PeoplemoverMatt
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Posts posted by PeoplemoverMatt
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I agree, but it's really hard when the park is centered around nostalgia. People would flip their poo-poo if the park re-built the castle.
So expand the walkways without drastically altering the castle. Start with getting rid of that monstrosity clogging up Tomorrowland's entrance.
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^ Well they do accept cash donations in addition to food, but I can't imagine someone being dickish enough to want their *charitable donation* refunded because they were somehow unsatisfied by the maze.
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Tonight I was invited by TPR and Christian and Scott Sivley to check out Beware the Dark Realm - a free local haunted maze that benefits the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry. Scott and his son Christian put this on annually with 2016 marking the 45th year for Scott, and their 28th year in Santa Clarita.
Beware the Dark Realm is located in the northern part of the Santa Clarita Valley, about 7-8 miles northeast of Six Flags Magic Mountain. They've used different themes over the years. The current haunted medieval castle theme has been going since 2013. Every year Christian and Scott make changes and enhancements and it really shows in what they're able to do. The haunt includes an amazing castle façade built up around the garage and front yard of their home, multiple elaborate sets, some cool lighting and strobe effects, and of course, monsters! The attraction is open Friday and Saturday nights the weekend before Halloween and the weekend of Halloween from 7pm-10pm, with non-scare group tours offered beginning at 6pm.
For me, seeing this was nothing short of amazing. It's clearly a labor of love given how guests are not charged a dime, though donations of food and/or funds to the Food Pantry are welcomed. Christian and Scott were both very gracious and accommodating. I had a blast going through their maze. Usually the first night of any haunt includes some technical difficulties, monster talent working their kinks out, etc but I saw none of that. The sets were great. The effects were startling. The talent was spot on, knew their roles, had their timing down and they were numerous throughout the maze. There was a line outside the entrance, but that was mostly because only small groups are allowed to walk through the maze. No conga lines here. That was a great choice because being in the maze alone or with just your group adds a whole other element to the fright. There were some disorienting moments included such as a dead end in the castle's dungeons that only the dungeon inmates can help you out of, a dark forest with multiple dead ends, and a final encounter with a dragon's head before escaping back through the castle gates. How awesome is that, and they don't charge a nickel?? Crazy.
Having been going to theme park haunts for 14 years, I had just as much if not more fun with this as any other theme park haunt I've been to. Christian, Scott, and everybody else involved should be very proud of their efforts in putting this on for the local community. Anybody who's interested in haunted mazes and having fun with them should come by and see the great work they've done here.
Let's check out some photos, shall we?
Beware!...BEWARE!...
Beware the Dark Realm is located in the northern Santa Clarita Valley about 7-8 miles NE of SFMM, and roughly 35 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
Elaborate castle walls serve as façade to the maze. There is a house behind that...somewhere...
This is being put on for four nights, and did I mention it's FREE?
There's a sizeable crowd out front, so of course a couple monsters come out to mess with them a little bit!
Hi there! Care to make a donation?
Front yard photo op? Check!
If you've always wondered what a casket in your front yard would look like, now you know!
NOTED!
Ahh! I've not yet entered the castle, but the master has already found me!
Along with set design and effects, they've done a fantastic job with costuming and makeup as well.
Ready to go in?
Death is literally around the corner...
The bluish blob next to the organ is one of the maze's best effects - the ghostly image of a woman dancing.
She came bursting out of that room with a flashing strobe that created a weeping angel effect. Loved it!
Of course every castle needs a banquet hall...
Run away!
Awesome creepy lighting in the dark forest area...
OH HAI!
Fog effects, darkness, creepy lighting and cool set design? Oh yes...
Things didn't end well for this guy...
Remember the ghostly image of the girl dancing? That would be her in the middle. On the left is a dungeon prisoner.
In what's probably my favorite part of the maze, this is actually a dead end and only HE can open the cell door to allow you to proceed.
Come check out Beware the Dark Realm! They do a fantastic job!
Also check them out on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks to Christian and Scott for the invite! You guys are awesome!
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On one hand, I'm glad that FP won't be essentially required to see this show anymore. On the other hand, I think the only people complaining about not being able to get in were the AP's who feel entitled to be able to roll into the park in the middle of the day, or whenever they want, and walk right into the show. These are the ones who go to Disneyland looking for something enjoyable on an average Saturday, not a once a year or once in a lifetime vacation.
Either way, this should make it easier for anyone who wants to see the show to get in. I figure that's a good thing.
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Curious to see if anyone's experienced a "slow" day at Haunt yet? I'm glad they're pulling some huge crowds, but I'm hoping to visit on a bit more of a dead night. Aiming for a Thursday or a Sunday I guess.
Either one will be better than the crowds you'd see on a Saturday. Last Saturday was sold out completely.
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Our state government has entirely too much free time on its hands. One day they'll solve an actual, real problem. Just not sure when that's going to be...
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They didn't just add VR on Revolution, they built new trains (and added an awesome LED package on the loop!). I'd say that's significant enough to not say they "sat out" the year.
Thing is, most any other park would consider that simply performing the maintenance they should have been doing in the first place. It's kind of like celebrating the fact you washed the dishes because you threw a new souvenir cup in the mix.
I'm happy that SFMM is building something that looks like a solid addition to the park. But, past history indicates this will operate inconsistently at best. I don't know about anybody else, but it's rather frustrating when riding a shooter ride when the gun doesn't work.
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Has anyone mapped out on Google or whatever the distance from this new garage on what used to be Pumbaa to DL's gate, and the walking distance from the existing Mickey & Friends garage to DL's gate via the walking path?
I'd be interested to see which has the longer walk.
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Got my ticket. See you all at Knott's!
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I'm assuming that you're comparing new GR's airtime to post-2010 GR (when they started actually using the midcourse brakes), because the airtime on 2016 GR is extremely gentle compared to what it once was. In my opinion, the ride has no ejector air anymore (with the exception of the drop after the midcourse, but only if you're in the last 4 or 5 rows).
It's ejector air if you're from CA.
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I noticed the new logos for the upcoming movies all now have a "Marvel Studios" logo above them when it was previously just Marvel. For sure there are some legalities being hammered out.
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Not sure what part of California Screamin' has anything to do with CA. The name is a weak play off an old song. The coaster's theme is virtually non-existent. People ride it because roller coaster. There isn't a single thing about it that says "California" to me.
Screamin' could have a re-theme announcement tomorrow and nothing thematically would be lost.
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I guess I'm the only one that thinks the exterior concept art looks pretty ugly. You can still clearly see all the characteristics of the current building.
It reminds me of the 98 Tomorrowland goldification.
Eh, looks more like the BTTF -> Simpsons conversion at Universal. No huge structural changes to the building. Minor adjustments to the ride itself. Just about everything inside and outside will look and feel different to fit the new theme. If this theme is executed similar to Tokyo's ToT, it will be an incredible improvement.
But where is the love for DCA's Tower of Terror? There isn't any.The only part I'll miss is the predictable bunny hill and its crazy (in CA relative terms) airtime. But even that's not going away. We'll just not know it'll happen until it happens as with FL's Tower. Not a huge loss, and everything to gain with tapping into the broad appeal of Guardians of the Galaxy.
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And I do not like the direction of the company in this sense. I wish Disney would go back to making more original classics instead of feeling like everything has to be based on the newest property. I did not care about Maelstrom, (and who honestly did?) but I have a problem when they feel a need to upgrade some of their newest classics. I think that the newest major non-property based attraction in a US park was Everest in 2006. I will also give Seven Dwarves a pass, because the property itself is classic enough already. But I feel that Test Track and Tower of Terror are two storylines that should remain untouched.
Soarin' Around the World *just* opened as a major non-IP attraction.
Test Track could easily have gone Tron themed if GM didn't renew their contract. Honestly having seen what TT 2.0 ended up being and now seeing Tron Lightcycle Power Run in Shanghai, I think the Tron theme could have made for a better attraction than what's there now. The whole car design part in the queue is fun, but the test ride itself is disjointed storytelling at best. Tron would have told a much stronger story.
What ultimately matters is what makes for the best attraction possible. If use of an IP-based theme like Guardians makes for a much richer, more immersive experience, I'm totally OK with it. If the day ever come where the use of original themes/stories for theme park rides was completely abandoned in favor of IP-based themes, that would be a sad day, but it's not going to happen. Certainly this move doesn't signal that day is near since Twilight Zone was an IP-based theme anyway. This move swaps that out for a potentially stronger, certainly much more relevant theme. I'll miss the Twilight Zone, but DCA's version was always a scaled-down version of the original anyway. WDW has the real Tower of Terror that will still be there after Guardians has moved in. Now it won't suffer from such a comparison without much of anything being lost. Instead, we gain having an attraction unique to Disneyland, and an attraction unique to WDW (and Paris) that used to be close cousins of each other. That's a GOOD thing.
Having this be the cornerstone of a Marvel presence in DCA is probably the best news of all. They can take what has been a mostly dead, ill-conceived area of the park for 15 years and turn it into a huge success. Can't wait to see what else is to come.
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In case anyone's still playing this game, Act 2 of Superheroes II ends at Midnight tonight.
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Maybe I shouldn't be, but I'm honestly surprised how widespread this game is already.
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I'm entertained that I'm basically building USH's Waterworld stunt show set during this event.
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It's a capacity and reliability problem, plus overwhelming demand that no system could ever hope to flawlessly handle.
So of course FastPass+ gets blamed.
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Managed to ride GR last Sat. It's an improvement in terms of smoothness. Good ride. Lots of "California air time" throughout.
It's not on par with a ride like Outlaw Run, but it's back to being a solid part of the park's coaster lineup.
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If you're not enjoying what you're doing, you're doing it wrong. Great to see/hear that you guys are back to just going to parks and having fun!
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Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! Is this one going to be $350 a night in the off season, too?! Can't wait to say screw that and go to the $60 Super 8 instead!
Yep, but hey, it's another lobby to walk through, and I'm sure the restaurants will be interesting.
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It is for what it is. Six inversions in a minute. Three backwards.
There's plenty of other coasters that put riders through six inversions in a minute, and are much less painful and terrible.
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I went to the park on Sunday, there were still Fast passes available at 10am for a return time of about 3pm.
Kinda makes me wonder how many groups put people in line for both Frozen and RSR FP's in the morning, keep in contact with each other, then have someone send the entire group's tickets to whoever gets through their line first, and then quickly back to the other line before that person makes it to the machines.
This is why FP+ so very badly needs to come to Disneyland.
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People complain that Knott's lost its charm by building huge coasters. Then people complain that Knott's isn't catering to coaster enthusiasts.
Disneyland Resort (DL, DLR, DCA) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
Except there are so many rich people in the SoCal area that Disneyland could easily charge double what it currently does and attendance wouldn't suffer at all. Think about what the local sports teams, theatres, and other entertainment venues are charging. Parking alone for the Rams' first home game was well into the triple digits. It's a minor miracle that Disneyland admission is as relatively cheap as it is.
Don't look for a huge spike in prices, especially considering the huge amount of negative press that the pre-Cars Land increases got. You can bet prices will go up, but I would expect a continuation of the marginal increase that they've done yearly for the last 10 years or so.