robbalvey

Seriously....WTF? Prince "Blanket"

Next stop - Skara Sommarland! I have to say this park was a total 'surprise hit' of the trip! Not just because the new wacky S&S swinging bizarr-o coaster was great but the whole park was just really nice and "charming." We all felt it was a perfect "camping" destination or a nice place to spend a day with the family that had both a good collection of rides and a relaxing atmosphere. Let's talk about Tranan for a moment. I have to be honest, from the first time I saw the concept video of this ride I went "WTF???" but having now ridden it...it's a load of fun! I almost feels like they wanted a cross between "re-inventing" the suspended coaster and doing something a little different with some of that "4D R&D." The coaster itself may be a bit short, but honestly that's fine. It's meant to be more of a family coaster with a bit of thrill and I think that's exactly what it delivered. Although I think it a bit more thrilling than in looks, mostly due to the ride vehicle being so exposed. The restraint is very similar to the original belts used on the first generation Thrill Shots. The seats are very low and they give you a lot of room to ...well... flap your wings! No, seriously there is something about this ride that makes grown adults want to "flat their wings!" What the ride does is very strange also. The "bird" (or the train) turns upside down based on the layout of the track, but the chassis holding the seats rotate around staying upright and swinging the entire time. It's a very "odd" feeling, but overall the ride was totally a hit with our group! On to some photos... But first Big Mike grabs a quick snack for the road! Thanks again to Skara Sommarland for a great day! Thanks to Hanno for so many of your photos! Well, we must say goodbye to Tranan and head on to our next park... Still weird! HELLO! WEIRD!!!! Really...we didn't know what to make of this ride before we got here and I'm really glad it turned out to be great! Gotta love those mad birds! Future A380 pilot! "I'm driving a truck...drivin' a big 'ol truck..." Random buildings and other such nonsense... Poor Tom... "Give me your coke or I'll slam this door on your penis!" This food is mine... ALL MINE!!!! Um, what exactly is going on here? Dude makes the chick do all the work! Priceless! Go karts and stuff... Yay for toilet bowl slides! The water park section looked cool. This is probably the coolest bumper cars building ever. As for the rest of the park, it really was a nice relaxing place. Seriously, just look at how screwed up that thing looks! It really was freaking awesome! And my favorite part of the ride... CHOCOLATE DONUTS!!! Hellllooooo Mr. Station! I like buttons...I. Like. Buttons. Wait for it...wait for it....wait for it... BOX!!!! Constipated bird. Company logo. Content bird. Apparently Tranan got excited!!! Wheels and blue stripes....YUM! Haven't we seen you somewhere before? And now! Some super uber nerdy coaster geeky shots. Here's what the whole ride looks like. It's not giant by any means, but it really doesn't need to be. It was quite the surprise hit for the entire group! "FLY FATASS! FLY!!!" Now that is one PISSED OFF bird! Awww, Patrick! Who pooped in your Cheerios? Flappy, Flap, Flap, Flap...Flap. As one bird heads to the lift hill another one flies over. Watch out for poop! You can see how the seats are very low leaving the riders very exposed. This adds to the fun! Ok, ok, so not all of them are grown men! And for whatever reason the effect that Tranan has on people makes grown men want to flap their wings! The ride is REALLY bizarre. As your bird spins around the track your seats rotate around the bird making them "stay in place" but while swinging just a little bit. No, no, no... it's Tranan...possibly one of the most screwed up, but awesome roller coasters ever! OMG! It's one of the "Brit Group" after pulling an all nighter! Now what is that I see through the trees over there? "If you count this as a credit, raise your hands!" "The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi. " This has to be one of the most themed mine trains out there! (at least the queue) First off...let's get our powered coaster credit! Yay!!! Just in case you weren't paying attention, the name of the park is Skara Sommarland.

But you gotta remember that while Hollywood did New Line last year, Orlando took a break from the licensed properties last year. I'm always a bit "mixed" about the use of the licenses, but I'm glad they at least seem to being changing it up in Orlando. --Robb

Where did you see the POV? When I click the video button I just see the TV commercial. --Robb

This seems to be about 99.9% of TPR members: 9. Fanboy The Fanboy defends a particular product under any circumstances, no matter what the scenario. He is fervently aware that the Ford Pinto was an excellent car as long you avoided rear-end collisions in it. He also assumes that anyone who fails to praise said product to the skies must be engaged in an irrational vendetta against it -- in effect, he sees everyone who isn't a Fanboy as an Anti-Fanboy. The most common Fanboy tendency is to worship either something (or everything) Six Flags-related or something (or everything) Cedar Fair-related. One unmistakable sign that you're dealing with a Fanboy of this kind -- and not with just an enthusiast -- is that, even though the object of his veneration is ultimately a product for sale, he somehow manages to subordinate technological and monetary considerations to moral imperatives.

*ONE* more ticket has just come available for Termination Day. EMAIL me ASAP if you want it! robbalvey@aol.com --Robb

That's actually kind of the point of the shirt. It's not supposed to be obvious that it's a coaster shirt. --Robb

^ Vegas has a *LOT* more to offer than just gambling and bar hopping. I could easily go there 2 or 3 times and year and never once gamble or drink and have an amazing time. If you all you saw in Vegas was gambling and bars then you somehow missed Las Vegas. --Robb

Hey everyone! We've been working on a series of "not-so-obvious" coaster T-Shirts for all our happy peeps to wear while jumping around their favorite parks. We started with the "Take the Tunnel" T-Shirt, which will debut at this weekend's Termination Day event, and next up in the series is the "90 Degrees" Shirt! So now when you go ride The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, SheiKra, or any other coaster that features anything 90 degrees, you can sport the proper attire! This shirt is only $8 each ($10 for XXL) and can be ordered here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?productID=58 It ships mid-July so pre-order your shirt now! --Robb Thanks to Wes for the awesome design!

^ I'm not sure if it's the god of thunder, but it's certainly god! --Robb

The ticket has been spoken for. --Robb

I have *ONE* ticket that has become available for the event. First person to email me gets it. robbalvey@aol.com --Robb

^ I really don't think any of us are being as pessimistic as we are being realistic. To be quite honest, I think the park is nice, as do many others on this forum, but most of us just don't think it was a smart move (mainly putting it in Myrtle Beach) nor do we think the park will survive. Historically, we've been pretty much right on about everything we've said so far regarding HRFSMP. Shame other people don't pay closer attention. We could have saved them millions! So please don't mistake us being negative for what is actually just many of us using common sense and stating our opinions based on that. --Robb

OMG!!! REALLY? SHOCKED!!!

^ Well, the wiki does actually read correctly... T Express WAS ranked as the world's #1 best, most thrilling roller coaster in the world by the Theme Park Review (themeparkreview.com). "was"

Use our forums search function. We have countless amount of Six Flags Magic Mountain topics that answer all of your questions. --Robb

You don't *need* to but it always helps to have a confirmation printed out just in case you come to the table, give me your last name, and it turns out your confirmation is under someone else's name. (Might not apply to you, but it does happen quite a bit.) Your confirmation email allows me to look it up other ways. --Robb

The answer really is the cost. I'm told that an Intamin woodie (including all the infastructure) costs about $10 - $15 million. That's quite an expensive ride in today's economy. --Robb "But well worth it!" Alvey

FYI - Final confirmation emails have been sent out so check your inbox! --Robb

I have sent an email out today to everyone who has not paid. There were only about 5 people (and one of them has already contacted me.) It is not looking likely that there will be any tickets coming available. --Robb

Sorry guys. They want families with kids who are older than 7 years old so we wouldn't qualify. --Robb

Liseberg - What can we say? The park treated us well in 2006 and they treated us equally as awesome this year! I do have to say one thing though - BALDER = OMFG!!! I had been hearing from several people that Balder isn't what it used to be, that they had changed the wheels and it had lost something, etc... Well, I'm not exactly sure if our visit was different for any reason, but OMFG, Balder was running *BETTER* than I remembered, in fact it was running so good that it easily...EASILY knocked T-Express off my #1 wood spot and put Balder right back there! Yes, it's true - Theme Park Review officially says "Balder is the #1 wood coaster in the world!" Ok, onto some photos - Until next time... Theme Park Review wants to send a big THANK YOU to everyone at Liseberg who helped make our visit AWESOME! All the coasters kicked some serious ass today! OMG! We can't have this update be Schwarzkopf-Free! HAHA! No roll back for you! It's no longer the steepest in the world, but it's still the BEST! KidTums continues to paint on Balder. The "Brit Group" mark their Balder territory! "How exactly am I supposed to hammer this in without a donut?" I like Balder...I. Like. Balder! Balder was giving #1 rides in the morning, and it got BETTER in the evening! (and yes, that is as dark as it got while we were there!) It's no wonder why Liseberg makes so much money on the games!!! "Haha! I got mommy to go on the spinning raft ride!" Which would you rather have lick you? The frog or Elissa? To answer the question...EMAIL DAN!!! mrt0ad13@aol.com Balder = #1 awesomeness. Like this.... Liseberg's new "Uppswinget" does some really strange things to you... OMG Craig! When you said you had to "piss like a firehose" you weren't kidding! MEEEAATTT! MUST. EAT. MEEEAAAATTTT!!!!! Emril, eat your heart out! Lunch at the new Café Taube was OMG amazing! Have we mentioned that Balder is the best wooden coaster in the world? Just wanted to make sure we got that across to everyone. Ahh! It's the image of the "Naked, pregnant, Pope" that is now burned into their brains! Why do Craig and Hanno look so confused? Liseberg's games and their prizes are the best of any parks! While there was no "meat slicer" this year we tried to win the "pressure washer" and the "vaccum cleaner!" Somehow we did an amazing job of not really winning much of anything! She gave me a duck. I'm a happy man! "I'm CRAAAAZY rubber Lizard! Give me some popcorn!" New kiddie coaster credit! Yay!!! The one and only picture from inside the maze. Seriously, this is one REALLY well-done haunted attraction! Easily on par with what you'd see at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights! We got to go behind the scenes. Check out all the control rooms. Were shown some of the tricks on how the ghosts scare the hotel guests (we aren't giving away any spoilers!) and it was a really awesome tour! Next up was a backstage tour of "Hotell Gasten" the park's walk-through haunted house. Yay! Two awesome Intamin coasters in a row! Right next door to Balder is one of the most intense Intamin rocket coasters "for it's size." While it's so cute you want to pet it, it really packs a mean punch! And let's not forget about Kanonen! Seriously, Balder was just simply AMAZING the entire day. Evening ERT on the planet's #1 wood coaster!!! This is how amazing Balder is. When she got on the ride, she was only an A-cup! You guys ready for the #1 wood coaster in the world? We had 3 hours of ERT on Balder, Kanonen, and Lisebergbanen! Pretty much you could ride every single seat if you wanted to! And yes of course there was beer! TPR, complete with bunny ears says "THANK YOU LISEBERG!!!" Could this be the first ever "Nail Art" put on a wood coaster? And yes, once again we were asked hammer nails into Balder! (Anything to help keep the ride running great!) Even KidTums got to sign her name! In 2006 we made fun of Joey for not being there with us, and now we can send the same message to Dan! We were told to wear green bunny ears (part of the park's mascot) and write on Balder! We were welcomed by everyone who was anyone at Liseberg. Thank you again for having us! Yup, we are at Liseberg. The sign says so.

The first installment of our developer diary "A Boy and his Blog" has started on IGN: http://blogs.ign.com/MAJ_BoyandHisBlob/ Enjoy! --Robb

^ It was pointless.

Talk to group sales. Their contact info is usually on most park websites.