Jessicajealousy

It's giving orphan rocker vibes in terms of it's construction/layout. I've never been to threadbo, but looks exciting!

Thanks for sharing!

Could you explain more? What did he do at Movieworld? This is the first I've heard about him!

Yeah, you make a good point. I didn't pay much attention to the date but you're right, it is a year after the TRR accident. It's interesting to hear they let staff ride, the last thing I heard it was only the crash dummies.

Sorry if I upset you - I didn't realise who he was, just figured he was someone who worked on the ride!

Hi All, Saw this pop up on my feed - I saw it on the page "Lost Amusement Parks of Australia" but was originally posted by "AUSNZ Coaster Mates". Interesting to hear that it was operational in 2017, but as suspected the theming wasn't up to code.

I was just about to comment on this post and let @New display name know to check out BSF! Jake is amazing - been following him since he started his abandoned series. I love going back to his old videos and listening to how awkward he sounded talking - and how professional he sounds now! I'm with you there - never seen Closed For Storm, haven't figured out a way to watch it yet! I even looked into *cough-torrents-cough* but to no luck. Which sucks, because I would love to support him by watching and recommending what I am sure is an incredible film, but I can't. @New display name As well as Bright Sun Films, I would also recommend checking out The Proper People. I also love Adam The Woo - he is mostly a Disney vlogger, but in his past he has visited a whole host of lesser known theme parks https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL047A057E91EFDA70 I would also recommend the below. Quite a few of them focus on abandoned Disney attractions, some focus on international parks as well (especially Expedition Theme Park, who has covered Wonderland, and some old attractions from Movie World). https://www.youtube.com/@YesterworldEntertainment https://www.youtube.com/@ParkRideHistory https://www.youtube.com/@ThemeParkHistory https://www.youtube.com/@ExpeditionThemePark I would love to chat all things abandoned theme parks, or abandoned/closed attractions, so please feel free to reach out!

I am super interested in abandoned theme parks! I've never visited one myself (if anyone knows of any in Victoria, hit me up) - but my favourites to learn about are Six Flags New Orleans, Nara Dreamland, and River Country. I especially like if there is no real story as to why it closed, and even more so if it was just left there. River Country is a great example - Disney said "this park is getting too full, lets build two more bigger ones", and then in the same breath "ah, well no one is coming to River Country anymore, just leave it there" - and they did! I am devastated it's gone now and I'll never get to see it in all its abandoned glory. Six Flags is wonderful because its closed because of a natural disaster, but Six Flags said "it's too hard" when it came to rebuilding it - and almost 20 years later, it's still there and no one can decide what to do. Nara Dreamland was such a beautiful looking abandoned park. A Disney park with a touch of home made charm Also sad it's gone now - it seemed to have been highly respected by urban explorers, and was in relatively good condition all things considered.

That's fair enough! It can be hard to find time to game, especially to dedicate the time to a story-based single player game. I haven't spent loads of time in it (maybe around 5-6 hours since it came out on Tuesday), and I must say, so far it's everything you would want in a wizarding world game. Incredibly immersive, huge map, lots of secrets. Brilliant game!

Any other HP fans on here excited for Hogwarts Legacy? Please - no massive spoilers. But, please feel free to chat about the general story, characters, what you're looking forward too, etc. Would just like to chat with fellow HP friends

Hahahahaha this made me laugh! We also asked our friends to take us to Walmart on our last (which they thought was hilarious). We went to a "superstore" version, which felt like a cross between costco and big w I NEEDED to take home lucky charms and nerds gummy clusters *drools* It does. I use to work in Melbourne CBD and felt homelessness was a problem there, but LA felt like than x10 - made me grateful for the country that I live in.

Hey Whombex! Thanks for the questions 1. Pretty good - lots of guests again congratulating us on first visit/honeymoon. And the interaction of a guest giving me a purse was beautiful. I did find the amount of guest on ECV's (the electric scooter vehicles) really surprised me - they were just everywhere. That and the amount of prams/strollers I found detracted a little from the magic - moreso at Disney than Universal. But, it's a part of life and so I just learned to look past it. Seeing people dressing up in robes at Universal for HP world was beautiful though, that really added to the atmosphere! 2. We did! We enjoyed breakfast of chocolate croissants (and average coffee) at Jolly Holiday for two mornings - lovely service and hardly any wait. We also ate at Flo's Diner in DVC which is quick service. We did mobile order with Flo's which was quick but no cast member interaction. I definitely preferred table service - much more attentive, chatted with us - just a nicer experience all round. 3. We did! My husband's screen name for lots of things is GeneralHSolo and so Han Solo is his favourite character - so to see a full size millenium falcon sitting there, and then being able to go in was just unbelievable! We only had the chance to ride it once - we both got engineers. We just ran out of time to do it again and try and be pilots, but maybe on our next trip! 4. YES! Always Bright Suns which was lovely, and when I asked how much extra kyber crystals were (as my husband did Savi's workshop and made his own lightsaber) I was told "18 credits" which I loved! It was just that attention to detail that made galaxy's edge that little bit more special 5. No we didn't - we have just finished watching Andor and we hadn't seen it then (we are very behind :D) - we will have to try that next time! 6. I think the homelessness problem really took me by surprise - once you leave the Disney bubble, the real world hits you and it was sad to experience the way many people live. While homelessness is a problem even in Australia - I think that because making tents/camps on the footpaths is legal in LA, the problem really kind of smacked you in the face and was more noticeable. But, I also enjoyed how friendly people in LA were - the first place we ate was In and Out Burger, and the staff there were so friendly, and upbeat and excited, it was a great experience! Even when I went to a CVS, the staff were very helpful. CVS was an experience - very different to an Aussie chemist!

Oh, that's good. I went to Movieworld and Seaworld in July and found lots of staff (particularly at Seaworld) quite inattentive and not super chatty. But maybe I just went on a bad day

Thank you! I think I would have spent more time planning our days - not down to the minute, but other than seeing what we could get with Genie+ and the odd dining reservation, we didn't really have a plan. We also got tired and sore and didn't take many breaks, which means we often got burnt out, and as a result missed out on things. I really wanted to see the Enchanted Tiki Room, but missed out because we ran out of time. The biggest surprise was just how LOVELY the cast members were. It took us by surprise! When comparing to the Gold Coast parks, I often feel like the staff there consider it "just a job" and don't enjoy working there. The cast members at Disney (and somewhat at Universal) just seemed to love and enjoy every minute of working there, and it really made our trip even more enjoyable. We sadly missed Fantasmic - we had planned to see it on our last night - the night I wasn't well and I was just too tired, and I was desperate to ride Peter Pan and see the Lincoln animatronic before we left, so they took priority. We are hoping to get to Florida next year, so hopefully get to see Fantasmic there.

Hi All, Thank you for inviting me to complete a trip report on my recent trip to LA - it's my first time doing a trip report, so hopefully I do okay! My husband and I recently flew Qantas to LA - departing 27th (and to our surprise, arriving the 27th) and we left on the 5th Jan. We spent 2.5 days at Disney (a day cut short due to illness), 1 day at DCA, and 2 days at Universal. We stayed at Disneyland Hotel for 3 nights, and then moved to the Kimpton Everly in downtown LA, about a 7 minute drive to Universal. Disneyland: I've never cried at a theme park until our first day at Disney! What a magical (and overwhelming) experience. I've never been to America, and have only been to Hong Kong Disney as a kid - so I did a lot of preparation for this trip, so I knew my way around the park and how to use Genie+ confidently. I'm also a massive Disney parks nerd, so my husband was constantly bombarded with 'fun facts' on every ride. We had honeymoon and first visit buttons - and we loved the attention. Cast members were so beautiful in acknowledging them and occasionally giving us a bit of extra magic (some extra Genie+), we even had Belle stop to welcome us on our first visit, and a wonderful stranger at DCA gifted me a Minnie Mouse handbag (that interaction made me cry). Genie+ was a success - we didn't mind paying for it, we found it a great benefit to our trip. We didn't end up waiting much the entire trip, as most attractions we use Genie+. We also purchased a lightning lane for Rise of the Resistance twice - my husband is a massive Star Wars fan so he needed two goes on the ride to really take it in (he did cry!). We also purchased Magic Bands, which are new to Disneyland. They were helpful for tapping on for lightning lanes and obtaining photos taken by cast members, but a little disappointing they aren't yet integrated to pay for food/merchandise and for opening your hotel room like you can in Florida. Hopefully, this comes in the future. We found the parks to be reasonably busy on our first two days there - but on the half day (we went from 4pm) we found it much quieter due to the rain - which didn't bother us in the slightest! Contrary to the blogs I had read, we actually rope-dropped and headed to Tomorrowland - it was basically dead, and we smashed out Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear and Star Tours before the park had even opened. We then hopped over to Adventureland and New Orleans Square for Haunted Mansion (this was the ride I was most excited for - slightly disappointed I didn't get to ride it in its original capacity as it had the Xmas overlay, but still wonderful). We then headed over to Galaxy's edge for ROTR and then spent the rest of the day/night going to various rides (I think we ended the night on Indiana Jones). We caught the fireworks show and watched it from the river (I cried) and then had dinner at Blue Bayou, which was an amazing and delicious experience. We jumped on the monorail back to the hotel, which I think our feet appreciated. DCA: Our second day was spent much the same way, we took a break at lunchtime for a nap, and met up with some friends to play mini-golf nearby. We then came back to the park that evening and had our first dole whip (YUM). We then hopped over to DCA, as we had booked tickets for the World Of Colour Dessert Party. While the view of the show was incredible, I'm not sure I feel the experience was worth the money. You got unlimited drinks (which was great, as they bought us two cans of soda to take with us), and then food was a little container with cheese, crackers, grapes and a few sweet treats, including a mickey rise krispie treat, a chocolate cheesecake, and a shortbread cookie. It was yummy, but at $80 a person, I feel a little overpriced. After the show we managed to snag a Genie+ for webslingers, and then jumped in line for Radiator Springs Racers right at closing time - a posted 50-minute wait but I think we only waited 30 mins. Our third day was spent in the rain at DCA - which again didn't bother us (we live in Victoria and are used to the rain now!). We didn't manage to do every attraction, but did as many as we could, including Soarin, Monsters Inc, Incredicoaster, Midway Mania, Little Mermaid - and my favourite, the animation drawing class! We had lunch at Flo's diner in Cars Land, and I think my favourite ride of the day was Guardians of the Galaxy! Our fourth and final half day at Disney was quiet as I was still unwell (recovering from a stomach bug I managed to get on new years eve), but we did ROTR again, as well as Winnie The Pooh and my favourite ride of all time, Peter Pan (which I cried again, you'll see a theme here). Universal: Moving onto Universal, our first day was lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed the tram tour, and we ended up doing it twice. Harry Potter world was by far our favourite - we are both MASSIVE HP fans so this was incredible - and I'm told it's even more amazing in Florida. Sadly, my husband wasn't able to ride Forbidden Journey due to size which was disappointing, as he had had no issues at all at Disney. This was the only ride at Universal he didn't fit on though, which was okay. Flight of the Hippogriff was closed both days sadly. We also rode Simpsons ride (both massive Simpsons fans so this land was great!). The park was quite busy the first day, and we didn't purchase the queue jumping thing (we found it quite expensive for only two days), but also didn't feel the wait times were as long as some were at Disney. Our second day rained NON_STOP and we were drenched after 5 minutes in the park - but we didn't let that stop us. We rode the Mummy, Jurassic Park and the Tram Tour again, and also watched the special effects show. Lunch at the three broomsticks was delicious, and then we decided to make our luggage much heavier by spending big in Hogsmeade. The park was VERY quiet this day due to the rain - most attractions only had 5 minute waits! Sadly due to the tummy bug we didn't see much of LA - only seeing the stars and the Chinese Theatre. But looking forward to going back in the future (maybe with less rain) and see more of LA. I hope this report isn't too long (sorry if it is) - I'm happy to answer any questions if you're looking to travel to Disneyland or Universal soon :)

Thank you! We don't have any major disabilities - I did have ankle reco about 10 years ago, and I know it starts to play up after lots of standing or walking - most usually I'm okay. Might see how our first day goes, and we can always apply for it if I struggle! Thanks for letting me know

This is amazing, thank you! Yes, I've heard midday naps are ideal, and with no kids we can go all day and night! We couldn't get a fantastic dining package (I looked, but sold out) - we did get a world of colour dessert package at DCA thought. And we can still see Fantasmic Didn't know ROR closed early, thank you for that! We are thinking of buying individual lightning lane once for it (so we are guaranteed a ride) and then if we get on it again as standby, it's a bonus! I've got two fabulous pairs of sketchers that are worn in, and they can't wait to walk 30km every day

That's incredible - the model of Tarquin looks so real! Hopefully we will get a chance to see them in person I'll try too! In all my years on Parkz I've never done a trip report - I've put a reminder in my calendar for when I'm back

yes please!

But I really like carrot on my subs! Thank you! I found their website, I think it will still be on - my husband is a massive star wars fan, so hopefully we will be able to squeeze it in!

Nope, no kids, just the two of us. A massive Disney and HP fans, I wanted 4 days at disney purely so we didn't feel rushed, since it's not an affordable place to come back to regularly and universal seems to have 2 days passes, even if we did a day and a half

As much as I was desperate for Knotts, we only have 10 days and some of that includes seeing LA/catching up with friends - so we prioritised Disney/Universal Thank you! We have both been walking everyday, to lose some weight but also just build up our fitness. Though I've heard Disney is more forgiving walking-wise than Magic Kingdom Thank you! Hope your trip goes well Thank you! Sadly no time for Knotts or other parks (only 10 days total) but love the tips on LA, I'll add Icons of Darkness - that's the kinda cool stuff we want to see!

Hi all, Been quite a while since I posted here - but after any tips/tricks/advice for visiting Disneyland and DCA in current times. Husband and I are travelling just after Christmas, and have four days at Disneyland/DCA and two day at Universal. We have pre-booked Genie+, as well as a few dining options (Goofy's Kitchen, World Of Colour Dessert Party, etc). I have NEVER been the American Disney parks (only HK as a kid), but I have done A LOT of research into Disney parks and would like to say I'm fairly comfortable in planning our days. That being set, both of us have never been to the US, and especially after changes to the parks with covid, we would love to hear any tips, tricks, suggestions or advice. Or just general advice for being in California in general is welcome! We are both plus size as well - I'm around a 90kg and 163cm - I have had no problem fitting on any gold coast rides. My husband did struggle, he is about 180cm and around 140kg (or thereabouts) - he hold most of his weight in his belly. He struggled at our recent trip to movie world/sea world - I think the only ride he got on was wild west falls. For any fellow larger size people, I would welcome your advice on disney/universal rides - i would rather go with my expectations low than be disappointed there. Thank you everyone for your help

Thank you all so much for your tips/info! Very much appreciated and is definitely helpi8ng me get around Disney! Does anyone have any tips for Universal Studios? We are staying at Endless Summer Resort, and have a 3-day pass!

I'm pretty sure I wet my pants when you said skip Fast & Furious - I've seen clips on YouTube and it looks SO BAD! We can't do dining reservations until March, and FastPass until July (I've got them in my calendar so I don't forget!) Did you ride the orange side of Mission Space? Is too crazy? Also good tip on the queue rides - I had seem some videos on seven dwarves queue, as well as seeing Hondo on Smugglers Run (you miss him if in single rider)! On a side note - what did you roughly spend on food per day? It's the only thing we find we are struggling to budget (and tips!). We aren't interested in dining plan as it seems like a huge waste of money - but as I've never been to America I'm not sure how much we should be budgeting for tips, and what the average food prices are for Disney. Do you have any suggestions? Where did you stay on property? Lastly - did you do any pin trading?