jackskellington101

And finally some random stuff... I take a lot of pictures, I know. I've got some camera made videos as well, short things, but they're a little big for the forums, and I don't know how to compress them more. Oh well. ...jk. To finish up the pictures, me being a geek and giving Nemesis: Inferno a big thumbs up! Another Ahh! moment, but this one a good one. I can never find these things in the States anymore. It used to be every park we went to had one, but Hershey, BGW, and PKD must have sold theirs. Ahhh! Can't escape my summer job!!! I did actually do this can I womped all over the 7 year olds going at the same time. Am I proud of that? Heck yes! Coolest...KFC...EVER! Yes, this really is a KFC. Now how did THAT happen! It looks a little painful, really. Um...yeah...The sign really speaks for itself. After that meal, I took the TPR plan of exercising it off, DDR! But wait this isn't DDR, or it's British equivalent Dancing Stage. It's EZ2Dancer. DDR with less foot motions AND hand motions. It required more coordination than I really had. It can't be a British park without a nice helping of Fish and Chips. Mmmm mmm good! Enough carbs to make Dr. Atkins roll in his steak filled grave. Tidal Wave Kersploosh! I love to take pictures of Shoot The Shoot kersplooshes.

More pictures! And this fountain person looks on. Does it bother to help the people beside him, screaming in pain (or pleasure if you're into that kind of thing)? Noooooo, he, or she can't really tell, just drools. Followed by his brother the corkscrew of pointing and laughing (can you tell I didn't like this coaster too too much?) The corkscrew of anal rapeage The rattling straightaway The cobra roll of head cracking pain Ah, Colossus. It certainly brought back memories...of Drachen Fire. X:\ What The F...I mean One Year Left...I mean No Way Out. I had to get my picture taken with the true star of Thorpe Park. Of course, I have this totally weird look on my face. I was trying to figure out how to work my ginormous camera. But the sign totally ripped off Stargate. And now I've shown I'm far more of a geek than anyone could have possibly imagined... Rush...HERE'S the good stuff. Best ride in the park, hands down, no questions. I rode this at least 10 times, thanks to the single rider line. I cannot wait till more of these come to the states. Samurai...again again, ahhno. lol. Sence a pattern here. Ok, so I am a flat ride snob! Slammer...again, ahhno. The only way you'll be flipping me around upside down again and again and again is on a coaster. However, it was pretty cool to watch. Vortex...don't have much to say about it seeing I didn't ride it. I'm not the biggest flat ride fan and so I looked at it an went ahhhno.

Hey, I do have an excuse! I've been actually doing schoolwork. I know, a college student that actually does work. What's wrong with me? Anyway, onto the report. I'm such a dork that I had copious notes. But I don't have any patches, nor do I belong to any sort of coaster assosiation...yet...so I'm still safe. But from my notes written afterwards, my TR: It has some interesting themeing to it. It wasn't as detailed as a Disney park but was more detailed than say a Paramount or a Six Flags. It was somewhere in the middle. It had some AWESOME names for the rides too. A lot of the European parks do, but the UK especially. Sadly, however, the park had a lot of flat rides that I don't really care to ride, but had three coasters and one new flat ride which was INCREDIBLE, to which I'll talk about later. Logger's Leap: My first ride of the day. It's a log flume in their Canadian section, which is just hysterical. Ok, first off, the music is country. But not bluesy country, like Dolly Parton country. And the recorded announcements were "Hillbilly" voice overs. For Canada. The Logger's leap, as we left, the recording said, and I quote, "Hang on, this is the wildest ride in the Wilderness!". I think I've heard that before... but I digress. It was a pretty basic log flume, with giant arrows in the ground and a totem pole and a double humped drop as the final drop. Wasn't all that bad. Nemesis: Inferno: First coaster of the day and best coaster of the day too. It's one of the better coasters I've ridden period. I was really impressed. It was very smooth and the transition from segment to segment was paced very nicely. Ascetically, it looked pretty cool. They say it's supposed to be a volcano, but it looks more like a giant sand mound. lol. It also had very cool looking interlocking corkscrews. It was definitely my favorite coaster, but not my favorite ride there. That comes later... Colossus: Cool name, not too hot on the coaster. It's the middle one of the three for me. It really was too much, to be honest. It, also, was not very kind to my head, it was a rough one. Not as rough as some rides I've been on, but rough enough to not make me want to go on it again. It was also the case that it was plagued with "technical problems" all day. It completely shut down 5 different times throughout the day. That's just not good ride operations. :? X:\ No Way Out: Or as I had gotten accustomed to calling it, X whatever: What the F. Because that was my reaction throughout the entire ride. The little whispering noises around you on the lift hill, of which I could have sworn one of the things being whispered to us was "It places the lotion in the basket", but I digress. Then we go down this nothing of a drop and one turn then...we completely stop. Not a trim break, not a slow down, I mean complete stop. It had no point and it kept stopping as apart of the coaster. The special effects were not all that special. As in, it was an air and water blast at one stop, some noises, and moving backwards and forward at the third one. It might have been a decent coaster if I didn't stop every five seconds. It also gave me a headache like no other. Detonator: A simple drop tower. As a matter of fact, a very simple drop tower, like the kind you will find at your local county fair. So, moving on. Rush: Saving the best for last. This ride is absolutely AWESOME! I can't wait for these to start moving to the states. First off, the ride sounds EVIL. It's the most intimidating sounding ride I've heard. The air releasing and pulling the cables for the swings makes a big "pfffffffff" and groans when it goes. As for the ride itself, it's intense without being overly frightening or bodily taxing.The best part with when the swing gets to full...um...swing and goes to about a 95-100 degree angle at full swing. So, yes, you're looking straight down at the ground when you're on your backswing. It's also about 3 g's when you swing back, so that's pretty intense. But it's such a great ride and I really hope that there will be more and more as time goes on. I didn't ride much else. Like I said, there were a lot of flat rides that I don't ride. I did make some observations, like * The really cool themeing to their Shoot the Shoots called Tidal Wave, which included a sunken into the water load area * The awesome music in the queue lines * Same goes for really awesome and mildly creepy audio stings when the rides are dispatched, especially the coasters. When Colossus was dispatched, there were a bunch of whispering people saying "The Power of Ten" and "Colossus" and finally, as the train was leaving, a groan of a beast awaking. On Nemesis: Inferno, the lighting when the train dispatched changed from white to fire red and there was this wind chime/music box music. * One fluke in the musical ideas was the use of the Beetlejuice theme for Rocky's Express, in the Canada section. The Beetlejuice theme...in...Canada? * Their "Project:Stealth" for 2006 isn't really all that stealthy...seeing it's the tallest structure in the park. For all my friends in the states, it's a mini Kingda Ka. Not as tall nor as fast, but exactly the same layout. Stuart "Better late than never" Newsom And now their MOVING the dirt! Be still my heart! Ok...enough of that Let's get a close up of that dirt...oooh...ahhhh... Now THIS is a true construction photo. Oooooh, look at the dirt. It's so brown. Not only is it dirt, it's British dirt. Just flies right under the radar, totally unnoticeable. But, it's still under construction, so this being a construction photo, I have to add one more thing. Project: Stealth. Yeah, I know, it's so hard to see. It's just so stealthy... And finally, the totally rocking dispatch area. Also, apparently, B&M got painting tips from Jesse James to help with their wheel covers. But also in the line were these things. Um...what? lol. Which would Usher be, the hero or the villain? From the line, ticking off many a local Brit, for this shot of the most of the layout. It was not the easiest coaster to photograph, that's for sure. Interlocking corkscrews=pretty. I'm a geeky coaster photographer, I'm allowed to say that! First coaster of the day! Now, how does the giant "volcanic" sand mound become the sequel to an alien thing...in another park. Logger's Leap or every American Western stereotype placed in Canada Now, that's a sight to behold when you first enter any park Hurray! I'm here! Park in the mists On my way from the train station to the Park. BTW: I was on the upper deck of the double decker bus.

Just in time for Halloween. A man with a whole lot of time on his hands. An AT-AT Walker costume.

Man, I just had an appetite, then I lost it. Where did it go? Oh well, I'll search for it later. Was it a straight break or a compound fracture? That may be a stupid question because if the skin broke, and it obviously did, then it's really a compound fracture. In any case, it's most definitely not cool. Well, I'm glad you got a little bit of good news in not needing surgery. It is an interesting looking break, looking at the X-rays. Well, I hope you heal nicely and that everything will work out just fine. Oh! There's my appetite. Found it and for some reason now I have the craving for sausage and mash... ok, so that joke was a little out of taste, but I could not help myself. ---Stuart

Very awesome show. I know when I get back to the states I need to finagle my way onto the show...or not. lol. I don't have the star power. Oh, and to make ya'll feel REALLY old, the 1983 question stumped me too, because I was -3. So I would definitely have been at a disadvantage. Now, Robb, being behind door number 3, were you the super deal or the zonk?

My vote goes for CoasterFanatic. That was the first and extremely funny. Though I did like them all. I'm a horrable judge. Stuart "We're all winners!" Newsom

^All wedding! Elissa, you can't escape!

Don't blame us Elissa! Blame Google! We're only the messengers! Stuart "Messenger with a bullet proof vest" Newsom

My new number 1 flat ride: Rush! It's in the upper echelon of rides period for me.

How very odd, I did the same thing through the Google bar I have on Firefox then switched to images. The things I got were different. For just Elissa Alvey: Again, another beautiful picture of the wedding. Elissa, I guess, just can't escape those. For Elissa and Robb Alvey: Again, cute. It's from Mouseplanet when they reviewed European Coaster 2002 Then finally, for just Robb Alvey: :shock: At first I thought my computer was playing tricks on me and that it wasn't really Robb. Maybe there are two Robb Alvey's in the world. But lo and behold on the site, which is negative-g.com, they say it's Robb from Theme Park Review. Again :shock:. I'm amazed. I mean, look! Look at that sexay (purposefully spelled incorrectly, btw) hunk of man! Robb, I think Sergey Brin is against you somehow. Stuart "I'm with Soren, please don't ban me either" Newsom

Six Flags Great America 33% Theme, 66% Rides, 33% Atmosphere, 33% Value

^^ It was at the Vue. It's the same area.

It's been a good day. Class was cancelled, so I went to Leicester Square, and lo and behold, what did I find. The Corpse Bride premiere tonight! Being an avid Tim Burton fan, as my sn would attest, I couldn't pass this up. So I ran back to my dorm, got my camera, and around 3PM, I stood there. People didn't start arriving till 6:30PM, but it was worth it. It was a small little premiere, the biggest stars were the director Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, and Christopher Lee (who blew by the fan line, hung by the media line for a while, then went straight in). The rest, had no idea who they were. Sadly, I wasn't able to get any autographs, which isn't too big a disappointment to me, and I couldn't actually see the movie, seeing it was an invite only event. But it was cool to be there. Stuart "California's everywhere, whether you like it or not!" Newsom Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter working the media line side by side. And that's how I end it! A bad shot of Helena Bonham Carter, but the best I have. She seemed really cold, just from the air around her. But I don't know her, so I can't judge. I quote him with this: "Hi Burger King people!" Ah, the man of the night! The one, the only, Mr. Tim Burton! At least tonight, the most personable people on the carpet. Got there early, stayed late, and mingled with as many people as he could. Just from what I saw, he seemed really cool Christopher Lee from a good way away. He BLEW by the fan line. Oh well. :-/ This was one of the media people. He really was two people. When he faced us, we called him Hot Dog Man. When his back was turned we called him Phallic Man. It wasn't pretty... The Blue Carpet. What happened to good ol red? Is blue less expensive?

Definately the old Beaver Tails at Trapper Bob's in the Canada pavilion at Epcot. I miss them Stuart "Come on man, can you spare a beaver...tail?" Newsom

^It's on Regent Street, just before the bend, close to Piccadilly Circus.

I took a day holiday yesterday... To Thorpe Park! Boo Ya! PTR when I get around to it. lol.

Ah ha! Zombies Ate my Neighbors...in 3-D! For the SNES. I loved that game too.

It's an interesting ad, that's for sure. I'm not shocked though. That "To all who come to this happy place, Welcome" segment of the speech has been used in everything they've ever done for the 50th, and it'll only get used more and more often as the celebration promotion goes on. On people not knowing about it being Disneyland's 50th over Disney World's 50th, I don't think so. I think people just think that Disney's been around for 50 years, which is even worse. Or, the worse thing of all for Disney, people just don't care. As for the ad itself, It's very simple and all of that looked like just stock video from before with Kelsey Grammer speaking over it. I hope he didn't fall off his chair while doing the voice over though. Stuart "taking pleasure in other people's pain" Newsom

^^^ Sadly, Just a semester. I wish I had more time, but I can't seem to fit it in. I do plan to do more, I went to Thorpe Park today, so expect that soon enough. But I think first I'll eat then go to sleep. It's already been a long day. lol. Stuart "dead tired" Newsom

Understand.

Another gaming question for you Robb. As a game designer, what do you think of Jack Thompson's A Modest Video Game Proposal? I have my own feelings about it as always, but as an insider, I'm curious of what your feelings are. Stuart "Jonathan Swift I'm not" Newsom

Out of curiousity, what are the other 2?

Should we somehow attach water to those e-mails to Dan? Stuart "Is this an acceptable level of wetness" Newsom

Same here. I thought Pierce encapsulated the character nicely. The stories were kind of lame but he did amazingly as the character. This new guy, don't know. Layer Cake was a dang fine movie, but Bond? Who knows?