robbalvey

My feeling is this... While there are some SLC's I've ridden that are better than others... and some Boomerangs I've ridden that are better than others... I'm not really sure that, for me personally, even "my favorite SLC or Boomerang" really ranks THAT much higher than every other SLC or Boomerang I've ridden, and if we followed the example of the Mitch Hawker poll of just including "My favorite Boomerang" as a ranking, then shouldn't that suffice? Honestly, in all the years I've hung out with coaster enthusiasts, I'm not sure I have ever once heard the question asked "Oh, really? So... what exactly IS your favorite Boomerang or SLC?" Because I think we all know that... most of us don't really care. If you're riding a Boomerang or SLC, even if it is your favorite one, for anything more than a "credit" then you have something seriously wrong with you and you need to go in for repairs!

This is 100% correct. My question was more about those people, maybe more casual theme park or roller coaster fans that would want to take the poll, but then open up the list and see such a GIANT amount of data that the run away screaming. Or... Is that giant amount of data more welcoming to some people?

Here's a question I have for all of you.... Do you think there is a breaking point of having so many coasters on the list that fewer people take the poll just because the list is so daunting to sort through? I get that having "as many coasters as possible" gives the best end results, but let's be honest here, is anyone REALLY going to care where the "FC80 Model Pinfari" at Wiener Prater ranks on the overall list? Are we just listing these to satisfy some people's OCD or are we listing them because people REALLY HONESTLY CARE where that Pinfari ranks among all the coasters in the world. Honest question. Please respond.

Do we really need to include every crappy Pinfari coaster out there? I mean, I would really question that anyone could care at all if some of these garbage coasters weren't on the list unless we simply have people with extreme OCD that are going to have some sort of mental breakdown if they can't tick a box on some horrible coaster they've ridden.

That pretty clearly looks to be Oceaneering's ride vehicle from SeaWorld's Antarctica (or a direct knock-off of it) and I had always said the ride vehicles were the best part of that terrible ride and all someone needed to do was to come along and take those vehicles and make a "decent" ride out of it. Well, I didn't expect it would be Tokyo Disneyland that would do it, and "decent" certainly seems to be an understatement based on what we can expect from that video!

Here's some notes.... Holiday Park - If you're only going to spend a few hours at that park and your schedule allows for it, GeForce really does warm up later in the day. I've had some pretty "meh" rides on it earlier in the day and some HOLYFUCKINGSHIT rides on it later in that same day. Toverland - Great park! Lots of fun. You probably only need a few hours though. Depends on how many re-rides you like to get on coasters. Efteling - Has a lot of attractions. Many of which I find decent, but totally overrated. However the park can get VERY busy and I don't believer they have rolled out their front of the line pass very widely. A handful of rides do have single rider lines. This is probably a full day park simply because there just isn't a way to get through many of their attractions that quickly.

No, the zoo's expansion is still in the works. They already opened a smaller "playground" called Holnemvolt Vár. (Holnemvolt Vár is supposedly the suppressor to Vidámpark, however it's smaller, and has no "real" rides besides the cracarouseld a small ferris wheel. The Zoo's pretty small and deficient "Vidámpark" exhibition can be found there as well.) The bigger investment, the "Pannon Park" reportedly will be finished next spring. This project, and exhibition has nothing to do with the zoo however. This one is completely relies on the old crew members and the fans of the park. Will the wood coaster be part of that expansion or have they given up on that?

Can we please table the discussion about this "secure site" stuff? That is not the topic of this thread and I've already answered the question about the browser issues above. If someone would like to start a new thread about http versus https feel free, but that is not the topic of this discussion. Thank you.

Our server company looked into it, and the issue is not on our end but it is on your end if you are getting the error. Here is what they said: Hello Robb, It appears that this website Sso.anbtr.com shows up when the users computer has been affected by a trojan horse. I would urge your reader to have their computer cleaned thoroughly and change all of their passwords. See: https://www.2-spyware.com/remove-sso-anbtr-com-malware.html

Interesting, I'll look into it. Please post any screen shots if you get that again...

I keep forgetting to put new videos in this thread, so here ya go...

You both just described 100% of human behavior, Autism or not. Every single human goes through this. Of course kids are more sensitive to loud noises because they haven't been alive as long and aren't used to certain noises. Why do you think more kids are scared of fireworks earlier on in life and then get more used to them when they get older? And all kids have varying degrees of this. Some don't mind it right at the start, some take a few more years to get used to them, etc. I wish people would stop applying labels to things that literally EVERY SINGLE HUMAN experiences.

That's a good point, the noise from the compressed air system is and has always been a problem, and even though I'm not autistic myself it was really scary / startling being up close to that ride as a kid. I guess you didn't read the entire thread. I found it interesting how some people claim Autistic kids hate it and others claim Autistic kids love it. I sort of roll my eyes when "Autism moms" will claim their kids have special issues from other kids when in reality, it's perfectly normal for some kids to like a ride and other kids to hate a ride. Some kids don't mind loud noises, some kids are okay with loud noises. I'm not sure their Autism really has anything to do with it, but they most certainly seem to want to draw attention to it as somehow the removal of the ride is some sort of "victory" for Autism moms. I was happy to see other people with Autistic kids pointed out that they didn't mind the ride and in fact some of them actually loved it. It only just helps disprove the original posters ridiculous claim.

I'm just going to leave this right here....

So, funny you mention that. My email to their support staff from the other day... The short answer is "it's something they are working to smooth out" but I don't know exactly how much better it can get. It annoys me, too. And it might just be something I'll have to live with, but I'll most certainly try to get it working better.

The park is small enough that you should be able to hit everything without any issues. I mean, all the dark rides are decent to varying degrees. There's not a huge amount of attractions at the park so why would you want to even consider skipping something?

For example, browsing Rotten Tomatoes today, I got this pop-up over the top of my screen: And then it stayed there as I scrolled and I had to click to X out of the ad. The ad we have pinned at the bottom of the page is at least AT THE BOTTOM and doesn't cover much of the page. When people say "intrusive ads" this kind of pop-up on Rotten Tomatoes is exactly what I think of. Or those ads that literally pop up and cover your screen like Orlando Sentinel has: I have said "no" to all the suggested ads like this. I do hope people appreciate and understand that we simply cannot have this site anymore without ads and I'm doing the best I can to make it the best possible experience for everyone having to live with them.

Yep. The website alone is at least a grand a month to keep going. And sure, there are probably cheaper servers out there with less support and less service, but I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" and when you think about it, how often does the TPR forum go down? And that's why IMO it's worth it to pay a bit more for better servers and service. And all it takes is a few annoying ads to keep that going...

That just went in this morning! Like I said, we are still working to finalize a few things. This is fairly new territory for us (We've had ads before, but not with an ad agency like this) and there will be more tweaks and changes...

I hear you... but this is also the issue... The current software we are using doesn't support the ability to turn the ads off for specific people. So I don't have a way to trigger that it someone were to pay for a subscription. Now if someone wants to pay for the development of that, then we can talk!

No one is forcing you to read our website. If you don't like them, visit a different website. TBH, it is EXACTLY posts like yours that made me go "Huh.... should I have ads so we can pay for the site... or just close down the forum?" So maybe I'll just close down the forum if people don't want to put up with the ads because I most certainly don't want to put up with people like you.

The left side probably only looks empty because you're on a desktop browser using a wide screen. Not everyone has that setup. If you're on a smaller screen or using the normal forum theme on a mobile device or tablet, that empty left side goes away by design: Look, I'm trying to be as upfront as possible with everyone here. The website alone is not cheap to keep alive. With the volume of photos, videos, and data we have on the site alone, that is not stored off-side on a social platform, it is a GIANT amount of work behind the scenes. We actually have two different servers that run this site, one of them all it does is backup every day, and then we have another backup to the cloud. It is thousands of dollars, closing in on "tens of thousands of dollars" each year to keep just the website going and the ads make it so that the site at least breaks even. Like I said, I don't like having all the ads either, and trust me, I have already said "no" to even more obnoxious ads that pop up in the middle of your screen, or pop up when you exit out of the page, etc. But there was a balance to how many ads we had, what the placement was, etc, to how much it was worth having. If that ad at the bottom of the screen wasn't the one bringing it in a significant amount of the ad revenue, it would be removed. Thanks again for your understanding.

They absoultely are. Disney has stated many times they don't want to be associated with gambling. This has come up many times with their cruise ships and why you don't see casinos on any of Disney Cruise Lines.

It's hard for me to make recommendations knowing that rides like the ones you've listed have not done it for you. I mean, I can spend 3-4 days at Europa just "hanging out" there and completely enjoy myself. But I don't think this sounds like your thing. You have to remember that 2-3 times a week I go to Magic Kingdom and will sit in the grass for an hour after the park closes and just "be in that environment" because it's better than sitting at home at my computer which is what I'm doing now. My brain can't process flying out to the UAE and being let down by Formula Rossa or flying to Japan and not finding Kawasemi a top ten ride. I could suggest Europa, Phantasialand, Liseberg, Grona Lund, even Alton Towers or Blackpool, but I'm just not convince you'd walk away being impressed. I mean, I freaking LOVE parks like Grona Lund but if Rossa and DoDonpa doesn't impress you, I'm not sure Jetline or Twister will do anything for you either. And I love both of those rides! Not sure what to recommend at this point...

And in a year where I rode Do-Dodonpa, Formula Rossa, Xcelerator, Top Thrill Dragster, and Kindga Ka, I enjoyed the launches of Formula Rossa & Do-Dodonpa less than the other three. I was surprised. But it is what it is. Do-Dodonpa is still a great ride. Formula Rossa isn't. And that's okay. You're getting defensive. No one is arguing with you. You asked for advice. We are giving it. I think you need to find another hobby.