ginzo

I'm pretty sure that my power is still out at home. I'm going to check in a few hours, but the power company is still reporting an outage for my address. But hey, they might have it fixed by Saturday!

Yeah, on a relatively clear highway I'll usually yield to the speeder. I figure whatever cops up ahead are less likely to worry about me going 5 MPH over the speed limit when they've got that jackass going 95 MPH to pull over. One of my favorite things in life is to see some idiot who was riding my bumper a few minutes ago pulled over to the side of the rode getting written a ticket. Another peeve of mine is when you let that speeder over on the clear highway and then they see the open road (aka first in line to get pulled over by the highway patrol) and consequently slow down to below the speed they were tailgating you at. WIMP!

^On a related note, I hate tailgaters. There's no good reason to compromise safety by riding my ass while going 75 MPH. It's not that I don't want to get to my destination fast. It's just that I leave this thing called a "safe, assured distance" in front of me. That way if the cars in front of me suddenly stop, I don't wreck into them for lack of stopping distance. So, yeah, when you notice me slow down a good 15-20 MPH in response to your sociopathic driving, that's on purpose. And, no I won't get out of my lane either. Have fun trying to pass me on the right! And, if you honk at me or make obscene gestures, that just means I've won because your monkey ass got mad and now you've got high blood pressure. Better go get some beta blockers, stat!

Yeah, Anaconda isn't the kind of ride where you take in the scenery. Pretty much you just think about when you can get off the blasted thing.

Cincinnati got completely killed by Ike. We've still got 500,000 people without power and I'm one of them!

Cedar Point. Nobody ever goes there.

You know I always thought I was going to have to fly down to Houston so that I could have all the possible Gravity Group credits. But now, thanks to Ike, I might be able to have all the GG credits without even leaving the house. Seriously though, I hope that this disaster gives Kemah the opportunity to finally fix up the Bullet and make it the coaster it was supposed to be.

All this hurricane talk makes me glad I live in flyover country.

Vaguely interesting idea, but I doubt any parks are going to sign up with a solo designer that has ZERO projects under his belt. He should get some experience at an actual coaster company first before he tries to go solo.

^^Your mom is gone. BURN!!!

So, what's the verdict chief? El Toro or T-Express?

Staying on property is a good choice. I stayed at Universal's cheapest hotel last year and it was awesome. Every bit as nice as a Disney Deluxe hotel. They do you give you Express Passes if you stay on-property, which is a nice perk to have even if the parks aren't that busy. No line beats a short line. If you stay for just one night, Universal gives you Express Passes on both days. However, they do not give you Express Passes for HHN, at least they didn't last year. That costs extra.

^Damn, this poor little coaster gets the "born under a bad sign" award.

^Like it's so much of a bother to just follow park rules in the first place. Even Robb doesn't get to film on every coaster out there. No big deal!

^Wow, maybe that guy is the real Duct Tape Bandit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F79iThUEWFg

Yeah, Alton Towers does seem the nicest from my vantage point. However, the others seem worth a trip, especially Blackpool as I enjoy the random hodgepodge parks. I also try to not pass up on woodie credits where possible. Are any of the on-property hotels (AT, Blackpool, etc.) worth it or should I just seek cheaper lodgings elsewhere? I believe AT has an early admission privilege for hotel guests, which might make me look closely at the AT resort as I'd only be spending one day at the park. Thanks again, everyone!

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm definitely not looking to hit every Walygator-like park in the UK. Though a few credit runs aren't out of the question depending on where we end up.

So, I'm beginning to plan a *gasp* sightseeing trip to the UK for next summer. This is not going to be a coaster only trip. However, I'm damn sure going to hit the more important stuff. So, what would be considered the essential UK parks to hit? So far I've come up with: Alton Towers Blackpool Pleasure Beach Chessington Thorpe Oakwood I think Legoland will get thrown in because it's apparently included with the Merlin Entertainments Annual Pass, but it's not essential for me as I've done the California Legoland. Oakwood I added because I think I'll probably want to end up in Wales anyway. Am I missing anything big? Easy credit runs? Etc. Any input, ideas, insults, etc. would be most appreciated.

Not sure what you mean but to elaborate my point. I find Superman, Batman, Mr. Freeze, Bug Bunny, Daffy Duck, etc and all rides named after them very tacky and repetitive. I frown upon parks that drop their original characters for commercialized characters. Example of parks that still use their original characters are Disney's. Even they still create new characters rather than hiring characters from elsewhere like Six Flags does. So, bring back Mr. Six?

When I was in high school my teacher took advantage of me. Here is her picture: Her name is Debra Lafave. It was so horrible I kept going over to her house for a month while she "took advantage" of me over and over again.

That would eliminate Michael Jackson and Paris Big Thunder Mountain, two excellent coasters.

If the world ends, at least I won't have to hear any more about this stupid election.

Wow. Wrong. If anything, safety is becoming more of a concern thanks to the increasingly predatory legal environment. This is illustrated by the excessive restraints you see nowadays when compared to buzz bars, no seat belts, and no center dividers many coasters featured when I started riding them.

Rene, are you still posing Mickey and Pluto dolls into inappropriate poses?

They could make it an indoor coaster with synchronized music and a lot of birds flying by like Vogel Rok at Efteling.