jedimaster1227

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has sent us a press release regarding their latest phase of marketing for the 2011 coaster.

Wild Adventures has sent us a press release about their upcoming Halloween season activities held in the park. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOWoSpSbgwU

Worlds of Fun has sent us a press release about their latest [successful] charitable cause...

[coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=10239_Fear_Reveal_II_V3-FOR_REVIEW_zjx3[/coastertube] [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=HHN-XX-Best_Halloweeen_Event-MOV_r9hi[/coastertube]

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/art-of-animation-resort/?int_cmp=SOC-intDPFY10Q3ArtOfAnimationResort16-09-10@0002

^That definitely looks like Eddie! I seriously am counting down the days until this event starts up again, as I seriously believe that it will be my favorite year yet!

(Continued) I took this photo for the kilt. Not the female scout. Just kidding! We ran into Jay Laga'aia on the show floor! Its the dune frog from the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi! Hello... Ladies! Just saying, it will never get this bad for me. For scaling purposes. Lego Boba also had a pretty cool costume. I've never seen a Dengar costume before! Then he decided to hold me hostage, which (as you can see in the photo) actually took me by surprise! I took like 20 of these for my room! Green=Star Trek Pink=Star Wars I'm about to be sniped! This is all kinds of awesome! I didn't really know how to escape this situation... Kill shot! A favorite photo from the convention... Not exactly sure how this fits, but here she is... Jealous? You should be... I'm a Twi'ilek pimp! "Mhmm! Turkey leg! Turkey leg, turkey leg, turkey leg!" Watch out... The pencil is mighty as the sword. Or something like that. WANT. I agree. If I had to be immortalized in my dying moments, I'd be content with this. This booth was just far too tempting! Far more entertaining than The Last Samurai was... Better than the Star Wars Holiday Special. No comment needed. Despite the nerdiness of the legos, I'm quite proud of this photo. Jacen and Jaina dueling in the halls... I see a future Sword of the Jedi and Darth Caedus in their futures. A few more impressive costumes could be found before we hit the road. Seriously, FedEx's item storage deal was a life saver during the event! The only Wampa I didn't like at the event... He wouldn't even stop to take a photo with me. This guy was extremely friendly despite such a wicked appearance! They did a parade of droids to wrap up the event, which was sortof neat. Something about this image is just off... Chewie came home with me following the event... Overall, Celebration V has been hailed as a great success, not only for Lucas but for Orlando. With record numbers in attendance and a great response from attendees to the venue and the layout of the event, whispers of a return in three years have quickly begun to circulate. I know I had an incredible time at the event and will be crossing my fingers in hopes that it does return to Orlando in three years for Celebration VI.

Here are the photos from the fourth and final day of Star Wars Celebration V! Have I made it clear how much I love Wampas? Its a Starstroller 2000! Something, something, something... Darkside.... Something, something, something... Complete. If I ever go the way of Shmi Skywalker, know that I wasn't the catalyst for a Jedi purge and the mass murder of younglings. In Mos Eisley, all affairs must be done covertly. I found her on Tuskenwifefinder.com. Don't judge me. None of these were any good to play as in Star Wars Battlefront II... Just so you know. You'd be surprised to see how much of a presence Lego had at the event. As mentioned before, the 501st Legion has a strong presence in the canon of Star Wars. Hiya Brent! For those that do the things I can only dream of doing... Followed by quickly abandoning that dream in favor of something more productive. I'm pretty sure Bryan has a robot joke from some obscure movie (no, not Pootie Tang). Ask him for me. Kay? Thanks. I am haunted by this image every night at the bombad hour of 3:00 am. See? Star Wars and Disney? Mickey Ears? It fits. It fits so much that it needs two photos to prove its fitting. We have fun. Royalty present and accounted for. His attitude matched his outfit. Caption contest alert! Get working on it! Meet my role model. I WILL OWN YOU!!! A most fitting end for a most annoying creature. "The universe is an elephant!" Robot Chicken Star Wars fans unite. Even though it took me nearly five minutes to get the ball to the second bar on the tube, my cousin instantly got it to hover at the top, only having difficulty calming her beta waves to allow the ball to lower. NO!!!! One of my favorite costumes of the entire event. Robb, can I buy you one of these for Christmas? When Star Wars Episode 1 first came out, Pepsi produced these coolers as part of their promotion for the film. My dad ended up purchasing three for me, one of which is in my room at home, another in our bonus room and one more on our patio. I found one more! I haven't been able to complete many of the remaining Star Wars books in my collection, but I may pick this one up soon because of the unique content behind it. I mean, zombies in the Star Wars canon? That just screams to me as my dream Halloween Horror Nights house! Youngling Fett. The Lego mural was completed by the middle of the fourth and final day of the convention, and I'd say it was pretty impressive. The chalk art was also done by the last day. As revealed in the Main Event with Lucas, the guy on the left is actually Darth Maul's brother. Fans of the old FAO Schwartz location at Pointe Orlando may remember this little beauty, returning the city beautiful once more. This is how it should be done. The Hoth scene recreation was a popular part of the show floor. I love Family Guy! Get ready for Wampa Mania! Cookie Wampa! A Boy and His Wampa. In the tundra, the frozen tundra, The Wampa sleeps tonight. He found me soaking up the Florida sun and wanted some for himself. You tell me. A look at the complete set of badges for the event... The surprise hit in terms of merchandise for the event was the retro Yoda ears cap. Clever details like this, I wasn't able to notice until the last day. If this were me, I'd of been in heaven for life. Those online battles really roughed him up! Now this... This is cool!

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100910/NEWS01/309100004/1003/business/Developer+wants+$50M+bond+issue+for+Kentucky+Kingdom+to+help+spark+economy

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_orlando/2010/09/discovery-cove-deal-includes-seaworld-admission-for-rest-of-2010.html

While we appreciate your sharing this with us, the news on Paramount's proposed park for Murcia had been posted previously. In the future, please remember to use the search function before creating a new (potentially duplicated) topic. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54485

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=7657052

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/09/07/the-smurfs-smurf-into-china/

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100908/NEWS02/309079896/-1/ETN

http://www.buschgardens.com/Bgw/CP/?page=bignews [coastertube]http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=Big_News_At_Busch_Gardens_and_Water_Country_USA_khbz[/coastertube] EDIT: Busch Gardens Williamsburg has sent us a press release regarding the upcoming announcement.

Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA has sent us a press release about their newest expansion, set to add to its water park, Splash Island.

http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=13110922

(Continued) Over in the San Francisco area, Zombie Gras lamp post covers have been added. These may actually be the same ones used in Mardi Gras... Does anyone know? And then, the deluge. It got very wet, very fast. Finding shelter only after we get soaked always makes for a memorable experience. One more scarezone, what I believe to be "XX Years of Fear" area has already received many of its props. I actually took a picture of a guy riding around in one of these during the Carnival of Carnage (HHN 17) with Jack the Clown. It was nice to see this piece of horror nights history preserved. The contortionist poster also came from the Carnival of Carnage, while the moon signs were from Ripped from the Silver Screen (HHN 19). Notice the Lantern X's on the sides of the structure. The weather wasn't getting better, so we left, but I'm sure we'll have plenty more to see in the coming weeks.

Hey everyone! This thread is the new base for the Orlando Crew photo reports... So sit back, relax and enjoy the (new) show! ---------------------------------------------------------------- Links: Jake and Adam visit Universal Orlando - September 6th, 2010 (found below) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Original Post: For the first time since his move to Orlando, Jake and I decided to take advantage of the day off from school for the Labor Day holiday. Surprisingly, Universal Orlando was completely empty, allowing us to walk onto Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey once, Dueling Dragons twice, Flight of the Hippogriff, Revenge of the Mummy twice and even to ride Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit in the front row. All in all, the day was a fantastic one--and it certainly won't be our last... Look for more from the Orlando Crew very soon! We started off our day by (after eating an incredible meal at Mythos) experiencing Poseidon's Fury. Jake had never seen the show before, & I had not been back for quite some time since the water vortex's closure. Fire and water effects on the exterior of the attraction's facade are once again, fully operational. But what's this I see? That's right folks! The water vortex is once again working, and boy was it working well! While in the Wizarding World, Jake treated himself to his first Cauldron Cake. Being the creature of habit that I am, I went for the always delicious Pumpkin Tart. Plastic is delicious. A 40 minute wait on Potter turned out to be a 10 minute wait with the single rider line. Flight of the Hippogriff was fun as always, and the lack of lines certainly helped! Notice the sign of quality in the bottom righthand corner of the chassis. Buckbeak was taking a snooze... At least his nose didn't collapse on stage during a packed show. We'd never noticed it before, but from the coaster, you can see Hagrid's Hut in its entirety. I want to buy myself a magical wicker basket. The ones in my room don't contain any magical hoodies, nor are they a portal to Magicland. Hogwarts looks great as always! It is hard to believe that I used to have to wait 60 minutes just to ride Dueling Dragons once. Who would've ever guessed that anything that Universal could do would possibly take the spotlight off of these two starring coasters... Over at Universal, construction on several of the Halloween Horror Nights scare zones has quickly ramped up. This guy is living proof of what happens after you watch Shrek 4-D forty times. The Esqueleto Muerte scare zone looks to be entirely new, which is great to see! I couldn't resist. The next few of these don't exactly need captions... Coke Zero doesn't count Jake. The key to immortality lies in the bottom of a cool, refreshing bottle of Coca-Cola Classic. Don't we have a smiley that looks like this? Authenticity overload... Finally, Carl will be chased away by a hungry skull. Wish number one for the park complete. Skull-spiders. Wish #2 complete. He's waving hello to you via the interweb. He hid behind the curtain for fear of being photographed by me. Despite loving wampas, I will say that these skull-spiders are awesome! "Grr! I'm a painted skull. Now give me some candy!" I'm gunna take a wild guess and say that someone will pop out from here, and will be able to bang on the drum all day. I was happily surprised to see the differing designs in many of the sections of the zone. More of these lacy things... Even though the stretch of space isn't that large, the layout has made the zone feel bigger than it truly is. Another scare spot in the works... At least he went out having a good time... I have a feeling that these skull-spiders aren't the famed "El Chupacabra." Over in the New York alley (where the Shadows of the Past scarezone from last year debuted), the Steam n' Saw zone is well on its way to completion. Wiring and other steampunk effects now cover much of the path. If I'm not the only one who thinks of the original Home Alone when seeing this, I'd be a little relieved. More work to be done yet. Another part of this strange machine in New York... At first glance, you might not notice the additions, but they are definitely there. It was nice to see this familiar steampunk touch used in a scarezone, considering how well done it was in the Frankenstein house last year. More hiding places for scareactors. I'm almost positive I took a photo in this last year in the Frankenstein house tour. One more look at the alley...

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/hello-kitty-to-have-her-own-tokyo-theme-park-2069649.html

^^Joey Fatone was there because he is involved in the production of Robot Chicken (and the Robot Chicken Star Wars Specials). Its time for the Hyperspace Hoopla! Han and Chewie did Grease. Then Luke and Leia did Flashdance... It was playfully creepy. Snig and Oopla stopped the 'cest from happening, thankfully. Then the ladies of Star Wars did "Material Girl" by Madonna. Amidala always dances alot during the Hoopla. Then, it came time for Vader and the troops to do the famous Michael Jackson routine (this time, with all little Captain EP thrown in the mix). Here he comes... Notice the sequined glove Vader is wearing. "It was all too easy..." Following the dance off, Vader's group was given the win. Despite the lose, Chewie had a few words to share: "Don't stop." The Gammorean guard dances to Pitbull's "I know you want me." Then Amidala and Vader did "Break your heart" by Taio Cruz. It was actually a very entertaining routine! Then the ladies did "California Girls" by Katy Perry. You're welcome Tyler. And then it came time for Snig and Oopla to wrap thing up. Jango Fett (despite being dead) decides to crash the party, only to end up being the most talented dancer of the entire show. To commemorate the upcoming closure of Star Tours, the park held a shutdown ceremony that included appearances by C3PO, R2-D2, Boba Fett and Darth Vader, as well as the launching of a modest collection of pyro, That's it from the Last Tour. More photos from the fourth and last day of Celebration V to follow soon!

Now its time for what was truly my favorite day of the convention... Let Day 3 begin! See this giant screen? This is the "Main Event." My cousin and I sat in the front row of the digital theater for the Main Event after waiting for nearly two hours in line (outside of the convention center starting at 5:30 am). Once in our seats, we waited in the theater for an additional 3.5 hours until the show began. The Main Event was essentially a live interview of George Lucas done by Jon Stewart, with a few surprises thrown into the mix. During our long wait, we were shown a documentary with this old guy... Unfortunately, this guy was back... Singing "Day-oh. Me say Day-go-baah! Jedi come and him train in my home..." It was lame the first time. It was lame even four times afterwards. The tried getting people to dance. Everybody knows Star Wars fans can't dance. One of his talents: matrix-shifting. I swear, his name was Neo. Then he saw the product of his trying to get the fans to dance. Jon Stewart is here! In case you don't know who this is... In America, it is customary to kiss the neck of the man that made Star Wars. You just can't make this stuff up. George was taken aback by Jon's tender welcome. Next thing you know, R2 comes rolling in carrying something that isn't a crappy Verizon iPhone wannabe. What is it Jon? What is it? Its a "Stu Jon" action figure in the image of Jon Stewart. It actually included two heads for the figure, one with the goatee and one without. Of course, it was made by the original and best, Kenner. "Now two people on the stage have action figures with strange names, set in their image." You wouldn't believe who this guy is... That used to be Mark Hamill. "I've been avoiding American fans for years, and my career has been doing just fine, especially in front of the camera..." "Oh, and that Batman game sequel will be the last time I do the voice of that Jacker character, or whatever his name is." "Aren't you impressed that I showed up?" "Why are you booing me?" "Whassup!!!" No comment needed. Onstage fights are always fun... After the Main Event, we hung around to catch the famed One Man Star Wars Trilogy. This man has a talent that everyone/no one else wants to have. To infinity and beyond! The General Grevious and Starkiller costumes were definitely some of the best ones I saw all week. This fan lives in a van down by the river on Alderaan. Over at Disney's Hollywood Studios, it came time for my most anticipated event (I bought my tickets the minute registration opened), the Last Tour to Endor. The event was open to anyone, even if you weren't a Celebration V attendee, which was nice. Jason Surrell and the Imagineers actually got approval from Lucas and Spielberg to create a special mashup show, essentially bringing Star Wars and Indiana Jones together in a way that surprisingly incredible and hilarious. That main theme around the event was the impending closure of Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios' Star Tours. So, we went in and took what is likely the last tour I will ever take to Endor. Oh, and its a trap!!! After Anthony Daniels' stories from the earlier panel, this figure meant a great deal more to me. Rarely noticed details in the Star Tours queue. Permanent shutdown coming soon boys! Here they were filming the video for Starwars.com Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom: An Fan Film of Epic Proportions starts off with a few in jokes between a Star Wars fan and an Indy fan. "Two words: Lead Fridge." "Three words: Jar Jar Binks." Each of the three shows had a great set of guest participants... Ours had Jeremy Bulloch (the original Boba Fett), Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok), Dee Bradley Baker (voice of a bunch of different characters in The Clone Wars), the voice of Anakin Skywalker from the Clone Wars (don't remember his name), and cutie, Ashley Eckstein (voice of Asokha on Clone Wars). Boba Fett gets in a fight with Indy, but not before the booby trap spikes get Jar Jar Binks' head on a pike. The special guests were "featured extras" in the show. The living characters, C3PO and R2D2 came out for the show as well. Although not themed to Star Wars, the nonexistant lines at Rock n' Rollercoaster were awesome. Plus cast members asking "Backstage passes, how often does that happen" only to get a reply "every 60 seconds!" was awesome. Oh, and at dispatch, they said "May the G-Force be with you!" See? It fits! "I think that's a good idea!" Death Star Disco featured the Disney/Star Wars characters dancing in the Playhouse Disney area. It was a nice little aspect of the larger event. The Bespin Dance Party was even more entertaining than the Death Star Disco! Then it was time for the super-sized Hyperspace Hoopla! (More photos to come in the next update!)

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/09/first-look-at-electronica/

SeaWorld Orlando has sent us a press release about their latest efforts to help release manatees back into the wild. Video will be online shortly from the release... MANATEE READY FOR RELEASE Merritt Island, Fla. (August 26, 2010) An 8½-foot-long, 680-pound rehabilitated female manatee rests prior to her release by SeaWorld’s Rescue & Rehabilitation Team. The sea cow was observed floating high in the water in May but under SeaWorld’s care has fully recovered from injuries caused by watercraft. This is the second of two manatees that were returned to Florida waters this week. This year SeaWorld has rescued 24 manatees and returned 13. SEAWORLD PREPARES MANATEE FOR RELEASE ON AUGUST 26, 2010 Merritt Island, Fla. (August 26, 2010) The SeaWorld Rescue & Rehabilitation Team monitor a 8½-foot-long, 680-pound female manatee while a Florida Fish & Wildlife employee checks the animal’s passive integrated transponder, or “pit” tag, which allows researchers to identify the animal, prior to bidding her a bon voyage at KARS Park near Kennedy Space Center. This manatee is the second to be released by SeaWorld this week and the 13th in 2010. SeaWorld’s team also released a manatee in the same area on Tuesday, August 24. FINAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT PRIOR TO MANATEE RELEASE Merritt Island, Fla. (August 26, 2010) SeaWorld’s Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation Team complete the last evaluation of a sea cow’s health prior to releasing the 8½-foot-long, 680-pound female back to her natural habitat. She was rescued on May 17, 2010 after being observed floating high in the water. Suspecting an injury caused by a watercraft the animal was rescued and then rehabilitated at SeaWorld. This year SeaWorld has rescued 24 manatees and returned 13. SEAWORLD RELEASES SECOND MANATEE THIS WEEK, 13TH FOR THE YEAR Merritt Island, Fla. (August 26, 2010) SeaWorld's Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation Team carefully place an 8½-foot-long, 680-pound manatee into the water at KARS Park near Kennedy Space Center. SeaWorld is a global leader in the rescue and rehabilitation of marine animals. The parks’ Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation Teams are on call 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. To date, SeaWorld has rescued more than 18,000 sick, injured or orphaned animals.

Although I'm a little late on posting this, Six Flags Great America has sent us information on their new attraction announcement, taking place tomorrow on Facebook first, followed by an announcement for the general public.