My 2023 Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights Review

    Another visit to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights has come and gone! This was my third year attending the event and my first time doing the Halloween Horror Nights Behind the Scenes: Unmasking the Horror tour. This blog is going to focus on the Halloween Horror Nights event itself and largely center on the houses I went through during my visit. I will be doing a separate blog on the behind the scenes tour. Trust me, there is a lot to unpack from both of these experiences! Before getting into all things spooky I want to quickly throw my thoughts out on the new developments at Universal Orlando.

    This was my first visit to the park since Minion's Land opened at the front of the park. I have to say that Universal did a nice job with this area. The new Villaincon attraction (did not get to ride) looks like it fits right in with the area and while I will forever miss Shrek, the popularity of the minions cannot be denied. Minion's Cafe would actually be my biggest surprise in the park. At first I was mildly put off by the mobile order only system, but I'm glad my party decided to still go to it (fun fact: the app wasn't working right so we ended up being able to order at the counter). The restaurant is themed incredibly well. I never ate at the previous Monster's Cafe, but from what I understand, Minions Cafe is head and shoulders above what was previously there. The food was really, really good. So good in fact that I ended up eating there twice. I'd say it's probably my favorite spot in Universal to eat right now with the Leaky Cauldron being a close second. The theming was also great with multiple rooms. The room we sat in was a breakroom and had all the crazy things you'd expect to see right down to a table that doubled as a fully functioning foosball table. The soundtrack was also great with a mix of popular songs and rip offs of those songs sung by the minions themselves. The construction over at the kid area is also moving along nicely. I'm thinking it's going to look pretty nice when it's done. I do have one major complaint about the park for the first time, but that is a whole other blog in itself, so that will have to wait a bit. Anyway.... Onto to Halloween Horror Nights!

    Since we were in the park already we were able to line up in one of the stay and scream areas. After much debate we settled on Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate. It was a sort of tossup between that and Stranger Things 4, but we had a couple express pass passes so we figured we'd save Stranger Things for later. For this next part of the blog I will give my thoughts on each of the houses we went through. I did not get through all of them, but all of the ones I did go through were incredibly well done. Unfortunately we cannot take photos while in the houses, so those will have to wait for another time. Obviously there are spoilers about the houses ahead, so if you don't want that, please feel free to scroll on to the next section.

Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate

    This was one of my most hyped houses due to the theming. I never had a chance to see the Dueling Dragons Roller Coaster, but a house based off the ride with a fantasy theme is right up my ally. This house was really cool. It wasn't really scary, but the story telling was top notch. Right from the get go the scene is set with the two warlocks, Pyrrock and Blizzrock (fire and ice respectively) attempting to seize Merlin's spellbook after he is turned into the great oak tree. The two eventually reach the spellbook, but Merlin has cursed it and transforms the warlocks into dragons. This is portrayed incredibly well as the house continues on. You see the warlocks starting to take on more dragon characteristics as they continue to battle through the woods. Evidence of both fire and ice are everywhere and it's clear that the citizens and creatures of the kingdom are by no means spared from the fighting. All throughout the house the minions of Pyrrock and Blizzrock will pop out at you as they fight for their masters.

    All of this leads to seeing both dragons in full dragon form where guests must then choose thy fate. Yes, this house has multiple endings. Four in fact, but that's for another time. All in all this house lived up to the hype that I had for it. It was for sure one of the least scary, but simply awesome from a story telling and design perspective. I really liked all of the fire and ice effects throughout and the costume design on the actors were really top notch. The final room before choosing thy fate with the two full sized dragons was also quite a site to behold and certainly was a highlight of the house. Universal really did a great job of bringing a roller coaster to life and while the coaster may be gone, it's clear that the parks still have a soft spot for the story of the dueling dragons. 

The Exorcist: Believer

    I'm not going to lie, this was probably my least favorite of the night. Part of reason for that could be because the house is based on a movie that wasn't even out at the time that I went. So it was a little weird going through a movie based house and only really being able to try and piece things together that probably are all referenced in the movie. Treating it like it's own thing like the original houses is probably the better mindset to go into here unless you've seen the movie that has now come out. Anyway... The house itself was still well done and had some really cool effects. My favorite of these involved some shadow play at the top of a staircase that showed the silhouette of a girl appearing possessed. The other top parts of this house for me were the actual exorcism scenes as the actors involved in them all did really well with their roles that were a bit more complicated than the standard scare actors. I'll be real honest here, possession movies aren't my favorite genre of horror, so I can't really gush too much about this house. I'm sure for some people it's great, but for me it was still certainly good and had a few really cool moments, but if I were to go again, it wouldn't be on my must do list.  

Stranger Things 4 

    Unlike The Exorcist: Believer, this house had me hooked. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm a big fan of the source material. That's the interesting thing with the IP based houses though right? Your enjoyment of them is probably partially linked to your enjoyment and familiarity with the source material. That's a big reason why I didn't go into The Last Of Us house as I am not at all familiar with the game or the show. Moving on. This house was really really cool. It is basically a walk through of the fourth season of the hit Netflix show. If you know the plot, you have an idea of what to expect from Vecna, Eleven, and the rest of the crew from season four. While the house largely surrounds the Vecna plot from the time of his first curse on Chrissy to the epic showdown at the end of the season as well as Eddie's showdown with the demobats. That said the Hopper plot really isn't shown outside of a Demogorgon attack at the end of the house. It's all done very well and Universal once again did a great job of immersing guests into the upside down when appropriate. Three of my favorites in this house include the scene in the trailer in the upside down where you look up and can see the inverted real world. I also thought the opening in Eddie's trailer with Chrissy contorted in the air with an actor screaming for her was really cool. Lastly it can't be denied that the rock show with Eddie and the demobats with "Master of Puppets" blasting is really awesome. Yes, "Running Up That Hill" is also featured in the house. While not in my top three of houses, this house was a lot of fun that was only enhanced by being familiar with the source material. 

Yeti: Campground Kills

    Whelp this was about the farthest thing from Expedition Everest that I could have imagined. Yeti: Campground Kills sees guests venturing to Shadow Creek State Park in the 1950's. Things go south in a heartbeat as we quickly see a bunch of blood around the sheriffs station. It isn't long before we see a very big problem. We see a teenager poking a dead baby yeti with a stick and making fun of it. Well it isn't long before a big yeti shows up and drags that teen off. Now the whole yeti clan is out for vengeance over their slain baby. This house has the perfect amount of comedy, horror, and gore. We see the yetis with many of their kills such as a beekeeper who was killed by having his face smashed into some beehives. We also see one get forced back by a lady wielding a frying pan as her husband lies dead, again, a nice mix of horror, gore, and humor here. I mean what could be more dangerous than a group of yetis? How about a spitting snake hiding in a toilet? How about a bear? Yep the Universal bear is here! Even when you think you've escaped the campground there is one final yeti waiting for you just outside that final curtain. This house was a ton of fun. The different yeti costumes were all really cool and you can tell that the designers had a ton of fun with this house. More on that in the behind the scenes blog though. There is a very wide variety of scare effects happening in here too. It's not just costumed people jumping out at you. You'll also be contending with some really cool mechanical scares as well, so be ready at all times for something to happen. It's hard for me to pick out a particular favorite in this house since it was all so fun. Perhaps it's the lady with the frying pan... If you haven't experienced this house, I strongly suggest checking it out if able.

Dr. Oddfellow's Twisted Origins

    Dr. Oddfellow is this year's Halloween Horror Nights icon. He opens the park for the event and can randomly be seen on the streets as well. His symbol dominates the event and can be found in pretty much every house. His house tells his backstory and also contains another long time Halloween Horror Nights icon. The house is circus based so there is a whole lot of clowns and other oddities to be seen throughout. Throughout the house Dr. Oddfellow is beckoning you to witness his power and give up your soul so he can distort it and send it to another plain of existence. All the while Jack the Clown's presence is felt which leads up to an eventual fight with the still mortal Jack fighting with Oddfellow. Oddfellow wins that fight by killing Jack and ultimately sends the clowns after you as you head towards the exit. There are a lot of real good scares if you are afraid of clowns in here. My favorite scare/effect has to be when one of the clowns pop out with a bit hammer and smashes the head of a victim onto one of those test your strength games that sends blood (water) spraying onto guests. I'm a big fan of good story telling so I really enjoyed seeing Oddfellow's origin story play out in his quest for immortality. Looping Jack the Clown in I feel like was a real natural fit given the circus aesthetic. I did a little research on this house after the event and learned that Oddfellow was actually injured during his fight with Jack and his blood dripping on Jack actually leads to Jack also becoming immortal. I thought that was kind of cool really. Anyway, if you are into the Halloween Horror Nights icons, this house tells a good story alongside a good deal of horror, violence, and gore. If the icons aren't your thing, it is still a solid circus based haunted house that I would recommend to anyone not drop dead terrified of clowns.

Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count

    Love him or hate him, Chucky has become one of the most popular characters across the horror genre. It's crazy that it took this long for the killer doll to get his own house, and whst a house it is. The house features scenes and characters from the new tv series, the Childs Play movie franchise and some original aspects making it a Chucky fan's dream.... or nightmare... Chucky's house features some of his most famous kills across the movies such as the Tiffany Valentine bath execution from Bride of Chucky and Michelle Cross being being split right down the middle from Chucky's chainsaw in the TV series. Lots of really good gore in this house for sure. The queue was also a bit unique in that it takes advantage of the Fast & Furious Supercharged garage to highlight the backstory of the house. The queue, as well various TVs in the house highlight the various kills Chucky makes in the TV series and movies. The queue also reveals the originality of this house. This is a house that Universal Studios made for Chucky. They heard Chucky was coming to visit so they built him a haunted house in his honor. Well, Chucky hates it and shows that by literally killing Universal team members all throughout the house. At one point the house appears to end as guests exit to the outside only to be greeted by a panicked Universal team member who begs guests not to continue into the second half of the house. 

    For an IP house, I really like what they did with this. I really like the idea of turning Chucky into a real character and having him literally hunting down Universal team members simply because he didn't think the house they built was good enough for him. It was a really great way to pay homage to the TV series and movies while making the character feel more real than ever before. Houses like Stranger Things and last year's Halloween do a great job of bringing their respective IPs to life and making guests feel like they're in scenes from the movies or show, but here rather than just be a showcase of kills from the series and movies, we have the feeling that Chucky is hunting us and the team at Universal down. As you may expect, there is a bit of comedy interwoven into Chucky's house as well. My favorite of this is a nutcracker in the Christmas scene that has been stabbed a ton of times for literally no reason. I've heard mixed things about this house from people, but I found it to be real enjoyable, largely thanks to that extra originality that went into it. 

Bloodmoon Dark Offerings

    We've arrived at the Dead Man's Pier of 2023 (meaning this house is really really good). This house fights hard to be my favorite of the houses I went through this year. Set in colonial times, a starving village falls victim to a cult that worship the blood moon. With the blood moon rising the cult begins to collect their harvest from those who do not join them. Throughout the house we see cult members attacking guests and other villagers for harvest. This usually is in the form of some body part. That's an important fact mind you as the villagers are construction something... In the distance a church bell can be heard. That ringing slowly gets louder as the ever present blood moon continues to make it's presence felt throughout. There is blood and gore everywhere in the house. The cultists are not messing around and as the house continues the means the villagers use to kill becomes more and more complex. Continuing through the town the church bell continues to grow louder as guests go through various buildings such as a bar and continue to bear witness to the cult's carnage and try to avoid becoming part of the harvest themselves. I'll go into more detail on the story of this house in my behind the scenes blog as it really is awesome what Universal did with this house and I want to have some more material to help drive that point home. 

    I'm sure you can tell by now that I really enjoyed all of the houses that I went through. My top three are Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate, Bloodmoon Dark Offerings, and Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count. It's so hard for me to pick between Dueling Dragons and Bloodmoon though. It's pretty much flip flopped on the daily since going through them. So what else did I do at horror nights this year? Not too much honestly. I did walk through all of the scare zones and they were all well done as always. Dark Zodiac was particularly cool with all of the zodiac signs being represented in one way or another. Vamp'69 Summer of Blood was hilarious as a sixties music festival twisted by Dr. Oddfellow into well... a vampire and zombie sixties music festival. The other areas, Dr. Oddfellow's Collection of Horrors, Shipyard 32: Horrors Unhinged, and Jungle of Doom: Expedition Horror, were all good in their own rights as well. My one gripe with the zones this year lives in Dr. Oddfellow's Collection of Horrors. 

    I by no means am an expert on things Halloween Horror Nights. I've only been going for the past three years and while I am super into it, I can only go off of what I've seen for the past three years. That said, I felt like Dr. Oddfellow's Collection of Horrors was dialed back a bit compared to the other zones. I'm not really sure why that is, but the entrance area of the event just did not hit nearly as hard or as scary as it had the past couple years. The only thing I can think of is that since that area of the park has been rethemed to essentially a kids/family area, Universal decided not to go as hard. To my knowledge, outside of being part of a queue line, the former kids area at Universal wasn't really used for Halloween Horror Nights outside of as parts of queue lines. That's the only reason I can think of as to why there is less fog and less terrors in that area versus the others. That or they wanted to keep that area more open or something like that. It's not a major complaint at all as Dr. Oddfellow is present in the area which is great, but it is something that I noticed compared to previous trips. 

The shipyard had so monsters for sure

    Unfortunately the M3gan horde was not performing that night due to lighting issues so I was unable to see them. I was also unable to see Nightmare Fuel Revenge Dream due to time as we were all pretty dead tired as our Disney cruise ended at 730am that morning. I was able to see the Death Eaters in Diagon Alley. That was a really cool and simple addon to the event. They had their own little show where at one point they all raise their wands, the lighting goes green all around, and then.... Nothing seemed to happen. It appeared that they were summoning the dark mark, but I looked all around and didn't see it anywhere. Not sure what that was all about, but it was still really cool to see the Death Eaters out and about. 

    All in all I feel like Halloween Horror Nights 32 was once again worth every second. The houses I went through were all very well done and the park itself once again provided and incredible atmosphere. Dr. Oddfellow's presence could be felt literally everywhere which served as an incredibly solid reminder as to who the icon of this event was. Did the park seem to have a bit less fog than usual? Yeah, I think so. Did any of the special food appeal to me this year? Not really. Do I wish, but understand why there was no show on the lake? Of course. All of that still didn't dampen the spirit of this event for me and I'm already trying to figure out how I can get down to Halloween Horror Nights 33 next year. 

    I'm not finished with my thoughts on Halloween Horror Nights 32 yet. Next up is going to be my thoughts on the Halloween Horror Nights Behind the Scenes: Unmasking the Horror tour. In that blog there will be pictures from inside the houses. Quite a few probably as there was a lot of different things we were able to take photos of during the tour. I'll also go into some more of the house stories and also give my thoughts on how another house looks that I didn't get to go into during the event. Bear with me as that blog is going to take a bit of work to put all together! Thanks for reading and I look forward to typing up the next one!   

   

    

   

Halloween on the High Seas Cruise Review Part 2

    This is part two of my review of my Halloween on the High Seas Cruise aboard the Disney Fantasy. Please check out part one of this two part blog to get a full scope of my thoughts on this cruise.

    Picking up where I left off, lets take a look at the food offerings on this cruise. Overall I felt the quality of the food ranged from just okay to put of this world good. I feel like there was a solid hierarchy of food based on where you got it from. The food by the pool deck reminded me of standard quick service stuff such as sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, etc. I had a couple burgers that were mediocre at best. 

    Thankfully the buffet, Cabanas, was a big step up for lunch. Their breakfast menu was pretty standard of a breakfast buffet, but their lunch menu was super varied and even varied by day. I can't say any of the food I had from Cabanas was anything less than good. Everything was fresh, hot, and tasty. I also really like that they have you wash your hands prior to hitting the buffet. With so many kids on board it made it feel much cleaner than a standard buffet.

    The three rotational restaurants were all solid and offered a unique environment each night. Our three servers were all great and attentive. Whether they wrote it down or just remembered, it was really nice to just be asked if I wanted the same drink I had the previous night. I can't think of a time where my cup was empty and I can only recall one time where someone in my party didn't get a coffee they ordered. The first restaurant I ate at was The Enchanted Garden. This restaurant gave the illusion of dining in, well, a royal garden at night. The lighting changed to represent the evening sky and the flower shaped lights actually opened. The ceiling gave the impression of being in a greenhouse with a very nice fountain in the middle. Overall a nice batch of subtle changes during the meal coupled with a pretty tasty menu both times I was in the restaurant made it an enjoyable experience.

    The Royal Court, as it's name suggests, is a princess themed restaurant. Again I have zero complaints about the food. Both meals were quite tasty, but the theming left a bit to be desired. I guess for those more into the princesses the restaurant is probably more enjoyable, but I just found it to be the most plain of the three. Artwork of the princesses adorn the walls and Disney did do a very nice job of making it feel like you were dining is some kind of royal restaurant. I feel like this restaurant could have greatly benefited from at least one of the princesses walking around to give it a bit more excitement, but that's a pretty tall task given the way Disney operates their dining and just how many people are in the restaurant given it's size. Animator's Palate also had a delicious menu, with the exception of the final breakfast which was easily the worst food I had on the cruise. That said, that's not on Animator's Palate as all the restaurants served the same things that morning. This was my favorite themed restaurant. Lots of sketches of characters and fun Easter eggs adorn the walls and provide a very fun atmosphere. I only got to have dinner here once and was joined by Crush from Finding Nemo as he cruised from area to area via screens and chatted with guests. It was kind of like having Turtle Talk with Crush over dinner. The second dinner apparently featured guests drawing stick figures that would then do random things on the walls. Really fun stuff here. All three of these dining experiences did not cost anything extra unless I ordered a specialty drink, which I did not do.

    Lastly I had both a dessert and a dinner at Remy. Remy is the pinnacle of fine dining on the Disney Fantasy. Formal wear is even required to enter for dinner. The food here was absolutely incredible. Every single course, whether it was dinner or dessert, offered incredible flavors and experiences that I can honestly say I've never had before. I even ate things I would never normally eat such as lobster and mussel sauce. Dinner gave the option of a French or American menu (I made a shocking French choice to totally remove myself from my comfort zone) while dessert just one menu.

    The price for these experiences is not cheap. If my memory serves, dinner landed at around 120 per person with dessert being around 80? Either way, you certainly get an experience worth the price. Your server goes over the details in how each dish was prepared and even how the chef recommends eating it. Both chefs from Remy are two of the top chefs in the world which puts this experience on par with Victoria and Alberts, which is no small feat. The theming in the restaurant was also subtly amazing. Based on the movie Ratatouille, there are small rat designs hidden in the seats and plates. There is a crystal little chef up on a chandelier as you enter and Gusteau's logo on the carpeting. Really awesome subtle stuff that only fans of the movie would pick up on, otherwise it all just looks super elegant. The dessert experience lasted nearly two hours while dinner lasted nearly three. The amount of food at both experiences was more than enough to leave me feeling full, so I would one hundred percent do either of these experiences again. What makes that even more likely is that the menu changes every few months, so chances are I'd be getting something new. The only prohibitive barrier on these experiences are those high prices, but you certainly get what you pay for.

    Lastly I need to rave on how the entertainment team knocked everything out of the park. Keep in mind, this is my first cruise so I have no idea how other cruise lines handle their entertainment, but the activities that were available covered literally every age group pretty much the entirety of the day and into the night. Prior to boarding I was concerned as to whether or not I would find myself bored or just watching movies on days at sea. I can say that I watched most of Bambi early one morning over breakfast and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl late at night and that was it. The ship was loaded with trivia, tours, character meet and greets, evening parties, talent shows, and of course, Halloween on the High Seas entertainment. That's not even touching on all the other things for kids, families, teens, and adults. It seemed like there was ALWAYS things going on. 

    We came into contact with two entertainers, Yoyo and Kendall, the most as they were largely involved in the adults only entertainment. These two were both incredible. Yoyo especially went out of his way to provide an absolute blast of an experience regardless if it was trivia, costume contests, and pretty much anything else. He'd also hang out after the activities and just chat with guests about whatever for a bit which was also really great to see. While not hosting activities, the entertainment team was constantly busy doing other things such as hosting evening parties, dance parties, ushering guests into the Walt Disney Theater, providing entertainment at Castaway Cay, and about a dozen other things I'm sure I'm missing.

Yoyo

    Speaking of entertainment, I was elated to hear that Disney offered three Broadway level shows on the cruise. The first was Aladdin. I've seen both movies and have seen Aladdin on Broadway. This was yet another retelling of the classic story, and just like it's Broadway counterpart, it made some changes to the script. All actors did a superb job and the crew certainly made the most of the stage in terms of set. This show may actually have my favorite version of A Whole New World with a ton of dry ice fog (at least that's what it looked like) making it truly appear that the carpet was flying over the clouds. The genie was beyond hysterical and broke the fourth wall a bunch of times which only added to the humor. The carpet had no lines, but showcased a good amount of gymnastics and hilarious facial expressions. Ten out of ten on that show.

    The second show was Frozen. Again, the set design and cast did an incredible job. Many of the same cast members that were in Aladdin appeared in here as well. Unlike Aladdin though, Frozen largely keeps the same story and the way the story is told. Very minor differences, such as Marshmallow not being in it, really didn't impact the story much at all. It was still a really fun show with a lot of talented people. I just really wish Disney would do something more with Frozen at this point than retelling the same story in the same way. Lastly was an original show called Believe. Not going to get into spoilers here, but this show nearly brought a tear to my eye as once again, much of the cast from Aladdin and Frozen return for a truly heartwarming adventure. Believe hit home in a similar way that the movie Christopher Robin hit home a few years ago. Such incredible stuff from everyone involved in all three of those shows.

    Finally we arrive at Halloween on the High Seas! Halloween on the High Seas was an overall fun theme that I wish Disney had expanded on just a bit more. For example, I heard multiple people saying that Jack and Sally from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas are normally on these cruises, but they were nowhere to be seen. The Halloween on the High Seas party was fun, as was the trick or treating on the pool deck, but honestly my favorite Halloween thing happened very early on in the cruise. The lobby is home to the pumpkin tree and late on the first night there was a tree lighting show. During this show the legend of the headless horseman was told, This is Halloween from Hallowishes blared, lights were flashing and changing colors. It all led up to the pumpkins on the tree all lighting to the screams and cheers from a packed lobby. 

    From the night of the Halloween party the music on the ship changed to be Halloween which certainly helped the theme. The characters though all returned to their standard cruise garb with the exception of Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle whom were dressed as the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus. I would have liked to see the Halloween festivities continue past the night of the party, but the ship's lobby had enough decoration to remind us of the season. In addition to Halloween, the ship held a pirate night.

    Pirate night was also a lot of fun. There was a fun stage show on the pool deck of Mickey and the gang recruiting everyone to their crew followed by Muppet's Treasure Island playing on the pool deck, followed by another stage show that led up to a Pirates of the Caribbean themed firework show. While certainly not the caliber of one of the nighttime shows in the parks, the fireworks were great for being on a cruise ship. As far as I know Disney is the only cruise line to routinely do fireworks (again as far as I know). Pirate night honestly felt more fulfilling than Halloween night, but neither were a disappointment. 

    As you can probably guess, I really enjoyed myself on this cruise. I would absolutely go on a Disney cruise again. The price I paid for what I go I feel like was fair. I didn't at any time feel bored or thought I had wasted any of the money I spent. I ate more than I thought I ever could, had a blast at each of the shows, and never felt like the crew/cast members who we were in contact with didn't care about how I was doing. Even our room host was incredibly attentive and really just fun to talk to. If I had to pick two things I felt could be improved on it would be the final breakfast and the Halloween offerings. I have no idea what happened for that breakfast, but it just seemed incredibly unorganized compared to all of the other meals and the food was just not great at all. The Halloween offerings, while good, could be upped a bit I think. I understand it's a ship and only so much can be done, but perhaps more Halloween themed trivia and other activities throughout the voyage would help keep that Halloween spirit afloat. Anyway, if you are on the fence of doing a Disney cruise I would say pull the trigger on it and do not be afraid to splurge on Remy either!      

*Note: I apologize for some of the image quality in this blog. Blogger did not like the way I uploaded them apparently. I will try to fix it for my next blog and if that works I may come back and fix the images here.   

    

Halloween on the High Seas Cruise Review Part 1

    I'm not really sure how to start this blog other than saying last week was quite the different vacation experience for me. Historically I come back from a vacation and type an extensive blog on all the ins and outs of what I liked and didn't like about a theme park I went to. Don't get me wrong, I will do that in another blog soon, but this blog is going to focus on something different. Today's blog will be my thoughts on the Disney Cruise Line. Specifically I will be sharing my thoughts on the Halloween on the High Seas Cruise I went on onboard the Disney Fantasy. Keep in mind that this is my first cruise so all of this will be coming from a first timer's perspective. Rather than ramble on and on about each day I am going to break down the cruise into a few categories and review them there. I'm going to share my thoughts on entertainment, dining, excursions/ports, and the ship itself. Before going any further I do want to say that I gained a massive appreciation for the staff (in this case cast members) of these ships. I had never thought of what went into working on a cruise ship and all I'm saying is five months straight on the seas working is a long time and my hat is off to all of those workers. 

The Ship

    What better way to kick off this blog than talking about the ship itself. The Disney Fantasy has been in service since 2012 and my goodness what good shape is this ship in. From the time I got on board until the time that I got off the ship for the last time I was in awe of just how magical the ship itself is. I did a guided tour of the ship that only enhanced this feeling. Much of this brand new appearance is thanks to the diligent work of the cast members. Granted, I have no idea what the cast area of the ship looks like, but the cast members kept all public areas squeaky clean. Even the outside of the ship looked incredibly clean. This was really evidenced at one point where we were next to a Carnival ship that had a massive rust spot on it's side.

    The stateroom had a veranda and was just the perfect size for two people. I know this is a general cruise ship statement, but I cannot imagine having multiple children and adults in a singular stateroom. The room contained the usual suspects in a hotel room. Closet, cabinets, bed, tv, desk, couch, etc. It also featured a pull down bunk bed that revealed a starry sky on the ceiling, a nice touch. The bathroom was pretty much split in half with the toilet in one small room and the shower in another. I'm told that is pretty much a cruise ship standard. I ended up spending a lot of time on the veranda watching the water. At nine floors up, it is safe to say the view was incredible.  

    The ship is equipped with two theaters. One for stage shows and one for movies. I did not go into the movie theater, but the aptly named Walt Disney Theater could easily be mistaken for a small Broadway theater, but more on that later. The shops were well stocked with merchandise throughout the journey aside from a couple limited edition items such as a Minnie Mouse dressed as Winifred Sanderson sipper. Those were all scooped up within the first couple days. The pool deck was a lot of fun and kept up with very well. There were constantly cast members going by drying the walkways, clearing food plates, etc. Again, I cannot speak enough to the efficiency and hard work of those cast members! Overall, the Disney Fantasy is 100% a ship that I would feel comfortable and happy cruising on again. I literally have no complaints about the state of the ship at all. 

The Walt Disney Theater

Excursions/Ports

    The ship made stops in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Castaway Cay. All three ports offered incredibly different experiences. The first was Cozumel. Once off the ship I participated in an excursion that would center on Dia De Los Muertos. The excursion is listed on Disney Cruise Line's website as A Mexican Halloween Celebration and Beach Adventure. Our tour guide was really great. Interestingly his last name was legitimately De La Cruz and boy did he ever play that up. He had his face half painted to match that of Ernesto De La Cruz from the movie Coco and even donned the white suit and sombrero. He was great, but the amount of content on this excursion honestly left me wanting a bit more. 

    On the trip from the port to the Mayan Cacao Company we passed by a moderate amount of police or military wielding some serious firepower. It was slightly concerning, but there were no incidents. De La Cruz talked a good chunk of the way there about Cozumel and Dia De Los Muertos. Upon our arrival we got to sample some chocolate before being given a chance to create an alter with the knowledge from the bus ride. From there we had a small lunch of tamales and headed to the beach. The water was nice, but without snorkel gear, it wasn't as great as it could have been. There were things to do at the beach for an extra price, but I did not do any of those as the excursion was already around $80.

     On a scale of one to ten, I'd give this excursion a 6. I think I would have preferred a less educational bus ride with more learning being done in the actual atmosphere of Dia De Los Muertos. While most people seemed happy with the extended time on the beach I found it to almost be too much time. For a excursion that was advertised to dive into the history of the holiday.... and the history of chocolate, I felt that I left with not much more knowledge than I went in with which is a bit of a shame. De La Cruz clearly has a deep knowledge for the holiday and I wish he was able to spend more time with us discussing the holiday versus having to make sure we get maximum beach time. It was a nice excursion to do once, but I don't think I'd do it again.

    Grand Cayman offered a unique experience in that the ship does not actually make it to the port. Rather the ship floats offshore and smaller tender boats transport you to and from the island. Once on land I got explore the little market place. Once it was time for the excursion to start my hype level kind of jumped as this was the Nautilus Undersea Tour and Reef Snorkel! Easily my most anticipated excursion, this one, generally, did not disappoint. After a bus ride of two blocks (seriously and I have no idea why) I got on board the Nautilus. For those who do not know, this ship features a lower level where passengers sit and look out multiple undersea windows. The guides told the tale of two doomed ships, the Callie and the Balboa, and showed us to Cheeseburger Reef. It was a really neat experience to see all of that. Then came the best part, the thirty minute snorkel. Unfortunately nature was not happy so I can say that this was my first snorkel in a thunderstorm. The weather I think impacted the wildlife that was seen as no sharks, turtles, or stingrays were seen where they frequently are. I can't knock an excursion due to the weather so I give this a super solid nine out of ten. The disorganization at the marketplace and some confusion with the bus prevents it from being a perfect experience, but for the $70 I paid, I thought it was well worth it.

Outside of the Nautilus

Inside of the Nautilus

    Lastly was Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas. Of the three ports, Castaway Cay would prove to be the most laid back. Once off the boat it's pretty much free reign as to where you go on the island. There are excursions that you can book such as snorkeling, parasailing, feeding stingrays, etc., but none of those require much effort to get to and it's all hosted by Disney as opposed to the previous two ports that featured companies that work with Disney for their excursions. I participated in the feed and snorkel with the stingrays and also rented snorkel gear to snorkel in the lagoon. Both experiences were great. I admit that when it comes to things like feeding stingrays that I am a bit jaded since I get to do that pretty much weekly at my part time job. Swimming with them was a lot of fun though. The lagoon you can snorkel in is netted off, but that does not prevent all wildlife from getting through. In addition to a variety of tropical fish I saw a few small barracuda, a southern stingray who was certainly not an escapee from the stingray pool, as well as upside-down jellyfish. Also throughout the lagoon you can find sunken Disney easter eggs such as a sunken Dumbo car that can be seen on the Dumbo ride at Disneyland or Disney World, a statue of Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid, and Boo's Door from Monster's Inc. Overall the lagoon is quite sizable and provides a couple hours worth of snorkeling if you take your time. 

    Castaway Cay also offered a barbeque lunch for all on the island. The good news is this barbeque acts just like the buffet on the ship which means there is no additional fee. I'll go more into food later, but the selection of food was quite good. It was also nice that the same people whom had been helping people with food all week were the same people on the island. Again, shout out to the cast members! Getting to and from the ship was as easy as stepping off the boat and taking a tram or walking. Either way provided ample opportunity to see some of the beauty of the island. Oh! and apparently there was a 5K going on too. So that's interesting. Castaway Cay I give a ten out of ten. By far the easiest and safest feeling of the three ports, perfect weather, and an overall great experience made this the best port day. That said, I honestly have to give the Castaway Cay's Stingray Adventure a six out of ten. I was surprised that the only species of ray there were southern stingrays despite a variety of rays being discussed during the briefing. Additionally the instructors were not super clear as to when to let go of the food to avoid getting nipped by a ray. Multiple people had struggles with this which led to small bites by the rays or the rays not being able to get their food thanks to other fish swooping in and stealing it. Lastly while the snorkeling with the rays portion was a lot of fun, it too felt like it could have been better should a couple other species of ray had been present.

    Wow that's a lot already. I honestly was not expecting the first two categories to take up so much.... text? So I'm going to break this blog up into at least two parts. Next time I will hit two of the biggest categories of a cruise. Entertainment and food. I suspect the entertainment portion will be a bit lengthy so I will also throw out there that my thoughts on Halloween Horror Nights will be it's own blog as opposed to being tied in with the cruise stuff. Thanks for reading everyone!!!  

Six Flags Great Adventure 2024 Highlights

     It's that time of year again! The time of year where Six Flags announces what is coming to their theme parks for the 2024 season! Six Flags has some big plans for one of it's biggest and most popular parks, Six Flags Great Adventure! The park will be celebrating it's 50th anniversary and the party is looking to be pretty impressive already! Let's take a deep dive into what was announced and see just how great of an adventure awaits us in 2024.

    The highlight announcement is The Flash: Vertical Velocity roller coaster. Great Adventure is no stranger to unique and record braking rides and this new coaster will be yet another unique attraction. In fact, this coaster will be the first of it's kind in the western hemisphere! The Flash: Vertical Velocity is going to be a super boomerang coaster that will reach speeds of 59 miles per hour, launches, reverse movement, inversions, and much more. For an idea on what this ride is going to look like, check out this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC3LWEpHBj8&t=116s . Of course a new coaster coming to the park is great news and a first of it's kind in the west will surely help to attract many thrill seeking guests. The news did not come without controversy though as the ride's location has been called into question. The ride will be constructed in the area that is currently occupied by the catering area stretching to the path that runs along Cyborg: Cyber Spin and perhaps the Aftermath Fright Fest Trail. 

    As you can see in the concept art at https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/attractions/the-flash-vertical-velocity , the ride is going to potentially lead to the closure of the path connecting the Metropolis/Movie Town area to one of the park's main paths. The bigger controversy, and understandably so, is that the ride appears to also take up the area of the former Haunted Castle attraction that burned down and killed eight teenagers in 1984. No ride has been built on that ground and this season debuted an arboretum nearby the site that many guests view as an unofficial memorial. Many people seem to believe the ride is doomed to fail due to the grounds being haunted, but my take on the ride itself is as follows. This ride is going to be crazy. If you watch the video I linked above you can get but a taste of what this thing is going to do. My biggest concern is the ride capacity. Will the single train be able to keep up with demand, or is this ride going to end up with consistently long wait times. Time will tell, but overall this is an A+ addition to the park.

    The classics are getting some love! The Sawmill Log Flume took the year off this year to undergo some serious maintenance. Throughout the season parts of the flume were missing and it's clear that Six Flags is doing a lot of work on the ride. The fully refurbished flume will re-open next season! Speaking of a classic, Big Wheel is also getting some love. It's been several years since Big Wheel illuminated the night at Great Adventure. The park recently announced that Big Wheel will be refurbished and will once again light the night sky in 2024. I love both of these announcements. Both aging attractions really needed the love and I am especially excited to see the new lighting package on Big Wheel as it has been far too long that that ride has sat in the dark. 

    Next up in a surprise return. For the first time since the pandemic started, Safari Off Road Adventure will return! This ride will once again take the place of Six Flags Wild Safari. It's a move that is being greeted with both cheers and jeers. On one hand, a lot of people really enjoyed the ability to drive through the safari. Wild Safari offered a really cozy way for families to enjoy the animals from the comfort of their own car with a digital guided tour to guide the way. On the other hand, people simply did not follow directions. I've heard multiple reports of people reaching out their windows at the animals, speeding in the safari, and even throwing things at the animals. Needless to say that if nothing else, for the safety of the animals, reverting to Safari Off Road Adventure is a good move. This is not going to just be the same Safari Off Road Adventure though.

    

    Previously, Safari Off Road Adventure loaded at the station by the log flume. This will still be the case for guests inside the park. This time around though there will be a separate station at the entrance of Wild Safari where guests who are not in the park will be able to board. How will that work with parking and what not, I'm not quite sure, but I am glad that the park is giving an option to those who want to experience the safari without having to pay to get into the park itself. What the price will be for Safari Off Road Adventure outside of the park has not been announced. Best of all though is that the real time guided tours are back. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Safari Off Road Adventure was a better experience than the current format of Disney's Kilimanjaro Safari. Yes, Disney's theming is better, but Six Flags takes the cake with species variety and tour guides that not only encourage rider participation, but perform for a solid 45 minutes on those trucks. That's not even mentioning the team members at Camp Adventura that have historically always been incredibly passionate about the animals they teach about.

    We're not done yet with the safari either! New for 2024 will be Savannah Sunset Resort and Spa! This luxury glamping experience takes the safari overnight program and turns it into a literal premium experience. There is not many details, but Great Adventure is advertising the resort as quite the camping experience. The experience is complete with VIP dining (hard to say what that means with Six Flag's track record with food), a fully functional spa, and staying in a luxury canvas tent (which is the concept art appears to have electric running in it as well). More details are sure to come on this experience, but it certainly does sound like a unique and potentially fun thing for animal lovers to do. 

  

    In addition to all these new and refurbished attractions, Six Flags Great Adventure wants to make it's guests part of the 50th anniversary. Guests are able to purchase an engraved brick that will become part of a new path from the park's original entrance. This is very similar to what Disney had outside of The Magic Kingdom outside of Disney World. Guests are also able to purchase a replica brick of the brick that will be installed in the park. I think this is a nice little idea, not the most original, but a great call back to the early days of the park. Bricks can be purchased here... https://4everbricks.com/donors/sfgas/

    Finally, we officially know what the logo for the 5r0th anniversary will look like. Drum roll please...

Personally I love this logo. It has a very classic Great Adventure feel to it which I'm a big fan of. So what else is going on for the 50th? For now this is what we know. One would hope that the park would have a bunch of 50th anniversary merchandise and I personally would love to see some more, possibly even throwback entertainment and more fireworks. Of course I would like a repeat of this season's attention to detail with their festivals too. Yes, I'm looking directly at the Flavors of the World Festival that I thought the park did an incredible job with.

    Next year is looking like a great season for the park! For now though the focus becomes Fright Fest. What fun spooky times await? I'll be sure to give a report on what I do there! For more information on this year's Fright Fest happenings visit https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/events/fright-fest-2023 . Stay tuned to Six Flags Great Adventure's social media pages and website as well as those will be the places to check out as the park inches closer to it's 50th anniversary. Thanks for reading and be well!  

 

Scream Break Review

    Hello everyone and welcome back! So my first Scream Break experience is now behind me and after some time to digest my experience I have to say that I actually really enjoyed myself. I am going to be going again tomorrow night and I will be making more of a point to take pictures of what is going on as on my first venture I decided to just enjoy it and experience it. So what did I like and what didn't I like? Read on to find out!

     Getting my wrist band for the event was super easy. The wrist bands were being given out at Six Flags Universe (gift shop). The main park closed at 8pm and by 8:15pm the Scream Break festivities began. Prior to the event starting I asked a staff member (supervisor) who was helping to construct the dance party stage about the attractions at the event. I was told that the Extreme Attractions (The Great American Road Race, Slingshot, and Dare Devil Dive) would still be an additional fee, but the two haunted houses (The Manor and Fears) would be included with the event admission. Once the event started though a different scenario was at play as all attractions ended up being included at no extra fee. To me that was incredible as I can never turn down free go karts. Fears and The Manor are what they always have been, unfortunately two of the weaker haunted Great Adventure offerings, but it was still nice to experience a bit of spooky in early April.

    It look a little bit for some of the activities to get started. I got through the two houses and go karts pretty quickly thanks to the limited crowd and found myself wandering towards the scream break fright zone only to find it merely a path with purple and green lights on leading towards Kingda Ka. Well after a bit of time had passed I went back over there and was please so see fog had taken over the path and heard legitimate screaming coming from within. This second trip over there was much better as several scream break ghouls were scaring unsuspecting guests. It was also nice to hear the scream of a chainsaw in the area as well. Felt more like a traditional Fright Fest scare zone than Fright Fest scare zones have been the past couple years (largely due to lack of fog and lighting). I do wonder if they will consider turning that path into a scare zone for Fright Fest as it worked surprisingly well. 

    I couldn't help myself in trying out a couple of the Scream Break food items. I had a buffalo (the animal) sausage sandwich and a funnel cake complete with gummy worms, chocolate soft serve, strawberry sauce, and powdered sugar. The food was actually really good all around. I like my sausage sandwich plan, but options for either peppers and onions or coleslaw were also available. To my surprise the sausage was cooked right in front of me on a portable grill as opposed to just being pulled out of some hot box like I was expecting. All that said, both food items were very much so overpriced and the way the pop up food stand for the sausage was set up did not allow for any dining plan or membership discounts. So, tasty, but won't be getting it again for tomorrow's round two. 

    The dance party was ongoing in the end of the boardwalk area near the path to Kingda ka and where Twister operates. I LOVE the fact that they did some basic maintenance on Twister by the way. I did not hear the ride making that awful squeak/screech as it came to a stop once. Even if it's just a bunch of WD-40, I am happy they did something to help the old ride out. The dance party itself had a fine selection of party music, but I honestly would have liked to hear some remixes of Halloween songs or something to keep that spooky party vibe going. There were ghouls hanging around the party too. Hilariously, they are all dressed in Hawaiian shirts drinking out of skulls. Pretty funny considering I'm so used to seeing the various Fright Fest costumes. They were all great. Some meandered among the guests happily before doing something creepy while others just stood and waited for an attempted jump scare. Kind of cool to have that not sure what is behind you feeling while just listening to some party music. 

    So for a quick wrap up. Yes! I do think that for passholders this event is 100% worth it. For non passholders it very well could be depending on what you plan on doing. If your plan is to ride the coasters at night, then no it's probably not worth it as the majority of them are closed during the event. That said, if you plan on hitting all the extreme attractions plus the two haunted houses, then honestly it's cheaper to do Scream Break for those things, as opposed to buying a day pass plus all the upcharges for those attractions during a regular day. The trade off again though is that the majority of the park is closed, so as to whether or not it is worth it for people without a pass is hard to say outright. Personally I had a real good time despite the freezing cold weather and am very much looking forward to a warmer experience tomorrow! I'll do another blog with my final thoughts on Scream Break (with some pictures) soon so stay tuned!   

Scream Break Comes to Six Flags Great Adventure

    Tomorrow will mark my very first Scream Break at Six Flags Great Adventure! For those who do not know, Scream Break is a limited capacity event that will be taking place after the park closes at Six Flags Great Adventure and other Six Flags parks around the country. Scream Break is actually a sort of miniature Fright Fest, so naturally I am pretty excited to get a dose of spooky at the start of the season as well as during the fall. So what is Scream Break and is it going to be worth it. The following are my initial thoughts on it.

    Being a limited capacity event, you can either reserve a ticket online or walk up and purchase one when you arrive. Scream Break is free to pass holders, but a limited number of pass holder slots are available, otherwise the event for non passholders is $40. Seems like a reasonable price for an evening of chills and thrills from 8pm till 11pm right? Normally I'd say yes, but lets look deeper shall we. Unlike Fright Fest, the park is not fully open during Scream Break. In fact, the only portions of the park that will be open is The Boardwalk section and the Kingda Ka area of The Golden Kingdom. So this means that you attendees will not be getting to experience the usual decor and layout of the park's Fright Fest. In fact, there is no advertisements of decorations at all, which makes sense considering Great Adventure has not really decorated The Boardwalk in recent years and The Golden Kingdom historically has not really participated in Fright Fest (minus a terror trail being there). 

    While it does not sound like there will be too much in the way spooky decorations, Six Flags does advertise that there will be a Spring Break Zombie Scare Zone. I'll find out what that entails tomorrow when I go, but I hope it is more than just a few scare actors wandering around with no decoration or theming to be seen at all. There will, however, be a Scream Break Dance Party. Now don't go getting things confused. I didn't type Dead Man's Party for a reason. It's not going to be a dance party like that as it sounds more like it's going to be a dance party for the attendees that the ghouls/zombies will be intermingling in. I could be wrong, but I will certainly not complain hopefully hearing some good Halloween party dance music. Six Flags is also advertising fog, spooky lighting, and spooky music during the event. I'd hope so.

    So what's open? I mentioned the areas that will be open, but what about the rides? Well a select number of rides and attractions will be open during this event. The good news is that there does appear to be a little something for almost everyone. Superman Ultimate Flight, The Green Lantern, Twister, Dare Devil Dive, Sling Shot, Great American Road Race, and Kingda Ka will all be open. I am hoping with this being a limited capacity event that the extra fees for Sling Shot, Great American Road Race, and Dare Devil Dive will be dropped or even removed. I did have a Six Flags online support member tell me that they will still be there normal extra fee, but people close to the park seem to have been told other things. If not this means that four rides are available to ride without having to pay an additional fee. In addition to the rides and dance party will be two haunted houses. Both The Manor and Fears will be open during the event. These too I have been told will be at an extra fee. I have also been told though by others close to the park that they will not be at an additional fee. Long story short here is that Six Flags has not actually said what the situation is with these attractions so it's just as possible they will be at an added fee as it is they will not be at an added fee. For non passholder sakes I'd hope they are included as Scream Break is a separate admission from the normal operating hours.

    So whether this event ends up being worth it in my opinion will end up coming down to the situation with the haunted houses and extreme attractions as they call them. If there are added fees for all of those I do think the price would be a bit rough and really the $40 is getting you a dance party and a nighttime ride on three coasters and Twister, all of which can be done at various points during the season. I've seen a lot of people commenting on social media that Scream Break (at other parks) is a scam with hidden fees. I'm guessing the hidden fees people refer to is the fact that certain attractions are listed as included, but are still pay to ride. I don't think I'd personally call it a scam though... Still, a taste of spooky during the spring is something I am greatly looking forward to. 

     As a passholder I'm not going to be paying anything additional to go to Scream Break, so if I decide to spend any money on attractions, I'm personally not going to feel shafted or scammed since the event is covered by my pass. While I don't have a ton of high hopes for this being a spectacular event, I am hopeful that it will still be a good time and I hope to see at least some people get a good scare. I would love to see the park do more limited capacity events during the year like this. Even if it does not include the whole park, different themed events gives me another reason to want to go. So with that said I will be at the park tomorrow night having a scary good time and ultimately making the experience what I make it, and that will be a fun time regardless of ride availability (also helps that I'm not a huge ride person anyway). 

    Scream break will run nightly from April 8th until April 15th from 8:00pm till 11:00pm. For tickets or to book your passholder reservation visit https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/events/scream-break .   

Six Flags Great Adventure Opening Weekend 2023 Review

    Trying to dust this thing off again. It's been two years since I've blogged at all, but I've come to miss it, so that being said I want to try to get more into it again. I'm going to be largely covering my home park, Six Flags Great Adventure and Hurricane Harbor, but I'll also keep tabs on what's going on in the Disney Parks should I find anything I want to throw my feelings out on. I don't know how active this blog will be, but as I said before, I have missed it, so I'd like to think I'll be fairly active again. So without going into a super long story about what's been going on the last two years, let's take a look at my thoughts on opening weekend at Six Flags Great Adventure 2023!

I'm going to divide this blog up into The Good and The Bad. Keep in mind that these are my thoughts so I may see something as good that you may not, so if you do have a different opinion I would love to hear it in the comments. This season should be an interesting one to say the least. Last year the CEO brought in a swath of changes that were met with well.... Lets just say a less than favorable response from the public. Attendance at the parks took a major hit across the board and Six Flags responded with a just a mess of different passes, way to pay for passes, and passes with nearly identical names that do different things. With a new season getting started and a lot of uncertainty still surrounding the future a very much so not ready to roll Six Flags Great Adventure Opened. 

The Good 

    Just because a park is not ready to roll doesn't mean all is bad. In fact a big part of why the park isn't quite ready to be running at 100% is something I've been harping on for years. Maintenance. In addition to El Toro's ongoing refurbishment it does appear that Runaway Train and the Saw Mill Log Flume are also undergoing some maintenance. Keep in mind that those are two of the oldest rides in the park so it's always good to hear work is being done on them. Both rides are probably opening over Memorial Day Weekend. Speaking of maintenance. Yum Yum Cafe debuted it's new menu and new internal look. The new layout I think looks much better than the old and it really is amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do for a place. 

    

    Now for the food. The good news is I can say that it is an improvement over the old menu. The standard chicken tenders and burgers are there, but there are now a couple different options with the burger. They have a double cheeseburger now as well as bacon burgers. I went a bit of a healthier option but had a bit of the burger and it actually had a taste which is a massive change from previous seasons at Yum Yum Cafe. I'd say it was about the quality of a McDonalds burger. Still nothing special, but it's Six Flags, so the bar is not exactly high in the food quality department. My chicken Caesar wrap on the other hand was a refreshing flash back. Back in I'd say 2016 or so, there were several places in the park where you could get a chicken Caesar wrap and it was pretty good quality. I'm not sure if this wrap will be elsewhere this year, but the lettuce on the wrap was fresh and the parmesan was not the usual out of the bag shredded cheese. It appeared to be parmesan cheese crumbles. They tasked pretty good to me. I'll be visiting Yum Yum Cafe again should I decide to eat in the park. Good in a pinch, but more on the food situation later.

    Justice League Battle for Metropolis for whatever reason still has not been calibrated correctly in the absence of the 3-D glasses, but the first screen has been changed! Harley Quinn now appears on the ride on the first screen. The rest of the ride was the same, but that was a neat surprise addition. It was in pretty good working order too with just two effects not working (the mist screen which works like 30% of the time since the ride opened and the fire effect which didn't work most of last season). Fix the calibration or bring back the 3-D glasses and I think the ride would be fantastic.

    The Dark Knight was a completely different experience. The preshow is back! Well it's kind of back. It now runs as the doors are open, so you can watch it if you want to, but they have not gone back to locking you in the room and trying to scare you by banging something against a garbage can. Still neat to see it running again after it was turned off during the pandemic era. As we boarded the ride attendant asked if we were afraid of the dark and laughed. I've ridden this ride a ton of times. It's not that dark in there. Well.... This time it was pitch black. Minus the very first trick turn sign not a single light or set piece was on. It was honestly a pretty cool experience. Even knowing the track so well I was caught off guard with a couple of the sudden drops. I honestly won't complain if it stays that dark. It was a pretty cool experience.

    Along with maintenance I've been saying for a long time that some landscaping love would go a long way. Well, Great Adventure is starting to work on that. There are already a few newly landscaped areas and many areas of the park have nice fresh mulch where there probably hasn't been any in years. Some of it is kind of confusing at the moment like the picture below, but it's a start and I will take that! They also have a walk through garden in the works near Cyborg Cyber Spin (yup it's still there) which will look very nice once it's in bloom.

    While Nitro was not open, the new train and one of the newly painted trains are visible. This just further confirms that the ride is going to be getting either just a new paint job or a retheme/name. The trains were not on the track, but from what I can see, the new blue color looks very nice, but will probably look a bit odd on the currently rusted purple/yellow track the ride has now. Also, Zumanjaro Drop of Doom was open! I haven't seen that running since before Fright Fest and King Da Ka appeared to have it's usual early season difficulties in staying open.

The Bad

    On the flip side of The Dark Knight, Skull Mountain is looking really rough. There is a lot of light coming through at this point and when you are near the top of the lift hill you can see just a ton of siding falling apart on the upper right porting of the structure. The music and flashing lights remain off as well. The Dark Knight seems to have replaced Skull Mountain as the dark ride. The ride itself was fine, but the structure it's in is in desperate need of some love.

   

    The prices of food are a bit much at this point. I've eaten my fair amount of theme park food over the years and I completely understand that it's going to be expensive, but $16 for a slice of pizza seems a bit much. One of the burgers at Yum Yum Cafe was approaching $20. Again, I understand it's a theme park, but there is one problem that may be unique to Great Adventure. That is it's next door neighbor Adventure Crossing. Yes the megaplex continues to grow and expand. There is a bunch of food already there at standard food prices making it real hard for me to justify spending the money in the park. I suppose if someone is going to the park for a whole day it is what it is, but personally I would rather grab Taco Bell, Popeye's, and soon Carvel than a quesadilla, chicken strip, or ice cream at the park for twice the price. Again, that's more of a me thing, and yes I realize Six Flags probably doesn't care cause if they sell one order of chicken strips they've nearly made up the cost of the bag.

    In a bizarre move, the fountain is not running. Now work with me on this cause this has potential to be hilarious and awesome. There is currently a gigantic rubber duckie statue in the middle of the fountain and a bunch of rubber ducks just floating around. Problem with this is the fountain isn't running at all so the ducks all just end up where the wind blows. Would be awesome of there was some kind of current or even if the water was running as the big duck appears to have a fountain in it's mouth. We shall see if this changes, but not having the fountain outside of Holiday in the Park seems like an odd choice and the duck reminds me of Sesame Street. Just bizarre in it's current form, but long live the ducks!

    Overall I had a nice time at opening day 2023. The whole park is not open yet and will not be until sometime this summer when El Toro reopens. It will be great to have the whole place up and running again. Next week is supposed to be Scream Break, which is a super mini Fright Fest featuring two terror trails, select rides, and ghouls wandering the boardwalk area. I do want to point out the boardwalk has not been decorated for Fright Fest for the past few years.... Anyway... Sadly after we left Six Flags Great Adventure would come under a Tornado Warning. They would not open on Sunday due to damage in and around the park. I've heard rumblings that the confirmed tornado did in fact go through a part of the park, but so far the park nor the National Weather Service have confirmed that, but it does sound like there was at least some damage. I'm planning on going back this week (park is supposed to open Wednesday for Spring Break) so I guess I'll see what happened at that time. If it's anything noteworthy I'll be sure to discuss it. The 2023 season has kicked off in one of the most unexpected ways, but the park is mostly open for the year and I couldn't be happier to once again have somewhere to go, hang out, and most importantly, have fun!