jedimaster1227

I'm never going to live this down... Anyways, this is another really great TR, and its definitely raising my level of anticipation for the East Coast trip this Summer!

I agree with what others have said that an RSS feed, while nice, may not be needed. For those members that visit the site everyday (even multiple times a day), they won't really need a feed. For those casual members that browse on a more periodic level, a feed may come in handy. I watch all of my daily sites using an iGoogle homepage with all of the site feeds letting me know if something new has come up--though I still end up visiting the site anyways, so while a feed does come in handy, I still check on the site no matter what. Its just that good!

^I am a co-founder of the organization that ran the event. Mind you, the rededication and the Joe Rohde talk and book signing was an official Disney activity. Our event was approved by the company and they gave us several perks like reserved seats for Joe's talk, two pavilions for a group meal at the Flame Tree Barbecue and the surprise visit by Val Bunting. Now here are the Simpsons Ride photos... An oddly familiar sight... And I would have wanted to ride during this visit. It looks quite large up close... The bridge between the Mythos side of the Lost Continent and Jurassic Park is almost complete. The Wizarding World of Box Land is quickly going up. More markings... Some markings carry long numbers... Significant? Markings for Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit are showing up near the Sharp Aquos Theater. My favorite Delorean has also received the wonderful fix up treatment, and sits a few feet away from its sibling vehicle. The time traveling train from Back to the Future III has been refurbished with a new coat of paint, new lights and a new location by the former Hercules and Xena show building. The Horror Makeup Show is temporarily being used as the Chaperone Landing for Grad Night. Even though I loved Back to the Future, I think the Simpsons Ride is on par if not better than the former ride. I approve! Though it said 65 minutes, we only waited for 35... The technical rehearsals went very well, with all lines running throughout the day. Guests enter through Krusty's mouth where they can bounce on his "spongy" tongue or punch his uvula punching bag (if they can reach it). The outside part of the line has been strung with coaster decor and themed trappings that seem to blend well. It may seem more cluttered, but the new colors and fair-style stringlights just seemed to impress me. The new queue screens play on a long loop of old and new Krustyland (and Duff Gardens) footage. My favorite clip had to be the flashback to when Doc Brown tried to renew the lease for the Institute of Future Technology! Running Simpsons gags have been incorporated into the attraction in a highly themed Krustyland fashion. For those of you that were able to spend time in the Back to the Future: The Ride queue, you will notice some glaring similarities. The queue for the ride has been largely expanded to include a line closer to the entrance of the ride, themed to midway games from the outside. You will immediately notice the difference in look and feel of the former Institute of Technology building.

This week was a crazy one for me as we had our A Wild Decade event in honor of Animal Kingdom's 10th Anniversary on Tuesday, April 22, 2008. Following my recovery from the fast moving day, I was able to go on Saturday of that same week to preview the new Simpsons Ride... I'll let my photos do the talking first, then I'll add a review of the ride. A Wild Decade ended up being a great event with lots of surprises and plenty of memorable moments... Once I get my group photo, I will upload that to this thread as well. I even had a chance to talk with Joe Rohde personally, and the fact that he knew who I was before we met had me swooning... She was a really great guest to our group, and a superb host for our event! May I introduce, Val Bunting, VP of Animal Kingdom! Right before our history walk, we had one surprise for our guests... After the session, we were allowed to stay in the theater for Finding Nemo: The Musical, which I had never seen before. I thought it was pretty funny that the show's soundboard had an easy button... The geodesic sphere-based Tree of Life was one of the final designs made before the version we have now was finalized. He showed us several conceptual sketches from the park, dating back to 1989. Val Bunting came out to introduce Mr. Rohde at the start of his session. Jason, Jackie and I all ran over afterwards for Joe Rohde's talk at the Theater in the Wild. After the ceremony, I ran into Val Bunting (who along with Joe Rohde wore our VIP badge all day) where I was able to thank her again for all of her help in planning A Wild Decade! The park opened, and the rededication ceremony featuring Erin Wallace, Jane Goodall and Joe Rohde began. And for much of the time, I could be seen around the tables giving people updates about the day's special activities... Here we see John and Jackie giving out our lanyards and schedules for the event. And lots of people to join us! Registration tables for A Wild Decade opened up at 6:45 am with plenty of time to spare... My parents were here and ready to help out... On April 22, 2008, Animal Kingdom celebrated its 10th anniversary. And we were there to commemorate it! Jackie celebrated his birthday with us the night before A Wild Decade at Boma!

Thanks again to everyone for the comments on my video! I am surprised it made it in, considering how great the other entries that have made it in so far have been--I haven't seen one I've disliked. JimmyBo's PortAventura is actually my favorite so far, but I'm looking forward to the other 15 entries to be released as well! Are all 30 videos going to be on one of the DVDs for an upcoming release?

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/business_tourism_aviation/2008/04/seaworlds-next.html

I want to congradulate the five who's entries made it in so far! Here are my thoughts for each video: Barry: I found the song a little strange, but the video was well edited and the stalking Elissa part added some extra humor to it as well. Darren: I can say that this video only made me more excited about taking part in the East Coast Trip for this Summer. It captures a good deal of the fun which you all seem to have had. It was well edited and Crazy Train did work for the video overall. Kevin: I do love the intro song you chose, partially because I recognize it from House, but also because it worked for your opening. I did think the opening was a little bit longer than it may have needed to be, but the second half balanced out with a faster paced song, so I think the video was well rounded in the end. It was a unique video for your style of editing, and that really sets it apart from the others of this week. Dave: Your video is probably one of my favorites (not because of the Barry commercial), but because of the humor and fun that came off from your collection of footage from the UK trip. The song really did go well with your clips and Derek seems to add some more laughable moments to make the video quite enjoyable. Pam and Brian: I liked your video because it showed Knoebels in a different light. There were a couple of moments where I felt the video was not holding my attention enough, but there were others where I did really like seeing the park. To me, it was much more of a family/friend video than a park video--regardless, I still enjoyed watching it! Well, after this week's great set of videos, I'm really looking forward to the other 25!

...you wish Spaceship Earth really had been gutted to become a high speed rollercoaster. ...you scare others, saying the coaster is "very intense" so as to have one less person in front of you in line. ...you ask if you can ride again when there is a full line. ...you ask to ride again when there is an empty line. ...you know the names of all coasters in a park you have never visited. ...you try explaining the history of a ride to friends without an interest in coasters. ...you try getting your friend to ride a looping coaster. ...you jump up and down on an elevator just to try and recreate the Tower of Terror. ...you count the High in the Sky Suess Sky Trolley Train as two different credits. ...you refresh your theme park news sites every 5 minutes to see if a new coaster has been announced. ...you assume that any sign of construction in a park could be a new coaster. ...you wish your local park had its own "Bouncy Bounce" ride. ...you have a ring outlined around your eye from your camera's viewfinder after a day at your local park. ...you design coasters in your head during class or work. ...you mourn the loss of "The Making of Me."

Mindbender was my favorite coaster of the day when I visited SFoG, which was a surprise to me. It offered some great airtime, some insane dives and a surprisingly smooth ride. Though, it isn't my favorite coaster, its up there on my list.

This video just upped the ante regarding my fear of East Coast Trip-based visits to White Castle this Summer. There isn't much more I can say--though the video was hilarious!

^^Thank you for the translation, but that doesn't confirm it is a premier LIM coaster either. It says that a source points towards it, but since there is no concept art or official announcements to back it up, it is about as likely as the B&M flyer.

^The link says we have to register to see the page. Quote the text please.

^My thought is that since we know this is themed to rays in some type of way, we'll have some sort of safe, up close experience with the tank (though a little bit more time to see the animals than we had with Dolphin Plunge at Aquatica). If the environment is directly based on Manta Rays, it will need a new "habitat" for the new animals, but if they stick with stingrays, then they could get rid of the Key West exhibit and use that space for something new as well. I heard about different people getting surveyed about Manta several months ago, even being shown concept art of the attraction. A launch is possible with a B&M, it just isn't something the company likes to do for themselves. Universal needed an outside contractor for the launch mechanism on the Hulk if I remember correctly. In my mind, I'm hoping for a Mummy-type experience with show scenes and a finale with some good coaster elements (inverted or not). I could be very off though, considering how vague the article was with details.

Some great news for Seaworld Orlando!

Another great Coney Island TR! Just a question: Why does the Cyclone have leather padding on the inside of the seats? I've never seen another wooden coaster (none that I've been on so far) that have had leather interiors...

Another truly great video by TPR! Now I'm getting more anxious about buying that DVD... I guess I'm gunna have to go pester my parents about ordering it this week.

I'm guessing that if we are a part of the Ravine Flyer/Behemoth trip, we are automatically signed up for this event, or do we need to add ourselves in for this as well?

^^ Ask and you shall receive. Courtesy of Robb's post last Sunday. Really, lets just be patient here...

^At my preview of Aquatica today the marketing people hinted at the new coaster (which should be getting its announcement next month), but acknowledged that tomorrow's announcement would be bigger. My thought is that this will most likely have to do with Seaworld-branded resorts. Now that we have three parks at the Seaworld Orlando destination, I could see the company trying to keep people on property in a similar fashion as Disney does... Just on a smaller scale.

I'm still working on the supports for this one, but since this is my first coaster that has actually completed its circuit without valleying, I consider it my first... firsttry.nltrack My first try at a full circuit coaster. A B&M floorless with 2 loops, an overbank turn and 2 airtime hills.

Of the three, Dinosaur is my least favorite, considering that half of the ride, the scenes have no subject, and are therefore kept dark. Forbidden Eye was my first of the two Indiana Jones rides, so I thought it was fantastic (the dart effect really got me my first time). By the time I got to ride Crystal Skull, I had already gone on Forbidden Eye and was extremely excited about getting to do the ride again. Crystal Skull has a couple of extra cool effects, including the smoke ring, more typical DisneySea electricity effects and a better snake. So overall, I have to say that Crystal Skull has taken my award for the best Disney EMV so far.

I'm a fan, so whatever you are working on is exciting to me! Could this be a follow up to Hotel Hellvetica?

^That is pretty exciting news! The video updates for Ravine Flyer II don't seem to help make the anticipation simmer any more...

^I figure its taking a little bit of time, judging by the amount of videos were submitted via internet alone, I can't imagine how many entries were sent in via mail. I look forward to the latest on this contest, with patience, knowing that this year's contest will be another great one!

Cool! Odyssey is used as a special events location (though some say that they will be re-opening it to the public soon) as of now. It was our back-up location for our Celebration 25 Dessert Party, and when (sure enough) bad weather came into play, we were relocated to the former restaurant. It is a really nice venue still, and quite flexible for various events.