ginzo

The writing needs work. 1) Buy a copy of "The Elements of Style". 2) Read it. 3) Read it again. 4) Apply it. Your article seems to say the same thing over and over, and isn't substantiated by any kind of evidence. Have you exhaustively read peer-reviewed journal articles on this subject?

Yeah, I'd also see restraints as a huge safety hazard. I've been in situations where I was strapped to a kneeboard that was flipped over with me fully submerged in the water. You have to undo the velcro strap to get yourself out and above water. It's a little bit scary, and a bit much to ask of the average theme park attendee.

Disneyland is expensive, but I personally think it's a great value. I was there for the first time last week actually, and loved the place. Our 3-day park hopper tickets were $129 through the web site. That's only $43 per person per day. It's a beautiful park, and definitely a premium experience. I've never seen operations that efficient before in my life, which is great. They actually respect your time and do everything humanly possible to keep you out of line, or at least minimize the time you spend in line. I think SFMM might actually have higher food prices, and for worse food. You can't compare the two places at all in terms of quality of overall experience. SFMM also costs $4 more to park in a parking lot. Disneyland has a garage, which means your car is at least covered. Our Disneyland experience was so great that we're already planning a Disney World trip for later this year.

Sony is getting whipped in Japan also.

Actually a single game can make a console. Halo/Halo2 made Xbox successful. You might not like the games, but they were franchise games that drove console sales. Just like Mario sells Nintendo, Halo will sell Xbox. Nintendo has a few game series that drive sales of its consoles, not just Mario. And one game certainly isn't going to "win the console war". I'm just bitter because all the game genres I used to like to play have gone away due to all these boring first person shooters on PCs. I really miss the old point and click adventure games, like the ones from Lucasarts and Sierra.

Indiana Beach makes sense. It's not too far from Chicago.

Seriously, seriously doubt it. What this article conveniently forgot to mention is the fact that the 360 sold the most units in December - this past December. It's outselling the brand new systems a year after launch, adding onto it's large head start. With Sony falling flat on it's face, Microsoft is the new king of video gaming in America... and they haven't even released Halo 3 yet. The Wii is a novelty that'll wear off sooner than later (that's coming from someone who owns one.) One game is going to make the console? Doubt it. As for novelties that need to wear off, I'd say that about first person shooters like Halo. Snore! But, that's just my preference. I'm glad that Nintendo is trying something different. Had Nintendo been able to ship enough units they might have the most by now. Nintendo also doesn't need to "win". They just need to sell a lot of units and make money. Aren't they hoping to expand the market here, not necessarily beat out other companies?

I noticed that when I was there last weekend. Does that place always smell like skunk?

Is it well known to the average schmoe in Chicago? Or just with "out of town roller coaster weirdos"? It would seem odd for the average Chicagoan to make the pilgrimage to Sandusky when they have Great America and Wisconsin Dells. My parents ignored me as a child. So I have to argue on the Interweb to feel good about myself.

I personally hate the idea of animals at Six Flags. I doubt they would take very good care of them. They can't even maintain their buildings very well.

Or maybe because it's a bunch of straight track where it should have hills!

I like the kind of ejector air that makes you feel like you're going to be thrown out of your seat and fall to your doom, like that last drop on Cyclops.

I sincerely doubt that Cedar Point is well known in Chicago. But, yeah it's obviously well known in Michigan, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. However, Ohio CP fanboys are highly obnoxious.

Dude, you have no idea how much I had to deal with this growing up. All you'd ever hear from people is "King's Island sucks. Cedar Point r00lz d00d." When you ask those people why CP didn't bother to put airtime hills on their supposedly awesome hypercoaster they usually say something like, "But Millennium Force goes really fast! And it's smooth!" The really sad thing is there are many parks that are a fairly easy drive from Ohio: Indiana Beach SFGAm Holiday World Dollywood Silver Dollar City/Celebration City Hershey Kennywood etc. Most Cincinnati people have never even heard of Holiday World, even though you can get there more quickly than you can get to Cedar Point. But you can bet any amount of money that almost everyone in Cincy knows Cedar Point.

Especially not when it's CF designing the area. Although they do seem to be doing a decent job with Maverick. Imagine if CF took over your home park of SFOG. Say bye-bye to Goliath. I'm sure CF would replace that "not cost-effective" B&M, move it to CP, and contract with Vekoma to make a far superior hypercoaster. Imagine being lucky enough to have the first hypercoaster with OTSRs on it at your home park. That certainly is the pattern. I'd say Knott's deserves way better than it has received. Their revenue is pretty close to what CP's is. Even if profit is a bit below what CP has, the park still deserves better than what they've received. It's a pretty lousy strategy to milk your other parks dry just to use the money to build up your precious "roller coaster capital of the world", especially when those coasters aren't anywhere near as good as CP wishes they were.

Thank you! I'm glad that I'm not the only one that smells a rat here. Somehow I don't believe that CF is truly honoring Paramount's $12 million capital plan for PKI for 2007. They're turning my home park into a dumping ground for secondhand Vekoma

I've got free accomodations if we decide to go to GL. My aunt lives just up the road.

hey, there are some Six Flags parks that do a good job with their wood, and even Paramount had some well-maintained rides. ALL of the Cedar Fair woodies are going to hell if they aren't there already... I agree this move sucks mainly because these rides blow in terms of reliability and capacity, and I can't believe its getting so much attention with other great rides being built this year. I'm just pissed this will add 2 hours to my day when I visit PKI Yeah, I think El Toro and Viper (SFGam) are two good examples of SF woodies that blow away CF woodies. We'll see what happens with Renegade.

Actually, I haven't been on it yet. But, I'm not a fan of Vekoma, flyers, or rides that break a lot. So, we'll see.

James, we should make some kind of event out of this argument. You and I can meet the fanboys at PKI on the day that they open the new ride, and we'll all ride it. If we like the installation, we'll admit to it. If we don't like it, then we'll certainly own up to that. I just don't understand how anyone can think there is ANY case for putting this ride into PKI. I especially like how people who don't have to live with PKI as their home park have accused us of "flying off the handle". Someone went so far as to say a B&M "isn't cost effective". Uh-huh. Super popular, high capacity rides that almost NEVER break. What a bad investment! The fact is the GP isn't nearly as dumb as enthusiasts would like to believe. Hypercoasters usually have the among the longest lines in any given park. The parks that invest in high quality attractions like Busch, Disney, and Universal totally destroy the lesser parks in attendance and thus profits.

I just want to be able to ride a great coaster without having to drive several hours or get on a plane. IMO that's a pretty silly argument. Of course you want to minimize costs. But, I don't think this philosophy of installing the cheapest attractions possible is great business. PKI went with the bottom bidder with SOB, and look how that turned out. Lawsuit city. In fact, if you look at the parks that lead in attendance they are the ones that invest the MOST in attractions. Is that a coincidence? Nope.

That's basically the problem with this move. They've just restarted the funding cycle, and you can expect to wait another like 5 years for another coaster to be installed.

You just compared the Phoenix to a Vekoma, and I'm losing? It's funny how some of the people arguing with me here don't even think that getting X-Flight is that great of a move. The point is this delays the possibility of PKI getting a real coaster by another few years. Flyers aren't all that great, and I say this having ridden Tatsu, the supposed king of flyers. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the only person on this thread who thinks this is a stupid move.

So now all the parks are supposed to cater to enthusiasts? I think we make up a small percentage of the overall attendance at the parks. It's all about the mighty dollar, not making us happy. I use the term enthusiast very loosely. Knotts is a completely AWFUL park. It's good for getting the credits then leaving as quickly as possible. They don't provide a good experience at all. Disney isn't built for roller coasters enthusiasts, but they provide an awesome experience and make far more than CF could ever dream of. Or, if you think comparing to Disney isn't fair, compare Busch Gardens Africa to Knotts. I don't really even have to say anything else now.