robbalvey

^ Edmonton Mindbender? Hmm...that's a TOUGH call. I mean, Mindbender was just freaking *INSANE*, but then again so was the Bullet. But for very different reasons. Can I call it a tie?

I'm going to make two assumptions here - #1 - The Gerstlauer trains WILL be similar to this. #2 - The track system will be more like what you see on Mammut or El Toro than a "traditional" wood coaster. That being said - Elissa is right. Those Gerstlauer trains did shuffle like crazy on Mammut...BUT the ride was very smooth. Now that ride also didn't have many forces and wasn't doing anything aggressive either. I'm firmly putting this one in the "wait and see category." On a side rant, can we all just PLEASE learn how to spell out "Gerstlauer" instead of writing "G-Trains." Everytime I see "G-Trains" that makes me think of "G-String" and then that sends me off on a tangent thinking about porn and raunchy strip joints. Now granted, thinking about porn is almost ALWAYS better than thinking about roller coasters, but still, I gotta be able to focus here, so please, I beg of you all. Repeat after me.... "Gerstlauer" "Gerstlauer" "Gerstlauer" G - E - R- S - T - L - A - U - E - R Learn it. Love it. LIVE IT! Thank you. /end rant

^ Well said!

The parks really need to be the ones to police what videos are hosted on YouTube, not Theme Park Review or it's members. The "Content Verification Program" is easy enough to register for and use (That's what we use whenever we see someone posting a video with TPR footage they didn't get permission for.) If we can do this, so can the parks. If there was a policy posted on the parks website, or if the video was posted on CoasterTube that may be a different story. --Robb

What the park explained to me at one point is that in order for the ride to be installed at the park, a section of track from both spikes needed to be removed to comply with planning permission. The ride had to be shut down for 2-3 hours each day because as it warmed up, it got a bit faster and started to get closer to the end of the spike! (I'm not making this up!) So the coaster had an operating schedule that was usually something like 10am - 12pm, then 2pm - 4pm. (If memory serves correctly) It was a real annoyance to have one of the parks "star attraction" closed mid-day. And often times this ride had a 30-45 minute line, so that really meant that you could only line up for it between 10am - 11:15am. I understand that as being the main cause for it's removal. --Robb

I can't find anything specific to cameras on their "Rules and Regulations" page on their website. I know when we were there in 2007 they allowed us to have cameras on rides. Considering that this is a link to a YouTube video and the content is hosted there I would say that the park would need to bring the issue up with YouTube or with the person who took the video. If there was a specific camera policy posted to their website that would be a different story, but I'm not about to police the policies that the parks are ultimately responsible for. --Robb

Hey everyone! We have just posted another segment from Roller Coasters in the Raw Volume 3! This DVD is available at the TPR Store: http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/ Let me just take a moment to remind everyone about something. Theme Park Review runs completely ad free, no pop-ups, no banners, and as we keep adding new features to the site the server fees keep growing! Please remember that making a purchase from the TPR Store helps keep this site running ad free! (And we would like to keep it that way!) TPR DVDs are still only $10 each and our T-Shirts are $8. Please help support Theme Park Review! The last thing we ever want on this site are pop-up ads! And now...for you Schwarzkopf lovers...The Bullet from Flamingoland! I still say that The Bullet is the most crazy Schwarzkopf coaster I have ever been on. The amazing design that allowed this shuttle loop to do what it did in a very, VERY small amount of space was absolutely stunning. Check it out....add your comments below! [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=bullet_0imn[/coastertube] From "Roller Coasters in the Raw Volume 3" - This 2-Disc DVD features roller coasters than have been closed, demolished, or re-located. Re-live more than 50 "historic" roller coasters on Roller Coasters in the RAW Volume 3! Theme Park Review thanks you for your support! --Robb Alvey www.themeparkreview.com

I felt the same way. If it wasn't for them drinking it seemed like they could have all been 17 years old the way the parents were "scolding them." I noticed this more the second time I watched the film and for some reason I had forgotten that whole opening scene where they had just graduated college and it had seemed like they had just graduated high school. I mean, so many high school comedies have drinking in it so the characters drinking hadn't even dawned on me that they were over 21. This is honestly where I'm at with it. It frustrates me because there are many moments where it's *so close* to what working in a park is really like, but then it just misses the mark by and veers off in a totally other direction. I wanted so badly to finish watching that movie and be able to tell someone "Yup, that's pretty much what it was like", but I can't, at least not really. See and for me, I wasn't really expecting to "see" theme park, but I was expecting to "feel" theme park. I will say though, that whole scene with the corn dogs and they were smelling that....that EXACT same thing happened to me with a box of should-be frozen Super Pretzels! Thanks for the insight Dcody. I was kind of hoping to hear your thoughts! --Robb "I really, REALLY wanted to like this movie more..." Alvey

Guys, Please. No more "wouldn't it be cool if you had a bash at X park..." posts. If we could have a bash at every park we visited, we would. Logistically we can only pull off a couple of them per year. Trust me, we *know* the parks that would make for good bashes, we don't need to be told. So please....PLEASE keep this thread on topic about the TRIPS that we are planning for next year. Leave the single-day events up to us. Thank you for your understanding! --Robb

Wow! Thank you for that insight! We probably would have never come up with that idea on our own! /end sarcasm --Robb

^ Yup. 100% agree with that. Granted, I *did* actually know a stupid kid that worked at a park that went around punching people in the balls for a laugh, it felt like it was shoehorned in whenever "quick, we've been serious for too long...lets drop a punch in the balls gag to get the audience laughing again." And I agree with you about the characters being unlikeable. I didn't hate them, but I felt no compassion for them either. Actually, my favorite character in the movie probably was Joel (and even he was kind of pathetic). When he says "Well, we are doing the work of lazy, pathetic morons" it sounded *just* like a guy I used to work with at Chuck E. Cheese. And the dude even had the longer hair and the slow monotone voice and everything. I dunno, though. I have to think there have been a *LOT* of people who have spent a summer working at their local amusement park. Just think about it - there are a LOT of amusement parks out there, both big and small (and even a FEC would count, IMO) and they require quite a few 'coming of age' people to work there. For example, I'd be willing to bet that a GOOD majority of people who grew up here in the Santa Clarita Valley probably worked at Magic Mountain at some point in their lives! Oh, it was just like that working at Disneyland also, but for me when I look back on it (remember it's been about 15 years for me since I worked day-to-day at a park) what sticks out in my mind was the silly, immature fun. --Robb

From the ending points of both the NE and the mid-america trip, about 700 miles. This is why Cedar Point doesn't appear on either trip. It's a bit more "MidWest" than it is "North East" or "Middle America." We'll do another trip soon enough that will include it, but it won't be in 2010, sorry! --Robb

So now that this movie is finally out on DVD I gave it a watch. (Actually ended up seeing it on an airplane...twice, but same difference.) I had some real mixed feelings about this movie and I'm still not quite sure what I think about it. I wasn't expecting it to be a "Kennywood" movie or have a lot of roller coasters in it because I knew it wasn't a 'roller coaster movie.' I was, however, as guy who spent his later teenage and young adult years working at a theme park expecting to relate to it more, kind of like I was able to relate to Clerks from having worked in retail. It hit on "moments" of what working at a theme park is like, but I think it missed the mark quite a bit. Some moments seemed real, like the hanging out in the parking lot after work, post-work parties, mixed up romance, constant flirting, random drama, telling everyone not to tell anyone else about this chick you went on a date with, in-jokes for work stuff "Giant Ass Panda", and general camaraderie between employees during slow times are all true. But like I said I felt they were just "moments." And to be honest, many of these moments could have slotted into any theme - group of people working at a mall, group of friends on a vacation, college life, etc. Like the movie kind of forgot it was supposed to be about kids working in an amusement park and veered off to the more serious dramatic side of the movie and then would come back with one of those "I can't believe how many times they play this song" or "Giant Ass Panda" quips to remind you what the key thread of the movie was supposed to be. If you look at the trailer on page 2 it makes it look like the movie is nothing but "people working at a park", but I just for whatever reason didn't quite get that from watching the movie. Really, I think the "Giant Ass Panda" gag was the only real running amusement park joke in the whole movie (and that was pretty darn funny, though!) The rest of the movie seemed to take itself WAAAAY too seriously. My overall memory of working at a park was "god damn, that was some fun, FUN times!" (Read Kevin Yee's "Mouse Trap" book which was written about a group of us that all worked at Disneyland together and you'll see!) But I didn't get that much sense of "fun" out of this movie. I dunno, I didn't hate the movie, but I didn't love it either. I guess I just really expected that I'd come away being able to relate to it a bit more. I was expecting it to be for amusement park employees what "Clerks was for retail employees" or what "Fast Times was for high school kids" and it was more of a slow paced teenage (even though the characters were over 21) drama. On one hand I really appreciated the moments that "brought me back" to the days of working at a park, but overall I felt there was so much more they could have done with that premise. --Robb

We have thought about an add-on to Edmonton for the MidAmerica trip, but all add-ons will depend on how many sign ups we get and how crazy the trip planning ends up being. --Robb

^ Feb 2011. Not enough time to put that trip together for 2010. I'm still recovering from this year's trips! --Robb "Knee deep in photos and footage still from 2008!" Alvey

^ Most likely Richmond. Oh, we never said we're not coming to Japan in 2010, just maybe not as a TPR tour! --Robb

^ I did! Thank you! --Robb

Minneapolis

We usually like to start a "park discussion" thread when there is actually something to discuss or if someone volunteers to bring "regular updates" from the park to the site. Starting a thread for the sake of starting it isn't something we want to make a habit of. When Michigan's Adventure makes an announcement or something like that perhaps we can open up a thread for the park. If you are interested in being our "Mich Adv" guy (or gal) for regular updates drop me an email. Sorry! --Robb

QFT = "Quoted for Truth." And yeah, I hear you on the 2 GCI's over Black Mamba thing (actually I would be questioning 2 GCI's over Winjas, but that's just me.) The reasoning is simple - we've taken TPR members to Black Mamba TWICE in the past three years and we've taken TPR members to those GCI woodies, well, ZERO times (obviously!) One thing we try to do when we plan out TPR trips is hit "new stuff" as a lot of the people who travel with us have probably done a trip in the past. And those who are new with traveling with TPR, well, stick with us and we'll eventually get you to where you want to go! We actually did bounce around the idea of Phantasialand, but it just didn't fit for *this* trip. That's good editing for you! Seriously though, on every TPR trip there are many people who have traveled with us before and also LOTS of newbies! Don't worry, everyone makes friends, usually by the end of day one! --Robb

If those new GCI woodies at Efteling do not look like they will open in time for our trip we would consider swaping out Efteling for Phantasialand. Adding Phantasialand to the trip would add at least an additional $150 per person because there is no way we could go to that park without staying at the hotel (and having an awesome night in the Dragon Bar.) And as this Europe trip was meant to be our "shorter, less expensive" Europe trip, adding yet another park and resort hotel prices it out of that category. Also, TPR just hit Phantasialand in both 2007 and 2008 so we chose to go back to Efteling which we have only visited once in the past few years and they are getting TWO new coasters for 2010. --Robb

Hey Theme Park Review members! It is that time of year again where the next round of TPR trips are about to be announced! If you remember earlier in the year we sent around a few questionnaire's asking about what trips you all would most be interested in. Well, we have narrowed it down to five possible trips (of which we will most likely do four of) and we need one last round of feedback to help finalize the schedule. Please fill out the following questionnaire if you are SERIOUSLY INTERESTED in doing a TPR trip in 2010: http://www.themeparkreview.com/2010_final_questionnaire.htm Based on your input we will make our final decisions for what trips TPR will offer in 2010 and those trips will be announced in late October 2009. If you have any questions or comments, please post them! Thank you very much and we look forward to your feedback! --Robb Alvey www.themeparkreview.com

Time to unstick this since the 2010 trips are right around the corner!

He (and I) read EVERY SINGLE EMAIL that comes through! So I would highly reccomend emailing him...especially RIGHT NOW!!!

^ It actually was closed the day we were there. But it looked operational and some maintenance guys were working on it. --Robb