robbalvey

At least they are consistent...

Here's some awesome 4K60 footage from El Loco at Adventuredome!

Last call! If you are interested in our 2018 tours, see the first post of this thread on how to apply!

Last night we were invited to a media screening of Black Panther and my initial impressions were VERY strong! Even being more of an “origin” story akin to the original Thor movie, every sequence in the film is entertaining, super fun, and you learn everything about the characters you would want to know going into it. Not many questions are left unanswered, which is a good thing IMO, as we need to go straight from this film right into Avengers Infinity War which will probably leave no time for loose ends. While the Black Panther spends less time being your traditional “super hero” in this film, he is without question the “hero” of the movie and throughout the entire film you never forget that. The supporting cast is just fantastic, especially Panther’s sister which steals the scene every time she’s on screen! I also must say that the movie looked BEAUTIFUL! The “hidden country” of Wakanda was breathtaking, even in 3-D which we saw the movie in (I personally prefer watching movies in 2D) which didn’t seem to add too much depth to the scenery, but it also didn’t need to. As someone who is a ‘casual fan’ of the Marvel Universe, and even having not seen all of the movies (I’ve seen most) I didn’t feel like you needed to see any of the other films in order to understand what was happening in Black Panther. It is a stand-alone movie and a great introduction to anyone who hasn’t been too familiar with the Marvel films to date. Overall it has a very good message of equality, the characters are all strong, the movie is action packed while still being “light hearted” and funny at time… really, just a great couple of hours in a movie theater. Highly recommended!

Ok, well... he didn't ask you. He "Asked Alvey." And really? You liked Pleasureland Southport over Thorpe?!?!? You shouldn't be allowed to have an opinion on theme parks because that's just f**cking stupid.

THIS!

The only thing I will say about Pizza Ponte is because it is a "slice" place, if the pie isn't brand new out of the over, make sure you have them heat up whatever choice to make. It will absolutely make a difference!

That's not really selling it! lol Way to go comparing two rides that are nothing at all like each other in the slightest. Seriously, though, my vote would be for Blackpool just because of it's uniqueness and charm. Grand National, Steeplechase, Big Dipper, Roller Coaster, and even Revolution are all classics in their own right. Big One is still what I would consider a "modern classic" and I still think it's a pretty damn good ride! There are plenty of other good dark rides and quirky rides there to keep you entertained. I do like Flamingoland and their ride selection there is quite good, but not 'stand out' IMO. If you had more time in the UK I would most certainly suggest Blackpool, Alton, Thorpe, Flamingoland as my personal favorites in the country. and honestly, no matter what you choose, you'll probably have a great day.

Exactly! The fact that WDW would have gotten FOUR new roller coasters from 2014 - 2021 when they got a total of ZERO in those same number of years before hand is amazing! And with one of them being Tron, which we already know is fantastic, the other three could just be "filler" rides (which they are not) and it would still be quite possibly the best additions to WDW ever!

Who really cares and why does it even matter? Who really cares and why does any of this even matter? And if that's the case.... ***GREAT*** because those are some of my favorite rides around the world and I have no reason to bitch, complain, or question it like you are because that sentence alone that you just said would make me excited enough even if it's not the fastest, longest, tallest, partially maybe fully enclosed who knows who cares roller coaster! I honestly do not understand the need to pick apart *ONE SENTENCE* in an extremely brief announcement teaser that was meant to give little to no details on purpose. Seriously, the roller coaster nerd syndrome like this just makes me hate roller coaster nerds even more.

^ No I meant of it covered in snow! That's not a view we get to see that often!

These are great! We shared the Big Thunder pic on our Instagram and Twitter! Do you have any more castle pics?

Please do not "backseat moderate" our forums and tell people what they can and cannot post. That is NOT up to you to decide. This will be your only warning.

Yeah, I agree with this. I can guarantee you that Disney doesn't think like the typical statistics spewing roller coaster nerd and it might end up being a super short track length with a really long "show" element! Also, keep in mind they said "One of the longest..." so even if it was the 10th longest in track length, that is still "one of the longest..."

Also, Ferrari World is very active on Twitter. Have you thought about tweeting at them to ask if there is any schedule maintenance for the ride during your visit?

In 2010 we flew to the UAE a few months after Formula Rossa opened and it was closed the entire week we were in the country. We didn't get on it until our next visit in 2012. Both Bill & Elissa's comments were actually correct. If you are going to the UAE just to ride Formula Rossa, then you're going for the wrong reasons. Yes the ride is fantastic and the launch is incredible, but the country itself is even better. You need to be prepared to fly out there and not have it open because it has happened to us. Oh, and you know what? We still had one of the best trips ever, even though we didn't get on Formula Rossa that first time. And we didn't stress over it, and we had fun. If you cannot do that, and one roller coaster is going to cause you stress to the point of being insulting to other people, I'm not sure I would recommend going.

Not the question. Thanks though. I was all prepared to answer your question, but now that I see you're being rude to one of our other members, I won't bother. I hope you get there and the ride is closed.

Awesome! Glad that worked out for you! it's a way to kill time. There are actually 3-4 of these little "stalling" sequences and sometimes you'll end up with multiple ones depending on what is happening in the next two rooms. If you got the "we need to scan you for parasites" that's also another one of those time-killing devices. The normal pre-show is just Dr. Stevens telling you about the Banshee species and why it's important and then going into talking about Dr. Ogden and her book. Then you move into the next room. It's been a while since I've been on it that you just go through the basic 2 pre-shows without any time killers added.

Huh... What's interesting about this is... Na'vi River Journey is just over 6 minutes long. Compared to: Winnie The Pooh: 2:50 minutes Peter Pan: 3:00 minutes Tower of Terror: 3:00 minutes Dinosaur: 3:30 minutes Test Track: 4:00 minutes Nemo: 4:30 minutes Frozen Ever After: 4:30 minutes Buzz Lightyear: 5:00 minutes Toy Story Mania: 5:00 minutes And it's about the same length as rides like ... Little Mermaid: 6:00 minutes Gran Fiesta Tour: 6:00 minutes Journey Into Imagination: 7:00 minutes Really, the only similar style attractions that are longer are rides like Mansion, Pirates, Small World, and Spaceship Earth. Sure you could throw Safari's, Land Boat Ride, or Peoplemover in there too, but those really are different kinds of attractions. Na'vi River Journey is either longer or on par with the length of just about every other dark ride at Walt Disney World. While I agree that it's not my favorite ride and I think it "looks cool" but really the star attraction in Pandora is Flight of Passage. Na'vi River Journey fills a very needed gap of rides at Animal Kingdom that "everyone could ride." As really the only other two attractions without height restrictions at that park (other than the shows) are Safari's and Triceratops Spin. Everything else is between 38" - 48" so having a height restriction free ride like River Journey was certainly needed at the park. It's a shame you missed out on Flight of Passage, and I think if you would have done that attraction, you would probably have seen how nicely the two rides balance each other out. And no, I wouldn't wait two hours for River Journey either, not even one hour, but if you do your research you should never have to wait more than about 20 minutes for River Journey and I think that's a perfectly acceptable wait for that attraction.

That's awesome to hear! Glad it worked out!

Good point, but to be fair I honestly expect every single chain to adopt this model. People love to bash Six Flags, but it's undoubtedly brilliant. It's so brilliant that I would think most of these chains will totally phase out standard season passes soon. Six Flags already seems to be working on it. It might work better for Six Flags than others because it's so cheap and their customer service is so bad that nobody will ever care enough to cancel (basically it's the "Planet Fitness" business model), but I think it'll be a hit for every chain that adopts it. I'm trying to figure out how this new "membership" is any different from the monthly payment plans we've been on with SeaWorld Parks, Walt Disney World, or Universal for years. I don't think I've touched my SeaWorld or Universal account since we moved out here in 2011 and it just keeps taking the money out of my account each month and I don't see that we have anything different from what those "Memberships" offer. Am I missing something or is it not really different?

They are different styles of pizza. IMO, Blaze is what I call a "Five Dollar Pizza" and I think it is VERY GOOD for a "Five Dollar Pizza" but Pizza Ponte, which is a sister location from Via Napoli at Epcot is the REAL DEAL. Their flour is imported from Italy, the water they use to make the dough is also a special kind that is more like what you'd find in Europe, and they use higher end ingredients. My only thing I would say about Pizza Ponte is make sure you get your pizza HOT. Sometimes if the pies are sitting out too long the slices may need to be heated up. I personally think that Disney Springs went from not having any pizza at all available to guests to now having TWO really good pizza locations, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd go with Pizza Ponte every time over Blaze.

Two things that immediately came to mind reading this comment: 1. Remember that they are time "estimators" and while I agree it is annoying when a wait time is longer than posted, but please remember that sometimes things happen that are outside of operations control. Ride breakdowns, even partial that are transparent to those waiting in line, or other issues like higher than normal volume of disabled guests needing extra time, etc. Not excusing that, but just trying to play devil's advocate here. 2. Am I reading this correctly that it sounds like you are complaining that a wait time was less than posted??? I'm sorry, but I don't feel that is something deserving to be called out on. It could very well be that moments after you walked into the queue it changed from 20 to 5 minutes. Or also remember a lot of times the posted wait also includes potential breakdowns which also could be longer than the estimate. Again, just quoting your own post, these are "time estimators" so if you ended up waiting longer for one ride, but shorter for another, why are you complaining if it is all balancing out??? --Robb

Volcano Bay was kind of a cluster fuck last summer. I think it's been doing "better" but then again, they haven't had summer crowds. Unless you feel you HAVE to go to the "brand new water *cough* theme *cough* park" I'd say Aquatica is perfectly fine to fill that "water park quota" for your trip. It's actually a really nice water park!

One of these things I agree with, one of them I don't. You probably should consider more time at Universal because in July, unless you are getting Express Passes, it will be hard to do both parks in a day and a half. I admit that I feel like Universal has a lot of "one and done" attractions, and some of the metal detector/locker policies may discourage you from riding some attractions multiple times, but if you are at all into the properties that Universal has based their rides around, you may need some more time to see it all comfortably. I would not recommend the shuttles. If you have your own car, use it. It is far more annoying to have to work your schedule around a bus departure schedule when you could have the freedom to come and go as you please. And it's a very easy drive from Orlando to Busch Gardens Tampa. I may also suggest looking into the Quick Queue options at both SeaWorld and Busch. They are fairly inexpensive and can save you a lot of time!