We'll start off with our full Reverse POV, B-Roll and opening ceremonies. 

Our ride back to Joker. Nothing but top of the line service. 

We're all ready to go!! 

We got a lot of awesome off-ride pictures of the ride 

The ride entry

The Joker packs a lot of thrills into a very short footprint 

The trains 

You can see just how close it is to the original Batman. They'll be duking it out for years. 

The extended queue for The Joker 

You flip right over the bridge 

More inside the queue 

Heading up the vertical lift 

As you can see, dispatches were happening pretty quickly, especially for a media day event. 

A quick little action video 

Everything blends in very well 

Thanks Six Flags Great America for having us out. We loved the new ride and can't wait to ride more this summer! 

Some addition ride pictures provided by the park 

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Written by Gregg Condon

Kelsey Montague showing off her new mural, lots of amazing detail. 

Some nice detail shots of the new mural

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

As announced last week an all new nighttime show is coming to Wizarding World starting in June. Here you can see the projection mapping do-dad's. 

For those who think the Shrek building is going anywhere when it closes, think again. 

Speaking of Shrek, as we reported last week Shrek 4D is closing in August. 

We'll definitely do a full walk-through of the ride, queue and more before it closes for a future update (minus the actual film of course). 

There are a lot of small projects going on around the studios. Here you can see the land being cleared for new soundstages to replace the ones that were removed for future theme park use. 

Speaking of future theme park use ... they are continuing to expand the Starway in anticipation of new attractions on the lower lot. Imagine that, once again, a park expanding their ability to get people around before new things open. =) 

You can start to see the new Starway taking shape 

One of the new escalators is already being installed. 

The new covering is starting to take shape on the upper-most level of the Starway. It looks a bit odd at the moment, sure it will look fine when it's done. It's totally just my OCD. =) 

So why are they doing all of this? 

Because something is going on here. 

They are digging some holes 

They are also doing some some work near the Metro sets, couldn't get close enough to see what's going on. Could be for HHN as they did announce two mazes are currently being constructed. 

Here is the maze that we know is being constructed 

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update. We'll be back at Universal next week for the "Grand Opening" of Voodoo Donuts. So I'm sure we'll have another update with that. 

Mummy says what's up and be sure to check out my new movie in a few weeks. 

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Written by RD Sussman-Dewberry 

Now I know you're thinking: 15% of the population? Screw them. They're not all that important; they can go in the lazy river or in the wave pool. They don't need to ride the waterslides. They don't need those - they can be happy in the wet places that lazily go around in circles.  We don't need them clogging up the slides with accessibility issues. We don't want to wait for them to take forever to get into a waterslide, and then to egress the same one at the bottom. 

And I say it's time for a major change. 

15% of the population has some form of mobility issue that prevents them from being able to easily walk up stairs, or to be able to egress from a slide bay. I'm one of them. For me, going up a slide tower can take upwards of 30 minutes depending on how tall the tower is, and then getting out at the base can be nearly as difficult (I have to 'roll' out of a raft for example, landing face down in the water). At the same time, parks don't realize that they are potentially missing out on 15% of the population's MONEY. ​

Parks could install systems for these crowds - but are afraid to do so on two levels: The first, the cost of installing hydrovators (basically elevators with grid-floors for water slide towers that are designed to be safe for water parks) and hydrolators (Water slides with conveyor-belt lifts to the top, as seen in a very few parks) is expensive, and they require maintenance. The second is the modification of slides to handle a handicapped egress point (Lower sides on a boat entry - or a transfer sling for chair-bound guests) would require them to spend money to refit for these guests. Both are not inexpensive - at all. But let's look at the longer term benefits of a park.

If a park were to add these benefits, they could market themselves as the first handicapped-accessible water park where ALL guests are welcome. They could add in their own worlds of great benefit if they choose. And they could also allow for more guests to come in - more tickets sold - and more people to visit. It would allow for a previously unwelcome guest demographic to enter water parks, and to be treated as equals with others - something that the handicapped population enjoy - and respect. And it would be a free bundle of publicity that no money could buy: Being able to market it to the media. And the media would be there to cover it all over the country: A water park for all guests to enjoy. 

​I do go to water parks myself when I can - but I must be very careful where I choose to go with, and with whom I travel to them with. They must know how to get me into/out of certain attractions - and are very capable of doing so. Otherwise, a water park day for me would be floating around in a lazy river, wanting to go on a water slide- but being told I am unable to - or cannot - due to the stairs involved. 

It is time for a change. And a big one. It is time for water parks to become handicapped friendly - instead of handicapped hostile. 

R.D. Sussmann-Dewberry 
5/24/17

​Related Updates: 

• August 31, 2016 - Big Bad Wolf Memories (RD Sussman)
• July 6, 2016 - Obsolete (RD Sussman)
• ​August 20, 2015 - Fanboy Fertilizer and other BS (RD Sussman)
• March 18, 2015 - Line Jumping & other Park sports (RD Sussman)
• February 9, 2015 - American Idiot(s) - RD Sussman

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Welcome to Knott's Soak City. Look at the new hotness. 

Surf's up dudes!! 

A little rocking band at 9:00am 

Since we'd never been to Soak City we wanted to make sure we took a look at the entire park during our visit. 

Tee Hee 

All new Longboards Grill

Really nicely done

We had lunch later in the day and the Grilled Chicken Sandwich was very yummy

Opening the new expansion to Soak City!! 

In addition to the new attractions they've done an amazing job adding new landscaping to the park 

The Wedge  

The ever popular launch slides 

Stay Tuned, there MAY be some pictures of me on these slides to share soon. Well maybe beware. =) 

The new raft slides and the launch slides are a LOT of fun. Not too intense for either one. 

Another look at The Wedge 

They've also got a couple of really awesome looking kids play area's 

Don't try this without a waterproof camera ... =) 

Overall we really enjoyed our visit to Soak City. It got really crowded later in the day as it was in the 90's in Buena Park. They have a LOT of nice area's to set up your blankets and towels for a nice day in the park, but we suggest getting there early. 

We took a quick detour to Knott's 

We were able to confirm that the Calico Soda is now available all year at both Judge Roy Beans and the Calico Saloon. It's amazing. 

Boomerang is completely gone

Totally gone 

Extremely gone 

The new BBQ restaurant is coming along nicely

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update, we'll be back in a few weeks for the kick-off of Ghost Town Alive. We can't wait!!

​Related Updates: 

• Knott's Berry Farm - Sol Spin Review and Boomerang De-Construction 
• Patriot is now open at California's Great America 
• Knott's Boysenberry Festival 2017 Opening Weekend 
• ​Offseason update at California's Great America 
• Carowinds County Fair Construction Update

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From up on top of the hill you can see the new colors on Riddlers, well at least the track. The lighter shade is NOT the final color of the supports, that's just the primer. 

It's going to be so nice to see this ride shiny and chrome again. 

Through the trees you can see a bit of the final color of the supports. They definitely aren't as bright as they looked in the concept art. 

Old and new. Much prefer the new. 

The loop is staying green. Some reports we saw over the weekend indicated they were going to paint it yellow, but glad they went this way. You can see the final color of the supports on the right side of the loop. 

One tidbit we did learn from the park is that there will be no additional hard hat tours of the ride or metropolis. This likely means they are very far along on the ride and want to keep the surprises a surprise. 

A few other things will be coming from the park soon and we think you are going to like it but we've been sworn to secrecy. 

As you can see here they are starting to build the entry into the building. 

Some old, some new. It's going to be great to see the new look of this area. 

Looks like JB's is getting ready for it's makeover. 

Moving on from Metropolis, since we were actually just taking it easy in the park today we noticed some new things that we probably missed on previous visits. 

Looks like the Superman logo got some fresh paint recently. Weird spot for that trash can though. 

Some new tables and planters just outside of Jet Stream. This will be nice overflow seating for the new food area. 

All set for Grad Nite. The first one is tonight. 

We've also been remiss in taking a look at Hurricane Harbor which opens for the season on Memorial Weekend. 

​The family raft ride got a new coat of paint. 

And it looks like it's getting some new fancy rafts to match. Love little things like this that normally don't get noticed. 

​Hoping for a nice Hurricane Harbor expansion one of these years. Some of the original slides are in need of replacing. 

Alright, that's going to wrap it up, we hope you enjoyed the update. Not sure when we'll have another update, just depends on a few things going on over the next couple of weeks. 

Also, if you can't wait to see what Justice League is going to look like (minus the couple of surprises in the SFMM version) be sure to check out our Media Day Coverage of Justice League at Six Flags Over Georgia. 

Passed by FunSpot America in Kissimmee tonight and thought we'd check out the progress on Mine Blower. 

Mine Blower FunSpot America continues to look awesome. Can't wait to get lots of rides on it this summer! 

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