robbalvey

^ I found that video painful to watch. I had to skip around and from what I gather it's a 6 minute video of the ride being broken down? FAIL!

How about let's stop with the stupid drama, accusations, and off-topic discussions and focus back on DCA's attractions which is what this thread was about. Thank you very much. --Robb

This is probably the #1 thing that keeps me from being more excited about it. I really didn't like Cars at all. So much so that I couldn't even make it all the way through the entire movie. I find it interested that every new attraction at DCA has brought me back "once" but hasn't kept my attention to want to return again. Tower I thought was very half-assed. Mania I really liked a lot, but I haven't been on the DCA version since media day. World of Color may be great, but even Fantasmic I haven't bothered to see since 1993 and I've still never seen the WDW version (I'm just not a show person), and Carsland, I'm sure I'll go down and see it when it opens at least... --Robb

Hey everyone! We are wrapping up production on Roller Coasters in the RAW Volume 4 which will ship on Monday, November 9th. PRE-ORDER NOW!!! http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?productID=67 Coasters Included: Woodies: Wooden Coaster Fireball Tonnerre De Zeus Cannonball (Lake Winnie) Ozark Wildcat Cornball Express Twister Prowler New Mexico Rattler Leap The Dips Dania Beach Hurricane Cyclops The Legend Thunderbolt Rampage Rutchebanen (Bakken) Steelies: Mindbender (Edmonton) Diamondback Goliath (Walibi World) Afterburn Jetline Millennium Force Medusa (Discovery Kingdom) Piraten Flight Deck (Great America) Tranan Xcelerator Georgia Scorcher Silver Bullet Expedition GeForce Manta Intimidator 305 (Sneak Preview) --Robb

Journey...

You know, it's funny...when I first rode Journey in 2004 I felt exactly the same way. And I wasn't even sold on it at our return trip in 2005. My biggest dissapointment is that when I first saw the drop from the outside of the volcano I thought it went ALL THE WAY DOWN, like Splash Montain does. I didn't realize... "that was it." At this point I thought Test Track was WAY better. For me, Test Track offered the higher thrill factor that I was looking for. But by 2007 I was really into it and now I absolutely *LOVE* it. And I'm not sure if this is because during this time Test Track also saw some decline in quality (there are several effects on Test Track that I haven't seen work in YEARS and I can't even tell you when the on board video last worked) or if Journey just really grew on me. Now when I ride it I just feel it is the perfect use of the ride system. And not that Test Track is bad or anything. But I can totally see why people may think it's overrated. Especially if you're looking for a bit more "thrill." --Robb

Not that I can share!

I fixed your post so it doesn't hurt your eyes when you read it. As a piece of advice to everyone when writing Trip Reports - it's hard enough to get people to read your TR if there isn't any pictures, so if it's just text, try to make it at least READABLE text. Using spaces in between paragraphs. Use the BOLD or UNDERLINE commands to emphasis parts of your report, etc. And please use spell check! Your report was actually pretty good and didn't have too many, but just running it through something like the Google Toolbar spellchecker brought up about 10 words that had typos. Hopefully your report may get more responses now. --Robb "I feel like an internet teacher now!" Alvey

I'm actually kind of surprised no one had started up a "Post your halloween costume" photo this year. Here was Kristen at our mall's trick-or-treat event:

"But Joey...it will be the BEST VERSION EVER because it is at OUR PARK!!!"

^ If a park wants a new E-Ticket, they will MAKE room. That's what you always have to understand. They made room for Splash and Indy and they can do it again if they need to. There is ALWAYS room for a big ride. Always. I can't point to several good examples of where parks that "have no room" suddenly built a giant ride, but I think you can probably look some of them up. --Robb

Hooray! Once again DCA gets a version of a popular WDW ride...over 10 years later. While it excites me that DCA is finally getting a version of this ride, because they need a good ride and this has potential, but just like when Tower was built it's hard to get THAT excited over a ride where you have been riding not only something similar for the last twelve years at one park, and I've been riding what could be one of the best rides in the world at another. I just can't see this version of it being better than Journey. It won't be. That's my prediction. So it's very hard for me to get excited about a version of a ride that won't be as good as one I've been riding for years. I think this ride will do GREAT for the park and the Disneyland locals will go totally gaga over it. It really is what DCA needs and something like this (and Tower) should have been built when the park opened! And I can't WAIT to hear all the Disneyland fanboys say how much their "our" version is. --Robb "Still waiting for the day that Disneyland Resort will Imagineer somethin really NEW." Alvey

Yup! All of the Coaster Expedition's and RAW's will be available eventually. At the moment, you can get Coaster Expedition 1 & 2 and RAW 1, 2, & 3 from the TPR Store for your iPod. And remember, that on CoasterTube you can download an iPod version of any video you see there! --Robb

To be fair though, this is So Cal. And there are many unknowns here when it comes to traffic. I 100% agree with you that it should not take 6 hours, but that's a pretty good "worst case" if you had to plan. For example, if you needed to meet someone at SFMM at 6pm, I would absoultely have left Las Vegas by noon...just in case. But then again, I'm the type of person who does not like to be late for anything. --Robb

Very interesting article. So it basically sounds like the entire coaster will be removed and replaced with something new. Let's hope this is not another "Twister II" in the making! --Robb

And I did confirm that all our .mts HD files opened with no problem in native WIN 7 WMP. Horray! BTW, what is the difference between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions? This was the only confusing part of the whole process. There was ZERO help on which one I was supposed to install so I just went with the first disc in the package (32 bit) figuring that they would make the most common install "disc 1." I hope that was the right one! --Robb

I use a Sony HDR-FX1: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/351515-REG/Sony_HDRFX1_HDR_FX1_HDV_1080i_Camcorder.html I also use the following setup for audio when doing interviews: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/553684-REG/Sony_UWP_V1_4244_UWP_V1_Wireless_Lavalier_ENG.html And a very basic video light: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/162282-REG/Sony_HVL20DW2_HVL_20DW2_20_watt_Video_Light.html Hope this helps! --Robb

18/20 - I so full of nerd!

^ Agreed. But I think if they weren't there, the mazes would seem "flat" in the dark. It's kind of like extras on a movie set. Imagine if they weren't in the background, something would seem weird. That's how I look at it. --Robb

We have posted our "official" HHN 19 update including a backstage tour video of the Frankenstein Maze: http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=78&linkid=6917

You would really have to be HAULING ASS and have no traffic to make it in 4 1/2 hours (even though Google Maps does say it's possible.) Here is the route I would take: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Las+Vegas,+NV&daddr=34.524661,-118.006897+to:26101+Magic+Mountain+Pkwy,+Valencia,+CA+91355-1095+(Six+Flags+Magic+Mountain)&geocode=%3B%3BFfthDQIdi1bu-CGElmk5lCwapA&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=9&via=1&sll=34.309413,-117.561951&sspn=1.526785,2.458191&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=9 That Pear Blossom Highway route is 22 miles shorter and cuts out a ton of B.S. Los Angeles crap. I've taken it several times, and while no, it's not Interstate Quality, there is rarely any traffic and you're doing 55 the entire time. Which is sometimes MUCH better than driving the Los Angeles freeways!

You really would need to ride X2 and judge for yourself. I know people who have it as their #1 coaster in the world, and I know people who hate it. SFMM is quite a bit of distance from Vegas. I'd say you're looking at about a 6 hour drive each way. Hope that helps! --Robb

^ Oooh! Very, very scary. Does anyone remember when Astroworld had the 1st gen and a 2nd gen Intamin freefall for one season? I kind of thought it was fun running back and forth between the two!

We actually filmed a rollback on Kanonen this year! I'll have to post that at some point.

^ Nah, we were here in the 90s too...