robbalvey

We are working on dates for our next West Coast Bash which should be in September 2018.

I'm sorry but I find this rude, horrible and obnoxious and I'm banning you from our forum for it. You knew DAMN WELL that you were not allowed into the early morning ride session, you were told no, you weren't staying at the hotel that allowed it, but instead you pushed your way in and snuck into the ride session anyway, and you were even smug and rude to the person who told you no. What kind of a complete ass does shit like that in a respectable foreign country?!?!? I'm sorry but that is just awful and you're an example of the kind of park guests we hate. As I said, you're banned from TPR for being a complete waste of humanity and I really hope next time you're in a foreign country you'll have some respect for their rules. Goodbye. Don't ever come back here again.

They have been there at least a year, maybe two. And they aren't trims.

Spoken like a Trump supporter. Congrats. You're that guy. --Robb "Please continue to make fun of Trump to get his supporters out of our forum." Alvey

"The seat belts are exactly the same length as the day the ride opened. The length of them has never been changed." Heard directly from the maintenance team on Outlaw Run.

Thanks! And all taken with my little tiny iPhone SE! lol

Today we made a return trip to Kings Island! If there was an award for "most improved corporate park of the past decade" I think it could go to Kings Island! Ever since Cedar Fair bought this park I feel like they have been doing a ton of work to improve the attractions and the overall guest experience. Rides like Diamondback, Banshee, and Mystic Timbers are GREAT! The availability of Fast Lane really improves your visit, especially when you come from out of town and you don't visit the park that often. I was at the park earlier this year for the Mystic Timbers media event and was excited to return for more rides. Thankfully the park let us come in early on the night before so we could get some rides on the coaster in the pitch black! It's awesome! While I know a lot of people love riding The Beast at night (as do I) the park now has another contender for "best night ride" on a coaster! Onto some photos & video! We shot a really cool 360 video of Mystic Timbers that includes a full "shed" reveal. You need to view this in your smartphone using the YouTube app to be able to look around. And yes, while the shed is sort of cheesy, I also think it's fun and it's better than just sitting on a brake run... We have just arrived at Kings Island! Nice to see Don Helbig! Can't wait to ride Mystic Timbers again tonight! Still one of my all-time favorite B&M inverted coasters! Time for some Racer! Are "team red" or "team blue?" This is how we LOVE The Beast at Kings Island! Dark, spooky, and AWESOME!!! While we love The Beast at night... Kings Island has another amazing night ride... Mystic Timbers!!! [twitter] [/twitter] The crew at Mystic Timbers tonight have been AWESOME! Thank you for making our first night at Kings Island amazing! Had a great first night at Kings Island! See you again tomorrow morning! Starting our morning off doing some filming on Mystic Timbers! Some happy riders on Mystic Timbers! I'm not quite sure what the girls were doing here! lol [twitter] [/twitter] You guys are about to ride a LEGENDARY coaster! Our weather was absolutely beautiful today! The Bat is a "classic" and we love it! These Arrow suspended are a rare breed now. How many of our readers love Diamondback? When in Ohio... Team Blue!!! [twitter] [/twitter] Diamondback vs. The Beast! Who would win? [twitter] [/twitter] I'm just going to keep taking lots of pictures of Banshee if you don't mind! How many of our followers have been on Firehawk? Going up the Eiffel Tower at Kings Island is a MUST!!! The views are FANTASTIC!!! TPR waves hi from on high at Kings Island! Photo: TheGreatZo We ran into Don Helbig again today! Thanks for everything Don! Having an awesome day here at Kings Island! The 80s store is awesome! If you love Retrogaming you should check out all the cool things in this store! Taking another ride on Diamondback! Always an amazing view! [twitter] [/twitter] "Mystic Timbers is my favorite GCI woodie!" -an actual quote from Elissa Alvey Had another fantastic visit to Kings Island today! Looking forward to next time... Now please POST YOUR COMMENTS! After all, we took the time to write the report, thru very least you can do is say something about it!

I have no idea what you are talking about. We just rode tonight and even our bigger riders had no problem fitting into the ride. I'd say our bigger riders are between 260 - 310lbs and yes the belts were tight, but you could easily get them latched if you're not an idiot and know how to put on a seat belt. There is *NO WAY IN HELL* someone weighing 185lbs didn't make it on the ride. I'm sorry, I don't believe that for a hot second. I didn't find the restraints or belts any more/less restrictive than opening day. On the plus side, the ride ops were more than happy to push on the restraint if needed which is already leaps and bounds a better guest experience than what we witnessed on Lightning Rod.

You're welcome. Robb's responses killed me like This pretty much sums up my feelings about the last page!

You're welcome.

That article isn't giving the entire story. I could be wrong (but I'm FAIRLY certain I'm not) that that was the issue that came up years back where they decided it was a good idea to add a gusset plate to strengthen that part was that showing structural problems. All examples of the ride were given that upgrade. That was dealt with, in what seems to have been a competent and responsible manner. That article looks to be trying to make it out to seem like they found issues and just ignored them. They didn't; they fixed that. Unfortunately it looks like a different source of cracking and fatigue was also going on that was never noticed... Yes, this is correct. You can file that article under #fakenews as it doesn't even relate in any way to the current accident. Saying that article is in any way related is like saying Toyota issued a recall for brakes, but then all of a sudden a gas tank failed a decade later.

You should! You'd be a lot more welcome than the person at the top of this page!

Our next day was a more 'take it easy and relax' day in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg... except that we didn't take it easy and we rode a bunch of Alpine coasters, played mini golf, went to an arcade, visited other random attractions, ate food, and ran around like crazy! lol It was a VERY good day at these two "tourist trap" style areas outside of Dollywood, both of which provide some EXCELLENT amusements and attractions! This morning we are at Rowdy Bear Mountain to fly down the mountain on the new Alpine Coaster in Gatlinburg! It's brand new and "Coaster now OPEN" is a sign we LOVE to see! [twitter] [/twitter] I think that Elissa & Kristen enjoyed this new mountain coaster! Next up was "Arcade City" at The Island in Pigeon Forge! This is a giant family arcade with lots of "redemption" style games! April actually won some headphones! [twitter] [/twitter] You know you're at a great arcade when they have skee-ball and plastic Dracula teeth! The Island is a giant entertainment comples in Pigeon Forge filled with amusements, shopping, and dining. It's stil fairly new and it's a really great "hang out' location. Next up was "Top Jump" which has an awesome Clip N Climb course. We visited here last year and liked it so much, we came back! [twitter] [/twitter] The obstacles at Top Jump USA are so much fun! It's like rock climbing walls on steroids! While we didn't go up to Ober Gatlinburg this visit, we highly recommend and we have to pay homage to their amazing Von Roll ariel tramway! Some of the group went to go check out Mystery Mansion in Gatlinburg! Another part of the group went to check out "Hillbilly Golf" where you ride an incline Railway to the top of the course! Since we all love Apline Coasters we went to check out another one in the area (there are three in Gatlinburg with a fourth on the way!) [twitter] [/twitter] Hmmm... BBQ or Pizza? Which should we choose? Speaking about Alpine Coasters, we also made a visit to Goats on the Roof in Pigeon Forge! Their lightning package at night was great! And just down the road, the "Alpine Coaster at Pigeon Forge" was also showing off some amazing illuminosity! Was a great day & night hanging out in this very touristy but fun town! Our next stop... Kings Island! Thank you for reading! Be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS! We took the time to write our report, the least you could do is pretend to say something nice!

^ Wow. What a f**king weird and awkward post. See: the title of this thread.

Did you read the report? I actually answer this in the report.

#dumb

Wait. Did I read that correctly? The op came over to see if he could get it to lock, and he could, and then unlocked it and made you do it, and when you couldn't (because you don't work there and don't know as much about the ride as he does) you were told you couldn't ride??? That's TERRIBLE if that is actually what happened and totally inexcusable. I've been on all the RMC's now except Joker and I've never seen anything like this.

We made it to Dollywood...and YES, we made it on Lightning Rod! When we saw on the app that Lightning Rod was OPEN we made the decision to head out of Carowinds a little earlier after the Fury tour and ERT. We had a very full day at Carowinds the day before, so it made sense to get out to Dollywood a bit earlier to try to get on Lightning Rod. Now, this time last year, we had done another tour that stopped at Dollywood and I'm sure you can guess, we missed out on Lightning Rod. Disappointed, yes, but that didn't stop up from putting together a tour this year that made a return trip so we could get on the ride. Over the past few weeks, it was looking a bit unlikely that we would get on it, but all the planets did align and the ride OPENED! Not only did we get on it, but I actually managed SEVEN rides over the course of the two days we were there! So how was it? Honestly, it was worth the wait! The ride absolutely delivers. And even moreso at night! The airtime is relentless and is *exactly* the kind of airtime I like... that constant feeling of almost being thrown out of your seat! It's just incredible! Every inch of track has been beautifully designed! While I don't really "rank" coasters anymore, this would by far be in my top 5 wood and top 10 overall coasters. Someone had asked me which of the four RMC "woodies" is my favorite now that I've been on all four, but honestly they are all so different and good. Outlaw Run had that intense snappy feel to it and the inversions are fantastic, Wildfire is just an overall CRAZY experience that keeps you laughing all the way around, Lightning Rod is an airtime monster, and Goliath is just sort of Goliath. They are different enough, and spaced far apart enough that they don't compete with each other so I don't see why I'd need to pick a favorite. The only real constructive feedback I can give for the ride was in the operations department falling under the "ride rules" category. We had one of our riders who was RIGHT on the edge of not being able to to ride. The first time he rode, he was able to get the bar down and he fit just fine. The second time he rode, he was having more trouble so I went to push down on his bar to help just like I would on every other ride in the world, and this angry older ride op named "Al" came over and shouted at me "DO NOT TOUCH THAT BAR HE HAS TO DO IT ON HIS OWN IF YOU TOUCH THAT BAR AGAIN YOU ARE NOT RIDING THIS COASTER ANYMORE!!!!!" I'm sorry what? Excuse me? This ride is already difficult enough for people to get on and you want to make it even HARDER for people? No, sorry, that's not cool with me. I cannot think of another ride anywhere in the world where you couldn't give the guy next to you literally a "nudge" on the bar to make it down that TINY extra to get the green light especially when the guy JUST RODE the coaster. The ride ops would NOT help anyone push the bar down on Lightning Rod, yet they had no problem pushing the bar down and helping on Thunderhead or Wild Eagle. This needs to be fixed, IMO. That being said, words really cannot describe how amazing Lightning Rod is. The launch takes you off-guard and the pacing of the ride is nuts. There is a reason why RMC has quickly jumped to the top of my list of favorite ride designers and they are making the kinds of rides that I absolutely love. What about the rest of our Dollywood visit? Fantastic! I mean, we rode so much and had an amazing two days. Wild Eagle, Tennessee Tornado, Blazing Fury, Thunderhead, Mystery Mine, the new Drop Line drop tower, Mountain Slidewinder, and the list goes on. We feasted on cinnamon bread and that really was the icing on the cake, literally! Once again, another great visit to Dollywood! Now onto some photos... As soon as we heard that Lightning Rod was OPEN we high tailed it to Dollywood! Not only did we just get on Lightning Rod but it is one of the best roller coasters I've been on! WOW!!! Words cannot describe! Just got in another ride! WOW! Incredible! Back seat is an airtime monster!!! Let's not forget about Dollywood's other legendary woodie, Thunderhead!!! [twitter] [/twitter] Time to soar over the Smoky Mountains on Wild Eagle! A salute to all servicemen, but mostly fire fighters! So we hear that night rides on Lightning Rod are insane! Should we do it? Night ERT on Lightning Rod has begun and the ride is INCREDIBLE! Worth the wait and more!!! LIghtning Rod duing the day will blow your mind away, but at night, it's a whole other monster!!! The next morning we were back at Dollywood to do some filming on the classic Arrow Tennessee Tornado! Here's a quick clip of what we shot: [twitter] [/twitter] And we even shot a 360 video of Tennessee Tornado! Click this link and watch in the YouTube app on your phone: Good morning Lightning Rod! We missed you over the past 12 hours! [twitter] [/twitter] Every ride we took on Lightning Rod blew us away! Such an exceptional coaster! You need to get to Dollywood to ride it!!! Here is the Dollywood update you've all been waiting for! CINNAMON BREAD!!! This stuff is a MUST HAVE when you visit the park! Last year "on this day" Elissa & Kristen were riding Wild Eagle... This year the are riding Tennessee Tornado! Another ride on Wild Eagle? SURE! Some very interesting faces made during our filming session on Tennessee Tornado today! lol Yay! We got our photo with the Dollywood sign! Bucket list item... CHECK! Awwww... that's so sweet! Dolly would approve! "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea!" lol Why can't other US parks have drinks at such reasonable prices? This really is a super awesome log flume! You can find the world's largest exhibit of bald eagles at Dollywood! Mountain Slidewider was a huge hit! (Thanks Andy for the pic!) As was the log flume! (another Andy pic!) "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!" I will never tire of the relaxing feel and theming of Dollywood Our visit to Dollywood over the past two days was just amazing! Still one of the best theme parks in the country! Thank you! Now please POST YOUR COMMETS! After all, we took the time to write the report, thru very least you can do is say something about it!

WOW. That is actually an amazing compliment. Thank you!

Thank you!

Dear people visiting our forum... If you don't like what we have to say, don't like our content, or have issues with how we run our forum... DO NOT VISIT OUR FORUM!!! Please do not send me some unwanted wall of text filled with your condescending, obnoxious commentary on how we run our forum. Seriously, we do not care what you think. I cannot stress this enough. We really REALLY do not care and we would rather you just go away and find another theme park forum to frequent. And I say this because I just received a wall of obnoxious condescending text with their "unsolicited" thoughts on the forum. Sorry, we don't want your feedback. And I'm just being honest here. Thanks for your understanding.

I know as much about operating traveling fair Frisbees as I do manufacturing refrigerators so I'm not going to make any detailed speculations or respond to any. I was more playing devil's advocate based on the different stories I've heard.

That's a GREAT video. That could really help with things I'm sure. Tragic yes, but taking the human and emotional element out of it for a moment, actually is very interesting to see the ride in pieces like that. Still shocked over this. If it turns out that it was some ride operator error raising the floor or some crazy thing like that, that's almost even more scary (I think?) than metal fatigue and the inspector being a moron.

I really don't understand why people are so stingy about theme park food & drinks. It's all part of the experience and yes it's expensive, but if you want to frequent theme parks, suck it up or don't visit. Dollywood was selling bottled water at 2 for $4 today and they also would give you a free cup of water if you asked. Spending 30 minutes on the phone to ask if you can bring a bottle of water into the park is so insanely dumb that I'm embarrassed to read someone on our forum did that. I also feel that buying food and merch at the parks actually HELPS SUPPORT THE PARKS and I'd really like parks to keep getting new attractions and they are doing that for the people who bring in money, not the people who want a literal free ride. Seriously just buy the $2 bottles of water and if you can't afford $2 bottles of water maybe theme parks shouldn't be your hobby. Sorry, just had to say it. /end rant.

Yeah, I keep hear about some other mystical video also. Where is it? Find it hard to believe that so many people have supposedly seen this video, but it's nowhere online? Seems suspect. I haven't seen it and I think people are just confused at what they're looking at. There's a video someone took that's about 5ish minutes long of the aftermath and that's actually a thousand times worse than the 5 second clip of the accident itself. Where is that one at?