PeoplemoverMatt

There's a pretty awesome program called "Building Penguin Paradise" on Nat Geo Wild right now. It's an hour long special on the building of SeaWorld Orlando's Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin area. So far it has been very detailed on the planning, design, and building of the new area, as well as tying the design in with the needs of penguins and the trackless ride system. Unfortunately my guide says there are no scheduled re-airings.

Back around when Flashback first opened, there was a flight simulator in a building right about where that building is. It didn't last long though. There was also a Flashback on-ride photo for a time. Those are my earliest memories of those buildings before any Season Pass processing was done or when Flashback's entrance was moved up. I don't believe it has been used for anything besides Fright Fest since Harbor was expanded to include Bamboo Racers way back when.

Right but couldn't the argument be made that neither does Tokyo, at least not anymore? But Tokyo has a well-earned reputation for going all out creating the most amazing attractions and areas that anyone's ever seen. It's a shame the US parks don't try for a similar reputation.

More like the removal of Tomorrowland Speedway since it's more a clone of that than, say, Disneyland's Autopia. MK would be wise to ditch that too as pointless as it is. But yeah, happy trails Grand American Raceway, Starcade, Tomorrowland Terrace, and the StarJets by the looks of it. So now that Tokyo has announced a "New Fantasyland" of sorts, it'll be interesting to see how MK's measures up as a sort of similar project. MK's New Fantasyland looked almost Tokyo-level amazing. Now we'll get a more direct comparison. Also, looks like we already know where the bigger, better Frozen attraction that the USA parks didn't get is going to go.

If I had to guess by the looks of the project, I'd say the re-birth of the upstairs of the former KOD building will come at the death of the downstairs. That arcade is dated and most likely doomed anyway. Why not repurpose it into a ride queue?

It was a much better ride before that foolishness started.

That would be sweet.

Has anybody ever driven from Kings Island area to Carowinds? It was suggested to me, but it sounds rather insane.

I had the very same thought. After DCA's entrance re-do and construction of Buena Vista Street, the front of Hollywood Studios is basically superfluous. That alone would not make much difference, but DHS' current front area also doesn't quite fit with the many possible new visions for DHS that come up from time to time. So if this park does head in an entirely new direction, which is quite possible given what we've seen, the whole front area could be entirely re-done and nothing much would be lost. The crazy fanboys can go to DCA if they feel some semblance of loss. Meanwhile DHS can be re-born and try to rise out of the basement of WDW theme park attendance. At this point, that's what it is going to take.

I would wager there's 99.99% chance they were not the first, or tenth line cutters that had passed him that day. People will reach their breaking point eventually.

Ughh, thought it was a glitch but I'm apparently actually MSM2828931 according to Origin.

13 years too long. Happy trails to one of the dumbest objects ever inserted into a Disney theme park. May it rest in pieces.

Just downloaded this last week. Lots of catching up to do! I'm MSM2828 on Origin for all those who receive requests from me or wish to add me.

Have you seen the new Boardwalk area? Have you been inside to see the re-do's of the Log Ride & Mine Ride? KBF is hardly losing any of its old charm. At this point, I would completely trust park brass to be able to build a big new coaster without losing any of the charm or identity that KBF has. TBH, I don't really see how/why even Silver Bullet takes anything away from the park's overall identity. The park isn't built out. They have shown they know how to strike a balance just fine.

Wow I remember seeing ads for Tokyo Skytree when I was there, but that was the last I ever saw. Nice to see it actually completed. I miss Tokyo...

Having more than mouse ears is a positive but I'm not sure how the park expects the other items to sell. If people didn't buy the mouse ears, what makes them think they will buy the glove or the wand at the same price point? Remember, the people in those videos were all given FREE Glow with the Show mouse ears. Then the park thought they could sell them for $25 each and roughly the same thing would happen every night. It just doesn't work that way. Last year they pushed the mouse ears and the Glow with the Show concept really hard with little or nothing to show for it. Why? Well given the fact that everyone but the wearer could see their lights, the idea of glowing with the show ultimately wasn't compelling enough to justify the cost. I'm not sure how only a minor rebranding and slight diversification of the product line is going to do much to change that and produce better sales. The biggest underlying problem, the high price point, was not addressed at all. You're correct that participation is key. But unless that wand can do some pretty interesting things besides just light up with the show, I really don't see these making the impact the park is looking for. People certainly don't just drop $25 to "participate" by having a light up thing they can't see because it's on their head. Now that it can be in their hand instead, we'll see what impact that has on the American guests. I think it worked well for Tokyo, but we know how prone Tokyo guests are to buying stuff regardless. Even if the wand proves to be sort of interesting, will people pay $25 for it? I have my doubts, but we'll see.

And this is why only a small part of a show's audience will have them. At least it's not quite as dumb as buying the $25 ear hat where everyone but you will be able to see your hat interact with the show. You could at least see a wand or glove in your hand, but $25 is much too high for a plastic wand or glove with a blinky light.

Manhattan Express??? F**K!! F**K!! F**K!! OW!!!

There's somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 people living in the "freaking mountains where no one else is" near Six Flags Magic Mountain. Just sayin'.

Looks like they're taking a bit of the Tokyo Disneyland approach - looking to make the park a kind of "greatest hits" of the existing parks in the USA that provide the initial inspiration for content and design.

That's not really anything new or different for SeaWorld. They've always touted their rescue and conservation efforts to their audience. There's really no way they can mention it without it feeling at least a bit forced and self-promotional. But to some extent they have to do that, especially with the lunatic fringe out there that will create BS like Blackfish. SeaWorld itself has the loudest voice and the biggest spotlight to draw attention to the good that they do. Can't really blame them for using it.

Yes, that's going to be a problem but is it really that bad given the limitations WDW has already placed? WDW's limit of 3 advance reservations seems to be mitigating this amongst all the millions of hotel guests that it sees. Unless you're looking to meet Anna & Elsa, those limitations are doing fine right? Whether they're hotel guests or AP holders, it's still millions of people descending upon the place. In terms of sheer ravenous guest demand, is there that much difference? Sure they're probably going to need the tiering that Epcot and Hollywood Studios does but apart from that it should do pretty well with enough tweaking and test periods to ensure that everything is working properly. Whatever solutions are eventually developed, it's still going to be a better situation than having to get to DCA at the crack of dawn and wait in a huge queue to get the chance to carry a paper FP for Radiator Springs Racers, and possibly lose it, for multiple hours. It'll be better than having to send a family member out to the other park next door to grab more paper tickets. It'll be better than having to wait in those main entrance turnstile queues while people dig around in their pockets for their admission ticket and have to get their picture taken because terrible people fraudulently sell and transfer ticket media. I just can't wait until these all these unnecessary delays are gone forever.

Same principles of ignorance and self-gratification can be seen in how people think Sea World's enlarging of the killer whale habitats is a direct reaction to Blackfish. It's the same thing. People are too dumb to realize these projects spend months/years in the planning stage before the announcements are made. Yet somehow people think some executive sees Blackfish or Universal or whatever, does a spit take with their coffee, grabs the nearest phone and demand these new projects begin immediately. I guess all the plans and such just magically materialize? I just don't know how they think it's even possible for it to work that way.

Nope, but the lift hill will go a bit higher and the drop will be at a little steeper angle than before.

This is one of the reasons why it makes me laugh when another, considerably more hysterical website occasionally rants about how this or that Potter whatever is going to kill WDW, or is *the* sign that WDW is on some huge nosedive into oblivion.