CedarFlags

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.

Controversial opinion... Magic Mountain is the new Geauga Lake and has outgrown its ability to support itself. It has the world record for most coasters in a park and all those coasters need crews, but it's too far away and pays too little to be an attractive job opportunity like Disney or Universal. Couple that with the fact that attendance fluctuates so wildly, and the park cuts staffing to the barest of minimums in order to make any money. Now add on top of all that... next year, more than half of the park's coasters will be 20+ years old. In 2024, it's going to have five coasters that are 30+ years old. It's going to be interesting to see what the next 10 years looks like for this park. I don't think they're going to downsize, but I would certainly understand it if they did.

Jesus Christ... that's definitely the worst I've ever seen from MM. The sign at Superman says that it only runs during Fright Fest, but it was closed the whole time I was there. Same with Lex and Scream.

Like most things, it really depends on the day. I went on a Friday night and the longest I waited for anything was like 5 minutes. It will get busier as it gets closer to Halloween though, and I've seen maze lines get into the 30-40 min range in previous years. If you can swing a Friday off of work, that's really the best option. Get there in the afternoon to hit a few coasters while the lines are still dead, then spend the evening doing mazes and a couple of night rides if you have the time.

Can't say that I'm surprised. 7 day ops was a huge business mistake, even though it was awesome for the coaster nerds.

part 2, photos. Wonder Woman has murals on what used to be blank walls. I also felt at least a hint of air conditioning in the room. And Woman Woman has more lockers. Now it at least has enough to stop sending half empty trains. And it almost has landscaping? This was a giant hole in the dirt on opening day, so... Progress! Oktoberfest menu (served at Ace Of Clubs). There were also a few different beers and a cider. I think the $30 options is a pretty good deal depending on which food you get. This might have something to do with why Apocalypse was running only 1 train. Clocked three 3+ min dispatches in a row too. Love that for us. Best maze of the night for me. We love a cute little dark magic ritual altar moment. Skipped this maze because it's mid-tier and I've been through it so many times. But this is a fun shot. That's one hell of a jump scare.

Trip Report from 2022 Fright Fest TL;DR - worth the $25 upcharge for the wrist band, especially if you haven't been in a while. BIG dings for bad app and new maze not being ready. The Good: Condemned (best of the night), Willougby's, Sewer of Souls. All solid mazes with energetic talent. Condemned has the most immersive design/build, and the theme is very creepy and unlike most other concepts at other local big haunts. Willougby's is charming in its own way, though it could use some more oomph in some of its larger rooms. Sewer Of Souls is another great concept, and even though build quality isn't at the top tier of what MM has produced before, it works. Talent overall. Lots of energy, interaction, commitment to characters was good overall. Oktoberfest Food Fest. I only tried a couple things, but they were really good and there were lots of other things on the menu that looked great too. The Okay: Aftermath maze. I love that they worked the post apocalyptic theme into the maze that's right next to Apocalypse. It's smart and it shows that there is somebody in the park who understands how to work with theming. Love that the queue has a video to explain the story. But it needs more scenery. The footprint of the maze is enormous and it's outside so you can't narrow people's focus. Parts are good, parts feel barren. But the fireball over your head is a scare that's hard to beat. Show Moment 1. This is something I actually LOVE that they're trying but it needs work. They wrote a little show moment for releasing the monsters into the park, over by Batman. A track played, and then the gate opened for groups of monsters to walk through a cloud of fog. It was a great concept, but... the speakers were way too quiet to give the moment the drama it needs. And the groups of monsters were really small because of the way they broke them up into their character/zone types. This big build up of narration, fog goes off, gate opens, aaand.... it's 8 people. Show Moment 2. The front of the park scare zone has a new ocean/pirate theme, and they wrote another show moment to give the origin story of the zone. Fabulous idea, but the execution needs work. Once again. really underpowered audio, especially since the show was scheduled during a band set at the Full Throttle stage. The script was also just hard to follow. And there was a fog machine that kept cycling during the show and obscuring the action on stage. The Bad: Ride Ops. Lots of coasters running 1 train and having slow ops. I got off Ninja, got back into line, made it to the gates, and got back on the same train I had just exited. And I was not running. Also there were multiple break downs in just a couple hours. No map and broken app. When I bought the wrist band, I scanned a QR code that took me to a pdf map of Fright Fest. But it was not really optimized for phone usage, and it mentioned several times to check the app for maze info and show times. Except... none of that was actually on the app. IMO, if you're going all in on an app and ditching physical maps/guides, then your app needs to be FLAWLESS. Glitchy apps can be given grace only if there's something else as a back up. New Maze not finished. This is the biggest ding. There is only one new maze this year and it's not done. I was told it will open next week, which is the THIRD week of the event. And I didn't find this out until after purchasing the wrist band. I feel like that is a big deal that should have been disclosed upfront. Overall: I still think that Fright Fest offers the best value for your money of any of the theme park Halloween events in So Cal. Especially if you have a pass already. Build quality has been improving in recent years, and I see attempts to grow creatively.

Ghostrider always gets worked on between Summer & Halloween, and again between Halloween & Christmas. Lots of long days sending a lot of cycles and tearing up the track. Really glad to see the park hasn't slacked off with maintenance on this in the years since the renovation.

The terrible Coast Rider lap bars happened because of the injury lawsuit a few years back. Kid stuck his foot out of the car thinking the ride was over but the car moved forward again and his foot got mangled. So now you can't move your feet at all until the bar releases.

Niche record question that's been stuck in my head... Which park has the most launched coasters? I can think of several parks that have 3 coasters, but none with 4. Anybody else know?

Disappointed to see comfort collars, but also... this ride has no lateral forces, so there's no worry about necks hitting them. The zero car is beautiful and I love the idea of turning Zoom into a full experience.

FYI to the Alphabet Mafia... this year's Out On the Mountain is Friday Sept 9th. A little earlier than in past years. The flyer is definitely giving some *Graphic design is my passion* vibes...

In the "where do I go" stages of planning a trip and I noticed that the Ops Calendar for Holiday World has the park closing at 6pm for the majority of September. Is the park really that dead, even on a Saturday, that it's not worth it to stay open until dark?

That should qualify as a war crime, tbh

okay but like... why haven't the LSM stators been replaced by Indrivetec yet? Seems like these launch system problems could have been fixed years ago. Also, if heat is a problem... DCA fixed that by adding sprinklers to the launch track on California Screamin 20 freakin years ago. Idk why that would be so impossible for Lightning Rod.

Zoom fills an important supporting role at the park and it takes up such a small footprint that it's really not even feasible to replace it. Nothing else would fit. It's a really good stepping stone ride between the family coasters and the big 4. It was my first ever inverting coaster, and I'm sure the same continued to be true for lots of others as well.

Oooooh, interesting! That definitely makes sense. I noticed there was a smaller cubby across from the lockers that my buddy put his backpack in, I wonder if they found that somewhere after a couple hours to help out. This actually makes me even madder at the park, tbh. It wasn't just that they opened without having time to test their procedures. They opened with missing infrastructure. That's completely inexcusable.

Headed out yesterday for the passholder preview and... woof. I don't want to sound bitchy but I was really disappointed. SFMM decided that functional is the same as finished and we got a pretty terrible overall experience. Coaster - A solid 7/10. Less insane than the 1st-gen single rails, but I think that's a good thing. Easing up on the aggression makes it really re-rideable and I think it will be a huge hit with enthusiasts and GP. My one ride was in row 10, but I heard folks saying that the front was crazier. The new trains do make you sit with your feet unnaturally far apart, and it's kind of uncomfortable. Could be a more significant problem for folks who have shorter legs or narrow hips. Ops - I wasn't able to figure out what caused this but trains were regularly being sent out with only 4-6 passengers. Quite a few trains had only 2 or 3. This happened over and over again during my 3 hour long wait and it was maddening. The handful of times that they did send multiple full trains in a row, I noticed that the line actually does move, so that's a plus. I happened to be in one of the full trains, so I didn't get to see what the problem was they were experiencing. And I'm sure the employees were doing their best, no shade to them, but management forced them to open when they were very clearly not ready. Presentation - Lots of construction stuff still up around the area, a big dirt hole to the right of the switchbacks, confetti still all over the place from media day. The inside part of the queue had no working A/C, so it was hot and very humid from all the sweaty bodies standing inside. The floor inside the building is also a mess. It's like they told the construction crew: "don't worry about spilling paint on the floor because we're gonna do a finish coat on it"... and then they just didn't. Also, the paint on the coaster supports looks SUPER patchy and weird, especially near the ride entrance. Like they got scuffed up and someone fixed them with red spray paint. Extra weird thing - The entrance and exit of Batman have switched so that Batman and WW can share one exit path. Except there was no sign, so we walked off WW directly into the Batman queue and kept going onto the ride. Wasn't a big issue in the moment since there was virtually no line, but that better get fixed quickly before fights start about people cutting the line. -- The whole experience gave me the mental scenario of the construction project manager sending an email update saying "Hey everyone, we're almost to the end. We'll be ready to open in 3-4 weeks." And then someone from marketing replying "We just announced the opening day, so actually you have 2 weeks. Figure it out."

We're seeing a lot of capital investment into the park, and that money almost always comes from corporate. Not denying that the GM is great at his job, but there is absolutely more money going into this park. Seems like corporate has decided this park is joining the top tier. And Siebert seems like the right guy to implement that.

I wonder if they're going to sound dampen the loop? That section of track is the loudest with that hollow box spine, and it can be heard even outside the park. This renovation downtime would be an opportunity to take the loop apart and fill the spine.

FYI if you're planning to hit up the park for WW's opening weekend, it's gonna be HOT. Accuweather says the Real Feel™ will be 106.

I can confidently say I've never had my phone in hand on a coaster while on the course (maybe lift or brakes).

Checking the last couple pages of this thread and I have to say this park seems like the new gold standard for Six Flags. They're really just killing it over there with every decision.