CedarFlags

I'm kind of obsessed with this one aspect of the Disney v DeSantis lawsuit... Disney never expressed concern over 1st Amendment protection, so DeSantis and his collaborators never thought to censor themselves. Normally in this kind of case, the Plaintiff would have the difficult task of proving to the court what the motive behind the Governor's actions was. And it would be easy for the Governor to say that it was purely financial and administrative. But because Disney stayed quiet, the prosecution now has dozens of pieces of evidence of defendants very explicitly saying: "the government of Florida is retaliating against The Walt Disney Company for engaging in political speech."

15 is such a weird cutoff age. In my experience, 13/14 year olds are rarely the problem. 16/17 year olds (sometimes even 18/19) are the REAL problem demographic.

Has anyone made it to see Renfield with Nicholas Cage yet? Seems like it could be amazing or terrible.

Poseidon's Fury was one of those experiences that you can really only get at a theme park. I remember wandering into it on my first visit and being totally blown away, and the cheesy story line not even mattering. It was so grand, so unique, and so unexpected. As much as I love rides and coasters, I'm a firm believer that theme parks need to include these kind of alternative attractions to give guests a more complete experience.

to be fair, Magic Flyer was closed so I didn't check. I went on the Speedy Gonzalez and Roadrunner Express.

TC may just be seasonal maintenance. Batman was running 2 trains so the wait was 5 mins max. Full Throttle and Apocalypse were running 1 train, lines looked like about 30 mins. WCR had all 3 trains running, but it didn't appear to be cycling very fast.

Been seeing chatter on Instagram / Twitter about Knott's making some huge cuts to their Entertainment. Such a bummer, especially for Boysenberry Festival where there's always been so much to see. It's nice to sit and watch a show while working my way through the tasting card and avoiding the crazy lines on the rides during the midday. It seems like the Camp Snoopy Peanuts show and the outdoor Calico Stage are pretty much the only things to see now. I just went to Magic Mountain yesterday and one thing that always strikes me when thinking about these two parks is... Magic Mountain has nothing to do except stand in line for rides all day long. Knott's always has some little extra something to break up the day a little, or keep me amused while I rest my feet.

Quick visit to the park yesterday. Some stuff was closed because of off season (Riddler, Twisted Colossus, Scream, Superman, Goliath). Tatsu and X2 both running 1 train right now, which should be illegal considering how long their cycle times are. I visited on a Monday in March to AVOID the 45 minute waits. Wonder Woman running 2 trains, which was fine. Line stayed around 20 minutes for most of the day. The pathway down the hill between Ninja & Gold Rusher was closed. Guessing it'll stay closed as long as Superman is. Lex Luthor got stuck at the top THREE times in under an hour (once while I was riding) and they continued to operate. Thought that eventually Maintenance would tell them to just stop. So, if anybody's extra nervous about drop rides, now might not be a great time to try this one out. Happy note: I'm a taller guy and I never bothered to stop and check if the kiddie coasters had maximum height limits. Just kinda assumed they did. But actually they don't, so I ended up with 2 new credits at a park I've been to like 50 times, lol.

The preshow for Bourne is SO long that I made a joke that "Julia Stiles should add this to her IMDB". then, lo and behold...

Early reports from cast previews have some news about Tron being very size restrictive, even more than FoP in some people's opinions. There are non-cycle seats at the back of the train for handicapped guests, but apparently that line is getting severely impacted by able-bodied folks who just don't fit. And not every train has these alternate seats, so it can cause a significant extra wait. Just something to be aware of if you're planning a visit.

And the both boats will have plenty of open seats since there's no grouper and the ROs are only allowed to open the gates for 3 seconds.

That makes A LOT of sense now.

Was no shade on Zadra at all. My point was: a MUCH larger scale project was completed, even with a major set back, in less than half the time that this glorified shoot-the-chutes ride has taken.

Zadra was built in 9 months and half of the ride fell over halfway thru.

Wait wait wait... the Gold pass is now only good for 8 months? What fresh hell is this?

Retracking? That's unusual.

They give you a snack to eat on the ride to get your 5th sense activated?

I would be THRILLED if that happened. It's incredible. My favorite non-coaster attraction at the whole UOR.

Also, personal note... from talking to folks I know, SO many stunt performers in LA have come and gone through SES and been able to pay their bills with it between other gigs. So a bunch of good dudes are going to be losing another job opportunity in a field that's already very tough. Universal Hollywood is weirdly very light on entertainment, considering it's whole concept is showbiz.

El Toro Ryan has a length video on Hagrid's the mentioned the multiple track switches and stuff. Pretty interesting if you are into the nitty gritty of how attractions work.

Friendly reminder, folks... there has been been, and will never be, a CEO of the Walt Disney Company who cares more about anything than he cares about money.

I'm really excited about this rumored new churro stand coming to USH. I visited the churro stand at IOA last month and it was amazing.

I took a Florida trip last week and here's some thoughts on Universal. It was my 2nd visit, so I focused mainly on new stuff and favorites from last time. HIGHLIGHTS: Velocicoaster of course. My new #1. Got to ride it 3 times (front, middle, back) and it was heaven each time. It's obviously not as immersive as something like Gringotts, but for a big thrill coaster, I appreciated the level of theming. The queue is awesome, the landscaping works, and the finale over the lake is unbeatable. Also, the operations were flying, consistently sending trains in under a minute. Universal has got ops and efficiency DOWN. And once again... the mosasaurus roll... sent me to another plane of existence. Bourne Stuntacular. Absolutely my favorite non-coaster in either park. Rather then feeling like a cheap substitute for physical sets, the use of video serves the experience in a creative and really boundary-pushing way. The show constantly one-ups itself into bigger and bigger wow moments. It seems like it doesn't get a lot of attention being tucked away in that corner, but it's a marquee attraction in my book. And I love seeing live entertainment shine in ways that you can only get with real people actually in front of you. Sinbad lost its edge a long time ago and Orlando needed its own Waterworld. This is it, and it I hope it sticks around for longer than the Bourne movies are even relevant. Halloween Nightmare Fuel - Wildfire. Without a doubt, this was the biggest "wow" of HHN for me. Acrobatic shows are really popular around Halloween, but I'm so tired of circus / carnival theming. That's why I really appreciated how Universal gave it a new framing, and then cranked the spectacle up to 11. The performers were all fantastic, the choreography and music choices were fresh, and the fire was HOT. Like... they did not call this show Wildfire for no reason. Gringotts. Repeat visit to this one. In my book, it remains the best immersive theme park attraction in my America. But the fog effect for the screen keyhole in the last room needs work. Very clearly saw the hole open because the fog was super weak. Food. Especially during HHN, Universal's food consistently slaps. So many options, and everything I had was delicious. MEDIUM LIGHTS: Hagrid's. This might be controversial. I liked it, I think it succeeds at what it set out to do, but it didn't blow me away. I can appreciate the completely insane technology and complexity of the ride system. Maybe I should have done this before Velocicoaster, but it was closed for the first few hours of the day so the decision kind of got made for me. I may have also had more fun if the line was shorter? RIP to the Fire Dragon though. One of the coaster loves of my life. Revenge of the Mummy. I know, another controversial opinion. This moved down a tier since my first visit. It's definitely bigger than Hollywood, and it has a much more satisfying finale. But what I noticed this time around is that the ride's pacing is incredibly choppy. Each chunk of the ride is quite short and you don't get to spend as much time appreciating the coaster. I feel like Hollywood's breathes a little more. Fiesta de Chupacabra and Dead Man's Pier HHN houses. These were the two standouts of the night for me as far as the HHN houses. I though the Chupacabra concept was a nice break from the typical Dia de los Muertos vibe that we usually see from theme parks. Dead Man's was beautifully made and had some more interesting scenes as well. The Weeknd probably would be on the list but I skipped it because I had to prioritize and already did the one in Hollywood. I liked the Hollywood version a lot though. The HHN Tribute Store. I loved it, but there was a severe lack of Dracula merch. That was my beef that moved it to medium-tier. LOW LIGHTS: Most of HHN. I really expected a lot more from the Big Daddy of Halloween events. and I was bored. The movie houses were "meh" the original concept houses were a mixed bag (two above were fab, Spirits of the Coven was horrible). And not to personally insult any employees, but Universal's reliance of effects triggers has created an entire army of monsters who don't know how to be scary. The button does all the work for them. And it totally defeats the immersive construction & design work of the attractions to have talent that isn't allowed to act and truly inhabit the world that was created around them. I've gotten more scares at home haunts. Need another way to park hop. I took the Hogwarts Express once, and it was lovely. But later in the day, the line got up to and beyond an hour. So then it was just hiking all the way out and around. And I had to do that twice. If there was some other pathway that connected the two closest points within the parks, that would be a God send. WRAP UP: Despite being rather disappointed with HHN, I will continue to sing the praises of Universal Orlando Resort. Commitment to quality and guest experience around every corner. Imaginative and innovative attractions that run the spectrum of experiences. Healthy live entertainment presence. The on-property value hotel I stayed at was lovely, and getting early park access was a great perk. Prices have definitely started rising, but the overall value is still unquestionable.

I got to visit the park last weekend for my first time. Was supposed to stay for Howl o Scream, but it was the last day of a very long few days and I was just not physically capable of doing another lap or two around a theme park. HIGHLIGHTS: Iron Gwazi is insane. Didn't become my favorite, but it's still one hell of a ride. I think I'm spoiled with exposure to RMC because I knew what to expect. If I had been GP or an enthusiast without an RMC experience I would have been totally blown away. Sheikra was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a lumbering bore like Valravn but it had a couple pops of airtime and better pacing than I expected. Montu was fabulous. It's on the same grand scale as something like Banshee but it was way more comfortable without the vest restraints and the relentless positive Gs. Lots of Halloween decor to see in the scare zones and it looks like they really know what they're doing for their Haunt. MEDIUM LIGHTS Turn It Up! was fun. I love to see parks keeping live entertainment and I think ice skating shows are a fun unique thing for theme parks that you don't get to see a lot of other places. I'd heard mostly negative reviews of Sand Serpent but I enjoyed it. A few of the hair pin turns really threw us around. A couple wonky spots, but didn't ruin it for me. Scorpion was fun. I've never been on one of Schwarzkopf's more classic layouts and I definitely see the appeal. Would re ride for sure. LOW LIGHTS Incredibly slow ops at some points in the day. Kumba and Montu both running 1 train, neither with a grouper or a single rider line. Iron Gwazi was *averaging* 3 minute dispatches due to slow employees and inefficient procedure. I don't like to automatically blame employees, but there was a 40 minute line and they were casually strolling down the loading dock. 3 minute dispatch times WITH LOCKERS INSTEAD OF CUBBIES. Speaking of lockers... Dear parks, If lockers are going to be mandatory on nearly every attraction in the park, they need to be complimentary. Otherwise this is literally just a surcharge for the privilege of being a person who needs to have a few things with you when you're out and about all day long. Kumba was rattly AF. Maybe we just had a bad train (which is funny because there were 3 other ones just chilling in the garage, totally unused despite the 45 minute line). Cheetah Hunt. It's fine. It would have been in the medium category expect for I had several people tell me how much they love it and how it's one of their favorites and I would love it too. And then it was.... fine. Is this a thing that Floridians do to out of towners as a joke? Is this a prank? Did I get hazed? Very bummed I couldn't stick it out for Howl O Scream, but the park is beautiful and I really enjoyed my visit overall.

The Knott's bag policy is insane. It's literally the size of an iPhone.