r/Themepark

I am from southern California and grew up going to Disneyland and all the other west coast parks. I've been to Tokyo DLR multiple times. After two days at SDC this week, it is hands down my favorite theme park in America.

It reminded me of how California's Disneyland was many years ago; alive and full of roaming characters, entertainment, and manageable wait times. Around every corner was a citizen of Silver Dollar City, eager to interact with me.

With the quality of the shows and artisan demos, I felt so immersed in the story. Citizens were pretending to not know what credit cards and phones are, rides referenced the lore of shows, shows referenced the history of Marvel Cave... Every new experience tied back to a previous, making the story of the City unfold before me.

The environmental storytelling was on par with Tokyo Disney Sea, but WAY more fun because I could be a part of it without a language barrier or 2 hour waits! The employees encouraged me to roleplay and play along.

I went during 4th of July week, expecting wait times to be crazy, but 90% of our rides were less than a 15 min wait. The rapids ride is ACTUALLY INSANE and the craziest water ride I've ever been on. And Time Traveller has got to be in my top 3 coasters now.

The price was unbeatable at ~$50/day for two days. The food was good. There was infinite shade and seating areas because of all the trees. The only other park I've enjoyed this much was Tokyo Disneyland. I wish SDC was my home park so badly. 😭🙏

Two things worth flagging on the Bedford project this week for anyone tracking Universal's build strategy.

Site scale confirmation. Most reporting has described Universal UK at around 500 acres based on Universal's original 476 acre land purchase. Ministry of Housing planning documentation confirms 268 hectares, which is 662 acres. For context, Universal Orlando's entire complex (Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay, CityWalk, all the resort hotels, back of house) is around 540 acres. Bedford is bigger than all of that combined on day one, before any phase two hotel expansion or potential second gate.

That's a significant reframe. If you were thinking about this as "Universal's smaller European park," the acreage tells you the opposite. This is a full destination resort with substantial phase two runway baked in.

Archaeological phase wrapping. Steel haul road plates that have been protecting the Core Zone archaeological grids for months are being systematically withdrawn this week. Flatbed trucks hauling stacks off site. LNK Construction crews have moved from topsoil scraping into localised hand digging, with the settlement cropmark now clearly visible in the exposed subsoil.

From an operations perspective, the plate withdrawal is the physical proof that pre construction ground work is nearly complete. Once the archaeological logging is signed off (likely July or August), vertical construction can properly begin. Combined with the contractor lineup confirmed two weeks ago (Bovis, Sir Robert McAlpine, Wates, Morgan Sindall), Universal are positioned for accelerated build through 2028 and 2029.

Wixams honesty check. Network Rail's position is main station works not expected until 2027. Activity visible on site now is preparation, not full station construction. The rail piece will probably lag the theme park delivery.

Question for the thread: with a 662 acre footprint, do you think Universal open with just the theme park and one hotel, or hold back capacity to launch phase two announcements in 2032 to keep the news cycle going?

Both have a ride in danger but is X2 or Xcelerator gonna be closed first and which one is better

Hello Reddit!!!! I’ve been traveling a lot this year and really want to visit one of CA’s theme parks! I’m currently setting money aside and planning for a trip, but still undecided between the two theme parks!!!!! If you guys have any good advice for one over the other Id love to hear it!!! ^u^

I am traveling with my 5 year old to Orlando. We have been to Disneyland in LA before with my daughter. We have also visited Disney sea, Tokyo but it was before my kid was born. My daughter is big mini mouse fan. Wife is big Harry Potter fan. We have been to Universal in Singapore but there was no Harry Potter section over there at that time.

I can't change the dates as I have to be there for a conference in mid-Aug and I plan to bring my wife and kid along. We plan to be there for 11 days with 5.5 days with me and rest of the days on their own.

Any suggestions on how to deal with theme parks in orlando in mid-Aug? I believe it is going to be very hot.

I am thinking of doing following:

• Disneyland x 2 (one day with me, one without me)
• Universal (with me, wife is big HP fan).
• Discovery Cove
• Kennedy Space Centre
• Seaworld
• Heli tours

Days without me:

• Dezerland
• Peppa Pig
• Sealife
• Disney Spring

Any suggestions?

I’m sorry Beast lovers, but the Beast is overrated. I rode it last night and my back was aching from it. It’s such a rough experience. I know they retracked certain parts of the ride, but it needs a lot more work done on it. I wish they would just pull the plug and RMC it already. Yes I know the ride has a lot of history and it’s been awarded by ACE as a landmark ride, but it’s not even the best woodie in the park anymore. That goes to Mystic Timbers. Time to put pride aside and reinvent The Beast

I'm very excited to be visiting Energylandia very soon ! I was wondering about the Uber situation in Zator. Are these widely available there ? I was planning on going to Auschwitz as well. I know the train is the best way all around but the train times just aren't optimal for me. I was planning to get an Uber for the round-trip. Any thoughts ? Thank you !

I really like Efteling as it’s so chilled, has fantastic operations, and is so well themed with amazing dark rides. The onsite accommodation is also really nice with there being holiday homes for larger groups, in addition to standard hotel rooms.

I'll be in LA for a conference in January and plan to make time to visit some parks. Will definitely visit Disneyland and DCA (likely 2 days total for Disney). I think I can free up 2 more days, so could potentially visit 2 more parks (1 day in each). Trying to decide between Knotts, SFMM, or Universal.

I am aware of the distances between each of the parks and where I'll be based in LA.

For reference, I've been to WDW and Universal Orlando quite a few times. My primary experience with Six Flags parks is SFOG.

If you had to choose 2 of those 3, which 2 would it be and why?

I have the option to go for 1 and a half days to either Cedar Point (I have been to) or Holiday world (I have not been to). I know I should try something new but I really like Cedar Point. Is Holiday World really that good that I would go over cedar point. How does holiday worlds atmosphere compare? Are the vibes there? Let me know what i should do.

Yesterday, I visited Busch Gardens Tampa for the first time, a trip I had eagerly anticipated for nearly three weeks. However, the parking lot was a nightmare, taking over an hour to get in. My sister and I drove from Winter Garden, leaving my place around 10:00 and arriving in Tampa around 11:30. We didn’t get into the gates until 1:00. Then they charged us $42 to park when online it said $30.

When my friends and I joined the line for Iron Gwazi, we were disappointed by the slow dispatches. The dispatchers waited until the other train came to a stop, effectively halting operations. By the way, why does Iron Gwazi have seatbelts when other RMCs only have lap bars?

After Iron Gwazi, all the rides were shut down for an hour due to lightning strikes, which was frustrating.

Tigris was my first Sky Rocket 2, and I must say, I didn’t enjoy it. It was way too short, and once again, why the seatbelts when this ride should only have a lap bar.

Cirque Electric was a fun show, but I’m more of a thrill-seeker. Regardless, it was nice to sit in an air-conditioned building and watch some talented performers.

Sheikra was also a disaster to queue. Despite being able to load two trains at a time, it was not used. It was a waste of resources.

Kumba showed signs of aging. My sister experienced a headache after riding it, and it desperately needed a retrack.

My sister’s friends and I then decided to get in line for Cobra’s Curse. I don’t know if the ride operators were intentionally slow, but the line said it would take 30 minutes, which is a lie. Also, the preshow room had a broken screen, which took away from the immersion.

About ten minutes from getting on CC, thunderstorms decided to come and shut the entire park down.

One ride I was super hyped to do was Cheetah Hunt and it was closed for the entire day.

The app is horribly inaccurate and is prone to errors.

Overall I would not recommend until some improvements are made. What this park could use is a dark ride, maybe even a shooter. They have Safari of Fun and the Sesame Street IP. Take a play from PortAventura’s playbook, install a version of Street Mission.

Going to Alton Towers in September for the 6th time in 7 years ,does anyone else thinks it absolutely trumps Florida

Big procurement week for the Bedford project. Comcast has confirmed the main contractor lineup for the £5bn build:

• Bovis Construction: two zones
• Sir Robert McAlpine: one zone
• Wates: one zone
• Morgan Sindall: one zone
• Careys: groundworks across the whole site

The 500 acre site has been split into five operational zones for parallel construction. From a Universal operations perspective, this is the most informative signal we've had about how seriously this project is being delivered.

Universal don't typically hand a single mega contract to one head contractor. They divide sites into zones and run parallel construction streams under their own central project management. Epic Universe in Orlando was built the same way: multiple trade and zone packages, central oversight from Universal Creative and Universal's construction division, running in parallel rather than sequentially. The five zone split at Bedford follows the exact same playbook.

The contractor choices themselves are telling. Bovis with two zones is the lead, fitting their pattern of large complex commercial work. McAlpine, Wates and Morgan Sindall are all top ten UK contractors with hospitality and leisure pedigrees. Nothing experimental, nothing risky. Universal are picking safe, deliverable hands.

Peak workforce projection is around 5,000 workers on site simultaneously, most likely landing in the 2028 to 2029 window when all five zones are running in parallel. Total of 20,000 construction jobs across the whole programme.

If you wanted evidence that Universal are serious about delivering on time for 2031, this is it. The procurement looks exactly like the Epic Universe playbook.

Open question for the thread: which zone do you reckon Bovis lead on, given they've taken two? My money is on the main theme park plus the back of house and utilities zone given the scale of those packages.

I’ll be passing through near Valdosta so may stop by Wild Adventures for a few hours on a Tuesday. How does it compare to other Herschend parks? Any tips or suggestions I should know?