Double0Kevin

It's a cool 102 today. It's crazy hot, but not as hot as the weekend when I saw it get up to 114.

I love the low capacity is a horrible idea argument. Yes, it might cause lines to be a little longer but typically they aren't marquee attractions that draw the biggest crowds like Xcelerator or Silver Bullet might. Disney has gotten away with it on the C Ticket and lower rides, even some of the D's and E's (Subs). Disney has done just fine with Goofy's Sky School, I think Knott's will be equally as fine.

^ Ironically the convention business is a big money maker for Vegas now and has helped a lot of hotels survive the recession. The kids that come from EDC are more disliked because they all get drunk, high and out of control. They cause a lot of headaches.

And that's totally opposite from what I've heard. Yeah, I've got to believe Robb on this one. If the "First Click" thing were true, and you could assume most of the DCA visitors end up at Disneyland at one point, that would mean Disneyland is in reality coming close to 22 million visitors? I doubt it. I can see this helping a lot. People come from all over to Disney World and of that, people also visit USO. USH get most it's business from locals who will show up in droves for HP because it's close and it doesn't sacrifice time in their vacation away from the real reason they are traveling. People can easily just go on a free day.

^ I wouldn't expect it to busy at all, most schools are out later this week so it should still be quiet. As for where to go first, I've always had the best luck going straight to the lower lot. With Transformers being the most popular attraction at the park right now (Well, it usually has the longest line though I could see Tram Tour having higher attendance) people tend to head down there first. Then hit Mummy and JP a couple times before heading up to do Tram and Simpsons plus Shrek if you like and Waterworld. My experience is based on only a few trips since Transformers opened, so it's not necessarily 100% accurate, but it's worked for me so far. Joey is definitely the most knowledgable on on the boards about it, maybe he'll be able to add his suggestions in before you head out (or go back a ways in this thread, I seem to recall this discussion being had a few months ago).

Really amazing turn around in such a short time. Can't wait to see what happens in the next few years with a full transformation into Aquatica. Amazing potential for this park.

I personally really liked Hangover Part 3. Sure it wasn't quite as off the wall as the original. But it did take it's time to show some heart for the characters we have grown to love. I like how everything was tied together and came full circle. Also, the scene during the credits was quite possibly the funniest moment of all 3 films. I was in tears having trouble breathing I was laughing so hard.

If Wet N' Wild's opening has shown anything, it's that there is definitely a market for water parks in Vegas. I do hope Cowabunga Bay's opening next year goes more smoothly than theirs did. I know a few people that went and were not happy. Luckily, Shane knows what he's doing so I don't think it will be so rocky.

Yeah, seeing how most the strip hotels don't care for the kind of people that come for EDC, the last thing they would want is to bring right to their doorstep. I can see them throwing a fair amount of concerts and festivals there. Anything that separates their offerings from the other strip resorts is a positive.

MGM got approval today to build fairgrounds in an empty lot across from Luxor. They plan to use it for music festivals, food festivals, carnivals and more. Interesting that they plan to have minimal parking and when big events happen guests will use the garages at Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay. Especially since Luxor and Excalibur lots are pretty small and they expect to draw up to 64,000 for some events. Here's the article: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/may/22/fairgrounds-las-vegas-strip-will-accommodate-64000

Saw Star Trek yesterday, it was very predictable and hardly original. That said, it was thoroughly enjoyable and fun. Benedict Cumberbatch was an awesome villain but, just like Sir Ben Kingsley in Iron Man 3, I felt like he was underutilized. The ending makes me hopeful for the next film, but who knows when that will be with Mr. Abrams doing Star Wars.

^ Well it's important to remember this is not Cirque du Soleil and not likely close to the quality of their shows. But maybe a decent knock off.

Looks very Cirque-esque to me. They can have some very busy and colorful sets. I think they know what's up.

^ You don't give people an excuse when they haven't ridden a lot of coasters. I'm only at 150 and X2 is near the bottom of my list. When I first rode it I a only at like 60 coasters and I still wasn't impressed. I think it's a cool concept, but made uncomfortably to where it's not a lot of fun.

SFDK just posted this, gives a little look at the show. Seems like it might be decent.

I hope this opens up a market for GCI to smaller parks. I would love to see more little guys like this pop up all over the place. This thing looks like it hauls too.

It's funny. The initial POV looks like the helix area is pretty slow, but watching the reverse of Robb riding it's clear how deceptive the video is cause it looks insane all the way through. Looks like another winner.

Steel: TTD Wood: SOB Invert: Alpengeist Shuttle: Superman: The Escape (haven't been on Escape from Krypton yet)

^ Ah, I always forget about Rio. Planet Hollywood is definitely owned by Caesars, I signed up for my Total Rewards card there. I think it just boils down to personal perception. I wouldn't bother going into most of Caesar's properties aside from the 3 I mentioned plus Rio. The Quad, Harrahs, Flamingo and Bally's just seem run down and gross to me. I might check out Quad once Linq opens, but otherwise I have no reason to go.

I've been hearing that Fountainbleu is going bye bye. At first I thought no way, but I've heard it from a few reliable sources now. Apparently they've sold off most it's assets and are going to strip what its salvageable and then it goes kaboom. It's funny how Caesars is updating so many of their crappy hotels. I guess they were sick of getting their asses handed to them by MGM since Caesars really only owns 3 decent properties (Caesars, Paris and Planet Hollywood) and the rest are complete s#!+ holes.

I watched the trailer for Ender's Game and had absolutely no clue it contained a major spoiler. It's only spoiler if you point it out to those who don't know. Now I don't want to re-watch it cause I'm paranoid I'll ruin the movie for myself.

Yesterday I got a little sneak peek at the new Jabbawockeez Theater at Luxor. It's being built in the old IMAX theater and it's great! It's a smaller theater but it's really nice. They reversed the set up (the back of the theater is where the movie screen used to be and the stage is where the back of the theater was) and you cannot tell it was ever used as anything else. It's has a really cool Tron vibe to it, which is an automatic plus for me. I think it's going to be a really great show and much needed for Luxor's currently weak line up of entertainment.

Forgot to post about Iron Man 3 the other day. I thought it was great. Nice to see a healthy amount of action in an Iron Man movie. I feel that was always the weak point in the other two, not enough suit/blowing stuff up time. I was a little caught off guard and not particularly happy with the Mandarin twist. I just kept expecting the twist to be a rouse by him and he ended up being what we expected. Alas, that minor qualm did not destroy the film for me (ultimately I just really liked Ben Kingsley's evil persona and wanted more of it). What did really bug me, and sorry if this is nitpicking, was the complete ease everyone suddenly had in destroying suits. The final battle had Tony going through suit after suit. What would have happened if it was like the old days and he only had one at a time? The villain would have won pretty damn easily. I think that bugged me more than the whole Mandarin thing. All in all, for action and laughs this was the best of the 3 (not including Avengers in this). For story and villain, it blew Iron Man 2 away but wasn't quite at the original's level (Jeff Bridges as Obediah Stane was one of my favorite villains of all time).

Disneyland Disney's California Adventure Universal Studios Hollywood California's Great America (while it was closed) Adventuredome So far a slow year.

All the predictions around all of the El Loco stuff are humorous. Thanks for the update. I'm looking forward to the next year at the dome.