DegoRed

The X2 reservations are staggered throughout the day and at hourly intervals, I believe. The $10 is just for one ride, however, and if you wanted to go more than once, you'd have to pay another $10. In addition, you set your times in advance with the Flash Pass Center employees. I tried out the regular flash pass yesterday (albeit with the Xtreme passholder discount) with the X2 add on. I still ended up waiting 30 min. to get on X2 because traffic was backed up at the loading stations. So originally I thought the regular flash passes were going to be included in the Xtreme passes, at least that's what my renewal flyer said a couple months ago. So with the discount how much are they now for Xtreme passholders? and wasn't the upgrade for X2 originally going to be $5?. Just curious what brought about the change.

I could not stop laughing at the Sam Cassell reference. Wes you are AMAZING!!

I ended up going with a 360. It was only $220 for one of the latest versions that had the holiday bundle pack with Lego Indy and Kung-Fu Panda for the Premium 60 gig. It is used but it's guaranteed and most important is not a refurb so it pretty much has the full 3 year MS warranty on it. I'm just gonna keep using my Blu-ray player I currently have and add the 360. While PS3 online play is free, I've been hearing it just can't compete with xbox live, which is well worth the money. Thanks to everyone for your help though

Good point Paul, that brings me to another question...I saw a Premium 360 on ebay with the Falcon chip, and it says it's used not refurbished and that it still has the 3 year warranty on it. How is that possible, unless they have a copy of the original receipt? But this was a ebay store not a private seller. How does Microsoft know when the unit was originally purchased? I'm thinking at this point of going for a used 360 provided I can still get some sort of warranty coverage on it.

yes...I've never actually bought a 360 before, and it looks like now might be a good time to do so, but I have a few questions for the experts out there.... I'm looking at the Premium console with 60gb HDD. Is buying it from ebay acceptable? The new ones are about the same price anywhere you look, online or retail, so I'm mainly looking at either going used or refurbed. The downside I guess is I lose out on the 3 year Microsoft warranty by doing that, but I've found some of the latest Premium consoles on there for about $175 with free shipping. Is there any other reason to pay $125 more for a new one? I've also heard that the way to go is the Falcon chips or later to ensure I don't get the red ring of death. Is this true? Are the older units really that bad, cause I can get older units for real cheap too. I'm also thinking of maybe going with a PS3 because I currently have a Sony Blu-ray player I could sell on ebay for about $200 and pay another $200 and get the PS3, so is that a better way to go? I've just heard the PS3 aren't that reliable and they have trouble playing a lot of Blu-ray movies. Same question applies about buying from ebay. Let me know what you guys think

great photos Robb, Manta is sure looking alot more impressive than I originally thought. Just goes to show theming really does add a lot to a ride like this. I'm already impressed and the ride isn't even finished yet.

I didn't register till later that night as well, and I got my winner's email as well. Today's a good day!!

Robb gets the WIN for the Airplane! reference

^ Watch the video to the end, it's in the credits.... but it's Around The Bend by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Actually, I spell it like the wonderful Italian wine...I don't have it in front of me, but I'm pretty sure its dego not dago

Sorry Robb, didn't mean for it to come off that way. I was trying to explain it, but I was a little frustrated cause I really wanted to have it uploaded by Christmas. As far as why it didn't work. On my mac I tried using Firefox and Safari, and it would take me to the page to put in all the info for the video, but then when I clicked upload, it would just refresh that page. Once I switched over to the PC, it would upload and then say it finished uploading and then timeout. I tried this 3 times. So not sure what issues I was having, but thanks for taking the time to upload it for me....Merry Christmas

DISCLAIMER: First off, in years past, Robb gave me permission to post this in the general forum, cause it's been an annual tradition, plus with the launch of TPRtv who is gonna look in the video forum. That being said I tried to upload this to TPRtv MULTIPLE times and it never worked. On my mac it would just keep asking me to put in the information, it would never take me to the upload screen. Then I tried on my PC and it would upload, but after it was finished it would say my session timed out...SO...that's why in order to see the video you will have to follow the youtube link. But since I have the option to watch it in high quality, it won't be that bad. You can see the video Just in time for Christmas....So another year, and another re-incarnation of my K'nex Screamin Serpent Christmas Coaster. I honestly told myself last year was the last time I would be doing this, but once my son came along, I figured I have to keep the tradition alive for him. This year is by far the most advanced design I've ever used. And I utilized about 90% of all my pieces, this is also the longest track length I've done yet. If you have any questions, feel free to ask...and if the music sounds familiar, yes that is the song from the new iPod Touch commercials Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!!

it's pretty much the same ride....who cares

I need the money right now... and a friend of mine is giving me his old 32" LCD cause he's buying a new one

LIKE NEW CONDITION!! I've decided to sell my 46" Samsung HLP4674W DLP HDTV. It was originally purchased for $2300 when I worked at Best Buy, but was worth $3200. Gotta love that discount = ) I say it's in LIKE NEW condition, because the 2 major parts of the TV (bulb, DLP engine) were just replaced last month. So here's what happened, having worked at Best Buy, I knew all the ins and outs of the service plan, so since mine was expiring, I made up a problem to have the tech come out. When he came out he couldn't find the problem but I told him it was there. The guy agreed to just swap the bulb and DLP engine, essentially making it a new tv. It's also in excellent condition physically, no dents or scratches of any kind. I'm asking $600, and I will deliver it anywhere in the LA area, or if you really want it but live outside of LA, I will ship it, but buyer pays full shipping and handling. More info and photos can be found on my craigslist listing http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/ele/934604712.html If you or anyone you know is interested let me know. How'd you like a 46" computer monitor?

Knott's has been more and more disappointing over the years, to the point now where I think I've been maybe twice this year and once to Haunt. I used to visit the park at least once a month, but the charm of the old Knott's is gone now. As far as Camp Snoopy is concerned, I think Sidewinder was a decent addition, but Pony Express? WOW what a complete waste of space is that ride, it has a turn a hill and a turn. Knott's already has a short launched coaster (Xcelerator) why build another. I saw so many kids coming off that ride saying how stupid and pointless it was. Great idea Knotts!! Here's an idea...STOP BUILDING COASTERS!!! It takes a lot for me to say that, but the place has enough...It's time to focus on doing something GOOD with the KoD building, bring in some more flats. Save what little shred of charm is left in that place. If something isn't done, I have a feeling we'll see some major alteration of Ghost Town in the near future, and not for the good.

wow I gotta check this stuff more often, I had no idea SFMM was already implementing q-bot. While I was on the fence about getting a pass next year, I'm definitely going to be getting one now. Maybe this has already been posted but how does this work with the extreme passes now? How has it been working at other SF parks?

Robb, you've inspired me to start up on my wii fit plan again. It was going strong for about 2 weeks and then after I got back from Florida, I had no desire to keep up with it anymore. In the 2 weeks I did use it though, I lost about 8 lbs overall, and that was on 30 min (credits) of hula hoops, step, and punching, plus some balance exercises here and there.

This is what happens when 2 coasters sound alike

yeah I pretty much chalked it up that we must have been there right as everyone was going on break or something, cause I know they wouldn't have intentionally left out all those parts. Still though, I would have kind of expected them to have the major scenes always covered.

I too was there last night, and one thing is for sure...I would never even attempt to go to HHN on a Friday or Saturday. The lines weren't bad at all, and we were actually able to get everything in though it was pretty tight. Kind of makes me wonder that if they did get more mazes in the future, would you really be able to fit everything in. So here's a rundown of the night. We got there around opening, and my friend had not been to Universal for over 10 years, so the plan was to hit everything including rides, so first up we headed to the lower lot. Mummy (10 min wait) - God does this ride suck compared to Florida's version. And especially after I had just ridden Orlando's version 2 weeks prior. Even my friend said she thought it didn't seem like a complete ride Jurassic Park: Nightmare (5 min wait) - Nightmare? really? you call turning off the lights before the drop, and playing rock music a nightmare? Still...don't usually get to ride JP at night, and it's a lot more fun at night for some reason Texas Chainsaw Masacre (15 min wait) - Still a really solid maze, had a good number of scare actors in it, though some stupid little brats in front of us, kept peeking their heads down the hallways and opening the doors where the actors were hiding so they pretty much ruined the scare portion of the maze Bill and Ted - This show just keeps getting better every year. While lacking a few of actors and scenes from Florida's version, I liked ours better. It's funny to see the different crowd reactions to the whole Bill and Ted concept. Florida has embraced them, while I heard many people saying "Bill and Ted? That's kinda outdated" This still beats the Hanging at Knott's hands down So now we come to the only WTF....Seriously guys, what happened moment of the night.... Friday the 13th...Camp Blood (20 min wait) - Having been through this maze last year, I was THOROUGHLY dissapointed. Key story scenes were missing actors. The vice room had the guy just sitting there, the awesome tent scene where Jason slices the body in half, the scene at the car, and the bedroom scene....he was nowhere to be found, plus many of the scares I remember from last year weren't there. I'd pretty much compare this maze to one of Knott's worst. They seriously dropped the ball on this one Terror Tram (10 min wait) - There's just something so cool about getting to walk the sets, and the slightly extended path, sure didn't do any harm. Kudos also to the blackouts, for actually letting people stop and take pictures Freddy's Nightmare (20 min wait) - All new maze for 2008? Hardly. They reused about 80% of that maze from last year, though there were some great story scenes in this one. Didn't plan on watching Slaughterworld but since I had never seen it and they were seating I figured why the hell not. Once is definitely enough though. Yeah the pyro and jet skis are cool, and there's some great gratuitous violence and scantly clad women, but that's about it. The show lacks any depth or storyline. Time to change this one around somehow. With 15 min left before closing it was on to the last maze, House of Horrors (20 min wait) - This year it was House of Horrors meets the Strangers. I wasn't really expecting too much integration, but c'mon...one room out of the whole maze had them in there. However this maze turned out to be really awesome, seeing as how it had been over a year since the last time I went through it and we managed to end up by ourselves walking through it. We literally walked room to room with no one in front and no one behind us. We got all the scares, and some were really good too. It ended up being the perfect finish to the night. Also I loved how when everyone was walking out at closing they had a good 30 or so scare actors lined up all over the street as one final scare before you left. Knott's never does anything like that. Also, the street actors did amazing jobs, and there were so many of them, all over, you really couldn't be anywhere that they wouldn't have been regardless if you were in a scare zone or not. My favorite moment of that was there was a group of about 8 guys with chainsaws, and they all got together and one guy started conducting them and they made music with the chainsaws, then out of nowhere they spilt up and started terrorizing the crowd. It was so funny and cool to see. So after just doing HHN in Orlando, I can say that I still like Hollywood's version. It's by no means better then Orlando's but I'm also glad that they both share different themes. We don't have nearly as many mazes and we do get re-hashed ones each year, but it's just nice that we get the higher quality mazes as opposed to the cookie cutter mazes you would see at Knotts. Our event has a lot of potential, and I just hope they keep working to improve it.

Feel free to leave anytime then. No one is forcing you to stay here.

Wow 21 pages of complaining....I agree with a previous poster. This means that Jay and Tim and Neal and everyone else are doing the right job. How many times before has it been brought up that the company's plan is to focus more on family friendly attractions. This coaster is a perfect addition in that respect. Having been on coasters like Raven and more comparably Rumbler, which are easily the #1 and #2 wooden coasters I've ridden (no, i have not ridden El Toro yet) They aren't very tall or very long, but they are quite simply put...FUN. And who cares about the theme. It's a wood coaster, how many other wood coasters are out there that you know of that have any decent theming to them. Not sure how the on board audio is gonna work, but in my experience, having it on there can only add to the ride experience. Bottom line, we are finally getting a decent wood coaster in So Cal and that's really all that matters

Glad to hear USH might finally be getting a decent ride. Last good ride we got was JP. Mummy doesn't count, cause Florida's craps all over ours. All I have to say is that there better be some Megan Fox somewhere on that ride otherwise....No Megan Fox = FAIL

video is fixed, the download is still mp4, but you should all be able to stream it now