PeoplemoverMatt

Of course it's propaganda. That's what I've been saying all along. Trouble is it's easily dismissed right now because it's SeaWorld saying it.

^ I just hope that, for most people, Blackfish isn't their only teacher! Too bad there's a lot of people who have never been to a SeaWorld park, would never travel to a SeaWorld park, and would let Blackfish form their entire attitude towards SeaWorld...

You're placing far too much faith in SFMM riders' capacity and/or willingness to read these notices and abide by them. At least 40% won't notice because they're playing tonsil hockey the entire time they're in the queue. Most everyone expects themselves and their stuff to be accomodated, rather than having to read/notice instructions on how to accomodate the coaster. When nearby parks like Universal and Disneyland provide facilities for loose items and SFMM doesn't, that lack of somewhere to put their stuff is not what they're expecting.

20 Years ago this morning, the Northridge Earthquake hit. As a result, a bridge on Interstate 5 and in the I-5/CA 14 interchange collapsed. The collapsed bridges were cleared in days, and rebuilt by the end of the year. BUT while they were being built, traffic only had a narrow bypass to use to get through the Newhall Pass between Valencia where SFMM is, and the Greater LA area. Traffic at North I-5 at the I-405 merge heading towards SFMM. Quake struck in January, bridges were rebuilt and reopened in November 1994. Damage to a building in the Valencia Industrial Center, less than a mile from SFMM SCVHistory.com provided the above images and has a great article looking back and providing an enormous amount of great information recapping and describing the earthquake itself and the aftermath. For those of you who don't live where earthquakes exist, this is a great way to learn about what really happens in an earthquake.

Awesome! Is there somewhere on MDX this can be seen prior to booking? Or, does this more or less "unlock" itself after booking is confirmed and I log into MDX with the reservation attached to my account?

Oh no! Not the Beach Boys! Not in the amazing concert venue that is Busch Gardens Tampa!

Are Magic Bands currently being given to all people who book a resort stay, special random people chosen who book a resort stay, or nobody who wasn't already chosen for these testing periods? I'm sure FP+ is working out great. It's just not easy to get a grasp of the what & how before booking or arriving, and I'm in the planning stage of a big April trip.

Should we bring back the PTS campaign?

Good news for Camp Snoopy. Good to see at least one park values its High Sierra-themed kid-friendly area.

If that's what you're going by, Scream is also gimmicky since it's a floorless.

No matter what time of year, there's always a fire danger here whenever warm weather mixes with dry brush and warm, gusty winds. SFMM sits at the base of a canyon, placing it in a permanent wind tunnel. It's always a prime target for potential brush fires.

Batman Stunt Show off the top of my head. It was a few years ago now. Show's probably not running at SFM anymore. Back in the day people wondered where SFMM's Batman Show went and the answer that was given was Batman moved to Mexico. EDIT: Also had in mind SFDK's Big Spin which obviously wasn't SFMM but was a hand-me-down nevertheless. EDIT EDIT: To go back to Scream and its location...even Scream shouldn't be down there. That area is all backstage employee area. Scream and its entrance plaza are plopped literally right in the middle of it with walls trying to hide backstage from view. A couple main backstage access roads go directly under Scream, navigating through the footers. To be totally up front, I used to work in an office so close to Scream that my desk would shake whenever Scream cycled. So good luck seeing anything more built down by Scream's entrance. The space is already mostly occupied, even though that didn't stop Scream from being built.

It wasn't just coasters I was referring to. You could but there has to be so much more to it than that. That's exactly what I was talking about Scream needing to be a big draw and it wouldn't be at those parks. People would yawn, roll over, and go ride SFGam's Goliath or SFOT's NTAG. That's not to say Scream wouldn't be a nice addition to either of those parks. It totally would be. But I don't think it would be enough of a draw as either park's *NEW FOR 2015* attraction to be worth the cost of moving the coaster. It's not like SFMM needs to cast it off because it's a maintenance nightmare. It's the complete opposite. Scream's worst failing is its location. Everything else about it is exactly what SFMM wants from a coaster.

That, and SFM has inherited SFMM hand-me-down's before.

They'd do it if it was financially beneficial to the chain to do so. It takes a lot of money to move a coaster from one park to another. It would need to be a situation where a park needs a new coaster, but the chain won't pay to build one from scratch, and SF gets an amazing deal from whoever the freighter is. Then you have to consider that Scream isn't too terribly innovative. Many of these other parks have recently built big new innovative coasters themselves, or have seen a neighbor park do so. Would Scream be that big a draw on its own, especially when the public learns its used, old, and already rough? Maybe Six Flags Mexico would benefit but after Medusa opens, I'm not sure it would help even there. If none of this points favorably to moving the ride, it won't be moved. It's much easier & cost effective for the park to leave it just where it is where it can be operated how it's being operated.

My MDE app still says FP+ is only available for pre-selected test participants. Wasn't there an in-park kiosk of some sort that guests were able to use in DAK? Did paper FP's really go offline today at MK? If so, I hope someone can report on what most guests are to do for FP+ if the MDE app FP+ controls aren't open to all yet.

I have no problem living with the Twitter feed if it comes to that. It's great that we're able to get these ideas out there and not be told to "deal with it" as you mentioned earlier.

I think we're onto something here.

Humans have been exploiting animals for food and as beasts of burden since the dawn of civilization, arguably earlier if you look how animal skins/furs were used for warmth. Animals are natural resources same as a plant, tree, or anything underneath the surface of the Earth. Plants are considered living things, just like animals. Only plants can't move about and make cute faces or adorable noises. As a vegetarian, you're still denying a plant's right to live and killing it in the most horrific means possible so you can eat. Is an animal so different just because it can walk, make a sound, eat, and crap? Humans live off the planet's natural resources. Always have, always will. We're not perfect, but we are doing a better job of that now than we have in the past. To your point about SeaWorld and seafood, I don't think SeaWorld offers as food the same sea life it puts on display on animal tanks. If it did, then maybe you'd have a point. AFAIK, SeaWorld serves up the same sort of mystery meat fish, shrimp, maybe lobster that could be found in most any restaurant in the world. The world is not going to run out of cod, trout, shrimp, lobster, or any other common ocean delicacy any time soon. Manatees, dolphins, otters, killer whales and the like aren't on anyone's dinner plate at SeaWorld or hardly anywhere else save for the people who literally live on the ocean. That's where the distinction is. There's nothing controversial about serving fish sticks in a restaurant while a killer whale show goes on down the street, just like there's nothing wrong with a zoo serving hamburgers. We aren't eating every animal that walks on land or swims in the sea. The ones we do eat would not be featured in anyone's conservation effort because there wouldn't be any reason. If cows or chickens were endangered, most people wouldn't eat them. There's no issue there. Or am I wrong?

California Screamin' last weekend!

As someone who doesn't watch a lot of movies, often times I see/experience the theme park version of whatever movie franchise a given attraction or entire land is based off of first. Then I go back and watch the movie(s) the ride/land was based off of. Usually I end up liking what I saw at the parks a lot more than the actual movie(s). Unfortunately with Avatar, I have seen the movie already and wasn't too thrilled with it. I remember in the beginning someone was describing Pandora as the worst possible environment for humans, or humans could never survive in such a hostile environment, or something like that. Now Disney is going to be inviting families with their kids into this same environment, to say nothing of how Avatar is a very intense not really kid-friendly movie. I'll be curious to see how these issues are reconciled.

Only problem is the author admittedly has not seen Blackfish. This whole discussion revolves around Blackfish specifically and its content. I don't think anyone here is ignoring or is ignorant of the general POV of animal activists in general. They're just reacting directly to the propaganda that is Blackfish. I'd recommend actually watching before spouting off on it, or the discussion going on about it. Maybe then the controversy would become clearer.

I voted for Option 2 because the large picture dominates and I liked that. Yes, you'd need a stock of large pictures, but is that really a problem these days with all the high-res photography equipment out there? If a park doesn't provide a large picture, would they really provide just one small one? Wouldn't they provide a few smaller ones that could be pieced together to create one large photo? That wouldn't need drastic alterations, and the park would be pleased that TPR readers could see all the smaller images at once, would it not? Not trying to tell you how to run TPR Robb, just putting out the questions/answers that ran through my head when I was picking which one to vote for. That said, if you went with option #1, I think it would be just fine. Anyone who vows never to log into TPR again because you went with the option they didn't vote for has to be extremely petty to have that kind of reaction. Doesn't sound like the kind of person to be too concerned about.

Option 2 is my pick because it puts the spotlight on what the big top stories are which is as it should be. I'm not saying a Twitter feed of some kind doesn't belong on the front page, but I don't think where it is in option 1 is the place for it. That home page in option 2 is a great showroom for amazing hi-res photo and videos which look their best in the larger size option #2 has them in. Shrinking them for the sake of a twitter feed is too high a cost. Put all that awesome detail on display the biggest and best way that it can be shown.

For those comparing wait times between SFMM and other parks owned by Disney or Universal, consider the attendance disparity that you may not be aware of. One an INSANELY crowded day at SFMM - the kind of day where lines are horrific, parking is out past the overflow lots, etc - the attendance is maybe 20,000. On crowded days at other major parks, the attendance is anywhere from 50,000-80,000 or more. So consider that if the attendance is ever the same, the other major parks have far shorter wait times for their attractions than SFMM does. On a 20,000 day at SFMM, wait times are horrendous. On a 20,000 day at Disneyland, wait times are practically non-existent. If SFMM ever had 50,000 people in one day, it would be completely hopeless for all involved. Food service locations would run out of food. There wouldn't be a wait for a coaster less than 2 hours. Wait times for major coasters would be 4+ hours. If USH pulled 50,000 in a day, it would be pretty crowded but it would be manageable. That's the comparison you want to make if you're looking to compare wait times and such between parks. Of course such comparisons are problematic because other parks have higher capacity attractions compared with SFMM's coasters, have more staff who're paid better and more experienced, and a host of other problems. I'm just saying if you're going to make that comparison, at least compare crowds to crowds rather than what *feels* like a crowded day.