robbalvey

I actually was there for opening day of Gringott's and I waited two hours in the single rider line. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as people thought it was going to be, but it also had quite a long time where it was soft-opened to the public, too.

Completely disagree. I cannot be the only one who always thought that Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels was completely overrated, difficult to navigate, slides were totally "meh", and overall the park was a pain the ass to visit, right? And trust me, I've tried SEVERAL TIMES going to that park with an open mindset and I've always walked away going "I really don't get it." IMO, calling it the Knoebels of water parks is a huge insult to Knoebels. Ah, I was wondering why this was the only forum where I’ve seen negative comments about Schlitterbahn. I understand it might not be for you (or your followers) but it is widely considered to be the best water park. Wrong. Show me a list outside of the Golden Tickets claiming it to be the "best water park." I have about as much respect for the Golden Ticket Awards as I do for our current president: Zero. I'm not sorry if you're offended that TPR people like to post honest commentary about parks based on actual REAL experiences, and not have our noses up someone's ass based on how much money a park is spending on advertising or what events they'll host for an organization. Honestly, I'm really hoping that Cedar Fair bulldozes most of the park and completely re-designs it. It could most certainly use some modernization so that every time I get into one of their pools I don't feel like I might come out of it having some sort of brain eating parasite attached to my body. EDIT: Seriously, look at this list. You don't see anything wrong with this? Sure, this is just the "opinion" of one organization, but when you have parks out there like BIizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Volcano Bay, WIld Wadi, Siam Park, Yas Waterworld, Aquaventure, you're giving it to Schlitterbahn??? For TWENTY YEARS in a row??? Yeah, no... that doesn't add up. That's what we call "bullshit."

Would you like to tell that to the young adult girls who were approached by human traffickers that were let into the park by the guy who owns the park? Yes this happened. Because of him. At his water parks. And I'm sure his employees were 100% okay with it and felt "safe", right?

At the end of the night, absoultely! I probably rode each side at least twice that night. I think I took two rides on Fire and three rides on Ice. (I was always an Ice fan!) I think I did that in about an hour!

For me it's more the fact that *usually* when a park removes a coaster, it's a ride that is tired, worn out, not running well, people ride once and forget about, or something that was never good to begin with. In the case of Dueling Dragons, that ride has been ranked in the top ten world's best roller coasters! And yes, I know that they stopped dueling it (which I disagree that it couldn't have been made to duel again), but I rode those coasters a week before they closed and I still say they ran just as good as when they opened. OMG. I had a BALLS OUT ride in the back row on Fire Dragon at night about a week before it closed. It was still AWESOME. Easily one of the best inverts out there with the likes of Nemesis, Batman, Montu, and some of the earlier B&M inverts. And that same day, I watched people RUN out of the queue and RUN to get back in line. Here I was in September of 2017 and I watching people run around the queue to "Dragon Hop" just like we did in 1999. Exactly the same. No different. Oh, except instead of running back in line in 1999, in 2017 it was: Run... stop at the metal detector... run some more... I get that rides don't stick around forever, parks aren't museums, and I'm actually "fine" overall with the decision, because parks do what they need to do. It just seemed odd to me that when a park has a ride that has been categorized as "one of the best of it's kind in the world" and people are still RUNNING around to re-ride it, wouldn't you want to do SOMETHING to have that stay in your park? When was the last time a park tore down a "top ten" coaster that was STILL running amazing the day it closed?

Exactly. I don't actually think the number matters as much as the outcome of the ride experience. And I'll just sum up my thoughts here in an easy to digest bullet-point format since people seem to be putting words in my mouth: - Overall, the ride is fun... a lot of fun. - What is there on the ride looks great. - If you are expecting a ride as thrilling or as intense as Dueling Dragons, this is not your ride. - If you like coasters such as Taron or Cheetah Hunt, you will most likely enjoy this coaster as well. - I'm VERY HAPPY this is not a screen based attraction. - While the theming that is there looks "good" I did expect more from it based on how much they were hyping the figures, the "story coaster" and the indoor section. And that's really the only part of the ride that didn't live up to expectations.

Universal Orlando have also posted a queue walk-through video:

I'm am not "jaded" towards Universal, in fact, it's just the opposite. I like their parks and I would like to see them produce amazing attractions! Did you read my review of Hagrid's? It doesn't appear that you did because it is not negative at all, in fact, it is quite a positive review. Here, I'll link you to it so you can read it: https://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1909891#p1909891 I said my **ONE** major criticism of the ride (which I'm allowed to have, you know?) is that it was not themed as much as I thought it would be. I never painted a picture of "no theming." In fact the only person in this conversation that has said that is you. My expectation of theming was set pretty high, though, to be honest. After hearing the attraction being called a "Story Coaster" and having been on many other outdoor themed rides: Taron, Radiator Springs Racer, Big Grizzly Mountain, just to name a few, and knowing that they will have some pretty stiff competition in the "motorbike coaster" category soon with Tron opening, I'll be honest, I was expecting Universal to knock this one out of the park. Overall, the ride itself looks great. The themed elements that are there are a nice touch. But my opinion still stands that it is the one area that was lacking the most. I legit expected more of a "show scene" in certain areas, and what we got were some figures scattered throughout the track area that you don't see for very long, and when you did get to an indoor show scene, it wasn't that much of an improvement over Verbolten, Thirteen, or Darkmare, which also have similar drop-track indoor themed sections. With as much as they hyped up the theming, the "story coaster" and the animatronics, I expected more in that department. In my review I also put the disclaimer that my comments come from a more experienced roller coaster rider and I do have to remember that the majority of the people who have ridden the coaster today or at the media event have probably never been on a coaster with a drop-track feature. I have been on six over the past 14 years. Many of those people probably have not been able to experience the amazing theming on Taron or have ridden other "story" based thrill attractions like Big Grizzly Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers, or Journey to the Center of the Earth. I've also been on several different "motorbike" coasters including the only other coaster in the world that features a bike and a side car as well as having ridden Tron at Shanghai Disneyland. So my basis of comparison is going to be much broader and so is my level of expectations. Honestly, I expected this ride, theming wise, to blow all those I mentioned out of the water. And the end result was that it was "good enough." The coaster itself is a lot of fun. My review was not "negative." And I'm very, VERY happy that this is a departure from a "Screen based" attraction. I don't know why you're getting so defensive. EDIT: Watch this video of Taron: My expectations of Hagrid's is that would be more themed that this coaster. And it wasn't. It wasn't as thrilling or as well themed as Taron. I'm not being "negative" I'm just stating my thoughts based on having ridden both coasters.

Completely disagree. I cannot be the only one who always thought that Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels was completely overrated, difficult to navigate, slides were totally "meh", and overall the park was a pain the ass to visit, right? And trust me, I've tried SEVERAL TIMES going to that park with an open mindset and I've always walked away going "I really don't get it." IMO, calling it the Knoebels of water parks is a huge insult to Knoebels.

[twitter] [/twitter]it was actually pretty fun at night! Let's be honest... there wasn't that much to see on the ride anyway! So riding it at night with little lighting other than the motorbike lights was just a fun run through the trees.

Yes, you are supposed to be going up a hill and the bike sputters out and goes backwards. I rode it three times and I BARELY heard the audio of what it was supposed to say. Hagrid says something (I believe) to "Oh, you've lost power..." and then go backwards out of control (apparently) into the drop track building. There is nothing (that I noticed) visually that explains why you are going up the spike and then backwards again.

If this theming is disappointing then I must be missing something???? It is 100% disappointing theming wise. That was my biggest issue with it. Did you read my review? The animatronic figures are so brief that you see them about as long as you see Everest's Yeti. And other than drop track part of the ride, which I also thought lacked a "wow" moment in theming, you're mostly just meandering the outside portion through some trees. Like, honestly the theming isn't that much more than when Ninja at Six Flags Magic Mountain had lots of trees around it! I'd say it's a *little* more themed than Verbolten and a lot less themed than Taron. Which, IMO, is "disappointing" considering the property it is based on. They kept calling this a "story coaster" but I'm kind of at a loss for where the "story" is other than the pre-show and the audio that was difficult to hear while on the ride. Hearing that it cost $300 million changes everything.... Wow!! Definitely should be more than just trees for that much. Also, I’m from Southern California where outside of Disneyland our best themed coaster is probably Manta at SWSD, so obviously I don’t have much to go off of. To be honest, I was expecting Hagrid's to be a bit more like Big Grizzly Mountain (which fixes a lot of the issues that Everest had.) Here, click this link and watch our Grizzly video starting from this point: On that ride, each of the "story elements" you can clearly see and understand while on the ride. You don't fly by it so fast that you don't know what is going on. And the area has some REALLY unique theming and rock work. To someone who asked "is it kinda hard to really theme an outside coaster of this proportion?" my answer is "not at all." I mean, just look at Big Grizzly or Radiator Springs Racers. Those are the examples that Hagrid's should have been looking at for the bar they needed to reach. What they produced doesn't even COME CLOSE to those attractions. And also having been on Tron... OMG when that ride opens at Magic Kingdom, it is going to BLOW HAGRID'S AWAY! It might be a shorter ride, but HOLY CRAP, the theming inside that Tron building is CRAZY! Seriously, Universal knew Tron was coming. Why did they fall so short on the theming of Hagrid's? Like, did they not go to Shanghai and ride that coaster? Or even watch a video of it???

If this theming is disappointing then I must be missing something???? It is 100% disappointing theming wise. That was my biggest issue with it. Did you read my review? The animatronic figures are so brief that you see them about as long as you see Everest's Yeti. And other than drop track part of the ride, which I also thought lacked a "wow" moment in theming, you're mostly just meandering the outside portion through some trees. Like, honestly the theming isn't that much more than when Ninja at Six Flags Magic Mountain had lots of trees around it! I'd say it's a *little* more themed than Verbolten and a lot less themed than Taron. Which, IMO, is "disappointing" considering the property it is based on. They kept calling this a "story coaster" but I'm kind of at a loss for where the "story" is other than the pre-show and the audio that was difficult to hear while on the ride.

That's a good question. I know they have a dual drop track to increase capacity and someone had told me that they could run up to TEN trains because of that and they way they do their loading system. From what I could tell on the media event, it looked like they were running maybe 4 or 5 trains. So I'm not sure what the actual capacity is and not sure how many they were running today.

I really shouldn't have to remind people, but obviously I do because the world is now full of fucking stupid people. If anyone posts illegal POVs or even tells people where they are and suggest they should watch them on this forum they will be INSTANTLY BANNED no questions asked. Got it?

... f*cking really? [attachment=0]Untitled.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]2.jpg[/attachment] Yes fucking really. Season passholders and members are let in at 10:20 Man, you must have a REALLY SMALL penis...

Go take your complaints to guest services. We are sick of hearing them.

Every once in a while there is a show that I have missed seeing on Broadway for whatever reason, and I end up seeing it on tour and it becomes one of my favorite shows! Last year it was School of Rock, and this year it was Come From Away! Thanks to our amazing tour schedule here in Orlando at the Dr. Phillips Center, I'm able to get caught up on shows I've missed and see many of my favorites yet again! Come From Away is seriously one of the best shows I've ever seen! Many people think it's a show about 9/11 and it's really not. It's a show about something that happened BECAUSE of 9/11 that went under radar as the world was so focused on the event in that moment. To make a long story short, it's about the planes that were diverted on 9/11 to a very small town in Canada in which 7,000 people were stranded for days before the FAA allowed the planes to fly again. And when you realize that the town only has a population of 9,000 normally, it was a pretty huge event when all of a sudden, out of the blue, the population of one small town is about to double, with people who are stranded, scared, frustrated, and anxious to get back home. This is their story. Not only is the story they are telling absoultely heartwarming, but the way in which they do it is mind-boggling. It is only a small cast of about 12-14 members, and each of them play several different roles. Some of those characters switches happen instantly right in front of you, but done in such a way that you immediately know which character they are playing and at no point does it ever feel distracting or bizarre. It is amazing to watch. It's almost like watching some sort of weird magic show. And it is, because the entire show is pure magic! Oh, yeah, did I mention that the music is good? No wait, the music is FANTASTIC! The songs are upbeat, fun, and not exactly what you would expect! And funny! Yes! The show is actually very VERY funny! Remember, this is not a show "about 9/11" this is a show telling the story of these stranded people and the town that dropped everything to help. It's a glimpse of "decent humanity" which is something we need as much as possible of right now. I'm not exactly sure how much longer Come From Away will tour, but I highly recommend it if it makes it to your town. As far as the Dr. Philips Performing Arts Center goes in Orlando, it was the final show of this season and WOW, what a way to go out! Next season also looks fantastic! Mean Girls, Aladdin, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, My fair Lady, seriously STOP!!! lol I can't handle this many amazing shows in one season! If you are an Orlando local or just in town for the theme parks, be sure to check out the Dr. Phillips website for ticket availability and season pass options: https://www.drphillipscenter.org/ ps. The show features quite possibly the largest amount of "chairs" I've ever seen on stage!

It's worked fine for this ride since 2007....

Ahh, yes... I forgot to post it. During the day when I shot the queue walk-through, they had the pre-show room closed because they were doing interviews with the film celebrities, but in the evening I did film it... [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew]

I didn't expect it to be better than Dragons, but that still doesn't ease the fact that a world's top tier coaster was destroyed for a ride that doesn't live up. I'm not usually one to get all bummed out about attractions leaving, but I refuse to believe that Dragons was at the "end if its life" or that these two attractions couldn't have co-existed. We were told no POVs because the park didn't want to give away the ride. So I guess whoever is the first person to sneak their phone on and get a crappy shaky cam video of the ride will be the one that showcases the attraction!

Yep, I'm not a Potter person so I can really only speak to the coaster part of the ride. In fact, I didn't even know I had a pic of Tom Felton, or who he even was, until someone else pointed it out to me!

I'll just sum up my thoughts here in an easy to digest bullet-point format since people seem to be putting words in my mouth: - Overall, the ride is fun... a lot of fun. - What is there on the ride looks great. - If you are expecting a ride as thrilling or as intense as Dueling Dragons, this is not your ride. - If you like coasters such as Taron or Cheetah Hunt, you will most likely enjoy this coaster as well. - I'm VERY HAPPY this is not a screen based attraction. - While the theming that is there looks "good" I did expect more from it based on how much they were hyping the figures, the "story coaster" and the indoor section. And that's really the only part of the ride that didn't live up to expectations. Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure Review! So I got to ride Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure yesterday at the media preview and here are my thoughts on the ride... It's fun. It's twisty. The launches are "good." The backwards spike is great. The drop-track is overrated. (As are all drop-tracks, not just this one!) Keep in mind that these are the comments of a somewhat jaded roller coaster rider who has been on over 2,000 different roller coasters... I came away really liking the ride, but also felt the same way I did about Taron, Helix, and many other coasters that other people absolutely LOVED but I felt a *bit* underwhelmed about. Here's my biggest issue with Hagrid's... it's a "family" coaster. And that's fine... it's actually a DAMN GOOD "family" coaster... but it replaced Dueling Dragons. And this is NOT a replacement for Dueling Dragons in any way. The ride felt a LOT like a less-thrilling version of Taron or Cheetah Hunt, and that's not a bad thing, I like both of those rides quite a bit, I just don't think they are as good as people have hyped them up to be. It's a lot of low-to-the ground twisty bits with "boosts" (I'm not sure I'd really call them launches) here and there. And none of those things are complaints, in fact, the only real criticism I have of the ride is I was actually surprised how little theming there really was on this coaster. Most of the track is out in the open and you fly by the themed elements so quickly you hardly see them. It's like the Yeti on Everest. You see Hagrid for a total of five seconds (I counted on my third ride) and you see the three-headed monster thing for even less. I almost totally missed the blue flying creatures inside the car because you go by that so fast you almost don't notice the car let alone the creatures inside of it. The only really themed section is the indoor drop-track area and that part was kind of weird. When you first enter the building, it's almost totally unthemed (like as though it wasn't finished) and there is nothing hiding the fact that you can look around and see you're in a giant building. As you go further in, it just looks like you're in a cave with a bunch of moving vines. It didn't look bad, but it also wasn't a "OH WOW, GREAT THEMING" moment either. And then there is the drop track. An element that I describe as the "shortest drop on Tower of Terror" or something about as thrilling as a Frog Hopper. It's not "thrilling" it's just slightly "startling" if you don't know when to expect it. But since all these drop track elements are EXACTLY THE SAME on every coaster I've ever been on (and I've been on five of them since 2006...yes, that's how long this element has been around) I knew exactly when it was going to drop because the timing has never changed on any ride that includes this element. Fun, yes, especially for the first-time rider, but when you've been riding coasters like this for 14 years, it has lost its "thrill moment." I actually think my favorite parts on this ride are the backwards spike because it feels JUST LIKE Montezooma's Revenge (and I love that ride) and the launch just after the drop track is probably the best of them all. The park boasts that this ride has "seven launches" but to me you really only feel three of them as any significant launch. The initial one at the start of the ride, the launch right after you see Hagrid, and then the launch after the drop track. The rest of them just sort of "push the train" along a bit faster. I rode both the side car and the motorbike and I actually found that, other than your seat being higher on the motorbike, both seats gave pretty much exactly the same ride experience. I honestly didn't prefer one over the other. The motorbike seat isn't a real "motorbike ride vehicle" like Tron or the other Vekoma and Zamperla Motorbike coasters are, it's just a regular roller coaster train with themed elements around it to make it look like a motorbike. There is the initial moment where you go "Oh, I'm higher/lower than the seat next to me" but once the ride starts, you notice that less because you are focused on the action of the ride and not the seat next to you. Actually my only other criticism is that I don't think it should be a 48" height restriction. 42" or 44" would have been perfect. And that would have put it more into a "family" coaster category where it belongs. Overall, it's a very fun ride. While it exceeded some expectations, it also met the expectation that it wouldn't deliver the same level of thrill or excitement that Dueling Dragons did, and the fact that a perfectly good "world's top ten" roller coaster was pointlessly demolished for this ride still really bums me out, especially after walking through a mostly changed Dragon Challenge queue... it's just kind of a sore reminder about what once was there... And hey, if Draco Malfoy is having an awesome time riding Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, you KNOW it has to be amazing! Here's a video we did featuring a complete walk-through of the queue and some offride shots: And here is the pre-show video that is the first thing you see when you walk into the castle... [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew]

Here's a clip of the POV that we put together...

It appears that SeaWorld Orlando have teased us with a new roller coaster today! What do you think this could be? Teaser video: [twitter] [/twitter]