ryder

Rumors are estimating mid-July, but as usual, things are apt to change.

We were thinking about driving out there from LA, since we're not crazy about the idea of flying with COVID... but seeing the lack of people wearing masks or social distancing in the park is giving us pause. I have a feeling we may end up passing.

I wonder if the old sign will be put on display somewhere?

As of today, Universal Citywalk has partially opened. Parking is free (at the moment), and the following are supposed to be open: Voodoo Doughnut Johnny Rockets Blaze Pizza Starbucks Crepe Cafe Pizza Hut & KFC Taco Bell Buca di Beppo Shoe Palace Skechers Guess Accessories On a side note, apparently the Smashburger is being replaced by The Habit (not open yet).

The kids are not exactly excused from school... there would still be distance learning happening, and many teachers are requiring live zoom meetings and whatnot. While I'm sure a fair number don't participate, they are often taking care of family or working, so I don't necessarily think massive numbers of kids will be free.

Yeah, I was going to say, some people have been reading WAY too much into that.

That may be true, but I didn't see any currently listed on their site. Maybe there's local deals, but if I'm from LA looking to get tickets later this summer, I'm not sure how I'd find those deals. When I google "Lagoon discounts", all I get is the currently blank Lagoon discount page, and a list of those rip off coupon code sites that are also probably out of date. Nothing viable.

^Everything they said. If track is there (and assuming the pics aren't fake), the ride is already likely paid for. While obviously there aren't any pics from inside the park, have any of the recent drone footage caught any signs of footers or other such work?

I suspect they're a maintenance nightmare. Isn't that the same reason so many Arrow log flumes are disappearing? It had very little to do with popularity with guests, but they're tough to maintain.

I actually didn't hate Dragon. I found the worst part by far was that opening section of bunny hills before the lift--that was awful. The rest of it was not smooth, but I feel there's worse out there. But I will say from the off-ride point of view, it was very scenically located behind that pond. From a photography point of view, it'll be missed.

On the Sunday of President's Day weekend, we got group #130. But the ride was having a pretty good day... they were up to the 50's by 10:30am. It seemed to have a hiccup around 11 or noon as it stayed in the 50's for about 90 minutes, but after that, it flew. It was up to 80 by 1:30, 110 by 5:30, our our group 130 was called in at 6:30. Appears groups went as high at 156 by 8:30pm, then seemed to stop, so I figure that's how high it went that day. But to get to 156 by 8:30pm seemed pretty good, especially with a mid-day breakdown (park was open until midnight).

Everything this^. If it didn't duel, people wouldn't complained. Now it does duel every time, and people still complain because they have to wait. Really? I also agree that in general, the Pit Stop waits have been pretty short. Occasionally you may have a long delays, but it's more because of a guest delay more than the crew itself. After multiple rides, while this isn't the most intense in the park by far, more of a family+ ride as someone else put it, the back seat does have some nice pops in the first part of each track. The helixes are pretty lackluster in terms of forces, but it's also the most fun in terms of visuals/racing. And I don't know what some people are talking about when they say they don't really notice the racing. It's totally obvious to me, and adds a lot to the fun. Is it the most intense ride in the park? Not by a long shot, I'd rank it just above Ninja in that respect. But is it more fun that most are giving it credit for? I think so.

RMC's don't just have a lap bar... they have a seat belt as well, and their tucked away location is a pain in the butt for operators to check, and it takes forever... hence the slower dispatches. The advantage of the collars is they can be checked much more quickly. The comfort of the rider is likely a secondary concern.

I would take that more as "the lifespan of the components won't last more than a few years". They are used, after all. Thought if parts become cost prohibitive, that could make the long term future of the ride uncertain.

They only have seven, total.

For the anniversary, Knott's has created a special 100 year Annual Pass card. I was able to exchange my old Platinum AP for the new one for free. Makes for a great memento!

I assume "skip the line" is referring to the upper tier Memberships benefits? In that regard, there's no membership skip the line for: X2 (most days), Crazanity, and the aforementioned Superman, which has been off the Fastlane for years. And now WCR? To be honest, that's fair, as it's the new attraction. But it'd be nice if they gave Crazanity back, though with it's still high levels of popularity and relatively low throughput, that's unlikely as well.

Superman is essentially off the flashpass list altogether, from what I was told.

Chalk me up as someone else’s who enjoyed Flashback and Freefall. I rode the Freefall at Dorney park this past summer, and found it was more intimidating that other drop towers.

^That's the entrance to the old ride queue, which I don't believe has a door. ^^I mean, I'm sure people would be complaining about how bad it would look if the lights were totally off, so it's kind of a no-win here. I don't mind them on as a matter of theming and safety, if nothing else.

This isn't surprising. I had to call out a survey sent to me by SFMM, because one of the questions was checking off your favorite rides at the park... and Terminator: Salvation was listed. This was a while ago, but it had still been closed for at least a year at the time. In the "What else would you like to comment on?" question at the end of the survey, I told them it was difficult to take the survey seriously when they don't even seem to know their own rides.

And definitely check their twitter as you get closer. They are generally surprisingly good about tweeting when they are closed or closing early due to inclement weather.... so if it is open and starts to rain, check their twitter for updates.

I may have mentioned it already here, but the big Winter Break starts on Dec 21 for most schools, so I suspected if it were to open this year, it'd be around then. Little did I know I was right on the nose!

The race is on: which will open first--this, or WCR?

I was in the park over the weekend and asked about that with the Apocalypse staff/manager while riding it (so yes, it's still open). It was just an error, and they further clarified that Apocalypse will be open on weekends only until WCR is up.