robbalvey

That's disappointing. It looks REALLY "unfinished" and maybe it will look better, but with as much as they are pushing this park on its "theming" and how it will be on par with Universal and IOA, and even implying on par with the Disney parks, I personally think leaving a giant hole full of slide structures doesn't look amazing. Maybe it's also that we were just at Yas Waterworld in Abu Dhabi where they also have a giant themed structure in the middle of their park with slides coming off of it and the theming there was seriously insane. Aside from the coaster track & supports, everything else is themed including putting rock work around the slide supports and the stair cases. In fact, if it were up to me, I'd remove the coaster so that it didn't look as out of place with the rest of the theming!

So have we heard if anything will be put in place to cover the back side of the mountain at Volcano Bay? I'm hearing that, aside from the scaffolding on the side of the mountain and the cranes, that this is how the backside of the mountain is going to look. Has anyone heard anything more? Thoughts on this?

Here's a little teaser video that Walt Disney World have sent us:

And I still do!

It's right next door to Yas Waterworld if you happen to be going there. But really what they are building at the moment is one giant box and there isn't much to see so I wouldn't waste your time and go out of your way...

Day 1 - Arrival and Hub Zero Indoor Theme Park Day 2 - Ski Dubai, Dune Bashing, BOOBS! Day 3 - Wild Wadi Water Park Day 4 - Ferrari World with the World's Fastest Roller Coaster! Day 4 - Yas Worldworld Water Theme Park! Day 6 - IMG Worlds of Adventure Part 1! Day 6 - IMG Worlds of Adventure Part 2! After five years we have finally made a return trip to the UAE! W[/[/url]url]e kept putting it off as more and more new attractions kept opening up, and I'm glad we did because there is a lot of great new attractions in the area and it made for a fantastic trip! While I miss Dubai as it's easily in my top three places in the world to visit, waiting it out was quite the payoff. There was actually DOUBLE the amount of major parks this visit that during our last visit, and we are already looking towards 2020 as a possible date for our next visit, and there will be almost twice as many more new attractions then! This first part of the report will focus on our arrival into the UAE and visiting a small "virtual reality" part called Hub Zero which opened recently as part of a new "City Walk" indoor/outdoor entertainment complex. (And no, it's not part of anything Universal related!) I have a feeling this report is going to be quite long as there is a ton of cool stuff to cover! Let's get started just like how we got started... our flight and first evening in Dubai! This was our first ever time flying Emirates and we have nothing but GREAT things to say! The seats were comfortable the service was great and the plane made it there in one piece. That's a solid review, no? I sat down in my seat and Moana greeted me. I knew we were off to a good start! I love it when planes have an board cameras so you can get a POV of your take-off and landing! Let me just say that this was a VERY LOOOONG flight! This was the first time I have been on a plane that had a fiberoptic "star field" when all the lights were turned off for sleeping. The first thing you notice when you land in Dubai is "WOW! This place looks *JUST LIKE* LAX!!!" Ok, ok. Joking aside as I realize some of you may have never been to the shithole that is LAX... This looks NOTHING like it! lol The next thing you notice when you go outside is... "There are LOTS of buildings here. Many of them are very tall." We decided to drop our bags at the hotel and immediately head out to one of the GIANT malls you find all over the UAE. This was a good plan because at this time our jetlag was pretty screwed up and we needed an excuse to stay awake! Ahh, yes. If there is one thing that is amazing about Dubai is the wide selection of food. You see, because the country is mostly run by expats from all over the place, the country is imported restaurants from "all over the place" so you find some of the best chain restaurants in the world, many of which you won't find in other countries, here in Dubai. Din Tai Fung is here (which we do not have many of in the USA) so we had to eat! If you're not familiar with Din Tai Fung, it's a Taiwanese based dumpling restaurant and they are known for the meticulous way they make their dumplings. "Clean room" suits are required and they are carefully constructed. This results into some of the most amazing things you'll put in your mouth! This is a picture of Elissa. At this point I'm not sure why this picture was taken. It could have been to show off "Look, ma, here I am! (even though ma was with us) or it could have been to show how to make the dumpling sauce, or it could have been that we were jet lagged and decided to take a picture with no real explanation. In any case. Here's a picture of Elissa. Enjoy it! This is what Kristen's personal heaven looks like. (If we believed in such a place.) What are the chances that Scott Pilgrim's sister is working in this location? (Also note that this is a Canadian Chain... but it's here in Dubai!) Another look at lots of really tall buildings. There will be lots of them on this trip! You know... While I give Dubai a lot of credit for having lots of different restaurant options from all over the world, did we REALLY need to import "Applebees???" REALLY?!?!? Just your average ordinary kind of Rolls Royce dealership. You know. Like the ones you see on almost every street corner in Ohio... This was the new City Walk not far from our hotel. I think it has just opened in the past few months. In fact some of the attractions at Hub Zero were still under construction. Nice place and isn't tied to Universal at all, just in case you were wondering. It sort of has a "Freemont Street" kind of vibe except with a lot more Ferrari's and a lot less Coors Light. Here is the entrance to Hub Zero. I know this because there is a sign with these words on it. The entire indoor park was a giant "virtual reality" playground. Very much like what DisneyQuest would look like if it was built today. The theming was great and there were a lot of "big name" video game franchises that you would recognize. We didn't ride or experience too much here because it was mostly VR or media-based experiences, similar to what you'd find at a park like Joypolis in Japan. But we loved walking around and checking it out! Lots of "simulator" type rides. I feel like almost every simulator you'd see on the IAAPA show floor was here! We did check out the Resident Evil shooting dark ride! Fun shooting dark ride ride! This is an AlterFace creation using a trackless ETF dark ride vehicle. The ride itself was small but really fun! Here's the layout of the ride. You can see they had a small space to work with, but it's really crammed full of fun! (Photo: Alterface) First of all you get to shoot zombies, so what could be better? There are also physical targets along the course. And also physical sets and props! Seriously for a smaller attraction, we really enjoyed this! The Vertical Adventure Zone was a Ropes Course Inc play area. Looked like fun! These are always great so I'm happy to see one installed in this location. Kristen spent some time in the Plants Versus Zombies area! This whole play area was very well themed! And there was a ton of stuff in here for kids to do! [twitter] [/twitter] lol! Loved all the Plants Versus Zombies stuff all over the place! Seriously, this entire park was very well done and the theming was great! So while Kristen was playing in the Plants Versus Zombies area I decided to go upstairs and check out the arcade. For those of you who don't know, I spent the majority of my adult career in the video games business and love retro gaming (You should check out and LIKE my Retro Games Fan page!) The absolute LAST thing I expected to find was a giant retro video games arcade in Dubai! They had TONS of machines here! Now these were not "originals" as you would find in the 1980s in the US arcades, but that is mainly due to the fact that not many of those original machines would have made it to Dubai in the first place. Someone has gone through the trouble of painstakingly re-created all the original side art, control panel overlays, and marquees used. I will warn you right now that there are a LOT of arcade machine photos so if this sort of thing doesn't interest you, please scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll down to where they end! All of this side art and control panel looks almost identical to the real arcade machine! And while the original controls were not always 100%, they did the best they could. Seriously there were a LOT of games here and some that I wouldn't have expected. Space Invaders makes sense as this was a very popular game. But a dedicated "Lady Bug" machine is not something I would have expected to see here! I think in total there were about 50 different machines! Oh, and a handful of pinball in case anyone is interested! But the collection of video game cabinets was impressive. Most of the retro "barcades" I've seen in Orlando and New York don't have anywhere near this many machines! Ok this is the last arcade machine photo, so you can stop here! lol I feel this picture right here represents a true bonding between the United States and Canada! Getting back to the hotel I just have to stop and pay my respects to these dudes. Thank you for making this all possible! And for those of you a little more unfamiliar with the culture of the UAE, let's just say that this poster in our hotel is quite representative of how they are! lol We will be back with more Dubai fun! Don't change that channel! Don't click away from TPR's website! (seriously just stay looking at this page for a day or two...don't even sleep) Ski Dubai and a "woman who can balance a sword on her boobs" is coming up next! 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!) Construction Photos from early Feb 2005

Is it bad that I lose any sort of respect or sense of compassion for someone when I see a picture of them wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat?

Hanno has also posted his report here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=74732

Added one of Hanno's video to the report. This ride looks GREAT!

It depends on the event. This one was from 5am - 11am. The upcoming Disney one is 3 days! lol

Today was Media Day for Mystic Timbers and yes, I found out what is in the shed, and yes we are going to tell you! First off, the ride. If you're a fan of GCI wood coasters, you're going to love Mystic Timbers! It's fast, it's out of control, switches directions faster than you can anticipate, has plenty of pops of air, and overall a *solid* ride. This is not a "family" GCI woodie and it's more along the lines of Gold Striker or Prowler as far as longer, spread out GCI coasters. This one's a hit! I got to ride both while it was still night and during the day and while it's a really good ride during the day, holy crap was it crazy at night. Makes me wonder after people discover it, which ride will have the longer night ride line, Mystic Timbers or The Beast. Hmm... As for "What's in the Shed?" Watch the video below. Yes, I'm having fun with it and yes I'm hamming it up to an extreme (seriously, what did you expect from me?) but what I describe is actually *EXACTLY* what is in the shed! Not joking! Now there are different variations. One time we got Hall & Oats, another time we got Gary Newman's Cars. I also heard that Ace of Base is in there and Bonnie Tyler, but I never heard those two. Basically you pull into the brake run which is themed to an abandoned shed due to some really unexplainable scary stuff that happened in the 1980s (yes, that's the story line) and the first thing that happens is you see some beat up "shed stuff" with an old cassette player. It plays a song for you. You can dance, you can enjoy it. It's there. Next you advance into a room with some projections of "spoooooooky things!" We saw angry trees, bats, I heard there were lizards, too. I think some eyes glowed at you and there was some nice product placement with a beat up Coca-Cola machine. And that's what's in the shed! lol Honestly, it's "fine." I think as the park told me "Normally you just sit on the brake run waiting for the train in front of you to finish loading and dispatching. We just wanted to give the rider something to look at and have fun with it." And that's exactly what it is. Those of you who were expecting a drop track or an inversion, or giant ladies to come tickle you with feathers, re-adjust your expectations now. I actually think it would have been funny as hell if you pulled into that first room and just heard Rick Astley on the tape deck playing! That would have been the ultimate theme park "We trolled you!!!" and it would have made me very happy! lol But the show scene is nice, too. Anyway onto some photos & video! Yes, that video does in fact reveal What's In The Shed! And here is the park-supplied POV and B-Roll for your viewing pleasure: Here I am at Kings Island at 5am. I want you all to know that I normally don't even start getting out of bed until around 10am, so you can see the sacrifice I'm making here! lol It's still dark, but there are fountains. I'm tired, and I needed reminding where I was... I walked a few hundred feet from sign A to sign B and yet again forgotten. Thankfully I know now. Here's the ride entrance sign. But it's night time. It looks exactly the same during the day. But lighter. I took this sort of blurry picture of the train and people's bald heads. It's the only picture of the train that I took because I'm horrible at this. The sun is starting to rise and you can see that blue stuff in the air behind the coaster. This is probably going to be the best picture I'll take the whole day, so it's cool if you want to stop reading right now. I had to wear this thing in order to ride. It had my name on it! I love it! You know you're a celebrity at a coaster media event when everyone is wearing your name around their necks! lol I did do some TV interviews and newspaper stuff. If anyone happens to see them, please link us! There's a magical disappearing podium. It disappeared shortly after everything was done and it was never heard from again. Mike Koontz came out and said some words. Rob Decker said more words and things. Adam House was all "Doesn't GCI kick ass? Yeah we do, baby!" Don was all "pardon me while I eat this microphone. OM NOM NOM!" Seriously though, great presentation. Short and to the point. And that's how we like it! Here's the replay of the live stream: [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] I figured we'll throw in some POV shots for you. This is "Imma gonna carry the train thing up the hill" section. This is the top of the hill where you see more roller coasters. You can see the ride is "Twisty" but I didn't say "Twiiiiisty" in the video because that's sooooo 2010! And here is the shed. Today we tweeted about things that could be in the shed, and this is what we tweeted: #WhatsInTheShed? Measles. Everyone gets measles. #WhatsInTheShed A giant spider web filled with fruit! #WhatsInTheShed The nuclear fridge from Indiana Jones 4. #WhatsInTheShed Hall & Oats are in the shed! #WhatsInTheShed A guy with a megaphone saying "don't go in the shed." #WhatsInTheShed The Boners of the Elderly. One of them was 100% true. Another one was sort of true. Here's pictures of the roller coaster thingy. People seem to be having fun, but they were also promised free food, and that goes a long way at a media event! lol Dude. Front Row. Left Side. Has issues. Dear Kings Island. Please do not listen to the tree hugging hippies and mercilessly chop all these down. That would have been such a great photo! Cut these while you're at it. Thanks! This is the front of the train. It turns out you're in a crappy old truck going on a joy-ride. They didn't supply me with any Coors Light though and I'm OK with that. This sign has words on it. It's themed to a book that also has words. Here's the actual truck you're supposed to be riding in. #WhatsInTheSecondShed Hung out with Nick today at Kings Island. We both have similar social media woes. This means we need more alcohol. We took a picture. It was a nice picture. I'm trying to attack Cassy. Travis is all "LookatmeI'mcool!" Other dude sat down next me and said "I have no issues with you." And I was all... "Thanks...I guess?" It's cool, though. I have no issues with me either! lol Tomorrow this goose will be in the shed. They gave is this nice bag and a commemorative media day ticket framed! I'm actually giving one away on our Twitter, so go try to win it! That's it! Media day DONE! Get out and ride Mystic Timbers. We'll be back at Kings Island later in the year!

...

Here's our rider cam with a FULL SHED REVEAL!!!

Unfortunately it might be a while. At the moment BGW doesn't look to be in the cards for our 2017 or 2018 trips, but we do need to get back there since the last time we visited was the opening year for Verbolten.

At least the website really makes it *feel* like this is going to be a legit make-over of the park and re-opening the major attractions in addition to the newer family friendly stuff is absolutely in their plans. I had always felt that every time we visited the park, there seemed to be more people there than you'd think there would be. They appear to do well with their groups catering and the baseball field next door probably helps, too.

Whut?

I was looking through my photos from our last visit to see if I took any pictures of Breakers being that we freaking stayed there and I didn't even notice if the building was gone, and then I ran across my "last picture ever" on Mean Streak and it made me so happy! lol

Thinking? Bruh, they pulled it down last off season. Ha! That's awesome! Wait, was it not there for the Valravn season and I didn't even notice? lol

New Hotness, bitches... So am I correct in thinking they are finally pulling down the old Bon Air section of Hotel Breakers? That, IMO is FANTASTIC NEWS!!! The new wing looks great!

Are we really debating the logistics of planting a tree at Busch Gardens? It's official - We have run out of things to discuss on the internet.

First of all, no you didn't. Second of all, Tony Clark doesn't run our forums.

I'm not sure why I found this post sort of funny, but yes, it is very very common to plant fully grown trees as part of landscaping.

That would fall under the "poor excuses" category. Joris en de Draak uses the same base trains and that ride has a height restriction of 42"

I think it's pretty obvious you haven't even seen or been in the attraction and it's, IMHO pretty stupid that you're making these comments knowing absolutely nothing about the ride or the lounge. Whereas the people who are speaking about their experience are speaking *ACTUAL EXPERIENCES* yet you seem to be discounting that as though there are other factors involved. It's become a pattern on our forums lately, and I'll just keep saying: If you don't have any clue what you're talking about, we would just prefer you didn't post at all.

Yep. This also came to mind as well. If there is one thing I've learned over the decades of working with the amusement industry is that most parks could in fact find a solution for something if they wanted to, but usually will just give you an "excuse" for the things they don't to satisfy a justification for a decision.