Electerik

Hooray for the Ripsaw reference!

I just went again yesterday, with a friend who was in town for the day. The mirror maze is really fun, and longer than I thought. I guess I didn't make it all the way through it the first time. Anyway, lots of familiar sights for me. I live right by the Old Mill, I've pretty much been in all of those stores, and I used to work at the Holiday Inn (pre-renovation). This is "The Inn at Christmas Place," by the way.

My first trip to Bush Gardens Williamsburg was in 2000, and I loved it. So I was pretty excited about visiting Tampa a year or two later--but it just wasn't up to snuff. Which is not to say that I dislike BGA. It's just clearly inferior to BGE, is all. And the more I visit both parks, the more convinced I become.

Bethany and Dallas. That's really funny. By which I mean, I feel really old. Hmmm...I think their last names were included in the credits. What was it now...Atchley? Alvin? I can't quite put 2 + 2 together....

Thanks, Robb (& Elissa...I should really thank her more often, but I'm always worried I'll misspell her name...so I end up just thanking Robb. ) Anyway, I've watched enough of it to know it works. I have no idea how long it took to download, because I let it go overnight. Certainly not trying to be a jerk, but just in case it helps: No, I probably wouldn't pay for future downloads. But that's not a reflection on quality or value. I'm just a pirate. Also, I'm cheap. Besides, y'all do so much for us for free already, I really don't see the need. (Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said that! ) Anyway, thanks again. And don't let the few naysayers get you down. You made my day.

Well, they're bound the be good at something eventually.

I worked at Knott's when Cedar Fair came in. At first, their contributions were mostly positive: They added Supreme Scream and accelerated the construction of GhostRider. Perilous Plunge was the first sign of wrongness to me. And if I had any doubt left, it was erased when they replaced my beloved Haunted Shack with an unthemed upcharge attraction. Ug. I don't hate Cedar Fair, by any means. (Actually, I've worked for them twice now.) They have their niche. Unfortunately, they seem dead set on fitting Knott's into it.

I thought the original plan was for the ascent to the top of the second hill to be a double up. (But I could be wrong.)

No, that's at Euro-Magic Mountain.

Yeah, I tried to strike early. I only live, like, a mile away from the park, and I'm pretty sure I somehow managed to get scooped last year by Jarvis or somebody. I'm sure you'll enjoy it...even though the rapids ride will be closed.

Counter-intuitive as it may sound, long lines do not equal popularity. PP has terrible capacity--which is actually a pretty good reason not to move it to CP.

Actually, it wasn't busy at all. Both Thunderhead and Tennessee Tornado were only running one train, and neither was even coming close to filling that.

I'm just hoping we don't lose any more parks. Beyond that, I'm pretty excited about Diamondback.

In honor of my girlfriend's birthday, we spent the morning playing mini golf, had lunch in town, then headed up to Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas event for the evening. Overall, it's a nice event, and we had a great time. Thanks for reading! This is the bakery near the front entrance. Angels live in trees. I believe this is the first time I've ever attempted this type of shot. Santa's Workshop is not nearly as creepy as this photo makes it look. :OP A little blurry, but I still like this shot. "Carol of the Trees" involved tree lights timed to Christmas music. Nice, but overly long. Which is good, because I don't have the patience for most parades. :OP The "Parade of Lights" was short and sweet. That tree apparently tripped and fell into a pile of blue lights. Starting to get dark.... The Polar Express in 4-D involves watching a bit of the movie while having your kidneys punched in. This was the only ride with a line. Mr. Percy, the magical stove. This should give you some idea of Dollywood in Fall. I also like sitting. But I'm not ready for the big leagues. I like cookies. A German Christmas Pyramid. (Don't ask me. It's cool, though.) Blazing Fury's full facade. I love how the roof's caved in. The best ride in the park? (Blazing Fury, not Misty. Although....) The Tennessee Tornado was really cool in the dark. (But, the pictures of it in the dark, weren't. :OP) For obvious reasons, all the water rides are closed during the Christmas season. Still one of the weirdest coasters in existence. The park was not busy, and the folks that were there were more show-oriented. The Huss ride is working! The Huss ride is working! Later, I would get my first chance to ride Thunderhead at night. But, first, some nice, cold day rides! Off to Dollywood. Hey, someone stole the butterfly planter! Harrumph. Right next door is one of Misty's favorite restaurants. Yes, it has a carousel in it. And the mirror maze is one of the best I've been in. The pirate-themed blacklight mini golf is really good. One of the newer attractions in Pigeon Forge.

I went out of my way to see it last year, and I rather liked it. There were a few areas that seemed a bit neglected or unfinished. But, on balance, it was a very pretty park with some okay rides. Though it's hardly a surprise, it's still unfortunate that it has to go. Shameless plug: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42142&highlight=

I have to admit that I'm one of those who doesn't necessarily participate every year, simply because I find filling out the ballot to be tedious. But I just used "CoasterFanatic's Ballot Helper" and found it much easier. Oh, and Robb, not only did I put Raven above Voyage, I put Cornball above both of them!

Well, the concept art shows lights pointed up at the coaster. Maybe not interesting. Or, maybe they'll move around at night, like the big flying killbot things that are always waving their searchlights around. That might be kind of cool. The press release refers to being transported to a desolate future. That area of the park already looks pretty desolate. Throw in some wreckage and viola! As for any new gift shops or eateries right around the ride, they'd have to look somewhat wrecked or abandoned, I should think, in order to fit in.

I worked on the Calico Mine Ride for about a year (circa 1998/99). And one thing that I thought was really cool was that you were supposed to turn on the train's headlight and ring the bell when you came out over the tressel. It was a tradition, you see, from back when the rides were individual pay, and you wanted to draw attention to yourself. There's still a piece of scenery in the mine that says "Hurlbut" on it, incidentally. (Or, at least, there was 10 years ago.)

I agree with you. (In fact, I think it looks like it'll be a pretty good ride and a nice addition, and I utterly disagree with the "it's too short and not terra-coaster-y enough" crowd. What I've actually been railing against is people who say "stop complaining" to hide what they really mean, which is "stop disagreeing with me.") Anyway, imagine you've been in charge of Magic Mountain for the last 10 or 15 years. I mean, you like good rides and everything, but you're saddled with friggin' Psyclone. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to convince accountants and marketers that it's a good idea to tear down a medium-sized wooden coaster and replace it with a medium-sized wooden coaster that doesn't suck. This has probably been a long battle, and maybe it's only the Terminator theme that's gotten the ride the go-ahead. So, in that case, it's worth it. But, judged on its own, it's still a really questionable theming concept. And I hardly think it's inappropriate to say so, in a civil manner. None of which is going to stop the next poster from lamenting, "Wow, 22 pages of complaining." But sometimes I at least like to pretend that we can have an intelligent discussion in amongst the noise.

So, one can't judge a ride negatively based on pictures and renderings, but one can judge that it looks fun? I'm just trying to make sure I understand the rules. So you're defense of the theme is not that it's a good theme, or actually makes any sense...but that any theme Magic Mountain came up with would be labeled as bad, and therefore this theme is...okay, I guess? Or, you could go away from this unpleasant thread. Just saying. Anytime one posts "get a life" on the internet, one may want to examine the structure of one's house. You know, if there were only positive comments about this ride, most of the people who are saying, "stop complaining," would instead be accusing everyone of being SFMM fan-boys. You're all gonna go nuts when you see Lance's complaint over at Screamscape: "There's no music with the video." Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to kick over a little girl's lemonade stand.

Why do people feel the need to complain about "complaining"? Is it just so they can post something without actually needing to have anything useful to say? The new "new ride thread" meme should be six people whining about how everyone is complaining before anyone actually does. Criticism does not equal complaining, and discussion is why we're here. What, should we all just Paul Reuben all over ourselves every time a new ride is announced? Labeling people who disagree with you as "complainers" seems to me a rather cowardly defense. And busting out the rather obvious statement that everyone should wait until they ride something before judging really just seems like a fancy way to say, "OMG, it's gonna be awesome, shut up!!!1!" Yeah, it might be awesome. Or it might not be. But if we can't speculate, then why even have a thread? Just go read Screamscape instead.

I was on the opening crew for GhostRider (you know, when it was really, really good). One day, at Greeter, I asked a woman who was waiting why she wasn't riding with the rest of her family. Her answer was that she's already ridden it at Magic Mountain and hadn't liked it. So there you go.

At the risk of being labeled negative: "Terminator" is a great name; "Terminator: The Coaster" is a Japanese name. Seriously, this might be a great ride, but it's all wrong, theming-wise. I mean, a 20's-style wooden coaster themed to robots? WTF?

Thanks for all the Knott's stuff. I have, or had, a lot of that myself. I grew up in Southern California, and I worked at KBF during the time Cedar Fair came in. It saddens me to think of how much Knott's has lost under their regime. If I don't have to limit myself temporally, then Knott's would still easily be my favorite park. (Of course, it would be a Knott's with the Haunted Shack, the Tampico Tumbler, the Sky Jump, etc.)

Nice TR. I don't think I've ever seen that place before. Thanks.