robbalvey

Martin, Having driven quite a bit in the UK (combined total about 2 years) and having driven in So Cal for 23 years and knowing how the interstate/motorway systems differ from the two countries my reccomendation would just be to ignore the confusing directions above and just stick to the 59 mile straight shot down I-5 from SFMM to Disneyland. When you have a straight route all the way from one park to the other, and you're talking to someone not just from out of town but from OUT OF THE COUNTRY, it's far easier to deal with traffic than it is to deal with a confusing motorway system. Make one wrong turn or take the wrong junction and you'll end up spending more time getting back on track than if you hit traffic. When people in California still get lost I would never, EVER suggest someone from out of state, let alone out of the country attempt any of those directions you guys have offered. You may run into traffic yes, so allow enough time (I'd say no less than 2 hours), but this is the route, and the ONLY route I think you should attempt: Directions from Magic Mountain to Disneyland Unless you consider yourself an "expert" on the So Cal freeway system, do not attempt any other way. --Robb "Trust this advice..." Alvey

^ Hmm....can you try uploading a version of that video without the "!" in it and see if it works? Me thinks that funny things happen when you have odd characters in your file names.... --Robb

^ You can register up to the day of the event, however please note that since we have to pre-order the T-Shirts about 2 weeks before hand I'd register soon to make sure we don't run out of your size. --Robb

I think you are underestimating the "local" market of Disneyland (which, if that is the 2fer commercial, is who it is targeted to). They might not know the construction is so massive, but I bet many of the GP that ad is focused on are at least aware DCA is getting new attractions. Dude, you work at a park. You know how "dumb" your average guest can be. I can't tell you how many people who would come to eat at Cafe Orleans would ask me stull like "Where can you get the best view of Pirates?" "Um, at the other restaurant...sir, you are NOT in the Blue Bayou!" and when I would work at the Blue Bayou I'd get asked stuff like "Is this a good place to see the fireworks" "Um, sir, you realize that you are INDOORS, right?" I stand by my statement - I refuse to believe that most people who walk through the gates are "in the know" enough to know that the park is in the state it's in. Clearly this is a lost battle for me. I'm debating this with a bunch of so-cal die hards that don't want to see anything said bad about "their park" when is seem so obvious to me that people are turning a blind eye to how had the park looks just to defend it. When I'm not even saying anything bad about the park! I'm excited about the changed. I think these chagnes are going to be great. But I think the park in it's current state looks terrible, and I can't believe how many people claim it looks just fine. I don't get that. It amazes me that so many Californians are unable to look at this park objectively. --Robb "It's Walt's baby so that means it's also MY baby!" Alvey

Our next winner goes to...Shari! Please be sure to email me your mailing address! Congrats! You will get a TPR Bag-o-Crap! To win a TPR Bag-o-Crap read the update posted HERE! "...And so ends another outing for the folks from Shady Pines"

Did you delete this video again? I can't seem to find it. --Robb

It's because the name of the ride is Eagle's Fortress. If you search "eagle" it comes up. I'll get the programmer to fix the links problem. That's an easy fix. Thanks for the heads up guys! This is perfect! --Robb

^ Uh, oh. Jonny Upsidedown is going to be REAL pissed that you covered up his watermark! --Robb "You need to sign a contract inked with a mixture of blood and urine to be allowed use of his photos!" Alvey

Hey everyone! It's time to start this round of the TPR caption contest! Our first winner goes to...Sir Reedith. Please be sure to email me your mailing address! Congrats! You will get a TPR Bag-o-Crap! To win a TPR Bag-o-Crap read the update posted HERE! "See that fountain in the background? That's happening in my pants."

I'm going to assume that your average GP is going to expect this: Because that's what is being shown for the current ticket promotion. I refuse to believe that most people who walk through the gates are "in the know" enough to know that the park is in the state it's in. And here's an idea Disney...these commercials you're running are for a current promotion which means I'm going to bet they were probably made fairly recently. How about NOT including that shot of Paradise Pier in the commercial? When you only have 30 seconds to work with, and you know this construction will last a lot longer than the ticket promotion, couldn't have you have shown some other part of the park? Just a thought.... --Robb

I actually agree, which is why that sentance starts it "Oh, cool." Becuase it IS cool to have that ride. Hell if they said it was just going to be a Test Track clone it will still be cool. And I'm hoping this version will be even BETTER! Same thing applied when they built Tower. I was happy to see another park get one, and to someone who has never been on the much older (and better) Florida version, it's a GREAT addition. Also agreed. Like I said I wrote that before TSM opened and seeing how well that ride turned out I'm hopeful this will be something special...but I'm not counting on it. (Going in with lower expectations is sometimes not a bad thing! I can appreciate that. It's good to have a balance in the world! --Robb

LMFAO!!! This is EXACTLY the kind of response I would expect from someone with the screen name of "california screamin" Have you been to WDW lately? More specifically Epcot? I have. Last week as a matter of fact. Hey, guess what? THE PARK LOOKS AMAZING! And stale parks? Epcot? Excuse me? Let's see, in the last 10 years that park has received almost as many attractions as DCA had for it's OPENING! Test Track, Mission: Space, Soarin', Nemo along with re-hashes like the Spaceship Earth and Donald Boat Ride makeover. Not to mention they keep adding things seasonally to keep things fresh - Food and Wine Festival, Kim Possible, Flower and Garden, etc, etc... Should I mention the stuff they keep rotating at Innoventions? The storm simulator, the "make your own video game" thing, etc? What about some major re-habs done to rides such as Living with the Land, Oh! Canada, etc, etc. I think that Epcot may actually be the park that has recevied the MOST rehabs and updates than any other Disney park recently! If you are calling Epcot "stale" or "in need of a re-hab" you CLEARLY don't know anything about the collection of parks Disney has to offer. Bzzt! Try again pal! --Robb ps. I just saw a commercial on TV for Disneyland Resort and the 2fer ticket. Too bad the park doesn't look anything like the one they are advertizing...

I think we all agreed to this 3 or 4 pages ago. --Robb

^ That story seems pretty far fetched. Let's see how many times are Disney removed from the organizations? Let's count: Once removed. (Disney only licenses their property to OLC) Twice removed Three times removed Four times removed? The whole "formerly" thing is a little confusing. Problem solved! I don't see what the big deal here is. --Robb

You know, I went back and read what I wrote in October of 2007 when the news hit and I think I pretty much feel the same way today. Now this was written before Mania opened, which I think turned out to be a hit and I'm not sure if Philharmagic and the removal of Maliboomer/Orange Stinger are still in the mix, but overall the theme of what I wrote then still stands IMO today... I *DO* think it's all a step in the right direction as DCA really does need "something", but I just can't help to think that deep down I don't see THAT much more imagination going into this than the original DCA concepts had. And you know, thinking back on this...they still get people to go to DHS and I think that park may even have LESS to offer. However comparing WDW Resort to DL Resort is not apples to apples. --Robb

Force perspective, Ed....force perspective.... --Robb

No kidding! I was almost buying this guys nonesense about Disney and organized crime and Japan and gypsies and drug lords (sounds like a GREAT idea for a Tarrantino flick) but once he made that BMW mistake CLEARLY he's full of it! Mistaking a BMW for a Mercedes...SHEESH! --Robb

Here are the winners - Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire Best Foreign Language Film - Departures - Japan Best Documentary Feature - Man on Wire Best Animated Feature - WALL·E Best Director - Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire Best Actor in a Leading Role - Sean Penn - Milk Best Actress in a Leading Role - Kate Winslet - The Reader Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona Best Writing - Original Screenplay - Dustin Lance Black - Milk Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay - Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire Best Art Direction - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Best Cinematography - Slumdog Millionaire Best Costume Design - The Duchess Best Documentary Short - Smile Pinki Best Animated Short - La Maison En Petits Cubes Best Live Action Short - Toyland Best Film Editing - Slumdog Millionaire Best Makeup - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Best Original Score - Slumdog Millionaire Best Original Song - "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire Best Sound Editing - The Dark Knight Best Sound Mixing - Slumdog Millionaire Best Visual Effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Discuss!

You have no idea how fast things can go in Asia! For example we were at T-Express in October of 2007 with not much more than a turn around standing and then 5 months later they had the ride and an entire area DONE! Also, keep in mind that "Summer" could mean as late is July or August for China. --Robb

^ The ride just seem to run 'sluggish'. I remember when Megafobia first opened (and I was out there several times between '96 and '99) it really had a lot of POWER in it. And the last few visits it just seemed to meander around the track. It was still "good" it just wasn't "GREAT!" --Robb

Matt, I would put a call into the park just make sure everything is running. I've been to SFOG's opening day a couple of times and can remember instances of some coasters being down. And from my experiences, yeah, they run most coasters with one train so that line for Mindbender could be brutal, even with a Q-Bot! So I would strongly reccomend getting one if the park looks at all busy. --Robb

I have been on both and I would say my 1996 - 1999 rides on Megafobia were VERY comperable to Ramage to the point where I would tie them, but my 2002 and 2006 rides on Megafobia were a bit weaker in comparison. Both rides are VERY similar with Rampage being slightly taller and faster in some areas. --Robb

Yup! That is indeed the B&M being worked on. Well, there isn't a Happy Valley in Hong Kong, so there is your answer there, and Beijing did get that amazing looking B&M Flyer! Shanghai is also the largest populated area in China. Summer 2009. --Robb

I don't know for sure, but we met one of the guys who envisioned it but he also seemed to have a hand in the day-to-day running of the park. I'm 99% sure this guy is one of the two guys in the deal. Not sure who the other guy is, but I'm pretty sure these guys came up with the idea, pitched it, built it, and helped to run it. It's not like there were a couple of "Dreamers" that came up with the idea and handed it off to someone else. --Robb

I agree that this also looks very bad... But that to me doesn't look anywhere NEAR as bad at DCA and I'm not even sure how you could compare the two. This to me looks like typical off-season Disney reburbishments, DCA on the other hand looks like a park under construction! Again, this is all I'm saying. I'm totally thrilled that all these improvements and changes are being made. I can't wait to see the end result. It's just too bad the park needs to have to look like this during the process, and I know there's no way around it...it just looks bad! Dude that was totally just a joke. Don't take ANYTHING I say too seriously! --Robb "Find a happy place...find a happy place..." Alvey