Independence Day

Hope you guys have a nice July 4th (Independence Day)! There's less people time around, but we're still all watching the fireworks. (And I need to find a way to fix that lens flare problem, I suppose it was caused by water seeping in while filming the World of Color water fountain show a while back.)

Try out all the flavors of ice cream at ColdStone (2/20)

I decided to get a create-your own. Good thing I got there early and was close by; the line doubled a few minutes after the fireworks ended.

I noticed that this time around flavors could mean either the flavors of ice cream you get to choose or the Signature Ice Cream, since they both have 20 different varieties. For this '20' I will be referring to the number of signature creations tried out*.

Eagle Eyes

Use the same strategies for the other boards that have the same layout (Mouth of Madness being one of them). Essentially concentrate on double gaps. Use the video below to see how to set this up.

Fun Fact:Two things wrong: The ball curve doesn't exactly follow the trail on the board (this is evident in the area in the green rectangle) and there's an eagle face on this board, but it's under the frog.

The Summer Solstice

Today's the start of summer (acutally, yesterday). Despite my break, I don't have all this time to come up with posts on a timely basis as I actually have other jobs to finish up, so just create gaps near each ball spawn point and gapshot your way to victory. You'll keep the gaps from collapsing as well as earning decent points this way.

They managed to bring up Happy Hour like the one in Bejeweled Blitz, this time allowing you to use a power (this monday: bombs / tiki bombs / voodoo bombs) for no mojo cost.

One Week in LA

78. Visit all the Fry’s locations in California. (+3)

Fry's Explored: Burbank, CA, June 12, 2011 (UFO)
Fry's Explored: Anaheim, CA, June 14, 2011 (Space Themed)
Fry's Explored: City of Industry, CA, June 16, 2011

86. Ride a real roller coaster. (Goal Completed)
Space Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad

77. Visit at least 30 major malls in California. (+3)
Brea Mall, Anaheim Garden Walk, Mainplace Shopping Center

It's been a long time... around 10 years or so since I last visited Disneyland and California Adventure. So many things have changed, like the surrounding area. If you were wondering why I haven't made a last board update, this is one of the reasons (although the other reason's because this week is a repeat board, which I do not make a post of.)

In the span of ten years, a lot of the rides have changed and I have become more fearless in riding most of the attractions that I would have never riden in the past.

So likewise, here's a list of attractions that I would recommend seeing and why:

Star Tours - They have revamped the show entirely. Instead of one fixed movie, destinations are random (actually, there are three different ones), with a total of 54 different experiences, increasing replayability. Due to this, the waiting time is very long all-around, with at least 70 mins a ride (even at closing time!) up to 2 hours. It's worth it if you get a fastpass before 10:30 or so as they tend to sell out quickly.

Yes, the wait's this long.

Space Mountain - Just ride this one.

Toy Story Midway Mania - It's completely 3d and a midway style game where you hit various targets on a screen.

Grizzly River Rafting - Self explanatory, adding in the final geyser that is guaranteed to soak you if you're lucky (or unlucky enough) for it to happen.

Aladdin the Musical - Even if you don't really like musicals, at least watch the genie part, who makes a LOT of modern references.

Character Close Up - specifically involving the Toy Story Zoetrope. A huge number of models, but becomes animated when placed under a strobe. To see its full effect, watch a video of it.

Innoventions - when they involve a lot of future stuff and a few interactive games (including a car of the future race that would probably be more of a video game than in RL.

World of Color - at 9:00 pm (and 10:15), there's a huge array of fountains splashing water and making a huge light show, combined with movies and visuals. So epic that you have to actually watch the show to see the full effect, not a youtube video of it.

On the Warehouse Clearance Sale

Ranting a bit here, but I think others might agree with me.

Just because it's spring clearance week doesn't mean the prices can't get ridiculous. I am so not paying 80 bucks for 10 million mojo and a bunch of other potions. Even the Player Appreciation Day Idol Sale last week had a better idol ratio per facebook credit (15 compared to 9.4).

The good thing is that if you want to use up those last few facebook credits you got for free over a year ago, you should use them, as the ratio's the same (1 for 5 idols compared to 7 for 35 idols).

EDIT: They changed the ratios a bit, which gives you less idols per facebook credit. It was on June 20th:

- 1 Facebook Credit -> 6 idols
- 21 Facebook Credits ($2.10) -> 139 idols
- 66 Facebook Credits ($6.60) -> 469 idols
- 451 Facebook Credits ($45) -> 4104 idols

Costco Opening in Lodi

Here's a picture of the new Costco in Lodi, California with their 'soft' opening in the form of a VIP party. As you can see, there was a lot of people waiting for it to open, with some waiting for over an hour.

Yes, there were a lot of people there. Although you couldn't buy anything at the store that day, they had a lot of food samples (including those from the food court).

(Click for larger image)

Snakes on a Plain

The snakes gap shot board returns again. This time, I've had it with those *** snakes on this *** plain! So step back 'cause imma pull off some triple gaps.

I suppose you watched the movie related to the title of this board. Or at least, this clip.

TIP: You have two powerups each with a different strat for a high score: Warp Ball or Epic Fruit.

Warp Ball: Go for a large first opening double/triple gap. Balls roll in quick near the opening, giving you a nice opportunity to double tap.* Keep note that doing this is rewarding but reaction-time heavy on this board unless you can find a way to slow the balls down via combos. At normal speed, you need to notice a double tap opportunity and fire both balls - all within three quarters of a second, and at fast speed (2+ minutes in), you have almost no chance for triple gaps when they're going at full speed because your frog (or spirit animal) can't fire balls fast enough.

Epic Fruit: Wait until halfway through the intro before starting (it causes fruit to appear immediately after balls roll out). Once you grab a fruit, try to keep fruit locations open (or a double tap away) around 7 seconds after you grabbed the last fruit so that you can get it within a few seconds of it appearing. Don't forget to hit multipliers and time balls as well. At late-game when balls go faster, you may want to set up double/triple gaps.

*(source: The Other Zuma Blitz Guide, rev. 1.1, pg. 17)