robbalvey

Thankfully we have not seen them in a very, very long time!

How much you want to bet that a lot of the coaster enthusiasts who showed up for the parks closing day to cry about it rarely stepped foot in the place since the rides side of the park closed?

Dear people posting to our forum. If something insane that you wrote leads to you getting banned, sending us an obnoxious email like this isn't going to help you get unbanned from our forums... Sorry, but this sort of self-entitled "It's not MY fault it's YOUR fault" kind of attitude displayed in this email is a perfect example of the type of crazy person we DON'T want on our forum. Had he written something polite and apologetic, I absolutely would have considered lifting the ban. In short, I'm just happy I received this email as it justifies even more us removing another terrible person from the forum in an effort to weed out insane people to make the content better quality for everyone else to read. --Robb "The crazy people always seem to weed themselves out..." Alvey

It's not a hard concept. But many people are JUST. THAT. STUPID. And unfortunately, a lot of them seem to be interested in posting to our forum lately. And I'm putting a stop to that. Case in point... If you follow our Twitter, you probably know by now we go to Epcot at least twice a month for lunch. We go to World Showcase early and we get to whatever restaurant we plan to eat at right when they open (usually most places open at 11:30.) We have never, EVER had a problem getting a table right when they open, even some of the more hard-to-get-in restaurants. I guarantee you if we went at 1pm and tried to get a table, we would get laughed out of the restaurant. But we see people do this ALL THE TIME and then turn to the internet to complain as though somehow they don't even realize how insanely stupid they are to try to get a table at Le Cellier at 1pm with no reservation. And my only response to the people to try to do this is "You're dumb."

Explain...

Yes, I'm really hoping the park management is seeing these posts and getting RIGHT ON that issue with the incorrect onions on those hot dogs!!! Apparently you've missed the point completely. Nope, I didn't. And after your last post now you're banned from our forum completely.

STOP RIGHT THERE! So you KNEW ahead of time that you could get in line as early as 11:30am but you *CHOSE* not to get in line until 1pm. Which is probably the absolute PEAK time for lines during those hours? I'm sorry, but complaining about having to wait 30 minutes for food instead of going at 11:30am when they opened, or waiting until AFTER the peak period ends makes you a THEME PARK IDIOT! Don't be this kind of person any more. Seriously, is there any park on the planet where if you try to get food at the PEAK hour on a busy day that you're NOT going to wait in a long line? Honestly, some of you people sound like you're just bitching to bitch, and it's really annoying as well as plain stupid. Here's an idea: PLAN YOUR DAY BETTER. DON'T BE DUMB!!!! How hard is that? I guess pretty hard for some people.

On a more serious note: Food Service. Let's be honest, is it *REALLY* great at any park??? Seriously, even if you went to Cosmic Ray's at 12:40 on a busy holiday weekend at Magic Kingdom, one of the most efficient well run parks in the world, it's going to be annoying and you're going to wait a very long time in line for burgers and fries. But you know what I expect out of the people on this forum? I expect them to be theme park EXPERTS not theme park IDIOTS! We all know there is a peak busy time and a non-peak time at every single food location at every single park. We also should know about how long it takes to get food based on looking at a line or based on how long it's taking within the first couple of minutes of standing in a line. I have experienced this at *EVERY* *SINGLE* *PARK* I have ever been to, ever. If you're going to *CHOOSE* to stand in a line that is taking forever, or if you are going to *CHOOSE* to go to a food location during a peak period, then you are not a theme park expert you are a.... THEME PARK IDIOT!!! All I'm saying here is... "be smarter than the GP." That's what we do at Theme Park Review, isn't it? We should all know the best times to avoid busy periods, avoid standing in long lines, and make the MOST out of our day at a park. And don't try to tell me that the SECOND a food location opens at Six Flags St Louis that there is automatically a 90 minute wait. I know you're lying and just trying to cover up the fact that you're a theme park idiot instead of a theme park expert. Those of you who ARE actual theme park experts absolutely 100% know I'm completely right. /mic drop.

Yes, I'm really hoping the park management is seeing these posts and getting RIGHT ON that issue with the incorrect onions on those hot dogs!!!

Echoing some of the batshit crazy stuff that has been posted here is probably not the best recommendation, to be honest. If you've read through most of this thread, you'll see that a lot of the people radically complaining about stuff are also the ones being made fun of, and rightly so. I'm not sure I would consider having to wait for long lines at Season Pass Processing on a holiday weekend when they are having a sale and writing to the park to let them know about the lack of onions on your hot dog is the most "sane" approach either. If those are the things that have contributed to making this your "worst visit ever in 25 years" I say the park should continue doing whatever it is they are doing, because that sounds AWESOME!!!

Sorry, but I feel the need to chime in here for a couple of reasons: 1. I don't feel that a "complaint letter" that was sent to Six Flags Guest Relations is the best "first post" for someone on our forums. Just sounds like you're trying to air some dirty laundry and use our forums to get a support group to rally behind you. Sorry, that's not really how we operate. 2. Yesterday was a holiday weekend, one of the busiest times for all parks in the US, and in addition to that they are doing a HUGE push for season passes, did you really not expect the park to be unusually busy and probably not up to par with your other visits? I have seen countless amounts of times where people will go to a park on an insanely busy day, where they knew it the back of their mind it would be packed, but will lash out at the park and complain about everything they can to compensate for their poor judgement of visiting on a typically crowded day. 3. If you've been a long time customer of Six Flags St. Louis for 25 years and you've finally had a "bad day" don't they at least deserve some credit for the other 24 years they've done well? Do you also sent them compliment letters for each time things are great with your visit? 4. I gotta be honest. It really sounds like you're mostly complaining about a couple of long lines due to some mis-communication with the season pass activation and not having the correct cheese or onions for your hot dog. Really??? These are your complaints that make it the "worst theme park visit you've had in 25 years????" Not having onions?!??! Seriously??? What you posted sounds like mostly minor issues that I think the majority of us here would shrug off to just being a busy holiday weekend day and not let it ruin our time at a park. If I was at the receiving end of your letter at Six Flags, I would be rolling my eyes at some of the things you're bringing up as issues. 5. I'd like to think that we are a group of "theme park experts" and anyone who has been visiting theme parks for most of their lives will know that not every visit is a home run. Just like not ever visit we have to a restaurant might be the best we've ever had. Every business on the planet has good days and bad days. I like to encourage people to think about the balance and also take into consideration factors that might change someone's experience. I'm not excusing a bad performance by a park or any other business for that matter, but at least try to have some understanding. It really just sounded like you were here to complain instead of being an active member of our community. That being said, I'd like to welcome you to the forums and hope you'd be an active member here. But I really feel like this post wasn't the best choice for your initial offering to our community. Hopefully your future contributions will be more constructive and look at things from a different perspective before laying down minor complaints as a reason to make posts on the forum. Thanks for your understanding.

What I've been told is that it sounds pretty much like popcorn popping times a billion. Whoever told you that has never heard a rocket launch, apparently! Basically you just feel the most loudest "quiet rumble" you've ever heard. Like someone with the most impressive sub-woofer moved in to the unit above you. You can feel the sound throughout your entire body and it just keeps rumbling for a good 40-90 seconds until you can't see it anymore. It's quite a cool and amazing experience. I'd love to be there when one of the rockets comes back down to produce a sonic boom! Yes, reading is very important. You learn so much when you read simple sentences!

The event is REALLY REALLY close to selling out everyone! If you haven't bought your tickets yet, I wouldn't procrastinate any longer!

I was joking. ..Al It's sort of sad when you can't tell the difference anymore, isn't it? Welcome aboard, Al! It's nice to see you posting here after all the wonderful posts I've contributed to your forum over the past couple of years!

The video was just a stunt done by a comedian. Turns out the whole thing was a setup and there weren't actually phones in the cases. But it was DAMN FUNNY and a great protest against selfie sticks!

That's why I posted the map so you can see where Cop Car Chase used to be.

Is this ride going where Lethal Weapon/Cop Car Chase used to be?

Here's some 4K footage of Bandit at Movie Park Germany. The footage looks AMAZING!

As you are probably aware, TPR gets invited to share some super cool experiences at NASA's Kennedy Space Center from time to time. In April we live tweeted from an amazing event at Cape Canaveral which included a launch of a SpaceX rocket. Here is what we reported on... Oh, yeah, please follow NASA Social. They are @NASASocial on pretty much ever social media channel. Today we'll be tweeting from a #NASASocial event at Kennedy Space Center! Gonna be space geeking out @NASAKennedy for 2 days @NASASocial @SpaceX CRS-8 launch event! Lots of space stuff happens in this building! Going inside now! Lobby of the Neil Armstrong building showing off some past & recent #NASA projects! Neil Armstrong's Apollo mission suit! Park your space ship here! Standing in the building where Orion crew modules will be built! So cool! Working on the test Orion crew capsule that will eventually take humans to Mars! Amazing! "Now that's a big door!" #Tron Me and the V.A.B! Just hanging out together! Hanging out in the press annex presentation about life on the space station! Go, Science, GO! My favorite slide EVER!!! Trent Smith has been a fountain of knowledge about the cargo being sent to #ISS Not a new Light Saber! This how water, seeds, & plants are transported to #ISS! Anna Sophia talks studying DNA on the Space Station. She's a HIGH SCHOOL senior & way smarter than us! Geeking out over the door many astronauts walked through putting their "patch" on the wall. Taking some time after the @NASASocial event to @ExploreSpaceKSC! Love the Visitors Center! The Atlantis exhibit @ExploreSpaceKSC is just so seriously cool! Worth coming to the visitors center alone! Best themed pay phone in all of central Florida! lol First day at NASA has come to an end. Tomorrow we see a rocket launch! We are back @NASAKennedy for more space geeking out! Follow along! Rocket launch later! Robert Cabana, Director of @NASAKennedy talks about taking us on the roof of the VAB! Yes, please! Hearing Robert Cabana, pilot of 4 Space Shuttle flights talk about #NASA is so inspiring! "Mars is a round trip mission for NASA." Listening to AWESOME Space Shuttle stories from astronaut Doug Wheelock. Heard some just fantastic space mission stories from astronaut @Astro_Wheels this morning! These #NASA crawlers are like something right out of #StarWars! Awesome! Checking out launch pad 39A where @SpaceX manned missions will soon launch from! In just a few hours this @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be in space! "You must be this tall to ride the Falcon 9 rocket." Currently inside the VAB. We are about to go to the top! Trying to capture the insane size of the VAB. It's impossible! Looking straight down 500 feet from the top of the VAB! OMG!!! The view from the top of the VAB! Holy cow! No words. Going to the top of the VAB #ExtremeBucketList Simply amazing! Up close & personal with one of @NASAKennedy's crawlers that will carry the SLS Rocket from VAB to 39A It takes a lot of "gunk" to keep the crawlers moving! Still just amazed we went to the top of the VAB!!! We are T-1 hour to launch! About 2 miles away from @SpaceX #Falcon9 launch! Lift off 4:43pm! Just a few minutes until launch... #NASASocial getting cameras ready for launch! Another AWESOME @SpaceX #Falcon9 launch! Watching a launch from @NASASocial event is indescribable! Breathtaking experience! And here is what you've come here for! Video of the launch! And that wraps up another amazing NASA Social event! Be sure to follow them on social media: @NASASocial

Sure, while everyone would love to see RMC make-overs and Intamin mega-lite's at every park, here is something I wrote on our YouTube channel after all the complaining about the volume of clones and the lack of variety with ride theming... Not every year is going to bring giant new rides to each park. This year feels very "safe" to me, and I'm not sure there is really anything wrong with that.

This may very well be my favorite response to any of our tweets last night!

If you've been reading the forums for any length of time you'll probably know by now that out of all the Halloween events that theme parks put on throughout the season, my favorite by far is Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! I'd have to go back and look at the timeline, but I think this year marks 15 years in a row that we have been going to the event, and we like it enough that we usually go multiple time during the season! Last night was the first night of the event, so I wasn't going to miss out on heading down to one of my favorite parks during my favorite time of the year, Halloween! Yes, I know some people are all "What? It's only JUST September and we are celebrating Halloween already?!?!" Hey, if it were up to me, I'd be celebrating Halloween ALL YEAR LONG! So I'm totally "okay" with the event starting even earlier! We live tweeted during the event and our socials went CRAZY last night! For those of you who weren't following along live, here's a re-cap of everything that happened! First night of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party for 2016! I absolutely LOVE how the park is dressed up for the Halloween Party! My absolute favorite theme park Halloween Event! So much fun! As soon as you enter Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party you start getting treats! There is a new entrance area for #MNSSHP this year! Love these characters! Basically, as you enter during the "mix-in" period of 4pm - 7pm, they direct you through the "blow off" area (just behind Main Street) that has been re-themed to Halloween and that's where you pick up your treat bag & some bonus goodies! All the characters are out in their Halloween costumes! Plenty of villains out tonight @WDWToday Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! Best part of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party? Candy! LOTS OF CANDY!!! Was awesome running into some TPR fans from Texas @WDWToday #MNSSHP tonight! Go get lots of candy!!! People already camping out for the first Boo-To-You Parade tonight! Mickeys Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is the only time adults can wear a costume @WDWToday #MagicKingdom! Another benefit of special ticket events like #MNSSHP @WDWToday? Short wait times! 10 minutes for Space Mountain! The Haunted Mansion cast member costumes are worth it alone! You can even Trick or Treat inside the Enchanted Tiki Room! ProTip! Pete's Sideshow has had the shortest candy line @WDWToday Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! [twitter] [/twitter] And here's our "highlights" video of the entire Boo To You Parade! Check out the new Wreck-It Ralph segment starting at 3:10 OMG! Just ran into our favorite "candy girl" from last years party! Here she is handing out candy in 2015! Yes! I found the Haunted Mansion bride! (She said she'd like me to apply for the 1000th ghost! Yikes?) Take a moment and watch this entire video! It's amazing! Especially if you are a Haunted Mansion fan! Still the best part of @WDWToday #MagicKingdom Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party... CANDY GIRLS!!! Yes! I totally just rode Space Mountain with two big bags of candy! lol Another AWESOME video you all need to watch: [twitter] [/twitter] Don't forget your Mickey's Not-So-Scary exclusive Sorcerers card! It's FREE! And #Zootopia themed! [twitter] [/twitter] Seriously, HalloWishes is just FANTASTIC!!! [twitter] [/twitter][twitter] [/twitter] And yes the Hocus Pocus show is back again this year. [twitter] [/twitter] The castle @WDWToday #MagicKingdom all lit up in Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween colors! These guys' Nightmare Before Christmas costumes were fantastic! Did I mention how awesome getting candy is? There is another #MNSSHP exclusive MagicBand this year! Magic Kingdom just looks absolutely amazing during Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! Let's end this @WDWToday #MNSSHP update with this amazing Anna! Best costume I've seen all night!EDIT! I lied, one more photo! The final #MNSSHP update is always the "candy pic!" We did well tonight! Vanellope would be proud!

It's funny how sometimes we'll go back through some older footage of AWESOME rides and still find clips we have never published before! So here's an update on the 4th Dimension coaster in China: Dinoconda!

Also, just heard from SFMM and X2 is scheduled to be back open before West Coast Bash. As always though, rides are subject to availability and could change without warning.

I honestly think that the next person that emails us asking either: - When will my tickets arrive in the mail? or - Am I confirmed for the event? (Even though I have both the confirmation email from the TPR Store *AND* the receipt from PayPal) I'm just going to refund their money and tell them not to go. We just don't want people that are this stupid at West Coast Bash, sorry. --Robb "Why haven't people gotten so much dumber this year???" Alvey