ryder
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Posts posted by ryder
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I suspect they just reused the old footage. I figure we'll get an updated video when more is finalized.
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I still haven't gotten this email, and my membership price hasn't gone up in a year. Maybe because I have Diamond Elite VIP (which was given because I continued payments during the pandemic)? Which I'm keeping for as long as possible, because not only does it get me 50% off most merch and food, but 4 Fastpasses per visit. Can't beat that.
That said, I'm not going to be surprised the day they announce memberships will be revoked, and everyone will have to go back to the seasonal AP. Honestly, I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has. I suspect the merger may finally put the nail in the coffin for this by next calendar year.
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On 2/8/2024 at 4:47 PM, SoCalJasonland said:
To be fair, Monte is not unpopular but not a top three coatser in the park for most people, but perhaps a top 5, and probably not a major draw in itself. People would miss it but it takes a weekend or holiday for it to get a line. Even when the park is packed the line rarely got over 45 miniutes.
You could say the same thing for Blue Streak at Cedar Point, but that doesn't mean it's preferred to just tear it down for no reason.
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I second trying to get a flight from Burbank if possible. The problem is price and times can really be a crapshot. But location-wise, it'd be ideal. SNA isn't really near anything except Disney.
I've stayed at the Quality Inn near Knott's. It's okay, but it would be a pretty long walk to Knotts. The on-site hotel would be easier, and it is being upgraded.
I've never stayed at a hotel near USH, but there are quite a few of them around, and most should be fine. While I haven't stayed there myself, I've heard nice things about the Beverly Garland hotel. I believe it has a shuttle to the park, and the on site restaurant The Front Yard is surprisingly good and great atmosphere (though expensive).
Needing two days at Knotts depends on how involved you want to get. If you're just interested in rides, one day should be enough. If you also want to dig into shows and food (especially if there's an event going on like the Boysenberry Festival), you may need that extra day.
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Heard reports of it testing and training, and that they hope to have it open before Haunt.
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Was in the park today. While the top of the mountain was closed (Ninja, Superman, Magic Mover--and they often close those rides as they prep for Fright Fest), the only other closed rides today were Apocalypse, JL, and Crazanity. Everything else was open, even Roaring Rapids, Jet Stream, Riddler, Goliath, Drop of Doom, and all the flat rides. Although the app said some rides were closed that were actually open.
Also saw all the walls are now up for the Saw maze, as well as large boards for a possible facade. And nearly all the scare zone props are out.
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In a world where parks are charging $40-$65 just for parking your car, around $20 for a meal shouldn't really be a shock. Welcome to the world.
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The Conjuring has been started, and has been getting worked on for at least a month or more, and is slated to open Sep 15. I know someone working on it, and he says it looks great.
Saw seems to be another story, there's nothing there yet, but is scheduled to open at the end of the month.
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Apocalypse is being retracked. Superman has been mostly been open, but it can be hit or miss. Riddler has been open of late, that new if it's closed. Same with Roaring Rapids (although it does tend to open later in the day).
Goliath has been down for a number of weeks now... same for Crazanity and Ninja. For Ninja, I thought it was for new fencing going up around it, But it's admittedly been down for a while as well.
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They haven't announced any scare zones, nor the rumored 2 shows (the Waterworld space and Dreamworks theater), so they could still be incorporated in any of those capacities.
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To be fair, I found the app confusing at first, but it becomes more intuitive if you leave on the location tracking. Basically, the games in the app are a treasure hunt, and it tracks you as you move through the park and rewards you the more of the park you see. When the location tracking is left off, you'll get automatic notices to your phone when you've found stuff, and it'll start to make a bit more sense. I think it's something that would add repeat value to the park, because it's clearly a small park, but on subsequent visits, you could devote more time to the games in the app and still be entertained.
And the cupcakes are amazing. It's a flight, so they are NOT full sized, but bite sized. But they're high quality, as you can see. Pricey, but worth it IMO.
I'll add that while the cupcakes are sold in both main eating locations (at room temperature), they are also sold in refrigerated form in the gift shop at the front of the park.
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I visited earlier this summer and was super impressed. Yeah, it's small, but it's so amazingly well themed, there was still a lot to do. You can interact with the park via the app, earning badges by visiting as many locations as possible, which will reveal additional stories. They partnered with a local bakery to create a flight of cupcakes that represent each land (some of the flavors are blue berry, blood orange, and hazelnut). There's a specially made children's book in the gift shop that has one of the characters going through the park. And they even sell a dictionary that translates the language they created. It was really impressive, and the staff was super nice.
I do really hope this park makes it, though. There were maybe only about 35 cars in the parking lot the whole day. They seem to be under the umbrella of the waterpark and casino... not really sure why there isn't a shuttle going between those areas to increase more visits.
Another problem is location... unless you're local to the area, it's a huge headache to get there. The closest major town with an airport is Des Moines, but it's a regional airport, so flights can be expensive, and it would still be about another 1.5 hour drive. Next closest would be either Omaha or Minneapolis, both at about a 3.5 hour drive. And Chicago is about a 4.5 hour drive.
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That said, Lagoon is partially hosting an event in early October of this year, and Primordial was promoted as part of it... so they at least expected to have it open this year (the event was promoted just a month or two ago). Could always change, of course, but wondering if I should get my hopes up at all.
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On a side note, I was also wondering if there was any sort of Primordial update. Seems like news on the front has gone pretty quiet, and we're in the summer season now... weren't they hoping to have it open by now?
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Fair enough, I was thinking of my home park (Knotts). They'll really need to sort that out, it's already causing confusion
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Knott's is also doing it for $100 extra.
And Gold Passes, as far as I know, have never included parking. Only Platinum did. So it remains to be seen if parking will be included with this new add on.
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Log Ride has been closed for, oh, about 2 decades now, being ripped out for FT. I assume you meant Jet Stream?
SFMM has turned into a slot machine lately. I've had really good days where virtually everything was open, and terrible days where a crapload was closed. I have noticed lately that Superman backwards and JL have been closed for a long, long time (maybe 4-6 months?). That said, all the other rides you list have been open lately, so I guess you just had bad timing. That includes Jet Stream, which had been closed for at least year, but recently returned freshly refurbished and looking surprisingly nice (and no more leaky boats, they were refurbished too!).
Honestly, I suspect most of it may be related to staffing issues more than the rides themselves.
EDIT: It appears Ninja is closed because they are installing new fencing around the area.
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Yeah, I basically liked the entire ride until the bunny hops at the end. They're a bit *too* intense, especially in the back seat. I actually found the middle seats to be the best in terms of intensity, but even that pushes it. The entire rest of the ride is a blast, especially the two heartline rolls.
As for the Miler... I generally enjoy their craziness, and after the first turns and drops, I was thinking, "hey, this isn't too bad!" Then the second half hit, and I was thrown like a rag doll (not in a good way, IMO). There was one insane air time that was to the point that I seriously wondered if I'd be ejected from the car, and maybe a seatbelt would be a good idea. And the remaining turns were right angles. It was bad, IMO. And I was in the middle seat, FWIW.
The park does have a very quirky, carnival like charm to it. But I was also disappointed they didn't seem to be able to staff their own rides. I'd say 75% of their rides had no ops at all 45 min into park opening. The ones that were there were friendly, but if a crap load of rides aren't open, it doesn't help much. And the ops on Aero were pretty slow.
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I wouldn't expect the wait times for Mario Kart to drop by then.
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On 6/25/2023 at 10:35 AM, anonymouscactus said:
Quick question about Horror Nights at USH. So we plan on getting daytime tickets on a Friday, and then doing HHN in the evening. We are *not* getting the after 2pm ticket (despite this probably being the better value) we are getting a regular admission for the day, and a regular HHN admission for the night. I'd assume it's like Orlando in which there are holding pens within the park for those doing both? Or is it required you have an after 2pm or a special early entry pass they are selling?
Not sure if things are new or not this year, but curious how it worked last year.
I also was going to ask about how reservations for Mario World works but I downloaded the app and think I figured all that out so this is just me rambling. It looks like you have to be in the park to do that (or just fake your location I suppose) I just don't know typically how far out reservations go if we don't plan on getting there right at open. Looks like Mario World is ONLY accessible at night via the special ticket, not a regular HHN ticket, so we will have to do that during the day.
Well, they just added an upcharge early entry this year, which is new, so not sure how or if that will change anything, but in the past--Hollywood does NOT do holding pens at all. That's just an Orlando thing. If you are doing a regular daytime ticket, about an hour or two before HHN starts, you can head back to the park entrance to a podium (but it is still inside the park, no need to exit) where they will give you a wristband that is good for HHN admission. Be careful, once you put it on, you will no longer be allowed to ride the regular USH park attractions until HHN begins at 7pm (unless you get the HHN early entry).
Toadstool reservations tend to go very, very fast first thing in the morning. If SNW is important to you, you may want to purchase the early entry ticket for that... it's really the only practical way to do the games, food reservation, and ride. Do the games first, save ride for just before the park opens to the public. Once it does open, it'll be SLAMMED for the rest of the day. It has SR, but it's often just as long as the full queue.
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Seems that Roaring Rapids finally opened back up later today.
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That place is great too! I usually eat at the one in Burbank... didn't know they had one in Valencia!
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There's a lot of options near the Valencia Town Center mall. I personally enjoy Pei Wei, Pick Up Sticks, Islands, Presto Pasta, Stonefire Grill, Topper's Pizza, Chop Shop (custom salads), Cafe Rio (a Chipotle-style place), and Zanku Chicken (an local LA fave). There's also a Crumbl, and if you're willing to spend a bit more money and time, Gyu-Kaku is really good grill it yourself Japanese BBQ.
Behind the park in the other direction (more to the north) is Jimmy Dean, a fast food greasy spoon with a little bit of everything (burgers, chicken, salads, Mexican). Next to that is Tommy's known for really good, greasy chili burgers that are also an LA fave. And if you're looking for unique local history, can't go wrong with Saugus Cafe, which is the oldest restaurant in Los Angeles--130+ years! It's said that President Benjamin Harris dined there is 1890, and Theodore Roservelt in 1903. It's a classic coffee shop diner.
On a side note, SFMM (and others have also reported) that Goliath is now back open.
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I don't know if I'd consider Riddler and Golaith closed for "off season". They've been closed for multiple months.
Although at least Goliath has been testing, and is rumored to open in time for Scream Break. But no real updates on Riddler.
But it does kill me that SF wonders why revenue is down when so many rides have been closed for so long.
The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
No, they still have the Gearworks Theater, near the entrance to the Steampunk area. All the dance/cheer competitions the park hosts throughout the year will be moving there (actually, they already have moved there, some events have already happened in that location)