robbalvey

Here is the Cannibal video we shot today! Be sure to watch it in 60FPS!

It shouldn't affect things too much. There are always events going on during West Coast Bash in the past (Physics Day, Cheerleading events, etc) - It's a Saturday, so expect Saturday crowds, and there is always the Flash Pass option if you're not local and want to get in more riding!

^ That's awesome!

We are live Tweeting from Lagoon today! Please RT all of the tweets we post as there will be prizes!!!

Quoted for Stupidity QFS

So I was just able to watch the video and this comment is even more stupid after seeing that! Yes, it does look like someone designed it in NL2. And that someone is a very sick, deranged personal and I cannot wait to ride! Seriously, it's just one messed up action element after another. Anyone who watches that video and says the layout is boring is blind. Honestly, WTF???

I have no idea what a "Membership Pass" is, so you might want to contact the park on that question.

^ This is possibly the stupidest post of the day. Agreed. Putting that post in the "ignore" pile.

Does it really matter that much which side they are using? At the end of the day, they're just whoring out those sisters to use their structure. It's going to be a totally awesome new and different ride and doesn't resemble anything much of the old ride at all. And I'm totally ok with this.

A new Martin & Vleminckx/Gravity Group looping woodie has opened at Oriental Heritage Fantawild Park in Wuhu, China! Check out this awesome layout! Huge thanks to Martin & Vleminckx for supplying the footage!

The next day of our trip was an easy, more relaxing day. We just had to make our way from Fukuoka to Nagoya by bullet train, and then once we were there, we had some time to hang out and do whatever we wanted. We opted to visit a small park in the area called "Higashiyama Zoo" which has one of the more bizarre rides I've seen - the "Slope Shooter." I don't think I can consider this a "roller coaster" but it is most certainly fun, and the park also has a medium sized "Jet Coaster" as well as a few funky flat rides. This is one of those parks that is more than just a credit stop, but it actually has some unique and weird things I've not seen at any other parks. Our day starts out at... Mister Donut! Yes, this is the US chain that is long gone, but still lives on in Japan! Hello Mr. Bullet train! So happy to see you today! This might be my favorite train car in Japan! We have arrived in Nagoya and at Higashiyama zoo. As you can see, the entire property is HUGE! But we are just here for some amusements, so we're heading to that tiny corner on the bottom. This way, please! I think we have found our destination! The first ride making it up the hill to the amusement area is the "Slope Shooter" and this is one really bizarre, but totally fun ride! The car mostly glides on concrete through the turns... But the "slope" parts are this flume-like trough that you "shoot" through (I guess there is where it gets it's name from!) Watch this video... The girls about to take their ride... Each car is manually pushed out of the station and onto the lift hill. "WOAH! We have a live one here!" Thad was coming in pretty fast! The weirdness of Slope Shooter gets a thumbs up from all of us! Making our way up the hill more we find the "Jet Coaster" and a bunch of other rides. Your typical Japanese "Jet Coaster" is a fairly tame, but fun ride. Much like a mine train coaster, but not usually themed to anything. This one is most certainly fun and had a couple of mild pops of airtime. Statue of Liberty says "YOU MUST LIKE JET COASTER!!!" (Photo by Hanno Roos) IMO, this ride is kind of the weird hidden gem of the park. The best way to describe it is like a "Paratrooper had a love child with a Scrambler!" (Photo by Hanno Roos) The girls look a little nervous. (Photo by Hanno Roos) The legroom is a bit tight! Lift up those legs or you might find yourself smacking the arm of the ride! (Photo by Hanno Roos) It really is a Para-Scrambler! It's cool though. And I've never seen another one anywhere else. Yay! Kiddie Powered Coaster! Joe and the other credit whores rejoice! Some of the other rides in the park... And this wacky looking thing that is what nightmares are made of. Yay! Monorail fans can go here too and get a credit! For dinner we went to Din Tai Fung in Nagoya. Famous in Asia for their amazing "Soup Dumplings" and if you remember from other trip reports, this is like Elissa's favorite restaurant in the world! Each dumpling is made under a clean environment, with the perfect amount of folds and a specific process. They take their dumplings VERY SERIOUSLY!!! But the end result is OMG, soooooo goood! After dinner we hit up the marketplace! Check out all these crazy flavored Macaroons! Yummy! We didn't have Yakitori tonight, but we could have bought some and cooked our own! Then of course we felt the need to go to the toy store....Animal Crossing stuff! Baymax!!! More Animal Crossing! We found this interesting shop where you rent random costumes for about 15-20 minutes... and then you go get pictures with them taken in the photo booths! Oh, Japan! Whatever they are selling in here...I WANT IT!!! Actually, I'm pretty sure they are selling girls doing all sorts of amazing things to you! "I've seen one before, but never one that high up or that big!" Awesome building in Nagoya! Ahh, Nagoya...home to the animatronic crab restaurant! It's a pretty town...we'll explore a bit more tomorrow!

This one is pretty good. Just wondered if someone had one more close up and dead on instead of more from the side.

No, I mean, like even on the track. Not actually in the station. Like is there a good close up of it coming down the drop or anything like that?

WINNER!

Does anyone have some good close up shots of Cannibal's ride vehicle?

Not to go too off-topic, Robb, but what is it about Shambhala that separates it from the rest of the B&M hypers/gigas? I've watched the videos and to me, I can't really tell any differentiating factors from other ones. While I personally haven't been on Shambhala, I'm guessing it's "European overhype." Seems to happen fairly often when a new big coaster opens in that part of the world. The enthusiasts in that region seem to over-hype new rides, from what I can tell for two reasons: 1. They want to appear that they have something "as good as American" or 2. There is a strange contingent of Expedition GeForce haters that want to knock it off the top spot My guess is that if Mitch was still doing the poll today, it wouldn't rank as high anymore.

This is exactly my thoughts too. I mean, every ride I take on Apollo's Chariot, for example, I have a really good time on, I'm all smiles and enjoy my ride, but I can think of at least a hundred coasters I like more than it, and a hundred coasters I like less. And from looking at Mitch's poll, that's pretty much how the majority of coaster enthusiasts feel, too.

Exactly. It would be like if someone came along and said to me "Hey, I see you have a totally average 2013 Toyota Corolla that seems to be operating just fine and nothing is really wrong with it. Would you rather have this brand new BMW 7-Series instead?" Nobody in their right minds would ever say no to that.

I think what people misinterpret is that people aren't saying that B&M hypers are tame or forceless on their own, but they ARE compared to OTHER rides. Which I completely agree with. Case in point, let's take a look at the top 30 steel coasters from the last time Mitch's Steel Poll came out: How many B&M hypers do you see on that list? 3? Where is Diamondback, either Goliath, Apollo's Chariot, Behemoth, Silver Star, Intimidator, Raging Bull, etc? They aren't there. Because when it comes down to it, as much as people *DO* like B&M hypers, they just simply aren't as thrilling as some other coasters in the world. And that's just a harsh reality. Now, granted, maybe SeaWorld doesn't need an "Expedition GeForce killer" and something like Mako will do a good enough job getting people back to SeaWorld again, but that's a whole different argument. I guess the "tangible" item here would be the poll. While yes, it's still personal preference and that differs for various people, the poll at least collects that data and puts it into something that starts to form factual data...out of opinions. If that makes any sense. Personally, B&M hypers don't get me excited. Will I ride them? Sure! Do I have fun of them? Sure! But for me, a ride that gets me excited is one that I hit the brakes and go OMFG WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!?!? And that's simply not what a B&M hyper does. So for me, I'm excited about Mako because I think it will be awesome for SeaWorld, but I'm not expecting it to blow me away.

Roar is not an awesome wooden roller coaster. Really, it's just "ok" at best. In fact, here's how well it did in the last Mitch Hawker coaster poll. It was even ranked lower than Ghostrider! So you can see while it wasn't "hated", it most certainly isn't a fan favorite. So Roar as it is now doesn't even break the top 50 wood coasters, but Roar re-done as an RMC has potential to break into top ten OVERALL coasters. I think that's a huge win in my book!

FYI - Tickets are selling faster for this event than I think almost any other West Coast Bash! We have had nearly 350 tickets sold over both days in under a week! If you have not ordered your West Coast Bash tickets yet, I would hurry up and get them! http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?categoryID=22

Here's a link to the overview of it in Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/@31.1457483,121.6596173,1330m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-US What's interesting is that if you compare this to the park map, you can make out the Tron coaster is more to the direct west of the castle than being more in the upper left area. That giant area that looks like bus terminal loops take up that area that is all green currently on the park map. And I haven't gone through and matched up ride per ride in the list they gave and what's on Google maps, but it does look there might be one or two big show buildings that are being constructed that aren't on the current grand opening list, but I could be wrong. So perhaps we are looking at a "phase 1" opening Spring 2016 and phase 2 is already currently in development? Maybe someone with more time can take a closer look and see what they come up with?

OMG, I'm just so sick of hearing everyone whining and complaining that SFA is so neglected or "deserves" something. Here's the reality of the situation... If Six Flags felt that SFA's Roar deserved getting the RMC treatment, SFA's Roar would be getting the RMC treatment. Deal with it.

I'm not sure what this means. I was in Orlando all day today.

Great vid/POV Robb! You mind if I feature it on our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/kdgoldenyears ? Sure! Feel free to post the link to our YouTube video.