jedimaster1227

^ He doesn't ride any coasters- not even Thunder Mountain... Any coaster he saw, he was afraid of... So we did what we could at the parks that weren't coasters. It wasn't easy for me, but I used my past as a former coaster-hater to make decisions about what to take him on and what not to take him on...

Scary but I was reminded of War of the Worlds when seeing the ride supports crashing down...

My guess is that this park is based on Coney Island...

^Funny...

^I would think it would be too big of an investment for Univesal to make without knowing the long-term popularity rates of such a new attraction. But again, I am nearly positive that the ride system will remain as a simulator...

Rather than start a brand new thread, I figured I would give an update... Now all of the exterior painting has been completed, the box office is ready to open and the interior has truly begun to take shape! This reminds me of the interior of the former TD Waterhouse Center, oddly enough... Not a bad sized crowd alotted? Rules and warnings for the show have been posted at the entrance... The box office has been fully painted... A new sign has been placed over the entryway's front... The posts in front have finally gotten their pictures attached...

I wouldn't protest to that, but I'm not sure they would approve such a project so quickly, considering that the Japanese version opened just a few weeks ago...

I have been constantly assured that it won't be the Simpsons or the Fast and the Furious.

The game looks like it will be pretty fun... The coaster's in-game name is the Screamer. Maybe you will have an option to ride it, see an on-ride POV or maybe even cause some mayhem like in the movie "Rollercoaster..."

^We did have huge amount of fun! As I said in one of my photo comments, your interest in seeing something over and over again is renewed when you see it through the eyes of someone who never had, so the experience was very exciting for me too. I am in a school program that focuses on international studies and travel. With the program, I have visited New York, Spain, Japan (thats what my Journey to Japan trip report was on). This Summer, I will be going to England and Ireland for two weeks (though I don't have any time to go to a theme park or two). When there, I homestay in Ireland with an Irish family. And, next Thanksgiving, I will hopefully go to France (if it doesn't take me over my yearly trip budget for the Mainland Europe TPR Tour). Overall, the program provides us with so many experiences, I can't imagine high school without it. Innoventions' new signs are up, and they are alot smaller... But that is a good thing! I am pretty excited about the Three Caballeros coming to Epcot! The following Wednesday, we took Tomoya back to Epcot to see Reflections of Earth (as his group had gone there during the day but left to go shop at Walmart- ugh)... Yes!!! Ricky Bobby! In line for the Suess Sky Trolley, we found this oddly placed button. It seems to now control the motion of the Star-on/Star-off machine in the queue. Tomoya enjoys my favorite view in Citywalk! I wonder what this door will lead to... The box office is ready! The painting has finally finished... The transformation is complete... You knew it was coming... My last photo with Doc Brown... This hallway sat dead and dark, as it had already been gutted long before this photo was taken... Waiting in line for Back to the Future, this would be Tomoya's first and last ride on it in Florida...

More from Tomoya's visit... Sad that they didn't just close it in one piece... I'll be back to see you for your final ride! It wouldn't be like this on March 30th... An obligatory photo... That Sunday, Adam decided to join us for a day at Universal Orlando! I'm a candy pirate... Give me some candy! Scary... He loved Pirates of the Caribbean too! Here is an example of the Disney magic- like visiting a place for the first time, just because you are with someone who never has... Tomoya's shooting skills [in the words of Dan] owned... Tomoya was excited that he could finally experience an attraction here at WDW in Japanese (Haunted Mansion). This one's for you Barry! Suprisingly enough, Tomoya's driving skills showed on the Tomorrowland Speedway... Even though he is only 14... They didn't use my joke... MILF was using its text-message feature finally...

In this sequel TR to last November's Journey to Japan report, I was fortunate enough to host a Japanese student for 9 days here in Orlando. During that time, we visited 5 of Orlando's parks. Now on this thread, you can see what Tomoya saw in Orlando! My brother decided to meet up with us at the Magic Kingdom... Notice the merchandise still has the Comedy Club portion of the title attached... Woop-de-do... The Laugh Floor has recieved a quick name change. Now it is simply MILF, rather than MILFCC... The monorails new (and expensive) touchscreen system has finally been installed... Tomoya enjoyed sitting in the front car of our monorail. Its odd that Brer Bear was here right as the media started talking about Song of the South again... Finally, a new sit-down restaurant for Animal Kingdom. Tomoya really enjoyed Dinosaur but admitted that he liked Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull more. Tree-lady was here too! The awesome Jammin' Band was there today too! I found Yeti-ball! Next time I get to Animal Kingdom, I am taking Yeti-ball home! He liked seeing the animals and enjoyed the atmosphere at the park. We started at Animal Kingdom, since Tokyo Disneyland's Resort doesn't have anything like it. Saturday morning was Tomoya's first day of park-hopping. To start, we introduced him to Dunkin' Donuts!

Well, I have ridden Gwazi (Tiger and Lion), Le Monstre (One side only), Dania Beach Hurricane, The Racer (PKI), Son of Beast, Beast and the Triple Hurricane. So, the ranking can be justified...

I love the fact that you used Son of Beast as the topic for #32. It is one of my all-time favorite wooden coasters (at least the version that had the loop)...

I have spoken to Ricky Brigante in the past and he is a pretty nice guy. He is way more into Disney that most people I know, but he isn't the craziest podcaster I have met... That title goes to the kid that runs the 3 or so Everything Disney podcasts. Too bad none of the material he uses is actually his, or used with permission... I caught him using my footage once and that drew the line for me. Some podcasters are really nice, specifically the guys from Coasterradio.com, In The Loop, WDWToday and the Bare Necessities section of the Lets Talk About Disney podcast. I find it interesting that Disney finally announced that they lurk on the boards, considering that most of us knew it was happening (at least on one other forum) for a few years. I think they will be more amused than informed by the comments recieved on different topics, as some comments made just aren't too kind. The Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor is a perfect example of this... It wasn't all his fault you know... He actually did some good for the company during his time at Disney...

^I believe that the similarities are intended. At least one of those characters from the display is from the former parade. Here is a photo of the original puppet: http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/photos/millennium/tap03.jpg.

Its scary that they are using toys to represent these characters from the former Tapestry of Dreams/Nations parade from Epcot's Millenium Celebration... But, the puppets still are used at the park on special occasions like New Year's Eve.

^I do understand, and it seems this change has done what you intended it to do, so you most likely don't have any more necesscary changes left to be made. The scrolling was a small issue that I noticed on the previous version but I come here enough now to not miss too many updates. Considering that this site's formula has been working for a long time, you obviously don't need to worry too much into these details, but I do think that this facelift is welcome!

^ Apologies there! I did read the thread in its entirety, but didn't believe that the forum updates "cannibalized" the official updates. I didn't see anything wrong with the former layout, but I guess I am one of the few... One of the nice things about the former layout was that it promoted the idea of membership on the site, but again, that was just something that I saw...

I think you could get away with merging the Official Updates and the Forum Updates sections, but that is just a thought. I like the new layout, but I think that the original use of one column for all updates was simple and effective.

You can quote me on this one: "Coaster Expedition Volume 8 is by far the best volume yet! With all new faces and some new places, their antics provide a truly fun and enjoyable experience for any theme park enthusiast! If this doesn't make you want to go on one of their upcoming tours, you need to watch it again until you do!" Adam "can't wait till '08" Roth

If you don't like seasonal parks, go to Japan where they keep some of their parks open in the snow... Here is a perfect example- http://www.themeparkreview.com/videos/nasuhighlandvideo.htm

Death by slide! That really is scary looking slide, but then again, so is the looping slide that designers are developing...

^^ Supposidly the Californian version would close following ours. ^That would be too much of a wait for each individual film. If one were to become more popular that the other, then you would see a obviously unbalanced line for each experience.

It is a shame that the attraction is going, but its time has come. The ride had become rough and somewhat nauseating (on the scale of Body Wars during its run this past year). Since they are keeping the ride system, I hope that they put a good theme with the system. I am really skeptical about the idea of the Simpsons taking the place of Back to the Future. I see the Fast and the Furious taking its place in a much better fashion, but I could be wrong. I have made four return visits to Universal since I first found out that the attraction was closing, just to try to catch it before the attraction closed forever. Each time I went, I was told that they weren't sure when it would close permanently. At least now we know when it will end. I plan on making my way back to the park to say my farwell one last time on March 30th, so if anyone else is going to be there, I would be happy to meet up with you.