robbalvey

No offense, but I think you need to cut them a bit more slack. IMO, it sounds like they are doing the best they can with a lot of issues left to sort out. Just be happy the ride is actually open and accepting riders now. I just don't get it... The ride is closed, people complain. The ride is open, people complain. --Robb

And now, Alabama Adventure! First off, I do want to say that this park has not received the most favorable comments from TPR in the past. Well, I'm happy to report that this park has made some SERIOUS changes since our last visit! Wow! The have really cleaned the park up, turned around the staff, and made some serious investments in customer service. I'm not gonna lie, they still have a long way to go, but I can now see the park is on the road to greatness if they keep doing what they are doing. Great job guys! Now, onto some photos! Our next stop was about as deep into the South as you can get...Alabama! It's true! Everything IS dirtier in the south. "Hi, my name is Eli. I am from the South and I can tell you honestly that I am a very, very dirty person!" Yay! Cedar Point Afro Fountain LIVES!!! Let's get one thing out of the way...the park is nice and all, but we are here to brave Rampage! And that we did! Rampage has been voted a "Top Ten" woodie in the past and today's ride did not disappoint! Our ERT session on Rampage was one of the most INSANE ERT sessions TPR has ever had! Ahh, there goes our riders...off into the sunset...I sure hope they make it backi! If I told you Rampage was "smooth" I would be lying. This coaster has some serious jolts in it that will make you scream! But it's also a balls-to-the-wall insane ride. Those are screams of pain followed by some masochistic pleasure! We did get the the opportunity to get some photos from areas guests are normally not allowed to walk into. Yay! More "behind the scenes photos!" How about some Rampage POV Video? [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=rampage_hd_kpdg[/coastertube] Yay! Rampage POV....in HD!!! (Note this video may take a bit longer to load because it's in HD) Yes! Rampage is operated by TPR MEMBERS!!! The girls of TPR say "Rampage is AWESOME!!!" In the south, random people get together in covered areas and scream for various amounts of time. Alabama Adventure set up the "table-o-crap" for us. It was filled with awesome goodies to give away for those who could answer Alabama Adventure trivia questions. This group lunch is brought to you by...oh, you guys know it already! It was time for the Musik Express take over!!! In the south, you are required to sing and dance with your twin on all flat rides. You are also not allowed to put your arms down. If you put your arms down you are instantly tazered and forced to drink gallons of cheap light beer. In the south, boobs double as cup holders! We checked out the water park. This place has gotten a few serious slides since the old "Steel Waters" days! KidTums had the best time at "replacement Steel Waters!" OMG! COLD!!! In the south, all water slides are required to have one end fully erect. Same rule applies to Vekoma roller coasters. Hey look! An Aussie riding this Boomerang? How strange in that? Yup, it does Boomerangish type stuff. "Dammit! Who the hell parked this Boomerang on top of my truck?" In the south, all these hot chicks hang out at Alabama Adventure...no really! They do! "Hello everyone. We are on the log flume." Oh. Funk! "This is NOT an acceptable amount of wetness!!!" In the south, all log flumes must be filled with battery acid. Speaking of water rides...it's time for the rapids! TAKE THE TUNNEL!!! In the south, at 5:42pm in the evening, everything turns pink for one whole minute. We would love to tell you what is printed in this book, but the FCC would close down this website faster than Chatsworth can pump out adult videos! This is the Tavern. This is where you go for all the beer you can handle. Of course, in the South, all they serve is Coors Light! 3 chicks + 1 dude = Dan is one very happy man! OMG! BANANA COLORED BUMPER CARS!!! Don't worry guys, what could possibly happen? Anyone hear a loud clunking noise? Nahhh! In the south, you get sun screen from the gas station. In the south, meteorologists don't have computers. Remember to keep your hands up or you'll be forced to drink buckets of Coors Light! In the south, they have vibrators larger than most humans. Yo, check us out..we are soooo gangsta! Ice Bat says "Rampage hurt me...but OMG is was soooo good!" Seriously, this ERT session was freaking incredible! "Anyone have broken ribs? No? SEND THEM AROUND AGAIN!!!" In the South, Robb Alvey does his best WWF wrestler impressions. In the south, boys can wear Dolly Parton shirts and still be cool. Theme Park Review says "RAMPAGE KICKS ASS!!!" After the ERT we were "Being Alabama" by partaking in some local rituals which involve a golf kart and broom stick handles. "I am sooooo Alabama!" Thanks to everyone who contributed photos for this update and a special thanks to everyone at Alabama Adventure! It's great to see the park in such good shape! Keep it up guys! Keep up to date with the park! Read The Alabama Adventure Discussion Thread

I have added a "secret song list" to the first page of this thread. As more of us find out what the secret songs are, post them to this thread and we will add them to the list! --Robb

^ LeeAnne Rymes could be a pretty decent draw. Remember they said they had 16,000 in the park for 4th of July and from the pictures they showed the place looked mobbed. I'm not sure how many people the theater where she will be playing holds, but I'd assume at least that many people will be in the park that day. Just to play it safe I'd say get there for opening and get all the lower capacity credits out of the way first. --Robb

Sounds like fun Josh! Hope you guys have a great time! --Robb

Interesting... For those of you who have visited recently, how busy was the park?

^ The sushi at Magic is actually quite good! It's made by an outside vendor and it's fresh every day. Yes, someone please do this! It would make for a great TR. The first person to do this will receive a TPR Bag-O-Crap! --Robb

NINETY DEGREES SHIRT NOW SHIPPING!!! Order your new TPR T-Shirt now! Only $8! http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?productID=58 Remember we also have plenty of "Take the Tunnel" shirts in stock too, also only $8 each. http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?productID=56 --Robb

Roller Coasters in the RAW Volume 3 is now available for your iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch or any other MP4 device! Download the videos here for just $3.99 each: http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?categoryID=10 These are high quality MP4 videos that have been optimized for the iPhone and iPod touch. In fact, we have even re-mastered our MP4 versions of RAW Volumes 1 & 2. So if you haven't gotten those yet, download them now! Follow the link above! If you purchase all three volumes you can put more than 100 roller coasters POVs in your pocket! These video will play on your iPhone, iPod, Windows/Mac computers using QuickTime Player and should also play in any other MP4 compatible device. Both Roller Coasters in the RAW Volume 3 videos together feature more than 50 defunct roller coasters! The WOOD video includes the following coasters: Myrtle Beach Hurricane Psyclone Blue Streak (Conneaut Lake) Cyclone (Williams Grove) Mega Zeph Jack Rabbit (Clementon) Flyer Comet (Whalom) King Solomon's Mines Aska Villain Cyclone (Southport) Runaway Coaster Raging Wolf Bobs Hercules Sierra Tonante Big Dipper (GL) Triple Hurricane Texas Cyclone Screechin' Eagle Zingo Comet (Texas State Fair) Texas Tornado Jack Rabbit (Idora) Wildcat (Idora) The STEEL video includes the following coasters: Windjammer BMRX Batman (Astroworld) Hayabusa Chiller (SFGadv) Double Loop (Kobe) Double Loop (GL) Double Loop (Fuji-Q) Flashback (SFMM) Orochi Bullet XLR-8 Cop Car Chase Viper (SFGadv) High Roller Bobsled (Kobe) Bobsled (Nara Dreamland) Orient Express (WoF) Laser (Dorney) Corkscrew (Alton Towers) Python (BGT) Tornado (Walibi Belgium) Fujin Raijin II Zonga Wacky Soap Box Racers Drachen Fire Moonsault Scramble Tidal Wave/Laser Loop Whizzer The Bat Here are some sample video segments: Hercules - [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=hercules_iiqc[/coastertube] Myrtle Beach Hurricane - [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=myrtle_beach_hurricane_ihku[/coastertube] Download the videos here for just $3.99 each: http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?categoryID=10 Enjoy these new videos and thank you for your support! --Robb Alvey www.themeparkreview.com

The complaining was never really about the park itself (Although I don't think they have a very good collection of roller coasters nor enough family rides or enough to do to keep you busy for more than a few hours) but more about whether or not the park should exist in the first place. Obviously the Hard Rock Park version was an epic failure, and probably one of the biggest failures of the amusement industry. FMP have yet to prove they can fill the park charging more than $10 per person for admission. Basically, what they built in Myrtle Beach was like a "mini-IOA", but they are charging just $10 to get in. The arguments have been more about "should this park be a success, or should they just pack it up and look for greener pastures elsewhere." At $10 per person this park really seems to be on critical life support. I don't believe they can actually be making much money charging that low of admission especially since I haven't heard many reports say the park is very busy, other than their successful 4th of July evening. Many reports say "There's about 100 cars in the lot..." and that's what you'd expect for a local FEC...not a "mini-IOA." This park is like "Champagne quality bringing in beer revenue." Will they survive? I dunno. It's great they managed to have at least one successful night this season, but I'll really only be impressed when they can do that and still be charging closer to a full-price admission. Of course, I also think they need to become a full-price park before that can happen too. --Robb

Everyone who has responded so far has gotten shirts, but sad to say we are all sold out now. Thank you to everyone! --Robb

Wow, there aren't many left! This will most likely have to be closed in the next hour or two the rate they are going! --Robb

Wow! These shirts are really going fast! --Robb

Well, for the record, everything in our living room (including the sofa you've slept on), KidTums' room, and our room is all IKEA. I've never had a problem with anything we've ever bought there and all their products seem to be practical and reasonably priced. But like you said, to each their own! --Robb

Did you guys mean to have six guys posing in the picture with that DVD? We DID actually! My backup caption was something like "We got the DVD...we got six dudes...now it's time to recreate the movie...TPR style!"

Place the order for the shirts from the TPR Store and in the comments section say "Add 4 grab bag shirts". When you make your PayPal payment, just total it up and pay for everything all at once! Thanks! --Robb

Garage Sale is BACK!!! See page 2 of this thread. --Robb

^ It might have had that, I'm not sure. Again, I don't analyze every square inch of track or watch youtube videos in an effort to dissect every second of the ride. Sounds like that might be more your thing than mine! To *me* it *felt* just like SheiKra. Yeah, there were probably some differences, but nothing that I really noticed or that stood out. --Robb

To be honest, only your uber, die-hard roller coaster nerd would even notice the difference. When I rode Chimelong's Dive Machine I really thought it was a clone of SheiKra and then someone pointed out the minor differences. While riding it, I couldn't tell the difference between SheiKra and Chimelong, but then again, I'm not the type of person who analyzes every inch of track on a ride. The Shanghai version IMO looks "close enough" to a SheiKra clone where I would call it as such. We'll be there in a couple of weeks to see how it rides. --Robb

You stayed at the Holiday Inn. We were at the hotel next to it. Not the same hotel as you. We actually knew that the Holiday Inn was under construction and it was one of our deciding factors NOT to stay there! --Robb

Busch Gardens Williamsburg update was posted... http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=42&linkid=6556 Griffon brings out the best in everyone! Backstage tour of DarKastle was VERY cool! --Robb

TPR's West Coast Trip Updates - Day Zero - Sightseeing, Hollywood, and Pacific Park! (Scroll Down) Day One - Bay Area Bash - Six Flags Discovery Kingdom! Day Two - Gilroy Gardens! Day Three - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Day Four - California's Great America Day Five - Six Flags Magic Mountain Day Six - Scandia Fun Center & John's Incredible Pizza! Day Seven - Universal Studios Hollywood! Day Eight - Sea World San Diego! It's time for another TPR trip! This time around, we're hitting So Cal, baby! That's right! All the Hollywood stars and silicone implants you can handle! We'll spend the next week and a half checking out just about every park California has to offer from the San Francisco Bay Area all the way down to San Diego. (And a few of us will head out to Las Vegas as a bonus!) Anyway, on to some photos... We'll start this trip off with a sightseeing tour of Los Angeles - TPR Style! (Don't worry, there IS a credit involved!) "Sunset Blvd....WE LOVE IT!" ... well, not really. Yup, pretty much palm trees and blue skies. All we need are some models with fake boobs and this photo would be complete. This is where you go if you have a bazillion dollars and want to spend it on expensive dumb things...like a diamond encrusted dog collar. Yup. Ahh, now here is where all the action happens! Well, if you're pan handling for used grease that is... Yup, here we have many buildings of Hollywood. Some new, some old...yeah. Here is the Chinese theater. Oddly enough you won't see any Chinese people here, nor will you have the ability to eat Chinese food. But you CAN see the latest Harry Potter movie. Michael Jackson was apparently into weathered looking flowers and Jesus candles. Who knew!? "Has anyone seen Tom Cruise?" "I went to take the Scientology test and they just told me GET OUT!!! GET OUT RIGHT NOW!!!" KidTums is shy around her favorite star. Now it's time to leave Hollywood and head to our next spot... ...that's right! Beverly Hills!!! Hey, um, guys...try not to look too excited, ok? FOOD! EAT!!! YUM!!! OM NOM NOM!!! Yay! We made it to the BEECH!!!! Wait, make that beach. Yeah. Wow! That is some IMPRESSIVE peeing! And here we are...Santa Monica...home to the first credit of the trip! "What did you say about sharks?" "Can this slightly retarded boy stop bothering me? I'm trying to build a massive sand castle!" OMG! I see COASTER TRACK!!! As we pass under this octopus skeleton, we will be closer to the first credit of the trip! TPR takes over the Pacific Park West Coaster! And this is what it looks like when you have a lot of forehead in your shot. It does go right out near the water! TPR takeover of the kiddie drop tower! Because, well, we're all about the right mental age for this. TPR takeover of the pirate ship!!! (Note - is that a man or a woman? I seriously can't tell!!!) "Don't be scared Chris...you're going to just looooove being the meat of our Scrambler sandwich!" *wink* The sun sets on Pacific Park. This is where sad clowns come to die. Two of the people in this picture are children. Is it KidTums? Is it Elissa? Is it Piers? If you know the answer... EMAIL DAN!!! mrt0ad13@aol.com I'm CRAAAAZY baby truck driver! GIMME SOME CANDY!!! Pretty. No really. It's pretty. When you are very drunk and you will crash your car and kill random people, take one of these yellow cars with lights on top instead. This has been a public service message from Theme Park Review. It was time to head back to our hotel for even more random craziness...someone said "Let's go rent a video" and we all thought that was a GREAT idea! "Here we are! Hitting the streets of Los Angeles! Porn newspapers and everything!" Um, rent a movie? An ADULT MOVIE?!?!? WARNING!!! THE FOLLOWING SECTION OF THIS UPDATE INCLUDES PHOTOS FROM INSIDE A PORN SHOP! YES, A PORN SHOP. YOU CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE TYPE OF PHOTOS THAT WERE TAKEN WHILE INSIDE OF A PORN SHOP. IF YOU GET OFFENDED BY PHOTOS FROM INSIDE A PORN SHOP YOU SHOULD STOP READING NOW. WHILE ALL THE REALLY HIGHLY OFFENSIVE STUFF HAS BEEN BLURRED OUT...STILL...THESE ARE PHOTOS FROM INSIDE OF A PORN SHOP! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! YES!!! A fantastic porn selection! Something for everyone!!! We found blockbusters like "Night of the Giving Head." "When MILFs Attack!" Oh, c'mon, are people REALLY into this??? This one was my favorite!!! "WHITEZILLA!!!" I, of course, am still fond of the classics. Thanks to daddy's porn collection, these are the flicks I grew up with! And then we saw it! "SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN!!!" Oh, wait, that's NOT what that says! **SHOCK** "It's theme park related, so we have to get it!" Help Tyler decide...should he purchase "Paul Blart Mall Cop" or "Six Fags Magic Mount Him?" To tell us which one you think he should buy...EMAIL DAN!!! mrt0ad13@aol.com Neil and Jenn? Homeless??? Wow, I had no idea these TPR trips were THAT expensive! (note - yes, that is a jug of his urine in the top of the cart) Well, it was time for our drive up to the bay area...and guess what we watched on TV? That's right! Yo Gabba Gabba and the amazing SHARK ATTACK 3! We saw this for about 6 hours. Yawn! Our hotel in Santa Clara was awesome. It was right next to Great America and everyone had roller coaster murals above their beds! Goodnight Intamin! It was time for another "TPR Snack Exchange" where people bring or make snacks from all over the world...and we eat! A LOT!!! "I was really fond of Natalie's balls." "But Jason's candy sushi was awesome as well!" We are all being cleansed. We took this opportunity to rob Piers of some of his trade skills. Tyler's hair took all of about 30 seconds to cut. Elissa's on the other hand was a bit more tricky... Is this a haircut or date rape?!??! Ta-Da! "You are beautiful honey!" (I'm talking about Piers) Um, what EXACTLY is Mike Austin doing in the pool?!?!? The night was almost over so you know what that means? That's right! Piers drinks...a LOT! Hey everyone! Get ready for our first park day tomorrow! Six Flags Discovery Kingdom & Bay Area Bash!!! Ok, ok, fine...keep drinking.... And that concludes our first update from the West Coast Trip! Yaaaay! I hope you all enjoyed it and remembered to Email Dan! If you didn't go back and email him RIGHT NOW the answers to the questions. More to come soon! --Robb ps. Thank you to everyone on the trip who contributed photos!

^ I really think the removal of BBW has nothing to do with it. You do realize that if BBW wasn't being removed no one in this thread would even mention it. Everyone would be all "Griffon - Alpengeist - Apollo".... f**k yeah!!! BBW would never even be mentioned. Like I said, do KD in the morning - hit Intimidator, Dominator, and Volcano. Sweep up any other rides with little to no queues, then head over to BGW and get Quick Queues. There really is no better option than this. --Robb

Unless you feel like you really, really, really need to ride Initimidator (sorry not going to use that lazy abbreviation) I would say spend a day at BGW and be sure to get Quick Queue tickets! But you could do KD in the morning and then head over to BGW in the afternoon/evening. With Quick Queue's in hand you should be able to most coasters at BGW in a few hours. --Robb

Hey there! GREAT REPORT!!! Thank you for posting the pics. --Robb