Gabe

Vortex got a new coat a couple of seasons ago. The brake shed was also whitewashed at Racer a couple of seasons ago, but was soon back to its current, grimy self, thanks to those who don't respect other's property.

Disney does not currently offer a public tour of its studios in Burbank, but has, from time to time, opened it up for tours in conjunction with big events like D23. Paramount and WB also have studios in Burbank, and I believe each offers a limited tour of some sort.

When the park expands X base, I would encourage them to build a restroom building as well! As it is, the nearest ones are at either end of Coney.

The building occupies a prime space in the park and I don't think it could be easily re-purposed from its current state. Disney will likely demolish it for a future Pixar attraction. The construction walls were bad enough when the BAH was being dismantled; I can only imagine the congestion this will cause when the walls go up around the building!

I rode it this past Saturday and all the effects and targets were in working order (at least the ones I hit). The volume was turned up a bit high on Boocifer, but otherwise it seemed to be in decent enough shape.

In its heyday, it was a great attraction featuring Robin Williams and Walter Conkrite and really gave visitors an in-depth look at the animation process, including a window down into which people could see animators working below. However, once Disney moved the vast majority of its animation overseas (and sent the rest to Burbank) and the movies became ever-more CGI-reliant, the need was no longer there. On my last visit, the movie had long since stopped playing, and the attraction was a ghost of what it once was. I don't think I saw a single animator working, though there were desks which were set up to look as if someone was at work and storyboards lined the walls (of Pixar movies, of all things). If the park is going to expand Pixar place, this wold be a logical place to do it, given its central location. Star Wars will be expanded on the other side where the backlot tour once was and over and around to the former Honey I Shrunk the Kids playset.

I was finally able to catch the whole Kooza show this past Friday in C-bus. The second half was even more stunning than the first. After a warm up featuring the main characters dressed in costumes resembling Day of the Dead, the wheel of death act was first, featuring two men on hamster wheels doing stunts both inside and outside while they rotated the apparatus. Following that there was a woman who was able to contort her body to spin multiple hula hoops at a time. Another clown act followed, after which an acrobat stacked 10 chairs end to end on top of each other and proceeded to do a balancing act at the top. The grand finale, however, was nothing short of amazing- a large cast of acrobats brought out a giant teeter totter, on which they jumped from dizzying heights while doing flips in the air. The icing however, was when 2 men and 1 woman came out on stilts and proceeded to get on one end of the teeter totter. A group then jumped on the other end, and the people did several flips in the air and landed PERFECTLY upright on the mat one after the other. They did this several times, leaving the whole crowd breathless. The show runs for 1 more week and I can't recommend it enough for those who are on the fence. Tickets can be had for $35 (and even a bit less with a AAA discount code that can be used when buying from the Cirque website) and every seat is close to the stage. Run, don't walk to see the show!

Just like that, no more poo for you! The poo-shaped treats have been discontinued.

A friend of mine recently visited the Kingdom on Saturday and took a pic of some flying debris from Thunder Run. Apparently that must have been missed since the ride was last inspected a week ago, per Ed Hart's earlier comments.

Perhaps now some of our legacy members like Terp can return.

Also, driving to DTD right now is nothing short of a nightmare. The new garages are very hard to access right now and the parking is a jumbled mess. During peak season, Disney buses have a dedicated lane, which makes riding them a huge plus. Unfortunately, after 4 PM, if you want to get there via bus, you must take a bus to one of the parks and from there to DTD. Not fun and time consuming, similar to using the bus to resort hop. It's very laborious.

AOA does not feature Little Mermaid suites. The suites are themed to Lion King, Cars and Nemo. Mermaid are regular rooms. AOA was once going to be a big expansion of Pop next door, but the recession hit with some buildings half done and construction was halted. After the economy rebounded, the project turned into AOA but the Mermaid building was substantially already complete so Disney decided not to spend the money to retrofit that building.

The Kroger tickets allow ERT just like regular Gold/Plat holders until June 30. Bring the paper voucher with you to the main gate where you will get a wristband.

I'd elaborate on Rail's point by saying that Disney is emphasizing affordability by focusing construction on more of the "value" (and AOA-like) hotels than deluxe, while also catering to the Vacation Club folks by adding capacity there as well. For every $400-500 a night room at Yacht/Beach, Floridan, etc. there are also an ample number of rooms available for $100-150 a night on property, depending on the season.

Agreed. Especially since the system does not entail any extra cost on top of park tics. It is still in its infancy, but the technology is such that it can be tweaked in any number of ways. Lots of Disney folks like me have now seen firsthand that there really is no more offseason at WDW. It's simply varying degrees of crowded. Even on 'slow' days attraction standby waits are what lots of us on here would call 'very busy' (Saturdays) days at KI-with lots of waits at around 45 mins. The FP+ system is designed to alleviate much of that problem. If you can book your 3 rides for early enough, even on crowded days, you can get a few more FP for other rides, esp. if you're willing to go on them later in the day or night. I'm certain the Frozen attraction will be a people eater, but have no doubt it'll be on the FP list as well (My guess is on the 'B' list, from which you can pick 2).

If memory serves, isn't the wallpaper in the que area from when the ride was Scooby-themed?

Most of the countries in World Showcase are no longer being sponsored by their respective countries. Norway is a prime example. When the Norwegian government was underwriting much of the operating expenses, a ride showcasing the history of the country was fine. Now that the agreement has long since expired, Disney is free to do what it wants with the pavilions. There is actually room for about 6-9 more countries, but a lot of countries not currently occupying buildings are represented in spring and fall by the flower and food festivals held at Epcot via food and/or souvenir kiosks in the "inbetween" spaces.

The IndyStar today picked up on the Enquirer blurb about DB being stuck Wed on the lift hill and having to e-vac. Just another day in paradise.

For those interested, Disney has released the first piece of concept art for the new Frozen attraction being installed in the former Norway pavilion at Epcot. At first glance, it looks like the old Maelstrom boats will be reused with no apparent changes. Other information can be found at the link below: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/06/first-look-frozen-ever-after-at-epcot/?CMP=SOC-TWITTER20150609170231

For those thinking of going to see Cirque du Soleil Kooza in C-bus, I'd highly recommend it! My experience there this past Friday was a bit strange in that the first half was riveting, but, at intermission, noticed very dark storm clouds over the tents. (the show is in the old parking lot of Cooper Stadium-with whats left of the ballpark rotting behind it) The break was billed as about 25 minutes, but due to the approaching storm, was extended. Unfortunately for my girlfiriend and me, after about an hour, an announcement was made that the second half of the show was cancelled due to more storms in the area. But, in quick order, vouchers were distributed instructing us to call their customer service number in the morning for rebooking. We called the next morning and got comp tickets for our next available date (June 26) in slightly better seats no less (the tent seats about 2500 but every seat is very close to the stage). If you go, do be aware that there isn't a lot of room between seats and its a bit of a tight squeeze, but nothing onerous. Once the show begins, you'll forget all about it. The first act featured trapeze artists, contortionists and a high wire act with a couple of small clown bits to break up the pace. Since Cirque shows only have a loose plot, as best as I could gather, there is a main character (a boy) who feels lonely and unwanted until a second character appears (the program calls him the Trickster) and takes him to places featuring the acts listed above that dazzle and make him a part of their circle. I'll post a review of the second act after I get to see it all the way through in a few weeks! One more thing--If you use social media to "check in" at the show, go to the merch tent and show the cashier proof of this and you'll be given a clown nose (one per person). On the way home the next day we made a stop at the Island for several hours and caught the new Cirque Imagine show, which is still great! After seeing some of the new acts, I firmly believe that some of those kids, with more seasoning, could easily end up as Cirque performers in shows all over the world.

In the early Paramount days, a parking decal was issued along with the Gold Pass. It had to be affixed to ONE car, which would be the only car allowed free parking privileges. Much like charging for Haunt (if a Gold/Plat passholder), that policy didn't last very long.

As a citizen of the Commonwealth, I get that. But, season passes in Louisville area Kroger stores were $59.95, now $79.95 and in Lexington area Kroger stores, they are still $59.95. Great value for the money. I think the way the tax incentive is set up, a certain number of out of state visitors must visit an attraction, this incentive is not unique to KK, it is available to any tourist attraction that wants to apply. So it makes logical sense to target low hanging fruit like Indy and Nashville with very good admission rates. I can see why they would not target Cincy since KI is such a formidable competitor. Not that this explaination makes it easier to swallow for citizens of The Commonwealth; but KK clearly had low priced season tickets for much of the off season, and continues to have this option now. I doubt this will be much of an election issue because KK is following the rules for the tax incentive. As far as the fate of the park, it will be interesting. I don't think a conservative or liberal government would want to see the park closed as the sales and income tax the park generates is fairly significant I'm sure-which of course is a voluntary tax. They want that revenue generated and an open park will do that, a closed park will not. If a park were afraid to target an area where another park is already dominant, there would arguably have been no "coaster wars", let alone the parks that co-exist along with the Mouse in Orlando. The ads in the Star feature pictures of different flat rides "new" for 2015-balooon ride, sky screamer, etc. No mention of T3. An article in the USA Today yesterday mentioned that this quarter generates the vast majority of a regional park chain's revenue (no surprise there). If Hart cant generate the $ he needs right now, the chances of him doing so after Labor Day are slim, esp if KK doesn't have a Halloween/fall season like KI/HW/CP do.

You can get KI parking tickets at Kroger too. Don't forget to use your plus card when you checkout. You get gas points. And if you use said plus card on any Fri-Sun through Labor Day, your purchase will earn you 2x gas points. 100 points=$0.10 off a gallon.

The main critique has been how a park that is able to operate thanks in large part to KY taxpayer $$ is then able to turn around and offer a steep discount on admission to residents of Indiana and Tennessee, yet their own home state residents are expected to pay full freight. I'm certain that issue will be raised in the fall elections. As mentioned before, the fate of the park beyond this year does hinge in large part on who becomes Gov.

In the case of Disney, I got to experience firsthand what happens when all my prearranged FP+ times get wiped out for no particular reason. They simply reinstate your selections with open-ended times (park open to close). Not an issue for KI Fastlane since its paper-based, but more of an issue for SIX.