Erik Johnson

I signed up for both the Texas and the West Coast trips. It looks like our group from the Behemoth trip will be back together for California...that is unless I got kicked out or something.

I like it a lot. I think its the best fake guitar controller so far.

Matt, I bought the game yesterday for Xbox360. I understand that there seems to be a percentage of drum sets that has problems. Lucky for me my set seems to work great (though I really suck at drums). I also really like the new guitar as well. While some of the songs are also included in Rock Band 2, there are certainly a lot more than just 4 songs that are brand new to Guitar Hero WT. I mean three of them alone are Tool songs, which is really awesome. I do have both Rock Band and Guitar Hero. As for game play I do like Guitar Hero a little better, but Rock Band 2 totally owns for online play and selection of songs/downloads. My suggestion is to buy the Guitar Hero set, and pick up Rock Band 2 at some point. You can now find Rock Band 1 for a cheaper price now (buy it used). What is really cool is that you can add all (except 3) the songs from Rock Band 1 onto your HD so you can play it on Rock Band 2 (for a $5 fee).

In the meantime, does you school have a newspaper? If so I would submit some of these.

More Busch Gardens and some Walt Disney World. This is also the final update. And we finish up this trip report with the infamous marble doors. They now sell coaster shirts in the Rock n Roller Coaster queue. Mickey looks a little evil here. I thought this was cool. The janitorial staff made pictures out of water. Current WDW prices. Epcot just opened a new attraction. Go check it out. Test Track! It is never a good sign when the commander gets sick. This is probably not a good idea. Actually this guy makes me a bit worried. Let us go ride Mission Space. Spaceship Earth's lines are like they were in 1982. Let us head on over to Epcot. Yes, it is Dinosaur. Expedition Everest credit....check! These people look familiar. See anyone you know? That is a lot of electric carts. Animal Kingdom was crowded that day. Robb, "The King of Meat" I think the turtle must be sunbathing. Yes, it is safe. That thing looks safe. I finally got to check out a little of Jungala.

Sorry for the delay of the update. Anyways, next is Halloween Horror Nights which was extra special this year as Robb and Elissa arranged us to have the (R.I.P.) tour which is really awesome, especially since it was pretty crowded that evening. I did not take many photos from this night, but you can see a much more complete HHN trip report right here: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=650356#650356 REVENGE!! So, how was your ride? TPR getting soaked #3. TPR getting soaked #2. TPR getting soaked #1. Muwhahahahah! "Oh, I see someone I know!" Practice makes perfect. We should practice a little. We made sure to load up on quarters. Are you sure you want to ride the rapids ride? Correct, you get a sticker. Any idea what these people are taking picture of? We decided to skip Howl-O-Scream this year. How was your Gwazi Tiger ride? The next morning we went on over to Tampa for some Busch Gardens action. Hellboy and Bill and Ted. Anyone else use that as a password? Juno showed up this year. Here are a few more Bill and Ted photos. I see fog! Everyone wears a R.I.P glow stick in the group. Otherwise you may get lost. If you get to HHN early and are registered for a VIP (RIP) tour, you have to wait in this room. It sure looks scary from the outside.

Good Bye Matt!

Sweet trip report, thanks for posting. I guess I never had any idea that you now have to pay the actors to have your picture taken with them these days.

I just wanted to let you know that your camera kicks all kinds of butt.

Let us head on over to Universal and IOA next. Dave and Eli told us it was time to head back on over to Universal for some HHN. We went to Mythos for lunch. See, it is true that there is going to be Universal China soon. This is what happens when you blend Scarface and Dr. Seuss. I wish they took this advice before destroying the Enchanted Oak Tavern. I think she had the most fun with the "door attraction" that day. Not even the Grinch could scare her. When it comes to park characters, K.T. has no fear. Poor guy. They are looking at something pretty nasty, but I would not want to ruin it for you. The Gentlemen were pretty creepy. So was the gore. The theming of the mazes this year were top notch. We then had a tour of Body Collectors. Oh dear, I think this guy has seen better days. Spaced out theming. We first had a walkthrough of Interstellar Terror. In the morning, Robb arranged for us to meet up with Michael Roddy for a tour of two HHN mazes. There is nothing to see here, please move along. The moving walkways at Universal are an attraction itself.

MNSSHP Part 3: That is it for this section, HHN coming soon. Main Street has some special lights for this event. Its the limbo. Isn't that right? TPR Loves Big Thunder. Here is the new cool lighted item of the year. I can always use more candy. Chicken. Rodent. Dead Dude. Pirate Piglet This is for Lou. As well as the annual Boo To You parade. Fireworks are always cool.

MNSSHP Part 2: Ice Bat knew where the good candy was, so we followed him the rest of the night. Yep, they sure did. I think they liked it. Ready for your ride? Cameron gives his approval of this ride. I guess we can visit Space Mountain, but I do miss the special color building lights they used to do for this event. Too much candy = Crazy Donkey Yum, yes please! This is what a candy bin looks like. "Get out of my way, or give me candy!" Hey, you are not supposed to eat your candy yet. This sign means candy. They have lots of candy over here. Card games do not rot your teeth. "While I do not have raisins, I have something else to give you instead of candy!" NO DONKEY! The Country Bears really needed this. Lou and her freaks. Group huddles are always good in helping to decide where to eat for dinner. Mickey Trojans. "TOO MUCH WATER!" He took out this snake after this photo was taken. Though we do have Jason Bourne to protect us from danger. With this bunch, we might actually never make it back. "Welcome to the Jungle Cruise." Themed Pirates Review. Let us first start off with some high quality MK attractions.

I had the opportunity to attented several annual Halloween special events with a few of my friends from TPR. So let me start off with Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney's Magic Kingdom.MNSSHP: Part 1 Are you ready to get some candy, Chuck? This year's wristband. I really have no idea. Pumpkin #4 and #5: "Do not forget about us!" Pumpkin #3: "Awwwww..." Pumpkin #3: "I bet you can not find the Hidden Mickey!" Pumpkin #2: "Look at me, I am the Music Man." Pumpkin #1: "This is much more difficult to play than the drums in Rock Band." This year's logo. This is what this year's guide/map looks like. Can anyone find the hidden squash? As well as to take Mickey pumpkin photos. This would be a good time to take pumpkin photos. I was at the park several hours before the event, so they were still getting it ready for the evening. The train station is all decked out in Fall/Halloween colors. It looks like we are at the right place. So which is considered to be the hotel wing? Let us take a little boat ride. It looks like someone had a little too much fun with sidewalk chalk. Some random sign. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is always one of my favorite events. Halloween themed parking lot tickets. It sure looked like this parking lot tram was a little lost. It has been a while since I have been through this gate.

I have been enjoying these, keep them up!

I love this coaster, it moved up to my #1 position after riding it in Aug.

For me I always prefer an immersive experience rather than a scary experience. Well, I really should say that I never seem to get scared much at HHN. I do get startled by people jumping out etc, but never scared. I thought this year was way more immersive in terms of actors, maze details, and the simple fact that there were scare zones when compared to last year. I was very disappointed with last year's event myself (except for the Dead Silence and Christmas houses). I thought this year was overall very solid. While it was not my favorite HHN ever, I did enjoy myself more than the last 2 events.

Mama said knock you out!

According to Screamscape, the rumor is that the Dragons were trashed! Dumpster Dragons! http://www.screamscape.com/html/islands_of_adventure.htm My final DD picture.

This certainly was an epic trip report. I am now sad that it is over. I guess that means that you will have to take another trip so you can post another one.

^ That explains that oddly placed DD sign that I noticed by the Jurassic Park sign a few weeks ago.

^ I thought it was you, but it always can be difficult to tell. You certainly got me the second time when we walked through the area at night. So I guess, mission accomplished.

More pictures! Yes, HHN was good this year. Have a good evening Mary! Country Music on a coaster? Nerd! Much better at night. Check out the detail on Treeman's costume. Can you tell it is a person? While it was one of the weaker houses, I still enjoyed it. It also was the most popular of the evening in terms of crowds. So is fire. Chainsaw dudes were back. Here is the house based off a movie. The movie was not very good. The house was okay, but it was my least favorite of the evening. Are you sure that we are at Universal? The cast was perfect, and yes they sing all the songs themselves. Also I think Rocky Virgins would be lost by this version of the show. Poor Andrew. Just a warning, this is a full audience paticipation version, so there is a lot of extra colorful commentary. You have been warned. Dammit, Janet! They do a pretty good job using only about 1/3 of the songs in 30 minutes. Science Fiction, Double Feature. If you like Rocky Horror, you MUST see this show. Yes, the rat lady is back. Here is the Head School Master. He is evil by the way. There are probably over 100 hundred of them. Each one of those orange lights is a pumpkin.

Ok let us head on over to some mazes. Ewwww...Scary! The Frog Prince. The Big Bad Wolf.....grrrrr! The Fractured Tales scare zone featured twisted versions of Mother Goose characters. For me, this was my favorite house of the event this year. While in a tent, this one really rivaled a soundstage house this year. Another great house, there were a lot of good ones overall. Wow, it only says no Flash Photography this year. All three of the tent/shed houses were really good this year. I think this one was the most freaky of the evening. And as always, the usual song and dance routine at the end. Hellboy and the Original Iron Man. Sweeny Todd attempting to take out another person. The Joker with Sex and the City. Hancock. In case if you did not see the movie. He is the villian from Hellboy II. My camera is not the very best at taking photos during the show. But here are Bill and Ted. This year was themed with Hellboy II. Unlike last year, they allow non-flash photography and video this year. We decided to see the first show of the evening, since you get preferred seating with Express Passes. Again, there is a lot of booze for sale during HHN. The scare zone in front blended in with the whole Body Collectors theme. One of the more gory mazes this year. I think I liked it more than a few other people, but it certainly was on the short side. Another solid maze. There was a big movie screen inside that showed different movie clips. Its fully air-conditioned as well!!! They actually used one full soundstage to cover several large sections of different queues. There is a lot of extra walking due to all of the Rock-It construction. There is some sort of text message game for each house. Our first maze, which is in a soundstage, was Creatures. We all thought it was quite good. It certainly has a few great scare moments.

Ok let us head on over to Universal for Halloween Horror Nights 2008. I will first start of by saying that I was somewhat disappointed with last year's HHN. I think they focused way too much energy and money using the New Line licences. I prefer it when they use original ideas instead of basing a bunch of mazes off well known movies. Also last year was seriously hurt by a real lack of scare zones. I think they had one last year? Anyways, I think they listened to a lot of HHN fans and decided to add a lot of scare zones back this year and only have one maze that was based off of a movie. Overall I think the event was solid this year. It certainly had a good mix of good mazes/scare zones/as well as shows. I will try to keep this update somewhat spoiler free (I won't go into mazes details much), but there might be a few pictures here and there that could be considered spoilers. Me being a coaster geek. The caterpillar was the most evil one of the bunch. "Give my best regards to Elissa!" Creepy makeup. Looks like Eric met a new friend. Hey there! Let us head on over to the Asylum in Wonderland zone. The Skoolhouse area was not open yet. We shall check it out later. It just does not look right while it is still light outside. While blurry, Treeman was really amazing. Representing the North. I see you Pumpkin Head guy. This guy was really creepy. Again, Scare Zones are meant to be experienced at night. Let us head on over to the America Gothic Scare Zone. As with any HHN event. Mixed drinks can be found on every corner. Watch your head! While this looks MUCH better at night. You can see the Flying Monkey Scare Actors doing their thing. Check out the detail on his costume. Here is the Scarecrow. The Lion does not look too cowardly. The Tin Man. We figured this would be a good time to explore the scare zones, when it was still light outside. Here is the Wicked Witch in the Path of the Wicked Scare Zone. While the event officially started at 6:30, they opened the gates 30 minutes early. I can see mist!! Oops, I accidently caught my foot in Mirrorman's face. This was Andrew's very first HHN. Also a lot of extra security. The only time Universal uses metal dectectors is for HHN. Remember not to say her name three times in front of a mirror. There was a pretty cool mirror themed projecter which helped explain a little about the whole Mary/Reflections of Fear theme. Let us head on over to the park. There was a few scare actors walking around City Walk a full 90 minutes before the event started. Here is what another shirt looks like. This is what one of the shirts looks like this year.

I will first start of with an assortment of photographs from Orlando's waterpark, Wet 'N' Wild. The last time I set foot in this park was the same year that Tower of Terror opened up at Disney/MGM Studios. Needless to say they have added quite a few things since 1994. While the park looks like an average waterpark from the outside, they really do have a lot of special one-of-a-kind attractions as well as special versions of well known attractions. For instance, The Brain Wash looks like a standard smaller version of a Tornado. But it is far from it. The entire ride is totally enclosed and it is themed with all kinds of special lights, sounds, as well as projected movies. The same goes for the Behemoth Bowl Proslide named, Disco H20. Again its totally enclosed with all kinds of special lighting/theming/sounds etc. Ok, let us go and check out the photographs. Early Dinner Time! I do have to say that Wet 'N' Wild is my favorite waterpark. They really do have an excellent collection of attractions. I see you Bomb-Bay! The free fall slides still hurt your back. It was the same experience back in 1994. It may look like a normal Proslide Tornado, but it really takes it to the next level with all kinds of awesome theming on the ride. Brain Wash is another unique variation of and common waterpark attraction. This attraction is only for the kids. Make sure you are a strong swimmer for this one. It is a human bowl Proslide that drops you into a 6.5 foot pool. Its really fast and you sustain quite a few G's while in the bowl. I have to admit Storm scared me at first. Just make sure you hold on tight, those drops create a LOT of airtime. The wait can be long, but the Bubba Tub is really worth it. Just like New York. You can find Nathan's all over Florida. Here are some rules. They completely re-did it as a series of pools and slides through a themed out-of-control water plant. Anyone remember the old Raging Rapids attraction? Both Disco H20 and Surge share the same loading platform. Surge is pretty much a standard family raft ride. Inside the bowl is themed with flashing lights, music, and a disco ball. The drop into the bowl is really steep and fast in pitch black darkness, so make sure you hang on. We then checked out the Disco H20, which is an enclosed Behemoth Bowl Proslide. Many years ago there used to be a slide called the Corkscrew. The slide used to exit here. They added a brand new light package for the loading area as well as the slide itself. It is quite excellent. Just think Space Mountain as a water ride with two people rafts. Our first attraction of the day was the newly redone Black Hole. Which one is Splish or Splash? Well, maybe more like Splush. Though they still have the old classic wave pool. Here is the park map. I can already tell they have added a lot of new things since my last visit. More current prices. It is great that they have an open/closed attraction list that you can see before buying your tickets. Good to know. The Mach 5 was closed today. But that was ok since I have already ridden them back in the day. There is some nice landscaping before you get into the park. OK let us head into the park. Across the street is one of the oldest hotels in the area. This is why I love going to parks in the off season. It costs $9.00 to park your car at Wet 'N' Wild.