jedimaster1227

This is not far from where I work and live, so it'll be cool to see this resort continue to grow from the ground up!

Really neat that they thanked Robb and TPR by name. I'm glad to see that this dispute was resolved so quickly... The Fair Board really was at fault here for not making good on their contractual agreements.

After finally getting the last of the houses in for the first time, I can definitely say that this is one of my favorite years in recent memory for Halloween Horror Nights house-wise. I think my rankings for the year are as follows: 1. Poltergeist 2. Carnival Graveyard 3. Trick r Treat 4. Scary Tales 5. Stranger Things 6. Seeds of Extinction 7. Slaughter Sinema 8. Blumhouse 9. Dead Exposure 10. Halloween 4

Wacky Taxi looks like a great addition to the park! I really think that once I have kids of the right age, a trek to Sesame Place will be in the cards!

After our morning tour Behind The Seeds at The Land pavilion, we continued our day with a few experiences in Epcot and then a few random stops across the resort... As locals, we don't often get the chance to take advantage of the variety of resort amenities and offerings, so we made it a point to do a few things we'd never done before at Walt Disney World! Starbucks for the win! Back at Art of Animation for a little more fun... The Little Mermaid wing is really decorated well! This watermelon cupcake was all kinds of awesome! Disney's Skyliner construction as seen from our hotel room door... And more to the side. I couldn't resist dancing my way around the resort... Really dancing around... Ursula is huge (not meant in a disrespectful way)... Can't stop. Won't stop. Guardians of the Galaxy – Awesome Mix Live! had just debuted during our visit so I made it a priority to have us check it out! The Cars wing of the resort is really cute too. I wouldn't take it over Cars Land's Radiator Springs, but this is still fun to roam around. The show was super fun and the vocal talent behind it were really great! I'm hoping the show comes back in some form when the new Guardians of the Galaxy coaster opens. Hooked on a feeling! Hit me with your best shot--fire away! What better way to celebrate a birthday at Epcot than with FastPasses scored for Frozen Ever After? Seriously... I enjoyed Maelstrom for its quirkiness, but Frozen Ever After is an infinitely better experience. The animatronics are incredible, the retheming of the space (queue included) is flawless and the ride actually has a cohesive storyline. In Summer! I can't wait for the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster to open! Next up was a visit to Disney Springs for something my wife had yet to do... Time to take a ride on Aerophile! You don't get this view of Disney Springs very often! See how many attractions you can spot! The West Side of Disney Springs is still heavily under construction as the NBA Experience and Jaleo are both built. I'm REALLY excited for Jaleo! I'm also very curious to see what the NBA Experience ends up including. Don't forget, La Nouba closed at the end of last year to make way for a new Cirque du Soleil show created specifically for Disney. A look at the new Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill opening up by Planet Hollywood and the Coca-Cola Store. We ended our Florida Staycation with our first trip to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at Ft. Wilderness! Who doesn't love fried chicken? I could live off of these ribs! This is the same kind of humor I would've expected to find in the Golden Horseshoe back in the day. Singing, dancing and comedy make for a really entertaining dinner show that has been operating for guests for over four decades. Really a great time, especially for someone that has never been before. Good ole country fun. Oh, and the icing on the cake? Well, strawberry shortcake actually. A really sweet way to end our weekend staycation!

In an ideal scenario, building from scratch in a place where they had free reign would have been better... But the value in the existing Kentucky Kingdom site was that it required minimal work to reinstate the existing infrastructure and attractions, saving them millions in the typical upfront cost that goes into building a brand new park. I don't know that Ed Hart and his team could have brokered a land deal and gathered enough funds to start a new park from the ground up with as much relative ease as they had with bringing Kentucky Kingdom back to life.

Thanks for another great update Zach! I'm really enjoying experiencing this trip through your eyes!

My point exactly. The park was already fairly dense before Nick Universe took over and yet they were able to add a good deal including two coasters, a few new flat rides and the ropes course, all within the existing footprint of park's borders. I'm very curious to see if American Dream is being designed with such feasibility in mind... Growing demand (or waning demand) will justify expansion over the years, and since the park can't likely build out beyond their structural borders, they'll have to be able to build into the footprint they've already littered with attractions from the start.

I've heard for years about how great Knott's Scary Farm is and your report is definitely backing up those claims. I seriously think I'll make it a point to visit the next time I get to SoCal during the Halloween season.

The Edison has sent us more information about their upcoming Halloween event celebrating 25 years of The Nightmare Before Christmas! There's still time to purchase tickets at http://www.theedisonfla.com/halloween!

Knoebels has a truly unique charm to it that I've not been able to find elsewhere. The classic (and fantastic) rides, the excellent food, the friendly staff and the overall atmosphere of the park just make it an absolutely unique place to visit. It has been years since I've been, but it is very frequent that I look back on my last visit to the park and wonder when my next one could be.

It just seems like Sub Quest was a low capacity attraction with little to the experience that wasn't worth the wait or the cost to operate. I'd imagine the park's overall satisfaction scores were increased on the days where the ride didn't operate versus those where it did. I'm more curious to see if any effort is made to salvage or re-utilize the ride's purpose-built structures for something else (like the did for the High in the Sky Seuss Sky Trolley at Islands of Adventure years ago) down the road.

Looking back at this report, I love all of the photos from Guardians of the Galaxy - Monsters After Dark! I love Mission Breakout and I really appreciate that the experience was designed with a Halloween version in mind.

^That makes sense... You would think the park and the Fair could play nice knowing they share this space but if the park is hindered from using its allotted parking (which impacts the ability for guests to actually go to the park) then they have the right to sue for a business impact. Could they come to terms in a better way? Most likely. But the fair board has consistently shown that their interests in the park's success take a backseat in favor of the Fair.

It seems that every time this park makes strides to become stable and to grow, the Fair Board finds a way to mess it up... How is it not in their best interest to yield the optioned land as per their agreement? This will only come back to bite them later when the ride misses the season due to construction delays (or an outright cancellation of the project).

This is a great start to this report Andy! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!

https://www.legolandfloridablog.com/2018/10/15/awesomer-awaits-at-the-lego-movie-world/

Looks like a really solid event! I wouldn't mind checking this out the next time I get to Kings Dominion... Thanks for sharing Chuck!

Just last week a friend brought to my attention that a new haunt attraction has sprung up in Orlando, and with that, it didn't take long to make our plans to go over and check it out firsthand! As it turns out, the Holiday Inn Resort Orlando Suites - Waterpark is hosting this new Halloween offering this year, in partnership with the team behind Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary II in Southern California! It wouldn't surprise me if this is that team's way of gauging market interest for a larger Halloween presence in Orlando in the coming years... If you've never been before, you'll be surprised by just how big the Holiday Inn property is... Located close to Walt Disney World, the resort has a large pool and water fortress with slides (hence the water park) and a large marketplace area in the center of the resort that features lots of shops, dining options, a 4-D theater, a stage venue for variety acts, a laser maze and an arcade. Take all of these elements and add in the a series of new Halloween offerings including a surprisingly lengthy haunted house, a family friendly 4-D film called Panic House (with no shortage of jump scares), a midway with custom themed games of chance and a themed bar to grab drinks and light bites! Starting with the main event, the maze is a bit of surprise in that is incredibly effective despite being filled with a small cast of live scare actors in a venue not designed for this function. Guests are pulsed into the maze in groups of no more than 18 at a time (and for us, we were among only a few others) so the scares are more intimate and there is no "conga line" effect like you find at the major Halloween attractions in Central Florida. The house is filled (almost to excess) with animatronic spooks, some moving by default and others springing to life in response to those passing by... But as a result of there being so many "dead spirits" surrounding you, you're hard pressed to prepare yourself for the moments in which the live scares jump out. There are no drop doors, shaker cans or triggered scream effects with these performers. They rely solely on their own screams and some creative placement to scare you in multiple places without leaving their post. You'd never realize just how few actors are actually in the house (I didn't until I asked) because of just how effective the layout of the maze and the placement of these scare actors is in relation to the animatronics. The maze is hosted in the resort's variety stage venue, but you'd never realize it thanks to the dark and foggy air inside. You twist through a progression of corridors within the space that twist and turn within the room, going up onto what would normally be the stage and returning to ground level later in the house. Add in the light story that has been added with a live pre-show delivered by one of the house cast, as you're looking for a professor who has gone missing in the tomb. I am easily startled, but I cannot deny that some of the jump scares I got in Terror at the Inn: The Mummy's Curse rivaled those of Howl-o-scream and Halloween Horror Nights. You can't argue that this haunt has the same set quality as what you'd find down the street at Universal, but the intimacy of the experience (with the limit of guests allowed in at once) really makes a difference and amps up the vulnerability that makes for a great scare. Panic House was the special 4-D theater film for Terror at the Inn, running you through one person's nightmare encounter in a haunted house teeming with zombies and a variety of creatures looking to feed. The film is presented in a first person point of view, giving all in the audience the perspective that they're being chased through this haunted house. There are water effects from overhead and the seats move in tandem with the onscreen action. There's no excessive gore but there are a few good jump scares that make this a neat experience for horror fans and families alike. The midway features a variety of classic redemption games custom built to match the macabre theme of the event and they are a fun diversion in between runs through The Mummy's Curse and Panic House. The event runs through October 31st on select weekdays from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm, and 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm on Friday and Saturday. For $19.95 (plus tax) you get unlimited access to The Mummy’s Curse haunted house and unlimited entry to the Panic House 4D (and other films in the theater). The Midway games are an extra cost per game. There are discounts for Florida and Georgia residents, military personnel and first responders and parking is free for the event. You can find more info about the event here: http://www.terrorattheinn.com/ If you're looking for a change of pace when it comes to haunts in Central Florida, I definitely recommend the intimate experience of The Mummy's Curse at Terror at the Inn. Here's hoping next year brings even more scares (and perhaps even more houses)! The mummy is huge! Adam did a pretty good job! Signage throughout The Marketplace area of the Holiday Inn remind guests that Terror at the Inn is running during October. The classic frog-on-the-lily-pad game but with a brainy twist. Land rings on the mummy's hands to win a prize in the midway! And it is a really fun addition to the overall event! There's some fun photo opportunities inside! Animatronics don't just adorn the entrance of The Mummy's Curse... It is what you can't see that jumps out at you when you least expect it! We've got to go looking for the doctor... He's gone missing inside of the tomb. Use a slingshot to knock over the vultures to win even more prizes. It isn't what you can see that scares you... Not my forte, but definitely fun! A look at The Marketplace including Terror at the Inn. In case you need some liquid courage, the Hideaway Lounge has plenty of drinks to choose from. Panic House is a SimEx-Iwerks film offered just for the Terror at the Inn season... I might have let slip a few non-PG words inside here. More details about the event. You think you're prepared for a scare because you see the animatronic, but it is in that moment that a live scare actor can get you! Time to head in! Live actors interact with animatronics and are creatively interspersed throughout the maze to scare you in multiple areas without moving too far. A taste of the lighting and feel inside of the maze. See if you can spot some of the scares... They can be found throughout the house.

I'm excited to see what else they end up putting into the park! Nick Universe at the Mall of America has crammed in a lot and that has been over the course of many years... It'll be interesting to see what the developers do when designing a new park like this from scratch and how much space they'll leave for future additions.

^But do they desperately need a Four Diamond property or would a moderate resort better serve the area given that Grand Californian and the Disneyland Hotel technically cover the deluxe market?

It looks like Alton Towers is adding a Dungeon attraction to the park! There's not much information yet but it'll be interesting to see how this plays out! https://www.altontowers.com/theme-park/dungeon/

Kind of crazy to see how much the slate has been wiped clean of what was once in that plot of land... Thanks for sharing this update!

I didn't realize how much years of sun have dulled Firehawk's red paint job down to brown... Thanks for sharing this great report! I really do have to get back to Kings Island eventually... The last time I went I was able to ride Son of Beast with a loop.

^I'm wondering if those jellyfish lights are supposed to be Seeds of Eywa from Avatar... Looks really familiar.