coneyislandchris

They are way better than any ride with a 39" height requirement has any right to be. Vekoma has really turned a corner as of late.

Gee, I wonder what the reason for that could possibly be.

Dude I literally just said it's okay to be scared. If you don't know the difference between being legitimately scared in one of those haunts and... - being an obnoxious shrieking and flailing jerkass to everyone around you, or - trying to push other people out of the way, or - threatening to square up with anyone who dares come close to you, or - literally running full speed when a haunt actor is chasing you and running straight into a store and knocking over a display rack... yes, this literally happened last year right in front of me... ...then clearly you haven't had those same sorts of experiences, great for you, I have and that's why I think they have the potential to be awkward (you know, like the name of the thread). But sure, paint me with a generic "coaster enthusiasts LMAO" brush if you really like.

You're just going to keep dunking on them year after year, aren't you? I'm here for it.

For the past several years Luna Park has had a pay-one-price plan that lasts all day, not just a set block of time like it was when they first introduced the wristbands. Not sure yet what Deno's is going to do but I would guess that they'll stick with the individual tickets per ride as they just don't have that many non-kiddie rides to make it worth it.

^ ^^ There's a difference between reacting and overreacting, obvs. If you've been in a major park chain's haunt, you certainly know the type. I'm not saying in any way to not have fun, but you can have fun and be scared without being a dick to both the perfomers and the rest of the patrons stuck in there with you.

They are. Dragon Flier at Dollywood is butter smooth. No OTSRs, just a lapbar in a comfortable bucket seat. He's saying the Zamperlas are janky (not going to disagree there) and the Cyclone (which has actually been running pretty great the past few years I've gotten rides on it).

Before the new coaster at Luna Park opens, it seems as if Deno's Wonder Wheel Park is getting a brand new custom Vekoma suspended family coaster for the 2021 season! From the article on USA Today; Phoenix at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York Deno’s was never able to open in 2020 and celebrate the 100th anniversary of its famed Wonder Wheel. Nevertheless, the park’s owners are making their biggest investment ever with Phoenix, a suspended family thrill coaster. Why are they taking the risk? “It’s an important time to rebuild,” says Deno “DJ” Vourderis, a third-generation member of the family that owns and operates the park. “We’re betting on the future of New York City and Coney Island.” The historic amusement area, which played a critical role in the development of roller coasters, had about 30 thrill machines at its height. Nearly all of them closed as Coney Island suffered setbacks. The resilient seaside haven has been on the upswing lately, and coasters once again line the boardwalk. Phoenix will take its place alongside newer rides such as Thunderbolt as well as the classic Cyclone. At 68 feet tall and a top speed of about 34 mph, the custom-designed coaster will occupy a sweet spot. It will deliver thrills, but it will be accessible to younger children and those who might be intimidated by bigger, faster rides. One element will be an extremely banked turn. “It’ll be about as upside down as you can go for a family coaster,” Vourderis says. The name, Phoenix, represents the sensation of flight that the suspended coaster will deliver. Its trains will hang beneath the tracks, and passengers will soar through the course on floorless, ski lift-like cars with their feet dangling. But, according to Vourderis, the name also signifies rebirth. “When this (pandemic) is all over, I think we will have another Roaring '20s,” he says. “We will most certainly rise from the ashes and give birth to the best of times at Coney Island.” According to the artist rendering, it looks like this will go in the spots formerly occupied by the old 12th Street Amusements such as the Ghost Hole, Saturn 6, and Polar Express. If this is anything like the Dragon Flier at Dollywood, it should be a perfect fit for the park, a low height requirement, and tons of fun for all ages!

One of the more awkward things that no one here has touched on yet are Halloween haunts. Don't get me wrong, I love a good haunted house. But a lot of these walkthroughs at the major parks have become very slow moving conga lines, and then you have the people that either overreact to every little thing in the place or try to prove how manly they are by getting in scare actors' faces and threatening to hit them.

Is it bad to say that, at this point, I literally don't remember the last coaster I rode?

Ideal for me is being able to reschedule the 2020 California road trip with my son so I can finally take him to Disney, Universal, Knott's, Magic Mountain, CGA, DK, and all the other miscellaneous parks in between and around the area. We were going to go this past April and, well, that didn't happen. Disney has said the tickets I purchased will be honored in 2021, and JetBlue has given me credit for the flight out that's good throughout 2021 as well. The only down part is the return flight on Alaska only was good through the end of this year and they haven't announced any extension to that as of yet as far as I know. Realistically, it'll probably be dependent upon when we end up getting the vaccine. I won't really personally feel comfortable with air travel until then. So most likely it will probably just be another year of local stuff like Dorney, Knoebels, and some Jersey Shore stuff.

Yeah, this doesn't look that vastly different from the last time I visited Keansburg which was either four or five years ago at this point. Even back then the Looping Star wasn't running, their Gravitron was half in pieces, and there were maybe about three ride operators cycling through the entire park. If you wanted to ride anything you just had to wait by the ride and hope one of them saw you. My son and I actually DID manage to get on the Chaos, but aside from that it was pretty much bumper cars, wave swinger, kiddie coaster, Loop-O-Plane, and back on the road. I don't think we spent more than an hour and a half there total. It absolutely was a total shitshow and it doesn't look like it's improved at all.

No, it has nothing to do with Great Wolf. If you look at the map I posted above, they're clearing space out on the other side of Kings Mills Road back behind the McDonalds and industrial park. Great Wolf Lodge is not going anywhere.

I dunno, Zach. Nothing screams luxury to me more than being located directly behind the McDonald's and next to an industrial park off of I-71. Ooh, totally dripping in luxury!

Absolutely, I do agree with that, and I'm not personally arguing that Cedar Fair should have opened KI or CP or any other park that had summer operations. I'm just saying that casting such a wide radius to the point where you're spending 4x the amount of time on the road than you would spend inside the actual park is kind of asinine, but I really guess it depends on how hard someone is fiending for a Christmas-in-the-park event.

Hey, who'd have thought that the friggin' crow of all things would be more masked up than the patrons and employees?

"8 or less hours" Yeah, if it were a case where the park was fully open, I might consider doing an eight hour road trip, but for a limited Christmas event that focuses on lights and food moreso than rides? That's a pretty tough sell. These events are meant for locals to get out and enjoy a little bit of their home park, not enthusiasts looking for their next fix. And that's not even taking into account whatever arbitrary travel restrictions that may currently be in place from state to state (not discussing the validity of them, just simply stating that they exist).

I get where you're coming from on this Boldy, but at the same time, I gotta disagree with you. My family and I did the drive-thru last night, and we had a wonderful time -- so much so that we actually ended up doing it twice in a row. I'm sure on a POV it doesn't look that impressive but for us, this was our first time back in the park since January 1st. The novelty of driving our own car through it is a big part of what makes it a unique experience. Add to that the streamable soundtrack they provided on the website (which of course includes that straight fire banger, the "Holiday In The Park" theme song), cups of hot chocolate, and numerous photo ops throughout the half-hour long drive-thru. Are the lights perfect? Are they better than what they are at any other point during the HITP season? No. But there's still some great moments of magic, such as the forest between Batman and Main Street, the peppermint swirls by Houdini, the carousel, the tunnel of lights, and Snowglobe Santa. The performers that we saw on both loops through the park ended up switching up as well so there were different folks to wave and scream at. Is this worth $14.99 per person? Nah, probably not. But as a free add-on for the season passholders and members, for those with young children, and especially for those of us who have been staying away from the park during the pandemic, it was a nice little treat and way to escape for about an hour. And compared to another drive thru that we did last week over at Sesame Place, it was a way better value for money; that one literally took us straight down the middle of the park from one end to the other and was over in five minutes. (And that wasn't even included on our season passes, either!) Here's a few photos my wife took on our drive(s) through the park: Not much of a line at all, even though people had been reporting that most time slots were sold out for passholders/members. You could go to the left to just get scanned through, or go to the right to pick up some treats and souvenirs. They're saying "prepaid bundles" but I didn't see them anywhere on their website. They were more than happy to sell them to you at the gate however. We ended up getting some of the teddy bear packages for the kids. This stilt-walker greets you as you pull in through the pavilions and make your first turn towards the Hall of Justice. The big HITP ornaments are on display in Gotham near the shops... ...while the Batmobile has been replaced with a large traditional Christmas tree and appearances by the "Evergreen Queen". (The kids were sure it was actually Merida from "Brave".) Leaving Gotham put you into the forest with trees wrapped in multi-colored lights at the front, and... ...after passing by Santa's house... You ended up in the blue trees with the falling snow lights. This led directly to the main fountain area with the gigantic HITP tree. It was mostly cycling through colors, no animated shows like you would typically see during normal operations. This candy cane area is usually one of our favorites during normal operation. The carousel is gorgeous as always. Would be nice if they had actually turned the lights on for the Big Wheel, but this is nothing new... I don't think those have been on in at least half a decade. The "Poinsettia Princess" was missing in action, so an elf was standing in for her tonight. "Ho ho ho" or "HA HA HA!!"? The tunnel of lights is short but enchanting to drive through, especially with the moonroof open! Even Twister gets its turn in the spotlight! Well, kinda, it's still upstaged by the oversized ornament and trees. No driving through Frosty, but this elf is eager to entertain with a little bit of juggling! These present light sculptures are beautiful! Only fitting to have the man himself out in front of Superman IMO. Even though he's safely enclosed in his snow globe bubble, they gave him a microphone so he could talk with the kids and wish everyone a merry Christmas! Non-operational this evening, but always photogenic.

Keep in mind they just released an AR version of Mario Kart for the Switch, and I'm sure some of the tech that went into that is going to make its way to the ride. With the combo that they're using I'm pretty sure it's going to be amazing! I have very high hopes for this as a huge Mario fan

In regards to the complaints that raising the price on fudge = "not caring about the guest experience"... taken in a vacuum, I would tend to agree with those that are rightfully calling out the original poster for ignoring the reality of the world which we're in right now. We are in the middle of a pandemic and a lot of places are fighting to survive. If that means increased prices for the time being, so be it. That being said, there have been a number of complaints about park overcrowding, poor and mixed communication, and lack of responses to inquiries. Personally, I've been attempting to reach out to Dollywood for the past two weeks to inquire about my unused 2020 multi-park season passes and haven't received a single response to any of my e-mails. Having heard horror stories about people trying to reach them via Facebook or telephone doesn't fill me with a ton of confidence, either. I'm sure they're trying to do the best they can given the current situation, but it's tough for everyone right now. So seeing things like this, regardless of how ridiculous it seems on the face of it all, definitely impacts the public perception of how they're operating under these circumstances.

If you're looking to blow $2,000 this Black Friday, Legoland New York has you covered with their "Lifetime Pass", which contrary to its name is not good for a lifetime but rather 10 years worth of access. In addition to that, the pass also includes premium parking, access to the other Legoland resorts, a 10% discount on merchandise, 2 complimentary digital photo packages, front of line access to all rides and attractions, invites to a yearly Master Builder workshop as well as other special events, and in a first that I've ever seen on any passes, 5 complimentary nights' stays at the Legoland Hotel. Supposedly this deal is for Black Friday only and they will be raising the price to $5,000 per pass after today. So, uh, drop those bags of money directly at their doorsteps now while you can, I guess! https://www.legoland.com/new-york/tickets-passes/

Just in case there was any doubt, it looks like one of the park reps has posted on Reddit and confirmed that yes, it is in fact Quimera! I'm stunned (but in a good way). Definitely looking forward to returning to IB next season!

^^ I thought that's just the state of corporate Twitter accounts in 2020, aren't they supposed to be "throwing shade" and "dropping mics" and "shots fired" and "giving sick burns" to anyone and everyone? No? Just Wendy's? It looks like SeaWorld replied back, but then thought better of it and deleted their tweet:

Here's the drive-through map that was posted on Facebook: Looks like this could be a lot of fun!

Just doing my duty to fact check this: 250K deaths out of 11.6M cases in the United States = 2.15% "kill rate". 1.34M deaths out of 55.6M cases worldwide = 2.415% "kill rate". Both are several orders of magnitude off from Mike's quoted ".0007% kill rate". To bring this back on topic, my family has already made the decision to skip the out-of-state Christmas events such as BGW's Christmas Town and and Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas this year, even though they're our usual holiday traditions. But no matter what you end up doing, please be as responsible as you possibly can to safeguard yourself and your loved ones.