robbalvey

Hmm.... Why can't you vote? Can you send me a screen shot of what you're seeing on the forum? That's really strange. I'm wondering if other people are having this issue also?

We never sold the Blu-Ray versions on iTunes. You must be talking about the early DVD releases?

The question is simple: Would you be SERIOUSLY INTERESTED in another Roller Coasters in the RAW Blu-Ray volume? Respond to the poll above. The reason why I'm asking: We've recently received messages of "when is the next volume coming out?" but my response has basically been "we don't plan on releasing another one since you can pretty much watch all of our content for free on YouTube." I figured since most people stopped buying physical media, this was the end of the Blu-Ray series. But to my surprise, it would seem like people still want it. I would consider making another one if we actually got enough people interested. It would be a small run of 50 or 100 copies as I don't want to end up with huge amounts of inventory and I'd probably just sell it directly through TPR since it is such a short run. I would have to sell it for $20 for it to be worth our while. It would contain the top 25-30 roller coaster videos we have produced in 2016 and so far in 2017. Again, let me know if you would be interested and if there IS actual interest, I may consider it. Thank you for your input! ps. We would not be interested in doing a DVD version, sorry.

You know, I went back and re-read the first post I made in this thread, just to make sure that it wasn't out of line or anything. Man, I still find it HILARIOUS! lol I find myself smh at people more and more each day.... *sigh*

Thanks for the awesome feedback! We ARE still doing West Coast Bash! That is totally in the plans! This year is a little more tricky because the dates we normally do WCB we are going to be in Germany for Oktoberfest. So we hope we can make it work. But yes, WCB is still 100% on! if you got an email about trips, well that's because you're special! And just keep that to yourself!

That video gives you zero indication of how rough or not rough the ride may be.

The next day of our trip was a bit more adventurous, and really quite a LOT! First we would start the day skiing and I have to say that Ski Dubai should be on the list as one of the many wonders of the world. I will preface this by saying that it's the only indoor snow skiing venue I've been to, but I absolutely LOVE it! And while no, it doesn't replace going actual skiing in the mountains, the fact that they have legit fun snow skiing and snowboarding IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING ARABIAN DESERT is what sells this place for me! We stuck to just skiing and snowboarding today, but the venue also has toboggan runs, kids play areas, snow zorbing, and penguins! It's seriously amazing! The next leg of our adventurous day would take us on a "Desert Safari" and this is probably the most quintessential "touristy" thing to do in Dubai. But it's a hell of a lot of fun! Your afternoon evening is usually broken into a few different parts. The first part is where you get to play in the sand. Some of us took ATV's out into the sand and then we all went out into Land Cruisers for some dune bashing. That is just absolutely INSANE! We'll stop for a bit to check out the dunes, do some sand surfing and then head to our "desert camp" for some dinner and evening entertainment. If you ever make a trip to Dubai, there are a bunch of these "desert safari" tours you can book. We did the ones through "OceanAir Travel" and they are a great company to work with! Highly recommended! Ok, onto some photos because we all know text is sooooo boring! Here we are at the Mall of the Emirates. This is a GIANT shopping mall, one of many in Dubai and their main attraction aside from all the shopping is "Ski Dubai!" Here is what the venue looks like from the outside. I have to be honest, when you see it from this perspective, it doesn't do the place justice. The first thing you do at Ski Dubai is get your rental equipment, get suited up and you're ready go to. Thankfully one ticket gets you everything you need for the day! Next... time to hit the slopes! Even Janice is getting back on skis after she tore her ACL in Park City a few years ago! This place does miracles! Dan had never been on skis before so Robb was almost able to teach him how to ski. "Almost" being the key word here... Ski Dubai features a 1,300 foot long run, which honestly is quite impressive considering you're INDOORS in the middle of the desert!!! "So what if I tore my ACL? I'm still skiing like a BOSS!" You can see pretty much most of the run here. There's a bit up around the corner at the top, not too much, but really, this run offers some fun and challenge especially when there isn't any mountains anywhere around here! KidTums action shot!!!! "Eh, leave me alone! I'm trying to ski!!!" Matt enjoying being on skis in the middle of the freaking Arabian Desert! Joe basically thinking the same thing! From the chair lift you can get a different perspective of Ski Dubai. KidTums and I just hanging out skiing in the desert! Looking back while on the chair lift. Honestly, the best way to get an idea of this place is through some video, so here you go! After skiing we went to get some Shake Shack! Of all the burger places to import here in Dubai (of which they have many) we are so happy to have Shake Shack! It's one of our favorites and it's just as awesome here! Damn that is soooo good! Hey look! The peanut butter shakes here don't need stickers all over them warning people that there are nuts in this product because this country isn't filled with horrible Americans! Driving to the Desert Safari was passed the archway that once said "Universal Studios Dubai." And there it is! Sand.... lots and lots of sand! Here is our humble little group for the trip. Nice and small and asshole free and that's exactly how we like things! Some of the group went out on ATVs in the sand! So much fun!!! This right here is our vehicle of hot death! We would next go out "Dune Bashing" which is basically trying really really hard to crash and roll your truck in the sand, but stopping RIGHT BEFORE you are about to die. Here we all go... marching into the sand to our deaths! This is not something that really be described in pictures. So here's some video. Stop what you are doing and watch. It's only a couple of minutes long... Here's the girls in the sand! And then it was time for some sand surfing!!! There aren't many places in the world you can go from snowboarding to sand surfing in just a few hours! Kristen did it sitting down and BACKWARDS! lol She's nuts! Where there is desert, there are camels! And of course we took advantage and plopped our fat asses on top of these poor creatures! Sorry guys! VOLUME UP AND WATCH THIS VIDEO CLIP!!!! [twitter] [/twitter] Let's just say the "dismount" on the camels leaves a lot to be desired and could sometimes produce... um... "interesting" situations... For example... This. Quickly turned into.... THIS!!! It's all good though! lol Good camel, goooood camel! This would be our "Desert Camp" for the next couple of hours for some food and entertainment! "Balls." Because Kristen likes holding animals that could bite her face off! Kristen getting all tatted up! Looks awesome! My food looked... um... perplexed? This is pretty much the only "local food" we would have the whole trip. I mean, between the Applebee's and Chili's why would we go anywhere else? The evening started with some whirling dervishes which we would simply refer to as "spinning guy." No, that's not a new amusement park attraction, that's spinning guy all lit up! Check out this little video: [twitter] [/twitter] Next would come the star of the show...the belly dancer! Once she came out, we pretty much were fixated on one thing... THOSE BOOBS!!! We discussed it quite a bit, but we weren't sure if they were part of the costume or just really solid fake melons. Because they never moved ONE BIT! lol But if there is one thing I know for certain... any girl who can balance a sword on her boobs IS A KEEPER!!!! And with that our evening comes to an end. Although it wouldn't be a night in the desert without... CAMEL TOE!!!!! Thanks for reading! We will have more Dubai updates soon! Oh yes, be sure to POST YOUR COMMENTS!!! (we took the time to write the report, the least you could do is say something nice about it!) Quatro_[R]_Real.nlpack Construction Photos from early Feb 2005

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Oh, man, sometimes I forget that things we have done on our forum and then I see it and it makes my titties jiggle! lol

Oh, and one more thing... Hey look! We just got invited to the Hersheypark Triple Tower preview event!!! Should be a great event!

The funny thing is, and no matter how many times we will say it to people, we really *HONESTLY* don't care what they say. So many people think that by coming on our FB page or YouTube Channel and making some horrible comment about the commentary or the content of the video, we'll stop what we are doing, take their thoughts into consideration, and then radically change how we produce videos. PEOPLE *ACTUALLY* BELIEVE THIS!!! lol And we can't get it through people's heads enough that we seriously do not care. They can go post negatively on every single video we have (and someone has actually done this before to all two thousand of our YouTube videos), thumbs down the video as much as they'd like, or (and this one is my favorite) threaten to unsubscribe or unlike our page. They can do all of that... WE REALLY DO NOT CARE!!! LMAO! None of that affects our page or the channel or how we produce our content in the slightest. In short - Humans entertain me!

Thank you! We try!

Well, this isn't going to be the thread to get an update on what's happening right now at Motiongate, sorry. This thread will feature a report on our visit to Motiongate, but that's not going to be the information you're looking for. We do have a Dubai Parks & Resorts thread: http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=68936 Or you could always try asking them on social media. They seem to be very responsive on Facebook and Twitter.

This sums up my feelings about Shanghai Disneyland as well. Really liked certain aspects of the park a *LOT*, thought other parts were a bit overhyped while still being "nice" on their own merits, but I really just wish it wasn't in China. I'm actually happy that some of these more "honest" reviews are coming out, though. I felt that some of the "MUST BE FIRST" insane Disney bloggers went over there and hyped the crap out of it just to brag that "they were there and you weren't" which in turn led people to believe this was the "DIsneySEA killer" which it is not. Now that my personal expectations have been correctly adjusted, I think I will enjoy the park much more on my next visit.

We have a "Universal Orlando Discussion Thread" that this question would be more suitable in.

And that right there really does sum up why I stopped counting and why I find the whole thing just sort of dumb and pointless now.

How can any roller coaster be "rare" if... ...for those that are still operating, thousands of people ride that coaster every day it's open. ...for those that have closed, thousands of people rode it every day before it closed. Is "rare" synonymous with "far away from where I live" because if that's the case then a coaster is only as "rare" as you're willing to spend the money to travel to, but that doesn't make it rare, that just makes it far. It's not like someone just randomly unearthed a 1978 Blue Snaggletooth Star Wars action figure at a local Goodwill so I don't understand how a roller coaster could be considered "rare" unless you got to ride something like Twist Coaster Robin which only opened to the public for a few hours before it closed forever! But how many examples like that really are there? Case in point... Silverwood gets an annual attendance of 600,000 people per year. Timber Terror opened 21 years ago so that's a potential of 12.6 million people that could have ridden it. How is that coaster "rare" by any stretch of the imagination??? This is why counting coasters makes no sense anymore to me. Just enjoy the experience. No need to get all OCD over it...

Guys - I know some people just LOOOOOOVE to be first to post news and stuff, but please... PLEASE I ask, when news breaks, especially when it's from a park that you all KNOW we regularly post information from, please wait for one of the admins to post it. It just means we have to spend EXTRA time and do more work cleaning up a thread and removing posts so that everything will now flow like the discussion should. Thank you.

This just in from Six Flags Great Adventure! World’s Tallest and Fastest Drop Ride to Debut Extreme VR Experience at Six Flags Great Adventure in Partnership with Samsung Opens May 5 with Spider-Infested Virtual Reality Experience JACKSON, N.J. ─ April 20, 2017─ Six Flags Great Adventure, in partnership with Samsung Electronics America, Inc., the “Official Technology Partner of Six Flags,” today announced an all-new, extreme virtual reality experience coming to the world’s tallest and fastest drop ride beginning May 5. Thrill-seekers will use Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus to battle giant, mutant spiders while they plunge 41 stories at speeds up to 90 mph on Drop of Doom VR, a fully-integrated virtual reality (VR) experience on Zumanjaro. “As the leader in innovation, Six Flags launched the very first VR coaster experiences. Now, we are taking virtual reality to the next level with the introduction of the first VR drop rides,” said Neal Thurman, park president. “Drop of Doom VR plays upon two of our greatest fears – extreme heights and spiders – and delivers an entirely new thrill for the spring 2017 season.” While anxious riders buckle into their floorless seats and strap on their VR headsets, they are transported into a 360-degree virtual world where they become pilots of a futuristic gunship under attack by mutant spiders. This intense, interactive adventure features: - High speed, vertical ascent up 41 actual stories that transforms into 100 virtual stories while teetering off the edge of a helicopter; - A 360-degree rotating view high above massive city skyscrapers that are under siege by enormous spiders; - A high-intensity gun battle against a giant arachnid, spewing baby spiders that virtually crawl all over the rider’s body; - A thrilling 10-second fiery plunge straight down at speeds up to 90 mph between towering skyscrapers; - The final showdown with a spider the size of a van, teeth-gnashing and in full attack mode. For a limited time only, guests can experience the Drop of Doom virtual reality attraction free with paid park admission. Riders must be at least 48” tall to ride Drop of Doom VR, and at least 13 years old to experience Samsung Gear VR.

I give up. I really don't understand how people continue to bash Disney for things yet let Universal slide on others. I simply don't agree with it and I just have to leave it at that...

I'm going to lock this thread since it seems to be going on in several different directions, none which seem to be really that productive. Read my comments above. When there is something ready to present to the forum, I'm all for supporting it and helping out.

Weird. I have never been to the park and seen those two slides closed and this is the first I've ever heard about any issues at all with them. The longest span was last year for 6 weeks: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-summit-plummet-open-20160502-story.html So the park has been open for 22 years and the slides were down for 6 weeks due to a maintenance issue is a problem because.... ? Seriously though, we probably have people in town about once every other month who visit Blizzard Beach since we moved out here and not once have I heard someone say those slides were closed and they have never been closed on any of our personal visits. I can't see how this is even an issue or why it's being brought up other than someone purposely searching for a reason to slam Disney on something that's not really an issue. The idea that a ride or a slide would break down and need maintenance after 20 years of operation is not outside of the norm for theme park attractions in the slightest.

Weird. I have never been to the park and seen those two slides closed and this is the first I've ever heard about any issues at all with them.

Is the park even open at night? I thought I read somewhere that it was closing by 6 or 7pm every night? And I would have to imagine if that's the case then most of the guests probably would have left by that time anyway so I can't seem them putting on a light show for a smaller amount of people who would have stayed in the park. And if they were going to do a light show, wouldn't it look better on the FRONT of the volcano where you don't have a giant ugly gaping hole in the middle of it? Seriously, I think what surprises me about this is that it looks really "unfinished" and I don't understand why so many people gave DIsney so much crap when you could see the exposed building of Expedition Everest (from the parking lot keep in mind, not from inside the park) but here at this "themed" water park it is being billed as one of the best themed water parks in the world, and you have a giant hole in the volcano and you can see all the slide structures, stair cases, etc? This to me looks like something you'd see in a Chinese park where the theming only goes half-way. Why does Universal get a "pass" on this, but people criticize and flip out at Disney for similar things? Like I said, I'll have to see what the final product looks like, but I guess I just expected more from how Universal was positioning this park as the be-all end-all of themed water park experiences.

There are already a couple of efforts in the works. I'm going to be honest here and I'm sorry if this comes off as brash but this is just me being me... I'm not sure the best way to approach this is "Hey I'm thinking about doing this, but I've never done anything like this, but hey I've got friends in IT and Mitch's formula is there, right? So why not?" Personally, that to me just sort of doesn't sound like a recipe for success. Had you actually put something together, then tested it, then tested it some more, and THEN presented it to the forum with some functionality and ideas and needed some input, I'd say this idea has a shot. But to me this doesn't sound like it's off to a good start. I've already seen a couple of other Mitch-like polls that have had coding and design that are currently in development. Now none of them that I've seen are ready for release yet, so I wouldn't say to completely ditch your idea, but I think before coming back to the forum you need to have something a bit more polished than just the idea to do it, because that's already in progress. tl;dr - Great idea! I'm glad people are passionate about this. Put something working together and then come back to the forum so we can help when you're ready to present a working prototype.

If you search our topics you'll see we've had many different water park discussion threads in the past, but unfortunately none of them did very well. I think what it boils down to is that we just don't have enough ongoing water park discussion for it to have it's own forum.