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Lemur

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  1. No they don't. The comments on their pages are entirely people tagging their friends and the occasional coaster nerd sucking their teeth and complaining about a ride note being open. Man, you just *love* that hyperbole. Ooooooh, look, it's an internet tough guy. Or what? You'll call out the 102nd Chairborne? So you're saying what? That SIX intentionally kept stringing people along with the open date of a multi-million dollar project? Don't you think they would have opening it earlier if they could? Would have advertised a hard and fast date if they could? Do you think they wanted to have happen to that project what happened to American Dream? How does that make them money, Mike? Because that's the point, it's to make money. No, I'm a realist and not a frothing-at-the-mouth coaster nerd. Again, let me ask the question ... why would you open on the same day *every other chain* is opening? Why split your hardcore 10% coaster nerd fan base who will show up in the cold and the wet? Why make someone choose between Hershey, Great Adventure or Kings Dominion? Someone has to lose that contest, so why bother competing? No, I'm writing off an anomalous event in an anomalous park. You can't compare Jersey Devil to West Coast Racers, even when it comes to construction practices because the circumstances surrounding the two projects are so divergent. Different parks, different operating season, different climates, different manufactures, different coaster models. This guy gets it. Again, different business practices. Memorial Day is the traditional start of summer, so to call it "mid-summer" is disingenous, unless you're referring specifically to Jersey Devil's rumored late June opening, and even then it's still a bit much to be calling it "mid-summer". Furthermore, you're talking about a coaster in a park that had to claw back it's operating season last year because of spring snows. And there are other ways to drive attendance that don't involve competing with every other park for the hardcore 10% of coaster nerds who will turn out for this sort of event, such as an opening day membership pin event. Also, for a bunch of park nerds, you'd think you guys would keep in mind how much time you spend complaining about early season staffing and ops to know that jamming a partially staffed park full isn't a really good idea for building long-term good will. That said, whether or not you *like* these practices, but they aren't wrong. They just aren't what you want.
  2. Actually, they have most of the footers poured and are waiting on them curing. They only had a couple left to pour as of their third construction update which was posted last week. Can I reword that for you? "Six Flags doesn't cater to me and my coaster nerd buddies and I think it's wrong." That's right, the only people who think it looks bad on them are all posting right here, have a highly skewed perception of what actually looks bad, and think the parks exist to cater solely to them. Again, it's not wrong. It's just different and it's clearly not what you think you're entitled to. ETA: Before you call me a homer or a fanboy or a whatever the coaster nerd equivalent is of someone who is hopelessly and mindlessly devoted to one park/one coaster/whatever, I'd love for all of SIX's new attractions to be open from Day 1 of the season. However, I also understand why it's dumb too. I don't see a point in doing a big media and crowd push when you can't even hope to accommodate the crowd.
  3. Rumor has it that they are just waiting on the state DCA to bless Sandy before opening it.
  4. Ahh, yes, let's take the exception to the rule - which would the 365-days-a-year park that had the screwed up ride launch due to manufacturing issues - to try to disprove a generality. You could have just posted "bUt WeSt CoAsT rAcErS" and saved yourself some words.
  5. Or ... why open a new ride when the kids are still in school, the weather is still dodgy, the park is half-staffed and you have to compete with another chain for the coaster nerd community? Use the new ride to drive the gate and in-park sales. The false sense of urgency to get a ride open on the park's opening day has it's own pitfalls, like when your opening day coincides with a snowstorm and gets pushed back a week. Or when you haven't staffed up enough to handle even the enthusiasts and then get smeared all over the enthusiasts boards as having the wOrSt oPs EvAr! It's two different philosophies, neither one right or wrong. (Now, if we wanted to discuss philosophies on international franchisement or membership programs or stock buy backs ...)
  6. They actually do signage pretty well at Port, so if you take the main level escalators up to the second floor, look for the North wing. The third level stairs/escalators are by the PNC Bank. But if you can follow signs, you'll be okay.
  7. So if you're looking for decent eats in and around the PABT, I'd suggest the Westway Diner on 9th Ave and 44th. Very few food options are going to be cheap except for a two-slice-and-a-soda deal from any utility pizza place. As for navigating Port, via con Dios. I despise Port even more than I despise Penn Station which is saying a whole, whole lot. You'll want Gate 305, which I want to say is on the lower level from the main ticket plaza/shopping and food area. Just keep in mind that you're relying on NJTransit, which is like the equivalent of relying on your best friend's meth head cousin for a ride - he may show up really early and leave without you, or he may show up exactly on time and then spend twenty minutes shooting the %&*# with some random dude, or he may be an hour late and none of that is a guarantee you'll actually get where you're going. In short, have a back up plan, be it either getting to Secaucus Junction for the train back into the city or have Uber/Lyft on your phone.
  8. People in the area have the one of the highest if not the highest average commute time in the country. They'll go. Once. Hopefully they'll be able to make a market out of once-in-a-lifetime visitors or they'll start offering season passes.
  9. The worst part is, I don't want it to fail. I want it to thrive. But the logic centers of my brain are telling me that it's going to be a really, really tough row to hoe for that to happen. And that's even before you find out that they had to go out for another round of financing earlier this year with Triple Five's stakes in Mall of America and West Edmonton on the line. And that they poached business development "talent" from the bane of my existence and state-wide embarrassment NJTransit. This thing is an absolute boondoggle, from start to now, and a case study in the sunk-costs fallacy. But I still want it to thrive because ... well ... coasters.
  10. Maybe they should have started doing it six years ago when they took the project over in the first place. They've had plenty of time to get it right. They can't even seem to drum up enough enthusiasm to do the bare minimum. That's the frustration, they've had six years from the time they were awarded the project out of the Lehman bankruptcy to do something - anything - to convince people this isn't going to be a total belly flop. There are plenty of people willing to give this place a chance, but why bother getting attached when it's going to be the world's biggest Halloween store next October? And marketing is the least of their issues, but it's the easiest to fix. No, the biggest mistake was building it in a part of the state that does not have the infrastructure to support it. The issue isn't a lack of gratitude, the issue is that everyone who has ever driven to the Meadowlands knows that Routes 3 and 120 are nightmares when there's an event at MetLife Stadium - hell, 120 can be a nightmare if there's a backup on the Paterson Plank Road. Absolute gridlock. LA style. Which is why the locals wanted Routes 3 and 120 widened significantly before this development could go forward. But the state insisted it wasn't necessary and sixteen years later Routes 3 and 120 are still barely sufficient for stadium traffic and most like won't be sufficient to service American Dream when they open it completely. And that's not even touching on the significant issues with the public transportation options. They were within a week of opening and still didn't have a transit plan in place. They can't use the spur train line out there because NJTransit is not only such a mess that they can't provide service but because they never actually finished building out the line and have no way to turn the trains around. (And yes, you can run the trains backwards, but it's a lot less efficient.) And quite frankly, we've already sunk over a $1B and gotten nothing for our money - no roads widened, no increase in tax revenue, no upgrades to our transit system - so you'll pardon us if we aren't exactly a font of enthusiasm for this project. And I can't imagine you would be either if it was sitting in your backyard, eating up your tax money and being a political football and an unfulfilled promise.
  11. The biggest mistake Triple Five ever made was allowing the media to continue with the narrative that this is a mall. It's not a mall. It's an entertainment complex with a high-end retail component. They had a real chance to rebrand this thing when they took the project over, move the story away from it being "another mall", get rid of that hideous paint job on the ski hill, yadda yadda yadda big media event ... but they blew it. I'm really hoping - mainly because I'm a NJ taxpayer and have subsidized this project for the past 16 years - that once more and more attractions open, once the water park and ski park and aquarium are going we can put the "just another mall" narrative to bed. It will also feel a lot less like throwing good money after bad. And I'm not going to say no to riding coasters indoors in February.
  12. No. There are 4 bus lines operating daily however. 3 local, one express from NYC. Earliest train service would be in the March schedule, but even that is not guaranteed. Im guessing if there is train service next March, it will be weekends only. NJT cut a lot of service last year due to construction + labor shortages. They havent fully restored those trains. Adding service to a mall before restoring those trains would result in an outrage. As of right now, there is an indefinite hold on train service on the Meadowlands spur line, except when there is an event at MetLife Stadium. If you do decide to go on game day, you'll have to hike it from the train terminal to the mall as there is no shuttle bus service. Otherwise, don't look for train anytime soon. NJTransit is shopping for an "innovation partner" to get people from Secaucus to the mall because they know they're incapable of handling it and won't be able to do so for quite some time. They're looking for a public-private partnership and are open to all proposals including sky cabs, monorails and light rail - hell, anything that moves people. So far, there's only been one prospective partner putting a plan up. That said, there's also a ferry-bus link from Manhattan courtesy of NY Waterway between Manhattan and Weehawken and then bus from Weehawken to American Dream. It's $16 each way for the ferry-bus link and $7 each way for just the bus.
  13. Dude was either pouring out drinks to the whole fam from that bottle or has a burgeoning case of aspartame toxicity and/or Type II diabetes.
  14. God, that name is horrible. Either come up with something new or just leave it as Gwazi.
  15. I can confirm this. It's deceptively simple - a thick center cut chop, skewered, season with Lawry's Season Salt and grilled. But man, is it good. There's a deluxe option with apples (or there used to be, haven't been in a couple of years) that is also very good but unnecessary.
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