Thrasher

No I didnt because for some reason I thought the park was open till 2am instead of midnight. The houses I didnt get to see were NOES and PsychoScareapy. I have a frequent fear pass so I will be going next weekend to finish up those two houses.

I just got back from opening night. Ill try not to post any spoilers but if you are "omgwtfnospoilers!!!1!1!" then you should probably just go ahead and skip this post. I wont post a huge Photo TR because for the most part, none of my pictures of anything really came out. As was said earlier (on the last page), the houses that I did see were awesome. The streets on the other hand, were very bare and uninteresting. They tried to spruce it up with an orange light here and a chainsaw guy there, but the lack of scare zones this year really made a difference in the overall feel of the event. Annual Passholder Event: What? This is what I kept asking myself for about two hours. The 'event' was largely unorganized and a complete failure. I showed at 5pm on the dot but they didnt even start letting people in till 5:30, meanwhile making everyone stand in the hot sun. I felt sorry for the HHNVault guys that were dressed all in black. There were two lines that were supposedly for different purposes, but theres was nobody directing people and no signage. They were handing out either orange wrsitbands or red 'VIP' wristbands. They were also handing out blue ones but nobody knew the difference. The description said that the event would be held in the Amity area, but it was more like the Fear Factor contestant line area. They were supposedly giving out souveneir cups but it was more like waterbottles, and you had to play some silly throwing dart game to get it. The Friday the 13th house was the first to open to the passholders and it sucked because the sun was still up. I could see everything and all the scare-actors and it was horrible. Bill & Ted: I got priority seating for the first show as part of the Annual Passholder event. There were two lines leading intot he venue on one side and 1 line leading into the venue on the opposite. The two lines were Express pass and AP event, and the other was general admission. There was much confusion at this point as to which line anybody was supposed to be in because again, no signage and tons of 'staff' standing around not directing. The show itself was bad. It was a few major steps down from the past two years i've seen it. The only jokes that were funny were when they referenced the crowd as being drunk, which always stirs a rowdy response. The performances themselves were good, but seemed forced and the whole show seemed to lack content. The best part about seeing the first show of Bill & Ted is that by the end, it is dark enough to hit the houses in the tents. The Thing (8:00pm - 30min Wait) This was the best themed of the houses I visited on opening night, but the talent was nowhere to be seen. Maybe I happened to catch it at a bad time, but throughout the house I saw maybe 5 scare-actors total, which left me with all the time to admire the truly amazing set. Jacks Clown-O-Vision (8:45pm - 75min Wait) In my opinion, the houses in the tent locations really imporved from last years event. This house was also amazing with the 3-D glasses and the wonderful hand-painted scenic. The talent was great as well and really got into their characters. Dinner was a Nathans hot-dog and soda. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (10:10 - 75min Wait) This house was a real imporvement over the house that stood in its place last year. The house had a lot of detail for a house thats considered to be 'outdoors'. They dressed up the outside of the building to look like the house form the movies and had bits of the movie projected onto the outer wall. This was especially key because I have not seen the movies, and it showed me just enough to understand what was going on. Vampyr (11:30pm - No Wait) I was suprised at the wait because I had walked past this house and the whole of delancy street (re-formed into the queue) was entirely full. I liked this house even though it seemed as if the entire cast wasnt present. The house used a new location in the park (stong alley and surrounding buildings). The house was staged really well and flowed nicely with one, unified theme. Dead Silence (Midnight - 30mins) I was basically the last person to get in line for this house before they closed the queue. The house was the first of the ones in the soundstages and was awesome. I cant wait to see the other two on my next trip. I had recently seen this movie and they did very well in recreating the themeing and overall feel of the movie. There is also one section that is truly amazing and you will no doubt see it on your trip. Lets just say it reminded me of the 'extreme house' concept that was thrown around last year. That was it. I know at the end of last years event, there were people saying that some guests were drinking too much and causing problems, but from what I saw, none of that was present tonight. I thought that the bars were better placed then last years so that the lines dont extend into the main paths, and the security was stepped up considerably.

The guy was real cool and took me through the whole educational tour that they give to schools. Just ask for it on a real slow day. It includes getting to walk on the track and around underneath the ride.

Here is a great before/after comparison. The 'before' picture is courtesy of Duane Marden at RCDB.com... Before (2003): After (2007): Hopefully they clean the place up a little more!

I like the pre-drops. As the last train kicks over the lift, it tends to push the whole rest of the train down the first drop. This is exactally what happens on Dueling Dragons at IOA. I think it is an awesome feature.

Feel free to photoshop yourself into the station picture or something and we will make this an 'honorary' Photo TR in memory of the broken camera.

I have only been on one other 'behind the scenes tour' and that was CoasterPalooza 2004 at then Paramounts Great America. This tour was indeed awesome.

I second the Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Its a classic!

...but who is the mystery man that said hello to Robb?

Edited, thanks for the tip. Never tried posting Youtube here.

I dont think one can judge the designs based on video. The video is always a poor representation of the real thing. Also, the 'all-in-one' train design has already been invented. Its called the flying coaster...

It's been awhile since I've posted on the forums. I've been swamped with finishing school, work, and getting everything ready to move to Hawaii. I took a trip last weekend to southern FL to visit relatives, go scuba diving, and ride Dania Beach Hurricane for possibly the last time. I took a lot of pictures, and even after sorting through and getting rid of the sub-par ones, its still a lot. We'll see how many I end up posting haha. Be sure to stick around till the end for some unique, never-before-seen views of the Dania Beach Hurricane (more on that later). First though, we will start off with Uncle Bernies Amusement Park. I didn't actually ride any of the rides here for fear of my safety, but the park was mostly operational and both rollercoasters were operating. The park is attached to a Swap Meet and a 14-screen Drive-In movie theatre... The first rollercoaster was the Abandoned Mine. Looking at the pictures on RCDB from late 2003, this ride hasn't been well kept. The other rollercoaster at this small park is 'Dragon'. There were three of these simulator rides, but only 1 was set up to take guests... Quite possibly the scariest thing at this park was the log flume. I could not tell if it was a portable model or something they built custom... There were also various, nameless rides scattered between the larger attractions... The bumper-cars... and bumper-boats...(through the fence it would seem) Some sort of adventure train, but it wasn't running... A childrens play area, which actually looked fairly new... The most intense ride in the park was probably this ride. It actually looked quite painful. I attached a video... One last note from Uncle Bernies/Swap Meet. I don't know if this was normal or if it was a special but they had a selection of classic and modern high-performance cars and trucks on display... ===================================== Finally get to the good stuff. Boomer's in Dania Beach is home to the classic Dania Beach Hurricane. I visited on a Monday and it was completely dead. I got there a bit early and had to wait until they opened at noon. Between then and when I left, I maybe saw 10 other guests in the whole park. According to the ride-ops, it tends to pick up as kids get out of school. They were doing some work before the place opened... All these cars were employees... View from the parking lot right before they opened... Since it was so dead, I decided to go straight for the Hurricane and chat it up with the ride ops... getting closer... into the queue... As you can see, I had a horrible waiting time... The ride ops were very friendly and knowledgeable. The dispatcher, Scott Horrick, was a former Cedar Point ride op and claimed to be one of the first Top Thrill Dragster operators. He explained to me the incident with the yellow train during testing before it opened. He also claimed to be one of the first to ride it with the designers. The conversation eventually led to me being an enthusiast myself and how I was taking pictures for a trip report. He was very gracious to lead me on a personal tour of the coaster. The tour is offered to local schools where kids get to see the lift motor room and the maintenance areas. If you are nice enough and catch them on a very slow day, they might just give ya the tour. The tour started with a brief discussion on the ride specs and trivia and then the maintenance area. The blue train was operating that day, while the red train was getting a complete overhaul. Scott explained that they had just finished testing the frames for hairline fractures and were waiting on the new parts from a distributor. A bare frame... We then walked along the track to the motor room. The motor room. The motor is a 3-phase (forgive me for forgetting the horsepower). The park invested $30,000 for a second, replacement motor. Scott explained to me that if the main motor was to break down and require extra time, the second motor could be swapped in only a few hours. The tour ended by getting a chance to walk around the base of the coaster. These are some of the unique shots I haven't seen before. Finally, it was time to head back to the station. I grabbed a quick shot of the control panel and set off on my drive back to Orlando. I'll finish off the pictures and this trip report with some pictures of Hurricane's still butter-smooth hills and turns... Thanks for reading and be sure to comment!

I have the same phone. I like it a lot because it is very minimalistic.

Anything from Shakira. Seriously, who gave her a recording contract? She cant hold a note to save her life.

I wish I had gotten a chance to meet ya. One time when visiting, I saw you, but it was a really busy day so I didnt introduce myself. Seems like youve had a great stay in Orlando though!

I'm so excited about this years event. If the link is legit, then I'm pretty disappointed that they are not holding the event in both parks. I just hope I will still be in Orlando.

I fully agree with this statement. Additionally, I would turn Seaworld into a half-day. To be honest, I found nothing good about that park other than Kraken and the Polar Bear/Arctic building. You can probably fit it in after you get out of the airport if you are quick about it. Then as the others said, tackle both Universal parks and HHN, its worth the extra entrance cost. Finally, hit Magic Kingdom on your last day to get that Disney fix. As said before, its impossible to do all of Orlando in only 3 days. Additionally, I would count out a BGA trip unless you like speeding. Its a bit of a distance from WDW and Universal, plus factoring in traffic and driving time, its not worth it. Save the smaller parks for another trip.

Im going to be moving out of Orlando in July, but I hope I can still make it. Id really like to be a part of any TPR tour, so if you are planning on that again this year, please drop me a PM. -Thrasher

The theatre does have a long ways to go. Currently the base for the stage and the seating area of the house are complete, plus the lobby. The set has been prefabricated off-site and is being transported in pieces to the theatre to be assembled. After that, lighting and sound will be installed. As far as the rest of the theatre, the walls will recieve asthetic treatment and the ceiling will be re-worked. This theatre is small, able to sit about 350-400 im guessing. It shocked me as well because I thought the building was much larger!

Edited.

Well I made a quick trip to the park today. It was the final day for Back to the Future as you may know, and the park was very packed for a Friday. The day was cut short by a heavy rain that started at 3pm and hasnt let up yet. First up is the Ellen show. They have two stages setup. One is the regular stage in City Walk which hosts the live bands, and the other one is down near the water which is the actual Ellen stage. The Band Stage: The Ellen Stage: Im so glad I wasnt having to watch this. Right after they started packing people in, it started raining. When I first saw that the show was going to be taping, I thought they would be doing it in a soundstage. Oh well. They also moved a few boats from the Universal Studios lake to the City Walk lake, im assuming so that the cameras could have 'filler'. Some were tied up, while others were being driven back and forth behind the stage. Blue Man Group: All the construction walls outside are down and we can get our first look at the completed building. This will be the last update until the show opens unless anything else pops up. The signs have all been completed, the walls are fully painted, and everything has been cleaned up. The Box Office: They also added some landscaping to the entrance path... Final Building... Backtracking for a second, they also had a small display setup as you enter the resort from the parking lot. There were several signs all over the City Walk area. Back to the Future Closing Day: I didnt bother to actually ride it one final time. The ride has always been uncomfortable since im tall, plus the 80 minute wait... Some final pictures... IOA: Real quick. I couldnt see anything really going on in IOA today. As hard as I looked, I couldnt see any signs of preliminary work for the Harry Potter re-theme. The only thing of interest was a rather large stage set up in front of Spiderman... I-Drive: The S&S swing at the former Skull Kingdom was beign dismantled. I couldnt see any other work being done on site... Thats all for today!

Has there been any update on the Riddlers station? I dont have the time to search through all 107 pages, but the updates are looking really good. I just hope Riddlers gets the same treatment, as the station was in such bad shape last time I visited, I wrote a complaint at Guest Services.

Like was said before, doing both parks in one day can be done, but only by people such as myself that have visted the park so many times, I have literally been on every attraction and can decide what I want to do each day I go. For an out of town visitor, and especially a first timer, an appropriate time is two days. I reccomend visinting US first. There arent a lot of big thrills in this park, but the park is an even balance of thrills and milder attractions such as Shrek and Jimmy Neutron. The second day, take your time walking around Islands of Adventure. Much of the park was designed by former Imagineers, and it shows in the level of detail and realism. The Dueling Dragons queue is a prime example of this. As for CityWalk, there is one major point to get across. CityWalk was designed with an "over 21" only type of attitude, and it shows with the clubs and bars raised up above the main pathway to the parks. This place is great for shopping, and can easily be done on your way in and out of the parks. If you are traveling with an over 21 group, then you can take advantage of Free parking after 6pm to visit CityWalk, which is open on most nights until 2am. Hoped I answered all of your questions. Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any further questions. [EDIT: I agree 100% with all of WillMontu's ride suggestions.]

Im glad to see it go. As a taller person (6'2"), the ride was incredibly uncomfortable and very rough. The projectors were long due for replacements, and looking around, id say only 2 vehicles in the whole ride had a working smoke effect. The ride has seen better days, and its time to move on to something much more entertaining.

Nice pics. As obssesed as I was with Legos while I was growing up, Ive never once been to one of their parks. Ill have to make it a point to go soon. Looking forward to more!