99er

I think for most people it comes down to having a bad experience with one or two Ride Hosts. In turn they throw all the Ride Hosts into the category of sucking. Same thing goes for just about anything you have a bad experience with. When someone gets cold french fries and warm pop, "ALL THE FOOD AT CEDAR POINT SUCKS!!!11!". When someone has to wait an hour for Dragster, Millennium Force and Maverick, "THE LINES AT CEDAR POINT ARE OUT OF CONTROL!!!1!". Almost all of the guest complaints I have received typically sound like the guest had the most horrible day at the park ever. Once you get it out of them, they actually had one bad experience and the rest was blown out of proportion. The Ride Hosts are usually very good with guest service, operations and safety. I will say though that it is easy to catch a Ride Host on a power trip but that is mostly due in part to the lack of guest service training the park has (or does not have).

One of my favorite videos is of this 16" shell that didn't explode until it fell back to earth. Always a fun video to watch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2-1LGjBy6Q

^^Good stuff! Always fun to hear about other Pyro Techs and the work they do. Keep up the good work.

Ahh...that makes sense. I have only watched one hand-lit show from the launch area and it was interesting to say the least. So 500 feet is not far away at all, what was the largest shell you were using?

So how come you guys do it by hand and not use a system like Fireone?

Nice PTR! It is always cool to see how shows are put together, especially hand-lit shows. I just wish I could post pictures of the show I helped put on, it is against company policy for me to do so or else I would. I love me some fireworks!

I was expecting a zipline from one of the large hills around the park, not a trailer mounted unit that looks as exciting as the Lifetime Network.

Pretty much what Steve said about Skycoaster. Plus, the point of the lattice structure is to allow wind to flow through the structure and in Florida, I would imagine that is what they want.

Either Millennium or Magnum.

Good thing they linked to a handheld POV of Rampage. About as good as watching a cellphone video from the front row of a Metallica concert.

WRG shouldn't open again just based on how it operates. Bulldoze it and pretend it never happened. I am really interested in how that new water ropes course operates. They use the exact same harnesses and equipment that I have used before and it was strictly stated that the harnesses should not be used in rain or wet conditions and they should never be soaked.

Could be but part of your view is going to be obstructed by the tech booth.

Magic Kingdom EPCOT Animal Kingdom Hollywood Studios Busch Gardens FL Sea World FL Cedar Point Universal Studios Islands of Adventure

Well, front and center is nice, right up against the stage because then you are surrounded by everything. Id say 30 minutes early, maybe more if the park is busy.

Also Disaster Transport and Wildca....oh wait.

^And Magic Mountain is open year-round!

They were at Raptor and Millennium Force this week while I was there.

It's funny because so far the reviews I have read from people who have actually been there compliment the singers. Personally, I agree with those reviews from what I have seen so far too. Did anyone say you did? My comment was just a general comment because others asked/mentioned if it was leaked. Thus the reason why you were not quoted in my post. So calm down there fellow, it's not all about you.

That is in fact just an idea of what a friend of mine thinks it is going to look like. He was just messing around in NoLimits, it is nothing that was leaked from the park.

The one at Cedar Point opened up either yesterday or the day before.

Agreed that it is something that is on par with larger parks. I never thought I would see something like this at Cedar Point, even when the original idea was pitched (to which I replied "Um, really?"). After its first preview night I am certainly impressed with most of the show. The lighting work is definitely awesome and well programed along with most of the pyro cues. Some of the individual pyro products used in the show however I did not like and to me I felt like a lot of them were just randomly chosen and placed in show without thought. So some of that I would change but thats just me. As for costuming, I am 'meh' on that. It looks like a case of "This looks awesome" on paper but once the final product is made, it looks more like a Spirit Halloween costume. Holding off on how it sounds since we are still hearing it through a cellphone camera or maybe a DSLR, neither of which captures good enough audio to make judgement on. The song selection is about the exact same as what I would have picked, even though I don't enjoy a few of the songs they are at least current and what the target audience is going to listen to. While not having anything to do with the actual show, the way a lot of the production was implemented bothers me. Mainly in the way they are taking care of, or lack of, the lighting instruments. The lack of safety around some of the truss doesn't sit well with me either but again, that is just me.

I had a chance to grab the last ride last night (as in, after hours final ride with some Imagineers) but I just kept walking. Normally I would but something just didn't seem that exciting about it to me. Oh well. The wall was up 30 minutes later.

I've heard that Disaster Transport will close in August.

^^Well hopefully they don't put an actual date on the opening, rather something like "Opening Summer 2013" like other parks do to avoid situations like Windseeker.