We'll start off with some nice panoramic views of the new park entrance. This looks really great. 

Before the festivities begin, let's take a look at some Fury merchandise

Prior to the ride opening, they were doing some more testing. 

After the ceremony it was time to get some pictures of the ride in action, and of course ride the coaster. 

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for our Media Day report. We'll likely have some more pics and info in a few days. The coaster and park opens for the 2015 season this Saturday (3/28) so be sure to head out to Carowinds and take in their new amazing coaster. 

Thanks to Carowinds for inviting us out to their festivities and a VERY special thank you to Matt and Lauren who were able to cover the event for us. It's very much appreciated. 

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Today we'll start off with Springfield, which is "rumored" to have soft openings as soon as this weekend. If we hear anything we'll be sure to pass it along. 

Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor has it's sign and facade up and it looks great. 

This side of Springfield has definitely gotten most of the attention this week. 

From up above. In this area you can get your Ice Cream, Duff Beer and Taco's from the Taco Truck. Sold!!! 

A closer look at the Taco Truck

ICE CREAM!!!! 

The other side of Springfield is getting minor touch up's. 

Hi Everybody!!! 

Boogie Fever!! 

An aerial view, so excited for this. Apparently all of this scaffolding is now down as of Sunday (3/22). 

Wonder what kinds of baseball cards they'll have here. 

Lard Lad!! 

Moving over to Hogsmeade, the exteriors of the theme park side look like they are close to being done. Sadly we'll just have completed buildings to look at for the next year or so as they concentrate on the other side soon. 

Looking through the arch, lots of fun stuff to look at

Three Broomsticks. Still not sure about that transition from Springfield to Hogsmeade. 

Moving over to Forbidden Journey, the shell for the Great Hall is starting to go up. 

More stuff that will be covered in other stuff. 

An overview of the area

Back on the other side, look at all that stuff in there. And you can see all the way to Hogwarts in the distance. 

From outside the park, all you are going to see from this angle is the top of Hogwarts and the show building for Forbidden Journey. 

Lots more themed pieces ready to go up on various places. 

We finally have an opening date for Fast and Furious: Supercharged, the new attraction will open on June 25th. So still a few months away. You can read the full press release here. 

There's also a cool behind the scenes video from the park that you can view below. 

Jurassic Park recently returned from it's rehab so we figured we'd get some shots of the ride to see if anything is different. 

The ride has received a nice freshening up and looks great. 

All of the animatronics are looking great and everything seems to be working well except for the falling truck, which, lets face it, is probably never coming back. 

I've gotta be honest, not sure if this mist before the final drop is an element that just hasn't been working in forever or if it's entirely new ... either way it was really cool and added to the effect of the T-Rex coming out since you couldn't see him at all until you were about to drop. Which adds to the ride immensely. 

I'm gonna grab your boat with my tiny arms!!! 

A couple of random park notes: Home and Family was taping as well as Mr. Robinson, whatever that is. Also a commercial on Colonial Street. Maybe they can talk about that commercial for the next 10 years instead of Desperate Housewives. =)

According to the Tommy's Facebook page the location at CityWalk will be closing. While I'm personally not a fan of chains at CityWalk this is apparently a pretty popular dining spot for employees. 
Hopefully something non-chain but equally priced/useful for both employees and visitors will be taking it's place. 

Citywalk is also promoting Furious 7 which opens April 3. 

Lastly, a look at the new parking structure. It's coming along very well. 

That's going to wrap it up for this update, we'll be sure to keep our ears perked for any news of Springfield Soft Openings so we can pass it along. Not sure if we'll be able to make it out if it does happen this week, but we will certainly try. 

Have a great week everybody and be sure to check back tomorrow for Dollywood and Wednesday for Fury 325 Media Day!! 

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But this is about Sea World the "Theme Park" not Sea World the "We need to defend ourselves" park. 

That's not to say that the chain shouldn't speak out about all the good they do, because they do a LOT of good. They also should be fighting back against one sided movies that definitely have an agenda (see, there's our opinion). 

Along with all of the controversy has come a few bad years for the chain as far as attendance and revenue, which has resulted in the resignation of CEO Jim Atchison and many other changes. People are still going to the parks, people love the parks, but for the most part the things you see coming from the chain have to do with conservation, animal rescue and other things to directly deny any of the controversy and put a good face on what it is they do. And again, that's all good and fine. 

But what Sea World REALLY needs to do in order to turn around ... remind people that their parks are fun. Because they are!! 

I hate the word "Edutainment", but that's really what Sea World is. Unfortunately because they've had to defend themselves, they've forgotten about the "Entertainment" part of that word. 

Even looking at the front page of the Sea World website, all you see is "50 years of Connecting and Caring", "SeaWorld Cares", "SeaRescueTV", "Conservation Fun". 

You have to go down to the bottom of the page to get to the ACTUAL fun stuff. Animal Cams, Bindi Irwin, Games and Apps. Not even one mention of a ride or a show on the front page. 

The animal conservation is great, it's needed, people need to know, but it needs a mixture of both. 

Due to distance, it's been a few years since we've been to a Sea World park. That's not due to any lack of desire, but anybody who's sat in weekend traffic trying to get to/from San Diego on the I-5 knows why we'd choose to not make that commute after a long week of working and commuting. 

But some of our most fond memories of our kids growing up were at Sea World. As you'll see in the pictures below, while yes, we were interested in the conservation aspects of the parks, the big draw was the animals and just the great vibe of the parks in general. 

The Sea World parks have a great collection of shows, rides, exhibits, great food, amazing staff and in the instance of the San Diego location, a prime location right on Mission Bay. 

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've visited quite a few Theme Parks and I know what I like to do there. 

A few random thoughts of things the chain could do that wouldn't take long or cost a lot of money: 

Promotion: 

• Have commercials that show people actually having fun in their parks. Not actors pretending to have fun. Actual people. Give some families a Go-Pro and a digital camera for the day, have them take video and pictures with them. Don't pre-plan it, surprise them at the gate with food/merchandise/animal encounter passes in exchange for documenting their day. Put it all together for an awesome "real person" commercial. Put longer versions on their website and social media pages. Even have social media posts of their day as their day is going on. 
• Bindi Irwin ... In her you have a great, energetic, recognizable person who is well rounded, smart, funny and is every bit the embodiment of her late father. Those of us who follow the parks online know about her involvement in the parks. This needs to be even more in the forefront. Kids look up to her, or they will if they know she's there. But again, while she's great at promoting the animals, have her promote the parks in general as well. 
• I almost hate to say this one, but part of the controversy and something that always brings it up in people's minds is the breeding program. By constantly promoting it you are putting that back in the minds of people. Those of us who support the park love that stuff, Awesome Ocean covers it great, but for the main social media arms of the parks, they need to maybe stay away from over promotion of that. At the very least it should be spread out among promoting all the other fun stuff. 

By continuing to just be about defending themselves, they are really letting the anti-Sea World crowd win. They are getting what they want and hurting the company where it really matters, in their wallet. And less money for Sea World the "fun" park means less money for the things that really matter. The rescue and conservation of the animals we all want to our children and our children's children to be able to experience. 

We are definitely going to be heading down to Sea World this year, maybe even to all 3 of the US parks depending on our travels this year, and I'm very excited about that. The future plans that were announced last year are going to be amazing and I really do think Sea World has it's best years in front of them, not behind them. They just need to realize it themselves. 

Update: 3/19/2015

New CEO

Today Sea World announced that Herschend Family Entertainment CEO Joel Manby will be the new CEO. We actually think this is an excellent choice and here's why. 

• Joel's reputation in the industry is undeniable. While true, Dollywood and Silver Dollar City aren't as big at Sea World, this is actually a great thing. It's hard to find somebody who's worked for Joel that has a bad thing to say. He "get's it". And while there isn't an employee problem at Sea World, having a CEO that understands the situation can be reinvigorating. And that is what's needed.
• Joel knows what families like. Look at the attractions built at both SDC and Dollywood over the past few years. From thrills like Outlaw Run to family coasters at Dollywood he knows the audience. And Joel, how about getting those Skillets to Sea World Parks soon. =)
• Last, and certainly not least, Joel is a leader, and more importantly, a leader that is as far removed from recent Sea World controversies as you and I are. So while at the beginning there will be the inevitable "why did you take this job given the recent controversies", once that is done it will essentially close the book on this chapter of Sea World's history. Finally allowing them to move on into their amazing future. 

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

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

Along with all of the controversy has come a few bad years for the chain as far as attendance and revenue, which has resulted in the resignation of CEO Jim Atchison and many other changes. People are still going to the parks, people love the parks, but for the most part the things you see coming from the chain have to do with conservation, animal rescue and other things to directly deny any of the controversy and put a good face on what it is they do. And again, that's all good and fine. 

But what Sea World REALLY needs to do in order to turn around ... remind people that their parks are fun. Because they are!! 

I hate the word "Edutainment", but that's really what Sea World is. Unfortunately because they've had to defend themselves, they've forgotten about the "Entertainment" part of that word. 

Even looking at the front page of the Sea World website, all you see is "50 years of Connecting and Caring", "SeaWorld Cares", "SeaRescueTV", "Conservation Fun". 

You have to go down to the bottom of the page to get to the ACTUAL fun stuff. Animal Cams, Bindi Irwin, Games and Apps. Not even one mention of a ride or a show on the front page. 

The animal conservation is great, it's needed, people need to know, but it needs a mixture of both. 

Due to distance, it's been a few years since we've been to a Sea World park. That's not due to any lack of desire, but anybody who's sat in weekend traffic trying to get to/from San Diego on the I-5 knows why we'd choose to not make that commute after a long week of working and commuting. 

But some of our most fond memories of our kids growing up were at Sea World. As you'll see in the pictures below, while yes, we were interested in the conservation aspects of the parks, the big draw was the animals and just the great vibe of the parks in general. 

The Sea World parks have a great collection of shows, rides, exhibits, great food, amazing staff and in the instance of the San Diego location, a prime location right on Mission Bay. 

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've visited quite a few Theme Parks and I know what I like to do there. 

A few random thoughts of things the chain could do that wouldn't take long or cost a lot of money: 

Promotion: 

• Have commercials that show people actually having fun in their parks. Not actors pretending to have fun. Actual people. Give some families a Go-Pro and a digital camera for the day, have them take video and pictures with them. Don't pre-plan it, surprise them at the gate with food/merchandise/animal encounter passes in exchange for documenting their day. Put it all together for an awesome "real person" commercial. Put longer versions on their website and social media pages. Even have social media posts of their day as their day is going on. 
• Bindi Irwin ... In her you have a great, energetic, recognizable person who is well rounded, smart, funny and is every bit the embodiment of her late father. Those of us who follow the parks online know about her involvement in the parks. This needs to be even more in the forefront. Kids look up to her, or they will if they know she's there. But again, while she's great at promoting the animals, have her promote the parks in general as well. 
• I almost hate to say this one, but part of the controversy and something that always brings it up in people's minds is the breeding program. By constantly promoting it you are putting that back in the minds of people. Those of us who support the park love that stuff, Awesome Ocean covers it great, but for the main social media arms of the parks, they need to maybe stay away from over promotion of that. At the very least it should be spread out among promoting all the other fun stuff. 

Special events:

• Food and Beer/Wine festival. Who cares if any of the large corporations won't come because they are scared. There are SO many local chefs, brewers, wineries, etc that would LOVE the exposure, and really, ask anybody who likes good food and good beer and wine, if it's good, the name on the chef's coat or the bottle doesn't matter. 
  
• LIVE MUSIC!! So some washed up 70's or 80's band canceled some shows. Get the cover version. They are probably better at this point anyway. Get some local bands, have them play some cover songs and some of their original songs. They'd love the exposure and like above, good music is good music. 
• Cultural festivals. All three Sea World locations in the US have large latino communities. This should be an absolute no brainer. But why limit it to just one culture. Do a Chinese New Year, St Patricks Day, do Fourth of July huge with not just fireworks but music and all of the great food that makes America great, not just Burgers and Hot Dogs. 
• Night Time Events: At least in San Diego, once the sun goes down the only show that really goes on is Shamu, and for good reason, that show is awesome. But why not use the other stadiums and show some kind of "Drive In Movie" experience. Sell picnics that people can sit out and have. Doesn't even have to be in one of the arena's, just a big area where people can hang out and have a blast. They already have their Summer Nights promotion, which is great, but it needs to be in the face of people both online and on TV. Right now most of the promotion is just "here's some fireworks, but we also rescued a seal 2 years ago" type thing. 

By continuing to just be about defending themselves, they are really letting the anti-Sea World crowd win. They are getting what they want and hurting the company where it really matters, in their wallet. And less money for Sea World the "fun" park means less money for the things that really matter. The rescue and conservation of the animals we all want to our children and our children's children to be able to experience. 

We are definitely going to be heading down to Sea World this year, maybe even to all 3 of the US parks depending on our travels this year, and I'm very excited about that. The future plans that were announced last year are going to be amazing and I really do think Sea World has it's best years in front of them, not behind them. They just need to realize it themselves. 
Update: 3/19/2015

New CEO

Today Sea World announced that Herschend Family Entertainment CEO Joel Manby will be the new CEO. We actually think this is an excellent choice and here's why. 

• Joel's reputation in the industry is undeniable. While true, Dollywood and Silver Dollar City aren't as big at Sea World, this is actually a great thing. It's hard to find somebody who's worked for Joel that has a bad thing to say. He "get's it". And while there isn't an employee problem at Sea World, having a CEO that understands the situation can be reinvigorating. And that is what's needed.
• Joel knows what families like. Look at the attractions built at both SDC and Dollywood over the past few years. From thrills like Outlaw Run to family coasters at Dollywood he knows the audience. And Joel, how about getting those Skillets to Sea World Parks soon. =)
• Last, and certainly not least, Joel is a leader, and more importantly, a leader that is as far removed from recent Sea World controversies as you and I are. So while at the beginning there will be the inevitable "why did you take this job given the recent controversies", once that is done it will essentially close the book on this chapter of Sea World's history. Finally allowing them to move on into their amazing future. 

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

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

For years now, I've been a grumpy man seeing the behavior in parks I visit around the world. However, we here in the USA do some much MUCH better than others; in fact, if there were a Theme Park Olympics, we'd get the gold medal for bad behavior. So let's look at this special breed of competitor - the ASSLETES - and their behavior, as ranked by park. 

Let's start out with our first category: the 500 person LINE JUMPING competition. In this competition, the name of the game is to walk past or around as many guests as possible, as the line isn't moving, and our competitiors feel they don't have to stand in line! This is something that is pandemic across the USA - I have seen it at every major park I've been to, no matter how good or bad they are. Some of the worst of this is when there is the new attraction that has just opened; that three hour line means that line jumping is going to be a multi-player competition. 

Who wins this for the worst? That's a tough call, as there are so many good assletes doing it. Some of the worst I've seen has been in the mid-Atlantic region, with Six Flags America having one of the worst problems of them all. During the time I was attending the park, even the smallest attractions would have chronic line jumping issues; apparently to the local clientele the lines are just suggestions, and you aren't bad-ass until you've jumped up and over every single guest in the queue. (Of course, having utterly awful operations at SFA tends to breed this bad behavior.) In a close second place, California's Great America comes into play. On one particular visit, I saw people go up the exit ramp, argue for a minute with a ride operator, and then get on the ride, completely bypassing the line. Coming up in third would be Six Flags Magic Mountain, where the entitled set come to play - and to line jump. Q-Bot? Nahhh. We're from Orange County. We don't need them. We're too entitled to stand in lines. I have actually been pushed aside by these assletes on rides where the line was moving at a very good pace- just because they wanted to ride without a wait. 

For our next competiton: The 250 pounds of CRAP competition. In this sport, our assletes must carry as much junk with them onto the platform of a ride, empty their pockets of as much stuff as possible, and to make a general nuisance of themselves to slow loading of a ride as much as possible. Extra points are scored if these assletes argue with the operators that they must carry their (phone, camera, mainframe computer, luggage) onto the ride as it is IMPORTANT! 

In this category, our assletes excelled primarily in Florida and the west coast. Nearly every park in the USA had a good chance of achieving this select status, but there were some who out-did themselves to win the gold.
In first place, with the gold medal for the 250 pounds of CRAP competition comes Busch Garden's Tampa! I have seen the worst of the worst for this there on numerous occasions, with their assletes carrying things I have rarely seen in a theme park before. On my last visit a few years back, I saw people actually trying to board one of the coasters with a 5'0 stuffed elephant, and saying that it was safe to ride with it. At the same park, somebody boarded with an early tablet, expecting to ride with it. And then there are the handbags of DOOM that I saw on nearly every ride. In second place with the Silver comes SFMM again - with the most badly behaved assletes as far as hauling things onto the ride. The difference here is our assletes at SFMM would actually bicker with the operators to bring their 250 pounds of crap onto any given ride, including ones where it would be assured that the items would go flying off to Ventura County. We're talking projectiles at 100 mph folks. In a close third for the Bronze medal, we have the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, tied with Disneyland. Our assletes here feel that the entry price also includes freight charges to haul their junk onto EVERY ride in the park, despite some of them not being the best to get things into and out of. And this, my beloved readers, is in light of Disney's very family friendly policy of sending packages to the main gate, where you can then pick them up at the end of the day. People love to board rides with everything and anything, from that unfinished Dole whip (WHY???) to Balloons & bags. 

Our third competition is a sport of sports: The Bounce Your Basketball as often as possible competition. In this competition, our assletes win a basketball, and must dribble it as OFTEN as possible, hitting as many guests as possible along the way. Extra points for style & grace if you start throwing the ball over the heads of other people in line for the attraction, and you get a special award if the ball rolls off underneath the ride. 

This personally is one of the WORST OF THE WORST things parks do: Give away basketballs fully inflated to park guests for winning something. As it is a hazard waiting to happen; I've seen these tokens of glory rolling all around a theme park loose because our budding assletes can't keep a hold of their balls. Our GOLD medal goes to Six Flags America, where the balls are flying! I have on numerous occasions been hit in the head, back, leg & arm by our assletes thinking the loading platform of a coaster is, in fact, a basketball court. And what is worse? SFA does nothing to stop this behavior. No signs, nobody cares - despite basketballs whizzing around everywhere. In a close second for the silver, Six Flags Over Georgia, where I have fallen due to runaway balls. Assletes here will get two or three during a day at the park, and then spend the rest of the day juggling their balls and dropping them often. Our third place winner in this category goes to Kings Dominion. They tried hard, but fortunately their operators attempt to limit the endless thunk thunk thunk on platforms.

Our final category in the Theme Park Olympics is the Empty Cup Splash & toss. In this category, our assletes must consume a large soda (or any food really) and then miss the trashcan by as far as possible. Style points are added if you can land the trash underneath a ride, and extra points if the trash is in a place that nobody can get to, ensuring that everybody can see where you've thrown your trash. 

Here, just about every park in the USA could be credited for a win; however, some parks out did each other for this award. Our assletes did their best to make their park look the worst, and the Gold Medal was a tough call. Give a big round of applause to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - where the trash is ample & placed so you can see it on every ride. I have seen people chuck their trash off the platform of ROAR, and into the audience below. Underneath the V2 coaster, I saw everything from sandwich wrappers and bags of popcorn, to the jumbo-sized drink mugs lining the ground underneath the ride. Our Silver Medal goes to SFMM, where littering isn't just a sport, but an art form elevated. I can say that I have seen littering in that park standing right next to the trash can with ZERO attempt to insert trash into the bin. Why throw it in the garbage, when it becomes part of the scenery! Coming up with the bronze medal is California's Great America, where trash seems to be organically strewn under and around rides as if naturally growing from the topsoil. The assletes here take pride in dumping trash as far away from trashcans as possible, and it shows. 

Now mind you, I don't blame the parks entirely for these assletes; after all, parks can't control their patrons. However, I do blame parks for not doing the right things. Line Jumping is something parks need to eradicate by enforcing policies they post on rides & on the park maps. Basketballs should be obliterated from parks - or at least given out deflated to guests. These are things that can be done to end these Theme Park Olympics - and not a moment too soon. 

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Marine One flying over with a couple of Osprey. 

We'll start off today with Wizarding World, which continues to get more themed elements added. 

Even the arch is starting to see new things added every week. 

Lamps and stuff

The Great Hall

Three Broomsticks looks great!! 

Hogwarts as seen from the studip tour

Forbidden Journey show building, it's absolutely humongous. 

Looks like they are starting to do more work in the area between Hogsmeade and Forbidden Journey. 

A close up of the Great hall. It just looks awesome. 

Queue work, from the greenhouse into the actual castle/showbuilding. 

Moving over to Springfield, Duff Brewery is going up very quickly. 

Building signs are almost all up. 

They are doing some work in the rest of the area near The Simpsons Ride in advance of Springfield opening. 

Duff ... man!! 

Disco Stu's 

Moving over to the rest of the park, Ted 2 is coming out in June. 

Psycho House is continuing it's refurbishment. 

Fast and Furious, not much change here. Most work looks to be happening on the inside at this point. 

Lastly, the new parking structures are really coming along quickly with a new floor being added every month or so. 

That's it for this Universal Hollywood update. Thanks for reading. We'll hopefully have some dates for Springfield and Fast and Furious, as well as the nighttime tours soon.

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