jedimaster1227

Hey guys, I've got news! I've bought the Starliner, the Maliboomer and the Mad Mouse from Quassy. I'd like to build them into a super coaster in an undisclosed location. I need someone to help me make T-Shirts, and anyone with a hammer can help me to move the new ride. I can't tell you anything more, but I promise, I know a thing or two about things. Trust me, my name is Adam. See? I can do it too!

(Continued) Deconstruction was crazy as always! For the booze enthusiasts... Colin loves Gwazi. I mean, who doesn't? There is something very scary about this photo... Could it be a severe lack of Katonga? I think so! These talking heads were burning down the house. Slyvie fans and protesters alike approached the concert stage... The concert stage, located across from the entrance to Gwazi was surrounded by crazed fans. She rocked the house... Can you guess who works here? This looks familiar! "I just got backdoored." The clowns were one of this year's roaming hordes. They were quite amusing! These guys hide in the bushes and scare people. 60% of the time, it works every time. It's time for a Road Trip! Road Trip was definitely the most impressive scarezone of the year. Another victim awaits his doom! Lots of Lycans out and about in Jungala. Cowardice at its finest. Taste of Blood is kind of like the Food & Wine Festival of houses. It has a taste of various themes... Subways, vampires, cults, caves, statues... The whole shebang! And that's what that's all about. Boom! I see what they did here... Blood Relations is a pop culture parody show, similar in nature to Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure, except not that funny. Colin is having a blood relation after seeing the show. Didn't I just get married last week at Horror Nights? This isn't my bride. Some people find this ideal. Crazed love. More of the dark/light scarezone! Nightshade Toys returned this year, albeit in a new location (the former monorail station has been gutted in preparation for the 2011 coaster addition). Its the same house you know and love, just moved over. The facade is definitely impressive. I smell detail! Random Shop of Horrors photo. Would you like to buy a finger? This is such a good Christmas tree! I can't wait to see what they do for Hannukah! She's myX. Thanks again to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for hosting us at this year's Howl-O-Scream Bleedup! Make sure to visit the park for this fantastic event!

This past Friday, Colin and I were fortunate enough to take part in Busch Garden Tampa Bay's Howl-O-Scream "Bleedup," an event made to get involved Twitter, Facebook and Media followers a free night at Howl-O-Scream, including front of the line passes for the houses (excluding Alone), free food, a special concert by Sylvie and myX and more. It was a truly fantastic event, and it was a great start to an incredible evening. Now for the event rundown. Houses: myX: Revenge Rocks- The main house of the event, themed to match the main theme of the event itself, was definitely one of the best of the night. This house was previously used to house my favorite house of the previous year, 13. As was seen in my Scream Cam video last week, this house really does drag you into the middle of the concert venue. I don't want to spoil any of the surprises, but the entire second half of the house that wasn't shown in the video has some pretty great effects and scares. Nightshade Toys: Son of Nightshade- Basically the same as last year, although in a new location, Nightshade was fun as always. It had a few really good scares (including one really wet one involving baby dolls). DED'er: Extreme Rush- Aside from a new theme song that follows the same myX backtrack, the house from last year remained virtually the same. Definitely the humor house of the event, it was enjoyable and longer than some of the others, which was definitely a plus. Trapped in the Walls: Ghostchasers- Inspired by the recent paranormal investigation that took place at the Crown Colony earlier this year, the returning Trapped in the Walls house has received an update to include the science behind the scare. The beginning of the house now features some "purification halls" that remind me of Body Wars. Some great scares, but again, the house was very similar to what it was last year. Taste of Blood: A Different Vein- Another returning house; I didn't notice any differences between this and last year, but regardless, it had me jumping in fear a few times. Death Row Vengeance: No Escape- Great as always, even though there wasn't anything really new about this returning house. The finale continues to amaze me, for its sheer scale and the unique way that it ties into the fundamental idea behind a prison escape. Deconstruction: The Doctor is Out of Control- It seems like most of the changes made to this house were in the audio and the strobes. There was less of both this year, and more scareactors for sure. The house itself remained virtually unchanged, but the pacing and the acting were clearly adjusted from last year. Alone- Due to the house being sold out for the night, we didn't get to experience it. Scarezones: Crazed Love- This was definitely a humorous zone of the four. Not much to it, the actors were extremely effective at getting their scares in. Road Trip- Impressive in theme and in design, this concept could easily be adapted into a house, and seemed perfect for the Jungala area where it was located. Definitely a highlight of the night! Spiders & Snakes- While not anything radically new, the costume and effect designs behind this scarezone were superior to some of those found at Halloween Horror Nights. This was the 2nd scariest zone of the year. Light of Doom- Not really scary, but fun to walk through. Not much more to say than that. Roaming hordes- While not as present as last year, some of the returning gags including the pop-up baby in the carriage and the rising wheelchair-bound guest. A group of clowns as well as the shovel-draggers walked the park as well. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=slyvie_xgfb[/coastertube] The protesters seen in front of the myX Rocks house are also out and about at the park's entrance. Somebody is a bit of a fan--at least I'm guessing. At the opening reception of the Bleedup, there was a live performance of the Slyders, who are the park's dance crew. The DJ kept Club X pumping! And of course, there was food! Next, we were treated to a live performance by myX including Sylvie herself. A short raffle involving several signed guitars and a few spots for "Alone" was done. We didn't win. While picking tickets, Sylvie got a little hungry. "Do we have two more prizes for a certain Adam and Colin?" Following the concert, we were able to grab a photo with Sylvie. It is just a shame that for some reason, both of our photos came out completely blurry. No Sylvie photos for us... The Bleedup was a really fun and unique way to reach guests and media, and I hope the SeaWorld parks continue to hold these events in the future. One thing Howl-O-Scream does right is the use of "roaming hordes," which include traveling scareactors around the park. Never the same scare twice! This guy drags his shovel and swings it at your feet to try to throw you off guard. The scarezones rely more heavily on the dark for their execution... Colin loved the disco tunnel. It isn't as groovy as the Escalator Ride, but it is definitely amusing. The glow signs (not glowing here thanks to the flash) help direct guests to the houses, which can sometimes be confusing. Last year's DED house returned virtually unchanged, which is fine considering how amusing it was previously. I've already pledged once before, no thank you. Late night rides on Sheikra (or Shriekra) are always a plus! She ran into Steve Jobs at the airport. My favorite scarezone of the trip was in Jungala and was known simply as Road Trip. She's just angry she isn't in my three-room king tent. One of the talking skeletons... This one makes fart jokes. I'm terrified! Colin is confuzzled. This year, Trapped in the Walls received a slight theme adjustment, making it slightly resemble a certain house at a certain other Halloween event at a certain other park. The facade. I sense a little irony here. I'm sure their are discovering truths of a legendary nature here. Think Body Wars queue meets climbing in between partially constructed walls. We did Cheetah Chase because really, what's more scary than Cheetah Chase? The entrance to Crazed Love. I was shocked but had to decline. Strappingly virile and all. So Colin stepped in to accept the proposal instead... Head lost his head... She got groomed. Not sure why these two just danced continuously, but they couldn't stop smiling. "He's a cheater. You don't want him!" This is actually what she said. I can't make this stuff up! Death Row Vengeance is always a fun house, but I never remember about the surprise ending. This one isn't based around a shady brook? Colin rides the short bus. Adam + Turtle = TPR Gold! Time to boldly go! Another extremely dark scare zone for good measure! "Itsah Geepsy!" Last year, this house was 13. It was completely overhauled for this year's event. Being a member of a fraternity, this was eerily familiar. It wouldn't be Howl-O-Scream without the Naughty Nurses from the "amazing" show, Fiends.

Obviously not enough value if no one would buy it at a price as low as $9,500. If you want to save it so badly, buy it. Forget buying a car or a new apartment, just buy the coaster. Problem solved! Now we can all go back to being happy again so we can focus on really valuable wooden roller coasters, like Boulder Dash or Thunderhead!

^I may be a Hospitality Major with a specialized track in Theme Park Management, but the idea that a tower element (or any element besides a brake run or a longer course length) increases capacity by any significant means is beyond me.

^How will it increase capacity?

So after much delay, here are the photos from my return visit this past Saturday. I'll likely be going back on Thursday as well, so expect some more photos down the road from that visit. When they say Saws n' Steam, they mean a lot of steam! If you can make it out, you can see the victim on the former Frankenstein slab. It seems Universal really upped the fog factor this year! "I've got my eye on you!" I hate to tell you this folks, but those "two brand new shows" from Brian Brushwood? They are complete rehashes of his previous show. He did two tricks that I hadn't seen him do before at Horror Nights, and I had seen those performed by him on TV several years ago. BRAINS!!! I think he's a cousin of Mustard-faced man from Containment... (If you read my trip report from last year's event, you'll know who I'm talking about.) Thumbs < Thumb (according to TPR regulars). Stop itching! It'll never heal when you keep picking at it! The parade float in Zombie Gras served as an interesting show scene with a non-zombie performer being cornered by a zombie performer. It was believable and amusing, to say the least. Wind instruments are deadly. String instruments are safe. Rat Lady returns, as always... A new shirt for this year... Too bad the show was somewhat lame this year. It never hurts to include one of these... Over in the Coven, this "barker" was getting burned alive. See? Burned alive. "Something... Something... Something... Darkside. Something... Something... Something... Complete." "Tony, stop filming me!" This witch was pulling the pilgrim's invisible leash to take him offstage. Such a creative way to go about a shift change! Esqueleto Muerte isn't really scary, just sortof cool! The costumes were creative in their designs... Look everyone, its Glowfest! Sans flash. Spooky! Hello you! Ready for the kill! I couldn't believe they actually brought back the Crypt Keeper for this event! Unfortunately, he sat right next to one of the fog machines, so he was a bit hard to get a photo with. I think most people missed seeing him because of the fog. Frankenstein from last year's house also made a return! Pigface also made an appearance! Strappingly virile, right Guy? Correction from the previous update: these are new Alices. Proceed as scheduled, but know that they are new. Either way, the Alice character is awesome, so to all who have or do play her, kudos! This pumpkinhead is better than the one of the movie namesake. Static or live? You tell me. "Beware the curse of Mary Shaw, she had no children, only dolls...." I just realized that her head looks like a certain anniversary cupcake I ate in California not too long ago. This wasn't staged. I love Chance for this very reason--she pulled a mischievous pose while I wasn't looking! Can I tell you a story? Cindy was interesting, but there didn't seem to be much to her as a character. She was almost too quiet to interact with. I heard somebody complained about one scareactor who played Eddie having blond hair. I'm just happy we have Eddie out and about at an event. I don't take it too seriously. "Why thank you for pointing me in the right direction Julian!" The things he showed me terrified me beyond words. His flashlight emitted lots of ringy-ding-ding-a-lingys and fluffy fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo! I have nothing to fear, including Fear himself. He's an interesting canvas to see in person, but you only see him here, which is a little strange. I declare thee, Darth XXus. RISE! In the plaza between E.T., Woody Woodpecker and the Animal Actors theater, icon projections depict the five tools of Fear. Chaos. Sacrifice. Death. Legend. And Vengeance. Oh, and for good measure... Enjoy!

^Actually there were two of sorts, both in the scarezones. One was the main leader of Saws n' Steam who was on the stage "barking" while the other was one of the pilgrims in the Coven who was burning alive. Neither were serving purely as "barkers" but they both made personalized spiels for the crowd.

I was waiting for someone to pick up on that... Apparently, the film crew cracked up when I said that... Not what I meant, but it added to the comedy of the thing.

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/sep/26/bc-ky-kentucky-kingdom/?features&travel

Maybe it is just me, but I think it is far too early to make this statement. While I am certainly optimistic about the latest addition to the Florida coaster collection, we all know how a much-hyped ride that may look amazing can turn out to be a dud, a mechanical nightmare or simply something we've seen before in another form. I'm not trying to be Negative Nancy here, but I can't imagine calling a coaster that is yet to fully exist, let alone be fully revealed, the best coaster in all of Florida. I think Air Grover is at better coaster at the moment, for the pure reason that it is assembled and is operating full time--something that the 2011 coaster can't compare to right now.

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/24/3053341/six-flags-receives-41-million.html

So, like Reed and Stacey, I was able to visit Universal Orlando for the opening night of Halloween Horror Nights. In brief, the event was awesome once again--I plan on doing a more in-depth writeup with more photos, but today I'm just going to upload the first taste of my first night at Horror Nights. Due to heavy rains, I didn't get to take as many pictures as I normally do, but that's why I'm going back tonight--for plenty more! So enjoy this first set of photos from the larger report to come over the course of this Horror Nights season! Over at CityWalk, they've put up a new billboard advertising the event. The screen at the gate has returned, but unfortunately, it is the only front gate theming this year. It is nice to see familiar faces, but I've seen this video online for a week or so now. The Fear Revealed scarezone is definitely my favorite, because I appreciate so much of Horror Nights past. Can you pick out any props that you've seen in my previous years' reports? Its so much history! What does it mean? I'm excited to be back! "What is my future?" "You don't have one!!!" XXXXXXX!!!! Gory details galore! My favorite! For some reason, Brian Brushwood was invited back for the third year (he appeared as one of the Freak Show acts during the Carnival of Carnage). I didn't enjoy his show the first (or second, or third) time, but since Malice and Menace are supposed to be two new shows, I'm gunna give him two more chances. I'm generous. What more can I say? The Chainsaw Drill Team has assembled! A second after this photo was taken, they broke formation to charge at guests watching innocently. It was a quite amusing scare! I'd never seen this character before, but he is from year 13. And he's almost as big as Fear himself! I took a photo with the Queen of Hearts back in 2008... See? This was taken in 2008 during Reflections of Fear. And I got another photo with Jack, finally! I had taken this photo with him at my first Halloween Horror Nights year, the Carnival of Carnage. "Wanna play?" The Wolfman is back! I was so glad to see Alice again, especially because she was portrayed by the same scareactor as she was in 2008. Dead Silence: The Curse of Mary Shaw is one of my favorite houses of all time, so it was great to see her out and about once more! Not sure where this creature is from, but she is cool. Body Collector! Chance was back this year as well, though it was a difference actress. They still make a great pair! Cindy was a little underwhelming outside, but it might have been that the daylight didn't help. This was my first encounter with the Storyteller, and it was nice. I see two familiar faces! This isn't a wax figure. Eddie's back! As is the Usher! Here comes Fear! Looks kindof short here, right? But he's actually pretty tall! The Caretaker was pretty interesting as well... The pumpkins on the path from the Pantages Theater to E.T. have returned. Although there is no facade for the parade building house this year, it isn't necessary as the concept is that it is in fact, the Halloween Horror Nights warehouse. While waiting in line for Zombiegeddon, we were given a rare view of the Disaster/Earthquake vehicle pulled out of the ride building for refurbishment. Bill & Ted was a bit disappointing this year, but I'm gunna give it a few more chances in the hopes that the actors get better at it. Time to head out for the evening! See you later tomorrow!

^^All fingers survived the experience, but as you could see, they were a-shakin'! ^Guy, we've been over this. Strappingly virile. Bangs 1,000 chicks. You know the deal.

Today, Colin and I had the chance to visit Busch Gardens Tampa Bay to take part in the Howl-O-Scream media day. During this fantastic event, we were given a brief taste of what this year's event has to offer--sheer thrills and scares, brought on by the new leading lady, Slyvie of the hit band, myX. Special thanks to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for providing us with some excellent preview photos from this year's previews, and for putting together a truly spectacular event for everyone. The official photos will be posted first, followed by photos we took during our day at the park and during the preview event. [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=My_First_Project_abyh[/coastertube] Alone Death Row Vengeance MyX - Revenge Rocks Sylvie on Stage At the entrance of the event gate (typically the Nairobi Passholder Entrance), signs prominently feature this year's houses and shows. Slyvie is all over this event! Sylvie's got some rage in her! Event prices... This cool structure has been put up at the entrance of the park. We have yet to see if any (or all) of these TVs will be on for the event. Pre-gate theming is always a plus. More entrance marquees. The Shop of Horrors has reopened for the season! I've never understood why they sold cigars here... Lots of rock theming for the year. This is peculiar.... It appears that the House of Vayne remains active! Clever. The glow signs are back up... The park map is set! A stage has been set up across from the entrance to Gwazi. It wouldn't be a Halloween event without food and drink tents. The most unique addition to this year's Howl-O-Scream lineup comes in the form of "Alone," a brand new house concept meant to pluck guests out of the comfort of a group walkthru, forcing them to go it alone (or with a small group of no more than three accompanying) through the maze. Here are the "deets." It looks like we'll be served a modern take on the classic tale of the Minotaur. Should be interesting! The house in the Ubanga Banga bumper cars enclosure seems ready for tomorrow. Duly noted! Ain't I a sweetheart? Subtle additions help set the mood in Timbuktu. Something tells me that we won't be seeing cake dancers here. Hello... Ladies. The old Akbar's Flying Carpet Tours building continues to be used for Howl-O-Scream each year. Doing our worst Bill and Ted impression! The facade for Sylvie's house is extremely well done! Pre-scream cam fun! Here I go! Howl-O-Scream really does rock! Doing a better Bill and Ted impression! Come check out Howl-O-Scream, because as we learned today, Revenge Rocks!

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=FearIIIV2-AFD_u05p[/coastertube]

http://www.learningmarkets.com/News-Feed/2010092047388/six-flags-entertainment-corp-attracting-bullish-investors-six-ccl-rcl.html

http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/103334399.html

http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/09/17/1699552/court-gives-go-ahead-to-repossess.html

I went ahead and reserved my house ERT for Friday and Saturday... So pumped!

http://www.lakewyliepilot.com/2010/09/18/856523/creditors-accuse-sc-amusement.html

Not sure how I missed this one before, but I approve! As for the sun shot, well done!

http://www.ltci.co.uk/LTC_Technical_Bulletins/Maurer_Sohne_Conection_Bar_Action.pdf While certainly an unfortunate event, I think it is an extremely wise move on the part of Maurer-Sohne to issue this warning and provide service for all of its creations. This situation could have been a lot worse, had the warning not been issued, so I'm relieved to see the red flags before something serious went down.

I didn't know Six Flags Great Adventure had five coasters from GCI... I need to get back there fast, as it must've all changed since I was there two years ago!