prospekt88

I personally agree. It has been my favorite WDW Park since they opened Everest, and I haven’t even been to Pandora yet. Do I wish Dinosaur was as good as Indy and Kali was worth the massive queue it always seems to have? Sure. But the safari and Everest along with the atmosphere, food/drinks, shows, and exhibits are all as good as it gets at a theme park. At least from my experience.

It does seem to be getting to the point where DIsney will make any expansion they want fit into any park they want. For example Star Wars Land is going in Disneyland Park in California but the Studios in Florida. Toy Story land is in the Studios in Paris and Florida but it's in the Magic Kingdom in Hong Kong and Shanghai. It all does seem a little bit lazy in some regards, but as long as the quality is high I expect that it'll work out fine for Disney. It will be interesting when DIsney builds its next brand new park. Will we see them tackle ambitious ideas like EPCOT, Animal KIngdom, and DisneySEA or will they go with these mixed bag "Studios" parks that are basically an empty palette.

Maybe DIsney should never have "broken the seal" and offered a free fast pass system to begin with. Then people wouldn't complain about a free benefit being very slightly altered. Whether it's Extra Magic Hours, upcharge holiday parties, or the dessert parties for nighttime shows there will always be ways that people who are willing to pay more will get a better experience at the expense of people who don't pay as much. It's capitalism. If you don't like it then don't go to the parks. If enough people don't like it and don't go then they'll change it.

So since people are asking where defunct rides are, I assume this isn't just a ranking of coasters that we actually rode in the year 2017? Or is it? If it's a ranking of coasters that I've ridden in my lifetime, how would you recommend handling a ride like Ghost Rider? It is close to being my least favorite wooden coaster but I don't think the 2017 version would be ranked that way. Should I just leave it off? Might be nitpicky but these were the only conundrums I've faced while going through this haha. Looking forward to seeing the results!

Yeah I think that obviously bought the Speedway more time but I don't think it means they wouldn't hesitate to remove it. That piece of land is unique in that there's a path surrounding it almost the entire 360 degrees, so an attraction that is themed all the way around similar to 7DMT would be ideal to fit there as opposed to Tron, which will have a showbuilding that needs to be facing a backstage area.

Yeah, looking at Google Maps it seems like they've boxed themselves in with the new Fantasyland expansion. There's plenty of room between the new additions and the railroad track still, but that's probably for way down the road. And even then I think they'd probably expand into the Autopia plot before going back into that area. I agree if anything were to happen in Fantasyland in the near future it'd probably be at the expense of Pooh or Philharmagic. But with them adding "Fantasyland-esque Dark Rides" all around the resort like Frozen and Ratatouille at EPCOT, I don't see the need for them to do anything there anytime soon. With Tron coming to Tomorrowland and Stitch rumored to be closing for good, that is probably where the focus will be for the foreseeable future. Then you gotta figure that some major attraction will be coming to Adventure/Frontierland sometime in the next 10 or so years. I can't think of one new attraction they've added to those areas of the park since I started visiting WDW over 20 years ago other than the Magic Carpets. Shanghai version of Pirates would fit perfectly in my opinion.

Great to see the Magic Kingdom extended their hours. There's nothing better than building up a nice buzz drinking around the World Showcase then taking the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom for a loop around that park late at night. Your plan looks good. You should be able to get all of Future World done by the time your Frozen fastpass is open then have plenty of time to loop around the World Showcase before heading to the Magic Kingdom.

Under 4 hours seems very optimistic, but I'm not gonna say it's impossible. Obviously it all depends on traffic that particularly day, and you won't be leaving at 8am I assume, you'll be leaving right around the 6 or 7 AM rush into DC. I still really think you should do Kings Dominion before Busch Gardens. Yes you can easily do what you're asking at Great Adventure on a Wednesday with Flash Pass. But if you are doing a full day there after getting in late the night before from Hershey, then driving to Baltimore that night, then leaving the hotel at 6am to even have a shot at getting to Busch by 10am, that seems pretttty brutal. It is your trip though haha. Plus you will literally see KIngs Dominion on the side of I-95 and drive past it while knowing you still have an hour plus to get to Busch Gardens if there's no more traffic. When i305 pops up over the trees and Kings Dominion is already open for the day good luck driving right on past it haha.

That looks like a pretty good itinerary you have to start off with. Dorney is certainly not a full day park and it might be a good idea to get to Great Adventure that day to get some night rides in after Dorney. I think that you can easily get everything done at Great Adventure on a weekday in May while schools are still in session. Especially if you are willing to get a flash pass. But the biggest reason in my opinion that you should go to Great Adventure the night before is so you can leave as early as possible on your full day there. That brings me to my next point... Although it says it only takes 5.5 hours to get from Great Adventure to Busch Gardens, that is rarely the case and traffic in the DC/Northern Virginia area is absolutely miserable. Trying to get from Baltimore to Busch Gardens by park opening would be a death march. So try to get as far north as you can after your day at Great Adventure, if you wanna hit one of the Virginia parks at opening. I also recommend you do Kings Dominion before Busch Gardens not only because it's closer, but because crowds really aren't too big a factor at Busch. You should be perfectly fine getting everything done on a Friday. Other than that your plan looks great. As long as you're okay with the long drives I really don't think you'll be in a rush at any point park wise except perhaps at Hershey. Definitely try to do a normal Monday there instead of Memorial Day if you can. Especially if you have any interest in getting on the new additions to their waterpark.

Great report! Dollywood is close to, if not at the top, of my list of parks I’d like to visit. I didn’t realize it was so close to Atlanta, that makes it seem way easier to get to than I had thought.

They're honoring the office of the presidency, an office which President Trump currently holds. "We the people" put our faith in that office, and I think that's the message they're getting across.

I watched a full video of the new show and I think they did a really good job of incorporating President Trump considering how polarizing of a figure he is. That audio animatronic could use some work though haha.

I’d love to see them give Blue Streak a complete refurbishment before seeing a new wooden coaster. I wonder if the park would ever consider some kind of seaside “Downtown Disney” esque entertainment district. Would do a lot towards making the point a multi-day destination and there’s not much for people staying on the peninsula to do in terms of nightlife.

Yeah I have been following those updates of @bioreconstruct on twitter and have been wondering what those circles would be for. Here is one that reveals all 4 of the "turntables": You can see 2 additional turntables underneath the roof.

That's a really cool concept and a great way for the cockpit to be empty when new guests are boarding. It seems like it may have similar problems to an omnimover however when the load/unload times take longer than anticipated for whatever reason. It isn't a big deal on a ride like Haunted Mansion to sit in the same spot for a minute but in a simulator type ride that might detract from the ride a little bit more. You say there's 4 turntables but any idea how many "cockpits" are supposed to be on one turntable? That hallway looks like it'll lead right into this cockpit.

The photo of the Millennium Falcon ride looks incredible. As for Pixar Pier...it is what it is. I finally thought the park had a cohesive theme with the Victorian boardwalk, National Forest area, Hollywoodland with the Red Trams, Carsland themed to Route 66, and the Carthay Circle Theater entrance. It was finally "California" Adventure. Now you have Soarin' around the World, a Little Mermaid ride adjacent to Pixar Pier, with two other Pixar themed areas right next door, and a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction towering over Hollywoodland. I know I need to get used to it because Disney just bought 21st Century Fox so these types of changes will probably be happening all over the DIsney Park properties with them trying to squeeze in as many IPs as possible. At the end of the day it's good to see them investing in the parks and the parks doing well.

Is anything being done with the SBNO buildings around Future World (Wonders of Life, Honey I shrunk the Audience, Odyssey)? Was just wondering with them building over older attractions (Maelstrom, Universe of Energy), and them building new structures completely (Ratatouille, Space Station Restaurant), are there plans in place to do anything with these mostly unused spaces? I understand they use these spaces seasonally for a variety of different things, but nothing permanent coming that I've heard.

Great update! Fun Spot seems like a great Orlando night cap. Not at all, McDonalds is great.

This coaster actually looks like a pair of tangle headphones you pull out of your pocket. Very cool. Really interested to hear how it rides.

Great segment, this is getting me real excited for my upcoming trip. I was one of the people wondering why you were going all the way up to Page, AZ haha. That boat through the canyon looks amazing but unfortunately we won't be able to squeeze that into our trip. It's really amazing how much there is to do in just this one region of Arizona. We have three days for this area but with full day hikes planned every day it's nearly impossible to see even half of what I would like to. The Flagstaff area nearby with Walnut Canyon and the San Francisco mountain range looks completely amazing too. Thanks for the advice on the Hoover Dam. I think we will probably end up going the park and look route but the tour does look pretty cool if we end up having time. Looking forward to reading about your Vegas day. We have about half a day to spend on the Strip and I'm not too sure what we'll be doing with that time yet.

Awesome report! Busch Gardens is one of my favorite parks out there. I haven't been since Cheetah Hunt or Cobra's Curse opened but they both look like a lot of fun. Montu, Kumba, and SheiKra are all my favorite versions of their ride types. I think SheiKra's immersion in the area around it and the themeing put it ahead of Griffon for me. Idk why but I find it hilarious they serve a side of potato chips with a salty, buttery bacon pretzel. Either way it looks amazing I'm definitely going to get one next time I'm at Busch.

This along with everything else coming to the resort over the next few years is really impressive looking. Can't even imagine the crowds that will be flocking to Hollywood Studios so every additional way of getting people in and out of the area is very welcome.

Awesome report! Looks like it was a great time. I'm actually doing a Phoenix->Las Vegas road trip next month so this is very interesting to me. I had no idea Route 66 was along the way, that's a nice bonus. Looking forward to more!

Great start, looking forward to more!

^Thanks for clarifying those things, i haven’t been since Frozen opened and am not too knowledgeable on single rider lines. I agree the boat is obnoxiously slow I just thought to walk both ways was gonna be a lot of walking for one day. Hopefully the sky liner is a faster option eventually. If you time it right, walking to the Yacht and Beach Club and hopping on there could cut down the length of the boat ride a little bit. And yeah an added bonus of this would be getting to see the Boardwalk/Yacht and Beach Club resort area. I know you’d be on a tight schedule but it is my favorite resort area on property and a really cool area to walk through. I understand if you have no intentions of doing this haha. I just think that Hollywood Studios is the perfect park hopping park in it’s current state before it becomes a bona fide full day park.