robbalvey

Even scarier to think that I first opened the site in 1996! While I don't seem to have any of those original pages anywhere, here's what the site looked like a few months later in 1997: http://www.themeparkreview.com/tpr1997/ Scary!!!! --Robb

Hey everyone! We have some exciting photos to share with all of you! Today we were allowed to get backstage and up close with Manta to check out the progress on the rides theming, station, and get some new angles that haven't been seen before. I'm sure by now you all know that Manta is Sea World Orlando's new B&M flying coaster that is scheduled to open on May 22nd, 2009. Got it? Good! Check out the photos... For today's Manta construction tour Theme Park Review would be considered "Authorized personnel!" Here we are looking up at the first drop. This is an important part of the ride therefore it comes first. Today we bring you some never before seen angles of Manta. Here's a good shot of the "pretzel loop" which is guaranteed to make you hungry for some German yum-yums. Zero-Gees...through the trees! The mid course brake has a giant "A" for "Alvey." That large building you see will house a brand new aquarium that will feature Manta Rays and other sea life. This is the "Wing Dip" part of the ride where the train will close to the water and a simulated splash will be created towards the crowd. This little guys simulates the "reach envelope" the riders and the train has before smacking into something. As you can see there is plenty of room! Another look at this because...well, just because! There has been a ton of work on the theming and the station this past week. This lone island of palm trees kind of looks like something out of Seuss Landing for the moment! Behold the mighty "Pretzel Loop!" No, these are not alien artifacts they will eventually grow into rocks that will be part of the rides theming! Once again more reach envelope testing to make sure your pretty arms and legs will be nice and safe! Aha! Something every ride needs...that's right...a LADDER!!! No, silly! It needs an entrance sign! Robb: "Why do I have a flag growing out of my helmet?" Bryan: "Do I look like an arm rest?" Reed: "I don't know these two people." The front section of the ride still has a long ways to go but it's looking GREAT! I'm assuming most of what you're looking at will be filled in with water. More work being done on the rides entrance area. Manta is really going to change the front of the park and it should be spectacular to see when you walk in! Someday guys, you will be underwater! Now just imagine this...but the ride is open! Wow! This is going to be quite the impressive station. I'm assuming this will be the exit area with the onride photo and other Manta-like goodies to buy. Close up station shot!!! Lots of criss-cross is good! Looks like some speakers being installed on the lift...maybe for the rides theming? Lots of blue track everywhere! Rocks and other like substances are being added. Check out our sexy hard hat crew...wait, what is going on here? Robb! DO NOT EAT BRYAN! YOU ARE NOT A ZOMBIE!!! Once again, Mr. First Drop makes an appearance. And the pretzel loop is looking very pretzely! More track closeups! Wow! Thems are some sexy curves! Mega super happy Zero Gee's! For you weld enthusiasts...here you go! This area here I'm pretty sure will be filled in with water...and get ready for your onride photo! Hmm...do you notice anything on those rocks? HIDDEN MANTA RAY!!! Another cool shot of the pretzel loop. It's like looking at the Los Angeles freeway system! Here again is a good look at the station. It's going to be massive! When you're at the top you'll be looking 14 stories straight down! Hey sexy rebar rock...wanna spend the night in a cheap motel? Let's have another look at this wing dip area. The train is going to fly through this part and it will look like the Manta Ray is scooping up water towards the crowd. EXTREME BANKING!!! Here you can see some of the infrastructure. Soon this will all be hidden away! Another look at the reach envelope testing for the wing dip. These guys are laying the pipes for what I am assuming will pump water into this area and create the huge splash! Just in case you needed another view of the pretzel loop... This S-curve/zero g combo should be fantastic! Seriously, can you ever have too many pretzel loop photos? Here you can see the entrance into the mid-course brake. "Original Pig Sock"....I just thought this thing was awesome! There should be NO QUESTION as to what kind of food you'll get here! From the Sky Tower, you can see the entire layout of Manta! Birds eye view of the pretzel loop. Overview of the wing dip. "...yes we wore our hard hats on the Sky Tower to be extra safe!" Thank you to Sea World for allowing us to get backstage and share these photos with the world! See you in May 2009 for Manta's opening! --Robb

It really didn't. It had a decent B&M invert and that's all it had going for it. The rest of the coasters were either just pointless, painful, or stupid. Let's see... Daidarasaurus - Pointless AND stupid. Family Coaster - Pointless Fujin Raijin II - Painful and deadly Mini Coaster - Stupid Orochi - Raptor Clone Space Salamander - Stupid Wild Mouse - Pointless. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up! --Robb

TPR's DVDs are region free and should work in all DVD players or computer DVD-ROM drives all over the world!

^ Please do not make comments on the card. It is still in development and not ready for any kind of feedback. As for some of this comment: Answer me this - what really sets apart a group like ACE from a group like TPR? The way I see it only about $65 per person. Like Larry said above, you don't *need* to pay dues to be a "club" you need a group of people with the same common interests. And I feel that is what we have here. So why not have a "Member Card" that makes it a little more official. We will let you all know when this is ready go officially go "live" --Robb

Anyone been able to upload a video?

Hey everyone! It looks like all the upload bugs have been fixed! Please help us test by uploading a video! Http://www.themeparkreview.com/tprtv

I searched "Monsters Inc" and came up with this: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=639685#639685 Also, from what I understand, this project is on hold. --Robb

Our last stop before Tokyo Disney was the "Tokyo Teleport" area which has a ton of amusements, shopping and lots of crazy stuff! One of the best arcades with tons of capsule machines is located here, Sega Joypolis is also across from the station at a huge entertainment complex called "Tokyo Decks." Also housed in that complex is this update's showcase destination "Muscle Park." Some of you may remember Muscle Park from last year's update, but we made a very quick visit. This year now that we know more about the place we spent some time and all I have to say is that this is a *MUST SEE* if you are into some awesome 'wacky' places to check out and have fun at while in Japan. Onto some photos.... We head out to "Tokyo Teleport" on a very crowded JR train! "Why are all the Japanese taller than me?" Tokyo Teleport is an amazing place. It houses lots of amusement areas, shopping malls, etc, etc... Today we challenge MUSCLE PARK!!! Muscle Park is home to the official "Sasuke" course which for those of you may not know, is called "Ninja Warrior" here in the USA! And yes, for women to compete you gotta chop your nails! Elissa's "s**t eating grin" on the hand bike! Mike is the only one of us who was able to defeat the salmon ladder! Julie shows off some belly on the arm rings! Rich! Just pretend they are donuts and you'll make it! Looks like Joey is going to make the hand bike! Oooooh! Jew down! Elissa is almost at the end of the course! OMG! A shark is eating her off screen!!! "I might be dead....but I made it!" "Almost there... just a couple of seconds..." "Raise your hands....if you're SURE!" 'I am woman! Hear me roar!' Yes, Elissa is a Ninja Warrior fanboy! Elissa says "I love you Makato Nagano and Shingo Yamamoto!" The rest of the park is like Wii Fit on steroids! Watch your balance guys! Smooth moves! "Every time you press that button, god kills a kitten." 'With much concentration comes greatness!' 42 kittens...dead! All the games here were awesome! This one you had to press the buttons in a certain pattern as fast as humanly possible. "Ranking Park!" Is that anything like the Rankin Bridge? It's like IAAPA exploded in Japan! And yes, they even had Ninja Warrior for kids! More awesome crazy games! And GUNS! You can't possibly have a muscle park without guns! I'm not even sure what this is, but it's got two balls and a strange looking guy. Of course no theme park would be without some kind of eatery. And if you're going to work out you need to eat! And this "Monster Burger" is no exception! Have a look at that thing! Each stack is a separate entree! Mmmm...and burger that comes in a box that big has to be awesome! C'mon guys! Scarf down that Monster Burger! Make Takeru Kobayashi proud of you! Two wheels of numbers, a wheel of random geometric shapes...I'm so confused...but it's so awesome! Baseball Tic-Tac-Toe....yup! They had models of the real Ninja Warrior courses on display. Fans of the TV show must be drooling right now! Like many other Japanese parks you have to buy tickets for each of the "attractions" (don't worry, it's not as confusing as it looks!) This game was awesome! Basically each person (Rich and Elissa here) have a movable piece of track that they have to move while the train is in motion. They move the track piece, pick of a block out of the storage and put the block on the stack. Then they have to move the stack and the track back into place without the stack of blocks falling over. Got it? Let's watch.... Elissa has a small stack of blocks...track is in place...train came through...looking good! Rich's stack is getting bigger, train is coming around faster now... Elissa just barely gets the stack in place for the train to safely make it through! Woah! Rich has a BIG stack! Uh oh....this game is getting close now! Rich freaks out like a little girl who just got her training wheels off! SKLOOSH!!!! Oh no Rich just lost to a girl! Ice Bat does NOT approve of this epic fail! "Jews don't play sports, man!" Elissa versus Rich once again! This time, it's a mental challenge.... Elissa: "YES!!! I am smarter than a police officer!!!" Right next door to Muscle Park is Sega Joypolis. Another awesome, crazy, must see attraction at Tokyo Teleport! Joypolis is a multi-level indoor amusement park with roller coasters, flat rides, video games, virtual reality and all kinds of crazy stuff. Spin Bullet is one of the most brutally messed up must-ride coasters ever! "You guys are all about to get raped!" but forget about Joypolis....GIVE ME THAT MOUNTAIN OF SUSHI!!!! And of course the most amazing attraction in all of Tokyo Teleport...Condomania!!!! Thanks for reading! Next up...the grand finale of this update! Lots of Tokyo Disney Resort photos!!! --Robb

I changed the topic title since I agree with Larry, this isn't really"news" and the article was more of a commentary. --Robb

^ No, no...that's a different site - www.themeparkreview. we are clearly www.themeparkreview.com and NOT selling those rides... Then again, would anyone like to buy Starliner from me? I'll sell it to you cheap! --Robb

I think that was worth the long time it took to download, but I don't know why....

Yeah just make a note of it in the comments section and we will do the best we can.

Theme Park Review

Is it true that Solace doesn't even have ERT on their new coaster? Granted it's mainly a kiddie, but it would have been nice to get that low capacity credit out of the way without having to wait in line with the public. --Robb

Yup! It shipped today! Remember kiddies! Order your TPR hoodies now before they are ALL GONE!!! http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?categoryID=3 --Robb ps. Jeffery took the last XL black pull over making that now a RARE ITEM!!!

^ You are very welcome! FYI - we now have VERY few "pull over" hoodies left, so if you want one, get them now! http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?categoryID=3 --Robb

^ LOL Ed! I came up with 43 and now I'm suddenly in Wichita! --Robb "Bet you didn't know I owned a pair of ruby slippers!" Alvey

Here's an idea...do you guys mind sharing with the other members HOW you pimped out your pictures? I'm sure everyone else would like a little tutorial (Maybe with some screen shots or something?) and it could help give people other ideas on photos to post! How about it?

Hey everyone! Just to let you know that the hoodie sale will be ending soon! We are actually running out of quite a few hoodie sizes so if you want a TPR hoodie, better order it now! http://www.themeparkreview.com/store/index.php?categoryID=3 They are only $20 each! (Normally $30) --Robb

Hey everyone, Please remember this is the "Terminator Salvation: The Ride Discussion Thread." Try to keep your posts to talking about this new attraction. If you want to talk about when the best time to visit the park is, etc, please see the general "SFMM Discussion Thread" here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26782 Thank you! --Robb

Agreed. Just look at this report: http://www.themeparkreview.com/uk2006/ And assume most of those parks will be included. Anyway, I think for right now I'm going to lock this thread because we really need to focus on our 2009 trips and when the time comes to start talking more about 2010 and beyond, we'll bring this thread back to life! --Robb

And finally, Caption #10 sent in by "live2tell75". He will receive a TPR Bag-o-Crap! "I am going to freaking flip out if I hear one more story about "My girlfriend" and if I smell that nasty smell again!" Here are all the other captions that were sent in, but didn't quite make the cut. There were some good ones in there so it was hard to choose everyone's! "Trust me, you'll like having sex with a girl!" "Oriental ghost lady and our TPR representative demonstrate for us what they would do to that phallic tombstone behind the fence." "The goofy looking redheaded man began to scream like a little girl, clutch his purse, and protect his crotch just at the mere thought of another ride on Dive Coaster. But little did he know he had more trouble behind him. Next, on the Twilight Zone." "What?! Your telling me that Fuji-Q Had a less than 3 hour wait for Dondopa!? NOOO!" If you think he's scared now, wait until he turns around! And remember, TOGO makeup products make your face glow! In Japan one in ten hundred million thousand people are born with only a massive head and two huge arms with hands. They are employed to scare tourists. This is the only time they are allowed out. Please think of the mutants. "Hey Dave we nominated you for the sumo wrestlers sponge washing job!" Ghost Woman Thingie: "Maybe this Coaster Nerd will have Braaaaains... The other 20 didn't" Man: "Please... the only brain I had was knocked out by the Togo Evil many years ago!" "Cher not only haunts us with her music these day, now shes out for blood" "When my crew and I were talking to those strippers on the Internet, I never imagined they looked like this!" "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! Its Elton John!" "If you watch a Theme Park Review DVD, in seven days you'll die". "Oh my god! I think I soiled myself!" You cannnot handle my coasters - they'll chew you up and spit you out - Like I have done to this guy! "You think they'll notice if I take it back to America to add theming to Knott's???" "OMG why is my mom in Japan!?!" "When Dave said he'd sell his soul for a video camera, he hadn't realized how terrifying Japanese Satan is." "Why didn't I just go to Hawaii!" "This is how I get when I wear my fanny pack around my shoulders instead of having it hugging my bodacious curves!" "Noooooo!!! It's after my TPR Bag O' Crap!!!" "Finding a nice Japanese girl is going to be harder than I thought!" Foreground: OMG! A ghost! Don't kill me with your supernatural powers! Background: OMG! A coaster enthusiast! Don't eat me with a side of gravy! "So I'm Confused, Which one just sprung up from the grave" "That's not Ursula! Wah! I wanna go back to Tokyo Disneyland!" "Aaahhh...I'm wearing a purse! Oh yeah - and The Grunge lady is behind me!" "Mom I told you I'm an adult now! Stop following me everywhere and making me use hand sanitizer!" "after drug-career, alcoholic problems and various sexual experions, the thing from "the ring" had to earn it´s money at a crappy darkride" Thank you everyone for playing! We will have to do this again soon! --Robb

^ Yeah, I'm posting the "top ten" not the "first ten!" Some of them actually have been very good, but just haven't *quite* made the cut! --Robb

^ All the major ones for sure, but we really won't have details for the 2010 trips until the 2009 trips are over! --Robb