robbalvey

Same as everyone else. It's a rumor. There's apparently been some leaked plans, but then again, there was a lot of leaked stuff for Nintendo Land as well and now that seems to have been postponed or repurposed...

I actually LIKE the ride!

Nope. And we would appreciate you not spamming links to click-bait "made up" stories until something real actually gets announced.

I haven't lived "nearby" since 2001 so I'm probably not the best judge. That being said, the last time I rode it would have been 2015 or 2016 and I feel like it ran "fine" without any real noticeable issues.

Here's some footage we shot a couple of years ago including a reverse POV that I don't think we ever posted.... And this right here would be my thoughts exactly...

I'm going to lock this thread. I don't think it makes any sense to have two competing TPR Coaster Poll threads when we have set one up for the 2018 poll. If you have questions about the poll, please use this thread: https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=76592

Blue Hawk at Six Flags Over Georgia! POST YOUR COMMENTS!

Yeah, sorry guys... still a few minor issues to resolve... Like with everything else, we will never truly be out of the "Beta Testing" mode!

I'm not 100% sure how it chooses the videos to display on each refresh. There are about 25 videos uploaded, so maybe it's just random the ones that are in the "Now Playing" scroll bar? If you see Falcon's Fury pop up, that's the newest one!

I've been uploading one or two videos a month. "Boat Jump" and "Lynet" are both new and were added in Jan 14th.

This should be interesting...

Hamilton is in Orlando! I think most everyone by now, especially those with even a remote interest in Broadway theater, is at least familiar with Hamilton in that the show tells the story of one of America's Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton and part of the show's charm is that the story is told mostly through untraditional-for-Broadway rap, R&B, hip hop, and soul music. The characters in the show are also mostly cast as non-white performers to play the roles of white American figureheads. The shows boasts that it is "the story of America then told by America now." Kristen was thrilled to be able to see the show again! It is her absolute favorite Broadway musical and she's seen it four times now (including a trip to Puerto Rico to see it with Lin-Manuel Miranda playing Hamilton!) Thankfully we knew some people who worked on the touring production and she was invited backstage by Brad the Company Manager and she loved getting to tour the stage and learn more about the traveling production! My personal overall feeling about Hamilton is that I like the show quite a bit, there are parts that I absoultely LOVE, and I feel that anyone who is into Broadway musicals needs to see it, but that being said, having seen Hamilton twice now, once on Broadway and once at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, I do have some thoughts and musings about this show... 1. It absolutely is a "rap musical." I call this out because, while this is a popular feature of the show, it is also my least favorite part of the show. When it comes right down to it, I'm just not a huge fan of rap music, and I'd say about 1/3 of the show is fairly hardcore rap (at least for me) and if that isn't something you are a fan of, I would suggest taking a listen to the cast recording before spending hundreds of dollars on tickets. While I do like most of the rest of the music that is not quite as hardcore rap, I find myself tuning out about 1/3 of the show because it is a music style that I just cannot connect with. 2. The set design, lighting, and staging is absoultely wonderful! If you are a fan of stage lighting, there are some scenes in this show that I feel are absolute perfection! And I am blown away by how much story they can tell from a set design that is actually fairly simplistic. It reminds me quite a bit of the original production of Les Miserables, including the Les Mis classic "turntable" that was made popular by that show. I feel like the story and the staging alone makes this show for me! 3. Ticket Prices - ENTER THE LOTTERY! Every day! When the tour comes to town (currently it is in Orlando until Feb 10th) download the official Hamilton App and play the lottery! They will sell 20 pairs of tickets for $10 each ticket via the lottery! Aside from that, I would keep checking the theater's official website for any tickets that may come available. It does happen! Since there is an insane amount of hype surrounding this show, ticket prices are still absolutely crazy and for the most part, beyond what I would suggest paying to see a Broadway musical. I have seen tickets well into the $300 - $550 range for seats that aren't even that great, and IMO, no show is worth that much money. Thankfully, there will soon be three casts of Hamilton touring the US, in addition to the New York Broadway cast and the London West End cast. The more people who get to see this show, the less the demand will be and thus ticket prices will eventually come down. If you have not been able to get tickets for this current tour, don't worry, this show will continue to tour and will most likely be back in a year or two and hopefully by then the tickets will be cheaper and the show will still be just as great! 4. The story that Hamilton tells is absolutely inspiring on many levels and is easily my favorite part of the show. While, to be honest, the character of Hamilton himself actually comes across as a bit "unlikeable" at times during the show, there is so much amazing history that unfolds throughout the show and the displays of doing "good" for humanity is something that I feel more people need to be aware of, think about, and perhaps learn from. The show is worth going to see just for the storytelling alone. As I said above, overall I do like the show quite a lot. Maybe not as much as other people do and that goes back to what I said about the style of music. I feel like if it wasn't a "rap musical" it would easily be in my top 10 shows. If you are a fan of rap music, I think you'll be absoultely blown away by it, and even if you're not a fan of rap music, you should still give it a chance! Hamilton is currently playing in Orlando at the Dr. Phillips Center until February 10th and we strongly recommend checking the official Hamilton app and entering the lottery for tickets every single day! Do also check the Dr. Phillips official website for last minute tickets that may become available! Official Website: https://www.drphillipscenter.org/

Should be! I assume they are a permanent addition, at least for the foreseeable future...

Walt Disney World is constantly changing and adding new things all the time it seems. And while we all know about the BIG projects like Pandora, Star Wars, Toy Story Land, Tron, etc, there's always a lot of smaller upgrades that happen also, but sometimes get overshadowed! Thankfully, Disney invited us out to come take a look at some the "new for 2019" new offerings that have just started up this week that you might have otherwise missed if you were looking towards the bigger picture! Let's start out at Hollywood Studios... This is how the parking lot cast members pin trade! I kind of love this! Good morning from Disney’s Hollywood Studios! We are here to check out some new for 2019 offerings that aren't "Star Wars Land!" We got to check out this new "Incredible Celebration" area which is where the entrance to Toy Story Mania used to be! There is all kinds of fun photo ops in this area. This just in! You can now get WARM Chocolate Chip Num Num cookies at Hollywood Studios in the “Incredible Celebration” area of the park! Trust me... these are DELICIOUS!!! I've you've had them at DCA in California, they are the same and they were wonderful! Edna Mode has also opened up her design studio where you can come and say hello to her! [twitter] [/twitter] Some of Edna's finest supers costumes are represented in this area. There is also an Incredibles dance party! Which one of us is the REAL Mr. Incredible? Yes, I know that she is the real star of the family! Here's the menu for the bakery where you can get the cookies... And a look inside the warmer where they stay nice and gooey! I got to meet Mike & Sulley in their new meet & greet area! [twitter] [/twitter] These guys taught me how to scare! And of course if you want some adorable Monsters Inc plush, you can get it here! Let's hop over to Magic Kingdom⁠... Going to head into the Town Square Theater area... Where you can now meet Mickey & Minnie together in their new Celebration Costumes! They look awesome, don't they? We got to check out Mickey & Minnie's show celebrating their 90th birthday! Wait a moment... what is this I see? CLARICE???? [twitter] [/twitter] I love that Clarice is in this show! It's like a little part of Tokyo Disney has landed in Orlando! So great to see Mickey, Minnie and all their friends... ...celebrating in the new Move It, Shake It, MousekeDance It show at Magic Kingdom! And since I'm at Magic Kingdom and had some FastPasses, why not ride some coasters? In fact, I was able to ride ALL FOUR coasters at the park and I have a video to share with you! This video not only contains on-ride video of all four coasters but also meeting Mickey & Minnie and the new show! Be sure to watch the entire video! Another nice bonus was watching the Muppets tell the story of US History in Liberty Square. While this isn't "new", if you haven't seen it yet, you HAVE to! It's hilarious! Huge THANK YOU to Mickey & Minnie (And Disney) for inviting us out! Now... POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! Conveluted.nltrack

How dare you! They gave you a tambourine! Can you name another ride on this planet where they give you a tambourine while you ride? No? That alone makes this ride 100% better than any SLC in the world!

I'm going to do this off the top of my head without looking anything up or really putting any thought into it so I can't promise that any of these answers are going to be accurate... 1. Name 3 of your favorite roller coasters, but not your top 3. Space Mountain Big Thunder Mountain Montezooma's Revenge 2. About how many different parks did you visit in 2018? Oh, geeez, probably somewhere between 35 - 50. 3. Which 2018 park visit was your favorite? Tokyo DisneySEA 4. Your favorite 2018 park addition (ride, food, show, etc)? Kara Lindsey and Kevin Massey singing Broadway tunes at Epcot. 5. What ride exceeded your expectations the most in 2018? The Cyclone RMC at SFOG. (I honestly cannot remember if it was called Twisted Cyclone, Wicked Cyclone, or Cyclone Timbers at this point!) lol 6. Best meal/food at a park in 2018? Pretty much anything I ate at Epcot's Flower & Garden, Food & Wine, or Festival of the Holidays. Oh, and the Peanut Butter shake at Knoebels. 7. What was your favorite new coaster of 2018 NOT made by RMC or Larson? Time Traveler or Hangtime. 8. Name one park you will definitely visit in 2019. Tokyo Disneyland 9. Best ride themed to a bird? Eagle Fortress 10. Lamest ride/coaster you rode in 2018? Oh, geez, I have no idea... your mom? 11. What roller coaster currently sits at the top of your bucketlist? (degree of difficulty: NOT a new-for-2019 ride) I honestly cannot think of anything I want to ride that I have not ridden. 12. What new-for-2019 ride or coaster are you most looking forward to? Hong Kong Disneyland's new castle. (Does that count? Does it matter?) 13. Name the first totally middle-of-the-road (not bad/not great) park that comes to mind. Valleyfair. 14. You're in Orlando and magically have a 1-hour ERT session on 1 coaster of your choice at any park in the city. You choose... Space Mountain. Not only because I love it, but also if I have an hour of ERT that means an hour of making random silly onride photos! Example: 15. Holiday In The Park vs. Winterfest. Who reigns supreme? I've never been to either. 16. Mystic Timbers mystery shed or Wicker Man fire infusion? I will go with Mystic since I have yet to experience the Wicker. 17. Which Six Flags have you been to most recently? Oh, geez... That's a good question... I guess Magic Mountain? 18. Intamin or Schwarzkopf? You may only choose one. Intamin. Duh. Schwarzkopf is dead. 19. Battle of Kings Coasters: Island or Dominion? Pick one. Dominion. 20. What was the longest you waited for a ride/coaster in 2018? I don't wait in lines. So I guess maybe 10 minutes? Actually, that's not true. There were a couple of times I waited 25-40 minutes for Flight of Passage but even that was rare. 21. What roller coaster have you ridden more than any other? Space Mountain - Magic Kingdom 22. Best drop tower under 150 feet? I'm not nerdy enough to measure them. 23. Maverick or Millennium Force? (If you haven't been to CP, pick what you want to ride more) Maverick 24. Log flumes or sky rides? You can only choose one. Log Flumes if I can sing, Sky Rides if I can drop tomatoes on animals below me. (And yes, we have done both, and yes, both things were perfectly acceptable by the park!) 25. What are 3 things you enjoying doing at your home park other than riding rides? Sitting in the grass. Drinking coffee. Sitting in the other grass. 26. What is your second favorite Cedar Fair park and why? Cedar Point. Knott's will always be my favorite! 27. What is your home park and give us two good reasons why we should pay it a visit. Magic Kingdom. You shouldn't. I like to have the park all to myself, thank you very much! 28. Launch or Lift? I don't have a preference. 29. Did you buy fast pass at all in 2018? Yes, like at every single park that offered them! 30. What is your least favorite wooden coaster? Son of Beast. And I do not miss it. Anyone who says they do needs euthanizing. 31. Disney fanboys: cool or cult? Neither. Most of the die-hard ones are just annoying. But then again I feel the same way about roller coaster fanboys, too! 32. Best Batman themed ride? Batman. 33. Name something that tend to take home from parks that you didn't bring with you. A new dress for ShellieMay. 34. Best wooden coaster over 110 feet tall? (rcdb will help you) Coaster Express... JUST KIDDING! I'd have to give it to either El Toro, T Express, or Wildfire, but I honestly cannot choose. 35. Have you ever been hit with something (loose change/a tree/vomit/etc) while riding something? Only stupid comments usually spoken by someone around me. 36. Skywarps: credits or no? State your case. I don't even know what this is. 37. Turkey legs: nah or yaaaaassssss? Eh... No... I mean, I don't hate them, but I just don't eat them either. 38. What is the most recent B&M that you rode? It was probably Kumba, Montu, SheiKra, Hulk, Kraken, Mako, or Manta. But I have no idea which one it was! 39. You can eat nothing but corn dogs, churros or funnel cake for the next 48 hours, which do you choose? Churros from Tokyo DisneySEA please! 40. Post a great on-ride shot of you from 2018. (DO IT!) I'll just use this because I didn't have to do any work to find it!

No. Not at all. People really need to stop comparing these two coasters. They are nothing like each other in any way. Gotcha. So basically, Pottercoaster = Cheetah Hunt, and Jurrassic Park coaster = Maverick. We don't know enough about the JP coaster to make that assumption. I'm only guessing it was going to be more like Cheetah Hunt because that's what I've been told. So if that is the case then it would be Pottercoaster = Cheetah Hunt, and Jurrassic Park coaster = Cheetah Hunt. Which is exactly why I said above:

No. Not at all. People really need to stop comparing these two coasters. They are nothing like each other in any way.

Hello TPR Forum Members! Knott's Berry Farm has contacted us about needing riders for an upcoming video shoot at the park! Here are the details below. There are a limited numbers of spots open. Please contact the park at the email address below and we hope you make it in time to be added to the list! Details: Knott’s Berry Farm Roller Coaster shoot Wednesday, January 23rd Estimated Check In: 9am Estimated End Time: 4pm Requirements: At least 48 inches in height, riders MUST keep hands down throughout ride. Attire: Family friendly; no visible logos, text, etc on any shirts or other articles of clothing. Volunteers can email PR@Knotts.com and we'll send them more information on Monday. All we ask is that the riders keep their hands down throughout their ride and be able to ride any roller coaster at Knott’s possibly several times in a row. In exchange, we can offer each rider a pair of tickets to come back to Knott’s on a later day.

Let's not make the assumption it's a "big thrill coaster" just yet. From what I've been hearing, we may be seeing something more along the lines of Cheetah Hunt, which is great because I love that coaster, but I'm not sure it would "make up" for Dragons. Especially, when, if you think about it... if it does end up being something more like Cheetah Hunt, isn't that *kind of* what the are building right now in place of Dragons? I'll be very curious to see how this develops...

Did they come from an official source or a news story?

Where did these drawings come from? I couldn’t find them on any of the parks official pages.

By now we all know about Epcot's Food & Wine Festival and the Flower & Garden Festival. But there is another Festival that is only celebrating its 3rd year in 2019 and that is the "Epcot International Festival of the Arts" which sneaks into the park between Christmas and Flower & Garden. Let me tell you that this event sort of came out of nowhere and took everyone by surprise! The event focuses around the "arts" and when we say that we mean paintings, music, culinary delights, sculpture, chalk drawings and much more! Much like the other popular festivals at Epcot, the Festival of the Art will feature food kitchens around World Showcase, a wide variety of shops and stalls featuring Disney art by many different artists much of which will be exclusive to this event. And of course my favorite part of the event is the "Disney on Broadway" concerts which feature real, legit Broadway stars from many of Disney's theatrical productions in New York performing some of the most popular songs that their characters from the shows also sang. And many of these are the same talent as you can hear on those shows cast recordings! The event will run January 18th through February 25th and you can find more details about it here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/epcot-international-festival-of-the-arts/ Let's show you a few photos and some video from the preview we attended! Hello! And welcome to the preview for Epcot's International Festival of the Arts! Upon entering the preview area we were greeted by a work-in-progress chalk drawing from one of my favorite Disney films, Big Hero 6! Just in case you forgot already where we were! Let's start out with some food... but wait... that is actually a BEER FLIGHT! You have a "Neapolitan Milk Stout", and Raspberry Beer, and a Vanilla! With some chocolate delights on top! This was wonderful! This is a Pan-Seared Scallop with red pepper, chorizo and more! Out of all the items I tried, this right here... the "Beef Wellington" was my favorite! Even Gordon Ramsey would approve! The festival is called the "arts" so of course artwork is a major focus of the event. Trevor Carlton is one of the featured Disney artists and you can see him getting his groove on painting to the music on the fountain stage at Epcot! He completed this painting of Figment in 11 minutes! It was impressive! "Disney on Broadway" is my favorite part of the event! We got a preview of some of the concert series! Meredith Inglesby and Steve Blanchard from Newsies and Beauty & the Beast preformed songs from, well... Beauty & The Beast! Kerry Butler and Kevin Massey performed a medley of songs from the new Frozen Broadway Musical! And here's all four of them with the man of the hour in his "celebration" costume... Mickey Mouse! Plating and presentation of food will play a very important role in the "arts" festival, as everything will have a very artistic look to it! This Panna Cotta features pistachio cake & raspberry jam. China will offer some very delicate edible treats! I did "Broadway geek out" getting to meet Meredith Inglesby and Steve Blanchard! I've seen them both in Newsies multiple times and I also saw Steve in Little Mermaid. They are fantastic performers! Kerry Butler I recently saw in Mean Girls and Kevin Massey was in the tour for Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. These are the stars I will fanboy out for! Robert Downey Jr. or Mark Hammil could have been on stage and I would have walked right past them to get a photo of these four! Now she's plating the Beef Wellington! I may need to have some more of this! Hello Mickey! How are you? Always a pleasure hanging out with the mouse! The Animation Academy returns to the festival this year! Do you want to learn how to draw your favorite animated characters? You can learn from a Disney artist! The "Paint by Number" mural also returns with a new painting every week that guests can take part in! How about some merchandise? There will be lots of new items you can get during the festival! Here's an overview of some of the items. And yes, there will be lots... and I mean LOTS of new artwork that you can by from many different Disney artists, quite a bit of it will be exclusive to this event! There are new limited edition pins... ...and some even just for Annual Passholders! How about a new Figment headband? What I love most about this festival exclusive Mickey plush... It has little subtle Epcot logos as part of the pattern of the material! And a festival Magic Band! YAY! I will be buying this!!! The food displays they had were just fantastic let's take a look at them. Here's the Pan-Seared Scallop! Once again the Beef Wellington! Smoked Salmon stack with creme cheese and crepes! Pistachio Panna Cotta. Lemon and Blood Orange Tart Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Pretzel Crunch And yes, the "Pop Art" is back! So that wraps up the preview for Epcot's International Festival of the Arts! Huge thank you to Disney for inviting us out! The event will run January 18th through February 25th Oh, yes... remember that work-in-progress chalk art we saw on the way in? It's DONE!!! And you should follow the artist, Leigh, on Instagram: @TheChalkTeacher Thanks for reading!

I get it. Just remember that not everyone is a mind reader so when you make your posts, if you're not being serious, and it isn't obvious to the reader, consider a different approach. - Major rides at the end of the night. Flight of Passage is a great example of this. Get in line right as the park closes. My average wait on about 30 rides is maybe 40 minutes. - Consider timing of other things going on and an attractions demographic. Example: I've had great luck with super short lines on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train right as the fireworks start. It may still say 70 minutes, but I don't think I've ever waited more than 30. Why? Because 1. the fireworks are going on and people are distracted with those. 2. It caters more towards smaller kids, many of which don't end up making it through the day and that is a FP that is often not used later in the evening. So while there are still a lot of FP "out there" on people's apps that they could be using, they seem to get forfeited because when they made those FP 60 days ago, they didn't take into consideration that their 5 year old might not make it until 9:00pm. - Predicting the timing and patters of guests can be helpful. Example: at Epcot, almost EVERYONE goes to Frozen right when the park opens. I've seen the line for Frozen only be posted at 30-40 minutes about 2-3 hours after the park has opened because so many people have rushed to it first thing in the morning, they rode it, and then they moved on. A lot of attractions will get their "2nd wave" at around noon to 1pm because those are the people who just couldn't get up in the morning to make it for rope drop! So sometimes there is this small window from about 11am - 12:30pm where you can luck out and get on some rides without much wait. Those are just a few things off the top of my head...

What a great report so far! Looks like some of the images may not be loading (videos, perhaps?) and I might try to look into it, unless you think you know why on your end they might not be working.