Leaderboard

A new head of maintenance at Six Flags Magic Mountain can significantly impact the park's goal of operating all coasters with two roller coaster train operations within two years in several ways. Firstly, the head of maintenance brings in fresh perspectives and potentially new strategies for optimizing coaster operations. They might implement more efficient maintenance schedules, ensuring that downtime for repairs and inspections is minimized. This could involve predictive maintenance techniques that anticipate issues before they occur, thereby reducing unexpected closures. Secondly, the new leader can focus on improving staff training and development. By ensuring that maintenance teams are well-trained and knowledgeable about the specific requirements of each coaster, they can enhance operational readiness and responsiveness to issues. This might include cross-training staff to handle different aspects of coaster maintenance, thereby increasing flexibility and reducing dependency on a limited number of specialists. Additionally, the head of maintenance can oversee upgrades to existing coaster systems and infrastructure. This could involve modernizing control systems, enhancing safety features, or even collaborating with ride manufacturers to optimize performance. Moreover, effective leadership can foster a culture of accountability and excellence within the maintenance team. Setting clear goals, measuring performance metrics, and incentivizing achievements can motivate staff to meet and exceed operational targets. Ultimately, the new head of maintenance plays a crucial role in coordinating efforts across departments to achieve the goal of consistently operating all coasters with two train operations. Their strategic oversight and management can streamline processes, improve reliability, and ensure a positive guest experience by minimizing downtime and maximizing coaster availability.

Congrats, you've discovered where the budget ends.

I went to SeaWorld today for the first day of Platinum Pass previews. There are new kiosks at the park entrance that work much better than the old ones. The old ones always were out of service or freezing up. As with past previews, they were checking to make sure everyone entering the line had a Platinum Pass. The wait time sign was posting a 15 minute wait but it was a walk on unless you wanted the front or back rows. The queue starts outdoors but is mostly indoors which is a welcome addition with the air conditioning. The queue is themed well with some props and then there are stairs and a walkway over the track in the station. It reminded me a little of Kingda Ka's walkway entering and exiting the station. The first launch was good and the ride is mostly a lot of twists and turns without too many drops. The ride isn't forceful at all but I wasn't expecting it with it being marketed as a family coaster. The second launch is close to the end of the ride before a large banked turn. There was a little bit of a rattle but not too bad. Penguin Trek is a great addition to SeaWorld and really needed. The park has so many thrill coasters and something much tamer really adds some variety to their lineup. I think it's going to be very popular with it appealing to almost everyone, especially with the low height requirement of 42"

I see Zach is getting more and more proficient with ChatGPT.

Can we get ai to cleanup the st louis thread?

I vote Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Hershey Park. Both are two day parks. Lines are usually more manageable at BGW during the week, especially when it's hot. We just stayed at Kings Mill Resort close to BGW. It's a beautiful higher end resort, which is surprisingly way cheaper than Hershey Lodge for what you get. We got a waterfront king room. You can do some local history when you're in the area. BGW is a beautiful park, and is one of our favorites. It feels much more well put together to us than BGT. You could also do a day at Knoebels and a couple days at Hershey.

so.. when I heard that TPR was going to doing a UK trip in 2024, and that they were going to a park that I had dreamed about ever setting foot in for almost 40 years? yeah, I quickly inquired and was able to join them on the trip. I decided to be comfortable - my spouse passing really made me into a bit bougie/enjoy while you can kind of person. . so I not only booked flights, but paid for upgrades. United was "kind" enough to upgrade me for the 40 minute flight from Austin to Houston (which ended up being so bumpy there was no drink service anyways), but due to an error on their part? yep, didn't upgrade me for the longer, 9 hour flight, and had me in Economy. the wonderful desk agent in Austin, tried for almost an hour to "fix" the longer flight, but eventually told me there was nothing they could do and that I should check in at the gate in Houston and see if they worked it out. But offered me a bunch of drink vounchers for the longer flight and told me to go relax in the United lounge until my flight in about an hour. don't think it will surprise you to hear that the United lounge wouldn't let me in, as I was only upgraded on the Domestic portion of my flight, but not the International. . therefore I didn't qualify to go in. . . but I could pay $56 for a day pass? Yeah.. no. Instead I gave the name of the agent who had been helping me and they called down to her (turns out she's a supervisor) and she told them let me in. . . .so I did get a nice snack while waiting for my plane to leave. I was determined to stay in a positive mood, and not let glitches like this deter me - after all, at the end of the flights, I'd be in London. But oh yes, I'll deal with United when I get back after. not worth $56 to pay to get in, so glad that I didn't have to. but a nice snack. my "surprised" face at the gate in Houston, upon being told that nope, they didn't have an upgrade for me. I was number 12, and they had filled upgrades 1-11 and had no more seats in Premium Plus. shocking, I know! oh well. .I had figured out I'd not be getting the upgrade they had charged me for. BUT. . I was glad I had stayed positive, as it turned out the center seat was empty (despite it being a full plane), so my neighbor in the window seat and I had lots of room to spread out on the longer flight. So it all worked out. I ended up watching an Anime movie about a otherworldly "keymaster" that turns into a chair. ("Suzume" which I highly recommend. . I quite enjoyed it), and Disney's "Wish" - which I liked so much, I watched it twice. Sunrise from the plane as we were in transit. here's what I had for a meal on the flight. that Milk cookie was so sweet I really didn't care for it and spit most of it out. The Steward seemed surprised and said most like it. but it was edible and decent (I wasn't all that hungry anyways) I did make use of some of my Drink Coupons tho. . . the Bloody Mary hit just right Finally landing in Heathrow, and getting thru Customs was a breeze. I had decided to be a little bougie, and had hired a car - that picked me up at the Customs area with a little sign. LOL. . I felt so important turned out to be an excellent choice, as there were protests all over London - seems to be something that happens pretty much every Saturday - and the drive took over 2 hours to get to my Hotel. but since I had paid a flat rate for the driver, he took the way scenic way, to avoid many closed off streets, and I ended up seeing many sights I might have not even gotten a chance to see. from the car, yes, but still. . very cool to see and now I could say that I saw them. Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliment London Eye, Parliment, Big Ben. .from the other side. I think that's the shard in the back on the right? eventually tho, I finally made it to the hotel, and only wanted a hot shower. but turned out they were having issues with the keys (creating them). . . so they moved some things around and put me in this room (which was fine, I just wanted to sleep there anyways for 2 nights before the TPR trip started). I went back down to the front desk and talked to the Concierge. i was really interested in seeing a show in the West End (I was staying at the Doubletree West End - and huge shout out to Elissa for helping me decide to book a room there) my "wish list" show had been "Spirited Away". . but tickets were quite expensive, and I didn't want to pre-purchase just in case of delayed flights or some other issue. So had been leaving it up to the universe. The Concierge got hold of the box office, and via some miracle, there was ONE open seat available. In row 7, near center stage! They told me they would be happy to put it on hold for me, and I could pick it up at the on call one hour before the performance. i was stoked, and tipped the Concierge well for the help, and then got walking directions to the British Museum (another reason I had chosen this hotel was the proximity to that). and off I went. (I had gotten a free ticket online, tho I was well over an hour past my ticketed time, due to the issues getting to the hotel. . but I wasn't too concerned, as I had been told I could just go around to the backside of the museum and get in over there even without a timed ticket). it was a lovely walk, and the weather was just cool enough that I was having a grand time. I mean. . as a first time visitor to London, one HAS to, right? it's a gorgeous, and HUGE, museum. and was absolutely packed with schoolkids - which I guess is a good thing? (tho I ended up chatting with multiple security guards - chatting or perhaps flirting? I'm not really sure - they kept commenting on my Katya shirt and boots). even tho it was past my ticket time, I was told to get in the line and just go in with the other timed ticket people. So got to go in the front of the museum. I spent just about 4 hours here. . by no means did I even come close to seeing everything. But was able to hit up every area that I was interested in. unfortunately "the Wave" the famous Japanese silkscreen, was not on display at the moment - having been taken down for some restoration work. . but there was plenty of other things to see (and photograph) yeah yeah. . .juvenile humor.. but it was funny to me. a few purchases later (mostly magnets) and I headed back to the hotel to change up a bit - to get a little fancier for the theater some fresh walking directions, and I headed out (exhausted, but determined) to go see "Spirited Away" the theater it's playing in is one of the oldest, and the staff told me is the largest, in the West End: the London Coliseum. ahhhhh. . THIS is why the show was nearly sold out. the actress playing Yubaba/Zeniba? (Mari Natsuki) That's the actress who voiced the part in the original Anime! I was VERY lucky to get a ticket. the show had only been playing in London for a couple of weeks and the gift shop folks were freaking out, as it still had to run thru the end of August - and they were sold out of almost everything. they had a few T-shirts (in smaller sizes), and some keychains. . .but most of the merch had sold right away and they desperately were trying to find a way to restock (I spoke with them before the show started, and they were expressing how surprised everyone was at how well the show was doing). hopefully that's a good sign, and we'll see the show here in the States? It sticks VERY close to the film - tho there's a new song and set piece added in act II to pad it a little bit. The puppet work on the characters is super impressive. . I loved it, particularly when Haku flies out thru and above the audience to end Act I. anyways. . . I bought a couple of shirts that are a little too small for me, but will hang in the closet as souvenirs. . .and enjoyed the specialty Martini the theater truly is GORGEOUS. (pics taken when they opened the doors. NO photography during the performance. . I think they want to keep the puppets "hidden". . which is strange when two full versions of the show are avail. on Max to watch, so you could see the puppets anyways.). they relaxed the rule during curtain call. .so that's how I got that pic. the whole show is in Japanese, with English translations flashed above, and to the sides of the stage. after the show, I had totally forgotten it was Saturday night. (I was exhausted, and was lucky to have kept my eyes open for the whole show. . LOL). . . but seemed like most of the West End shows ended around the same time, and everyone poured out into the streets, and it was like a big, festive, party going on out here. this was my back-up show, if I had been unable to score a ticket to "Spirited Away".. just for Tom Holland. Ian McKellan was also headlining a show. . but he had just fallen off the stage a couple of days before my arrival, so his part was being played by an understudy. So I didn't even look at tickets for that. I was focused on my wish list one I wandered among the crowds, enjoying some pastry and the art installations on some streets. then gave in, exhausted, and hired a pedi-cab to get me back to the hotel, where I went up to my room and promptly crashed. I had to get up fairly early tomorrow for a full day at Tower of London. so a quick shower, and off to bed. but hey, I was in London! (the two Spirited Away shirts I got. . . the XL "might' fit. . . but the other one for sure wont)

One by one the legacy Six Flags parks appear to be announcing today the Cedar Fair chaperone policy is being implemented. They haven't gotten to STL yet but it's likely a matter of time.

I went to Busch Gardens yesterday to ride Phoenix Rising. I was able to get 1 ride before previews ended and then some more rides during Passport to Thrills. It's a mostly tame coaster as expected but in the back of the train, there were some more forces than I was expecting. There was a slight rattle but less noticeable than Penguin Trek's and didn't take anything away from the ride. I also thought it was better than the 2 Vekoma family inverted coasters I have ridden at Fun Spot Orlando and Kings Island with steeper banked turns on Phoenix Rising. They built a very small queue for the ride. It can hold around a 20 - 30 minute line at the most. There is only 1 train and slow dispatches with everyone from the previous ride needing to exit before the air gates open for the next train. Combined with this being one of only 2 coasters in the park without an inversion (besides the kids coaster), it's probably going to be very popular with long waits once it opens to the public. The Passport to Thrills party was also great other than them not letting people in until 6 when they originally stated you could check in at 5:30 which caused the line to go past Scorpion. They gave out first rider buttons (also available during previews), popcorn, drinks and a Phoenix Rising fanny pack that was originally supposed to be available for all pass members until the end of the month. There was also a DJ and free face painting.

They are saying that it is unlikely that we will see that logo physically in the parks anywhere. It is the logo for the corporate offices, basically, and the SF parks merging into the new chain will keep their established logos on the ground. It is speculation at this point, of course, but I suspect they are right. I don't know why the new chain would spend money on switching all these out when the one thing the SF side brings above anything else is national brand recognition and those established logos are a big part of that.

You're right, this is a stand up routine. My apologies. I forgot that this hobby is very serious. You're right, I was kidding. Go to the American Dream Mall. It's great. I recommend pre-purchasing a dated "All Access Pass" ticket as it offers a full day of fun with unlimited ride access. I'd actually buy it now in case the park sells out for the day that you want. The website says that the ride will reopen on August 3rd so you should be all set. Again, my apologies. I hope you have a great time.

If anyone is planning on going to the park for Phoenix Rising's opening, I think the park put out the wrong date. Here is the post from the other day: I just got an e-mail from the park about the Passport to Thrills event and they list the previews as the following: "Saturday, 7/13: Platinum Pass Member Preview, 10-5pm Sunday, 7/14: Platinum and Gold Pass Member Preview (10am – 9pm) Monday, 7/15: Platinum, Gold, and Silver Pass Member Preview, (2pm-9pm) Tuesday, 7/16: Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Pass Member Preview (2pm- 9pm) Wednesday, 7/17: All Pass Member and Fun Card Preview (10am- 9pm)" Based on that it doesn't seem like it is opening to everyone on the 14th.

There are reports that they keep changing the exit procedure for the ride. When I rode the coaster on Tuesday, they allowed everyone to go through an emergency exit that goes right outside. More recently, they are now forcing people to wait in line for the penguin exhibit after the ride and it is taking people up to 25 minutes to exit after waiting and walking through the exhibit. I hope they are just testing different policies and that won't be a permanent policy. Having to wait in line to exit each time you ride the coaster is going to be very frustrating.

I think there’s three levels. The off-season parking level that is lowest when there’s zero water in the ride and they’ve locked it out. The operating position that it seems to be in right now (but there’s no water). And then loading. I could be wrong though and it’s just 2 levels. Either way it’s not in an operable state right now. As for the carousel the horses and carriages install quickly. So what we’ll want to watch for is the completion of the overhaul of the rest of the ride that we can see right now.

Joker status update I found on the site formerly known as Twitter. Also a bonus. This doesn’t look like Jingle Mangle to me.

Everything I've seen so far on Penguin Trek has been pretty impressive, looks like a really solid edition. I'm not gonna have a chance to make it down for the previews but have a day trip planned in a few weeks with some friends and their kid who is over 42 In but still under 48, so this will be his first "bigger" coaster, so looking forward to that.

Uhhhh, ouch, I named my son Joel. Anyway, your opinion which was my whole point, lol. I'm willing to do some speculation but just as willing to assume nothing and wait to see how it plays out.

That's a nice looking splashdown.

They don't tell us employees but can I interest you in a $100 line cutting pass today sir?

I hope you're right. I gain nothing by winning an argument in this thread.

I have become more cautiously optimistic about this. I get all the concern though. The track record of large corporations merging his historically not benefited consumers to say the least and that could very well happen here. I am not blind to that very real possibility. It is just that this "merger of equals" is PR bullshit and I am happy about that. Cedar Fair is legally the acquirer in the deal. Cedar Fair shareholders are getting more than 50% of the stock. All the high level management is coming from Cedar Fair. This "merger of equals" is Cedar Fair acquiring Six Flags spun in a way to try to not impact the Six Flags brand, full stop. Long term, it is harder to make predictions about the future. It always is. Again, there could be some bad outcomes here. But in the short term at least, it seems to me we are going to see the Cedar Fair model applied to the current Six Flags parks. For the smaller Six Flags parks, not great probably! But I can at least look forward to the flagship parks currently in the old SF chain to get cleaned up and improved presentation coupled with much more aggressive capital investment in new attractions.

Someone pulled a Robb and put a camera on top of a piece of luggage at the airport to film an interesting POV video of a wild ride through conveyor belts and sorting gates through the airport. You even get to ride through the X-ray machine. Now for this to be a ride, they would need extra stunt luggage for near misses and activate more of the sorting gates but it is not boring on its base. Plus the motion simulator would need to tile, vibrate, and have sudden jolts, with a good sound system it might be fun. POV: You're a bag that was just checked at the airport

I would think you could edit out most of the straight sections. Stop it from operating in a block mode for a day and let the luggage run into each othe, etc.. for filming. It is definately too long of video but I couldn't find a shorter version, so I would skip to hlaf way through the video if you get bored. I just assumed the conveyor belt traveled in a circle to the other side of the wall and baggage was then thrown on a cart and driven to the plane. I had no idea that there were miles of merging converyor belts with automated sorting gates under the airport.

I feel like at this point Rattle is more like a door panel sound in your car. Its not doing anything you just hear it.

Road Trip Day 4 - Morey's Piers Trip Report If you want to catch up, Day 1 was King's Dominion, Day 2 Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Day 3 was Six Flags America. Reports are in their respective threads. The trip was myself and my oldest son, soon to be 14. After two near 100 degree days and a 104 degree day at SFA, it was a relief to be heading to the ocean. I was a little concerned a few miles away when it was still 95, but the temperature dropped all the way down to 78 as was covered the last few miles. Unfortunately, I had made my first and biggest miscalculation on the trip when planning this day. It was supposed to be Morey's Piers followed by a drive up to Casino Pier. I had gotten us to Morey's Piers at 1 PM as that was the time a quick google told me the park opened, figuring there wouldn't be crowds yet, we'd blow through everything quickly, and then head up to Casino Pier. Well, had I done anything more than the bare minimum research, I would have learned that only the middle pier opened up at 1 PM and the outside two piers opened at 5 PM. Oops. We decided to axe Casino Pier from the plans even though it would still be technically possible given how late these places are open. Road trips are fun but exhausting and we just didn't want to be out that late. Sea Serpent -- Whatever we did first would be my 250, so I chose the best coaster available on the middle pier after buying the all access wristbands which are good until 7 PM. This was their Boomerang, though at least I knew it had a good reputation. It lived up to it. The conversions to vest restraints have revitalized many boomerangs I have ridden at this point, but I think this one takes the cake in terms of smoothness. Sea Serpent was a really good ride and an acceptable 250 in my book. Rollies Coaster -- Somehow now over 250 credits in, this was my first Pinfari Zyklon despite them being everywhere all over the world still. It was fun! The ride was janky and didn't have any amazing forces by any means, but it kept itself moving and had a few nice little pops. There isn't much more to say really. Wild Whizzer -- If there isn't much to say about the Zyklon, what is there to say at all about the SBF Visa? It did its figure eight. The ride is operated with four laps, or at least we got four laps. We added the credit to the list. I don't hate these by any means, but everyone knows what they are and they all ride more or less the same. Fun little addition for FECs, tiny family parks, or places like boardwalk piers with limited space. After riding, we walked back to our car parked across from the pier with Great White to extend our parking as we had only paid through 6 PM and figured we would be cutting it close. Plus, we had time. Then we walked all the way down to the far pier, which is much further apart from the others than the first two are, and my kid talked me into Dominos for lunch. That was fine. From there, we explored the closed third pier with the SLC, walked in the sand a bit, and then sat and played games on my phone while waiting the last two hours for five o'clock to hit. Doo Wopper -- I complained about Apple Zapple being forceless on my King's Dominion report. Doo Wopper must have read it and decided that I didn't know anything about a forceless ride. It would show me and it did. The ride was inoffensive and smooth. It was weirdly and somewhat cutely themed to ordering fast food too, as far as I could tell, but the ride itself was a big old nothing. At least this wild mouse didn't hurt me on any of the jarring laterals I guess. That's something, maybe. Oh well. Runaway Tram -- This Vekoma family coaster wasn't bad for what it is. It has some mild forces on the helixes and the ride is lengthened by a second lap. Initially we were the only ones in the station and took the first car spot in line, but when a little girl came up with her mother and acted like she wanted front row, we gladly gave it up. I think an enthusiast was born and we got to listen. The little girl was nervous on the lift hill, this was clearly her first coaster from our brief conversation, and yelled with joy about how much she loved it the entire rest of the way. It was one of those unexpected moments of joy that really made this ride fun in a way it wasn't going to be and I am glad we got to experience it hearing her reactions. Obviously then, this one hits its mark in terms of pleasing its target audience. Great Nor'Easter -- I had read the hype. The good SLC. Even having experienced what the vest restraints can do at best in the form of Riddlers Revenge at SFNE, I was skeptical. Having the vest restraints the day before at Six Flags America wasn't reassuring. While Skywinder there was better than many SLCs I have ridden, it tracked poorly enough to still not be good despite the absence of headbanging. Well, I am a believer now. There was at least one hard jolt, if not more than one, but they were so isolated that they didn't cause any sort of jackhammering discomfort. The rest of Great Nor'Easter was glass smooth. Honestly, it was astonishing after so many SLCs to get to ride one that was legitimately excellent. My hat is off to Morey's Piers. They even have free lockers (maybe they were only free because of our wrist bands -- not sure) to put your valuables in. This is the first time I have immediately jumped back in the queue for an SLC since the late 90s when I was first experiencing them popping up in the parks around me. I can't praise this thing enough. Unfortunately, after the long walk back to the first pier towards the woodie and our car, we found Great White had never opened for the day and was not going to. That is a shame as I anticipated it being easily the second best coaster of the piers at worst going into the day, though the boomerang might have ended up giving it a run for its money. We were back our car at 6:30 and still decided to book a hotel instead of heading on to Casino Pier due to wanting to rest. Someday we will swing back down and hit the rest of the pier parks. Finally, I will say that Morey's Piers and the Wildwood Boardwalk as a whole is a really cool place. I was really surprised how much they were able to cram on the three piers, especially the water park(s). They looked great. It is a touristy place for sure, but I would gladly bring the whole family back once the twins (2.5 years old) are a couple years older. There would be tons for them and all of us to do, especially when factoring in the beach right there. This place will never have some great coaster collection, but it does really well with the space it has and takes immaculate care of the coasters that are there. It is a shame the woodie wasn't open, but I bet I will see it again with the whole crew in tow in a couple years. I really enjoyed Morey's Piers. Busch Gardens Williamsburg will, of course, go down as the best park we visited on this trip, but the combined Wildwood Boards/Morey's Piers/Beach atmosphere might have actually made this place my favorite on the whole trip. Very cool. Next up was Dorney Park with a quick stop at Sesame Place on the way.

Great report, I love the music in that and got to see the composers and performers of this (and Your Name/Weathering With You) live last month when they came to Korea.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

cool.. happy to see this thread resurrected!

Originally, I was offended by this song. I didn't listen to it for years. I believed it was yet another trending shot at Christianity. As I listened further my perception changed. I believe the song is more anti-establishmentarianism by addressing endless profitable war, control, and deception. Although, other interpretations are the song is about drug addiction, and indeed possibly a song about Christianity. Maybe all three? I prefer my interpretation as relevant to modern times. The genius is the possibility for all interpretations and the choice of interpretation.

^ We’ve always errored on the side of caution and have purchased QQ even on weekdays at BGW and have never considered it a waste. Apologies if this is common knowledge, but did want to share two things about QQ at this park. If you do have a higher tier annual pass, you can get as much as 50% off daily QQ for you and your party. We live in Orlando and do this at BGT several times per year. The issue though is that the website doesn’t consistently apply the discount, and at BGW specifically we had to go to Guest Services to purchase with a discount. Second, most if not all of the QQ lines route you through the exit rather than via a merge point right at the station. I suppose if’s fundamentally better than Millennium Force’s merge point which is a half mile away, but there’s still that 20-seconds of awkwardness while you budge in front of those in the standby line. It’s nowhere near as pleasant of an experience as say FL+ at KI and I also don’t recall them accepting row requests either. For what makes us happy for a day at the park, it’s still 100% worth it though - especially if you don’t like to be in close proximity to sweaty people lol.

Mamba is still running virtually trimless. Amazing how good the ride is now! In other news, Spinning Dragons finally opened yesterday. The control system has been replaced.

wtf

"I don't know if I can justify going to Great Adventure because a ride may not be open" and "I'm prioritizing Nick Universe" are not two statements that usually coexist but okay. Great Adventure's thing will not be open, but neither will Shellraiser. Plus, Sandy's Blasting Bronco is actually open right now so it's 1000% going to break again by next weekend. That's way too much time.

Banshee, Diamondback, Fury, and all the slight to moderate head banging on the B&M's of the 90's. All standups and floorless conversions beat the piss out of you. A lot of the 2000's into the early teens seemed to be the most smooth B&M's, but nerds complained about them not being intense enough.

I think the logo looks very tasteful and more reminiscent of Cedar Fair's logo. After the logo reveal, reading articles, and seeing statements from execs, I am becoming a little optimistic. It looks like they're openly admitting that Six Flags needs to come up to Cedar Fair standards, vs. the other way around. There have been multiple mentions of the former Six Flags being mismanaged. I hope they isolate the comics to the original Six flags parks and keep the clean lines feel of former Cedar Fair parks.

Make sure to log out and password protect your account so your young child doesn't post here.

Again, no first hand experience, but what I have read from others isn't that these are necessarily rough, it is just that you can feel a noticeable rattle which is a departure for how most B&Ms used to stay glass smooth for years after install.

Every coaster in the park is open as I type this, but that is definitely a rarity this season.

That's my favorite ride at Kentucky Kingdom! The Musical Carousel is one-of-a-kind here in the US, with the one at Kentucky Kingdom being the only one here so far, making it unique to that park. My only visit to KY Kingdom so far was back in 2021 though... It's been a few years

The juxtaposition of "Earth Day" with a map of LA

I'm experimenting.

It was put there for a specific reason, it was similar to the ride that used to be there minus the water.

What is the next big Cedar Fair park anniversary? I'm looking forward to Six Flag's stamp on the celebrations, such as what you saw.

It was stated at a recent Q&A with the management that they just got a new head of maintenance, and their goal is to have all coasters to be open with two train ops (where appropriate... like obviously not Superman) within 2 years

It is hard to say, honestly. It still feels wide open in terms of how AI is going to impact any sector. Ride design seems like an obvious application. A refined, more specifically trained/designed AI model could probably already spit out workable rollercoaster layouts that could be picked through and tweaked by an engineer rather than have the engineers design from the ground up. It is hard to imagine that the actual physical running of a park would ever be less human labor intensive though. I think we are a long, long way off from being accepting of the failure of machines in terms of how it impacts human safety. For example, if my home state of NY switched to all self driving cars and there were 1000 deaths a year from the AI in them screwing up, we would be outraged. Absolutely pitchforks to the capitol building levels of outrage. I don't think it would matter that that would be a tenfold decrease in deaths from auto accidents. Our brains don't work like that. We are emotional animals. As for your larger AI concerns, they are far from unfounded but we are also going to hit a wall really quickly in terms of what they can do for one reason: Power. These models are incredibly demanding. We don't generate enough energy on our grids, or even come close, to move them along lot further than they are now. In the next decade, there is going to need to be a dramatically increased efficiency in the models in terms of their power consumption AND a dramatically increased output in the power we generate. This is all under the political landscape of climate concerns too, so it might not be long before these models start getting regulated on those grounds as well.

^Depending on what rumor you believe, that's part of the next major expansion for Magic Kingdom. I'm just worried they wouldn't really commit to it. Just imagine an entire dark ride themed around Night on Bald Mountain. Hell, there was zero mention of Dr. Facilier in Tiana's Bayou Adventure. But at the same time, how awesome would a new-gen Vekoma flyer would be themed around Maleficent? Back on topic, very excited for Dark Universe. Probably the land I'm most excited for at the park. At the moment, I'm aiming to visit in 2027--gives them time to work out some kinks and a bit of the newness/#FIRST to wear off.

I have got my rooms locked in!!!!! After doing some soul searching I just could not disagree with your logic of buying FL every day and going longer hours. It’s simply not worth it to risk maybe having a disappointment over a few more dollars or a few more hours(I got to thinking about how 10pm will let me rest around 5-6pm and provide less hurry like you say). I will arrive June 16 and have the next 3 full days after that. So three and a half days. Personally I’m not a great photographer so if I do a report it will be fairly light. Thanks so much for all your patience Crossing my fingers on Top thrill 2. Thanks everyone.

This past Thursday (May 9th), I made my first visit of the 2024 season to Canada's Wonderland! A lot of changes have been made during the off-season with a new security checkpoint entrance at the front gate, the demolition of buildings in International Festival (for the next addition), renovation and renaming of Backlot Café, a renovated Wonderland Store, new signage around the park, the removal of Xtreme Skyflyer (announced earlier this year), and, Viking's Rage refurbishment, the removal of the maximum height requirement for most rides in Planet Snoopy and Kidzville (yes, I have now been on all of the roller coasters at Canada's Wonderland!), and a few other things mentioned below! Check out the photos below! New security checkpoint at the front gate. This new layout with the path going under Leviathan has a much better flow than last year's setup! The new structures look great too! New signage at the front gate area has been installed. It looks very clean and easy to read. The Wonderland Store was renovated and expanded during the off-season. New directional signage has been put up around the park. The old Tiny Tom Donuts location in International Festival was demolished during the off-season. The Multi-faith Space building and surrounding structures in International Street had also been demolished this past off-season. Tiny Tom Donuts was relocated around Wonder Mountain where the Alpen Amusements claw machines were. During my visit, the donut making machines were being installed. I assume the new location will open soon. The Coca-Cola Refreshment station in Action Zone was removed and replaced with this structure. I have a feeling it will be a new Coca-Cola refill station, but we shall see! In the Grande World Exposition of 1890, Backlot Café has been transformed into the Grande World Eatery. The building has received a fresh new coat of paint and a major transformation going on inside. I look forward to seeing the final product when it reopens this season as it was quite dated last year. Here is the former location of Xtreme Skyflyer, which was removed earlier this year. Judging by the signage, it looks this area could also be associated with the work happening around Wonder Mountain. The building next to Klockwerks, which has stood abandoned for the past decade, is now being used as a Coca-Cola refresh centre was the other location in International Festival was recently demolished. With the on-going construction in International Festival, the exit path for Thunder Run was rerouted with this nice boardwalk for this year. During the off-season Viking's Rage received a major overhaul consisting of a new electric drive system and a new coat of paint, closely resembling that of what it looked like when the park first opened! Hopefully it will be ready to reopen soon! The old diving structure at Arthur's Baye in Medieval Faire was recently removed. It is said to be replaced with a new one sometime this year. The lockers outside Wonder Mountain's Guardian have been removed. I later learned that the ride now has the moving bin system that Yukon Striker has! Here is a quick look inside the newly renovated and expanded Wonderland Store. The new layout flows a lot better! That is all the updates I have for now!

Phantasialand started its winter season today. Notable changes: the "Tacana" in the Mexico area is no longer a burger restaurant but serves Mexican style food (burritos, nachos, wraps, quesedillas). The pre-covid winter show-and-firework finale did not return - but the "Tiempo de Fuego" mapping show did. And more than that: there is now a second mapping show in the Mystery area, the Rookburgh light show from last year returns and there are new light shows in the Berlin area. So it looks like mapping/light shows will now permanently replace the fireworks (thank you dear neighbours with your noise complaints). The "Talvia" show has been replaced with a new show "Spectaculum Phantastére", returning are the "Every single year" ice skating show and "The Golden Thread", which is a best of the shows from the past years. You are able to buy same day tickets again - but ticket counters remain closed, online sales only. Is visiting Phantasialand in the winter worth it? It hella is! There's great street food, Glühwein and of course the high quality restaurants like Uhrwerk and Rutmor's Tavern are open in every season.

Hi Danielle!