BlahBlahson

Regardless of politics, that has to be one of the worst looking AA figures and likeness ever made. He looks somehow 20 years older and diseased, and he's not even a bit orange. I think we can clearly see where Disney stands, LOL.

Hi ! I actually just did a very similar trip from the US this year, visiting Thorpe, Alton Towers, Blackpool and Drayton Manor, I did it entirely by train and bus. Maybe I can offer some help! Firstly, I didn't see it mentioned but every one of these parks has Express/Fasttrack options available for riding the rides. Blackpool's is incredibly reasonable and if I hadn't been on such a slower day It would be well worth the purchase. Thorpe and Alton offer per-ride options too which I used for the Powered coaster at Alton (an hour wait the day I went) and Collossus at Thorpe. About needing two days at any of them...I'd say no for Thorpe Park especially if you have Fasttrack. Alton Towers is a HUGE park but it's doable in one day (riding major coasters) or everything there with full/some Fasttrack. Blackpool is a possibility, I rode every coaster in the park/ open dark rides without any express but was rushing. (And don't you DARE miss Valhalla, most amazing water ride I've done). There's also some waterpark and pier parks I didn't get to, big arcades in the area/the Tower. It's certainly NOT the nicest town but there's more to do overall there for two days IMO. I did wish afterwards that I had had a bit more time than the single day. As far as Busses and trains go: These two websites are EVERYTHING: http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx and https://www.thetrainline.com/ My experience was that buses are always cheaper for day-of reservations (which I had to do), but trains can go more places generally and are faster. In advance Trains can be inexpensive, and you may qualify for a cheap railpass. The transportation for Thorpe Park (Busses from nearest station) and Blackpool (Trains to either Blackpool North about 3 miles walking north of park or Directly near the park, Blackpool Pleasure Beach station) are reasonable. The Transport to Alton is AWFUl. The Park's bus has nonsensical pickup and dropoff times, the Train will be about 20 miles from the park and an actual Taxi is the only way to get to/from (Uber is a no go). A car is easiest there. Hotel for Alton is also either going to be expensive (onsite) or further away near the train stations and must book well in advance. For other Parks, Getting to Chessington, Drayton Manor and the major Piers is not hard by Public Transport. Getting to Oakwood in western Wales would be near impossible, and I believe Flamingoland is doable as well but I didn't look that far into it. Everything public transport is cheaper if you book in advance. Inexpensive hotels that are decent will also book up. Car is probably going to be the more expensive option but with perfect convenience (driving anywhere outside of London center-city that is). And...if you have any time in London, Westminister Abbey, The Tower of London, and the British Museum are all fantastic historical exhibitions and I would highly recommend. The Slide at the ArcelorMittal Orbit MUST be booked well in advance also.

^Oof! Understandable regarding first time visitors. I mean, I would...probably...still go there if only to experience the world's quickest coaster launch. I can see both sides. Those guys are lucky you will be doing the "legacy fastpass" technique of one person collecting them all for everyone as well. It's weird reading their Tripadvisor. Everyone seems basically cool with the wait times and fast-pass craziness there. Somewhere like Disney or Universal gets complaints all day about wait times and things that are otherwise completely reasonable, while the Japanese I guess are too polite to speak up about the operations of this park. Funny world.

Out of every show at Dollywood's Christmas offerings, my favorite was actually Appalachian Christmas, which is just some very talented musicians playing and joking around at the Backstage Theater. And also go see My People if you never have. ^The Post above me described the three Major Christmas shows perfectly. I'd personally say It's a Wonderful Life was so bad it was good so I'd recommend that one.

To be honest, why do you guys still spend any money to visit this theme park? I recognize that they have some fantastic and unique attractions for sure, but based on everything I have heard and seen on Fuji-Q, it seems like a theme park enthusiast's actual hell on earth. Even with proper planning the park will find a way to screw something up that no other park can. Like, how is going there more fun that doing literally anything else in Japan instead?

I had a question if anyone knows a better answer...Lotte World attended IAAPA this year and I didn't get a chance to try their booth. From what I saw it was a series of VR experiences, are they using the park as a testing ground for all of these in-house developments and then marketing those experiences to other parks?

I'm really loving these reports and looking forward to your visit to Fuji Q. Especially interested to see if you were able to ride everything there, lol.

I love and adore Intamin Rides, but if I was a park operator I would never buy anything from them. They are expensive as hell and have problems like...this one.

I got to visit the park for the first time since 2013 yesterday and Tuesday evening, and WOW what an awesome time was had. Some thoughts: 1. Lightning Rod is absolutely bonkers. The guests don't even know how to react to what happens on the ride because it's so much more intense than anything any of them have been on in their lives. This ride absolutely lived up and it's my new number 2 wooden coaster and #3 overall. Above T-Express and El-Toro but below a properly running Voyage. I will say it's got to be the only coaster I've ever been on where I was stapled in and still felt like I was getting airtime. 2. Dollywood had 700 total visitors on Tuesday evening in the park. It rained and every single ride in the park was a walk-on and I was the only person riding. I did Lightning Rod twice, Blazing Fury, TN Tornado, Firechaser and Wild Eagle in 45 minutes when I arrived. Unfortunately due to the low crowds they closed everything at 8PM instead of 9, and cancelled all performances after that time so essentially the park closed an hour early. 3. Everyone's advice about shows being busy vs Rides is correct. Every coaster remained a walk-on on Wednesday. I only got in 5 rides on LR total due to wanting to see all of the shows also, but the demographic of the park was 60+ for sure. Fantastic time to make a visit to the park. 4. Drop Line is fun, the drop itself feels like an old Parachute ride. It was one of the most predictable and easy drop rides I've ever done, but with unquestionably the coolest views. 5. All the shows were fun, but several got very preachy and I didn't think they matched the quality of Seaworld or Disney's. It's a Wonderful Life was entertaining, but a total mess. I'd go back for Christmas but for the lights, food, and rides. Dixie Stampede a couple of nights before was fantastic, however. 6. The new Area is GIGANTIC ya'll. They are not just building a coaster there. It looks like it's about 3/4 the size of the entire current park. I would believe a snow area, new theaters..etc. Literally anything is possible with the amount of space. They could do another Hotel, indoor waterpark, anything. Whatever it is they really do not have to have another coaster right now, since they have every niche filled and more thrill rides than what most people actually end up visiting the park for. I'd love something else to do in the wintertime, or something unique to Dollywood. I can definitely see the Train getting a new station and changing how it operates to ferry guests up to the new area.

Makes sense! I guess it's tough because a 1 hour wait is quite a bit for the first night where that's 1/3 of the time I would be in the park. Or possibly longer, and it may make it so we can't really see a show on the first evening. But I guess I would have to, it's a ride I've been wanting to do since August 7th, 2015 and I would be pretty devastated if it somehow stayed cold and the rides never reach temp on Wednesday.

^ I love the decision to do the new Entryway for Ratatouille. It will certainly be popular so the queue will be needed, but also it's one of the very few things going in to the Orlando Parks that literally won't be replacing anything. It's just all-new! That said, ride is a bit overrated, I hope our version has more set immersion vs the more modern technique "replace everything with big movie screens".

**Double Post, sorry

I plan to visit DW Tuesday evening 6-9, and Wednesday 2-9 of the upcoming week. I have visited since Wild Eagle opened but never done Christmas or LR. I have 2 questions: 1. If I were to take the Pigeon Forge Trolley, what time would you recommend parking to be at the park prior to the available admission times (6PM and 2PM)? I definitely want to maximize in-park time with so many things to do. Timesaver is an option for the second day depending on crowd levels but honestly I could skip a couple of the coasters I've done before and be happy. 2. Temps are predicted for a high of 45 on Wednesday, so to be safe I must try the night before to do Lightning Rod, but also will try to see one or 2 of the main shows. Would you do LR right at 6 or wait for nearer park close?

Last night was a bit annoying as most everything in town was closed, even though the storm was at minimum 15-18 hours from arrival, with no direct hit. So I'm fine with anything that was open all day yesterday. Today has been very rainy but as of yet no power loss for me at 4:30 PM, I feel terribly for Naples/Ft Meyers and Tampa that are taking direct hits however.

^I don't have a link of course, but also the animal actors stage is a goner and will be the main entrance for Nintendo land according to that extremely detailed map leak from earlier this year. And also it doesn't go back so far. ET was perfectly safe as well. That leak was also scrubbed from the internet in like 2 days.

I'm disappointed yet again that they couldn't just announce T2 and Dragons at the same time as well as some hard details about what is coming next, but at least something with 3D glasses is closing. I'm on board with Universal but hot damn they are making it difficult to stay on the train with so much crap being put out. Fallon is terrible, Fast and Furious is going to be exactly the same as Kong, which is a very forgettable ride experience. Closing one of their top 5 park attractions for dubious reasoning, Closing T2 terminator probably because it's one of the only 3D rides that requires actors and maintenance of live effects. Volcano Bay is nothing like the "World Class never before seen water theme park" they promised and its system is chaotic. HHN is kind of copy-paste from year to year but at least the number of Houses is up to 9 now and the quality holds steady, but being the Final year of Bill and Ted i'm honestly way off the fence for next year's edition already. As much as it should be appreciated that they are actively trying to improve the resort, Basically everything since Diagon Alley (where the Gringott's ride has screen-itis anyways) is really not living up to any hype, and isn't any good at all in some cases. I wonder if this will actually affect attendance and profits at some point.

My strategy for Food and Wine is to eat at least one real meal at one of the Quick Service locations in addition to some of the smaller bites. Especially since each plate seems to go up by 1 dollar+ every year now in addition to shrinking. It's a surprisingly expensive experience otherwise, at least 50 per person before alcohol. And I can eat at the Japanese or Moroccan pavilion anytime. The food is definitely very very good on average.

I'd like to go on the record that I already have a negative opinion on whatever is replacing Dragons. Yes I'm probably 3 years early, and I don't even know exactly what it will be, but here is a list of attractions at Universal I would understand removal before Dragons. A Day in the Park with Barney Animal Actors On Location! Caro–Seuss–el Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem Doctor Doom's Fearfall Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls E.T. Adventure Fear Factor Live Flight of the Hippogriff Hogwarts Express Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Jurassic Park River Adventure Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl Men in Black: Alien Attack Oh! The Stories You'll Hear! One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges Poseidon's Fury Live action show Pteranodon Flyers Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon Shrek 4-D 4D ride Skull Island: Reign of Kong Storm Force Accelatron T2 3-D: Battle Across Time The Blues Brothers Show The Cat In The Hat The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad Stunt Show The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride The Simpsons Ride Transformers: The Ride-3D Universal Orlando's Horror Make-Up Show Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster I have utterly nothing positive to say about this decision. They are the only theme park that has decided to destroy a B&M coaster, in 27 years of that company's existence. The ride is smooth, has high guest satisfaction, and by all accounts runs reliably and efficiently to this day. The ride has featured heavily into their marketing and visibility for 18 years. If they were dueling it, it would still be the best attraction at 99% of amusement parks in the world. There is also space in the parks elsewhere to place Harry Potter Expansions for Forbidden Forest (Sinbad/Poseidon) or Fantastic Beasts (Fear Factor) that works thematically and to remove bad attractions. I don't get it, I don't like it, and I can't see the reasoning behind it. And I've said my peace.

There's only one answer for this question in the city of Orlando, FL: STITCH'S GREAT ESCAPE. Please let this attraction close.

The best thing to do for out of towners is to do one day at Magic Kingdom, and one night at the Halloween Party or Christmas Party. That way you can see the park in two different lights, save money, have time to sleep in one day or visit other attractions, get a lot of treats and get shorter wait times at the parties. It's a total win for a park that big.

For me the entire reason Phoenix is special is the Buzz Bars. You can almost literally stand up the ride has so much space to actually experience the airtime. So many coasters and parks staple you into the ride, which is totally acceptable for safety reasons, but you never actually come off of your seat. But with Phoenix it's almost European in the "how do they still operate it like this" aspect. If they ever replaced it with modern PTC bars it would honestly be like deleting the ride IMO. They have several other things at Knoebels that are in this vein, such as "is there actually an entrance to this park? Oh I guess not" and "wait the food is ACTUALLY good" and my favorite "Wait they have one of those rides still?" Knoebels is special because the experience is very unique and unlike other parks, for the positive.

Haven't seen anyone mention it, but the DROP on GA Cyclone is totally still there. It rounds the second main turnaround then sets up with a little hop up into an airtime hill there. I also love the "hybrid cobra roll" going on. I am a little disappointed with the length, but this is still a total win as I've been on GA cyclone numerous times and this should be better overall. It will also draw crowds where they weren't at before in the park, which will probably affect other areas and their queue times positively.

Fright Feast went up by $8 and they moved the fiends show to Stanleyville, still a solid purchase as you get a full meal before the event opens and 1.5 hours of express access, but that's a decrease in value. Also one house less than last year, I'm surprised that the Black Spot is not returning as it fit the area very well. Good on them to keep Motel Hell which is an incredible haunt.

^This. I am very very against them buying Seaworld and BGT after visiting Alton and Thorpe this month. Merlin's park policies and maintenance with how they run attractions is so all uneven and asinine. Like letting one of the best wooden coasters in Europe completely rot?

^You're golden, though that last date is a Saturday. November is never busy and it usually doesn't go past the 1st or 2nd of Nov. . Last Bill and Ted show ever will probably be harder to get into than years past. Be sure to look at some of the online guides to plan your trek around the park.