carolinacaniac

That's aweome! I didn't realize there was a shop in the OC for Delorean. I thought they only had a parts shop somewhere in Texas. Was the signed time machine there on display or was that someone's actual car that had either some decent cash or a lot of free time? -Gary T.

In May, 2001 I took a ride on Alpengiest at Busch Gardens, and it wasn't until July the next year that I took another ride on Grizzly at Kings Dominion. The two next longest included a year between rides on Wild Thing at Wild Waves (June 1998-June 1999), and a year between visits to Kings Dominion, but I don't recall which coasters were involved. (July 2002-July 2003) -Gary T.

I think the problem people have with the operations isn't with the wait time. You are correct in that 15 minutes isn't a whole lot of time to wait, and something to enjoy, but when it is a 15 minute line because the people who operate the ride are lolly gagging, or calling their buddies or their cell phones, or just sitting around the control booth, then it isn't as good because hat 15 minute wait could possible be a walk-on or around 5 minutes with a cecent effort being put forth by the operators. I personally don't mind waiting in a line that is an hour long if it is consistently moving, but I am not a fan of being in a line that is almost at a stand still for 5 minutes at a time. I am curious to see what this announcment is though. On the chance that ut us a new/slightly used HRP coaster, I have a hard time seeing it being ready for even Memorial Day weekend. It would probably be late this season or wait until next season. -Gary T.

Awesome! Thanks for the link. If they extend the program into the summer, there are a couple places this will definately come in handy. -Gary T.

^I never knew that House of Blues was a restuant chain, I thought it was more of a chain of show venues. Also, how do you get the whole connection of the Eagles coaster to a wooden coaster??? Seriously? I could understand that misconception with Gemini at CP, but Eagles? -Gary T.

On a side note, there was an article that compared the two companies (Costco and Sam's Club), they mentioned that Costco is Unionized while Sam's isn't, Costco has a lower turnover rate, and their employees are generally paid better with better benefits, yet they are just as profitable as Sam's Club. Granted that was from a couple years ago, and who knows how that may have changed since the economy started to go down the crapper. In regards to store based Pizza, the best I have ever had was from a grocery store in Poulsbo, Washington called Central Market. Cheap by-the-slice pizza that is absolutly amazing!!!! -Gary T.

Hey Big Mike, Do you happen to know if there is a website with a list of places that are a part of the "Museums on Us" program? I also have an account with BOA and would love to take advantage of that if Melissa and I happen to be near a place that is a part of the program. -Gary T

Again, had this park maybe offered a discount to locals, or a night pass or something maybe the church goers (and it was a pretty big church) across the street would have noticed or cared about the place! I thought that it was hilarious that the church was essentially right next door, as if you could go to HRP for sin, then go to the church for redemption after your visit. -Gary T.

Don't the other Morgan coasters also have a small gap between the wheels and track? I didn't think that they made their trains to fit the track like Intamin and B&M did, but then again, my only Morgan coaster is Phantom so I havn't seen the others up close. -Gary T.

I suppose they were sold off? If MJ is getting that low on money, it may have been one of his last options. -Gary T.

^Very true. While there are used rides at Cedar Point, the Headliner Rides were all baught new and custom-made for Cedar Point. Heck, even Wicked Twister is more of a custom ride since it is still the only Impulse Shuttle with two spirals, as well as the only one that is over 200 feet. -Gary T.

I know that different states have different laws, I just assumed that the 18 for rides thing was a CF standard since it is 18 at Cedar Point, and yet there were 16 year olds at Kings Island last time I had visited there (Pre-Cedar Fair Purchase). Interesting how they follow the differences between states, I would have thought they would just go by the more restrictive standards and made it uniform throughout the park. -Gary T.

16 to do rides? I would have thought that with CF taking over it would have gone up to 18, but maybe thay don't have the availability of 18+ year olds for operating rides.

This is my line of thinking for the HRP coasters -I think Led Zeppelin would be perfect for a mid-sized park, such as Michigan's Adventure, or Frontier City in OKC, places like that. Given the possible low cost for a decent major coaster, it could easily become a headliner. More so than it would add to a park like SFMM or KI. -The smaller coasters like the Eagles or Shake Rattle and Rollercoaster would be well suited for any park looking to add a family sized coaster. Eagles could serve a major theme park well with good scenery as was mentioned before. -Maximum RPM (if not modified) would need to go to a park where there is a decent maintenance budget, most likely a major park. -Slippery When Wet is a toss up since these type of water based roller coasters seem to have limited success. I would have a hard time seeing Cedar Fair buying it since they just took the Super Saturator out of Carowinds. I would be more inclined to believe that they would relocate the Saturator before buying Slippery When Wet. And on a personal note, while I do admit that I am a little bummed the place is closing, I think it has more to do with never being able to ride Nights in White Satin again than anything else having to do with the park.

Two highlights for me include getting to Busch Gardens Europe on a day that had absolutly no lines what-so-ever, getting 34 combined rides on the coasters of SFOG in August (14 on Goliath). Also finding out about Deadwood in the Wiliamston area of NC, and sharing it with the rest of TPR! -Gary T.

18/20! Yee-haw!!!! -Gary T.

My first trip of the year will probably be at BGE as well. Not sure exactly when yet though. -Gary T.

Seems like everything at Astroland (Minus the Cyclone) will be going. I wonder if this would mean a transfer of ownership or if Carol Albert would still be the owner? I couldn't tell after reading it over.

I would think that they would just make a whole new train. Seems like the running stock would save little money in the grand scheme of things, so why not just have the whole train new? -Gary T.

I don't recall Maverick really having major problems since they got it opened. If you are refering to the redo of the in-line twist then I could see what you mean, but other than that I thought Maverick was having pretty good operations in comparison to Dragster. -Gary T.

I am still a little puzzled by the Canes bringing back Paul Maurice, especially since Laviolette had the team within playoff contention. I know they were struggling, but I don't recall bringing back a guy you fired before being the best fix. The one thing I will say is that the team has been keeping up with the #8 spot a good portion of this month. As of Today, they are tied with Buffalo with 39 pts.

Either that or it could be because Afterburn sits on top of a hill, which could make it appear taller. It would be higher up, but it woldn't necessarily mean that it is taller.

While HSTC was a pretty awesome kiddie coaster, it sure was rickety when my step-brother and I rode it in '06. I think what would be more of a bummer is if they don't utilize the "over the boat ride" aspect for the replacment. I thought that they fact that it went over the boat ride was one of the coolest features of the park.

You can see the Pepsi Ripsaw at Camp Snoopy (now the Orange Streak at Nick Universe) in the Mighty Ducks 3. They ride it over and over, then get sick and start hurling into a trash can, not sure that the Pepsi Ripsaw is intense enough to make me sick like that.

You could always do a VA/Eastern NC swing. Since I believe you said you needed the Dominator credit, you could do something like this, or even in reverse order if you wanted: -Kings Dominion -Busch Gardens Europe -Motor World (Virginia Beach) -Deadwood (Eastern NC) If you decided to give it a shot, I would love to try and make up for the cancellation of the HRP stop last Sept. -Gary T.