disneyfan1313

I disagree that anyone can see that an SLC going 200mph is ridiculous. How many people have *seen* something going 200mph on the ground? They might not realize how fast that really is and quite frankly going 65mph on the right thing (see test tracks outside segment) can seem CONSIDERABLY faster. Couple that with the excitement of the ride, possibly being in the front seat, etc. I just think we shouldn't get so wrapped up in stats that we forget that the point of rides is to HAVE FUN. If someone thinks a coaster goes 200 mph - who cares! That means it was a memorable, fun and a little scary experience for them - not that they are stupid.

I've considered a trip to the Dells in the past.. Your TR made me change my mind. Thanks for all the fun photos!

I gotta throw my two cents in here - why is it strange that GP do not know or understand specific coaster stats or terms? Quite frankly I can't tell by staring at a coaster if it goes 50 or 70 mph or if the lift is 150 or 200 feet. Do you really feel that the average visitor to a park should memorize all of the stats for each ride? Just an honest question....

Canobie Lake does look awesome! What was the covered caterpillar like? I'm not claustrophobic but I feel like it would completely freak me out for some reason.

Awesome! I love the random POV videos like Galaxi and the Astrosphere - even though they are not "big" rides the video is unique and really helps capture the feel of the park and location. Thanks for taking the time to record the random things for all of us!

Thank you Robb, Elissa and Hersheypark for an AMAZING time during the bash! Stacey and I were blown away by everything that was offered from the tours to the ERT to the great food and ice cream. This was an amazing event and anyone who is considering attending one needs to sign up now... it is an experience you wont soon forget!

Thanks for the awesome TR!!!! It was so much fun to hang out with you guys.... thanks for all of the great pictures..

^ Since that is a Wednesday and Thursday you *should* be able to make it through everything in one night and then revisit your favorites afterwards. Be there about 30 minutes prior to advertised opening and RUN to the Tent Houses behind Simpsons. Do both of those then head straight to the Jaws queue house. After that head back to the other house which is in the building next to the tents (the queue entrance should be next to ET). After that do the Disaster queue house and then hit all of the soundstage houses. Regardless of what the themes are or what seems to be the most popular.... hit the lowest capacity first. That being said - if you want to relax, enjoy yourself... and not be stressed all night - the Express pass really is the way to go.....

Just a couple of quick notes.. - Public transportation in orlando is HORRIBLE. Seriously. Horrible. I would NOT recommend taking the lynx bus anywhere with the exception of possibly the I-Drive shuttle. Taking it from the airport is a really bad idea - its going to take a ton of time and is not particularly safe. Taxi would be $40 or less or just do a rental car for the whole first part of your trip. Priceline (using biddingfortravel.com to make smart bids) will usually get you a rental car for around $12-15 a day if you pick up from MCO. Off airport pickup in orlando is usually more expensive. My personal recommendation is to rent a car for the whole first part of your trip from the airport bid through priceline and return through airport as well. Then purchase RCCL transfers to and from the airport and get magical express when you get back to airport to your Disney Resort. - Not much to do in Cocoa Beach at all unless you simply want to sit on the beach. Even restaurants in that area are pretty slim pickings. Its really not a destination. - Coco Cay is the smallest of the cruise lines private islands (if you have been on a cruise to compare it to) - they have limited "island" type activities but you can pretty much see all there is to do on the RCCL website. -Nassau - Stay on the boat. Seriously. Unless you want to gamble in a casino with horrible odds or do any typical excursion type activity (swim w/ dolphins, snorkel, beach, stingray, etc) that is offered at any island stop there is not much in Nassau to excite. Even the food scene kinda sucks. - Back at WDW - don't rely on public transportation from WDW unless you want to waste your entire day. See above comment. Get the park hopper upgrade - the stress it will save you is completely worth it. Decide you want to go back to Epcot 3 evenings...? With that - you can. Downtown Disney is busiest on Fri /Sat so swap it out with another day if you can..but Cirque is dark on Sun/Mon. Don't stress too much about EMH - its pretty slow in January... Hope that helps...

^^ They won't build near Legoland because even THEY realize that it is too far away from everything else..

For your "not even remotely surprising news" today.... http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-orlando-thrill-park-wirthdrawn-20110627,0,7174655.story

Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing that "time capsule" of a place with us. The prices were insane!

That looks like an awesome experience! Thanks Adam! Honestly, how scary was it to fly? Do you get to fly if you do the nighttime fireworks package?

Can I just say how insanely awesome it is to have all these updates done in real-time each day AND have 1080p videos each day as well! That is an crazy amount of work and I just want to say... "Thank You".... !

Pictures of the sale would be fascinating! Were people actually buying this crap?

^^^ MST3K and Gamera = Win The Gamera song...

OMG - I love the "Chip and Deal" cups! Please tell me you got one!

Why does Japan have to be so friggin awesome and make me miss it so much every time I see a TR from there? Tokyo Hands is awesome - amazing selection of random stuff...we explored it for over an hour!

I personally like it the way it is.... with possibly a few small tweaks. The "Random Stuff" being at the top of the page has always thrown me a bit. I think the major updates should be the focal point... not an older TR that not many folks are going to read. I also think some sort of "ticker" listing the biggest recent industry news (rss feed type stuff) would be neat to have and might encourage people to use TPR as their home page. I've seen too many sites go through big redesigns and have it backfire. Look at what happened to the gawker family of sites recently (gawker.com, gizmodo.com, kotaku.com, jalopnik, etc.) They did a DRASTIC redesign that saw people leave in droves. Articles that would have gotten 200 comments, now get 20 or 30. Their whole goal was to make it more dynamic and "web 2.0" but people wanted the community that they loved. TPR is a community... and people like stability in their community. Painting the local shopping mall and adding a few new stores is OK - demolishing it and adding a skyscraper is bad.

I *love* food porn. Thanks for the great thread!! I'm always happy to find out I am not the only one to take obsessive pictures of my food.

That looks like a ton of fun! Why does it seem that the theme of this years coasters is "Twisty"? Is it this years 90degrees?

OMG Elissa - I can't believe you said the HRP thing. I was thinking that I was crazy for thinking that the entire time I was reading the TR! It's the detailed theming but emptiness mixed with large expanses of concrete and raw wood. Hard to explain but totally there with you! But anyways... thanks for the really detailed TR! Fun to see something so new..

Bryan - I am with you. I don't even remotely understand the fascination with Ripley's either. We can both be unimpressed cynics together.

Great TR! It's funny - we have always talked about going to this, but have been warned away by people who have been because of how miserably crowded it is. It didn't seem that bad from your pics....was it?

Wow! That video is AMAZING - crazy airtime! I can't wait to ride this some day.