BlahBlahson

I do not know about any lap swimming at Disney other than what you've already mentioned. Coronado/Swan/Dolphin, but I do know that you can get a Free 1 day guest pass at the YMCA Aquatics Center on I-Drive. This would be roughly 15 minutes from any Disney hotel. It's an excellent facility. https://ymcacentralflorida.com/onedaypass/ Advent Health in Celebration also offers a Trial membership for 3 days for a heated indoor pool, probably has more hoops to jump through: https://www.adventhealth.com/wellness-centers/adventhealth-wellness-center-celebration/form/3-day-experience-pass Good luck!

Had a very meh first experience to SFSTL yesterday. It felt worse because I was taking three friends who are not park junkies and purchased tickets for them at $50 a pop. Thankfully I have Gold Season Pass for this year from SFOG. Arrived to the gate at 10:31, started with two good rides on American Thunder (didn't have to leave station, two trains), then we went over to Mr Freeze and had a really exciting ride on coaster I've been eyeing since I was 9! So far it was so good despite early season dispatch times, but then the day just went south. We tried to do Justice League, which broke down after about 7 minutes in line. We waited for 5ish minutes and an op came to the line and said that it was going to be an extended downtime. I decided we would go up the hill all the way to Screamin Eagle to do it before the crowds really hit there. On the way we passed the River Rapids, The Boss (temps too low) Xcalibur, Pandemonium, River King Mine Train, Boomerang (which had just broken down), and Superman which were all closed. Screamin Eagle was 1 train and about a 20 minute wait at noonish. After Eagle we decided to do the only other open ride in this area, the SkyScreamer, mostly for the view. It did not disappoint, but the 10-minute dispatch times were not great. River King Mine Train just came online at this point, so we got on the first train of the day around 12:25pm. My friend realized his phone was not on him, and it turned out that he had lost it somewhere on or near Mr. Freeze. This is not the park's fault but it certainly was a damper. We went down to Ninja, which was running with a much appreciated two trains. Next was Batman, which was one train. The line was backed up to underneath the lift hill and ended up being around 40 minutes. Now it was about 2PM. At this point we had seen Boomerang Cycle, so we walked up the hill to try and catch it before a queue formed. There was no activity for another 10 minutes, and we tried Screamin Eagle. The line looked to be about 40 minutes, so no on that. Boomerang still had no movement, so we trekked down the hill to try for Justice League. Went into Single Rider...ride broke down after 5 minutes. Waited 15 for anything to happen...maintenance looked to be taking a problem car off the track but we were annoyed with everything broken at this point and missing a phone. Left Justice League, Mr Freeze was way outside of the main building and running one side so no, saw that Boomerang was now operational, ran to it, and came to what looked like a 30 minute wait (Fear of another breakdown was real). Group was annoyed with wait times and breakdowns, keeping in mind at this point that Pandemonium and the Boss (temps) were both still unavailable, not including other rides unavailable. We decided we weren't even having fun trying to deal with super slow operations, broken rides, boring food options, zero entertainment choices...and I decided I really didn't want to deal with another 1 to 2 hours trying to pick up a Boomerang and a Spinner credit. We had way more fun at Lone Elk Park and the World Bird Sanctuary that morning than our whole time at Six Flags, and the City Museum the night before as well. After the park we went to the Fountain on Locust which was another phenomenal food and drink choice in the city. Silver Dollar City and Holiday World are close to St Louis. I would definitely recommend someone attend any of those things before choosing Six Flags St Louis.

My favorite options at BGT Howl o Scream are either Fright Feast or VIP Guided, for what you get. Vip Guided started last year at $99 for the lowest priced nights. It included 3 hours of guided front of line to the houses, included alcohol, and including the ticket itself. That's cheaper than just the express passes for Universal HHN most of the time. Fright Feast is what I've gotten 4 years running. Last year it was $33 after taxes, you also need to buy HOS ticket. You can enter the park 1 hour prior to regular park closing (time to do the Safari train or a coaster), then you have an open buffet in Pantopia Grille for 1 hour, and a mini-performance of the Fiends Show. Then you get 1.5 hours of Front of the Line Access to every Haunted House, I was able to do 5 out of 6 houses twice during that timeframe, so basically zero wait for all of them. Honestly I think Fright Feast is the best value of anything I've ever purchased in a theme park. You can do almost the whole event in 2 hours and get food, then the rest of the night is extremely chill.

I feel like this is the year for anyone who wants to travel to this area and hasn't. The Dubai parks all have no guests, it doesn't make sense to me that they could each survive like this long-term. As always, phenomenal report! I wish this locale wasn't 30 hours of round-trip travel to visit. Warner Brothers and Ferrari World make it awfully tempting...

I guess I shouldn't still have had hope Xcalibur would be ready with the park, but I did. Thank you much much for this report! Good to see infrastructure improvements. Can you give a list of what all was closed on opening day? I'm visiting next Sunday and really hoping all coasters (and justice league) are going, anything else is a bonus.

I've been on Ober, Gatlinburg Mountain, Rowdy Bear, Goats on the Roof, and Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. SMAC is the longest, and IMO best. Lighting package is awesome at night too. Still can't believe this area already has 4 1/2 new credits since I last visited in Dec 17. More than 1 Day at Dollywood is recommended. They have like 40 rides. They also have sit down restaurants, at least 5 shows running at any time, and it's large to walk around. 1 day is squeezing it in. Be sure to park at Patriot Park off the main drag of Pigeon Forge and take the Dolly Trolley into the park, you will save a bunch on parking and not really lose on time because the shuttles are frequent and go directly to the gate entrance. I thought that it would be touristy for some reason, but last trip we did the Cades Cove Loop and Abrams Falls Trail. I've basically done the whole GSMNP throughout my childhood except that spot, and it ended up being probably my favorite place in the park. Alum Cave trail also matches its hype. One other experience you MUST have in Pigeon Forge is family-style home cooked dining. The Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant or the Old Mill both do this, Paula Deen's is another. Unlimited side refills, way too much food, for around $20 a person. Absolutely wonderful. Have fun!

One of the main advertised attractions isn't going to be ready for the opening? That's... really weird, actually. I'd honestly rather Disney wait to open the land with both rides. Why open a land without the ride with the better capacity? Well, I mean Star Wars fans will crowd and spend like crazy twice now instead of once. Instead of a few weeks of sold-out hotels and fans crowding the park they can do phases and repeat the press, publicity, merchandise sales, hotel income etc. If this works out well and brings in a lot of $$$ doing it this way, I can see future areas they expect to get big crowds e.g. Marvel areas open in 'phases' throughout their opening years. You make it sound like real-life gaming DLC. Take what was promised in the trailer as part of the full experience and release it later as a paid add-on. Somehow this makes sense as a business practice but makes me feel things.

I love this trip, it sounds very relaxing and fun! I have 2 Suggestions: 1. The Downtown Chattanooga Area is wonderful. Walking across the Walnut Street Bridge, the TN aquarium, Coolidge Park, many high quality restaurants and museums...I think the city is worth even more time than just Rock City and Ruby Falls. If you can spare it of course. If you do stay on top of Lookout Mountain only, please take time out to go to the TOP station of the incline railway and park (which should be free) and take advantage of the incredible city view. This spot is much closer to the city itself than the views from Rock City. 2. Kennedy Space Center. If you've never been, it's the best value/experience of any tourist attraction in Central Florida IMO. 5 visits to MK seems like...more than enough?

Thanks for the tips on the Train and Coney Dogs. Whenever I'm in a Six Flags park I'm usually just looking for the shortest possible food line lol. We are definitely going to hit every open coaster at least once, I'm most excited for Mr. Freeze and holding hope that somehow some way Xcalibur will be operating right off the jump this year. Still waiting to see if the park releases any ticket specials for that weekend.

Express Passes are surprisingly in one of the lower price categories that date, $117 for Unlimited, or $95 for One Time Per Ride.

1. So the day you are going to is listed as a 9/10 on Undercover Tourist Crowd Calendar, and Early Park Admission is at Universal. That will force some long waits for a few of these attractions as it's not feasible to hit all the heavy lines in the early morning. The highest average waits at Universal Parks are for Kong/Gringott's, Hulk, Rockit/Despicable Me in that order. What I would do if I was down for a ton of walking to start my day: Arrive well before open, go into to Universal Studios side asap and only ride Rip Ride Rockit. Leave and go to IOA, Hit Hulk through Single Rider, then straight to Kong through Single Rider. Then backtrack to Spiderman Single Rider, then Jurassic Park Single rider, then Forbidden Journey Single Rider. This should all take less than 2 hours even on a busy day. The rest of the day you have single rider available at Mummy, MIB, Transformers, and Gringott's, Jimmy Fallon and F&F you can book through UO App, the others just find a good time to ride or wait it out. What I would do if I was down for less walking or didn't arrive until 9AM-Start just at IOA instead, literally just hit the park in a circle from the left, do the rides in order as long as you get to Kong before 10AM or it's posting over 30 minutes on UO app. You can usually power through the headliners of Islands in 2-3 hours even if it's real busy. 2. You should eat Lunch at Three Broomsticks or Leaky Cauldron, even though these can be busy (avoid noon-130). The theming is amazing, the food is not cheap, but it's quality. Simpson's Fast Food Alley has great variety. Florean Fontescue's has the best ice cream. 3. Single Rider Lines give you no choice on seats, you can request in regular queues however. But there are no magic seats on the UO Coasters really anyways. Rockit is usually much rougher in the back (but a couple pops of air), Hulk is more exciting in the Front seat or the Rear of train. Personally I find all UO's coasters to be Front Seat rides. Have Fun!

Surprised to see a March open! I am really excited to see how far the theming is pushed with this new land. It is interesting that they have the opening date the exact same as Lego Movie World, which it seems would be direct competition for the demographic Sesame Street hits.

Hi all! I am going to visit the second weekend of operation on either March 30 or 31st. I have two questions: 1. Are either of those dates Bring a Friend Free or any other big discount on tickets for SFStL passholders? I'd like to avoid a Bring a Friend Free day as I'm a SFOG Gold season passholder. 2. I will need 3 single day tickets, does Dierbergs grocery still have tickets? Or any other single day discounts? The park website still doesn't list date specific tix yet, but says they should be $47.99. Probably worth 2 extra dollars for season pass just in case my friends fall into any other Six flags park this year if there aren't any discounts. Thank you any who can help!

My thoughts on HHN is that if you are going for one single night and you don't have express, you just end up going from sizable line to sizable line (which is not great, and if you only see houses one time you will miss things due to the conga line scares) or you have to miss houses. This goes for basically any night past the first two weekends. I think the event is much more fun committing to a second night and doubling your time from 7 hours to 14 to see it. I too cannot remember ever seeing pulsing guests happen at HHN, including owning a multiple night ticket for the last 5 years and actually working a house 1 year. Definitely have seen it Howl o Scream (and other local haunts), which I think is the better "I only have 1 night and I've never done a haunt before" event.

Just curious, but what time did you ride Flight of Passage and Navi River Journey? FOP Standby is usually listed at 3+ hours midday and Navi hitting 2. I've done both in the last hour (+bonus time) a few times.

Frick! I made two separate visits to the park in the last 5 years where the Viking Voyage coaster was listed as closed at the front gate and I chose to bail and keep driving back to Orlando (only coaster credit I needed). Hopefully it will turn up elsewhere in the south.

I was so sad when all of the Innoventions exhibits were shuttered. But this "Play" Pavillion looks to take that idea to the 900th degree. It almost looks like they were inspired by both Innoventions and Kidzania for what they are doing. It looks amazing, and that area of the park will be positively buzzing now with GOTG, Play, Mission Space and Test Track. I hope society totally forgets the idea that Epcot is not a kids park because it's awesome for everybody. How cool would it be if they installed the Illuminations Globe in the Fountain of Nations or somewhere else in the park as a permanent structure when it retires? That's my only suggestion as the imagineers have already promised to exceed my wildest dreams for this park.

I was super anticipating this report on the World Waterpark and I'm very glad you posted it. Edmonton Mindbender is the #1 coaster on my bucket list, but I would be so devastated to buy a $400 cross country flight to a random mall in Canada and find it closed. I feel like I could definitely justify tacking this on to a Portland OR trip (when seeing my sister) though if the awesome waterpark was also involved.

I think it's a wise strategy for Six Flags to open their rides later than other parks tbh and I think enthusiasts are spoiled on this. Their whole marketing and pricing strategy is to get people to go more than once to the park and therefore spend more at the park. Why not open your rides in late may or June rather than in April when people can first visit. You will have people coming back to do the new ride. If SFMM opens West Coast Racers in August it's still a new for 2018 attraction. They are open 365 so why does it matter what season they open the ride in. Admittedly I don't know much about construction costs but logically I have to imagine avoiding hard "deadlines" like opening day or memorial day, and spreading capital meant for construction across multiple financial quarters helps on costs and accounting as well. Also it's Six Flags and an annual pass is like 60 bucks. Central Florida parks are all over 100 for a 1 day ticket. We all know what to expect.

Also make sure you do a trip through Cypress Gardens and do the Pirates Ski Show. Both are not-to-miss bits of historic Florida. And if they are playing the Lego Movie 4D on the day you go, it's hilarious and worth seeing. Finally, APPLE FRIES if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm a total and complete Cheapskate, but I too have no idea why someone wouldn't get Maxpass. It doubles the number of Fastpasses you can get, eliminates the requirement to physically walk to the attraction(including across parks), and also gives you PhotoPass, which is like over a 100 dollars at Disney World. Just one on ride photo at any park is $15 bucks. I think it would have to be in the $60-70 range before I would even be on the fence.

I'm 99 percent confident it will be possible to get 2-4 rides on Tigris in the first 45 minutes of the park's opening on basically any day other than opening day. It's REALLY far from the park entrance, people are not going to be rushing back there and you won't see the ride from the parking lot or entrance tram. However, since that's a popular area of the park already with Shiekra, the Flume, Train, BBQ and a theatre, I also think the ride will have regular 1 hour waits for most of the day while it's new. First ride of the day or bust, basically.

I think maybe 1 or 2 L*cker locations still use Fingerprint ID when choosing a l*cker, and returning. Most of them have moved on to scanning your park ticket to rent and then return. It's extremely easy to use and free. The only annoyance is not having your cell phone to peruse while waiting if the line is long.

How long until the rumors start in full force about this being dropped into Rafiki's Planet Watch at Animal Kingdom? But seriously this can be great fun and I'm glad to see the continuing investment in all Disney Parks Worldwide right now! Hopefully original blue-sky park ideas can return to fashion in 10-15 years for the parks.

I think it will be really easy to hit this new coaster in the first hour it's open with a short wait. It's a long, long way from the park entrance, and will be almost invisible from the parking lot or main gate. I would imagine on busy days the line though the line will get longer than Sheikra and Cheetah Hunt in the middle of the day due to poor capacity and new-ness. I do wish that this was a Crazanity-Style Giant Discovery, and any extra money saved would be spent to extend RMC Gwazi's layout. But having the biggest and best coasters by far will certainly help Busch Gardens establish a bigger presence in the FL Market.