brewery in the same complex. After 10 every night all of their signature beers are half off...you can drink three generous glasses of freshly brewed beer AND leave a generous tip for around $10. Great spot.
ETA Again: my receipt for my last trip to SeaDog was still in my wallet...$14.56 for three solid beers and a 50% tip.
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Given all the wild speculation that New Mean Streak could be RMC's biggest/longest/greatest/etc...
Maybe the reason for the weird timing of construction coupled with the lack of announcement is so CP can spread the cost of construction over several fiscal periods rather than just one off-season. Start it in 2017, finish in 2018, but avoid one big massive deduction to the 2016 off-season balance sheet. That would allow for one hell of a conversion .
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You guys know my stance from the Cedar Point thread but I don't think 2017 makes any sense from a marketing standpoint so I'm going with 2018. Maybe it could be done by 2017 if they wanted it to be and anyone arguing from that standpoint is making a totally valid case. That being said, since the busy haunt season is their big push for Season Pass renewals and under this ownership group they always announce major additions before this to help drum up sales and they're making a hard push with the free Fastlane plus for renewals and free 2016 visit for new 2017 pass purchases I feel like if they could have announced a marquee attraction to help push sales they would have done it already. Instead they're pushing a water park upgrade.
I agree with this 100% but will play devil'a advocate: the line of thinking also exists that they can dump a bunch of annual passes out now, then gain another big surge of sales after the Halloween push if they announce the new ride a month or so from now. I dont know enough about construction to tell if a conversion could be done in time for 2017 or not, but if it indeed could, it wouldn't necessarily *not* make sense to try to grab two big surges of annual pass sales, one in the closing out of the current season and another after the announcement of a big new ride to attract the casual CP fans after the die-hards have already snagged theirs.
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Stop.
No you all need to stop. If you don't wish to participate then don't participate. But STOP with the comments that add nothing to the conversation except your dislike of post or thread.
Thank you. Having thousands of posts on a theme park forum will never be cool, it's time people (myself included) stop pretending we are better than other posters for their certain messages. At the end of the day, I just wanna read some interesting park news from around the country but the weird superiority complex and "shut down" mentality among a select few around here has really been bugging me.
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Here is another oh boy moment. All Goodwill stores in the Tampa Bay area announced they have pulled ANYTHING clown related from their stores for halloween. They are are a big promoter of halloween costumes in the area. They have said you will not even find a red nose or clown wig in any store.
I mean, yeah bro, clowns are getting shot now. If you wanna be the guy who tests paranoid people and takes that chance though, fine by me. Can't say I don't think it's prudent of the Tampa area to try and prevent that kind of thing from happening, though.
And to the OP, I'm actually fascinated by homemade haunts. It's gonna be a ton of work (from what I hear at least), but I'm really interested in how it turns out. I hope you give us a good photo update and a play by play of how you did everything.
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Haha. There will be zero clowns just because of what is going on, and people will expect it. Also, people don't like clowns, so best to keep away from it.
Good idea. It's best to keep Haunted houses sensitive to people's feelings. Make sure you avoid putting things in them that people might not like because they might find them scary.
In all fairness, clowns are a legit problem around the country for some reason I can't even begin to understand (thanks 2016). I'm scared of terrorists with guns, but I feel like it's reasonable to not wanna see that in a haunt lol. It's just a sensitivity thing.
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I really don't like jump scares so I hardly ever attend Halloween events for the houses themselves. I prefer tension that's built up, very much Hitchcockian.
On a completely random note, I'll be heading to Universal in mid April. What can I expect in terms of crowds?
Depends on when in April. Easter is on April 16 next year so if you go any time before then or especially that weekend, you'll run into heavy Spring Break crowds. The proceeding weeks shouldn't be *as* bad, but I dont know the different school SB schedules. That being said, there's a lot of ways to get around crowds depending on where you stay, how many days you plan to spend, etc. without having to spring for fast passes.
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I went last weekend and uhhhh...was this event scary at one point? How are you supposed to be startled when youre walking through a maze with 200 other people?
All night we consistently walked into scenes where the actors were getting back into their hiding places or the animatronic/effect had just went off. I've never been more disappointed by a halloween event. Granted, the mazes were all top notch when it came to design but the crowds and the lack of "pulsing" individual groups through the mazes really ruined the event.
I would GLADLY play an additonal $30-40/ticket if they reduced the capacity of the event.
Oh yeah, that's another thing...it's gotten way too crowded for its own good. Not only does a $100 (give or take) ticket NOT guarantee you access to all of the attractions (unless you pony up for another $100 for a fast pass), but it makes the park sometimes unbearable to be in...even with an Express last weekend I didn't see everything. I agree that I'd pay more in exchange for a lot less people. Endless conga lines have been the norm for a while now...it's more common than not to see scares happening ahead of you (and by 'scares' I really mean startles). I will say, the set design gets better every year (except this year which seems lacking compared to last year's admittedly high standard) and that has become the main draw for a lot of people.
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I know she's insane and all that, but Chance is hot.
I guess...if youre into chubby chicks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This year didn't quite do it for me. Little cohesion. Houses all good but not *great*. In my opinion, 24 was the best of all the "new era of darkness" years with Halloween being one of the greatest houses of all time. Still, nothing holds a candle to everything pre-2010.
What was so different pre 2010?
Basically everything in the top post ^^. The thing is, I didn't even start going until after they had done away with the two-park format, foam parties, modified rides, etc...and I STILL think something is missing. The event before 2010 felt cohesive, and the park was actually transformed into a completely different atmosphere. They had detailed backstories for every house/icon on crazy interactive websites...it's one of those things that you don't really notice when it's there but notice when it's gone. The world-building that went into the event is missing now that they rely solely on unrelated external properties. Don't get me wrong, I still love going and go every year several times...it's just different that's all. Before, everything tied together like an immersive second theme park with a ton of atmosphere. Now they just shut the lights off, play dance music, and send you through recreations of your favorite shows and movies. It's hard to explain, just a different feel that you only picked up on if you started going to the event in the mid-2000's or earlier.
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Still, nothing holds a candle to everything pre-2010.
I completely agree, but I think we live in a different world now and will never see events like those again.
Yeah, it's sad but I don't see any major attractions, at HHN or just Universal/Disney in general, opening without some sort of IP attached to them in the near future. Almighty dollar and all that. It just sucks because the crazy amount of creativity and originality is what put HHN on the map in the first place and allowed them to get to the point they're at now.
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I know she's insane and all that, but Chance is hot.
I guess...if youre into chubby chicks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This year didn't quite do it for me. Little cohesion. Houses all good but not *great*. In my opinion, 24 was the best of all the "new era of darkness" years with Halloween being one of the greatest houses of all time. Still, nothing holds a candle to everything pre-2010.
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The funniest thing about these awards is you guys overanalyzing the results and bitching about them lol. It's a poll for people to vote for their favorite rides, not an advanced algorithm. For those of you that think certain rides are getting unfairly under-represented, I have news for you: thr only people looking into the top 50 roller coaster lists are people like you who have your own opinions about the rides anyways . The ONLY stat most people will see is the Number 1 steel/wooden and those seem pretty accurate.
Seriously, I think you guys take this more seriously than the people who run it lol.
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This is a great report, and even as a local and big Disney fan, I agree with a lot of your points. Fastpass is a huge pain if you haven't tinkered with it a little first...which is kind of stupid considering it's designed to make tourists' lives easier, but what do I know? I will say though, even when you get the hang of the process of linking/reserving/etc. there are some really annoying technical glitches that plague the parks to this day. I've been stopped at the gate so many times because they can't figure this technology out it seems like. More often than not, I get Fastpasses as compensation for inconvenience rather than because they actually worked properly. Once people (and Disney themselves lol) get the hang of it, I feel like it'll be a cool thing to use.
And yes, some of their rides are way too outdated. But they're in a kinda damned if you do damned if you don't situation. I mean, people still complain about them adding Jack Sparrow to Pirates. Where is the line between leaving classics alone and updating the place for a more modern audience? Personally, I still like all the corny rides except for Peter Pan and Little Mermaid, but I've been going since I was tiny. But I guess they have three other parks meant for experimenting with new things so some of the more outdated stuff at Magic Kingdom isn't a huge deal for me, but it is definitely something they should think about years out.
Dining definitely leaves a lot to be desired at MK...dont think Ive ever enjoyed a meal there besides that fajita place you went to. They should really step it up.
And yes. You're the only person I've ever come across who also thinks Space Mountain is a freakin fantastic ride lol
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$50 extra per person is steep but the value is there, and not just for the train. IOA is, quite honestly, a half-day park unless you really do every single thing, and even then it won't take a full day (unless they close early for some reason). It's nice to be able to go back and forth when one park gets "old" (for lack of a better word). The Studios is also open later sometimes, so it's nice to spend an evening there when you're done at IOA. The Universal experience, to me, is both parks, because although they're working to fix this, neither park is 100% complete yet. Jumping back and forth is easy and not being restricted to one park per day is nice at these parks.
Six Flags Great America (SFGAm) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
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Lol....good one?