Chiselphane

Moving the Magic Box is a pretty great idea, that area was often rather congested. Did you see if they left its' original building (well, shed really) in place?

It's not a 'must see' but Grandfather's Mansion can be easy to miss for new visitors and there aren't a lot of walk through funhouses anymore so it might be worth it. However the crowds might negate that; GM is NOT FUN to be in with a ton of people in my opinion. Another thing that seems to get missed is that the Swinging Bridge is often a less congested pathway to/from Time Traveler/Thunderation to the front and northwest of the park; the tradeoff is its a much narrower path so if you have cross traffic it can backfire.

Being a very big HP fan and knowing others as well, general consensus is: First FB was OK at best until the Depp reveal (audible groaning of dismay in theater) which killed much interest in any sequels. I think it's a tryhard attempt to catch the spark (and the cash flow) of the original series that was doomed to fail from the beginning, even Rowling herself can't seem to recapture it (Cursed Child read more like amateur fan-fiction than a canonical addition to the lore). So from having a vested interest in the IP I'm glad they're not pivoting to a Fantastic Beast focus. They've got some merch from it in the stores and that's good enough for me; additional beasts in the pet shop is a perfect fit for example. What would have probably worked better is to make a movie about Fantastic Beasts be about.... pretty much just the beasts! But no, they got too greedy for that sweet sweet franchise cash. This could have translated to a HP park pretty well too, kind of like a magical version of Animal Kingdom, something along those lines. Ah well.

Took my daughter to UO for her 11th birthday this past weekend and had a wonderful time. It was a bit more crowded than I expected, the various calendars suggested it would be low but they were fairly packed even on Monday, but not to the point where we ever felt like we needed fast passes and it didn't impact our visit much. I think the shine is finally off the apple a bit for me for the park, it's a case of having gone too much too often, but experiencing with my daughter for her visit was great and her excitement was infectious. For example normally I am not a fan of shows and events, I'm at parks for the rides, but she loved the Mardi Gras parade so much that we both really got into it, and the excellent performers didn't hurt any either. We got to see E.T. with the lights on as it broke down just before our first attempt at boarding, so that was pretty cool to me to get some 'backstage' views. But pretty much everything was standard operation and what you'd expect. Lot of screens, lots of involuntary mini-showering. The new(ish) ticketing system for your stuff seems to work better than the fingerprint style, although the navigability of these areas is still a special little slice of hell. Clearing work is going strong in back of the JP Discovery Center with a lot of activity going on there. There didn't seem to be as much action on the new HP coaster side but it could just be the work is quieter than heavy earth moving equipment. Also very quiet was the Dudley Do-Right refurbishment which was the one downer of the trip, it's such a great flume and I knew it was going to be closed ahead of time, but still.

The bathroom comment made me chuckle because my eldest son had a similar reaction when we first visited. "It doesnt smell terrible in here, how do they do it?"

Also, is it likely to be crowded? I've never been to a theme park on New year's eve It's going to be VERY crowded so keep that in mind going in. Like near-to-max crowds for the year.

Universal has been doing this for a while. I just tickle myself when I say the name of the venue, Honk Honkers . . . Yeah the Toothsome Emporium has sold alt-flavored cotton candy since, if not opening, then close to. Absinthe cotton candy was interesting!

Great to see some new Oswald merch.

Great report. I really like that you captured a lot of different angles than most of the other park photos I've seen. I love Universal Florida despite its' faults and as other posters said, it really is the atmosphere that seals the deal. It's a park that rewards exploration and attentiveness to detail.

Haha I was thinking the same thing. I stay on that end of town fairly often and actually like that area but the traffic can be a pain. I would guess that when this resort opens From your room to the Magic Kingdom Parking Lot will be a solid 20-30 minutes if nto more depending on traffic. I live in the area and if you just take the back road behind Chick Fil A you only have to go through one stoplight and can be to Animal Kingdom in 5 minutes. But, you are correct if you are traveling during rush hour or early in the morning when the parks are opening it will take longer. Just curious since you know the area, how much of a walk would that be?

The Barl of Fund!

I think it's a little of both, really. I agree they'd probably have to call it a Fall Festival but could then lump Halloween elements within it. I love that graveyard! If you're really lucky sometimes they have a undertaker character actor out there. Mr M Balmer, portrayed as a silent character with white contact lenses, and carries a large measuring stick around. I did a little research now that I was thinking of it and the actor's name is Terry Sanders, and he plays other roles in the park too, and works at other Branson locations as well. Here's a neat little article about him which also touches on SDC history: http://www.ozarksalive.com/terry-sanders-one-bransons-longest-acting-performers/

She has markedly loosened up on her infamous control issues the last few years.

Fair enough, I'm not the brightest bulb and I tend to browse while working so I don't always pay enough attention. I hope they spritz you in the face with water at the end of the ride. You know, to be consistent with the rest of the park.

Goodness I hope so. A family friendly Halloween SDC event would be amazing. The park layout supports compartmentalizing it too, the Grand Exposition area seems like it'd be a perfect staging area. There's a decent amount of room, its already geared towards kids, and there's no shows back there so even if you don't like the idea of it there's no real reason you'd have to even see it.

Maybe it's just simply a reassurance that it's an actual coaster and not a screen ride.

Oh wow, I love cheesy terrible stuff like that lol I really need to get over there some time. But it's always a toss up between Gatlinburg and Branson, and SDC always wins out for me.

I'm also a big HP fan and I think what they have is enough. I can see them going for the surefire money maker though, and looking at their recent films I'm finding it tough to pick a new IP that would have enough lasting power to justify that kind of investment.

I did specify the licensing issue. I mean things more like Fire in The Hole's soundtrack, for example. Stuff that SDC would own outright. Ah well, dreams and Youtube it is.

The strip has actually got better in the past couple of years. The lighting package around Time Traveler at night is very nice. Can't wait till later in the year to catch it at night again. The bluegrass version of Clocks by Coldplay is my favorite played while in queue. Thunderation at night is like Expedition Everest, another experience. Well, all the coasters are really. Actually enjoyed quite a few songs in the TT queue. It'd be great if a loop showed up somewhere on-line I've felt for a long time that parks that use their own 'in-house' music for theming would probably do enough business selling the soundtrack on a CD to be worth the effort. Obviously if it's licensed that's a different story, but I'm sure you get what I mean. My kids would have loved to hear some of the tracks from Story Land in New Hampshire, for example. Disney has put out a couple story books that include a single track CD of the ride music from Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, I would like to see more!

OMG that's one of my favorite movies and no joke. I'm broke as hell though, we are scraping together pennies as it is to get my daughter there next year for her 11th birthday. (We have a family tradition of taking our kids on their 11th birthday, as that's when kids start at Hogwarts)

Just chiming in to emphasize don't skip Caterpillar! Its one of only two operating left in the world, and the only one in the US. Still fun and the canopy is still a remarkable experience.

The dispatch audio has gotten noticeably quieter since debut but I don't recall it ever being gone completely. I hope that its not a permanent change, I rather like it.

Riverside Park in Agawam Ma had at least one queue line restroom; there might have been another but the one I remember for sure was Cyclone had one at roughly the halfway point. You'd just rejoin your party afterwards. I will say you had to be in pretty dire straits to brave it, the park apparently saved some money by never hiring anyone to clean them!

Learn the back roads inside and out on Google earth, get to SDC very early on busy days (Sat and Sun), possibly come in fom the west if not. The lights on 76 cause the back ups, why MDOT hadn't addressed these issues is mind boggling. This is great advice and depending on traffic, it can even be worth your while if you are coming from the east to drive past the left turn lanes to SDC then pull a u-turn further down the road and approach it from the west. There are some great hotel/motels in Indian Point, which is the peninsula directly south of the park. That's my personal ideal place to stay, you avoid downtown Branson completely but it's still close enough if you want to head over for an evening. There's a wide price variety too; while you would likely find a better overall deal downtown, some of the mom n pop places are comparative in value, at least depending on season (we avoid going in the midst of summer so YMMV)