Some of these pics are from Saturday (March 4) and some are from Wednesday (March 8). We'll point out the differences so you can see how much has changed in just a few days. 

Work is still continuing around the globe out in front of the park (although it could be done by now ;) ) 

This definitely isn't done yet. 

We totally love the Streetmosphere at Universal Studios. 

More concrete work going on

On Saturday Stages 22 - 24 were still standing 

By Wednesday it looked like this. Rumors are Stage 25 will be gone today. 

To support whatever it is they are building on the Lower Lot they are also adding another Starway. 

New wraps on the wall on the upper lot. 

So what does this all mean and what's this all for? 

At this point it's pretty clear this is for NintendoLand (or whatever it is they end up calling it). You now have a pretty big space where the soundstages were, rumors are the restaurants where Panda Express is will be gone after the summer and you also have the space that was cleared when Stage 28 was removed. 

Now the original rumor was that the Stage 28 space was going to be for a Secret Life of Pets ride, based on absolutely no evidence we are of the opinion that this is no longer going to happen. 

First off, the ride was never "officially" announced. Remember when Universal unveiled their new logo last year, that was when everybody thought they were going to announce Secret Life of Pets. 

Let's look at the timeline here: 

• September 2014 - Universal demolishes Stage 28
• March 2016 - Rumors abound that a Secret Life of Pets ride will be announced during opening of Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• April 2016 - Wizarding World opens with no announcement
• May 2016 - Universal and Nintendo announce partnership
• June 2016 - Universal Studios Hollywood announces a major announcement, turns out to be only for a new logo

So let's assume that a Secret Life of Pets ride was in the planning stages and was going to be announced in either April or June 2016. Think it's a pretty safe assumption. But then something happened in May 2016, Universal announced a partnership with Nintendo. 

Obviously Universal Creative is constantly working on new attractions and they were going to have "back up's" if Nintendo didn't happen. But then it did, and why not have MORE space for Nintendo instead of a Secret Life of Pets ride? 

Now this isn't to say SLOP is never going to happen, it very well could. But the original rumor is that it was going to open THIS year in the former spot of Stage 28. There is still NOTHING there. Let's say they started building the ride today in that spot, you're probably talking 12-18 months before opening. That's a full 1 1/2 to 2 years after the movie came out. 

On the other hand you have Nintendo which is all of a sudden relevant again after the disastrous Wii U, you've got a new Zelda game, new Mario later this year and an amazing new console (which we'll have a review of next week, so stay tuned). Seems like a no-brainer to us, you use as much space for Nintendo as you can. 

We could be TOTALLY off-base here, but we don't think we are. 

UPDATE: The following pictures were taken on March 10, as you can see all of the stages are gone. 

Alright, enough with the fun speculation, back to stuff that's totally happening, like some nice work to keep Super Silly Fun Land looking Super and Silly. 

Last Saturday Voodoo Donuts was still walled up and closed 

This is going to be an awesome combo!! 

Wednesday Voodoo Donuts is all ready to go, rumors of a soft opening today and public opening tomorrow. But we'll update when we have more info. 

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update, we hope you enjoyed some fun speculation about the future of the park, we sure enjoyed writing it up. 

What do you think? Are we totally off-base here? Let us know in the comments below. 

​Related Updates: 

• Tour of new Universal Cinema at CityWalk LA 
• Lunar New Year and Park Update from Universal Studios Hollywood
• ​Experiencing HHN Hollywood in a Wheelchair
• Photo Tour of Universal Studios Florida
• Photo Tour of Islands of Adventure ​​

As Six Flags’ initial virtual reality experiment continued through the end of the 2016 season, many of the parks that had a VR coaster and hosted Holiday In The Park got a Christmas-themed VR overlay. Oddly, one that didn’t was the one that was the first to actually roll out the whole thing in 2016, Six Flags Over Georgia. In hindsight, it seems that the reason may have been future plans for the VR hardware. ​

As we discovered a week or so ago, Six Flags has moved the headsets off Dare Devil Dive and over to the Peachtree Square section of the park. Using Six Flags’ one-of-a-kind-in-North-America Gyro Drop tower, Acrophobia, Samsung VR is presenting a first-of-its-kind-in-North-America experience, Drop of Doom VR.

While the name of the overlay borrows from its sibling drop towers at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six Flags Great Adventure, the rest is very unique, but not in the way you might think. Since Acrophobia’s debut in 2001, many park guests oddly refer to the ride as “Arachnophobia”.

​I guess because they’re more familiar with a certain campy horror movie by that name than they are with the actual ride name. I have to give whoever decided on this theme huge props for taking that malapropism and working it into the experience.

After you’re seated on the 30-person gondola, the ride attendants will assist in fitting the VR goggles to your head. The Samsung Galaxy S7 phones mounted in Samsung Gear VR goggles return for this use, and are still quite comfortable and easy to focus.

While you’re waiting, you’ll be able to gauge just what’s going on … you’re rigged up on a helicopter mounted gondola with a high-powered gun that aims wherever you look as a city is overrun with gigantic (and not so gigantic) spiders. “Spiders … why did it have to be spiders?” you might say.

As you go aloft, you’ll be besieged by spiders on nearby buildings and flying insects, all perfectly good targets for your unlimited ammo. You’ll cheer as giant robot warriors take the fight to the arachnids. You’ll gasp as an equally-giant black widow takes out one robot, then cringe as you see its offspring crawl all over your virtual self. Then, you’ll scream as your gondola gets knocked off the helicopter and enters a 100-story virtual freefall, timed with the ride’s actual 16-story drop.

​Fortunately, instead of crashing to the ground below, you’ll land in a handy spider web … wait, that can’t be good, and as you might expect from giant spiders, it isn’t. Only a well-timed robotic stomp keeps us from re-enacting the finale of “The Fly”.

The tech involved in making “Drop of Doom VR” happen is similar in concept to that used for Dare Devil Dive last season. There are wi-fi boxes mounted to the gondola, about the size of a paperback book, which communicate the ride experience to the VR headsets.

Markings have been placed on the tower for sensors to confirm exactly where on the 212-foot-tall tower the gondola is, making sure the VR content is synced up with the ride. Fortunately, in the event it does decouple, the sensation is not as disorienting as it would be on a roller coaster. If you cannot or choose not to use the VR headset, you can still ride, as they can handle a mixed loadout of riders with ease.

If there is one concern heading into this season, it’s how quickly they can dispatch the ride on each cycle. If you do intend on going the first couple of weekends, please be sure to pack your patience, as they want to cycle the ride as quickly as you want to ride and blast spiders, and may well change some things up from time to time if something is or is not working.

2017 marks Six Flags Over Georgia’s 50th anniversary season, and while the park’s big present – Justice League 4D: Battle for Metropolis – won’t open for another couple of months (May 26, to be specific), there’s still plenty besides Drop of Doom VR to entertain guests.

Justice League’s new home, Metropolis Park, will be ready, complete with a gussied-up Superman Ultimate Flight. Metropolis Park will have new food/drink options for this area of the park, although we’ve been told the food service won’t be ready for opening weekend.

​Anniversary signage is appearing throughout, and a photo retrospective wall occupies the pavilion at the end of the Promenade. We’re looking forward to checking out the rest of the changes as we explore the park this weekend.

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Busch Gardens Tampa just started its 3rd rendition of their own Food & Wine Festival to compliment the already spectacular fall event at Epcot. In each year, they've slowly grown and improved their product, and this year did not disappoint. From the vast array of artwork and topiaries spread throughout the festival area, to the ever-evolving food and drink selection, they are clearly putting great time and effort into making this an event worth attending every year. And not only that, their sampler lanyards and ability to discount purchases with season passes surpasses what Epcot does with their event. ​

​This year they added a taco stand, a stand in which all the food items are "cooked" or "infused" with Coke products, new food items such as mango shrimp ceviche, venison meatloaf, vegetable aripas, Korean-style ribs (YUM!), among many other delicious food and dessert choices. They seem to focus more on a "Floridian" type menu as opposed to the world-tour Epcot provides, but it works for a place like BGT.

​My only qualm is that the variety of food didn't stack up to the variety of drinks. So next year, they could keep expanding the menu. The best thing I have to say is BGT has improved each successive year this event has taken place, and it's a more than acceptable replacement for the now-defunct Bands, Brews & BBQ events they used to have. They've grown the festival area from only Gwazi Park the first year, to a much wider area encompassing the midways from Sesame Street to Morocco. They also have local businesses who can come into the park and sell various arts and crafts, allowing them to get their name out there and grow.

We'll start off with the Timber Mountain Log Ride which just came back from a refurbishment and looks great. 

Love the views from the ride, there's not a better log ride anywhere. 

They've got the entire area closed off by the new BBQ restaurant 

Mostly just foundation work at this point 

Let's put the "Montezooma's Revenge is getting removed" rumors to bed right now. It's not going anywhere  and recently got a nice new paint job. 

In addition to the new paint job, the ride was running amazing. 

Maybe the station is next to be painted? 

Right next to Jaguar, work continues on the new Sol Spin flat ride. 

You can see the foundation for the loading area and the space chunked out for the actual ride mechanism. 

In other refurbishment news, Bigfoot Rapids is closed and looks to be getting a lot of work done. 

Remember, if you ever want to make your own rapids, all you need is some metal tubes. =) 

Even the dryers are getting refurbed. 

Some work going on near Wilderness Lodge as well. 

Fun Bun coming soon 

Oh look, more offseason refurbishments. 

It's great to see so much care being given to the parks attractions. 

It was the last weekend for Knott's For The Cure, the merchandise for this year was great. 

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update. We'll be back at the park next week for a preview tasting event for the Boysenberry Festival and of course for the Boysenberry Festival in April. 

​Moo ... 

​If you had asked me ten years ago about the future of California’s Great America, I would have told you to book a trip while you still can. I, like many others, was convinced that this park would eventually be a distant memory, most likely replaced by a tech campus or condos. But here we are, 2017, and Great America has laid the groundwork to become a rising star in the Cedar Fair chain. After the impressive debuts of Winterfest and Mass Effect: New Earth in 2016, the park was granted approval of a new master plan that, among other things, makes it easier for them to add new attractions and raises their height ceiling to 250 feet.

​We were fortunate enough to tag along with ACE Norcal on a preseason tour of the park. This year is all about Patriot, so lets take a look around!

​It seems like so long ago that we were saying farewell (or perhaps, good riddance) to Vortex and California’s Great America. This B&M coaster sits in the middle of the park, and despite it’s fun, snappy little layout, the coaster was both an eyesore and and pain to ride. 

​One of the best things about Patriot is that its bright colors bring life to the surrounding midways. Since the ride is placed in a central area of the park, it interacts with several different midways. Instead of clunky standup trains rattling along faded track, guests throughout the park will see the flashy new floorless trains whipping around the bright blue twists and turns.

​Great America is intent on improving the guest experience beyond the Patriot conversion. The entire Celebration Plaza area, where Patriot’s entrance is located, is getting a facelift for the summer. There is still a lot of construction activity going on, but it’s all looking amazing!

​One of the coolest new additions to the area will be the live entertainment. Unique characters, or “citizens’, will roam the midway and interact with guests around Patriot. This is similar to Ghost Town Alive at Knotts Berry Farm.

​Overall, there is still some work to be done around the park before opening day, but things are really looking great!

​Thank you to California’s Great America for a wonderful tour! We are very excited for the park to open for the season, and even more excited to see new changes evolve over the next several years!

​Related Updates: 

• Merry Farm 2016 at Knott's Berry Farm 
• Carowinds County Fair Construction Update
• Knott's announces new additions and events for 2017 
• Opening Night of Halloween Haunt at California's Great America 
• ​Kings Island announces Mystic Timbers for 2017

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Here we are, back on the Mickey and Friends parking structure and taking a look at a Galaxy Far Far Away ... 

As you can see to the left, one of the buildings has gone vertical, and it doesn't look like it's done growing yet. 

Obviously we don't know what is what at this point just that it's going to look like Star Wars eventually. 

Obviously lots of work to be done in the next 2 years. From here you can also get a look at the new "berm" for the Disneyland Railroad and some of the rock work they are doing. 

To the far left (just  below the Matterhorn) you can see one of the entrances to Star Wars Land that will go under the railroad. 

Moving over to the right, lots being done that we can't see due to the trees. Oh, and there is Guardians Tower of Terror (which we totally forgot to get pictures of) 

A closer look at some of the rockwork going on. 

As we move up to the top of the structure, a few more overview pics. 

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update. Maybe one of these days we'll actually get inside the parks and do a proper Star Wars Land update. But since we visit so rarely we're hoping to plan a trip after the Railroad opens this summer. 

​Thanks for reading. 

​Related Updates: 

• Rivers of Light debuts at Disney's Animal Kingdom
• Disneyland Update: Lunar New Year, Empty Park and Security Changes
• Opening Day of the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts 
• Disneyland Resort Update - Avengers Half Marathon, Star Wars Land and Tower of Terror
• The Disney California Adventure that could have been

​If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. 

If you have any comments, please share them below