Jew

Ha. Win! ^^I'd like to know what disability, too. It's sad that this is going on, and I'm glad Disney is going to crack down on this practice. They don't have to say anything. Parks will get sued if they ask anything other than "do you need accommodation because of a disability?" and "what accommodation do you need?" Guest says they can't wait in line, park has no choice but to take it at face value. Which is why I hope Disney switches to return time passes (which people will still abuse for bonus fastpasses, but at least they have to wait the wait time)

That wasn't Duff Gardens. That was Itchy and Scratchy Land. Which reminds me how I have always loved the fact Universal sells a Bort license plate pin.

^^IIRC, this was part of the first wave of Torandos ordered by the big parks. I don't think any of the ones Cedar Fair or Six Flags purchased in that time period had the lifts. Also, here's an ariel photo of the park for comparison of how it used to look: Here's how it looked under Cedar Fair

I broke this post up into two parts, so I could feature the things that Sea World did to "plus" the park to meet their standards. Also included the fact sheet from the park. There's now a flamingo exhibit at the entrance. I'm not entirely sure what was going on here, but those flamingos definitely looked mad at each other! ...And turtles. TPR loves turtles because they are awesome! ...And trainers walking around with random animals. It is a Sea World park after all! ...And transforming all sides of the wave pool from random unused grass space and concrete to "beaches" with TONS of chairs. ...And improving the food options to include the biggest variety I've ever seen at a water park. ...See, variety! It wouldn't be a water park without fried food It also wouldn't be a Sea World park with out the all you can eat BBQ option. Yum! To demonstrate just how much potential space is available, this is now what appears to be a former picnic area/current employee break area/buffer to houses...I'm sure some of that giant chunk is their's to use! There's also a big open space on the hill that houses the slide complexes...can't wait to see what is in store!

Bloggers (Hey, that's us!) were invited to check out the park today as part of their VIP previews for their business and sales clients. My impression is that I cannot wait to see what Sea World has in store for the future! Having never been to the park before, I did not know what to expect at all. I did, however, hear 4 or 5 different groups talk about how bad it was before and how impressed they were with it now. As has already been noted in this thread, Sea World didn't do much in terms of new additions. They just added a turtle tank and some Flamingos. However, the main thing they did was lay the foundation for what I am sure will be an amazing water park within a few years: TONS of landscaping was planted everywhere and everything was re-painted and re-themed. The park looks fantastic and the experience was great! The employees were all friendly, the food was delicious, and did I mention the landscaping looks great? Which is all you can ask for in a 6 month turnaround since the purchase was announced. For now, the slide offerings definitely won't "wow" any sort of ride enthusiast (newest slide is the Tornado from 2008 I believe, there is no animal interaction slide yet, or tube slide that can do double), but the slides they do have pack a surprising punch. Maybe it is just because I haven't been to a water park for a few years, but every slide I rode seemed to go faster than what I remember as being "normal." Now onto the photos... Trees now line the front entrance, transporting you into the world of Aquatica (looking at google maps photo of Soak City...there used to be a whole lot of nothing there) You're greeted at the entrance by the Flamingo habitat and a view of the kids play island. The parks current signature attraction is the standard Proslide Tornado...love these slides! You also wouldn't be able to guess that just 6 months ago this slide was a badly faded pink and orange colored slide! A standard water park drop slide tower...also lots of fun. And also freshly painted! Body slide complex with 3 enclosed slides and 2 not enclosed...you really flew threw these! Oh, and also freshly painted! The tube slide towers consist of two identical 3-slide towers with two enclosed and one open one per side. No doubles were allowed. But again, you really flew through these! And guess what? Also freshly painted! Rounding out the slide options is a freshly painted (notice a theme here?) family raft slide. There is also a lazy river with free inner tubes that surrounds the children's play areas. Besides being the feature for the main entrance, the "little kids" play area has this "mountain" with 5 or 6 of the small slides all around it. Bigger kids get a play structure to get drenched in! There's even a wading pool in the back with a "transfer chair" for disabled guests. Nice touch! Rounding out the attractions is the wave pool, which has smaller waves so the whole family can enjoy!

They didn't get it open today.

^Probably referring to the walk-around characters? That statue is awesome, but it is kind of funny that guests will be seeing double when Optimus is on his set!

Two things: 1. I never said it had to be themed to Tokyo. I just mentioned that they went to Tokyo, which could theoretically serve as the backstory to the attraction at Tokyo Disney. Not saying they will, but something cheesy like "Lightning at Mater loved Tokyo so much, they took up residence at TDL..." could serve as the backstory. 2. Japan was the highest grossing international market for Cars 2, so maybe the franchise is popular there and they are just waiting for the perfect opportunity to introduce them to the park? Was there much Monsters Inc. stuff in the parks prior to the attraction being built at TDL?

It's Florida. And Orlando. So you get crazy Floridians mixed in with crazy tourists. It's bound to happen.

I'm guessing it wasn't an automatic weapon, or the guest would be going to jail...just a freak occurrence because of a dumb guest who most certainly does not deserve to have a concealed carry permit in the first place if he is so careless with his gun.

Looks like it will still be about a 50/50 mix of physical sets with the screens.

I was absolutely terrified of that ride as a kid. I couldn't even stand up in the baskets.

I have a feeling he'll plead ignorance, like "Oh, I was just throwing extra stuff away...I didn't realize the dry ice was in there"

That would certainly explain how the dry ice made it into the park.

^The point is, the leadership at Carnival failed compared to how RCCL is handling this. People see Micky Arison as the face of Carnival, and he felt it was more important to be at the Heat game. To your point about Fain, on the flip side is how many people do you think know who the CEO of the Carnival brand is? I'm sure I am not the only one who automatically associates Arison with it. People don't know who Fain is, and regardless of what he is actually doing, the takeaway will be that they see headlines of "CEO on the ship apologizing to guests..." vs '"CEO takes in a Heat game..." even if it is not a totally fair comparison.

Well ok then... Micky Arison: son of founder. College dropout. The difference in responses between Carnival and RCCL shows in the experience of their leadership. Micky Arison is the face of the brand, and yet he'd rather be seen enjoying his toy (the Miami Heat). Meanwhile, RCCL is out there making sure everyone knows their CEO is doing everything possible.

^I guess that is what you do when don't actually have to do any work in your life! Carnival CEO resume: son of founder. College drop out. Royal Caribbean CEO resume (just his tenure at RCCL):

EDIT-KTLA is reporting it was an explosion in a trash can.

Every few years, the fireworks they shoot from behind X2/Viper manage to cause small brush fires. It was a running joke among employees.

Just a tip from being in the industry: I would not advertise the fact you are an employee of a park and then post in said parks thread.

^That's a textbook example of how to keep people loyal to your brand...amazing!

NBC 4 posted this photo on their facebook. Such a tease...

They did go to Tokyo in the 2nd movie, so maybe this will be a unique Carsland based on the 2nd movie... Whatever the case, I'm sure it will best the already impressive CA version.

Disney definitely knows how to throw a party to woo the media. The screen also looks awesome!

^I hope so! In the mean time, we have two game 7's coming up...definitely the most exciting playoff sporting event IMO.