robbalvey

^^ Yeah...I can see where that can be confusing....for next year then I need to change the word "non" to "any" or "non-specific" or something a little more clear. "non-region encoded" is obviously preferable, I guess I just assumed that most everyone's DVD burner software had a check-box for no region encoding. I believe even the free version of Nero has that, but I could be mistaken. --Robb

^ It's probably too late to tell you that I have a DVD player that can read DVDs from any region! Anyway, we look forward to seeing your video! --Robb

Fixed!

^ Yup. I was totally an ACEr all the way! Just take a look at a picture taken in early 2001: Compared to a picture taken a couple of weeks ago: --Robb "No 'All You Can Eat' Pass for me!" Alvey

^ See, we're just looking out for our fellow members so that we don't suffer the embarassment of having to be told we can't ride something! --Robb "Who remembers a time when I came close to not fitting on some rides back in my ACEr days!" Alvey

^ Wait a second...aren't you the one that just posted about being worried that you might not be able to participate in the Fear Factor Live show because of the weight limit??? --Robb "Think about it...." Alvey

I really liked Loup Garou and Robin Hood when we rode them in 2002. They both seemed to "shuffle" around the turns, but overall were fairly smooth, fast, and had decent airtime! Yes, Vekoma rides that I can say I actually liked!!! :shock: It will be interesting to see how they run this year, though. As for Thunder Coaster, be patient for just a few more weeks and we'll have pictures and video of it! --Robb

I just LOVE headlines like this! There is so much humor in such a short little story!!! When I first saw the headline instantly what came to mind was... "I thought ACE was going to Japan, not Korea!!!" http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/12851.html "Television footage showed one elephant breaking a glass door to enter a nearby restaurant." OBVIOUSLY the Koreans must have mistaken the ACErs for elephants because they had never seen such creatures before ravaging through their restaurant!!! --Robb "That's TWO Ace jokes today!" Alvey

^ Hmm...when it was saved as "DVD Format" did it compress it? It needs to be an uncompressed AVI for it to be eligible. (Usually a 4 minute video is around 600 MB uncompressed). We don't watch them on the computer, we either import all the files into Adobe Premiere, output them onto a DV tape and watch them on TV, or watch the entries off a DVD if they have been submitted that way. Sorry for such strict rules, but in order for us to judge all the entries fairly, they all need to follow certain quality standards. --Robb

Hey everyone, Universal was kind enough to let us know that they have released a trailer for their upcoming "Fear Factor Live" show that is going into both USH and USF. There are a few different versions of the video, depending on your connection speed. Check it out here: Fear Factor Live Trailer - WMV File 128k Fear Factor Live Trailer - WMV File 300k Fear Factor Live Trailer - WMV File 700k Fear Factor Live Trailer - Quicktime Movie File 128k Fear Factor Live Trailer - Quicktime Movie File 300k Fear Factor Live Trailer - Quicktime Movie File 700k

Hey everybody! This thread is simple! Rather than having a million little threads about everything that goes on at Universal Studios Hollywood, this thread is designed to consolidate it all into one user-friendly thread. Feel free to use it to post updates, trip reports, questions, comments, and of course, general discussion. For pictures and videos of the park as well as past updates, see TPR's Park Index Page. Official Park Website Below are some links to past updates from the park, you may be interested in. Enjoy! --Robb _____________________________________________________ 2005 April 21st, 2005 - USH to offer ALL YOU CAN EAT plan - SEE BELOW! 2007 May 17th, 2007 - USH to enhance some rides (Jurassic Park, Revenge of the Mummy) 2008 May 16th, 2008 - Simpsons: The Ride media day coverage June 1st, 2008 - USH backlot catches fire October 20th, 2008 - Transformers: The Ride announced November 18th, 2008 - Escalator accident injures 8 people 2009 June 18th, 2009 - Backlot Media Day, re-opening of Courthouse Square 2010 June 30th, 2010 - King Kong 3D Media Event coverage November 24th, 2010 - USH 20 year plan revealed December 10th, 2010 - Grinchmas Media Event coverage 2011 June 30th, 2011 - New Tram Tour opens with Jimmy Fallon November 30th, 2011 - News of Wizarding World of Harry Potter leaked December 7th, 2011 - Wizarding World of Harry Potter announced 2012 May 25th, 2012 - Transformer Grand Opening Media Event November 7th, 2012 - rumors of Terminator closing are confirmed 2013 March 11th, 2013 - After much speculation USH announces Despciable Me: Minion Mayhem for 2014 April 23rd, 2013 - USH announces construction start date for Wizarding World of Harry Potter April 24th, 2013 - closing of Gibson Ampitheather announced June 11th, 2013 - more info on Despciable Me: Minion Mayhem and Super Silly Fun Land August 16th, 2013 - More HHN news announced September 22nd, 2013 - Halloween Horror Nights Grand Opening coverage! October 4th, 2013 - Comcast buys Universal City Tower for $420 million November 28th, 2013 - Bill & Ted rights renewed for HHN for five years! 2014 March 21st, 2014 - Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem opens April 8th, 2014 - Fast and Furious: Supercharged, Springfield & more announced! August 28th, 2014 - Sound Stage 28 to be demolished for park expansion September 21st, 2014 - HHN opening night review December 21st, 2015 - General construction update 2015 January 30th, 2015 - Fast and Furious "ride" announced February 17th, 2015 - 50th Anniversary Celebration details announced March 27th, 2015 - Springfield Opens May 2nd, 2015 - Fast and Furious: Supercharged preview released! June 24th, 2015 - Fast & Furious: Supercharged media day! July 11th, 2015 - Guillermo del Toro's "Crimson Peak" coming to Halloween Horror Nights! July 30th, 2015 - Walking Dead returning to Halloween Horror Nights August 13th, 2015 - "This Is the End 3D maze for Halloween Horror Nights August 17th, 2015 - Purge "Terror Tram" for Halloween Horror Nights December 8th, 2015 - Opening Date of April 7th, 2016 established for Wizarding World of Harry Potter December 25th, 2015 - Universal Hollywood becomes the first major US theme park to offer dynamic pricing 2016 February 13th, 2016 - Wizarding World of Harry Potter soft opening report March 10, 2016 - Wizarding World of Harry Potter guided tour March 14th, 2016 - Universal announces year-round "Walking Dead" attraction June 22nd, 2016 - Universal 5-year plan released. Increase footprint of theme park by re-organizing sound stages August 4th, 2016 - Krampus coming to Halloween Horror Nights in 2016! November 29th, 2016 - Nintendo-themed area confirmed for the Universal Orlando Resort! 2017 March 9th, 2017 - Jimmy Buffett to perform live at Margaritaville! May 18th, 2017 - Harry Potter Nighttime Lights show debuts June 23rd! May 19th, 2017 - 'The Shining' maze coming to Halloween Horror Nights! June 6th, 2017 - DreamWorks Theatre, DreamWorks characters, Hello Kitty & Christmas in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter announced! August 7th, 2017 - Freddy, Jason, Leatherface & Chucky coming to Halloween Horror Nights! August 14th, 2017 - SAW: The Games of Jigsaw HHN house revealed! November 2nd, 2017 - Harry Potter Christmas & Grinchas begin 11/24/17 2018 May 10th, 2018 - Jurassic World replacing Jurassic Park - The Ride May 23rd, 2018 - New offerings at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter July 13th, 2018 - 'The First Purge' maze coming to Halloween Horror Nights! August 10th, 2018 - Poltergeist is coming to Halloween Horror Nights! August 15th, 2018 - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers at HHN! August 20th, 2018 - The Horrors of Blumhouse: Chapter Two coming to HHN! August 22nd, 2018 - "Universal Monsters" HHN maze announced! September 14th, 2018 - Halloween Horror Nights 2018 Report! October 24th, 2018 - Kid-friendly Halloween celebration & "lights-on" Stranger Things walk-through experience announced! December 2nd, 2018 - EVE event details & ultimate EVE package announced! 2019 March 4th, 2019 - Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle projection show announced! March 13th, 2019 - Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle Premiere Event details March 13th, 2019 - Secret Life of Pets Ride Announced! April 29th, 2019 - Universal Monsters: Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man May 23rd, 2019 - Jurassic World cast reprises roles for updated ride July 4th, 2019 - Halloween Horror Nights 2019 scare zones revealed! July 26th, 2019 - Killer Klowns from Outer Space HHN maze announced! August 5th, 2019 - "Creepshow" Halloween Horror Nights maze announced! August 8th, 2019 - "Us" Halloween Horror Nights maze announced! August 14th, 2019 - Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses maze announced! September 2nd, 2019 - HHN specialty tickets & R.I.P Tour details released! September 13th, 2019 - HHN Photo Trip Report! 2020 January 24th, 2020 - Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash details released! February 20th, 2020 - Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash opens 3/27/2020! 2021 March 30th, 2021 - Park reopening confirmed for April 16th, 2021! April 18th, 2021 - Great Photo TR from Re-Opening Weekend! July 12th, 2021 - HHN returns in 2021 with a "Haunting of Hill House" maze! July 19th, 2021 - Bride of Frankenstein & Texas Chainsaw Massacre HHN houses announced! July 26th, 2021 - The Exorcist & Curse of Pandora's Box HHN houses announced! 2022 March 10th, 2022 - Super Nintendo World announced for 2023! May 17th, 2022 - "Universal Monsters: Legends Collide" HHN house announced! June 8th, 2022 - "Halloween" house announced for HHN 2022! June 23rd, 2022 - "The Horrors of Blumhouse" HHN house announced! December 14th, 2022 - Super Nintendo World opening February 17th, 2023! 2025 February 3rd, 2025 - Universal Fan Fest Nights details released! February 26th, 2025 - Fast and Furious - Supercharged closure announced May 15th, 2025 - Universal Mega Movie Summer event announced! June 5th, 2025 - Fallout & Five Night's at Freddy's coming to HHN! June 13th, 2025 - Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift announced! June 27th, 2025 - Monstruos 3 HHN house announced! __________________________________________________________________________________________ Original Post This just in from Universal Studios Hollywood: I know that certain members of a certain organization are going to be VERY happy about this! --Robb

Hey all, Just a reminder, while I'm still looking for a better solution to fix the "subtitle bug" there is a workaround! Simply create a signature in your profile control panel (even if you have your sig turned off by default.) Doing this should allow you to create a subtitle when create a new topic. Hope this helps! --Robb

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/44835.htm Only 42"???? Interesting..... --Robb

I have to be honest, when Elissa and I rode it in 2001, we didn't think much of it. We rode it twice, and I didn't even bother getting video of it. It was pretty "blah" in my opinion. The entire park was, actually. We got the hell out of there as quickly as possible. I for one, won't miss Miracle Strip because it's not a place I would ever go back to. As for the Starliner, I can think of quite a few out and backs of similar size that I prefer over it....Timber Terror, both Blue Streak's (CP and CLP), Wild One, Big Dipper, Screeching Eagle, Cannonball, Judge Roy Scream, etc. I too thought that it was funny how once the coaster was in 'danger' everyone came it it's rescue when no one ever seemed to care about it before. It's not a bad ride, it's just not an outstanding ride by any means, IMO. --Robb

The only flaw in the original post is that they list Dinosaur as a thrill ride! It's more like a "dark area....rumble, rumble, rumble...'not our dino'....dark area....rumble, rumble, rumble, 'another black lit dino!'...rumble, rumble, rumble...." kind of ride! --Robb "Not a fan of Dinosaur!" Alvey

The interesting thing about that (and I do understand the theory behind it) is that there were only a couple parts of Tokyo Disneyland that looked like Disneyland is Anaheim. The Space Mountain area and the "New Orleans" area come to mind. Other than that, the park looks more like Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World than anything else. --Robb

I totally agree. I mean, I sometimes can't believe the people who try to get on rides. Personally, it kind of disgusts me. But then again a lot of the things I see at parks disgust me. Like watching parents who go measure their kids at the front, see that they are too small, make them wait in a long line away, then throw a fit on the platform when the ops say the kid is too short. I just don't get it. --Robb "Sorry, didn't mean to come off upset...." Alvey

^ That's fine! We've got a lot to go through and we expect that we'll probably still get entries over the next week. As long as they are in the mail by Friday, you're good to go. Welcome to the boards, BTW! --Robb

I'm going to be sending out an email very soon to all the entries we did get. Thibault, I'm pretty damn sure I got yours. Which one was yours again? (since I'm not at home looking at the spreadsheet) --Robb

It *IS* the park's responsibilty. It's Knott's fault for letting that huge woman on PP, it's SFNE's fault for letting that guy on SROS, same with SFDL, and with that kid that fell out of PGA's Drop Zone, etc, etc.... NONE of those people should have been let on the ride per the manufacturer's safety guidelines. Personally, I don't blame Intamin at ALL. I know that they have certain safety standards in the manuals for all their rides. When a park chooses to NOT enforce them, technically it's not the manufacturer's fault. Of course, the finger is often pointed at the manufacturer saying there should have been something in place to guarentee that wouldn't happen in the case where a lazy ride op DID allow someone on that shouldn't be on the ride. But IMO, it shouldn't be Intamin, or B&M, or ANY ride manufacturer to have to police the policies of individual parks. I'd much rather be stapled on XLR8R than have to deal with what modifications would be made if someone fell out. --Robb

It didn't kill someone, but there were major injuries. BUT, for the most part, people "remember" coaster accidents as "someone died" which is another reason why I think that Steel Dragon has remained closed. Regardless if someone died or not, it seems that the Japanese take ANY accident very seriously and even more so that your little RCT peeps that say "I Won't Ride Coaster1, It Is Not Safe." --Robb "It's a real bummer because Joypolis was SOOOO cool!!!" Alvey

Here's a really good picture that shows the entire layout: www.coastercentral.com has ton of other good photos of Kanonen also! --Robb

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=334632 Now I'm kind of glad we took the time out to ride that bizarro "Frog Hopper" Sky Diving thingy..... --Robb "I would have assumed that Speed Boarder would be the death trap!" Alvey :shock:

^ I think you can still see some blood near the top of the restraint! :shock: --Robb "Just kidding, of course!" Alvey

OMG! Those were awesome!!!! I loved the "Happy Boys And Girls" one!!! Is there anyway you can submit them for the contest???? --Robb "We can't wait to hang out with you guys in Italy!" Alvey