Invertalon

Some photos of the Valravn staging lot... In the next week or so I should also have some closing day photos up as well. More can be found Here! 1B5A1956.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1957.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1963.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1976.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1966.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1985.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1997.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1949.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1953.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1946.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr

Valravn and Lightning Rod.

E.T., Shrek, Terminator and Twister are closed (along with Disaster now, of course). All else is open I believe.

I agree on that point! With these lights-on tours you see details that you will NEVER see normally, which is unfortunate. One house in particular was Roanoke last year... I didn't realize just how gore-heavy it was because you really can't see half of it when going through... Once you do the tour you can look out for certain things, which is cool, but sometimes a bit better lighting would make some of the houses pop a bit more. I always recommend to the tours to any of my friends who head down to HHN... The price really isn't bad for the experience you get... Makes for a fun day!

Nah, it likely has nothing to do with the purity laws. Well made beer usually won't give you hangovers... Typically, that is a result of beer fermenting at too warm of a temperature for the yeast used, which can create fusel alcohols which can and do give bad headaches. Also remember, most Oktoberfest lagers and the similar are relatively low alcohol at 5% ABV or so, which in large volumes, is significantly lower than say 6-8% ABV beers (or higher). It sure is well made and delicious, no doubt! Love German Dunkels, Oktoberfest's, Hefe's, etc...

Thanks! Trust me, I wish I could have taken photos with all the "show lights" on. The tours are really nice for seeing all the details in the house you typically would miss and such, but isn't near the same when the lighting is on and the actors are in place doing their thing. I always wonder how Hollywood's would compare... The layout at USH is just so weird between the upper/lower parts of the park, I always was curious how they set that park up for it. Maybe one day we will get there and hit up Knott's as well!

I just finished editing and uploading all my HHN images from our trip about two weeks ago to my Flickr page... I have about 400 photos up, so check out the link if your interested in more! This year was really solid... I think it was my 8th year or so of HHN since 2004, only missing a few years in there at some point. House wise, the 25th anniversary house was probably my all-around favorite. Freddy vs. Jason, Insidious, Purge, Body Collectors and Werewolf in London were all really good as well. I found Walking Dead fell the most flat, again, no surprise there. Some cool scenes and such, but these houses do absolutely nothing for me. Love the show, but the houses are as stale as you can get. The 3D house was "fun" and RUN was decent, but nothing spectacular. Zone wise it was a very good year... I really loved the mini-"legends" zone in front of Disaster, All Nite Din In. Psychoscarapy fell flat at first, but once you loiter around and watch the scareactors do their thing, it's amazing. Scary Tales was the most disappointing, for sure. Evil's Roots was really good, very Halloween which is always nice. Some great characters and the overall atmosphere was really nice. The Icon's zone was fine, but I am not a huge fan of the little mini-stages everywhere. I like the purpose of them, but would rather have the icons roam around when those shows are not in progress vs. just standing on stage the entire time. The Jack Show was incredible! I miss HHN having a show like that every year... So well put together, amazing gag's and "stunts" if you will... I overhead a few people tell who they are with how creepy and uncomfortable the show was. Perfect! Bill and Ted was better this year than the past few, I thought. You can never really go wrong with this show though, it's always a fun time. So overall this year was really good... We did four nights total and beat our record last year of total house "laps" , this year we did 46 compared to last year of 41. So next year we go for 46 or higher! Also since I know people may ask, I was using a Canon 5D Mark III camera along with a few various lenses. Edited in Lightroom. 1B5A0211.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0227.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0244.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0247.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0265.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0267.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0290.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0292.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0325.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0347.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0357.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0378.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0383.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0393.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0401.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0403.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0414.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0436.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0442.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0449.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0456.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0468.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0472.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0473.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0481.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0499.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0502.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0514.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0525.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0542.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0546.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0557.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0575.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0586.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0594.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0600.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0601.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0613.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0631.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0642.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0655.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0663.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0680.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0676.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0695.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0686.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0714.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0724.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0734.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0737.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0740.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0769.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0785.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0815.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0837.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0840.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0842.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0861.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0868.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0870.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0879.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0883.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0894.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0908.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0932.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0942.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0944.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0959.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0969.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0978.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0994.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A0998.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1015.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1020.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1034.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1056.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1095.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1110.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1243.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1177.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1155.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1165.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1341.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1326.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1248.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1338.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1395.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1410.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1428.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1474.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1491.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1533.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1557.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1571.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1604.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1618.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1280.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1678.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr 1B5A1681.jpg by Steven Franczek, on Flickr

That Screamscape rumor is completely idiotic. It will be B&M, don't worry...

Just returned from our HHN trip... Did 4 days of HHN and ended up going through the houses a combined total of 46 times. Insidious - 7 Freddy vs. Jason - 6 Walking Dead - 4 Wonderland - 4 25th Anniversary - 5 Purge - 5 Body Collectors - 5 Run - 4 Werewolf - 6 Overall the event was really solid... I liked the 25th Anniversary house best followed by probably the Purge, Freddy vs. Jason and Body Collectors. I didn't care for the 3D house much at all and I thought Walking Dead was pretty bad... Nice set but it is just so old at this point. Run was OK. Werewolf is a fun house, I enjoy it but since I had been in the other year its hard to really rank it with the others. I wish Body Collectors had more gore... It felt a bit weak in that regard for being what it is. The carnage show was amazing. So well done! The zones were pretty good... Some really awesome people working their character. I didn't care for the steampunk zone (very, very weak), but the rest were good. My only real complaint is that some houses felt a bit "thin" staffing wise. I felt like so many rooms could have used more energy by having another one or two people inside them. I have a few hundred photos to go through and hope to get them up by the weekend... Including the lights-on house tour photos (we did both tours, so 6 houses total).

Friday was dead... Nothing had a wait (except for Maverick, of course). MF was a few train wait and everything else walk-on. Great day to go...

I like the additional elbow room on the new style but dislike the vest for the most part... At least for me, the vest does not lay "flat" on my shoulders digs into my shoulder blade at an angle... It is a bit bothersome.

You think? Last year I didn't see it but the year before that it was not too bad. I sat through about two songs yesterday and left... The acoustics/audio was just terrible and the show to me feels awkward... Poor song selection (from what I sat through) and aside from the face paint it doesn't feel very HalloWeekends.... It is by far my least favorite "attraction" for HalloWeekends. Perhaps it will get better after some more practice/tuning, but that show/venue never really impress me to begin with. Really going to miss Midnight Syndicate this year... Highlight of last year for sure... That show was on a different level to all the others at the park, it was amazing.

This fixed my issue... Back locked at 60 FPS. Before the same scene would give me 35-40 and very choppy game play. Thanks for the heads up.

My FPS has actually dropped quite a bit with this update... On a few of my tracks, FPS drops down to 30 FPS or so from 60 where it usually sticks at all the time. I rarely ever leave 60 FPS at max settings unless there are 2-3 rides and a lot of 3D trees and such. Sucks my rig took a hit in performance... And I don't really see any benefit from the update quality/rendering wise.

FWIW, Hulk is the highest cycled ride in B&M history. The track has worn out beyond repair welding/bracing per B&M. We are on the verge of the world's first retracked B&M coaster, along with other upgrades as noted. If the rumor round the watering hole is accurate.

Should not be long before we start to see new track roll out of the B&M plant in Ohio... And lot's of it!

GK leaked at least a week early... I remember looking at the CAD drawings that were leaked at least a few days prior to announcement. It was not the night before. Same thing with Banshee. As far as the leaked layout goes, if legit, is a bit disappointing. I love Sheikra and dive machines in general, but I was hoping for a wee-bit more uniqueness if CP was to do this type of coaster. The drop/immelman duo for example is on every single dive machine (aside from Oblivion) no? The post-MCBR run looks better than any other dive coaster, but I just feel like there could have been some other unique elements to be used to make it really stand out. It should be a fun ride none-the-less... I was just hoping for a bit more specialness to the layout. Will be a great addition though and I will love it I am sure... Keep me in the front of the park even more (Between Raptor, GK, MF, Dragster and this I won't need to leave the front)...

CP's Dive Machine.

My latest homebrew... Just finished today. West coast style DIPA loaded with an epic amount of bittering and aromatic hops. Featuring pale 2-row, caramel and wheat grain bill for a clean malt flavor profile to showcase over 8oz of Magnum, Centennial, Amarillo, Cascade, Chinook, Citra and Simcoe hops. Clean bitterness with intense pine/resin, melon and citrus. Dry finish. Very drinkable. 8% ABV and 100+ IBU.

I saw it yesterday for the first time... It was a good, fun movie. But I wouldn't call it incredible or anything... I also wish some things were a little different, but at the end of the day it was still a pretty solid movie so that is what counts.

Should start seeing some (bright) green B&M track soon as well.

It is on the low side, for sure.

Not everyone lives on coaster boards. The general public have no idea that the name has been discovered and they will eat up the upcoming teaser campaign. You have to remember that there are more than just coaster nerds visiting the parks. Even though we like to think that we are the majority, we really are the minority of those that visit parks Notice I said "for me". Not speaking for the general public or anything, it is a given that "they" are still in the dark. Just for me, the excitement is a bit less already knowing what is expected, layout aside. I look forward to seeing that though.

I think that is what comes with "big business". Such as having to copyright/license/trademark everything so nobody else can use it... Therefor, it goes public and with careful searching you can find the info. I doubt there is very little they can do to avoid this. As far as the layout, blue prints, etc... That is tough as well. It's not like just B&M and top CP executives see it prior to announcement... Multiple companies are involved for quote such as vendors used by B&M, construction contractors, art etc... All it takes is one person to take a photo of the print or leak info from the drawings and its all over the internet. It's hard to keep everything a secret anymore. CP doesn't "allow" it on purpose (well, you would think not), but it happens.

Given the leaked info months ago, this build up is a bit anti-climatic for me... The past few leaks/spoilers have turned out all to be true (Banshee, Gatekeeper, Maverick, etc...). At this point, I am just waiting to see what the dive coaster layout looks like. The only surprise may be additional additions, such as another kiddy coaster or dark ride. However, a B&M dive is quite an expensive addition so I figure it will be something small if so. I for one am very excited for it though, I love dive machines.