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Which Rides Come Out On Top For Orlando Attraction Tickets Customers?

Hi Thrill Seekers,

Yesterday I announced we’d hit 600 unique theme park orlando no.1reviews which we are delighted about considering the service was only launched last month.

Part of the process of reviewing a park is to vote for which attraction (ride, show or animal encounter) the reviewer liked best. Its great to see how varied the votes are and proves that none of the Theme Parks are reliant upon just one ride.

Today I thought I’d highlight which attractions are top at each major theme park by listing the top 3 most voted for. Does your favourite come out on top?

Magic Kingdom

  1. SpaceMountain
  2. Splash Mountain®
  3. Wishes™ Nighttime Spectacular

Epcot

  1. Test Track® Presented by Chevrolet®
  2. Soarin’™
  3. The Seas with Nemo & Friends

Hollywood Studios

  1. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith
  2. The TwilightZoneTower of Terror™
  3. Toy Story Mania!®

Animal Kingdom

  1. Expedition Everest®
  2. Kilimanjaro Safaris® Expedition
  3. Festival of the Lion King

Universal Studios

  1. Despicable Me Minion Mayhem
  2. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit®
  3. The Simpsons Ride™

Islands of Adventure

 

  1. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™
  2. The Incredible Hulk Coaster®
  3. Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges®

 

 

SeaWorld

  1. Manta®
  2. Beluga Interaction Program
  3. Shamu Rocks®

Busch Gardens

 

  1. Cheetah Hunt
  2. SheiKra
  3. Montu

 

 

The most popular attraction (highest amount of votes) in all of Orlando is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey which to date has almost 50 individual votes.

We’ll soon be popping something live so that those interested can view all the votes per park. I’ll keep you all informed until then…

Smiles included…

Jamie

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Which Orlando Parks Took Home A Golden Ticket?

Afternoon Thrill Seekers,

If you were an actor you’d want an Oscar… in the World of theme GTA 2013Parks the Oscar equivalent is a Golden Ticket. On the 7th September the great and good of the Theme Park industry gathered for the 15th annual awards ceremony with some of our favourite friends rightfully up for awards.

The Golden Ticket Awards (GTA) relies on a panel of voters from all over the world consisting of experienced park enthusiasts. The U.S. ballots are divided into four geographical regions, with approximately the same number of voters in each region. In addition to the American voters, Amusement Today invites a number of international voters to participate.

Voters are asked to submit one choice in each of the categories (except best coaster). The results are tallied and the park or attraction with the most votes is awarded the Golden Ticket for that category. For roller coasters, we ask that each voter submit a list of their top ten coasters — wood and steel — in order from one to ten, taking into consideration the overall experience including capacity, operations, reliability and re-rideability.

So without anymore delay the winners are;

CATEGORY WINNER
Best Amusement Park Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
Best Waterpark Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas
Best Children’s Park Idlewild and SoakZone, Ligonier, Pa.
Best Marine Life Park SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Seaside Park Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Best Wooden Coaster Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce, Bristol, Conn.
Best Steel Coaster Millennium Force at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
Best Kids’ Area Kings Island, Kings Mills, Ohio
Friendliest Park Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Cleanest Park Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Best Halloween Event Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Landscaping Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va.
Best Christmas Event Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Food TIE!  Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.
Best Shows Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Outdoor Night Show Production IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, Orlando, Fla.
Best Water Ride Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.
Best Waterpark Ride Wildebeest at Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Best Dark Ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.
Best New Ride of 2013 – Amusement Park Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City, Branson, Mo.
Best New Ride of 2013 – Waterpark River Rush at Dollywood’s Splash Country, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Carousel Grand Carousel at Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.
Best Indoor Roller Coaster Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Indoor Waterpark Schlitterbahn Galveston Island, Galveston, Texas
Best Funhouse/Walk-Through Attraction Noah’s Ark at Kennywood, West Mifflin, Pa.

Orlando based winners were

  • SeaWorld Orlando, best marine-life park.
  • Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, best Halloween event.
  • IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Epcot, best outdoor night show production.
  • Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls at Islands of Adventure, best water ride.
  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure, best dark ride.
  • Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Orlando, best indoor roller coaster.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Smiles included…

Jamie

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Top Selling Orlando Attraction Tickets In August

Afternoon Thrill Seekers,

We’re officially in September, where does the time go? The end of smiles includedAugust officially means we’ve survived the madness of peak season and everyone at Orlando Attraction Tickets can finally breath normally 🙂

As a company we’ve beat last years sale amounts on every single month so far and August was not exception seeing us up a massive 233% yoy. This years sales were boosted by some additional product including Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights and Blue Man Group.

The top 10 most popular ticket purchased in August 2013 were;

  1. The Orlando PassPort
  2. Disney Universal Switch Ticket
  3. 14 Day Disney Ultimate Ticket
  4. Orlando FlexTicket
  5. Discovery Cove Ultimate Package
  6. Universal 2-Park Bonus Ticket
  7. SeaWorld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens Ticket
  8. Discovery Cove Package
  9. Universal 3-Park Bonus Ticket
  10. 7 Day Disney Premium Ticket

Other positives from August include an average dispatch time of only 72 hours which when you consider the amount of checks that are involved in making sure everyones order is correct is pretty impressive.

Here’s to a busy September and more Smiles included…

Jamie

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We’ve Made A Few Amendments To Wish Lists

Morning Thrill Seekers,

One of our more popular features since we launched the new look Orlando Attraction Tickets has been Wish Lists. Wish Lists allow our user to create, store and share theme park tickets and attractions online. Its useful for a few reasons, it allows you to build up a unique list that you can share with party members and gage reaction on and also allows aids you in planning your holiday.

Today we have added a few additional features to Wish Lists that we hope will increase the uniqueness of the product and encourage even more of our customers to use it.

New Wish List Users

Anyone can use our wish list feature, you don’t have to have purchased any tickets from us, however what you will require is an account so that we can store your Wish Lists uniquely to you.

wish list amend

In the past we’ve allowed users to login in as a guest (which you can still do) however we want the Wish Lists to look a bit more personal so we’ve added a new field asking customers to enter their first name. Not only does this add to the personalisation it also makes it easier for friends to find if it has your name on it.

Wish List Look

We’ve also made a few amendments to how the Wish Lists themselves look, firstly we’ve altered the colour of the “Create new” button to encourage customers to pick a different name for their List rather than the default names we offer.

wish list create new

Secondly, we’ve added the option to select the image you want to pick to represent the ticket. Previously you were restricted to the default image we use, however you will now notice some arrow icons on the lists that allow you to scroll through images. To set an image simply click on the “set as new image” button.

wish list imageWish List Page

One part of our Wish List feature allows our users to leave notes either for themselves and their party or to ask a question. Previously these Wish Lists weren’t highlighted in anyway. We’ve amended this, by adding a “more” icon.

wish list comments

Finally we’ve added the ability for users to reply to Wish Lists using facebook comments, its a great way for customers to get tips, hints and information from other users regarding their ticket choices.

wish lists facebook

We hope these amendments will prove popular. If you have any suggestions on how you think we can improve Wish Lists please do not hesitate to contact us.

Smiles included…

Jamie

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6 Orlando Theme Parks Rides To Cool You Down

Afternoon Thrill Seekers,

We are bang in the middle of a UK heatwave, to say its Scorchio is an understatement. We’re not complaining, I promise, but it did get us thinking which rides in Florida would be the best to cool down in.

We’ve selected 2 rides from Disney, SeaWorld and Universal, have a look and see if you agree?

Disney’s Splash Mountain

This very popular flume ride can be found at Disney’s Magic Kingdom and is perfect for a bi of a cool down.

Based around the story of Brer Rabbit, this ride starts of gentle enough but has a few surprises to help you cool down. Expect to get wet!

splash mountain

Disney’s Kali River Rapids

A river raft adventure guaranteed to get you wet! Found at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Kali River Rapids is an adventurous river raft ride for big kids, teens and adults that journeys through the rainforest on the churning Chakranadi River.

If you somehow managed to stay dry the 30 foot waterfall drop will soon see to that… Change of clothes required 🙂

Disney's Kali River Rapids

SeaWorld’s Journey To Atlantis 

Found at SeaWorld Orlando, Atlantic is a  one-of-a-kind water-coaster with two of the steepest, fastest, wettest drops anywhere. Prepare to get soaked. And prepare to want to go again!

Journey To Atlantis

SeaWorld’s Manta

Although you don’t really get soaked on this one I did get sprayed and there’s nothing better to cool you down than the wind rushing through your hair as you stare at the floor, 140ft in the air, and travelling at speeds of up to 50mph.

manta

Universal’s Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls

Will Dudley Do-Right and his faithful horse, Horse, reach Nell in time to save the day? Will you be able to keep a straight face as you encounter the hilarious puns and visual jokes that mark your journey? Will you stay dry when you experience the incredibly steep plummet down Ripsaw Falls? Hop in your log for the watery conclusion of this sidesplitting flume ride to find out!

Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls

Universal’s Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges

Located in Islands of Adventure, get ready to splash and churn your way through the waterways of Sweet Haven you’ll sail through a variety of amusing scenes and different ways to get you wet, including a fully-operational barge wash and an Octopus Grotto where you’ll encounter an 18-foot tall, 14-foot wide octopus with 10-foot long tentacles. Don’t be surprised if you’re completely soaked when it’s all over!

This ride still holds my person record for a complete soaking… you will get wet…

Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges

So there we have it, 6 top ways to cool down in a heatwave, if you can think of a better way I’d love to hear it. 🙂

Smiles included…

Jamie

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My Dream Orlando Theme Park

Hi Thrill Seekers,

I just posted a beautiful picture on our Orlando Attraction Ticketsjamieland
 facebook page of a coaster at sun set and it sparked my imagination…

What would be my dream Orlando Theme Park?

If I could pick and choose any thrill rides or attractions from all the theme parks in Orlando to create one ultimate Theme Park… or Jamie-Land if you will, what would it include.

To make it a little easier I’ve placed the coasters in to categories, I can only pick one from each.

Speed 

  • Cheetah Hunt
  • The Hulk Coaster
  • Expedition Everest

My Pick: Although I real like Cheetah Hunt, I’m going to go for The Hulk Coaster, it was the first ride I ever rode in Orlando and I just love the speedy start.

Indoor

  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
  • The Mummy’s Revenge
  • Rock N’ Roller Coaster
  • Space Mountain

My Pick: Rock N’ Roller Coaster, a brilliant ride that is actually enhanced by being indoors. Loved it.

Mention: Mummy’s Revenge is a very close second.

Loops

  • Montu
  • Dragons Challenge
  • Kumba
  • Kraken
  • Manta

My Pick: Manta, the unique riding position makes it an easy pick, nothing is quite like Manta.

Drops

  • SheiKra
  • Rip Ride Rockit
  • Jurassic Park
  • Tower of Terror
  • Dr Doom
  • Journey to Atlantis
  • Splash Mountain

My Pick: SheiKra, anyone who’s ridden will know why I picked this, its the daddy of all drop rides.

Mention: Rip Ride Rockit, it plays music as it chucks you around!

3D

  • Spider-Man 3D
  • Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
  • The Simpsons 3D
  • Toy Story Mania
  • Muppet Vision 3D

My Pick: Easy one for me this, it Spider-Man, I suffer badly with motion sickness; but this ride never effects me. Plus its awesome!

Shows

  • Disney’s Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show
  • One Ocean
  • Move It! Shake! It Celebrate It!
  • Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular
  • Disney World’s Wishes

My Pick: Although I love all of the show’s above, I’m going to pick Disney World’s Wishes, you can’t beat a firework show…

Mention: One Ocean, simply amazing! 

Well there you go, Jamie-Land is complete…. What do you think? What would your Theme Park Include?

regards,

Jamie

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