ginzo

The wife and I both have next Friday off. So, we're definitely going to meet the midwest trip at Holiday World. Though we won't be there until about 2 PM central time. Great success! It'll be nice to meet a few more people from the site. I guess I'll text Robb or something when we arrive, assuming that cell phones even work out there in Deliverance County.

The massive amount of capital required to open a park is going to lock any half-assed idiots out of the game. It's such a high risk venture, and so much money and organizational skills are required. Without large corporate backing and extremely well done feasibility studies (aka is there a market? will people actually come?) you're just nuts to open a park these days. Most of the smaller parks succeeding today have been around for a long time, and have built themselves up slowly.

No, I hate you.

Yeah, but they could have installed a longer ride with more capacity if they had really wanted to. If Indiana Beach can squeeze 5 coasters into a tiny boardwalk, then SFOG could have a B&M hyper as long as the others. Raging Bull is squeezed into a smaller footprint. Though Goliath is a much better ride, except for the first drop.

If she had a gun for a leg she could totally be in the sequel to Grindhouse. --Robb "Isn't a chick with a gun for a leg technically a dude?" Alvey It depends. If she keeps her feminine naughty bits, then she's technically a hermaphrodite.

Oh, I forgot about Goliath only having 2 trains because the other US B&M hypers all have 3. That seems like a stupid corner to cut. Rides like Raging Bull can clear lines faster than almost anything thanks to the three trains and single restraint to check. SFOG is a busy enough park. Why not push it to the max? Budgetary or space issues? As for workers, heck these days SFOG is lucky to hire workers that don't savagely beat people right outside park grounds.

Being lonely, desperate, and ugly for the rest of my life? Sign me up! Yeah, I'm in a similar situation to what other people here have described. My wife likes to come along on trips and ride coasters and what not. But she's not exactly what you'd call an enthusiast. I've educated her a bit on the various coaster types, manufacturers, etc. And she never turns down a credit, even though she hates Vekoma as much as I do. She knows I'd never let her hear the end of it if I had more credits than she did.

Bah, front seat. Voyage gets too nasty towards the back. Funny how El Toro is still glass smooth, yet far more forceful in the back seat.

The best flat ride is your mom. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah, interesting, uhh, choice of words.

If Goliath had a good crew, the new policy would increase capacity. That's the reason Busch Gardens claims for implementing the rule; to increase capacity. I saw a really great example of this policy at work with Griffon. That crew really loaded those suckers up. It's unarguably slower to let people cross over the train and putter around with bins, especially on a 10-across train like Griffon has. Goliath's crew must really blow. B&M hypers are designed to be serious capacity machines.

Honestly, I don't see a problem with your situation. Your girlfriends let you make all the plans, and you have a problem with that? Dude, that just means you get to do what you want all the time. I don't see an issue at all!

I honestly buy the argument that banning loose articles speeds up loading. But they shouldn't turn this into a profit center. Also, we had a serious problem at Great Adventure where every time we'd drop our souvenir cup off in the bins some group of MORONS inevitably tried to steal our seats. Ugh. Banning loose articles cuts down on that problem because you go straight into your seat, and don't leave it open for idiots to try to jack your seat.

Busch Gardens has pretty similar rules at both of its parks. Though I don't think that they charge $2 for a timed locker. Banning loose items does speed up loading of busy rides. In my experience Universal's free lockers didn't turn out to be free at all. They're only free if they correctly estimate the queue time, which didn't happen on both Hulk and DD for me. Basically, I had to pay for both rides. My solution is to carry very little into parks, not even a wallet usually. I stick my tiny camera into a zipper pocket, and enter the queue with no loose articles.

The wife and I are going to try to meet up at Holiday World on August 3rd. We'll probably not make it there until 2 PM at the earliest though.

Hey the police didn't file any charges in that case. Must be nothing wrong with caging.

I think that crowds are a persistent problem at SFGAm. I'd never attempt it again without a Gold Q-Bot. Locals probably know how to beat the system, but it's too much of a gamble for me to drive 350 miles up there and risk line hell when Gold Q-Bots are only $25 per person. You raise a point about going on Saturday, but I'm not sure that SFGAm ever gets that slow during the Summer. Locals please feel free to tell me otherwise. But, yeah I'd say crowds are a problem. Even if you luck out and don't have to wait that long for rides, you still have to fight your way through the midway. And that's no fun at all.

Yeah, I got burned going to SFGAm on a Thursday last August. We only got 5 credits. The lines were vicious, and we got rained out a few times. I'd never attempt this park again without a Gold Q-Bot. Chicago is the third largest city in the country. Do the math on the lines this creates when SFGAm is the only game in town.

$1 billion in improvements certainly sells me on another trip to the Disneyland Resort.

SOB has been marked for death from day 1. I'll be surprised if it passes the 10 year mark.

In mother Russia water park drowns you! Seriously, this is beyond the pale. I feel for this kid and his family.

I recently watched Coney Island, a documentary by Ric Burns. Actually, old school Coney was supposed to have a futuristic thing going on. Dreamland Park (one of the three Coney parks), for example, lit up 1,000,000 light bulbs at night, which was quite a technological feat for 1904. Dreamland's most popular exhibit was a baby incubation exhibit, which was quite high tech for that time. Some doctor couldn't sell any hospitals on his ideas. So, he opened up shop at Coney Island, and turned it into an exhibit.

Since the poll threads just keep on coming, has there been any thought to creating a separate forum just for polls? Just an idea.

Have they fixed the clock yet? Boo if they haven't.

What if she burns dinner or speaks without being spoken to in front of my friends?