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My undestanding of what Robb said was that you got first dibs on the bus. If I'm wrong, I'm sorry, but that is what it came through for me. Seriously, I can't wait for the Mid-West trip next year. ---Brent I'm not sure what you mean. Yes, they have first dibs on the bus = first dibs on going on the trips. Basically, we felt that since this was our first effort like this, the people who were willing to take the chance and do our trip deserve a shot at going on the next one. That same courtesty will be offered to those people who on our next trips, etc, etc.... --Robb First dibs on the trip, last dibs on Dippin dots flavor was how I understood it. Matt

All three trips look quite fun. Unfortunately, my wife and I have a ton of trips scheduled for next year already: Skiing in early Jan. Jamaica or Mexico in Mar. NYC in May (She's a theatre teacher and takes a group). Gatlinburg in July (Dollywood, SFOG, and such). WDW in October. Hmm... I was going to go to NYC with her but I've been numerous times and I'm not fond of being around a couple-dozen middle school kids. She has to work starting in early August but I should be able to do the Midwest trip with TPR, provided there's a space. I really wish she could come and that we were available for Spain as we've never been, but it's probably for the better as she'd probably want to do the full tourist thing, not the bus-park-bus-park thing. On the other hand, I was saving up a ton of money for a new computer next year. I could always blow it all on trips. Matt

I'm not sure why the black handlebars. A better question is why this coaster is so underrated and so little-talked about. It easily rivals Kraken for best floorless, and the use of the cliff is just amazing. Matt

Pointbuzz has new pictures of the staging area including tan-grey support pieces and new track pieces in what appears to be an inline twist. Matt

You chose to go to Germany during the weeks of the World Cup being hosted there? Isn't it a bit crowded? At the very least, go see a match.

From http://www.themeparkinsider.com/columns/blog/192.cfm For the past few years, rumors have been continuously flying that Six Flags has been looking for a location for a brand new amusement park. Six Flags boasts that its parks are uniquely situated around the country to allow theme park fans to be at a Six Flags park within 3 hours of just about every major metropolitan area in the country. South Florida and central Florida are one of the major areas, but it’s pretty obvious why Six Flags cannot build a park there. Still, one location that seems to have been ignored by theme park companies for years is Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix has been growing rapidly in the past ten years or so, and would seemingly be a prime spot for a regional theme park. Currently, theme park fans’ only outlet is Castles and Coasters, with its whopping 2 roller coasters, more like an amusement park you would see at the beach. However, Six Flags has made it very clear that it is not interested in building a regional theme park in the Phoenix area, particularly in Surprise, AZ, a town long rumored to be on the Six Flags’ list to receive a theme park. It’s probably no surprise that Six Flags is not interested in building any new theme parks, even in an area where it would practically have a monopoly, since its financial situation is far from adequate to support such a major capital expenditure. The Phoenix area is possibly a perfect spot for a major theme park with great weather year round (it’s a dry heat), and with a good park design with a number of indoor attractions to allow guests to cool off throughout the day, a major theme park chain could survive in the dessert southwest. As it stands now though, Phoenix residents will have to be content with Castles and Coasters, carnivals, and a 400 mile drive to Los Angeles.

I figured one of the two-week trips would be Japan. If you think the 5-day one is in Spain, that means a two-week domestic trip. That might be a huge draw as it would be fairly affordable I would think. As for the domestic one, just look where most of the new coasters are this year and next: The Eastern U.S. Matt

Hmmm, never heard that quote before, but if he's so against gimmicks, then why a stand up? Why a suspended ride? Why a racing coaster? They're all gimmicks. Really. If he's so against gimmicks what the heck is TTD?

I'm thinking: while the *major* trip is likely to be Japan or Europe or something, I think a case could be make for an East-Coast USA trip. It appears Robb and Elissa haven't been there in a while and next year Knoebels will have their new flying turns, SFGadv has KK and El Toro now, and BGE will have what appears to be a new dive coaster for next year, and thats only what we know about so far. They could hook around and hit Dollywood for their new themed Eurofighter also. Matt

Viper was scrapped. My first coaster. *sniff* Matt

A quick search on airfare from Houston to Johannesburg, Johnannesburg to Sydney, and Sydney to Houston comes out to over $5000 PER person. That's so not going to happen. It's $1500 PP just to fly roundtrip Houston-Sydney already.

Schwarzkopf goodness ahoy!

And hit the whole two parks they have there? One complete with Vekoma "goodness" including and SLC?

Thanks for the suggestions, however they appear to be all for naught now. My wife's family is going to spend a week in the Gatlinburg area next summer, so instead of doing the 'trek through the central plains' or whatever that strech of nothingness between Houston and Cedar Point is called, we're looking at doing the following: Drive to Hot Springs, visit Magic Springs. Stay a night. Stop in at Lake Winnie on the way into TN. Visit Dollywood and enjoy Gatlinburg for a week (Ober Gatlinburg is a blast). Drive to Atlanta and visit SFOG. Possibly hit Visionland or whatever the heck their name is this week on the return home. Had we done this two years ago we would have also hit SFNO as we pass through LA, but SFNO is SBNO, heh. Of course, all this is pending whatever the Alvey's have up their sleeve for next summer's adventure. Matt

Wow, thanks for the quick response, Robb. Didn't expect any answers until the group returned. I didn't know the English had discovered the internet yet, I guess. Matt

I certainly HOPE they plan these things out in advance. A several thousand dollar impromptu romp through foreign lands on short notice may sound like fun but is far from practical for most of us. Matt

The TPR Official trips look very fun. The footage from day one has more than convinced me and most likely my wife (she's not a coaster/park fanatic, but she loves to travel. She can be the camera girl) to seriously consider the next such trip. I've searched the site and I haven't really seen a mention of possibilities for the next trip. We can go ahead and rule the UK out, but it appears that TPR has been to Japan and Europe recently already, so I'm not sure how likely these might be. Any thoughts? Matt ADMIN EDIT!!! For those of you interested but Lazy...this is what has been announced so far for 2007: - USA Midwest Trip, Approx 10 days, Parks will include Cedar Point, Holiday World, Indiana Beach, Beech Bend, Dells, SFGAm, Geauga Lake, Kings Island, etc. - Spain, Approx 6 days with an optional addon to Italy - Japan, Approx 2 Weeks More details on all trips including dates, prices, preliminary itinerary, etc to be announced in August.[/color]

It's a tie between Superman: KC and Kraken. S:KC's three twisting drops on or near the quarry are awesome. If it had a krakenesque tunnel it would easily be #1.

Yup. The Chicken Pomodoro is heavenly (and spicy!). Matt

Which ones are the two original ones in Houston? I might have to try one to compare. The only one I've been to is the one in the Champions area on 1960 and it wasn't anything special. Brio's in The Woodlands and Zio's on I-45 were better, in my opinion.

Howdy! My wife, brother-in-law, and I are planning a car-trip from Houston to eventually Cedar Point for about this time next year. We were originally going to fly, but I figure we can drive and take a couple of extra days seeing other parks on the way for about the same price. Our itenerary thus far is this: Day 1: Drive from Houston to Dallas early in the morning. Visit SFOT during the day. We needn't stay long as we used to live in the area and have visited hundreds of times. (Drive: ~4 hours) More Day 1: Drive into Arkansas. (Drive: ~4 hours) Day 2: Visit Magic Springs & Crystal Falls. Drive to Branson, MO (Drive: ~4 hours) Day 3: Silver Dollar City and Celebration City ***Day 4: Drive to Santa Claus, Indiana (Drive ~7 hours) Day 5: Holiday World Day 6: Drive to Sandusky, hit the Kalahari Waterpark (also our hotel) that evening. Day 7: Cedar Point Day 8: Cedar Point ***Day 9: Drive from Sandusky to ??? Day 10: Activity Day 11: Drive from ?? to Houston ---------- I need your help to find something else to do on Day #4, along with places to stop at on the way home. It doesn't necessarily have to be an amusement park, either, as long as it is entertaining. Thanks in advance, Matt

Poltergeist @ SFFT has been open all week. I rode it on Wednesday, even. If all Premier LIM's were to be closed, they would have been closed at the time of the incident- not four days afterwards once the original problem had been fixed. In other words, if it was a problem which the other Premier coasters had to rectify, the other coasters would have been closed from the moment the problem was discovered. At least one wasn't. Matt