ginzo

Gwarzi got totally cheated out of its owed glory this year in the Internet coaster poll. Those Voyage fanboys were so jealous that the Voyage got all its great ideas from Gwarzi that they petitioned Mitch to have Gwarzi pulled from the poll entirely.

If exclusivity contracts really forbid Intamin from building a woodie at PKI in the same year they built a big steel coaster at CP, then those contracts are crap. I can understand them not wanting another hyper/giga type coaster built in the same state, but a wood coaster is a totally different thing. Gravity Group is just ex-CCI engineers. The story I heard was they went with RCCA because they were the cheapest bid. This could be BS though. That concept of "tallest, fastest, only looping woodie" didn't turn out so great. They should have built a hyper- B&M if Intamin couldn't do it.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/11200599/detail.html

Hey, it's just a second hand kinda year over at KI! I don't see the point of barely patching up SOB. The park did fine with it down for half of last season. I went to KI several times during the early part of the season, and there was never too long of a queue for it. If they're not going to fix it properly, they should just SBNO it until they get the budget to rip it out. The thing has proven to be a liability, and half measures won't help matters. In fact, if they barely get it working, and it has another accident, they're going to get creamed in court. Though, I guess they do get brownie points for not leaving it SBNO for years on end. Nothing screams ghetto park more than abandoned rides sitting around rotting for years on end.

Dear GCI Interns, Please build some nice Millennium Flyer trains for Son of Beast. Thanks! -Ginzo

Well I'd guess that the amount it would cost to make the ride good is more then they want to spend. So in the meantime they'll just spent as little as possible to get it running while they fire up the wrecking ball. If they're planning on redoing ALL the track so that the gauge matches new trains, I'd say that the wrecking ball isn't in their immediate plans. That can't be a cheap job; retracking 7,000 foot woodie. Does anyone know anything about accounting? Is KI still depreciating a woodie they built in 2,000?

Richard Pryor Andy Kaufman Sacha Baron Cohen Carlin used to be outstanding, but he's really just a pathetically angry old man anymore. He should get back on the cocaine.

If they're going to have to re-do all the track, why don't they hire GCII to install millennium flyers? I'd say that's the best hope for making SOB not suck. Of course, they might not want to go near this mess! If this rumor is true, CF has hit a new low, and ought to just give up on woodies. They seem to do OK with steel.

You're totally right. It's not worth $200. I'll give you $20 for your copy.

Actually, it depends on the business. My employer, being a utility company, isn't allowed to deny service to anyone, by law. If we offer a service in the customer's area, we have to sell it to them. No matter how annoying they are. I do agree that this is a pretty silly issue to get worked up about. It's just a pool.

7 days at Universal is way too much. We went there last fall for one day, and did nearly all the big attractions. That's not to say that you couldn't spend a nice 3-4 days there. One day wasn't enough to really explore the resort, just see the highlights- Mummy, Dueling Dragons, Spiderman, Hulk, etc. We just got one day tickets to BGA, but we had been there last fall as well. I think you can easily do it all in one day. They don't even have Python anymore, and there aren't a ton of flat rides. It's basically three really good B&Ms. Do the B&Ms and everything else is just gravy. Crowds at BGA shouldn't be too much of an issue, AFAIK. Neat BGA trick: go straight to Montu, ride that, and then hop on the sky ride. Then you do Kumba, followed by Sheikra. You'll save so much walking this way. It's a very sprawled out park.

It's an excellent book, but totally not worth $200. I think the highest I'd go would be about $50. Try your local public library (assuming they have them in England). That's how I was able to read that book. If you want a copy for yourself, keep checking eBay. A copy just sold on March 4th for $67.99 USD, which though pricey is a long ways off from $200.

So 19% isn't high because it's slightly lower than the tax rate in the countries that have the highest taxation in the world? 19% tax on a consumer purchase is pretty bad. The sales tax rate where I live is 6.5%. 19% is almost three times that!

Porno Minnie Mouse voice. Haha. I didn't notice the animatronic character faces, but we did Magic Kingdom mostly at night when no characters are out.

I heard Mantis Man has dibs on that.

Give me a break. Of course some scenes were staged. But others were not, like the rodeo scene. He almost caused a real riot there, which takes more balls than you or I will ever have.

Central Florida is so worth it. I just wish I had more days off to explore Universal/IOA and SeaWorld on that trip. Do yourself a favor and don't visit Disney on a holiday weekend like we did. We still got to do nearly everything that we wanted, but it got tough just pushing through the crowds at times. Yeah, Disney's theming rocks. Just going through the queue is an experience in itself. I tried like heck to photograph Space Mountain's queue, but it's way too dark in there.

Bullshit! can be really good, but sometimes it's not. It's always entertaining, but I think some of the episodes are noticibly weaker than others. Their episode about college was poorly argued. They interviewed the craziest tenured professor they could find, and then insinuated that he represents the overall collegiate system. Talk about bullshit. Then they admitted at the end of the program that college can be necessary. It's a good show overall. I just wish they would present stronger cases in some of the episodes.

I was going to buy Kristen/Kidtums a junior Intamin woodie, but I didn't see that listed on the registry. That's a pretty big oversight if you ask me. So, I got her some baby scrubs instead. You're going to need a doctor in the family to take care of you in your golden years due to years of organ system abuse from excessive roller coaster riding. Congratulations to all three of you! I hope you get enough sleep in the months to come. And, I hope Kristen knows what's she's gotten herself into, being born into your family and all. She better like to travel! Best Regards, Joe/ginzo

Yeah, I dunno what happened there. The aspect ratio shouldn't get fudged like that. Maybe it's because I did a batch shrink.

A little bit more than 2 weeks ago, I came home from work late on a bitterly cold night. It was like 5 degrees outside. The entire city was imprisoned in ice, which prevented me from even making it up the driveway. After a lot of swearing and a few hours of searching the Interweb, we booked a last minute trip to Orlando. Crowds at WDW were bad due to it being President's Day weekend, but the trip was so worth it to escape winter's death grip. This was only my second time to visit WDW, and the previous trip was ruined by the fact that I had the flu. I think I will! Splash mountain loading station. I was awful at this pinball game. Nooooo! Disney is mistreating its animals. This poor robot doggie's bowl was empty. My favorite flume to date. Does it come with a pussy magnet? You can keep the Cinderella suite. I'm moving in here. I applied to be the 1,000th ghost, but they said my death certificate was forged. How did this end up in Busch Gardens? For the lift hill nerds. Vertical loop with train. Montu vertical loop awesomeness. We should use this awful contraption to interrogate terrorists. Can you say "replace this with a giant swing" boys and girls? Busch Gardens squirrel of death. And this is about as close as you should get to this one. Wake up! I wish Steve Irwin was alive to save me. This bird was panhandling. Soon to be floorless. Stupid tree. The finest sit down looper in the world wasn't running so great that day. Fix it. NOW! Shakira hangs. Shakira climbs. Shakira, Shakira. Capcom as seen through astigmatism. This is your brain on Vekoma. Any questions? Liz is in my shadow, as usual. Climbing Primeval Whirl's lift hill. Hi! I can't believe Disney makes them wear that! EE's dead end track and some bald guy's head. EE helix seen from left side of the lift hill. Painting of the Yeti you see while ascending the lift hill. So pretty. It looks real from a distance. EE's drop with train EE's drop Some happy explorers sally forth to meet the Yeti Expedition Everest returns to the station Excellent theming inside Tower of Terror It's not covered in ice. Yes!

^^^ I used to really like house music, but not so much these days. I've seen nearly all the major house DJs: Derrick Carter, Sneak, Terry Mullan, Ian Pooley, etc. More recently I prefer the kind of music you'd hear on the Jazzanova Show or Worldwide with Gilles Peterson. I wouldn't mind seeing Derrick play again. He can be really good when he's not too drunk.

19% is pretty obscene. But, governments love to tax tourists, because they have absolutely no voice.

Never. When you have tens of millions of guests per year and tens of thousands of employees, some antics are inevitable. It's just a function of their size. "Do they understand how most of what happens is people being drunk, or stupid; and trying to find something else to blame besides that, that makes their lives totally ******." Al Swearengen

Yeah, who do they think they are? It's not like they swooped in, developed an undesired central Florida swampland into one of the world's most traveled to tourist destinations or anything. Geez, the nerve of them. Same goes for SoCal. I'd lean towards Disney's arguments on this one. Well, their arguments are pretty much meaningless in and of themselves. The real question is does this development violate a formal agreement between Disney and Anaheim. I still think they should just shut up and buy the land. I'd rather see Disney expand than have more apartments/condos built.