Welcome to IAAPA 2019!! Let's head in and see what's being revealed this year!! 

Day one of IAAPA is usually the day of train reveals, and this year didn't disappoint AT ALL. 

First up, Iron Gwazi, opening at Busch Gardens Tampa next year. 

Texas Stingray coming to SeaWorld San Antonio next year 

Pantheon coming to Busch Gardens Williamburg next year 

Carnival Cruises also unveiled the coaster trains for Bolt and had a special guest, the Chief Fun Officer himself!! 

You can find out more about Bolt here. 

In a surprise move, SeaWorld San Diego announced a new name for their dive coaster. Emperor!!

Let's hope an upgrade of their Penguin Encounter is also a part of this change. 

Not IAAPA related at all, but how amazing is this poster? 

Premier Rides and SeaWorld Orlando unveiled the trains for Ice Breaker 

Zamperla's two brand new coaster designs!

Shout out to Fred Langford and Alberto Zamperla who were this year's Hall of Fame inductees!

New vehicles for the brand new dark ride coming soon to the brand new Legoland New York.

For Knott's fans, the Triotech/Knott's conference and a teaser trailer for Bear-y Tales Return to the Fair. 

The lead car for King's Island's new B&M giga coaster, Orion.

That's gonna wrap it up for Day One. Stay tuned to all of our social media for Day Two tomorrow!! 

Related Videos: 

Related Updates: 

• Silver Dollar City 2020 Project Construction Update - June 10, 2019
• Trip Report: Fun Spot Orlando - May 16, 2019
• Trip Report: Hong Kong Ocean Park - March 18, 2019
• Scarywood 2018 at Silverwood
• Coaster Road Trip to Floribama

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Chicken and Waffles go with Beer Cheese Soup right? Because both were amazing. 

A Christmas Town Tradition 

Loaded Mashed Potatoes with Turkey and Gravy, shredded cheese, bacon and sour cream. No diets during the holidays!! 

It's the Christmas Turkey!! 

Sing Along Train!! 

Lots of lights to see everywhere 

Oh, we had to take a look at Iron Gwazi construction. 

Don't forget, train reveal tomorrow at IAAPA!! 

The cracker of nuts 

You had us at Penguins!! 

Model trains are the best 

Saturday night was pretty busy, so we came back on Monday night and as you can see, the crowds were nice and light. 

No melt snow people. Snow Persons?  

SANTA! I KNOW HIM. 

Lots of pretty lights to see as the sun goes down 

Welcome to K758U QXAZ!

​Or could it be the North Pole? 

Yeah, you're gonna have a lot to eat. 

Thanks Busch Gardens for having us out to enjoy the event. We love it!! 

Something truly magical about heading into a theme park before it even opens. 

It was in the low 50's and perfect at the start of the race. It got up to the 90's later in the day. Winter in SoCal!! 

They used the digital boards to help the runners which was awesome. 

And of course, no theme park race would be complete without characters!! 

Lots of runners heading down to the lower lot. Be sure to check out our highlight video too. 

Some were going for a fast time, others were just enjoying the park and course. 

I'm sure people were flying down this hill!! 

We moved over to the finish

The kids race medals

Congrats runners!! We didn't hear that the T-Rex caught any of you, so that's good. 

Let's head into the park and check out what's going on. 

Now that HHN is over, the park has quickly switched to Holiday mode. ​

Lots of awesome Holiday merch

A collection of shirts, hoodies, characters and more. 

It snowed at the park apparently. 

Always love the Minion tree 

They're getting ready for Grinchmas 

Taken before the park opened as we were headed to the finish of the 5k, but totally loved this pic. 

Even the Wizarding World is celebrating the holidays 

Secret Life of Pets is coming along quite nicely 

The amount of detail on the building is impressive 

Super Nintendo Land is growing each and every time we visit the park 

Impressive, most impressive. 

The decorations are also all around CityWalk 

Tony Roma's is closed, NBC Sports Grill/Brew is coming. 

Cool new (to us at least) mugs at Voodoo Doughnuts 

And even some Universal Running doughnuts 

King Kong wishes you a GrrrGrrr Grrrrrrmas. 

We'll be back in a few weeks for Grinchmas!! Hope you enjoyed the update!! 

Starting early November, Disney Cruise Line adds sparkle to each ship during Very Merrytime Cruises, with traditional “turkey day” fanfare, Christmas feasts, “snow flurries” and more. During these voyages, special stem-to-stern holiday events include:

• “Mickey’s Tree-Lighting Magic” in the atrium lobby on the first night of the cruise, where Disney characters lead holiday carols and the lighting of the glittering, three-deck-tall tree.
• “Santa’s Winter Wonderland Ball” in the atrium lobby, where Disney cruisers welcome the guests of honor, Santa and Mrs. Claus, with a grand celebration featuring Broadway-style entertainment, favorite Disney characters and classic holiday tunes. This evening of enchantment is made complete when a special pair of royal sisters joins the party and causes a flurry of “frozen” fun as a magical snowfall overtakes the atrium.
• Dickens-inspired carolers carrying the spirit of the holidays throughout the ship while singing holiday classics, sometimes with the help of favorite Disney friends. At the end of the cruise, children will have the opportunity to join the carolers onstage for a special farewell show.
• Family holiday activities including decorating gingerbread cookies and meeting Santa Claus.
• Youth holiday crafts such as decorating stockings, making holiday cards and creating holiday animation cells.
• “Story Time with Mrs. Claus,” a special time for her to read well-known Christmas stories from her rocking chair near the tree.
• A special holiday edition of the cheerful farewell celebration on the final night of the cruise, with beloved Disney characters and the ship’s crew in an engaging musical finale led by Mickey Mouse.

On Thanksgiving Day, guests will enjoy a bountiful Thanksgiving Day feast. Also during the special Thanksgiving voyages, NFL football games will be broadcast live in select venues throughout the ship, including the outdoor, jumbo LED screen – Funnel Vision – located near the family pool.

During Christmas sailings, guests delight in festive treats and and a special musical performance from the children. A traditional Christmas dinner will be served that night in the dining rooms.

Christmas services will be held on Christmas Day with a midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Hanukkah services will be held for eight days, beginning on the on the 25th day of Kislev.

When the ships stop at Disney’s private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay, during the holidays, the celebration continues with “snow flurries,” a decked-out Christmas tree, Disney character meet-and-greets and holiday island music.
​
To learn more about Disney Cruise Line or to book a vacation, visit disneycruise.com, call Disney Cruise Line at 888-325-2500 or contact a travel agent.
​

PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) is partnering with Carnival Cruise Line, the world’s most popular cruise line, to become the preferred beverage partner for its North American fleet. Beginning in January 2020, Carnival Cruise Line will begin serving a variety of beverages from the PepsiCo portfolio featuring premiere brands from Starbucks ready to drink coffee to fast-growing bubly sparkling water. When the transition is complete, Carnival guests will have a broad selection of beverage choices, from iced tea, sparkling water, coffee drinks and sports drinks to juices and soft drinks, including an array of low calorie and no sugar options.

“At Carnival Cruise Line, we invite our guests to Choose Fun, and now with PepsiCo’s extensive portfolio of brands, we’re able to give them more ways to choose a beverage that suits their taste, mood and preference,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “PepsiCo’s line-up of beverages will give our guests access to leading brands in growing non-soda categories like iced tea, juice and sparkling water, as well as popular soft drink brands that consumers love. We’re also excited to work with PepsiCo on our shared commitment to sustainability, including a reduced reliance on plastics, and alternative ways to deliver and serve water and other beverages.”

As they cruise, Carnival Cruise Line guests will be able to enjoy some of their favorite PepsiCo brands such as bubly, Pure Leaf, Naked Juice, Gatorade, MTN Dew, Starbucks, Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Sierra Mist and Sierra Mist Zero Sugar among others.

“Our brands both celebrate having fun and offering something special for everyone, making PepsiCo and Carnival Cruise Line a great match,” said Anne Fink, president of PepsiCo Global Foodservice. “We’re excited to share the voyage as we create enjoyable, seamless experiences for Carnival Cruise Line passengers while they enjoy their fun vacations at sea and ashore.”
​
As “The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line®,” Carnival Cruise Line annually sails more than 5.2 million guests Its fleet of 26 ships will grow to 28 with the delivery of Carnival Panorama in December 2019 and Mardi Gras in August 2020.

Good Morning Puerto Vallarta!! 

Absolutely beautiful

We sat and watched them docking, it was super cool. 

Amazing music to greet us!! 

And I met a friend!! 

Today we are going on a snorkel adventure!! 

It was nice that we could just walk from one ship to another right in the port. 

Let's go have some fun!! 

So at this point of the update, we switched to our 10+ year old Olympus Tough camera. It's not the best camera, but it's water proof and drop proof. 

Our excursion was put on by Vallarta Adventure and they couldn't have been more amazing. 

First stop was Majahuitas for a bit of snorkeling. 

And of course, each update must include a video of me looking like an idiot. =) 

Oooooh, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fish

As you can see, the water was amazing. 

Floating around in the ocean

Then it was off to Yelapa. This looks like a postcard. The only way to get here is by boat, which is kind of awesome. 

There were two options here, the first included a hike to a waterfall and the second included extra time relaxing on the beach. We took option 2. 

Is it wrong I want to buy one of those condo's and just work from here? No? Good. 

We spent the next 2 hours lounging in the sun, enjoying the amazingly warm water and just enjoying our amazing vacation. 

After finding our relaxation it was time to head back to the ship. 

These are the faces of two totally relaxed and content people. 

The crew put on a really fun show as we made our way back to port. 

So long Mexico, we've got two sea days coming up!! 

Dinner that night was pasta something, and it was amazing. 

And bread pudding

Rockin' night at the theater. It was awesome!! 

Over the next two days we spent a lot of time exploring the ship and of course relaxing A LOT. This also included our second formal night. 

​We've come to refer to this as our "Prom Picture". 

Our last day at Sea

Had to get our St Jude shirt!! 

And of course get a selfie with our amazing Cruise Director Leigh

Oh, and Bingo with the amazing Captain Cash (who's a huge Disney fan we found out) 

Also, just a shout out to the amazing service team at all of the restaurants, our room steward and basically everybody. You get SO spoiled while on a cruise, nothing can prepare you for the amount of pampering. 

Flatbread, it was so freaking amazing. 

Baked Alaska

Our final Sunset 

We're not really "party" people, but we had such a fun time the last night at the departure party. 

Sadly, the next morning we woke up to find ourselves pulling into Long Beach. 

Get out. We mean, Please, Get out. (a little Jungle Cruise humor)

Thank YOU Carnival!! 

So that's our trip, we hope you enjoyed our adventure and we seriously can't wait until the next one. It's literally our Xmas present to each other this year.