jedimaster1227

Here's hoping that all parties involved have amicably resolve this matter so that the ride (or something like it with a modified layout) may be built... The park and the surrounding businesses would surely benefit from the park's expansion.

The Enchanted Village looks a little like the Shire from the Lord of the Rings films... It will be interesting to see how this development looks when it is completed and accepting guests. (Edit: That popular franchise sounds even better with the updated title...)

This makes me nervous for T2/T3 at Kentucky Kingdom... KumbaK doesn't particularly have a great track record for their new trains extending the lifetime of the rides they run on... The most recent example being Sea Viper at Sea World Gold Coast.

It is nice to know that the rides are going to live on... It is just a shame that they couldn't be retained for some U.S.-based parks to relocate and reopen.

I still wish that Knoebels had gone with a more unique ride for their first steel coaster but at the end of the day, it is at Knoebels, one of the best little parks in the US, so it can't be that bad! Just one more reason to go back!

These photos look great! I'll be checking the new hub out in person on Sunday... I can't wait!

Twisted Colossus looks amazing... It is just a shame this thing looks good enough to make me want to revisit Six Flags Magic Mountain!

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-planet-hollywood-redesign-20150226-story.html

Yesterday the Universal Orlando Resort hosted Theme Park Review for its annual Mardi Gras media preview featuring great food, fantastic music, a headliner act and lots of fun! This year's event changed it up a little bit with a new order for the parade floats, new performers for the concert lineup and more... This year's Mardi Gras sports a huge lineup of performers for all tastes, including some of the biggest names in the music industry. But most importantly... Mardi Gras has some amazing food! Okay... So the food excites me more than anything. But when you can see the steam flowing off of it, you know it is fresh! Quality beignets to be had! The year's signature drink is Voodoo Juice, a combination of fruit punch and rum... And we love it! There is no shortage of costumed performers at Mardi Gras! Photo ops aplenty here! Just hanging out with Orlando Attractions Magazine and Big Fat Panda John! Give us vuvuzelas and Eric and I will make music... It may be terrible music, but it is music nonetheless. As we exited the tasting lounge, we were met by more performers... Next up, an authentic New Orleans band paraded us through the park for the guests to see... It was insanely awesome to experience! We stopped off at the Mardi Gras French Quarter Courtyard to wrap up the show... Live bands perform on this stage during Mardi Gras (the bigger acts like Kelly Clarkson are hosted on the Music Plaza Stage near Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit! in the evening) and this stage also hosts the Blues Brothers in the earlier part of the day. The King and Queen of Mardi Gras can be found throughout the event. The French Quarter Courtyard features some fantastic New Orleans cuisine cooked and served up fresh, right before your eyes! A mainstay of the annual events at Universal is the return of the Psychic Readers and Henna Tattoos. Such a fun place to walk around! The Mardi Gras parade stilt-walkers roam the New York streets before the parade for photo ops with guests. Each costume is totally unique... Can't get enough of the French Quarter Courtyard! The park takes on a vibrant Mardi Gras atmosphere once the sun goes down, with added lighting, decor and music to help set the mood! Time for the parade to begin! It is always impressive to see just how big the Mardi Gras parade floats really are. All of the Universal Mardi Gras parade floats were designed by Kern Studios, the same studio that has produced the floats for the actual New Orleans Mardi Gras since 1932. These floats look amazing at night! One of my favorites! The Dia de Los Muertos float has to be seen in person to truly appreciate it... The levels of detail hidden within it can only be seen up close! Another gorgeous float... The lighting on this float (added last year) continues to impress a year later. Here is another favorite of mine, for a few reasons... 1. Creepy dolphin. 2. Universal's tribute to TPR's Elissa... TH ELISSA. (This one is probably not what I think it is.) So much to see! The Bourbon Street float has some of the best lighting out of all of the floats in the parade! And the giant gator float (three float-lengths long) closes out the parade this year! The headliner of the Mardi Gras concert series for the night was Kelly Clarkson, the original American Idol! She performed with a sizable band and they rocked the stage! Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this... But thanks to Universal Orlando, we didn't have to! Special thanks to the Universal Orlando Resort for hosting us at Mardi Gras 2015! We'll definitely be returning for more food, drinks, atmosphere and concerts as the event runs on select nights through April 18th. Be sure to check it out this season while you can!

I'm curious to see just how successful this test went for both Fun Spot and White Castle. I'd imagine if it was super popular, opening a permanent location (particularly at Fun Spot America) would be a great thing for all involved.

Please let it just loop the Space World theme song over and over again on the ride...

Universal Studios Hollywood has sent us a press release regarding its 50th Anniversary Celebration including the newest additions to the park.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-universal-water-park-plans-20150216-story.html

^I'd live there if it meant that I could ski in Florida.

^^Considering the Polercoaster was touted as the main attraction at the S&S~Sansei booth, they were definitely working on it at the time. This must be a very recent development.

But let's be real here... Do you think that anything Busch Gardens Tampa has built from scratch has been a "safe" install? This isn't some family owned park that can't afford a few delays due to a limited season. Busch Gardens operates 365 days a year and doesn't rely on a month or two or even three to make up the bulk of its revenue. None of the rides they've built from scratch in the last two decades have been conventional or safe... Kumba was the first coaster with a lift that threaded the loop. Montu broke records as the tallest and fastest inverted coaster at the time it opened. Rhino Rally had a breakaway-bridge element that floated proprietary jeeps down river. Gwazi held the record for the most coaster fly-bys and was the largest and fastest double-wooden coaster in the Southeast US. Sheikra was the tallest dive coaster in the world, the first to feature a water brake/splashdown element and later the first floorless dive coaster. Cheetah Hunt had a one-of-a-kind support tower built for its unique movements that also supported the ride concept's aesthetics... Not to mention the fact that they had to shave down the quite-old Sky Ride by several feet and portions of cable to accommodate the ride's maneuver over the top. Falcon's Fury took a standard drop tower and gave it a first-of-it's-kind 90 degree face down element. Busch Gardens Tampa has never really played it "safe" with their rides, shows, environments, animal exhibits... They are a cut above because they don't play it safe and they risk the delays to end up with a far superior product.

Wow... For the amount of work they did to bring Freeze the Night to life, this is pretty surprising...

^Tours of that space are sometimes a perk of a VIP tour in the park but it is not guaranteed. As far as guests in the park with general admission, I've not heard of that being an option or even a hidden option like the castle or bank tours in the Wizarding Worlds.

Downtime aside, Intamin delivered two world class attractions to Busch Gardens Tampa, both of which run flawlessly now and rate highly in guest satisfaction scores. General park guests hardly realize now that either ride had delays from when they were scheduled to open. The industry isn't as black and white with Intamin (or any other company for that matter) when it comes to delays. At the end of the day, if Intamin delivers the quality product they were contracted to deliver (and they always do), then the parks are satisfied, even if the delays hurt their bottom line in the short term. Intamin wouldn't still be around if people got fed up with their more common construction delays... And considering Falcon's Fury was the first of its kind, I think everyone underestimated how much test and adjust time it was going to need before opening. Maurer-Sohne delivered Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit extremely late as well, fully uninstalling and reinstalling the lift hill track, increasing supports, re-sealing cracked footers and assisting Universal in retooling the X-Car chassis in light of recent maintenance issues and roughness in similar rides... People still buy rides from Maurer-Sohne. Companies aren't remembered for their up front construction troubles--they are remembered for the end product they deliver that lasts far longer than the meager downtime that no one remembers or even knows about at the end of the day.

Whoa. Wouldn't have seen that one coming... I thought they were already contracted for the coaster's construction and the track was already in production. That being said, an Intamin Space Diver wrapped around a giant observation tower sounds even more exciting! All this complex needs now is an Intamin pre-fab woodie and I'll live there for good!

^Almost never.

This is something I'd be totally okay with.

^You've already been warned about bumping threads unnecessarily. We understand you are anxious to see if the plans for this park pan out, but as soon as there is an actual update it will be posted to this thread. Please refrain from bumping the topic further just for the sake of doing so.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-richard-petty-20150211-story.html

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/brinkmann-on-business/os-sky-ramp-xero-gravity-resort-20150211-post.html?utm_content=buffera2d90&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer Source: The Orlando Sentinel Source: The Orlando Sentinel