ginzo

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they bought the park, not the bankrupt company. Therefore, they don't really have any debt apart from whatever they borrowed to pay the $25 million. Maybe there are some liens against the property from unpaid contractors though.

Most local governments are hurting financially just the same as everyone else. For example, my local county government can't even afford to build a new jail even though they desperately need one. The judges are sentencing people to jail, but when they report to jail they have to send them home because there is no room. And the Feds aren't going to touch an amusement park. They're just concerned with broader, systemic things like keeping the credit market afloat.

Running the park at that buying price is like playing tennis without a net. Kings Island spent like $22 million on Diamondback alone. These folks got a whole park for a lousy $3 million more. They should just go ahead and open it this year.

While I'm no fan of the general pattern of executive compensation these days (aka high pay even if you suck), Shapiro's total compensation package is obviously a very small fraction of the total expenses of Six Flags. In other words, he and the other C-level execs could reduce all their total compensations to $1 each and that wouldn't save the company by itself. Not even close.

This has 3 big trains, only one restraint to check, and a lot less to break. The capacity situation should be much better than that nightmare that was Maverick's opening year.

We didn't have that problem with DLP's Big Thunder Mountain back in early July. It ran quite well, even when we got the very first rides on it in the morning before they let the GP on the ride.

http://www.rcdb.com/id2775.htm Looks like this one is about 10' taller on the lift than the one in Paris.

So, I take it I should try to ride the Wild Train in Salzburg when I'm there in May.

Nice work, Divv. Since you're finally doing your Europe trip PTR, maybe I should finally complete mine.

Don't think I've responded to this before: Wooden Out & Back- Colossos, Heide Park Wooden Twister- Kentucky Rumbler, Beech Bend Wooden Racing/Dueling- Lighting Racer, Hersheypark Mine Train- Colorado Adventure - The Michael Jackson Thrill Ride, Phantasialand Wild Mouse- Winjas, Phantasialand Bobsled- Bobbaan, Efteling Stand Up- Chang, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Floorless- Medusa, Six Flags Great Adventure Mega-Looper- Kumba, Busch Gardens Africa Flying- Tatsu, Six Flags Magic Mountain Suspended- Vortex, Canada's Wonderland Hypercoaster- Expedition GeForce, Holiday Park Strata Coaster- Top Thrill Dragster, Cedar Point Arrow Multi Looper- Tennessee Tornado, Dollywood

^^^That's some of your better material, Wes. It reminds me of a certain super talented troll who used to terrorize Slashdot.org.

This just in from Kings Island: http://www.kidiamondback.com/public/latest/

^Bummer, that's a fun little coaster. One of the better kiddies I've been on.

That's not how markets work. If demand is down, prices go down to attract more buyers. Current example: housing. I really enjoy the pre-drop on Raging Bull and believe it makes for the best first drop of the B&M hypers that I've been on. I believe the point of the pre-drop was to reduce wear on the lift system. The back part of the train tends to jerk the lift chain as the front part of the train begins to drop. The pre-drop pulled the train off the chain more smoothly. But, a much cheaper way to reduce wear is to just speed up the lift motor as the train is beginning to drop.

So, I'm spending some time in Germany this May, but I'm just not going to be close enough to check this ride out. I'd probably have to drop my visit to Holiday Park (and drive a whole lot more) and that's just not going to happen.

Robb, You should have included this in your "Friday Fun" email. This is definitely a popcorn-worthy thread.

O RLY???

^I don't believe he's talking about the lift hill, which aren't usually parabolic. At least not on the lift side of the hill. He's talking about the second hill, the one immediately after the lift. Both Wikipedia and RCDB agree on a height of 103 ft. for that hill. Though I do wonder about the validity of the following statement on Wikipedia:

Lily Allen " " I shouldn't like this song, but I really do.

^In legal terms, there's no "expectation of privacy" when you're out in public. If you're on the public street, you can photograph whomever or whatever you like. It might be rude to snap someone's or something's photo in public without permission, but it's not illegal. Kroger has no such right if the footage was taken out in the public space. Of course they can request that you stop filming, but you have no obligation to honor their request. The whole paparazzi industry is based on this.

The article seemed reasonably factual to me. How are they bashing Disney?

^Did you see "In Bruges"? Although "WALL-E" is a better overall movie, the writing for "In Bruges" was really decent. A really dark movie has never made me laugh so much.

It's going to Knoebels to replace the High Speed Thrill Coaster.

Ha! I'm not quite that nerdy. Though there is a strong chance that I'll get to visit Reichenbach Falls shortly before the Scandi Trip in June. We're spending a few days in Murren, which is quite close to the falls.