ginzo

Is that English?

Dollywood is so incredibly photogenic. Has anyone see the Dogwood Tree sign? Funny little diversions like this are what make Dollywood fun for me.

Don't forget the interactive dark ride! The part where you go outside, turn around, and go right back inside is very fun and unique.

What I don't like is when the person you're about to report flees too quickly for me to report them. Some kid was smoking on American Eagle at SFGAm last week in the seat right in front of me. We had to spend our entire ride hoping that we didn't get burned in the face from that retard. I contemplated hitting him over the head for a second, but then decided to report him. However, the little punk tore out of the station quicker than I could point him out to the op. Hard to report someone that you can't point out!

I actually want to get to do that some day. I had an e-stop at the MCBR on Son of Beast a few weeks before the accident. I was hoping I'd get to walk off, but they ruined it by letting the train go into the loop just moments later.

This sort of thing always reminds me of the interviewing with "the Bobs" scene in Office Space. "They call them efficiency experts, but what you're really doing is interviewing for your own job." Maybe if they tell the consultants they like Michael Bolton they'll get to keep their jobs. About the lay offs, all I can say is, "Welcome to the party." Maybe the British aren't used to this sort of thing, but job security went away in the US some 20 years ago. My company likes to do its annual lay offs in December to clean up the books for the next year. Merry Christmas, you're fired!

This incident is sad. They should get some big german shepherds to guard the place at night. I hope the Screechin' Eagle is open to the public before long. I never got to ride it, and I live in the region.

Majoring in Japanology? That sounds really nice. I've never even heard of that being offered as a major. Please tell me you're doing this out of interest in Japanese culture, and not just because of a roller coaster.

That just sounds like player hating to me. What's more hip than a midwest roller coaster club?

Don't bet on it. Having been raised by a real estate lawyer I've heard a story or two. Major real estate developers tend to push cities around like playground bullies Rezoning happens every day, and city council members can be bought on the cheap. Nobody wants to stop development in their municipality, and for good enough reason. Moreover, Denver real estate is quite valuable these days. A motivated developer could perhaps work out a deal that included remuneration for the city's prior investment.

This is a really interesting controvery to be sure. I wonder if ticket sales were so poor because Muslims, being conservative as they are, don't smile so much upon amusement parks. Or, did the media uproar sour them to it? The park is also faced with an ethical dilemma for condoning values that clash with Britain's culture at large. Is the money from the event worth the potential downsides of a harsh public reaction? The West isn't friendly to banning music and refusing to let men and women ride together. That tabloid site, the Sun, has some great uhhh pictures of women. American tabloids don't do that.

Taking unwanted pictures isn't illegal. You're out in public. There's no expectation of privacy. It's annoying, but you're breaking no laws. Maybe they had you guys mixed up with some people that really were harassing the ops.

Well, if you're staying in Louisville it might make sense to start with Beech Bend, then go back to Kentucky Kingdom. That way you'll be near the hotel after an exhaustive day of running around 2 parks. One gotcha to keep in mind is that Beech Bend is in Central Time Zone, while Kentucky Kingdom is in Eastern Time Zone. Thus, Beech Bend will be an hour behind Kentucky Kingdom.

You should seriously consider Beech Bend. The park is kinda dumpy, but Kentucky Rumbler is great. It's nicer than anything at PKI. Paramount has not done a good job of maintaining the rides. Many of them are quite rough. The Beast is braked to hell and back now. They trim it something like 4 times now, including going down both lift hills. Perhaps you should take a look and see what park has the rides you're most interested in.

Last September I was getting off the back seat of the Racer at PKI when some hillbilly who was about to board in the same seat yelled, "He peed all over the seat. HAHAHAHAHAHA." This year while the ride ops were checking the seat belts and lapbars on the Racer at PKI another totally drunken hillbilly told the ride op, "Do you realize you're saving all these people's lives?"

When I was processing my season pass for PKI this year I saw a pretty funny interaction. This prissy 18-20ish girl behind us apparently had some confusion as to what sort of pass she had been given. She exclaimed, "But my mom said it was a Gold Pass!" I instantly thought of the "your mom goes to college" line from Napoleon Dynamite and every mom joke I've ever heard. I laughed all day about this one.

That Wild Mouse also looks great with the banked turns, drops, and apparent lack of those obnoxious switchbacks that most mice do.

That place reminds me of a much more upscale version of Indiana Beach, being cleaner and much more well kept. That Schwarzkopf looks very nice. Only Grona Lund doesn't have the Cornball Express!

http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/news/stories/2006/07/25/HJN072606PKISUIT.html

I'm not sure that dishonesty was implicit in his statements. I just think he was underscoring his willingness to state a relatively unpopular opinion. I've been to Holiday World 4 days this year over two separate trips. I personally think it's a great park, and I love all three of the woodies there. I really appreciate that Holiday World actually believes in maintaining their coasters. So many parks put woodies in, and then let them fall apart. The Raven is 11 years old now, and it still runs great. I think the park is having some growing pains as the crowds have been massive this year. I personally don't expect Grade A customer service from low wage teenage park workers. The customer service is still good at Holiday World as far as I'm concerned, but I don't expect to get my ass kissed. I just don't want to be stapled into my seat.

I finally made it to Beech Bend. Rumbler is a nice ride, and we had zero waiting for it. But the other coasters were pretty lame. The only other thing we liked there was the Super Slide. King's Island used to have one of those back in the 80s. It's too bad they dumped it. Beech Bend seems too much like a glorified fair with that portable metal fencing surrounding most of the rides. I'm glad I got to ride Kentucky Rumbler, but I doubt I'll be going back to Beech Bend. At least until they build their next woodie.

I got an e-stop on Son of Beast in June at the mid course brakes on the hill before the loop. SOB had broken down twice that day, and I was on the second run after they restarted it at like 3 PM. Unfortunately, we were only stuck out there for like 5 minutes. I totally wanted to get to walk off the ride (there's a flight of stairs right next to where we stopped), but the stupid thing started back up! Walking off a ride, especially down a lift hill, would be so much fun.

I still think HW does a pretty good job. I did notice a rash of line jumping last time I was there, but that's not exactly their fault. HW desperately needs to get special queues for the front and back seats. Imagine how neat this park will be after they add 2-3 more coasters of similar quality to their current line up. I'm going to Beech Bend next week to ride the awesome looking Kentucky Rumbler. It'll be interesting to compare the two parks. I'm guessing I'll like HW more. I'm also going to Dollywood in August. So, I guess I'll see.

I feel the same way about IB. I doubt I'll make another special trip there, but I'll certainly stop by on the way to somewhere else. It's a wacky little park. The dark ride and Haunted House are pretty fun. The ride ops are definitely as grouchy as they come, but that doesn't bother me so much. Cornball and Tig'rr are the only coasters I like there. I hear that IB really must be experienced at night to get the full effect, and I believe this. Next time I'll do that.

Did you try Cornball in the back? Cornball really has to be ridden several times to be fully appreciated. The middle seats are kinda boring, but the front and back seats are very nice. The airtime is absurd, best ejector air I've experienced. It's easy to beat IB's "no waiting for special seats" BS on Cornball. Just wait on that last landing one flight of steps below the loading station. The ride ops can't see you down there. As soon as they dispatch the train just walk up the steps and take your pick of seats. This, of course, assumes that IB isn't too crowded on that particular day.