robbalvey

Yeah, you can see more photos from our trip last year: http://www.themeparkreview.com/japan2004/spaland1.htm IMO, I'll be surprised if the ride ever re-opens. If it wasn't for the sign out front, I would think the ride had been totally abandoned and left to rot. There was no sign at all of any life on site. Everything was gated up and it just looked "dead." I'm hoping they at least dismantle the ride and send it somewhere else, but I'm putting bets on it never re-opening at Nagashima. --Robb

^ Hmm...I haven't heard anyone else having problems. You might try using WinRAR to open them. --Robb

Thanks for all the suggestions. Can you guys reccomend any other music not for Powder Keg? We're looking for songs that would be "upbeat", "quirky", you know...you've seen our videos! It doesn't have to be mainstream, it can be obscure. But we're at the time now where we start listening to hundreds of songs and narrow it down to 20 or 30. Any help would be appreciated!!! --Robb

^ Done! --Robb

Great pics! Seems like while we were at SDC, you were at their sister park! Too bad the kiddie credit wasn't open. =( --Robb "Who hates missing out on credits!" Alvey

^ If you sneak a camera on a ride and you get caught, be prepared to deal with the consequences, which could include being kicked out of the park, and having your season pass taken away. --Robb

^ Idlewild is such a fun little park....Rollo Coaster, Confusion Hill, Adult Hand Cars, etc, etc.... --Robb "Although I always found the Mister Rogers thing a little creepy!" Alvey

Hey everyone! New videos have been posted today: http://www.themeparkreview.com/contest2005/contest2005.htm As with the entries posted last week, you can see the level of quality overall has increased over last year's contest. Check them out and I can't wait to see the feedback on these! --Robb "Post your comments here!" Alvey

well i really meant amusement park/theme park chain...but i could only go with one term for 'park'...lol never thought of just saying 'park' I guess that's where, for me, I can't even think about "amusement parks" and "theme parks" in the same poll. I mean, how could you compare the BEST "amusement park" or the BEST "traditional park" to someplace like Disney and Universal? Even if I thought, let's say, that Six Flags was the BEST amusement park company, there is no way I'd choose going to the best Six Flags park over Islands of Adventure, for example. And it would be a hard choice if asked "If you could only go one more time to either Knoebel's or Islands of Adventure, which would you choose?" They are just such contrasting experiences that IMO you can't group them in the same poll. But I guess this poll isn't really any different than asking people what their favorite movie when there are so many different genres, etc.... --Robb "Always been a stickler for polls that give good results." Alvey

^ See, that's what we were joking about today too. "Must be because they have more than one car on the ride and each one of them must be a dragon...." "But if that's the case, why isn't it called Mambas, or Timber Wolves, etc, etc...." Trying to think in "Worlds of not-so-Fun" logic made our head hurt! --Robb

Now that we are back home in California (boo!!!) we can post our photos from today's visit to WonsF and our credit whore run into Kansas! Here goes.... And it's sure as hell better than being at Worlds of not-so-Fun!!! This is credit whoring at it's best... To add a little excitment to our day, we decided to drive to Kansas!!! NOW Elissa is having fun...for two reasons: 1. We're NOT at Worlds of not-so-fun; 2. We're STILL not at Worlds of not-so-fun! Elissa looks like she's having fun...she's not! Oh, joy...a Boomerang...does it GET any more "FUN" than this? Mamba...floater air on the first hill...fall asleep the rest of the ride. Worlds of not-so-fun is so pathetic, they couldn't even get a kids playhouse done for opening day! Timber Wolf....no trims today, but Elissa STILL has a headache from our ride! Not only did they steal the font and logo from IOA's Dueling Dragons, but they left the "pluralazation" too! Spinning Dragons...fun ride...not too thrilling...and there is only one of them!

Well, the thread is best "theme park" chain, so IMO Six Flags and Cedar Fair really don't belong, but that's just my two cents. I voted for Universal simply because IMO Islands of Adventure is WAY better than any new Disney offerings in the past 5 years. Disney does a lot of things better than Universal, but it does seem as though the attention to detail and the quality level of newer Disney parks and attractions has declined in the past few years.... --Robb

^ We didn't need any discounts since we were there shooting video, the park walked us back before they both opened, so our only payment was contribuing the footage we shot to their PR department! --Robb

^ I never said the ride was dissapointing, I said it was... --Robb "It was ok, it was fun...never said it was dissapointing..." Alvey

We have full time jobs and we travel on a tight budget. In order to 'afford' to do our trips, we also make choices not to spend money on other things. For example, we don't have a DVD collection, we don't buy a lot of electronics other than our video cameras (we don't even have a home theater system!), we don't go to movies, we don't eat out that much, etc. Basically, almost all of our 'disposable income' goes into our trips. We don't actually take off that much time. By looking at our site, you'd think we are constantly traveling, but that's not the case. I get three weeks vacation per year, and for example this year, I'm taking off two weeks for our Europe trip, and then my other week is broken down into two days here, two days there, 1 day here, etc. We also try to plan trips around holiday weekends, like Memorial Day for example, so that way I can only request two days off work, but get a 5 day vacation. As for what I do for a living, Nemmy posted the link above. --Robb

Let's just say, we don't choose to talk about them. --Robb "Getting a little too personal..." Alvey

^^ It was the Busch Gardens segment from 2001 and the name of the song, I believe, is called "Beer" by Reel Big Fish. --Robb

My webhost tells me that the problem is the changes that PHPBB makes to the file when it uploads it to my files directory. On the old webhost, I didn't have this problem because I used the FTP option. It seems as though zip files will open in WINRAR, but not in winzip on XP. So for now, I would say just upload whatever it is you are going to zip up, unzipped, until I can find a better solution. --Robb "Sorry...." Alvey

Here's our trip report from "Worlds of not-so-Fun..." We got to the park about 15 minutes before opening, and even getting into the parking lot we could just tell we were at a Cedar Fair park. Upon arrival we went to Guest Relations to show our Knott's pass so we could get our ticket for the day. That went pretty smooth and they gave us a yellow ticket to give to the front gate. The front gate was an interesting experience because there was some kind of music event going on where it seemed as though they were randomly letting some people in, and others not. We watched as the insanity went on for a little while and they finally closed the gates and let people line up. There weren't too many people there, but enough to make a few lines that were about 30-40 people deep. The nice operations at Worlds of not-so-Fun, however, failed to tell anyone in our line, that they weren't opening the turnstile we were in. They just figured it would be good customer service to allow everyone to line up there, and just let people figure it out for themselves. No person to come out and say "Sorry folks you need to stand in another line...." So then when we finally got in a line that had a person at the turnstile, we handed them our yellow ticket and she just stared at us like we handed her foreign currency. She nearly told us to go back to the ticket booths, but we pointed on the ticket where it says "Hand this part to the front gate." So she stared at it again, probably trying to translate the text into whatever language she spoke (I'm assuming moron) and she finally let us through. It's so nice to go to a park where you have to tell the employees how to do their job. That incident reminded me EXACTLY of when I had to tell the girl at Knott's where the backspace key on her computer was to change her mistake in my season pass name. Typical of our Cedar Fair experiences of late. Anyway, so onto the park.... We went up to Spinning Dragons first, of which, there is only ONE dragon, so I have no idea why it's plural. Maybe it's because when they totlly ripped off the Dueling Dragons font and logo they didn't realize that it was two coasters and not just one. It was nice to see that this ride which had a dual loading station was only loading ONE CAR AT A TIME. Ugh....they were running like 4 cars, but only loading and unloading ONE AT A TIME. There were only about 20 people in front of us, but it took us like 15 minutes to get on the stupid ride! The ride was 'ok'....kind of like a mildly spinning Roller Skater. It doesn't spin nearly as much as a Reverchon mouse, and the layout isn't very thrilling. Still, it was actually decent fun...even for being at Worlds of not-so-Fun. Next up we decied to head over to Timber Wolf only to find it....CLOSED! But of course it would be! I mean, it wouldn't be an experience at a Cedar Fair park without some of their major rides NOT opening with the park. And Worlds of not-so-fun is no exception. Oh, this park follows suit with our most recent visits to Knott's, Dorney, and Valleyfair! They finally managed to get the ride open about 15 minutes later. Running only one train of course. It was 'ok.' The trims weren't on, but it rattles and shakes you to death. There was slightly more airtime than during our last visit with the trims, but it still felt sluggish....meh.... Then over to Mamba, also only running one train with a full station. I mean, I shouldn't complain. It's what I should be expecting from a Cedar Fair park....which IMO, other than Cedar Point, have operated their parks WORSE than most of our recent Six Flags experiences. So Mamba was again just 'ok'...I don't remember if it really WAS much better opening year, or if all the Intamin hypers since then are just so much better. The trims were on HARD so there was virtually no airtime other than the floater on the first drop, and the 2nd half of the ride was just pathetic. We did a lap getting some photos and stuff and we realized "Are there any other major parks in the country where there are these VAST areas with NOTHING to do???" Seriously, there are HUGE areas in the park where you walk from like Dominator to Mamba where there is NOTHING. And then Boomerang to the Log Flume...NOTHING. For a park that's called "Worlds of Fun" we ask "Where's the FUN?!?!?" We gave the park a little over a hour and we were totally bored out of our mind. "What the hell do kids do that live in the area who are stuck spending a WHOLE DAY at this park?" I'd just die if I had to spend more than a couple hours there. So then we left to do something even more entertaining....DRIVE TO KANSAS!!!! Yes, we are that big of credit whores that we drove to the Jeepers in Kanasas about 30 miles away. It's located in an outlet mall where they have an internet cafe (here I am now!) and I can tell you that the Jeepers, the outlet mall, and this internet cafe is a HELL of a lot more 'fun' than Worlds of not-so-Fun. I'll post photos tonight when we get back to CA. --Robb "Oh, and Cal, there were PLENTY of PSP's to be found in Kanas City!" Alvey

The weather was a bit better for us today, not that it was "bad" yesterday, but today we at least had blue skies, a beautiful backdrop for taking photos and video! We got to SDC right before opening, and remembered that it was "Boy Scout Day." There goes the theory of all the old people who go watch the shows, and no one would be in line for rides! Luckily, Boy Scouts must be just as lazy as the next person, because the park didn't become really PACKED until after noon, which meant we'd get at least one ride in on all the coasters, which is exactly what we did. We went straight down to Powder Keg and saw that they had the ride open with the park, although only running one train at opening, they did get the second train on shortly after the park opened. Everything else opened with two trains, and Fire In The Hole must have had like 5! Powder Keg was fun, yet again, Wildfire was still cool, Fire In The Hole is STILL one of the most fun rides anywhere (as is it's cousin at Dollywood), we did a backwards and forwards ride on Thunderation, and then we did a food lap, then a shopping lap, and then a photo lap! SDC is one of those parks where you can just have a good time walking around the place. The atmosphere is VERY deep and reminds me a lot of Knott's before Cedar Fair screwed up the place. We went in probably just about every shop there is, and we ate until I gained another 10lbs (I didn't want to eat this week anyway!) And yes, Elissa found stuff to eat too! :shock: After our day at SDC, we went over to Celebration City and got there just before opening. We went right down to woodie and was able to get some more video and photos in the nice weather. The park was busier than yesterday, but there wasn't more than 1 train full of people in the station the whole time we were there, which meant plenty of re-rides, but on a full train, so Wildcat was rally running at higher potential. It was even better today. I think it's funny how both of my favorite GCI's are called Wildcat! We didn't do much else at Celebtration City today since we needed to head out to get back to Kansas City, but we were having such a good time on the woodie, we didn't need much else. On our way back to Kansas City, all is fairly quiet, and then out of the blue Elissa screams "CREDIT!!!!!!" Apparently, there was a parking lot carnival off the freeway and YES, they did have a coaster. So off the interstate we go to check it out. Much to Elissa's dissapointment...it was powered. No bonus credit this trip! So now we're back in Kansas City and going to spend a couple of hours at Worlds of Fun tomorrow before our flight. Here are a few more photos from today... And we end the Branson part of this update with the most "Well Hung" statue we've ever seen!!! That horse must be proud! :O Poor Elissa...that 'bonus credit' ended up being powered. =( This stretch of track produces three strong pops of "GCI Airtime" in a row! From the ferris wheel you can see how seriously twisted the coaster is. Over at Celebration City we get a few more good rides on Wildcat. ...by wearing her "I LOVE CARBS" T-Shirt! Elissa protests the "Low Carb" menu options... So there were just a FEW more people here today than yesterday! Elissa is NOT amused to be riding the backwards car on Thunderation! Nice blue skies mean good looking photos! Some interesting faces on the launch. Check out that woman in the 3rd row!!! Some of the fire effects that go off every time Powder Keg launches.

^ Like I said in the TR, I think we actually prefer Wildcat over Thunderhead. They are both very similar, but Wildcat seemed to have more 'pops' of airtime. When we rode Thunderhead, it didn't seem to deliver much air at all. Now we've been told we must have caught it on a bad day and it delivers much more, but just not for us. That being said, I think they are both VERY good rides. Here's a few more pics from SDC: Oh, yeah! Can't forget about Wildfire! It's funny how when we rode Wildfire in early 2002, we thought it was kind of forceless...now it seems SO INTENSE especially after riding Talon, Air, and Silver Bullet! Awww....Poor Buzzsaw Falls, you can see the old flume part and they still keep the water running in it! The "uphill transfer track to the launch area" lift thingy was really cool! "Prepare to be blasted! No, not from the ride, but from Robb!" Here comes the train into the splasdown element....although the splash wasn't turned on because of the cold weather. I'm still amazed that Powder Keg only has a 42" height restriction. It's good that they have built a ride that a whole family can ride together. If this ride were at Knott's, you'd have to be like six feet tall!!! "Those wishing to be blaster..." LOL! I don't know why, but we found this sign really funny! "Hello...I am Robb Alvey and I give you....POWDER KEG!!!!"

^ Yeah, these were definitly "snappable." I mean, I was actually a bit shocked the first time I did it, because they didn't seem like they would snap....and then.....*BAM!!!* :shock: After that, it was pretty easy to keep it going! It was an off day at Celebration City. The weather forecast called for "Severe Thunderstorms" all day, but we got REALLY lucky and all that nasty red and green we saw on the weather channel passed just north of us! It was overcast and misty a little bit, but it never rained. So that kept the crowds away and allowed us to get lots of riding! --Robb

Now that we're back in our hotel room, we've got a few more photos from today. Celebration City was GREAT! The last time we were there was in 2002 when Branson USA had closed and they were tearing the old park down. We really didn't know what to expect with the new park, but we thought it was more like a large sized family entertainment center, kind of like Boomers in Dania Beach, FL. We were wrong. It really is more of a 'full sized' park, but your admission INCLUDES mini golf and go karts! Considering that a round of mini golf and go karts would cost you about $8 each at most family entertainment centers, that's not a bad deal at all for the $27 admission. Especially because that admission includes Wildcat, which is certainly one of the better GCI woodies we've been on. In fact, I think we may have both liked it a little more than Thunderhead! GCI's are certainly more like a 'wood ballet' (I credit DaveTH for that phrase) but this one is pretty good. It's got more airtime than most GCI's. Of course, I mean "GCI Airtime" which are those little 'pops' that you get all over the place. Regardless, it was a really fun ride, and much better than I was expecting. The rest of the park was just really nice and relaxing. I was surprised to see Flyers there, and even more surprised to see GOOD flyers! They were REALLY fast and I managed to get them to snap fairly easily. Not as good as Knoebel's, but probably one of the better flyer rides I've been on. The Miler steel coaster was "funny." I mean, it's REALLY brutal! More brutal than the Hi Miler or Scandia Screamer, but it was still fun...in a "funny" kind of way! We saw and rode other cool stuff....they had a good Double Shot, I got a 'solo ride' on the Scrambler, there were 'human powered' Rock Em Sock Em Robots, and lots more to do! Anyway, on to some more pics from Celebration City today and we'll have more SDC pics tomorrow.... Dude!!! Human powered Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em robots!!!! COOL!!!! Nobody told us this park had good Flyers! Robb & Joe love S&S rides! The park is REALLY nice!!! Lots of curves...just like all GCI's! As you can see the park was REALLY busy today! Hey look! Something you don't see too often on GCI woodies...AIRTIME!!! The first drop is really weird...it's kind of like the "Alpengeist of wood coasters." It was better than I had thought it would be. We got to ride Wildcat early so we could film!

^ Unless you count California Screamin. Because it has a launch and a lift hill in the middle, just not a 'chain' lift. --Robb "I can't think of any other launched coaster with a lift hill, though." Alvey

^^ No email, but I can tell you that we did receive your videos! Thanks! --Robb