prospekt88

I'm curious cause I've only been to the park in October since Skyrush opened, but does it ever draw a large crowd? The few times I've been since it has opened it was a complete walk-on, with some rows being sent out empty. Me and my brother both kind of hate the thing, we even enjoy Wildcat a lot more. So I wouldn't be surprised if a good portion of the general public felt the same way. I understand Great Bear has slow dispatches but I don't think that's the only reason it seems to draw a much longer line than Skyrush. Maybe I'm wrong though cause as I said I've only been a few times in October so my sample size isn't too large. The same goes for i305 at Kings Dominion, I've been there plenty of time mid summer when that's a walk-on. Although I love that ride. But I think there's a reason Cedar Fair has gone with B&M for every Giga since then. Sometimes I wonder why Intamin ever broke away from the mold of Millennium Force, Ride of Steel, GeForce, etc. Those rides were universally loved by enthusiasts and the general public alike. Edit: Since Hyperion was mentioned above...that does look like a step back in the direction of vintage Intamin yet throwing in some modern features. I haven't ridden it but it does look great and I'd love to see one in the States.

I think this will be a huge success in New York. I used to love the Legoland in California as a kid and I think there's a huge market for this kind've thing within a short drive from NYC. I always thought the seasonal nature of NYC would keep these warmer climate chains away from the area but I'm glad to see them give it a shot.

I would love a B&M hyper. Would be the perfect Yang to Skyrush's Yin.

This is gonna be a really intriguing project to follow. I just hope whatever they do is done as organically as possible. Their more recent additions starting with Midway America/The Boardwalk and up through Skyrush have all been pretty sterile looking, they almost give off a Cedar Fair vibe. The current entrance area is really nice so I'd hate to see it get that treatment. The area they're expanding into looks very green and forested so hopefully they can keep it that way to some degree. Whatever it is I'm sure it'll make one of the best parks in the country even better. Adding another 30+ acres to an already large amusement park, waterpark, zoo, and Chocolate World is awesome.

Seems like a nice filler attraction. Twister and Disaster had run their course, so at least next time I'm back there'll be a couple more new things to do. Although these type of attractions won't be the reason I eventually go back.

Great report as always!

So there's rumors floating around that all three Toy Story Land rides will be in Tier 1 for FP+ and every other attraction in the park will be bumped down to Tier 2. If true I think for most people on here that makes their plans for this park pretty easy. as you can get a FP+ for both Tower and RnR Coaster, then one of Slinky or Midway Mania and head to the other right at opening. Once Mickeys Railway and the two new Star Wars attractions open up it'll become a much more interesting decision.

ok. Have you ever tried T3, by chance? That coaster destroyed my thighs way more than Skyrush ever did. No I haven't. The only SLCs I've ridden were at SFA, SFNE, and SFDK. They beat you up a little but it isn't the unrelenting pain to one part of my body the entire time like I feel on Skyrush. I think it's probably a combination of body shape/where the restraints rest on your thighs and how much fat/muscle you have to cushion your thighs. Or I'm just a pussy and it's pain tolerance haha.

They have. They added extra padding and implemented a slight hydraulic release on the brake run. Little known fact: Enthusiasts are almost ALWAYS bigger complainers than the GP and are pretty wimpy when it comes to "comfort." Eh, I usually go to the park with my brother who hates the thing even more than I do. We can ride Wildcat all day too. You won't hear us complaining about SLCs or Boomerangs. As I have said I love i305 and El Toro, so it has nothing to do with intensity. But Skyrush is pure pain. So I do think it's valid to wonder why the park hasn't done a little bit more to prevent this issue.

^Good to know it's not just me haha. That is a good point about the contact area being so narrow. If that contact point was a couple inches closer to my waist and further from my knees I think it would be way better. But where it lies right now is pretty close to halfway between my waist and knees and it feels like its trying to rip my upper leg in half everytime I leave the seat, which is pretty much the entire ride.

I'm 6'0" 180 lbs, pretty skinny legs but a little muscle from playing hockey over the years. Skyrush absolutely kills my thighs every time. I don't think comparing it to i305 is fair because for me with Skyrush it's not the intensity that's the problem, it's purely the restraints digging into my thighs. If you put i305's restraints on Skyrush I'd have no problem with the ride at all. I really want to love the ride, and everything else about Hershey is amazing, but I can't. I still give it at least one chance in a different seat each visit but haven't found one that's even remotely enjoyable.

Yeah, I guess that makes enough sense. It would be really cool if down the road they added some sort of Aquatopia-esque trackless ride that traveled the path. RC Racer vehicles would work well with that concept if not for issues with scale. It also has potential to be some sort of maze similar to Alice in Wonderland in Shanghai. Only reason I'm intrigued is because the slinky coaster sits on a pretty huge plot for just one attraction. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to seeing the finishing touches put into this area.

Does anybody have any idea what the pathways that wind underneath the coaster are supposed to represent? Here's a picture of what I'm referring to... Photo credit @bioreconstruct on Twitter They attach back to the main midways but I can't imagine they'll actually allow guests to walk on them. And they seem too excessive to be necessary just for maintenance. So they must represent something thematically but I can't for the life of me guess what. Sorry to ask something so specific but it's been bugging me haha

^That looks awesome. I'm interested what the plans are for this because I don't really see any of the current attractions in Bug's Land being easily convertible to Marvel themes. Any chance they would move the Star Tours ride system out of Tomorrowland and into this area for an Iron Man makeover like in Hong Kong? I'm not sure how easy that would be logistically, but it would fit nicely.

Yeah especially when looking at the grand scheme of the trip. Maybe Jokers Jinx would be worth a reride, but you're gonna have Flight of Fear which is the same exact ride the next day. Other than that the only thing you'll probably wanna ride more than once is Superman, and possibly Wild One. So you should be able to knock off every coaster and get a couple of rides on those two all within a few hours.

That's doable but definitely an ambitious trip. I would do the full length drive from Great Adventure to Kings Dominion on 4/2, just making a couple hour pit stop at Six Flags America. That will be a very long day but at least you get to spend your days at Great Adventure and Kings Dominion without making any drives that morning or night. That entire stretch of I-95 is a pain in the ass so I'd say just rip the band-aid off real quick and get it all done in one day. Then you could even stay at the same hotel around those two parks for two nights each. That would give the trip a little bit more of a relaxed feel and you'd still get everything done. So it'd be 4/1: Wake up near Great Adventure. Park Open to Close. Stay at same hotel near Great Adventure 4/2: Drive from Great Adventure to Kings Dominion with pit stop at Six Flags America. 4/3: Wake up near Kings Dominion. Park Open to Close. Stay at same hotel near Kings Dominion. For food I really like Trapper's Smokehouse at Busch Gardens. That's the only place that really sticks out to me out of the parks I've been to.

They seem to be emphasizing the family friendly aspect of the Guardians coaster. It sounds like it might be almost a dark ride/coaster combo, something along the lines of the Harry Potter Gringotts Coaster. Would love to see Disney's that on that type of ride.

The Mickey ride sounds like it's going to be incredible. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being the best attraction of the entire expansion. I really give Disney a ton of credit for taking on this attraction because it probably isn't the smartest move in terms of getting a return on investment (and based off the construction time frame and technology it seems like quite a large investment). They are opening up two giant new lands in the park over the next two summers that are extremely hyped. From the general public's perspective, this ride probably won't be a flashy addition considering it's taking over a preexisting building and replacing a former attraction. So it may not bring in too many new or 'unique' guests to the park. But it will go a long way in making the park experience more enjoyable for all the people who aren't able to get Star Wars fast passes or even into the land in general during its initial summer.

Really enjoyed this report, thanks for sharing it. Funny you say that about Star Tours I felt the same way. I have never really had any motion sickness problems, and never had a problem with Star Tours growing up. But the last time I rode it I was definitely a little queasy afterwards. Maybe it has something to do with the upgrades somehow. It's nothing that would make me avoid it completely next trip but I don't think I would ride it back to back without a break in between. A couple of friends I was with who don't have any motion sickness problems felt the same way too.

Yeah you made the right call in that situation. Probably only worth doing if your kids could do it and were excited by it.

Great update! It's interesting to me because I love Animal Kingdom, it is probably my favorite park at WDW. But there really isn't all that much that you guys didn't do. And I haven't even been since they added Pandora, River of Lights, or the Nighttime Safari. The biggest thing you guys probably missed was Festival of the Lion King. In my opinion that's the best "live" show at the entire resort. So that might have been a better option than Finding Nemo. Then there's obviously Kali River Rapids and Primeval Whirl but neither of those are must do rides. They are what they are. There are also some decent ways to kill time around the park while you were waiting for your fast passes. You could've gone to Rafiki's Planet Watch which is interesting if you're into conservation. They have some baby animals there and an animal hospital where you can sometimes look in on live operations. There's also a petting zoo and a few other interesting things over there. Plus it takes a train ride to get there which could be fun for the kids. Then there's The Boneyard which is a really cool interactive playground for kids in Dinoland USA where they can run around and dig up fossils. But I think the reason I love the park so much has a lot to do with the great food and drink options they have, whether it be quick service or table service. Flame Tree Barbecue is a good option for a ton of food at a good price. Plus I probably enjoy the animal exhibits a bit more than the average guest. In my opinion between all the shows, exhibits, and great places to grab a drink it is the best park at the resort to "kill time" at. Then again I am not traveling with 2 and 4 year olds haha, so my pace may be a little different.

I think it's worth mentioning that if you stay at one of the premium tier Universal Resorts (Royal Pacific, Portofino Bay, or Hard Rock) that you get free Universal Express Passes. The room rates will probably be very expensive that time of year but you are getting roughly $200 a day in perks included with that rate for the two express passes. Plus they offer free boat shuttles to the park and the resorts are just really really nice in general. Oh and you also get an hour early entry into Harry Potter or Volcano Bay if you are considering that at all. But this perk is included for Universal Resort hotels of all tiers.

I think 8 hours should be plenty for what you wanna do at Knoebels. I'd highly recommend riding Twister at night if you can, not sure if the park is open past sunset or not. But it was running like a bat out of hell this past October and night rides were at the same level as Pheonix in my opinion. Also do the drop tower if you're into those, it's completely insane. Only downside is it'll make the ones at Hershey later in the week feel like a Frog Hopper. Also just wanna make sure you know there's a free shuttle between the Hershey Lodge and the park. You might've already known that but figure it could come in handy if you were gonna be drinking all afternoon at the park.

Haha, if only there were some chance of that coming true. That would be ideal. Midway Mania is probably the most re-rideable ride anywhere, would be amazing if it ever had no wait. Or even ever just a wait under 30 minutes.

Great report so far! Thanks for sharing. I’d like to hear more about the food locations you guys tried in the upcoming parks. Always interested to opinions about those for planning my own trips.