robbalvey

This is a joke I'm not getting... You know... [attachment=0]sh!t happens.PNG[/attachment] It's almost as if they lowkey know their ride is bad...? No...? All around me are familiar faces... worn out places... None of this makes any sense to me...

If you've been reading TPR for any time at all, you should know that Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom has been an annual tradition for many years! It is our favorite of all the Halloween events in Orlando, and this is actually our third visit this year alone! And like last year where we all dressed up as the "different countries of Epcot" this year the group decided to take on a similar but different theme... Here we are in our 2017 group costume! And if you wanted to take a slightly closer look so you can figure out what we are (it's not that difficult, really...) Tonight our cast of characters included... A bride... A princess. A ringmaster... The townspeople... A miner... An engineer... A high-tech grandma... A pirate... And of course a castle! The girls are all very excited to get into the park! Just in case you weren't sure if Megan was a male or female... Here we are ready for MIckey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! Since the party is all about Trick or Treats and in order to get those treats you need bags, here is the first thing you get! Megan was really popular tonight...which is a stark contrast to her normal life! The bride never smiled... The castle has an.... um... "drawbridge?" Let's hear it in support of the women! (and no, Elissa's costume is not the Mary Poppins mother, she's one of the Main Street townspeople!) Representing Liberty Square... Dallas would make a much better president than our current one, however so would a sponge, so that's not saying much I guess! Dallas is NOT upset at all about Hall of Presidents still being closed! I thought those 999 haunts were supposed to be happy? Tangled Toilets back in her natural habitat! "Welcome to my home!" Of course Flynn Rider would find Tangled Toilets hanging out at her house! "The real throne is up in the tower!" Kristen has found some fellow haunts to hang out with. Representing Frontierland! Chuck has that "mean grizzled miner" look down! Brer Bear, Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bethany. Representing Adventureland! Yo, ho! Wait...that didn't sound right... It's not a night at Magic Kingdom until you ride the Peoplemover! (Suck it, California!) Yes, we are all about to ride Space Mountain! These may be the best onride photos we've ever taken on Space Mountain! "Hey Universal... no lockers needed here!" Remember when you see this sign... You can get candy! Lots of candy! As much candy as you can possibly take home! (Seriously!) ProTip! Always "double bag" when you go to the candy stations! We already had 5 bags full by 9pm! Garbles castle had some challenges throughout the night! "it's ok...I can just limbo all night long!" HalloWishes is still one of the best fireworks shows at Walt Disney World! The costumes & makeup that the Haunted Mansion "Ghost Hosts" get to wear are awesome! Kristen has found a new friend. "This here is the WIIIIIIILDEST hat in the wilderness!" "Grrr....I dug all these tunnels by myself!" The Headless Horseman rides just before the Boo To You parade starts! Boo To You is still my all-time favorite Disney parade! While Mickey and his friends are all in the parade... The Haunted Mansion grave diggers always steal the show! After the parade we went to the Big Top Candy Stations... The candy girls here are always the best!!! OMG!!! SOOOO MUCH CANDY!!! The ringmaster has found her home! "We've got magic to do...just for you..." Tangled Toilets got to meet Rapunzel! Rapunzel loved our entire group! And so did Tiana! The new "headless horseman" Photo Pass is AWESOME!!! Here's a few photos of our group... Another FANTASTIC night at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! Oh yes...the candy stash! We ended up with seven full bags of candy! Now the goal is to see if it will last until the NEXT Halloween Party! Ok everyone! Now it's your turn! Be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! We took the time to write the report! The least you can do is say something somewhat nice about it!

This is a joke I'm not getting...

It's up there...

"That was a big huge pile-of-shit!"

Go to your YouTube app or open it in your desktop and type in "roller coaster" into the search bar. Take a screen shot of the first few results that show up and post them here. Thank you!

"The Fart Hole" - You're welcome!

I wouldn't have bothered with Heide Park without Colossos either. That park has gone downhill rapidly over the years and our visit last year was less than stellar. It's sad because I used to hold that park in VERY high regard and now, IMO, it's because the "Six Flags of Germany." WIthout Colossos it's an "average" park at best.

I'm not 100% sure other than they just said they had to keep pushing the button over and over again until the train made it to the top.

Yes it does! People are already complaining about it and make me so happy!

Sometimes making TPR videos can be fun even when they are spiteful!

^ This info sounds very different than what was originally posted above. That's a good thing. It also sort of goes to show that, when people want advice on trips it's probably best to give as much information as possible. We get asked questions all the time like "What are the best parks in the US to visit?" or "What are the best rides at Disney to hit?" And I always answer back "It really depends on the type of person you are and if you give us more information about you, we can probably help more." Your original post made it sounds like you were more of a credit whore, meaning run in, get on all the coasters once, and leave. Glad to hear that isn't your intent. Anyway, I'm going to move this into the main forum so maybe you can get some help from other people as well...

Yeah that kind of a death march, credit run trip isn't my thing. You probably won't get a lot of help from us, to be honest, because it's not the way to like to do trips. See, we actually *LIKE* visiting theme parks and will sometimes take a day, even more to explore a park and do everything a park has to offer. This "run in, get the credits, run out" mentality is not something we are into, sorry!

So in a stark contrast from last nights regional production of Newsies (scroll up), I went to go see the Valencia College version of Evita tonight. So here are some thoughts... This was a "ten dollar show" and my expectations were set as such. That being said, I was probably more impressed with this college version of Evita than the regional production of Newsies and here's why... The performers, from what I understand, are all students with very little, if any, professional experience acting outside of school, community theater, and maybe some theme park work. They are not being paid and this is part of their education curriculum. Evita is NOT an easy show to put on. The *entire* show is sung (think Les Mis) and it requires a lot from the cast, the leads especially. The girl playing Eva was impressive and so was the guy playing Che. Both had their characters down very well, and it would at least appear they had done their research watching some Broadway bootlegs or at very least the Madonna film. This was the entire Broadway Revival score including the song Madonna wrote for the film. The ENTIRE show, nothing abbreviated. That's a lot of lines to be sung! And while their singing talent may not have been that of a professional (just being honest), they nailed every line perfectly. And that says a lot for a production from a college IMO. Like yesterday's Newsies production, I do miss the live band and I felt the talent kept having to wait for the audio tracks to change which felt a bit amateur but again, this is a college production unlike Newsies which billed itself as a regional extension of the Broadway show. I'm not sure it's fair to really criticize what I saw that much. There were a few things like the bad wig Eva wears in Act II and probably a bit too much confetti during Money Kept Rolling in, but aside from that I don't have many issues with the show. I went to see it tonight because I like Evita and wanted to see it live again, and that requirement was most certainly fulfilled! Actually, Evita is my favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber show and while it's not his best work and there are many awkward things about the show in general that I have learned to accept over the years, I really like it and I did not come away disappointed from this. Overall, my expectations were perfectly met which is not a negative and the more I think about it probably even slightly exceeded knowing how difficult of a show it is and how good the leads were. On a side note, the last time I saw this show on Broadway it was 2012 and it didn't hit quite as close to home since we weren't having so many screwed up issues with our own country and you sort of just thought of this story as something well in the past and how could history ever repeat itself? Oh, wait... (And oddly enough the word "trump" actually does appear in the show!)

This is the same idiot that sent me this lovely email: They of course are not with us anymore...

City Museum is a "one-of-a-kind." I don't think we'll ever see anything quite like it built anyplace else.

Just got back from seeing a community theater version of Newsies: The Musical at the Orlando Rep Theater. Now, the only other experience I have with community theater versions of Broadway musicals is Les Mis and Heathers. Both of those productions put on here in Orlando were FANTASTIC! The sets, the live music, the talent (both singing and acting) in those two shows were GREAT. Maybe not quite "Broadway caliber" but close enough to be very impressed by the entire production.. This version of Newsies was... well... "not that." Maybe I just don't have enough experience with community theater or maybe this production was just not on the same level as the other two (it wasn't), I'm not sure. I don't want be too down on it because it was nice to see a production of this show put on for local theater, but the quality of certain aspects of the show really was not there. There were a few things that certainly stood out to me that were glaringly bad, for example the music. I didn't realize that this wouldn't have a live band like the other two shows I saw and it was most certainly noticeable. Also noticeable to me was the tempo of the music was ever so slightly off (slower) and I'm assuming that was due to having recorded audio and not a live band. It was like taking the original cast recording and playing it back 2% slower. Most people probably wouldn't have noticed, but it bothered me the entire show. There were positives. Some of the sets looked nice and exceeded expectations. The leads were "decent" and for the most part pulled off the highlight songs fairly well. The ensemble songs were most certainly passable (although it did sound like there was a backing track during some of those songs which may have helped?) and the acting talent of the older actors were at least "OK." That being said, I do think this show could have really benefited with more professional dancers and Equity (assume this cast was non-Equity) talent for the leads. I tried as much as I could not to compare it to the Broadway or touring version of the show because I knew going in that it wouldn't be that at all and it would be an unfair comparison. But comparing to other Broadway turned community theater shows I've seen, it didn't come close. And for a show that prides itself so much on dancing, I felt there was a lot more "gymnastics" in this version than actual dancing and that was sort of a bummer. But do I assume there are more people who can do a double back handspring than can pull of a decent tap dance number? I'm not sure. But most of the dance numbers left a lot to be desired. I came away from both Heathers and Les Mis being super impressed thinking "WOW! That didn't disappoint at all!" but this show I'm fighting to think of good things to say. *sigh* I don't know if it was the production company that put it on, the talent chosen was just not quite up to par, or that it's just a really difficult show to pull off in community theater. Overall, I felt this production seemed more like what I would expect from a "high school" production rather than "community theater" but maybe the bar was just set super high with those other two shows I've seen. Having said that though, the audience seemed to have a really good time and they enjoyed it, which is really what is most important. I do look forward to other regional versions of this show, I just hope next time a group in Orlando produces it they could learn from this version and fix those issues. We are there at the Orlando Rep seeing a community version of Newsies! The set DID look nice and was very functional. One of the towers moved like in the Broadway version (not automated but by hand) and it worked quite well! Yeah, my playbill had printing issues! lol Sort of set the tone for the quality of the rest of the production! The set looked good and the show had decent lighting. Some of the costumes looked good, some of them not so much. Snyder was wearing what looked like a Zoro hat! lol And most of the "turn of the century New York" accents were, um.... not great! The costumes really clashed I felt. In the Broadway version of the show, the Newsies wardrobe at least all felt like it was cut from the same cloth. This felt more like "If you have a Dapper Days costume at home, WEAR IT!!!" Was interesting to see the same merchandise from the Broadway version of the show on sale at the community theater. With tie-ins like using the real Broadway merch and logos selling itself as an extension of the Broadway version, I would have thought the production would have needed to be better, no? I should also point out that I have seen other community theater here in Orlando that were original productions (not Broadway shows) and like the two I pointed out above, they were all excellent! The cast, staging, musical aspects, etc, were all many steps above this production of Newsies. Again, just not sure if my expectations were set too high based on my other experiences with community theater, or that I just haven't seen enough to it to fully appreciate what I saw. I don't want to be totally down on it because I know there was a lot of hard work and talent put into it, but I left feeling a bit bummed about what I saw... EDIT: So this show reminded me to go back and look at My Review of the community version of Les Mis and yes, my comments were as a I remembered, blown away and exceeded expectations. And I'll be honest, I didn't go into Newsies with super high expectations.

No. Those Vekoma suspended trains are terrible. I've ridden them on both Vampire and Dreamcatcher. They shake and rattle and actually made both coasters WORSE. I had ridden both of them with the original trains and the upgrades. Do NOT do this to Ninja! It would make the ride rough and uncomfortable and I guarantee would seal its fate.

Continuing on our trip across the middle of America we made a stop at the St. Louis City Museum. Now some of you may ask "TPR at a ... MUSEUM?!?!?" and before you go any further, the rest of you who are in the know will say "OMG! This is one of the best attractions in the USA!" For those of you who don't know, "City Museum" really translates into a "Playground for Adults" as the "museum" aspect really ends up being bizarre creations by artists that are "living, active exhibits" that people can crawl through, jump around in, and just have "fun." The place is honestly very hard to describe in words, pictures, or even video, so to fully understand you MUST go visit! And every trip to St. Louis should include the City Museum. When TPR goes, we like to rent out the entire place for us to explore on our own, and that's exactly what we did this evening! Here are some photos & video clips... We have just arrived at City Museum! Quite possibly our favorite "non-theme park" attraction ever! Let's get this report started off right with a video of one of the slides: [twitter] [/twitter] The rooftop of the City Museum is amazing! Yes, that is a school bus hanging over the side of the building! And yes, you can go inside to the very front... And look over the edge of the building! It's so screwed up, but we LOVE it!!! These are the ten-story "shoe slides" and they are as crazy as they look! You spend most of your time at City Museum crawling... getting lost... exploring... being totally confused, and LOVING every moment of it! A TPR tradition is the "ball pit takeover!" [twitter] [/twitter] The ball-pit take over had some crazy antics this time around! Watch this video VERY carefully and you will see Andy lose his phone, Kristen find it, and for a moment try to give it back, and then being the mischievous and evil 10 year old that she is, decide to play a joke on his and then hide it! lol [twitter] [/twitter] The wall of humanity! It's not a trip to City Museum until someone wipes out on the hamster wheel! [twitter] [/twitter] We had quite a few near deaths on the hamster wheel! lol Swingers at City Museum! [twitter] [/twitter] On occasion you will find some real "art" here... Boobs. You can crawl around this whale. More boobs! Bob's Big Boy is here, too! Anyone remember those funky "spinning chairs" that were in Times Square this summer? They are here, too! [twitter] [/twitter] Smiles on their faces now, but they are about to plummet to their deaths! There's a lot of "end up laying on the floor" that happens at City Museum... The thought that is often running through your head while on the flood is "am I dead?" No theme park attraction even comes close to the work out you will get at City Museum! Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome? [twitter] [/twitter] This is pretty much what you see when you first walk into the place! It is really impossible to explain or describe even in pictures. Because if you've never been here, I feel like most pictures probably give you that feeling of "what exactly am I looking at?!?!?" You just have to experience it for yourself! The very last sentence of the rules is my favorite! Pretty much everything you can see at City Museum is a place you can crawl through or interact with somehow. And often times you may even find yourself sort of stuck! Do not be fooled by the slides! Some of them WILL try to kill you!!! Yeah, you're about to die! Yes this cave exists inside City Museum and yes you can get lost in here for hours! lol It is not uncommon to see the blur of a human whizzing by you on a slide all throughout City Museum! There goes another one! It's also not uncommon to see grown adults stuck in some cage-like obstacles that they don't really fit that well in! lol This photo may be the most "normal" thing we did at City Museum! There is a full sized Ferris Wheel on the roof! It's one of those old-school sketchy kinds. You're all smiles now, but wait until you get to the top and you can feel it shaking! And like the indoor sections, the rooftop is also filled with fun areas to play around in! Don't cry for me... The human kaleidoscope tunnel is super funky but amazingly cool! That wraps up another AWESOME trip to City Museum. Again, we cannot stress enough... When in St. Louis, you MUST go here!!! OH! And before I forget... we did make a stop to snap a photo of the St. Louis Arch before going to City Museum and this is EXACTLY how your visits here should be! Stop for a moment, grab a quick photo, and then spend the rest of the day nearly killing yourself at City Museum! Now please POST YOUR COMMETS! After all, we took the time to write the report, thru very least you can do is say something about it!

"While walking around the mall area we found an owl cafe..." "There was this place in the back alley you could get dressed up as Pokemon and ride GoKarts around Tokyo..." It's these things right here is why we go back so often!

Great stuff! You started with a wonderful picture! Currywurst is one of my favorites!

Yes, get the Express Pass. I was at the event last night and the lines for the mazes were 45-60 minutes up until the last hour of the night. Rip Ride Rockit was about 75 minutes most of the night. If you don't get express passes you won't be getting on much especially now that it's getting close to Halloween. If you go the nights AFTER Halloween it won't be as bad but I'd still recommend express passes.

Thank you!

And if you want crazy, look no further than the "Voodoo Jumper" ride!