robbalvey

Going to move this into the main forum...

Thanks!

Definitely wasn't announced for Orlando since we're getting Mako next year. Believe they said it's either for San Diego, San Antonio or both. They didn't choose yet. Yeah, the announcement was a bit weird. Like "we have these rides, but we don't know what parks they are going to yet" seemed sort of odd. Like of COURSE they know where they are going, right?

Disney’s Hollywood Studios to Debut New Star Wars Experiences in December You heard about it first during the 2015 D23 EXPO, and now we’re excited to share more details. Very soon, guests visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios will have the opportunity to experience Star Wars in the park in an all-new way – every day! New experiences will open starting Dec. 1, bringing that galaxy far, far away, a little bit closer. Star Wars Launch Bay will take guests into the Star Wars saga and the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with special exhibits and peeks behind-the-scenes, special merchandise and opportunities to encounter Chewbacca and Darth Vader. Star Tours – The Adventures Continue will be home to a brand new adventure inspired by the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. During the opening months, we’ll make sure that everyone who rides Star Tours will experience the new adventure. After that, it will be up to the will of the Force. Here’s a sneak peek of where the Starspeeder 1000 will be taking us. We also have new information about “Star Wars: Path of the Jedi.” It will feature scenes from the complete Star Wars saga, also giving anyone new to the Star Wars galaxy an opportunity to get acquainted with the films. Last, but certainly not least, is Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple, which will open in early December. This reimagined Jedi Training experience will take younglings to the secret site of an ancient Jedi temple where they will face Darth Vader along with the Seventh Sister – a new villain from the Disney XD series “Star Wars Rebels.” And work begins next year on the 14-acre Star Wars-themed land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. With construction underway, unfortunately, we won’t be able to offer Star Wars Weekends. While Star Wars Weekends has been a great way to enjoy the saga for a few days every year, now the Force will be with Disney’s Hollywood Studios every day. With Star Wars Launch Bay, the new Jedi Training experience, “Star Wars: Path of the Jedi” and a new destination in the Star Tours attraction opening in December, you’ll be able to step into the Star Wars saga every time you visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Hey everyone! First a little gift for you. Here's a 4K Ultra HD video of Impulse at Knoebels: If you have a 4K HD TV that streams directly from YouTube in 4K please let us know how it is! And now a little survey for you! Please answer below as it will help us determine how many more 4K videos we post. It's almost important that you respond if you DON'T have a 4K HD TV! 1. Do you have a 4K HDTV? Yes/No (If no, jump to question #6) 2. What brand do you have? 3. Does your 4K TV have an app that streams YouTube in 4K? 4. Do you watch videos from YouTube in 4K? 5. How noticeable is the increase in quality to you? 6. If you don't have a 4K HDTV, how important is it to you to get one? 7. If you were to buy a new HDTV, what feature would be more important to you? 3-D or 4K? Or both or neither? Thanks for your input!

Yeah, I did see that. It's kind of a shame. I will say that the two CCI's I've ridden with the 7-car PTC's - Ghostrider and Tonnerre De Zeus did seem to have quite an edge to them that the 6-car rides didn't have. I don't know how much of that has to do with the train or the layout of the ride, but I know that those two coasters were two of my top favorites of the time, and that back car ride was quite something! I'll say it again, as much as I'm 100% on board with a full restoration of Ghostrider, there is part of me that is going to be a bit skeptical of this. Gwazi and Wildcat didn't come out the way people had hoped. Boulderdash after it's refurb on the other hand is AMAZING, but again, it also runs the PTC trains still. I really, REALLY want to be more excited about this as Ghostrider is one of my all-time favorite rides and I would like more than anything for it to be back to how it was on December 8th, 1998. But I'm not sure if this is going to fix it long-term, fix it short term, or change the feel of the ride to the point where it's not as forceful as it once was. We'll just have to wait to see on opening day.

I get the jokes and all, and like I said, it's just a pet peeve of mine. I sort of feel that people who are going to speak with any sort of "authority" on a subject matter aka "theme park enthusiasts" should at least know how to properly spell the terms of the things they are trying to speak about, that's all.

My two minor issues with Radiator Springs Racers is: 1. I'm just not a fan of the Cars franchise, and 2. I wish it went a little bit faster. The whole time you're "racing" it just feels a bit sluggish to me. That being said, both riders are VERY good for different reasons and if Test Track and RSR were sitting in front of me and someone asked me to choose one, I'd probably just flip a coin.

Dragons had a pretty awesome queue line, but one of the issues is that the ride was both at a park that rarely had giant crowds and was a people eater. The queue line simply ended up being something to pass through quickly en route to the station and the almost constant walk on crowds (a bit like now, honestly). And most of the time, if you knew your way around the queue, you'd just enter on the bottom level anyway and go right into the "choose thy fate" room instead of the entire queue.

Thank you for paying attention to this thread. It's "BRAKE" not "BREAK" brake noun 1. a device for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, typically by applying pressure to the wheels. "he slammed on his brakes" break verb 1. separate or cause to separate into pieces as a result of a blow, shock, or strain. "the rope broke with a loud snap"

J.K. Rowling. Y'know, considering that they fabricated what's basically an original story for Forbidden Journey, I'm surprised that they didn't try to come up with one to tie into the Fire / Ice dragons thing instead of plucking the Triwizard Tournament story from the books. From what I've heard she HATED the ride and wanted it removed. Universal had to fight to keep it, and I'm sure part of that was removing any theming and just keeping the minimal, bare bones attraction and what little story line they were allowed to have for it. My understanding is that they were told to downplay dragons to make Forbidden Journey seem like the feature ride in the area. And that is pretty much exactly what happened.

This is my biggest issue with World of Color also. I *like* the show enough to put about 5 minutes worth of effort into if I could walk up and stand there and watch it, or even walk up half-way through and watch part of it, but it's that commitment of time that I just don't think the show is really worth. That and it closes down California Screamin which annoys me also. Because usually while the show is going on is when you can go hit up the big rides, but not in this case. Oh, well... For those reasons WoC will probably be a show I will only have seen once in my life. (and that was on media day when I didn't have to get the FastPass!) Great report! Looking forward to the rest of it!

J.K. Rowling.

I dunno, I kind of see it more like this.... Dueling Dragons SLIGHTLY > Dragon Challenge Disaster = Fast and the Furious Twister = Fallon Remember that Dragon Challenge didn't start out not dueling. So it's entirely possible that had Dueling Dragons continued in existence, this same thing might have happened to the ride. DD's theming of course was WAAAAAAY better than DC's, but honestly, I've ridden both sides of it recently, and they are both still pretty kick ass coasters! I've been through Disaster/Earthquake three times in the last 10 years, and two of those were to help someone film it during the last week. I don't think I've been into Twister in probably 15 years. So neither one of those attractions I ride at all, and I'm expecting (only do to my interest level of the properties) that I will not ride F&F or Fallon much more often than I did Twister or Disaster, so in my mind both of them are a wash. They aren't replacing something I frequent, and they aren't something I probably frequent once they are built. But who knows? I'm willing to give them a chance. Maybe they will surprise me and end up being a bit of fun!

Today Al Ahli Holding Group announced the development of a new 20th Century Fox World theme park in Dubai!

While this isn't directed specifically at you, since I've now seen this a few times recently in this thread... It's "BRAKE" not "BREAK" brake noun 1. a device for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, typically by applying pressure to the wheels. "he slammed on his brakes" break verb 1. separate or cause to separate into pieces as a result of a blow, shock, or strain. "the rope broke with a loud snap" Sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine. I feel like roller coaster "enthusiasts" probably should know the difference!

Now that the announcement is out of the way - I just really REALLY hope that they are doing something very different to Ghostrider than what they did to Gwazi and Wildcat, because both of those rides were back to being rough as hell 6 months after they re-opened, only for Gwazi to be permanently closed 2 years later. At least Boulderdash is still running well, which interestingly enough still runs the PTC trains. Crossing fingers this works out because I'd really like to see Ghostrider return to being the ride it once was, and more than a short-term amount of time.

2016 Knotts Berry Farm Announcement! In 2016, Knott's Berry Farm’s Ghost Town will celebrate its 75th anniversary with two major offerings next summer. Additionally, a complete restoration of Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant is underway and will re-open in spring 2016. Highlights coming to Ghost Town in summer 2016: - The centerpiece of the summer 2016 celebration is the interactive entertainment experience, Ghost Town Alive!, which immerses guests in new stories and adventures in the familiar town of Calico - Ghost Town Alive! will allow guests young and young at heart to live the west through inventive new ways to interact with characters and environments as each day, a different story will unfold throughout all of Ghost Town - Guests play an active role in shaping the events of the day - Construction is underway on a new Calico Stage, which will open across the train tracks from its current location, in the area Screamin’ Swing formerly occupied. The stage, themed after an old abandoned mine, will feature an all-new show for summer 2016. - The west is about to get even wilder when GhostRider, the longest, fastest and tallest wooden rollercoaster on the West Coast, returns from its nine month restoration with all new trains that will gallop along over 4,500 feet of new wooden track - Since September 2015, work has been in progress to completely restore and preserve this classic wooden rollercoaster. The project is a partnership with Great Coasters International and includes re-profiling and a complete wooden re-tracking of the entire 4,533 ft. long track. - All of the coasters trains will be replaced with new state of the art Millennium Flyer trains designed to look like mining cars, each with gold, silver, or copper accents. As part of the construction, the mid-course brake run will be removed, allowing riders to enjoy a relentless, ride from the moment the train descends the first 108 ft. drop to the moment it returns to the station’s new, smooth magnetic brake run. Complete refurbishment of Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant: - The restaurant will close on January 4 the grand re-opening in spring 2016 - The project will refresh and preserve the original “tea room” dining room and bring cosmetic and thematic upgrades throughout the restaurant’s other dining areas o Throughout the restaurant’s four main dining rooms and two banquet rooms, all furniture, flooring, lighting, and décor will be renovated o The large dining room to the right of the main entrance will be remodeled with a look inspired by Mrs. Knott’s kitchen pantry, as the room will be adorned with a potbelly stove and nods to Cordelia’s home kitchen, evoking themes of warmth, family, and togetherness o The main dining room accessible from the courtyard entrance will be divided into two smaller dining rooms, with a theme inspired by farmhouse motifs o For the first time, a new outdoor seating area on the restaurant’s north side will allow guests to dine al fresco with beautiful and unique views of the MarketPlace fountain, the theme park’s Ghost Town, and the newly restored GhostRider roller coaster - The restaurant will feature a new, welcoming lobby area, where diners who provide a cell phone number will be sent a text message when their table is ready, allowing more time and flexibility to explore the Knott’s MarketPlace or to grab a drink around the restaurant’s new full service bar, which will replace the restaurant’s Garden Room.

Do you miss Horror Nights already? The dates for HHN26 have been announced today! EVENT DATES CONFIRMED FOR UNIVERSAL ORLANDO’S HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS 26 Universal Orlando Resort has announced event dates for next year – guests can look forward to more startlingly-real scares in 2016 from select nights Sept. 16 to Oct. 31. Halloween Horror Nights 25 shattered records as the scariest and highest-rated event in Universal Orlando’s history – and there’s more to come. The twisted minds behind the nation’s best Halloween event are already hard at work planning for next year. Stay tuned to Universal Orlando’s blog as details for next year’s event are revealed, and visit http://www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com/Orlando Here's a recap of HHN25!

Wow! That is a GREAT start to your report! And this... LMAO! "If you haven't read that report, you should go do that cause it's a lot more interesting and features his extensive review of Journey to the Center of the Earth "

Personally, I think Cobra's Curse might just raise the bar for spinning coasters. Much better than yet another generic spinner. As for "Gwazi's space," be patient. Yeah, I agree. I'm actually super psyched about Cobra's Curse! IMO, the park NEEDS another ride in that 42" height restriction for families. Think about it, they have plenty of 54" rides with Falcon's Fury, Kumba, Montu, and SheiKra. Cheetah Hunt fits the 48" demographic GREAT! And with Gwazi being gone, although that had a 48" height restriction, I think adding something that more members of the family can ride, AND it being a totally unique ride, is going to be awesome for the park! And yes, Chuck is right about being patient with Gwazi's spot!

Cleaning out some old boxes tonight I found this 1999 IOA Sneak Preview brochure! Who remembers the early days of Islands of Adventure?

To be fair, you're not missing anything. You probably would have gone in there and went "Wow, what a waste of our time...we could have ridden Mummy again..." I actually haven't been inside Twister in well over ten years. We never even bothered to take Kristen to ride it! lol

Aaand they did not waste any time removing the sign by 9am the next morning... Photo by Jon Locke

Here is our backseat POV footage of Switchback: