robbalvey

REGISTER an account on the TPR forum to post your comments below! ----------------------------------------------------------- So on our official "Day One" of the trip we went to our favorite theme park in the world... Tokyo DisneySEA! And while we love this park so much, there is one HUGE PROBLEM with it... There is too much to photograph!!! I took 2,700 photos on day one!!! Obviously I cannot post 2,700 photos in one trip report (Well, I can, and then even Adam Roth would be all "Damn! That's a LOT of photos!!!" and then you know I would have accomplished something!) Anyway.... I actually managed to sort through them and come up with about 120 photos... but that's still too many for one trip report, so we'll have to break this up! I will start with "Part One" of our first day at Tokyo DisneySEA! (Yes, we were here multiple days and the 2,700 photos was from ONE DAY!) I will continue to post more and long as YOU continue to comment more! So the more comments I see, the more I'll keep this thread going. When the comments stop, I'll just assume everyone is bored of seeing Japan pics and move on to something else. Deal? Good! Here we go.... Hey, guess what? We're back at Tokyo Disney! Shocking, right? When you get to the Tokyo Disney property by train, you have to buy a ticket for the monorail to get to the park you are going to. (Unless you just walk to Disneyland, but we weren't going there today...) The machines will have different themed tickets depending on what machine you use. Easter was around the corner so we bought one of the easter themed tickets for the upcoming event! Hello Mickey shaped handles on the monorail! Did I mention that I have one of these in my car. (And no I didn't steal it like a horrible America, I did actually buy one when they used to sell them and now they don't sell them anymore and I AM NOT SELLING YOU MINE!!!! So don't ask...) Did I also mention that we brought some friends of ours to the park today? ShellieMay and StellaLou! I should also point out this neither one of these belong to Elissa as she will have nothing to do with this because she's lame. Oh hello Mr. Large Volcano thingy! And hello there ShellieMay! Whereas Elissa doesn't carry plush animals around the park, she goes RUNNING towards the life-sized, more deadly rodents walking around the park! We weren't even in the park five minutes and we saw Clarice! For those of you who don't know, Clarice is the "girlfriend?" to Chip N Dale. In any case. She's a girl. And she hangs out with Chip N Dale. Since Journey to the Center of the Earth has been recently undergoing some fairly extensive rehabs (it was closed on our last trip and it's actually going to be closed again on our next trip) one of the main reasons we are in Japan is to ride this! And no, this does NOT count as a "roller coaster" even though it does have roller coaster track under that floor that the ride vehicle sits on! ShellieMay is also going to ride because she loves it! The theming inside this ride is just amazing. One of Disney's best. The attention to every detail is just wonderful. When you make it to these "elevators" your journey is about to begin! The entire queue "under the volcano" is crazy impressive. You can see the loading area from when you exit the elevators. From this point, you've got less than ten minutes before you're on the ride! Gotta love the theming! When you get to this point of the ride, you know some crazy stuff is about to go down! Well, HELLLLOOOOOO Lava Monster! Aren't you pretty today? TRUTH!!! Elissa not to happy about holding the bears. Fine. I'll take them back and love them as they should be loved! Can we just take a moment to stop and bask in the beauty of this area? Ahhhh, yes.... So much beauty.... Vulcania is a restaurant. They have food here. We will eat that food. It is the circle of life. When we talk about the attention to detail in the attractions, it doesn't just stop there.... This is inside a restaurant!!! Not even a "fancy" restaurant... A "Quick Service" restaurant! I don't love Nori, but I love the Mickey Mouse printed on the Nori! It's photo worthy! I love this Chinese fried chicken. Delicious! While the Easter festival was not officially starting yet, they did have some of their food items available! Every menu at Tokyo Disney is in Japanese and English, so you'll have no problems ordering... unless you don't speak Japanese or English... then... I'm not sure why you're reading this and I can probably say horrible things about your mother and you won't know I said that either. Your mother looks like a foot. Yes, they hang out with us and eat with us.... and we fit right in because.... ... at the table next to us, these Japanese set up a table JUST FOR THEIR BEARS!!! Like I said...these are my people! We'll hang out with our bears and Elissa can make fun of us all she wants. The bears will probably murder her in her sleep one of these days! Ps. Sarah is here, too... because she now lives in Japan... or... at least she did. She's back now. But she was living there when we were there on this trip. How's the job hunt going? Some of you may remember that a couple of years ago we reported on these Mickey Mouse shaped soap dispensers going into the park. The first one was over by Splash Mountain. More of them have popped up and this one is by Journey. You basically just put your hand under the nozzle, push the button, and a Mickey Mouse shaped soap comes out! Apparently Sarah totally sucks at washing her hands. She never got a Mickey. She just got a glob of crap on her hand! There... I had no issues getting the Mickey because I am awesome at dispensing corporate mascot shaped soap. And it's amazing!!! And yes... if you really love the Mickey shaped soap so much you can buy a Mickey shaped soap dispenser for your home! (Yes, we have one in our home!) Time to do some more wandering around the park and just take it all in... Hello Tower! Yes, this is a THEME PARK!!!! There are places where you walk around Tokyo DisneySEA and it just honestly does not look like any other theme park in the world. Areas of this park just look so "functional" like they could be real world places. There is so much to explore here! The attention to detail never stops. We figured we might as well bang out the top two attractions at the park right away! This gives you an idea of how crazy busy the park is. It's still the morning, the standby line is already 80 minutes, and the FastPass return time is at park closing. It doesn't matter. I'd still rather be at a busy Tokyo DisneySEA that anywhere else in the world! But thankfully we got our FastPass earlier so here we are! The queue area also looks nothing like any of the other Tower of Terror rides. (That's a good thing!) Hiya Shiriki! You don't look as mean and evil as a tissue box sitting on my desk, but you are pretty mean and evil when you aren't a tissue box! ShellieMay and StellaLou love the ride!!! So let me just take a moment to explain the whole "Duffy" thing... because you're going to see it a lot. This is ShelieMay. She's like a girlfriend or something to Duffy who was the original Japanese Disney Bear. The Japanese love Duffy & Friends and there are MULTIPLE STORES at Tokyo DisneySEA dedicated exclusively to Duffy merchandise. The characters are sold ONLY at DisneySEA. It is very common to see people walking around the store with baskets FILLED with the stuff they are buying. That's StellaLou. She's the bunny chick. She might be kind of a whore, we're not sure. But she's one of the friends of Duffy & ShellieMay. That's Gelatoni. He's a cat. And yes, here he is eating gelato and it's the best thing you're going to see all day! You will also see some Japanese people just lay their Duffy & Friends out for everyone to see and take pictures of. Almost every time we've been at the park, we've seen someone set up a "scene" with their bears! It is a REQUIREMENT that every Japanese person, boy or girl, young or old, have at least THREE Duffy items on their person at any given time. We will use this girl as an example. She's doing it right! Well, done! These girls are actually DRESSED as the different character! So yes, the take away here is... "The Japanese are obsessed with Duffy & Friends! And we think that is AWESOME." AHA!!!! In this "stalker shot" we actually catch Elissa properly holding Geletoni! Secretly, deep down...she really DOES care about them! She may not be aware that she is one with the Japanese obsession... but one day she will be! Speaking of the Japanese dressing up... you will see all sorts of "Disney Bounding" and crazy themed dress-up all over the park. There are so many Tokyo Disney Instagramers everywhere! And they are all so creative and amazing with what they do. Seriously, just follow some of the Tokyo Disney Instagram accounts.... you'll be impressed! Not only do the Japanese go crazy for the merchandise, but also the food. The new Easter food had just come out and this was the line to get one of the items. I honestly do not remember which one but I do remember that I thought this line was long, right? WRONG! It's even longer! lol By the time I got to the end of it, I had already forgotten what the food item was! lol OK, we will end this report here for now... That should give you enough to ask questions about or come up with something witty to say about this report. Remember... POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! CLICK HERE FOR PART THREE!

Good question! We know enough to "get by" like asking for things like train tickets, park tickets, ordering food, asking for an English menu, "do you speak english", "I'm sorry my Japanese sucks ass" etc, etc... And really our Japanese is probably "pretty good" as an American asking for things in a language we obviously are not fluent in. But here's the interesting part... I do try to speak as much as I can and as often as I can because I like to be respectful of the culture, but sometimes we get into that situation where if we start speaking in our broken Japanese, some people will think we speak the language and then start saying or asking things we don't understand at all. So it's more the right balance of being polite and speaking what we can, and then having to basically say in Japanese, "I'm sorry our Japanese is terrible, do you happen to speak any English?" And also thanks to thinks like Google Translate, there hasn't been any situations where we couldn't at least figure things out.

REGISTER an account on the TPR forum to post your comments below! ----------------------------------------------------------- Robb & Elissa Go To Japan & Don't Ride Any Roller Coasters! Part One - Arrival into Tokyo & Disneyland Part Two - Tokyo DisneySEA Day One! Part Three - More Tokyo DisneySea & LaLaPort! Every once in a while it's nice to take a "vacation from your vacations." And that's exactly what we did in Spring of 2019 when Elissa and I took a trip to Japan that was a vacation from our TPR trips! A well deserved one at that! Interestingly enough, while we did do a lot of theme park stuff (when I say a lot of theme park stuff, I mean we went to Tokyo Disney a lot) along with many other random things in Japan.... but we actually managed to do this entire trip without riding a single roller coaster!!! And there was even a brand new RMC that had just opened! Nothing stopping us from going to ride... but that just wasn't the focus of this trip (and besides, we knew we were going to be going back to Nagashima Spaland later in the year anyway...) So join us on this "non-typical" TPR adventure that includes a good amount of Tokyo Disney, a lot of Japanese randomness, but absolutely NO roller coasters! lol (Well, not that we rode anyway...) From Orlando to Seattle to Tokyo we go! Being grown adults, we of course have our favorite plush animals with us! Since Japan seems to be one of the only places I can think of where this is "normal behavior" for adults, let's just say that the Japanese are "our kind of people!" And let's just talk about Japanese efficiency for a moment... We went from the plane landing, going through Immigration, getting our bags... ...to being on the bus to our hotel in about 24 minutes... Another reason why we love it here! I do wish more Americans would be aware of their sound leakage! lol We arrive at the hotel and we are greeted by a robot that is currently on its way to deliver items to guests rooms! The robot's name is "Harry" and if you need more towels or a pillow, he will bring it to you. We also found out that Universal Orlando has this robot but they could never really get it to work. So it just roams around the lobby and tells stupid jokes. Of course it works in Japan! Guess where I ended up tonight... DUH! So tonight was the very last night of Tokyo Disneyland's "35 Happiest Celebration" event. Tokyo Disney LOVES doing park anniversaries, and they do them BIG! Holy Crap! That's a lot of people for the final night! But everyone is polite and courteous and even though it's a huge crowd, it doesn't "feel" like it. The projection show is absolutely Amazing! The volume of confetti was INSANE! Of course it was all cleaned up moments after the show ended! Watch the full video below! This was one of the coolest "temporary" things I've seen Tokyo Disney do! It was just magical! Speaking about magical... Dream Lights is my favorite Disney parade ever! Let me make it known that I am not the biggest "Main Street Electrical Parade" fan (mainly because I had to work it so often at Disneyland)... But I will 100% stop and watch this version every single night! I love everything about this parade! Each of the parade units are magical in their own way with amazing technology! I will warn you right now that you will see a lot of "Dream Lights" photos throughout this report, so be prepared for it! Hello Rapunzel! You are my #2! So if things don't work out with Anna & I, you're next in line! Belle, you're #3... I mean, you ended up with a beast, so I've got a shot, right??? Hey Anna... whatcha doing after the parade? *wink* *wink* We see you Chip n Dale! This guy right here double fisting those waffle machines is my current favorite cast member in the park! Please DO NOT MAKE ME CHOOSE between the Strawberry waffle.... ...and the chocolate one! YUM!!! I just love the entire 35 Happiest Celebration area inside World Bazaar. Sad thing is all going away tomorrow! So if there is one thing that Tokyo Disneyland lacks in... it's "fireworks" shows (I think because of where they are located within the city)... BUT.... Their "Castle Projection Shows?" OMG!!! These are amazing!!! "Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland" was... well... a "celebration" of attractions at the park! This show was fantastic! I love that it featured almost every attraction at Tokyo Disneyland! LIGHT SPEED TO ENDOR! It was weird seeing Star Wars stuff on the castle, but awesome at the same time! It is hard to tell, but this is Mickey Mouse driving the train of "Big Thunder Mountain" with the Country Bears in the back and it was my favorite thing ever!!! Just in case you forgot what year anniversary it was! Honestly the show was AMAZING!!! Watch the entire video below! [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] I of course had to end my favorite night on one of my favorite Disney attractions ever! Pooh's Hunny Hunt! Still one of the best trackless dark rides ever made! Hope you enjoyed the first installment... now... POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! Click HERE for PART TWO!

This is actually "fake news." These bottles have actually been around for more than ten years and have been taken through security countless times. The TSA never actually banned them, and that was all a social media blast campaign based on something that was taken totally out of context and twisted around. Yes, the TSA *did* respond to that after so many requests, but if you go back and **ACTUALLY READ** what the TSA said, *NOT* the people spreading fake news, you'll see that they were never actually banned and they had no issue with them. [twitter] [/twitter] If you read that part that I underlined, you can see that the TSA never actually banned them, and was simply saying that "some people" may think they are replica explosives ("some people" did NOT actually mean the TSA in this instance) and they let people know that a replica explosive, like if someone had brought a realistic looking hand grenade on a plane, it would not be allowed. Other unscrupulous sources took that, and twisted it around to say "The TSA is not allowing them because they look like replica explosives" but that is **NOT** what the TSA actually said. Then of course after that it "went viral" because humanity is just a huge dumpster fire of stupidity at the moment. [twitter] [/twitter] [twitter] [/twitter]

I have not heard anything from them one way or another. I don't see why we wouldn't be an approved group as we have been in the past.

This park was beyond terrible. I will not miss it in any way at all.

Energylandia was the first park that I have been to in a while that I actively *DID NOT LIKE.* Which is a shame because it does have so much potential. I admit that I did not ride many of the coasters there outside of the "big three" because I just couldn't be bothered to ride a bunch of kiddie coasters or clones, especially considering that their operations left a lot to be desired. Had most of the rides that said "0 to 10 minutes" wait, actually had been that time, I probably would have ridden a bit more. Everything just felt so "off" at this park. I'm sure we'll get back here again in a couple of years and I hope that it will have improved, but when you've got a park with 16 roller coasters and your (arguably) 3rd or 4th best coaster is a Vekoma SLC or Junior Boomerang, that's a problem. And when you've got a park with a giant kick ass Intamin hyper (nearly giga) and the best coaster we rode in Poland was a Vekoma at another park.... also a problem! Great report! Sums up a lot of my thoughts...

I 100% believe that Larry's re-telling of the attraction will be better for me in every way than actually experiencing this attraction. Even if it is still there on my next visit I will not do it because I know I would be disappointed after what Larry has built it up in my mind to be!

This made me laugh probably more than it should have!

And Hurler! People forget that in the last few years of Hurler that thing was UNRIDABLE!!! And considering that I still feel like when Busch Gardens Tampa closed Gwazi all they did was IMPROVE the overall quality of their coasters by removing it from the line-up. And now? Not only is Tigris a super FUN coaster for this year, but Iron Gwazi is just going to help make BGT have one of the best overall coaster collections in the world. I mean, there isn't a "bad" coaster, not anywhere close, in their line-up of rides.

FFS people. They announce this super kick ass looking coaster and everyone is bitching about the name. OK, fine, the name isn't amazing, BUT... I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision of "going with something totally new" like Steel Vengeance or sticking to the roots of the coaster and tying that in with the original name. Honestly, we have been all been calling it "RMC Gwazi" or "Gwazi 2020" for almost TWO YEARS now, so why change that? You also have to keep in mind your "average" park guest. People who are not in the know, or people who may have not visited the park in ten years are going to look at that wooden structure and think that is "Gwazi." So at least keeping the name Gwazi alive people will associate the wood structure with the location of that ride, just from a logistics standpoint. Giving it a new name like "Iron Gwazi" at least helps communicate "It's not the same Gwazi." You have to remember that parks make decision based on many MANY different layers of guests that visit the park. Some not so educated about rides than other. Case in point, even today, some of the "non-coaster press" were asking serious questions like "I don't see how this is different. Tell me what makes this different from the original ride." "Why is this not considered a wood coaster when it looks like a wood coaster." And these people are FROM THE MEDIA. So what do you think paying guests might think? So before you go bitching about the name, just stop and think about WHY some of the choices were made. Sure, they probably could have come up with a better name, but who cares? The ride is most likely going to become the best ride in the park! Isn't that what is most important?

Texas Stingray has been announced. This is all we have from the park so far. No press release yet. I'll update as I get more info.... SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Sept. 12, 2019) – Today, SeaWorld San Antonio announced exciting details about Texas Stingray – the soon to be tallest, fastest and longest wooden roller coaster in the state of Texas, set to open in spring 2020. This record-breaking coaster, which will reach a top speed of 55 mph, will be located across from the new Turtle Reef exhibit between Orca Stadium and the Rio Loco river rapids ride. “Texas Stingray marks a new wave of excitement for SeaWorld,” said SeaWorld San Antonio’s Vice President of General Services Scott Bacon. “We continue to provide new reasons to visit SeaWorld and offer exciting new adventures for our guests with a blend of thrilling rides, family attractions and incredible animal and educational experiences.” What’s in store for Texas Stingray riders? A breathtaking hundred-foot drop, a sensory-bending hundred-foot tunnel and much more: TEXAS STINGRAY RIDE STATS TYPE OF RIDE: Wooden Roller Coaster – Tallest, Fastest and Longest in Texas SPECIAL FEATURES: 57° first drop and 76° high turns RIDE LENGTH: 3,379 feet of track DROP HEIGHTH: 100-ft. drop MAXIMUM SPEED: 55 mph MAXIMUM HEIGHTH: 96 feet TUNNEL: 100 feet AIRTIME HILLS: 16 airtime hills MINIMUM RIDER HEIGHT: Riders must be 46 inches or taller RIDE DURATION: More than two minutes LOCATION: Spanning the new Turtle Reef exhibit between Orca Stadium and the Rio Loco river rapids ride RIDE MANUFACTURER: Great Coasters International (GCI) RIDE OPEN DATE: Spring 2020

Wow. It only took 16 minutes for someone to write some stupid pointless bitchy useless obnoxious dumb comment. Honestly, I'm surprised it took that long... We need fewer idiots on our forum... For the record, I'm glad they kept Gwazi in the name. The ride is going to seriously kick ass. If you have anything to complain about with this ride, you're dumb.

NEW ROLLER COASTERS “ICE BREAKER” AND “IRON GWAZI” AMPLIFY THRILLS AT SEAWORLD AND BUSCH GARDENS With a new waterslide also coming to Adventure Island in 2020, it’s never been a better time to be a Pass Member Orlando, Fla. (September 12, 2019) – Today, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay revealed details regarding NEW attractions coming to the parks in 2020. This marks the first time in four years that both parks have launched new coasters in the same year, in addition to a new water slide in Tampa. SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Pass Members will be among the first to experience the new attractions. Ice Breaker – Opening Spring 2020 at SeaWorld Orlando Making its debut in spring 2020, riders will shiver through family friendly adventures on SeaWorld Orlando’s first launch coaster: Ice Breaker™. Named after the icy Arctic summits, Ice Breaker will feature four launches, both backwards and forwards, culminating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond vertical drop in Florida — a 93-foot tall spike with 100-degree angle. Located near the Wild Arctic Attraction, the ride’s theme is reflective of this area with a nod to Ice Breaker’s conservation partner, Alaska SeaLife Center. Primarily dedicated to marine research, education and wildlife response, the Alaska SeaLife Center mission matches closely to SeaWorld Orlando’s, making them a perfect partner to help educate riders about the Artic and its inhabitants. "The Alaska SeaLife Center is excited to grow our partnership with SeaWorld. For many years, SeaWorld has been a stalwart supporter of the Center, and particularly our Wildlife Response program,” said Tara L. Riemer, President and CEO of Alaska SeaLife Center. “We are grateful for SeaWorld's contributions of funding and staff over the years to further our mission. This new collaboration will continue efforts to highlight Arctic rescue and conservation stories.” The opening of Ice Breaker is the perfect addition to SeaWorld’s ever-growing ride portfolio. From the roller coaster thrills of Mako, Manta and Kraken, to the water rapids of Infinity Falls and the flume fun of Journey to Atlantis, Ice Breaker joins the park’s famed attractions as a must-do experience in Orlando. Best value for Floridians – Enjoy all NEW rides with an Annual Pass! With three ALL-NEW attractions to enjoy, there has never been a better time to be a SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Annual Pass Member. Upon the launch of each attraction, Pass Members will enjoy EXCLUSIVE RIDE TIME on Iron Gwazi, Ice Breaker and Solar Vortex. For 2020, the best value for Floridians is the FOUR PARK PASS, which includes admission to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Adventure Island, SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Orlando. In addition to exciting NEW rides coming next spring, guests who purchase an annual pass today can enjoy fan-favorite events included with their park admission in Orlando and Tampa. In the fall, there’s Sesame Street Kids’ Weekends and Halloween Spooktacular. Then, as the holidays draw near, visitors can experience the magic of Christmas Town and SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration. And for culinary connoisseurs, the spring brings the Food &Wine Festival and the Seven Seas Food Festival to the parks. For pass holders, there’s something for everyone all year at SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. For more information on Fun Cards, Annual Passes, and daily admission, visit SeaWorldOrlando.com and BuschGardensTampa.com

NEW ROLLER COASTERS “ICE BREAKER” AND “IRON GWAZI” AMPLIFY THRILLS AT SEAWORLD AND BUSCH GARDENS With a new waterslide also coming to Adventure Island in 2020, it’s never been a better time to be a Pass Member Orlando, Fla. (September 12, 2019) – Today, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay revealed details regarding NEW attractions coming to the parks in 2020. This marks the first time in four years that both parks have launched new coasters in the same year, in addition to a new water slide in Tampa. SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Pass Members will be among the first to experience the new attractions. Iron Gwazi – Opening Spring 2020 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay A NEW legend is surfacing in 2020 at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay with the evolution of Iron GwaziTM, North America’s tallest, and the fastest, and steepest hybrid coaster in the world. Manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction, Iron Gwazi will be 206 feet tall, feature a 91-degree drop, and reach top speeds of 76 miles per hour. The journey will include three inversions and 12 airtime hills as it races along more than 4,075 feet of purple steel track. With a 48” height requirement, Iron Gwazi will be an exciting thrill attraction that families can take on together. “Iron Gwazi is the evolution of a classic wooden coaster into a modern icon,” said Stewart Clark, Park President of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. “From the bones of the original Gwazi, a new legend rises, reaching taller heights and faster speeds, delivering the next-level thrills that our coaster fans crave and expect from Busch Gardens.” While elements of the former wooden attraction will be integrated into the new ride, the steel track and reimagined layout of Iron Gwazi present an entirely unique experience that tells a different story. Iron Gwazi will highlight the best of both worlds — the classic nostalgia of a wooden coaster and the bold innovation of a steel coaster. Thriving and adapting over millions of years, this evolutionary crossroad is perfectly represented in the crocodile, the largest living reptile and the animal inspiration for Iron Gwazi. Solar Vortex – Opening Spring 2020 at Adventure Island Spin and splash at Adventure Island on Solar VortexTM — America’s first dual-tailspin water slide. This thrilling family raft slide combines high-banking rotations and rapid descents, sending sliders on a swirling journey through two open tailspin features. Manufactured by Whitewater, Solar Vortex will also include three dynamic AquaLucent™ elements — harnessing the power of the Florida sun into colorful patterns that shine through the slide as riders reach speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. Solar Vortex will be an electrifying new ride for families next year when it opens with the 2020 Adventure Island season. Ice Breaker – Opening Spring 2020 at SeaWorld Orlando Making its debut in spring 2020, riders will shiver through family friendly adventures on SeaWorld Orlando’s first launch coaster: Ice Breaker™. Named after the icy Arctic summits, Ice Breaker will feature four launches, both backwards and forwards, culminating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond vertical drop in Florida — a 93-foot tall spike with 100-degree angle. Located near the Wild Arctic Attraction, the ride’s theme is reflective of this area with a nod to Ice Breaker’s conservation partner, Alaska SeaLife Center. Primarily dedicated to marine research, education and wildlife response, the Alaska SeaLife Center mission matches closely to SeaWorld Orlando’s, making them a perfect partner to help educate riders about the Artic and its inhabitants. "The Alaska SeaLife Center is excited to grow our partnership with SeaWorld. For many years, SeaWorld has been a stalwart supporter of the Center, and particularly our Wildlife Response program,” said Tara L. Riemer, President and CEO of Alaska SeaLife Center. “We are grateful for SeaWorld's contributions of funding and staff over the years to further our mission. This new collaboration will continue efforts to highlight Arctic rescue and conservation stories.” The opening of Ice Breaker is the perfect addition to SeaWorld’s ever-growing ride portfolio. From the roller coaster thrills of Mako, Manta and Kraken, to the water rapids of Infinity Falls and the flume fun of Journey to Atlantis, Ice Breaker joins the park’s famed attractions as a must-do experience in Orlando. Best value for Floridians – Enjoy all NEW rides with an Annual Pass! With three ALL-NEW attractions to enjoy, there has never been a better time to be a SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Annual Pass Member. Upon the launch of each attraction, Pass Members will enjoy EXCLUSIVE RIDE TIME on Iron Gwazi, Ice Breaker and Solar Vortex. For 2020, the best value for Floridians is the FOUR PARK PASS, which includes admission to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Adventure Island, SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica Orlando. In addition to exciting NEW rides coming next spring, guests who purchase an annual pass today can enjoy fan-favorite events included with their park admission in Orlando and Tampa. In the fall, there’s Sesame Street Kids’ Weekends and Halloween Spooktacular. Then, as the holidays draw near, visitors can experience the magic of Christmas Town and SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration. And for culinary connoisseurs, the spring brings the Food &Wine Festival and the Seven Seas Food Festival to the parks. For pass holders, there’s something for everyone all year at SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. For more information on Fun Cards, Annual Passes, and daily admission, visit SeaWorldOrlando.com and BuschGardensTampa.com

10am

It was a nice little park but I 100% understand their decision. Most of the rides they had were probably decades old, not getting any newer, and probably needing more and more new parts and maintenance every year. There comes a time where you have to decide "are we all in on 'old rides' or are we buying new replacements, or shifting the focus someplace else?" I'm sure they had some sort of metric that showed "people are mostly here for the water park" and with the cost of new slides versus rides, and knowing what the focus their guests in on, this probably makes a lot of sense.

...can we actually do this? AJ, would you be up to the task? I'm genuinely curious how the results would look. It's not really worth our time. I'd rather see us spend time on things that actually help improve OUR poll, not disprove some other stupid poll.

And remember that the TPR Poll is a REAL poll based on REAL experiences, it's not just a bunch of made-up bullshit like the Golden Tickets are. I often wonder what would happen if we put the EXACT same ballot from the Golden Tickets through the TPR Poll system...

People who are obviously VERY inexperienced at going to theme parks.

Personally I thought Hagrid's was INSANELY overrated and overhyped. Good ride. But it wasn't the "world's first, groundbreaking ride" it was supposed to be. That Intamin multi-launched coaster we rode at Linnanmaki is was WAAAAAY better. In fact, I even preferred the Intamin launched "motorbike" coaster Juvelen at Djurs Sommerland because it wasn't pretending to be something more than it actually is. I mean, this ride seriously kicks ass.... [twitter] [/twitter]

**SIGH**

Here is a walk-through POV video of the new Ghostbusters maze at Halloween Horror Nights:

Be sure to follow our Twitter tonight as we are live tweeting from the Halloween Horror Nights Orlando media event!

For those of you wondering what is happening with this project, we have an UPDATE!!! https://www.thenextmiami.com/faa-grants-approval-for-831-foot-tower-in-downtown-miami-replacing-parking-lot/ (Scroll to the bottom of the article) "Also yesterday, the FAA approved a 706-foot for Skyplex in Orlando. The $500 million amusement tower will have the tallest roller coaster in the world, and is being built by Miami developer Joshua Wallack."