#theme park/theme park history central

325 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

rotund grail
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coasters, rides that aren’t there anymore, as well as other fun facts about theme parks!

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mighty plank
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although i am a theme park fan i do not have many facts to share I just wanted to share this good photo i got of my cowoui :)

rotund grail
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SO CUTE

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I love itemfriends at theme parks

mighty plank
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i was able to get a lot at universal! none at Disneyland because it was too busy/I didn't like it as much as universal lol

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fun fact you can get a photo with your plushes and the characters there but I can't post them since my mug is in it. king julian loved ouioui though

pearl grotto
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i wasn't able to take many pictures last time i went to universal (the orlando one) because my phone died halfway through but i did get a picture of sincho in the gift shop of the mummy ride

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also one of my friend's favorite attractions is the dinosaur ride in animal kingdom he is devastated that it's getting replaced with an indiana jones theme
it's understandable though when we went together the ride was so empty the operators just let us stay on and keep riding it over and over at least six times before we voluntarily decided to leave

mighty plank
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wait they are??? i guess it makes sense it has been out of the public conscious for like. 20 years at this point

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i rode mr toad at disneyland thinking about how people protested it being torn down in wdw for winnie the pooh and i hate to say it but, uh, i think disney was right on that because it literally stunk. it legitimately smells like someone took a dump on it and also the ride feels like something more out of a state fair than an expensive theme park

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im wondering if they'd just give it a retheme and not a full reconstruction so it would still feel the same but also that would require making up a new indiana jones ride plot i guess, i think they might all be different in each park? i cant remember for japan but the queue was different

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...actually they may have been pretty similar tracks so :(

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i know they're taking out the bugs life ride though which, as sad as it is, its also terrifying for children (and an older movie ig, even if it is pixar)

pearl grotto
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oh yeah i forgot about that im honestly more upset about that the bugs life show was actually pretty fun

rotund grail
rotund grail
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It wouldn’t take crazy long but Epcot fucking took forever and half the stuff they planned fell through

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So at this point I’m just skeptical

pearl grotto
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most of the attractions that get planned for disney world fall through lol

rotund grail
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It’s quite sad lol

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That’s my current home park and it’s definitely not as good as what I’ve heard Disneyland is like

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I’m going in August or something

rotund grail
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it’s always a skip for me

pearl grotto
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i've only ever been to disney world once just because it's so expensive
so universal studios is my main park
it's still expensive don't get me wrong but it's not disney expensive

rotund grail
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I have an AP and it’s definitely expensive but it pays for itself even if I go once a month which is nice

dim stirrup
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florida area insane home park privilege (<- former floridian)

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tho even tho i went a few times as a kid i never liked the big ass movie parks as much as like. a busch gardens or a cedar fair

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but one of my fav parks is a former paramount so i guess im a hypocrite

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i would like to go to universal just once.... for velocicoaster...

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one of my dream credits :)

hallow yarrow
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Disney "lore" my beloved
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8yhKtcuhbY

YouTube
Offhand Disney
How Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion are CONNECTED

Throwback.

Thank you all so much for 250,000 subscribers! I thought for this momentous occasion, that I'd make another video expanding on one of my first ones ever uploaded years ago. So here it is. Updated info. Better audio quality, and even more importantly, more Lafitte.

ORIGINAL CONNECTIONS VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWVuQEhGG...

▶ Play video
rotund grail
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I haven’t been to fucking universal in forever!!! I live 20 minutes away!!!

rotund grail
rotund grail
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I’m actually at Dollywood today :>

dim stirrup
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dollywood.. ive never been. i have seen carowinds once from the air (flying to charlotte airport) but ive been to kd and bgw a LOT

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i havent been to kd since rmc retracked that one coaster tho

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havent been to bgw in a lot longer.. cries they have so many cool new coasters id kill to ride

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these days i go to parks further away more often than my home parks 💀 oh well kd will always be there. except i missed my opportunity to ride volcano bc every time i went it was fucking CLOSED

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oh god wait isnt dollywood doing something dumb. upon googling ive found out lightning rod is closed to get rid of the launch. L

rotund grail
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My dad used to work at kings dominion and tells me stories…. My grand aunt used to be a scenic painter there lol

dim stirrup
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oh shit i didnt know it was that bad. i guess a chain lift is the best option

rotund grail
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Yeah. Like it would be closed a ton because it would roll back like fuck

dim stirrup
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omg? kings dominion is like my top favorite park forever. even if they obliterated volcano

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godspeed dolly parton i hope she can fix it

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even if they rethemed avalanche (i am still mad)

rotund grail
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yeah!!! It was really cool because my grand aunt had stuff from old kings dominion but it all burned up in a fire aaaAAAAAAAAAAARGHGFGGHHHHHHHHHHH

dim stirrup
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GOD?

rotund grail
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There used to be a ride called land of dooz and she had one of those dooz fuckers but it’s gone now

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I would have adored to have my hands on it

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and I probably would because of my line of work LMFAO

dim stirrup
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land of dooz..

rotund grail
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look at these fucks

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evil

dim stirrup
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oh jesus theyre so shaped

rotund grail
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I they were pre Smurf mountain iirc I know surprisingly a ton of kings dominion history

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which is ridiculous but I kinda need it

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And then it was volcano

dim stirrup
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oh shit i knew the smurfs thing but i didnt know there was a thing before

rotund grail
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Yeah. My grand aunt did scenic painting on it

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Which is dope

dim stirrup
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woah

rotund grail
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dooz lost in the flames…..

dim stirrup
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sent to hell

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i havent lived in the va area that long so my knowledge of kd is so spotty

rotund grail
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I need to go back. I miss you kings dominion

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I went to bgw like last year but they’re remodeling loch ness

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which. Finally

dim stirrup
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omg swag

rotund grail
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that ride in its current state is rooouuuughhh

dim stirrup
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i havent been to bgw since i got over my fear of roller coasters so i got a whole mess of credits to earn lol

rotund grail
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One of the greatest coasters ever but my god it needed that maintenance

dim stirrup
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as much as i love rough rollercoasters maybe it is for the best i ride it after that LOL

rotund grail
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true. I pray one day space mountain gets that treatment

dim stirrup
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love a coaster that kicks my ass. However

rotund grail
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My neck does not appreciate rough rides

dim stirrup
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i like rough wooden coasters more than steel ngl

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still bitter they retracked grizzly

rotund grail
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🫡 grizzly………

dim stirrup
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im sure it gets more riders now but i will miss it

rotund grail
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I need to ride the new darkoaster at bgw

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I got the newest Dollywood credit last night, it’s a family but it was like 2 goddamn minutes long

dim stirrup
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omg? im so behind on new coaster news. except the six flags theyre building in i think the uae.

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i think i heard about the bgw one but i dont know anything about the new dollywood one rip

rotund grail
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I have to for my job lol

dim stirrup
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my credit score. idk how to refer to it besides that god bless. its been so stagnant i think the last thing i rode was cyclone coney island like 2 years ago

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roller coaster job...

rotund grail
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kind of ish

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I gotta be on the ball because people will ask lol

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I get paid to think about theme park

dim stirrup
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dream job. unless it sucks. i hope it doesnt

rotund grail
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It rocks. I love my job

rotund grail
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damn. New kings dominion plans for the replacement of volcano

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analog ravine
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YO?

rotund grail
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It’s a b&m wing coaster. Like wild eagle at Dollywood

analog ravine
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Sweet another launched b&m wing

dim stirrup
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LETS FUCKING GO

cosmic chasm
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this was my first theme park experience, and also my favourite, Space World, it shut down and i think is becoming a planetarium. its ironic because they demolished the giant rocket replica and now its becoming a planetarium

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mighty plank
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that's cool as hell whaaa :(

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I'd love to ride a rollercoaster next to a giant spaceship!!!

rotund grail
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Woah!! That reminds me of the US space center a bit in Alabama. They had rides there which was kinda cool

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I wouldn’t consider it a theme park but rockets and rides are a cool combo

stable yacht
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An Idealized fan concept for Disneyland

rotund grail
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woah!!!

stable yacht
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My favorite part is the inclusion of a Discoveryland rather than a Tomorrowland

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Discoveryland is Disneyland Paris’s reimagined Tomorrowland. What sets it apart is that they try to go for a steampunk/retrofuturistic look rather than a futuristic look.

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It works because it doesn’t have to be changed every 10 years.

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This is something I want done to Disneyland’s Tomorrow land

rotund grail
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honestly i agree, paris does that section right (besides the retheme of space mountain, it should not be star wars. it should have stayed the same.) wdw's tomorrowland is better than dl's from what i've heard, but both are pretty outdated

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tron at wdw is really a really good addition to that section

mighty plank
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I like hkdl since it's small and not too crowded. Also MYSTIC MANOR PEAK

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for having to get around not doing haunted mansion they knocked it outta the park

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...of course it could be more crowded now because a lot of construction is done lol

stable yacht
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It's proof that Disney parks can still have rides based on original concepts apart from any intellectual property

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Which makes me wonder when he will come back

mighty plank
mighty plank
stable yacht
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I was talking about Dreamfinder

mighty plank
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oh sorry lol

rotund grail
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him and dreamfinder

stable yacht
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Totally

rotund grail
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my old username on discord paid homage to the both of them, I love figment so much

pseudo whale
rotund grail
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yup! they do!

remote prawn
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ROLLECOASTE???????????????????????

remote prawn
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B&M finally branching out into making interesting rides makes me happy kinda

mighty plank
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was thinking about my experience at universal vs disneyland today... idk I feel like disneyland had so much pressure to do stuff and EVERYONE was also trying to do everything while universal I could get everything done in one day pretty easy and after that I could just chill and do whatever I wanted... very different experiences though the food at disney was definitely better in the parks at least lol

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downtown disney however was a different story. worst burrito I have ever had fr

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also you can actually take pictures with characters at universal without having to wait an hour each time LMAO (BIGGEST difference I noticed though I think it's different for the grinch?? ive seen that line go for 2 hours+)

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I would go back to cali just to do universal again it was fun. though I wanna go to Orlando again to see how it's changed

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...I do miss the churros already though. Good

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side note does anyone play vmk at all

remote prawn
rotund grail
remote prawn
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i went to USO once and it was pretty cool

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IOA blew me away though that was pheonomenal

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MIB sweep

pearl grotto
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i know what one of those acronyms means at least

remote prawn
pearl grotto
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thank you lol i never really like any "game" rides in theme parks myself

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maybe im just especially bad at them but not only do i think they're kind of boring they always seem to barely work for me

remote prawn
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the best shooting dark rides can be enjoyed as just dark rides

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case in point: Mario Kart

pearl grotto
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i wanna go to universal studios hollywood one day but i live literally across the country and just EVERYTHING about california is so expensive
getting there, staying there, being there, the works

remote prawn
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if you go now you miss out on the rollercoaster coming out in 2024 but Mario Kart will still be slammed

rotund grail
pseudo whale
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I went to universal in California one time and it was cold and it rained. They gave out free hot cocoa, which I thought was super nice!

remote prawn
pseudo whale
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Well I’m glad you survived through that

remote prawn
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im not meegghh

rotund grail
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I’ve survived many a rainstorm at Disney world

remote prawn
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and i dont really care

rotund grail
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it’s fun I like it

remote prawn
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its been on a decline from what ive heard

pseudo whale
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Its a fun place, but it gets super packed during most seasons and many of the rides are IP based

remote prawn
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ip based rides dont mean shit, it all matters about quality
i mean, why is IOA so successful

pseudo whale
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I agree with you, but IP rides seem to be very polarizing in terms of likability

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Many folks see them as a sign of laziness, but I don’t really agree with that sentiment

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It’s what one does with the IP that really matters

remote prawn
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theyre just using IPs as a hook to get people to come to their parks while also making sure the investments are cheap and unsatisfactory

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case in point: literally all of California Adventure

rotund grail
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It’s my home park and I like it but also yes there’s a decline

pseudo whale
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I agree with you there. Disney as a whole is in a decline, so its almost expected that their parks would do the same.

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If a company doesn’t take risks and keeps doing things “safe”, they’re bound to fall into mediocrity.

pearl grotto
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i think disney has better environment theming around their parks but universal just has better rides as a whole

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though i might be biased since i've never cared for harry potter and those areas are basically universal's big investment into theming

remote prawn
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and i can appreciate the theming in harry potter because... its just impressive as fuck

pseudo whale
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The theming is really nice, and the Forbidden Journey ride never looses how impressive the ride system is.

remote prawn
rotund grail
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I hope epic universe is good

mighty plank
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same... i will probably not visit until crowds are down BUT WHEN I DO heartdance exciting...

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though i do kind of prefer how universal is only 2 parks vs disneys 4, but like it was bound to happen i guess. I'll take it if it's got another Nintendo land...

mighty plank
rotund grail
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Yuuuup lmao

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They took out the last of the non ip rides last year

mighty plank
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like the only things i can think of not being ip (possibly) are gone- yeah lol

rotund grail
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(Poseidon’s fury)

mighty plank
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i never went on it because i was terrified of it as a little kid lol

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...and then had no interest the next time i went

rotund grail
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As much as I’ve seen Disney world decline quality wise it isn’t a good argument lol

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do I like Disney focusing more on ips? Hell no

mighty plank
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yeah disney and universal are both like, built on IP so it makes sense they'd use what they got, the average person will recognize "oh yeah i know this IP/like it" and will be more inclined to want to go to ride said ride

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also yeah no LOL as a non fan of the mcu (minus guardians i enjoy guardians) and star wars the parks painfully overcapitalize on them

rotund grail
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Yeah at the end of the day it’s all about the money. That’s what themed entertainment is

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it’s a shame creativity has been lost with the lack of original stuff but I doubt it would nearly draw as many people to theme parks

mighty plank
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i think they might learn the painful lesson (or have?) with the current... would i call it IP burnout ive been seeing with the mcu? maybe its just me but i feel like the average person, after endgame was like "ok cool good thanks"

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and they keep going...

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but also like, i could be speaking out of my own bias here because the marvel areas were Plenty Busy at DCA

rotund grail
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true…. thank goodness wdw doesn’t really get marvel because of universal having the theme park rights

mighty plank
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but also it's rides. people will go on fun rides. even whatever the Spider-Man one was

rotund grail
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Or else it would absolutely be part of Hollywood studios already haha

rotund grail
mighty plank
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every day i am thankful for the REAL Spider-Man ride at IOA

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yeah legit my first segment on that ride the mom next to me kept overtaking any points I tried to get and i could barely hit anything

rotund grail
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paid dlc the ride

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it’s insane

mighty plank
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i did end up getting the most points somehow at the end

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also smugglers run. awful. the 6 year old pilot kept crashing into stuff making the ship shake violently constantly DizzyDingle

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extra fun if you're an engineer! you get to push... buttons!

rotund grail
mighty plank
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luckily i only waited like 2 minutes for that ride since i was single rider, but like what da helllllllll

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oh and rise of the resistance constantly has issues/breakdowns and DESPITE BEING A GOOD RIDE at the end i find the amount of waiting In The Ride was just awful

rotund grail
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Rise is fantastic. Its operation time? Not that at all yeah lolol

mighty plank
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like you're in line. Go into the preshow room. go into the preshow ship. get transferred to wait with your group. go into the preshow prison cell. THEN get in a car

rotund grail
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I love guardians at Epcot and tron at magic kingdom. They did such a good job with those 2

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Tron is like. Super short

mighty plank
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i want to ride both of those they look fun :)

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also rise broke right as we were getting in our ride vehicles and admittedly i got so upset after waiting so long (with very tired painful legs from walking) i started crying outside... pain

rotund grail
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like I may not like a bunch of ip in the parks but I rode tron and guardians during previews right before opening and it’s just such a good experience

mighty plank
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like plus my legs being in pain i had already Not been having much fun at the park from the crowds and... obnoxious amount of Christmas is that a thing and that was like the One ride I really wanted to do despite not being a fan of Star Wars and i seriously thought i was not gonna ride it that day after that (and I had DCA the next...)

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luckily it opened up like 30 min later but like ffs man

rotund grail
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My parents did rise opening day at Disney world and holy shit was it a mess

mighty plank
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guardians tower of terror was also very good i enjoyed it a lot :)

rotund grail
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Basically they got to Hollywood studios at 4 am, waited for 2 hours. Rushed in because originally you had to be scanned in the park at opening to get a group

mighty plank
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happie 4 am... what was their group time

rotund grail
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6 am when entering the park

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I think they got on at 8

mighty plank
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oh ok im glad it wasn't like 5 PM lmao

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disney says go home and take a nap !!

rotund grail
mighty plank
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oh yeah they had to evacuate us too

rotund grail
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My parents went without me for opening which made me :(

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oh Well

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I get to do AP previews for rides. Idk what’s opening next ride wise here

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OH!!! TIANA

mighty plank
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earlier in the day someone fell off the ride so it had to be shut down which I understand but from what i saw it keeps Breaking Constantly

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oh yeah i remember...

rotund grail
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I think that’s literally it here lol

mighty plank
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cars test track broke too but i wasn't that heartbroken since I waited like 10 min the first time

rotund grail
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Country bears refurb too

rotund grail
mighty plank
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THE SECOND TIME I GOT IN LINE HOWEVER was even longer because single rider isn't single rider at DCA, it's "go in so your group can go faster but in reality it just clogs up the line even more"

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and there was a constantly coughing kid behind me who did Not want to do single rider and i saw in one case the cast member begrudgingly having to let on a family together in single rider because the kid was scared of going alone. just terrible behavior from families

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by the way the fastpass was $19 for the cars ride. im not kidding

rotund grail
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Yuuup.

mighty plank
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also people have been very... opinionated about the retheme for splash mountain/tiana's bayou adventure and it's just... 1. Michael Eisner why did you let That Movie be a Ride and 2. it's okay the original ride theme is going away stop making images of brer rabbit and tiana holding hands or whatever

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actual thing i saw i think on the disney parks reddit

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if you're so sad about it go to Tokyo Disneyland and Have a Good Time I Guess

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anyways. the turkey leg was really good actually

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all of the cart food was really good from experience?? i wish i had had a chance to try the filmstrip fries but if i ever have to go to DCA again i can get fries

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I enjoyed the seasonal food festival thing they had going on a lot, they also had carts from outside businesses and i got slime which turns out you can bring on a plane in checked baggage

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me talking about theme parks at 1 am

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cedar path
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I've only been at a few theme parks, like Legoland in Billund

mighty plank
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anyone see Zootopia in Disneyland Shanghai?? it looks so freaking good

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...not the biggest fan of how some of the animatronics look BUT. I need the pawpsicle...

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it's cherry so it's already a good flavor. apparently it's more creamy though? idk as long as it tastes good

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update: apparently it's hawthorn berry flavor so I have no opinion since I haven't had it... still sounds good though

rotund grail
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these look so so so good

mighty plank
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HAVE YOU SEEN THE GIANT MARSHMALLOW POPSICLE

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is choco raspberry I think

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this would have enough sugar to immediately give a chinchilla diabetes

rotund grail
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WOAH

mighty plank
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yeah the stick goes all the way through which is a Disney cheapo move but also maybe it's needed for all the marshmallow

deft river
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I brought my boyos to the Leonardo!

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rotund grail
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woah!!!

stable yacht
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Has anyone ever watched Defunctland? It's a webseries about theme park attractions and other themed entertainment establishments that aren't here anymore

rotund grail
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Yeah I watch defunctland a lot

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Did you watch the American idol video?

stable yacht
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I haven’t seen it yet

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I probably should

rotund grail
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you absolutely should it's great

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the epcot video is also very good

stable yacht
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That one was my favorite

stable yacht
stable yacht
# rotund grail Yeah I watch defunctland a lot

My favorite thing about Defunctland and the fandom it has is (at least with Disney) that it shows there are still people who care about non-IP rides or at least rides not based on the most popular IPs at the time

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I feel like Disney thinks there has to be a recognizable IP to their rides to have them be good. If they just saw what kind of things Defuntland did videos on, they would definitely realize there is still a market for non-IP rides

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Defunctland is interesting because there are episodes centered around rides where you can definitely see why they’re not here anymore (Superstar Limo, ExtraTERRORestrial, etc), but there are also episodes covering rides that were genuinely good rides that just happened to be a victim of unfortunate circumstances (Journey Into Imagination, Adventures Through Inner Space).

rotund grail
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tis why i love defunctland

mighty plank
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stop using frozen IP and use your head!! you can do it!!!

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also if anything the original rides definitely have more dedicated fans? like of course the og fantasyland rides do (and they're IP based) but if haunted mansion/potc/jungle cruise/space mountain don't have their fanbases yknow. or at least, they're seen as things you HAVE to ride. id also include its a small world but its got a weird amount of hate for it too... just enjoy your little boat ride man... its fun...

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then again, they started putting IP in it's a small world. i dont really mind (minus the little mermaid section which is just more scary than enjoyable) but i absolutely get the hate for it.

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and never forget the time they rethemed the enchanted tiki room to have IP... HomieDevastated

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it doesn't always work! sometimes its really bad! (also insert the stitch ride here)

hallow yarrow
cursive acorn
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Can't believe I didn't know about this forum, I think theme parks and their history are super interesting even though Ive hardly been to any lol

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I recently binged all of the For Your Amusement podcast, very fun (I have not ridden on a single ride that they've covered lol)

hallow yarrow
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the mechanism is realllllllllllll

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cedar path
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Splendid!

pearl grotto
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rode tiana's bayou adventure yesterday and honestly i preferred splash mountain

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tiana's was just so tame in comparison i really enjoyed the scary sections of splash mountain and those were pretty much scrubbed away in the revamp

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i also loved how ragged the splash mountain animatronics looked gave it some extra charm

pearl grotto
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also funny sign
they cannot WAIT to die

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severe oxide
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i know yall talk disney a lot but anyone a fan of other themeparks here in the US or even elsewhere? Personally i love Cedar Point and Kings Island, Universal Studios too

pearl grotto
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oh i love universal studios this was my second time going to disney world ever just because it's so horribly expensive
universal isn't exactly affordable but it sure does seem like it in comparison to disney

rotund grail
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also yeah I’m becoming more of a universal guy, I need to go sometime

severe oxide
hallow yarrow
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The spooky dookies

severe oxide
mighty plank
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idk why i think you may enjoy this

rotund grail
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I mean he’s right HAHA

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im going to Disneyland this week so I will gaze my eyes upon this hog…..

mighty plank
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also can you send me a turkey leg thanks

rotund grail
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absolutely

pearl grotto
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went to universal orlando's epic universe yesterday and it was, in fact, epic
the theming was so extensive for every area it was such a treat just to stand around looking at all the little details

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my favorite area was dark universe of course just because it had such heavy halloween vibes
monsters unchained was one of my favorite rides too

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only problem is that there really isn't enough stuff to do to fill an entire day but me and my friend managed to squeeze a good 8 hours out of it (it also started raining heavy and we were tired as hell so that contributed to it)

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also i legitimately went in here to see the homunculi but there was no homunculi it was a homuncuLIE

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mighty plank
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theyre def gonna fill out the park over the next decade or two, tbh kind of relieved it's a half day park because then you're not scrambling to get everything in in one day... less of an issue with universal for me though

rotund grail
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I really liked epic when I went, they went crazy with dark universe

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Also seeing TLOZ stuff brought a damn tear to my eye

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mighty plank
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dude when I went to Super Nintendo world in hollywood a couple years ago I actually experienced childlike wonder again for the first time in years. Universal knocked it out of the park

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ogh... I can't wait to see what the ride will be like for Zelda... also lots of animatronic potential

pearl grotto
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yeah super nintendo world didn't appeal to me that much but once they add zelda stuff it'll be a whole other story