mike robinson

According to witnesses the rider got out of the restraints trying to retrieve a lost item. The coaster has a lap bar that also has a seat belt attached to the lap bar with the restraints secured on the back of the car. It's hard enough to get out of the car once your ride is over. It is a wild coaster but not dangerous as long as you follow the rules.

Oh the Irony. In Dallas today on business while people are riding the New Texas Giant.....Looks like I will have to wait until June! I hope everyone out there today is having fun!!!!!!!

I am hoping to see Foo Fighters next week in Austin when they are doing a show for MTV and will always catch their shows when they tour. Last few years have been kind to me as I have seen Roger Waters perform Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall live. Incredible shows.

Tower of Terror for me. On my first trip to the Studios the big rides were Star Tours and the Movie Ride. Off to the side behind some walls Tower of Terror was being built. The vertical construction was about 1/3rd done and there was steel everywhere, all being built in a large pit. There was not much indication about the ride except for a sign that was out of the way with some concept art on it. The sign said the new ride called the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror would be opening in 1994. (I think this was in late 91 or 92 on my visit. The studios were pretty new at the time.) It was a OMFG moment for me and after the ride opened I made my plans to get out there and ride it. With huge expectations I was not disappointed. All the little touches like the way the light expands up and down leaving the 5th Dimension just blew me away. I loved the ride and that first year they had some pretty cool merchandise. My Favorite was a shirt that listed all the rides warnings followed by big letters Going Down? (Hard to believe it was Disney but pretty funny. I have it around somewhere.) The ride gets better and better every time I ride it. So thats why Tower of Terror is my favorite ride at WDW.

Terrible news for Splashtown Houston. I thought we were through with Burke in Houston, but he is like a lingering fart.

Wasn't that the same excuse made about UT? I don't see why SFI would send either of those two rides to new parks if they were damaged during disassembling....sure they could've damaged either ride during transport but if damage occured earlier than neither ride should've been shipped to either park. You really think the guys who decided to close Astroworld were the best judge of shipping and storing rides? These are the same people who when taking down Excalibur cut it into pieces based on the truck the piece would be riding on, not any kind of organized method yet they still shipped it up to Frontier City where it sat until it was scrapped. There is a Reason Burke and Company no longer run Six Flags. So yeah. I am pretty sure they had no problem shipping damaged rides to other parks.

It seems like every Astroworld coaster was damaged in the removal process. Funny how the SLC spent five years rusting away at TGE & yet they managed to get it refurbished & up & running in Canada. Well a lot more care was taken when taking down Serial Thriller and some of the other rides that still exist. They were first and then demo had to start moving so the rest of the rides suffered. I was walking the park during the auction and if you look at my Avatar you can see me standing in the track of UltraTwister which was just laying on the rail road track. It looked to be in pretty bad shape after they cut the welds and started to take it apart. As far as Batman, from what I understand part of the track near the lift fell, damaging it. Sure it could be rebuilt with enough money but really, who is going to do that? The SLC was treated very well during demolition. I don't know how well it was stored but I bet it was better conditions than Batman or UltraTwister. Batman: The Escape was a mediocre ride at best with great theming. It was also a maintenance nightmare just to keep the rolling stock up and running. IMHO, it would cost far more than the ride is worth to fix it, transport it, construct it and buy new trains. I don't think you can compare it to Serial Thriller at all.

I could not agree more except the Astrodome really had nothing to do with Astroworld closing. That was all Burke and company. The Astrodome will be demolished eventually as it has lost it's certificate of occupancy. But yes Six Flags under Premier was doomed from the start with the debt that was accumulated in the acquisition and following years with very poor investments. They tried to grow themselves out of debt and failed spectacularly. Burke by far wins the greatest Blunder of the decade. Hard Rock was a huge failure but that was just one park.

While Hard Rock was a huge fail, I have to say Six Flags under Premier (Burke) was bigger as it took down more parks and Arrow as well. They just about killed the Six Flags Brand. (And that Very Valuable piece of land Astroworld occupied is still a vacant lot...)

BBW wasn't that amazing as of late but in 1984 it was pretty amazing. I was working at Astroworld and we had just opened up XLR8 so when seeing BBW after that, well BBW looked pretty cool.

From what I understand part of the ride was damaged during the removal. I don't think it will ever run again.

It is a shame it could not be saved but in this case Robb is actually right about the economics of moving the coaster. I think the guy who eventually bought the ride was trying to make money on the dismantling and rebuilding of the ride and was going to charge much more than the coaster was really worth. Also something to think about, the ride was built in 1926. The Texas Cyclone was built in 1976 and a local firm was seriously considering moving the ride, but the regulations and laws had changed so much, that it was not practical. The ride had been granted "Grandfather" clauses that would have been removed if the ride was moved. So I can't even imagine how much bringing the Big Dipper up to CURRENT laws and regs would have cost. It is a shame, I road it once and really enjoyed it. I think it is sad the it is being demolished but with Geuaga Lake gone it is no real surprise. Just another victim from Burke's mismanagement of Six Flags. I really can't think of a single person who did more damage to a park chain than Burke along with his toadies from Premier parks.

Just staff the damn rides and run them at capacity. Something I have not seen Six Flags do for 20 years. That would make a huge difference. Crews used to be 12 to 15 people on three shifts on coasters. Now your lucky to see more than three people staffing the rides. Talk all you want about automation and new safety features but you still need hands on lap bars checking them and that means more than 2 or 3 employees. I think that was forgotten during the Time Warner days and never came back. Shapiro never got that.

Agreed. Looks like a pretty good mechanical failure and yet everyone was OK. Don't think you can ask for much more.

That is a blast from the past. I still talk to Gary at times. Frank was my first Supervisor. Can you believe how long ago that was? Astroworld was the BOMB back then!

Did we forget to warn you that you would get soaked on the Beast? I sure meant to; must of slipped my mind... Sorry I missed ya, I was going to come down to Kemah that day but work and the fact that Dawn had won tickets to the House of Blues to see The Sick Puppies kind of derailed my plans.......

^^^^LOL, right in the heart. At least we got a new "team".

So bulldozing Astroworld didn't save the chain from bankruptcy? Six Flags will come through this though it "might" be a little harder to get financing. If I was a ride manufacturer I would want CASH! Besides, Shapiro get like a 3 million dollar bonus for steering them through Chapter 11 successfully.

On all the Tube Chutes that empty into the river there is plenty of signage warning along with several places you can exit the chute before the river. The Tube Chutes are very interconnected with the exception of the Whitewater and Hill Side tube chute. The rest kind of join up eventually to one of the of (2 or is it 3) chutes leading to the river.

Schlittercon was great! We have not missed one yet and always have a good time. The Congo River is a nice attraction, they completly reworked the old Congo River (which was a very slow and small lazy river that you could enter from the Raging River Tube Chute) and you can take the lazy river portion of The Congo River as much as you want without entering the "MineShaft Portion" The Mineshaft portion is a lot of fun with a big drop into a water curtain that has images of a door opening and falling rocks but was sometimes hard to see as the life gaurds cast shadows as they are stationed between the projector and the water screen. I think they should move the water screen and projector back about 20 feet into the tunnel after the drop. As far as the scavenger hunt, I have never participated because I would rather be riding than hunting down the little signs. The group that won has won every year they have particpated and they have a plan and know the park inside out. I guess resort guests could have an advantage as they have access to the property but thats just the way it is. I don't think the group that got the most points did anything wrong. There were just a lot of them and they were organized. They just know how to win it. Its just a game! (but it seems some people take it very seriously which is pretty humorous to me) The only Tube Chute I did not ride was the Raging River but that was weather related. I did get my favorite, White Water in and that is always great. The park was great, Jeff was Great, the event never dissapoints. Schlitterbahn is the best waterpark and I know everyone on the Texas Trip will have a good time. The park can get crowded, but if you plan right you can get most everything in. Hint, if you want to ride Masterblaster, get to Blastenhoff BEFORE the park opens and head over there as quick as you can before the line builds up, then hit Dragons Revenge and riptide and anything else you want to hit on that side of the park. Then in the afternoon hit the Tube Chutes on the old side as I have found the lines for the tube chutes really go down later in the day. Don't be intimidated by a long line for a tube chute as the lines move as quick as people can get into the water and the tube. No Dispatch times for the Tube Chutes! I will post some pictures as soon as I get the film (yes actual film from a disposable waterproof camera - archaic!) back.

Grounds in 81, Excalibur and 82... it went on from there..I think. Need to pull out the yearbooks...

Thanks Shane... FWIW, the parking lot story is a red herring. The county was in breach of contract and was offering a sweet long term parking deal when Burke and Co. decided to take Six Flags to Court. A Due Diligence had been run during the 2004 season, we had hoped it for a new investment in capital but we know the truth now. They grossly overestimated the value of the land and even turned down a bid from the Rodeo that was more than they eventually sold it for. So the Rodeo got its parking for pennies on the dollar... The entire thing was just very, very stupid. Thanks for the great pics and Video's! I worked on Excalibur, the River of No Return and did fireworks in the lagoon... Those are some great pics.

Looks like Cedar Fair is reading a play book written by Burke and Premier parks. They sure didn't learn from their mistakes. Just amazing to me.

How sad! This was the best attraction in Vegas IMHO. It does have the best pre-show I have ever seen. Looks like some elements will be on tour... Star Trek: The Tour (If the tour actually hits the road...)

On my visit to So Cal this summer, I passed by Knotts a few times and kept on going. Didn't bother with SFMM either. Spent my park time at Disney and Universal. Why? Because my nephew was with us and is 43 inches tall. I have not been to Knotts since CF took over and I have no desire to do so. The dark rides were classic and everything I have heard about Knotts makes me want to avoid the place. Sure I could have added about 5 coasters to my count by visiting these parks, but I am not that much of a whore. Quality over quantity.