ginzo

13/20/. Not bad considering I haven't been to any European parks yet.

Kings Island Don't go.

I thought it was pretty tolerable when we first rode it in May of 2006. I think we probably rode it 20 times over 2 days during that first visit. The ride seemed to get progressively worse in our two subsequent visits in '06 and our single cycle in '07 was also a bit rough. I've got my fingers crossed that the same thing doesn't happen to Ravine Flyer II.

Yeah, although I sort of agree with the spirit of the rule, it's not like this policy is going to turn a distant work-a-holic into super dad. Parks should be glad that people have found a way to make waiting in line more tolerable.

It's all because you have Voyage ranked higher than El Toro.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080527-theme-park-pda-ban-says-time-and-a-place-for-everything.html There's a reason they call 'em "crackberries". I dunno what to think about this one. On one hand I can see AT's point, but on the other it's awfully boring standing in line and frankly why not be productive during what is otherwise a complete and total waste of time.

I think the main thing is that old school text TRs aren't as popular as photo TRs on here. We like the pretty pictures. That's why I like to order off the picture menu at McDonald's. I'll point at the menu item I want, grunt a little, and then shout, "I WANT DAT!"

Quoted For Truth. ADMIN EDIT: Sorry, I sat here for five minutes trying to figure out QTF. ginzo edit: Bored much Matt?

What a ringing endorsement! Yeah, I'm familiar with G-train riding technique, but why would I waste my time? I'd rather save my time and money to go ride something that I enjoy.

I swear that Six Flags and CF manage to find worse beef than McDonald's uses. Either that or they're not as skilled in jacking up the flavor of inferior grade beef. Not that McDonald's tastes good, but I think it's better than theme park burgers.

I don't think my stomach could keep down 1 lb. worth of a theme park burger. Who can eat that much low grade beef?

^There's not going to be a really good answer to this question because it depends entirely on the hiring manager. A lot of older people aren't as prone to using a lot of email and might prefer a handwritten note. But some younger people may have not received many handwritten letters in their years and might enjoy the novelty of it. I do think that the *content* of the letter is more important than whether you use email or snail mail. I'd shoot for trying to make it as specific to the interview/company as possible without sounding like a brown noser. Another thing to keep in mind is that you send thank you notes because it's just plain good manners to do so. The hiring manager has to do his regular job in addition to making time to read applications and perform interviews. His/her time is limited and valuable. That being said, it's unlikely, at least in the technical field that I work in currently, that you're going to beat out a much more qualified applicant just because you sent a thank you note. This is assuming the more qualified candidate didn't come across as arrogant or antisocial in the interview.

An offer speculated to be worth $46 billion? I had no idea there were any European beer companies that large. I guess they're helped out by the piss poor dollar. There's no possible way AB could turn down an offer that large. There would be a shareholder revolt, possibly led by someone like Carl Icahn. Man, this could lead to all kinds of juicy speculation. Would they dump the parks? If so, who would buy the parks? Would they keep the parks and fill them with Vekomas? Etc.

If they put it anywhere else on the circuit, they'd have just gotten a bunch of pictures of people wincing in pain.

Yeah, I'm quite aware of the differences between BB and RFII. It's just that I couldn't get excited about flying down to ride a rougher ride. The lay out always looked cool to me, but bashing into the sides is not fun and a waste of precious kinetic energy. So, it's good to hear that it's now flying through its course. RFII keeps a great pace for its entire circuit. It's far from the fastest coaster out there, but it *feels* fast because there is no dead track.

This makes me want to hop on a flight down there this weekend. I wonder how it compares to RFII, which turned out to be excellent.

I have two coaster shirts, but I only wear them when I go running. They're too ugly to wear under normal circumstances.

Things I'd rather do than commute 4 hours: 1) Be homeless. 2) Panhandle on the street. 3) Sell crack. 4) Collect welfare. 5) Be in prison. 6) Get committed to an insane asylum.

Ravine Flyer II.

My 56-year-old mom who has neck problems rode it, enjoyed it, and didn't think it was rough. Her comment was "It's been a long time since I rode a coaster that fast." It's not GCII or Intamin smooth, but then again it's probably not supposed to be. The crew seemed decent enough: Not Disney efficient, but not Mt. Olympus lazy. They really need to do whatever it takes to get that second train going. Who wants to deal with big park lines at a small park?

It is important to be open-minded about other cultures, but this doesn't mean that one should be OK with everything they do. In some countries you can be executed simply for being gay. While this may work for those countries, it doesn't work for me.

This same bad reasoning could be used to justify the violation of human rights in Saudi Arabia, female circumcision in Africa, the Japanese dolphin cull, etc. I'm actually pretty excited about getting to take a look around Amsterdam this summer. This doesn't mean that I have to approve of every aspect of the city. I found it a little odd to see a middle age man touting "it's legal for a 16-year-old to have sex with a 12-year-old" as some sort of selling point for the city. Maybe it's just me, but I don't find this very appealing.

Oh boy, I'm sold. Amsterdam #1. I can't wait to see all those pregnant 12-year-olds. That's not creepy at all.

I got two cycles in on RFII yesterday, one at dusk and the other in the dark, and greatly enjoyed the ride. The ride experience, to me, seemed a bit like the Raven with a LOT more airtime. It seemed Raven-like to me because of the relatively short circuit and unrelenting pace of the ride: it got faster and faster and faster. No dead spots. I know this is an imperfect analogy, but it's the best I could come up with. The view of Lake Erie at dusk and night was overpowering, one of the cooler coaster visuals I've come across. I definitely prefer RFII to Voyage or Hades. Waldameer is a neat little park and I'm glad they've finally got a star attraction. On a side note, does anyone know if they're running the blue train yet? Last night waits were upwards of an hour and I was really hoping that they would run both trains.

That's what happened to us. We wound up stumbling through the campgrounds while looking for Twister. Although I do enjoy the random nature of Knoebels, it would be nice if they could do something about the dust.