robbalvey

^^ Since I married her!!! --Robb

Yeah, I'm not sure where that info came from, but I never got any impressions from talking to the B&M guys that if someone ponied up the cash, they would build it! Hell, they built the worst wooden trains for one of the worst wooden coasters in the world! --Robb

Interesting. As for the ride, it's REALLY hard to say how it's going to be. I have to go with Elissa's initial thoughts that it kind of looks more like a "hyper Mack Powered coaster" than anything else. Begin rant. As for the video itself, I have to say that was probably one of the worst quality videos I've ever seen. Shot from what looked like through a fence or hiding behind a building having a large post in front of the camera most of the time; the photographer seemed to not have a clue on how to work a video camera or the layout of the ride; it was REALLY shakey; 1/2 of the video was with audio - 1/2 with no audio and when the audio DID come on, all you heard some some dumb chick laughing; and then they put the obnoxious website logo almost in the middle of the screen as though having a really awful video is anything to brag about. It's just a pet peeve of mine, but anything you put on your site should be the best foot forward. I mean there have been plenty of times we could have gotten the 'scoop' on something that we chose not to distribute based on not being up to our own quality level. For example, we got in some VERY early Thunderhead footage last year that IMO, was just horrific. We waited nearly a year until we had a much higher quality video to present. I'd be embarassed to put that on my site, no matter how much of an "exclusive" it is. In 6 months, no one is going to remember this guys bad quality 'exclusive' when there will be tons of really nice looking, quality videos out there. For us, it's about retaining a high level of quality over any exclusive "bragging rights." /rant --Robb "Wow...yeah...that was one awful...awful video." Alvey

http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3057836&nav=15MVXMB9

Yup - not going to vote. Amazing Race is like the #3 network reality show behind Survivor and Appretice. --Robb "Who's a stickler for complete polls" Alvey

^^ Yeah, we want the boards to be laid back. IMO, there was just too much "I'm right and your wrong" attitude on CB and we want to try to make sure that doens't happen, or at least not very often, here. It's all about having a good time! --Robb

^ Agreed.

^ LMFAO!!!! "They put the Disneyland Castle inside a small window of the Disney World Castle!!!!!" Perfect. --Robb

^ I worked on a number of Disney games over the years. I worked for Disney Interactive 3 different times in my games career starting in 1992 all the way up to 1999. Let's see if I can remember some of the games I worked on..... PC Titles: Mickey's ABC's Mickey's 123's Mickey's Follow the Reader Stunt Island Heaven And Earth Aladdin Lion King Jungle Book Sega Genesis: Aladdin Lion King Jungle Book Nintendo NES: Jungle Book Super Nintendo: Lion King Jungle Book Game Boy: Jungle Book Aladdin Game Gear: Aladdin Jungle Book Lion King Playstation: Dinosaur Lion King II Atlantis Game Boy Advance: Aladdin Yeah...I worked on a crap load of games for Disney! --Robb

Hey everybody! This thread is simple! Rather than having a million little threads about everything that goes on at California's Great America, 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 March 10th, 2005 - Boomerang Bay construction photos - SEE BELOW! 2006 Januasry 22nd, 2006 - Disk'o parts arrive February 22, 2006 - Survivor: The Ride announced 2008 May 17th, 2008 - Firefall Opens July 27th, 2008 - No new coaster for 2009 as park fails to file permits before deadline 2009 March 10th, 2009 - CGA for sale August 10th, 2009 - Invertigo gets stuck December 9th, 2009 - Great America files lawsuit against city of Santa Clara over 49ers stadium 2011 January 27th, 2011 - Invertigo is being removed to "open up other opportunities" September 19th, 2011 - Cedar Fair agrees to sell park assets to JMA ventures December 6th, 2011 - Cedar Fair comes to agreement with SF 49ers and will not sell CGA 2012 January 7th, 2012 - Information released on long term lease and parking plans February 1st, 2012 - Grizzly being retracked during the offseason! February 14th, 2012 - Could CGA be moving forward with a long rumored GCI woodie? May 14th, 2012 - Building permits in place for GCI woodie August 21st, 2012 - Construction pics of the new GCI woodie! September 12th, 2012 - New Construction Update for Gold Striker! November 2nd, 2012 - Gold Striker construction from CGA's Facebook page December 9th, 2012 - Gold Striker construction update 2014 August 25th, 2014 - Confirmation that CGA will be closed on home dates of the SF 49ers September 30th, 2014 - Halloween Haunt Media Day 2015 August 29th, 2015 - New mazes and scarezones announced for Halloween Haunt 2016 March 30th, 2016 - Corporate announces retail marketplace to be built outside of the park August 18th, 2016 - Conversion of Vortex into Patriot floorless coaster announced September 23, 2016 - Haunt Media Event 2017 August 16th, 2017 - Railblazer (RMC single rail coaster) announced September 22nd, 2017 - 2017 Haunt Media Event 2019 March 28, 2019 - Cedar Fair purchases Great Amerca property from City of Santa Clara for $150 million July 4th, 2019 - Cedar Fair complete park land purchase! 2022 June 28th, 2022 - Cedar Fair sells park land, CGA to close within the next 11 years _____________________________________________________ Original Post: Hey everyone! The nice PR people at Paramount's Great America sent me some new photos from their latest Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay Beach expansion (slated to open May 7). More information can be found here: http://www.pgathrills.com/ Here's a taste of what is going on behind the scenes. Excavation has begun on the new heated lagoon that will hold 150,000 gallons of water and will offer guests plenty of room to swim, splash and float! Work continues on both Castaway Creek (foreground), the park's 900-foot long lazy river, as well as the new filtration building (background). Crews work on the walls of Castaway Creek, the new 3-foot deep lazy river. The entrance to Castaway Creek (right) will take guests on a 900-foot long journey in inner tubes along a lazy river. Concrete walls outline the new 11,000 square foot Boomerang Lagoon. The heated lagoon will run from depths of 0 - 3 feet. Landscaping crews begin to prepare the area surrounding Boomerang Lagoon. The slide tower for two new body water slides, Ripsnort Ridge and The Screamin' Wombat, is beginning to take shape. Work continues on Boomerang Lagoon, the new 150,000 gallon heated lagoon. An aerial view of Boomerang Bay expansion show excavation of the 150,000 gallon heated lagoon (foreground) while crews continue to work on the new lazy river (background).

Apparently this exhibit has been on display in Blackpool for quite a few months, which is where those images came from. And Everland does seem to be quite a "real" park complete with 5 credits including the last remaining Arrow Suspended coaster I need to complete the collection! http://www.rcdb.com/pd489.htm --Robb "Weird" Alvey

http://www.mysan.de/article51361.html

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=3037498

http://www.ktsm.com/story_news.sstg?c=6a3ad2143759404a

^ I'm in the credits: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0994791/ I'm not cool enough to be a peep! --Robb

Yeah, Friday sounds much better. I always try to avoid big parks on a Saturday, unless it's park I've already been to, there's nothing new to me, and knowing that worst case scenario I won't get to ride much and it won't matter. --Robb

Who is Veronica?

^ We go to SFMM quite often being that we live 3/4 of a mile from the park! We'll be there this Sunday for the Ride World event. Although, after 3 weekends in a row, I think it's time for a break from SFMM for a while! --Robb

Yes. I've known Chris Sawyer for quite some time. His agent and I used to do a lot of work together. Early on in RCT and RCT2 I had sent Chris a number of videos and in return he added our names into the game! --Robb "And you'll find a Sawyer character in Call of Duty:United Offensive as a return of the favor!" Alvey

You almost have to classify Walt Disney World in a completely different league. I mean, with the park, resorts, and the Downtown Disney restaurants, they are hands down some of the best food at any park. But it's almost an unfair advantage to places like Mythos, Knoebel's, etc. My vote still goes for Mythos for best restaurant in a park, Knoebel's for best 'park food' and a toss up between 'Ohana, Spoodles, and Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki for best restaurants at Walt Disney World. --Robb

Gardaland Ever has added some new construction pics of the first S&S Screamin' Squirrel. They aren't the best photos in the world, but it gives you an idea of the ride: http://gardalandever.altervista.org/SquirrelCoaster.htm I'm certainly looking forward to this as it's part of our Europe trip itinerary in June. --Robb

Yes, you can purchase the express passes, which are basically the same thing. Or when you stay at one of the resort hotels you get unlimited front of the line access. USF/IOA also has their free express system and while it's limited, it's at least an option for free. USH doesn't have anything like that unless you pay for it. And keep in mind that the USH pass is $89 each for the day, or about $49 if you have a season pass. --Robb

Hey everyone! I have just added four pages of new photos from our vist to Unviersal Studios this past weekend. You can check them out here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/ush05/ush1.htm A couple of notes about our visit: - War of the Worlds set is VERY cool! They ripped apart a REAL 747 for the set! - Desperate Housewives street - Also very cool! Too bad the housewivers werent there. - Revenge of the Mummy - An 'ok' ride...not a great ride, and it doesn't even come CLOSE to the Florida version. - Jurassic Park - Everything was working! Yay! Both dinos at the beginning, the falling car, everything! - The "A-List" pass is awesome! Gets you front of the line access to all the rides and behind the scenes tours of the shows. Highly reccomended! Overall a really good day at USH. My only complaint is that there just isn't enough to do. If this park had just one or two *star* attractions, like MiB or Spider Man I think we'd go a LOT more often. --Robb

^ Yeah a data DVD should work just fine! --Robb

Yeah, it's all about Good Eats and Alton Brown: http://www.altonbrown.com/ --Robb