I’m probably not the youngest guest to ever set foot in Disney World, but I’m certainly one of the youngest to be doing so alone.
When I booked my vacation in March, I noted on my reservation that I’ll be celebrating my graduation. I’m sure the agent thought I meant my graduation from college, but I had something a little different in mind: I’ll be graduating from high school.
Yes, I was rather surprised when my parents first granted me permission to take my younger brothers to Disney World. After all I barely meet the minimum age requirement of eighteen. But this upcoming trip will be one to remember. My accommodations won’t be as luxurious as my last vacation; I’m trading the Grand Floridian for the All-Star Sports Resort. But it’s going to be an opportunity to explore WDW as a pseudo-adult, pseudo-kid—smack dab in the middle of that exciting transition from high school to the rest of my life.
As you may have read in my last post, I’ve reserved a Disney World vacation for this summer. It will be my first time back since 2008!
But over the past few days reality has started to sink in a little bit…The initial $200 deposit was pretty painless. But now there’s quite a hefty remainder that I need to pay by April 18. At the same time I’m budgeting for college next year. Disney World might not be the wisest place to spend my money, especially during a time when every penny seems to count.
Somebody work some magic for me. Anybody have an extra few thousand dollars sitting around?
After a brief phone call to 407-W-DISNEY and a $200 deposit, it became official…I’m going back to Disney World!
My June trip will mark my second time at the resort. I’m already bubbling with that mix of excitement, anxiety, and giddiness that only a WDW visit can provide.
It will be a, well, different, experience compared to my first trip. For starters, I (not my parents) will be funding the vacation. Therefore I’m on a slightly tighter budget: good-bye, Grand Floridian; hello, All-Start Sports! No more Deluxe Dining Plan, either. I’m going with the standard plan—one table service and one quick service meal daily. Granola bars and Pop-Tarts will have to suffice for breakfast.
But even though this will be a more value-oriented trip, I still am committed to having an awesome time. After all, it’s Disney—it’s gotta be good!
Theme Park Review has posted a POV of Silver Dollar City’s newest wooden concoction, Outlaw Run. This certainly isn’t your average wooden coaster: the 162 foot drop sends the trains zooming through three barrel roles. The rickety-looking structure adds to the thrill; it looks like the plywood supports might snap at any moment.
At Wednesday’s annual shareholders meeting, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger unveiled the first photograph of the Shanghai Disneyland scale model. We’ve already been exposed to some vague concept artwork of the theme park, but this new picture provides the clearest impression of what it will actually look like.
Noticeably absent from the model is a hallmark of every other Disneyland clone: Main Street. Instead an eleven-acre plaza area stands before the “Enchanted Storybook Castle”. And instead of dedicating the castle to a single princess, Disney says it will honor all of them together. The castle will also include a walk-through attraction, a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and a boat ride.
I had the good fortune of finding myself in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. As somebody who doesn’t gamble, I kept my adrenaline pumping via the many thrill rides the city offers.
“The Roller Coaster” at the New York-New York Hotel weaves through a model Manhattan skyline, complete with a 144 foot drop and two inversions. The ride itself was great, albeit a little rough.
But unfortunately the attraction is haunted by one of the most ridiculous fees found at amusement parks: mandatory locker rentals. I’ll give the New York-New York some credit; they have kept the fee down to $0.50. But here’s what brought me to write this post: before I boarded the train, the operator noticed me using my iPhone. Even though I was planning on placing it inside a zippered jacket pocket once onboard, he ordered me to rent a locker before allowing me to ride.
This policy is just plain old ridiculous—a cheap ploy to siphon a little extra cash from tourists. Last summer I worked on a roller coaster at a theme park extremely concerned about safety. Operators could receive a written warning for not locking their elbow when raising their hand to give the “All Clear” signal. But as long as guests placed their loose articles in a pocket, they were allowed to ride. And I never heard of anybody losing a cell phone or wallet that they had put away.
So New York-New York, I offer you a suggestion: abandon your money-grubbing ride locker policy. It’s an obvious ploy to sneak away with more of our dollars. Guests shouldn’t stand for this nonsense.
Six Flags Great America announced on their Facebook page that Batman: The Ride will run BACKWARDS at the start of the 2013 season.
Batman is already one of the most intense rides in the park. Although it doesn’t shatter the 100 foot marker for height, it packs some heavy g-force through five tight inversions. I almost always start to black out—and that’s when it’s running forwards!
Needless to say, I’m glad not to be on the Batman crew next year. They’ll likely be cleaning up more than their fare share of “guest illnesses”.
I think I almost peed my pants.
Seriously, X Scream was one of the scariest experiences of my life. Located atop the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, the ride is essentially a giant seesaw—located 1,000 feet up in the air. Further compounding my fears, I arrived at the Stratosphere right at opening time, so I was literally the only guest out on the observation deck. It was just me, my seat belt, and 100 stories down to the ground.
Watch the video above from YouTube user “tipsfortravellers”
Indiana’s Journal & Courier reports that the Indiana Beach lakeside amusement park has fallen behind on taxes…by about $347,000. For such a small park, that’s quite a large sum.
White County officials estimate that the park’s debts are split between $180,000 in inkeeper’s taxes and $167,000 in 2011 property taxes.
Morgan RV Resorts, the parent company of Indiana Beach, has apparently tried to “remedy” the situation by recently paying $11,00 in inkeeper’s taxes.
$11,000 out of $347,000—not gonna cut it.
