ginzo

Well, that is in Jersey and all... My only visit to Great Adventure was in 1995, I believe. I wasn't an enthusiast back then, but I do remember thinking the place was a dump. Hershey was SO MUCH nicer. And the rides at GAdv weren't all that in those days. Apparently, the place is still a dump, only with great rides now. Though I've only been to three Six Flags parks, I've always found them to be a bit odd. It's like they're half-finished theme parks. It's like my condo. I started decorating it, and then got bored halfway through. I think the parks could be great in the right hands.

That's a pretty darn chintzy cycle. Maybe they'll lengthen the cycle after the ride has been installed for a few years. Still, it looks like an awesome ride. I'm not too big on flats, but I can't wait to ride Skyhawk later this month.

I have yet to go to Magic Mountain, but will probably end up there in January. From all accounts the place is a mess. You'd think that they would want to make fixing that park a priority. Getting revenue when the other parks are closed has got to be advantageous.

Dustin Diamond was on Howard Stern not too long ago, and claimed he's hung like John Holmes. Maybe he's just doing this because he figured nobody believes him on that claim. Diamond also attempted legal action take dustindiamond.com back from Max Goldberg of YTMND.COM, but failed.

That's hardly a fair comparison. Jobs was already a billionaire when he came back to save Apple. I do agree with most of your points though. Selling off performing units is suicide. That happened at my employer.

It was more than that. His compensation package includes salary, bonus, and stock. http://biz.yahoo.com/e/061002/six8-k.html Their market cap isn't even half a billion these days. I'd say his current package is about righ for the size company that they currently are. If he can turn the company around, which I really hope he does, he certainly deserves a raise. But, I don't think you can justify that much more compensation for this company in its current state.

There's already a thread for this. ADMIN EDIT: LINK REMOVED I wish I could go, but I have work all weekend and a huge biochemistry exam next week. Maybe next year. I think part of the issue with redundant topics here is that the search feature isn't that friendly.

Him getting a raise at this stage in the game is obviously a bad play. It just looks like greed. I can't think of anyone that gets a 30% raise these days other than CEOs. I think my raise for this year was something pathetic like 2%. I'm sure Shapiro's view is something along the lines of he's taking a huge risk trying to turn this company around. So, he better get the money while he can, because his name will be dirt if this goes poorly. I can't blame him for that, but he should have just gotten more money up front. It looks really bad to squeeze more money out of the company when it's still doing poorly and you're looking to liquidate assets just to get out of debt. The problem with CEO pay these days is, according to research, it's not linked to CEO performance. That is, CEOs are paid obscenely even when the company is doing terribly. The good CEOs are paid as well as the bad ones. Had this been a banner year with record attendance and significant debt reduction Shapiro giving himself a raise would be fine. Under the current circumstances, it looks fishy.

Personally, I think their inflated prices just dig their grave deeper. I almost never buy food or souvenirs at Six Flags parks, because they're just too expensive for what you get. I tend to eat immediately before going in, and then when I leave. I might have a snack or something inside the park, but I never get a full meal. Who wants to pay that kind of money for *bad* food? If they had better food at more reasonable prices, convenience would certainly win and I'd eat at their parks more.

Geez. And SF wonders why they're halfway to bankruptcy. Is this some kind of posted policy at Great Adventure? I haven't been there in 10 years. I can't understand why they would give a crap about taking pictures of the trains.

Stengel is def. the man when it comes to comes to coaster design. He was awarded an honorary PhD for his work. I'm not sure how that gap would keep fungi off. Fungi seem to end up everywhere, as the spores travel through the air.

Weren't there rumors of Chippewa finally getting the wrecking ball? It seems dangerous to leave those half-rotted structures up, as cool/creepy as it may be to visit.

I get the burn out sometimes by the end of an amusement park trip where I'm gone for a few days. This only lasts a week or so. I've found that going to the same park over and over is seriously bad for burn out. It's much better to visit new places. Then again, this is really my first season of travelling outside my home park. I have yet to burn out on everything within driving distance even. There's a lot of big parks I haven't hit yet. When I go to a new park I get to ride ~3-15ish new coasters. It's a lot easier to get excited about that than just whatever new one they built this year.

I really dislike riding backwards for the most part anyway. I've never understood why people like it. I like to see where I'm going. Going backwards through a loop, however, is totally awesome.

I rode the Voyage last month, and it seemed a little bit sluggish compared to when I rode it in June. I think the first drop could be a lot better. I completely understand why some people don't rank it #1, as I think it runs inconsistently. I think I might like the Avalanche a little bit better. From my three trips to HW World this year I noticed that the Raven seems to be their one coaster that always runs at peak form. Legend and Voyage seem to have a lot more variability in the quality of each ride.

And, a 2007 Maxx Pass bought at CP doesn't work in 2006 at CP at all, because it's "new". Man, this has got to be the one area where Six Flags has CF just whipped all around. This year I bought a Wyandot Lake pass for $55, and was able to get into Six Flags parks through a quick scan at the gate.

I just called Cedar Point about booking my hotel for my trip next month. It turns out that if you buy a 2007 Maxx Pass, it does NOT work for 2006. The lady said something about it being "new". I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Oh well. Looks like I'll be buying my 2007 passes at PKI after all. Has anyone been to Cedar Point for the last weekend of the season before? Did you freeze your a$$ off? Weather.com reports average highs in the 50s for that time period. 50 F + winds on coasters = cold.

It's all in Richard Munch's book. I have nothing to prove to anyone, especially those too lazy to research it themselves.

It was def. steel track. http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/history/design/history_traver.shtml Richard Munch covers this in his book about Traver. I'm not sure if it's the first steel coaster or not, but it does predate the Matterhorn by quite a while.

Harry Traver's Jazz Railway came out in 1925. People thought he was crazy for building a coaster out of steel. http://www.rcdb.com/id2010.htm I'm not a huge coaster history person either, but I think the Matterhorn is kinda credited with starting the modern steel coaster craze, just like some people credit the Racer for kicking off the woodie renaissance.

I'll forgive them once they install that B&M hyper that PKI has needed for years. Though I don't expect CF to install anything big in the near future. PKI does pretty well on crowds with its existing mediocre-at-best coaster collection.

Nope. It's $125 for the Maxx Pass at both PKI and CP. It's still not a bad deal, and they obviously can't pull this on me again next year if I buy a 2008 Maxx Pass.

No apologies necessary. I'm not about to pull a Clark Griswold, and go to Wallyworld without finding out the details first. This whole thing is a big sh1t sandwich, if you ask me. Why in the world would my PKI Maxx Pass get me into PKI for the remainder of 2006, but not the other CF parks? I plan on staying at a CP hotel, and will spend a fair amount in the park next month. They're getting their money. The least they can do is not jerk me around with their so-called Maxx Pass. The logical thing for me to do now is buy a 2007 CP Maxx Pass, and pay $10 to park each time I go to PKI next year. There's no way I'll go to PKI next year enough times to make up for the cost of 2 CP 2-day passes. What a mess!

I just called PKI Guest Relations, and found out some interesting facts. 1) If you buy a 2007 Maxx Pass at PKI, you do not get 2006 access to the other CF parks. 2) My 2006 PKI Gold Season Pass does not get me into Cedar Point for 2006. Now, I suppose that I could buy a 2007 CP Maxx Pass when I go there next month. The downside to that is that I won't get the free PKI parking pass that they're offering right now if you buy a 2007 PKI Maxx Pass. So, the question now is can I buy and attach a PKI parking pass to my 2007 CP Maxx Pass. I'm thinking not. Grrr....

I'm going with the Maxx Pass bought from my home park, PKI. I don't think that $125 for admission to 12 parks is unreasonable, especially considering that this pass will let me ride two of the new coasters coming out next year. Are you sure that I if I buy a Maxx Pass at PKI now that I get admission to the other CF parks for the rest of 2006? http://www3.paramountparks.com/kingsisland/shop/shopping_season_pass.cfm This doesn't say anything about the other CF parks for 2006. The wording sounds like you won't be allowed in the other ones for the rest of 2006. I also still have my 2006 PKI pass. I think I'll call the park today, and see what they say. I'm going to CP next month. It would be nice if I could get that covered under a season pass. I suppose I could just buy 2007's Maxx Pass at CP.