Walk Time: How to see what other fans miss
One of my favorite things to do on Theme Park Insider is to bring you new attraction reviews. You can find plenty of sources online that tell you whether or not a bunch of people like or dislike anything new. But the best reviews provide much more than that.
Criticism, when written well, offers context that helps you understand something new. It helps connect people with the stuff that they want, while steering them away from the stuff they don't. Whether you end up experiencing the thing reviewed or not, reviews should get you thinking. Maybe they even entertain you, too.
On Thursday this week, we brought you two new attraction reviews - coincidentally, each for an interactive attraction. (That's the fancy industry term for what we once just called "shoot-'em-ups.") First up, the wonderful Jim Koehl and Jeff Elliott took us for a ride on Kings Island's Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare. Sally Dark Rides revamped the old Boo Blasters show building at the Cincinnati-area park, creating an engaging new dark ride experience that rewards visitors even without its gameplay.
I love the music theory Easter egg here, with the mission to find and illuminate the "ghost notes" in the attraction. Sally and Six Flags came together here to craft something that offers multiple levels of rewards to fans. That's what great design does, and a review can help people see all those additional tricks and tales and subtext that they might otherwise miss. You can read their review and watch the on-ride video here: Kings Island's Phantom Theater hits all the right notes.
Next up, in California, I drove over to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood in Burbank for the park's new attraction, Superman Experience: Defenders Unite. It's a separately ticketed, walk-through, 3D screen, gesture-driven interactive attraction. But that's a clinical way of explaining that you get to be on a small team that flies and fights alongside Superman in a battle to save the world.
As with the Kings Island attraction, there is more on offer here than a casual visitor might process. Warner Bros. did not need to set up a philosophical debate about the corrupting nature of power when creating an excuse for us to fly and punch like a superhero. But it did. And I appreciate that. Here is my review and video: Warner Bros. invites fans to fly with Superman.
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In the news this week, Six Flags reversed course and decided to bring back the park president job that it eliminated last year in favor of regional directors. But the park president position is coming back at just 10 Six Flags parks in the United States. Of course, that raises the question of what will be happening at the other parks, including Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Kings Dominion. See Six Flags flip-flops, will bring back park presidents.
Disney this week announced the opening date and set list for the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets at Walt Disney World. It also revealed the name for the new "Up"-themed waveswinger at Disneyland Paris.
Over on the Discussion Forum, we are looking for your advice for visiting Dollywood. We also are sharing which ride we have ridden the most.
As always, thank you for reading, and have a great weekend!
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