Hercules

A friend and I once argued about who had the better looking man breasts.

A lot of this depends on my travel schedule and such. I'll be in Tampa the first full week of February, and I have not been able to check out Disney's schedule to see how late, say, Magic Kingdom will be open different days of that week. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say Space Mountain will be my first?

^^ I agree on the Looney Tunes things, but for me it just seems to be played out a little bit. I wish I had a better gauge on things as I don't have any children, and most of the younger children in my extended family are near, eek, college bound. But it just seems like things move so slowly with parks in their progression. I don't know if a lot of this has to do with how slowly rights contracts and such move, and the cost of theming changes and the like, but come on. ^ I don't believe anyone does right now. I think Paramount used to and that eventually went away after the Cedar Fair takeover. Mall of America has Nick Universe, as said by Elissa.

I have to say that this is by far the best rumor that I have heard in a very long time. Jurassic Park is my favorite island at Islands of Adventure, and for some reason it always seems like the least visited section of the park whenever I am there, which makes me a little sad inside. Taking advantage of the re-release and the new movie really makes a ton of sense here, and I'm glad the Universal is doing this because it has seemed for a while that they have been a few years behind in additions (minus the insane ongoing popularity of the Harry Potter franchise). If even half of this rumor turns out to be true, I will be one extremely happy dude. And to go off of Chuck's point, I've really always been confused by Toon Lagoon. I mean, none of those cartoons and comics have been popular for decades. I only recognize like 5 characters that are represented in the island from my childhood, don't even recognize some, and the others are more than 20-30 years even before my time. And I like Elissa's point on the Peanuts and Cedar Fair. Why can't parks be more progressive and be more in the times? It seems like I see things like the Peanuts, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and Looney Toons sticking around and popping up at parks all the time, but nothing that is really relavent......

^ You have to remember, most people have absolutely no middle ground. Either something is the best thing ever, or the absolute worst thing ever. Society is plauged by extremes.

I'll put 1 million clams on China overtaking the US in roller coasters by 2016, as well as many other more important things.

^ Not when there is a video crew in Germany as well

Not to hijack the question that Elissa posed to Shane, but, in my opinion Polin is a company that has been needed in the waterpark industry. They are innovative, and a refreshing change from the predominant, long-lasting players like Proslide and Whitewater that, once again in my opinion, have had some trouble with innovation over the past 4-5 years. In the limited interaction I have had with those with Polin at various tradeshows and the like, they seem to be easy to work with, and are really an exciting group.

I had heard of this a couple of weeks ago, and at first I was a little skeptical. However, once I realized who it was going to be managed under, I have a little more confidence that this could be a success.

I just did one of these this past Monday and it was a great time. I highly suggest anyone doing it. Even if you don't get paid for it. And even if you don't get the rest of the day in the park for free......

18/21

SkyRush

I'll go ahead and throw in my picks that I had chosen prior to the season: NFC East - Philadelphia South - Atlanta North - Green Bay West - San Francisco Wild Cards - New Orleans, Chicago AFC East - New England South - Houston North - Baltimore West - San Diego Wild Cards - Denver, Buffalo NFC Championship - Green Bay over San Francisco AFC Championship - New England over Baltimore Super Bowl - Green Bay over New England I'll stick with those even though a couple of weeks have gone by and a few picks are a little iffy.

All of the Intamin Plug-n-Plays that I have not ridden yet.

Who will be attending IAAPA this year in Orlando? Maybe we can get a TPR meet up set up one night? Thoughts?

I had no idea that you could apply to vote. I was kind of under the impression that the voting was done predominately by people within the amusement industry (which kind of makes the results more understandable). It really isn't. It's mainly by enthusiasts. However, a lot of the voters are ACE members that think they are so cool that they know people in the industry. Actually, if you work at a park or work for a ride manufacturer you can't vote. However, there are some in the industry who do vote, and I guess I would consider myself to be one of them, but I certainly don't vote in a biased way. If I did, I think all of my votes would be for PA parks as the majority of customers I have are in PA. Though, I have to say it is a little ridiculous that DelGrosso's doesn't get any votes for best food when they clearly have amazing food that is actually made onsite, fresh. But I digress. I guess I can only reiterate, SIGN UP TO VOTE! I think it is a little important to have some kind of unity in the industry, and creating another awards, like some have suggested, would only hurt. Sign up to vote and let's make this something that everyone can enjoy. http://www.goldenticketawards.com/gta-faqs Tim Baldwin Golden Ticket Awards Coordinator Telephone: (817) 460-7220 E-mail: tbaldwin@amusementtoday.com

It was on the list for voting. The top 5 "nominees" are the ones that got the most votes. Transformers was on the list for best new ride for voting (as well as an "Other" section for write in votes). However, I guess it didn't get enough votes, which in my opinion as well, is pretty crazy that it didn't crack the Top 5.

I do agree that there are some flaws in the voting process with the top coasters. It is all done on a points system based off of a top 10 list provided by the voters for both steel and wood. So, since there are only around 500 or so voters on the panel, some of the newer rides (like Skyrush) might not have as good of a chance to get points because a majority of the voters may not have gotten to the park yet. However, I'm sure the ride will be well represented within the coming years (and hopfully knock rides like Nitro or Intimidator down the poll a little bit). With that said, I am a voter. I'm not the most well travelled, however, I have been to close to 90 parks to this point, both domestically and internationally. I was just put on the panel this year, and I like to think I was one that helped get El Toro over the hump! I also like that Balder at least cracked the top 10 this year. As far as Dollywood winning such things as best new ride, the awards certainly weren't fixed by Amusement Today, however, I can totally see a lot of voters (a lot of ACEers) trying to get cute and stuff the ballot for Dollywood just because they were the home park. They also won friendlist park (which normally goes to Holiday World) and Best Food (which after speaking with Dick Knoebel after the awards, Knoebels had won the award all of the 14 years it had been given, with Dollywood not even having a sniff of the award). So, like I said, it wasn't a conspiracy by Amusement Today, but probably more the voters than anything. Also with that said, anyone can be a voter as long as they show they have a good working knowledge of parks and have been to a good amount of parks and such. I think that would probably go a long way with tempering the complaining of the enthusiast community. And really, the voting is subjective anyway, just like any awards. So if you would like to see other parks or rides get their due respect, then I suggest applying to vote (you just can't vote if you are a park employee) ESPECIALLY if you are from parks overseas. I think the awards must get more international park-goers in the mix so great parks in Europe can get some awards under their belts. I know the Golden Tickets gets a lot of crap in the enthusiast community, however, it is great for the parks to be able to display their awards, and really does bring a good amount of attention to the industry. Besides that 200 people that were in the industry who attended the awards, the park also allowed the general public to attend from the park, and there had to be about 1,000 people in the theatre, so the exposure was there, live. Plus all of the press releases and such that are sent out, there is a lot of publicity to go around. If you want the rides that should be winning to win, sign up to vote and let's make these awards something that everyone can enjoy.

This seems like it would be a great addition to the area. After just being down in that area a few weeks ago I feel like there is so much more possibility for amusement and entertainment expansion in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area. I just think there is so much untapped potential down there.

Yo do realize that If it were a coaster getting put in, especially in Bizarro's spot, we already would have seen some demolition. They started taking down GASM in July. Also, I'm really hoping that one of the announcements is putting in paths that connect the zig-zag pattern that is SFGAdv. I'm not saying I agree with it being a coaster or anything, but what if part of the announcement is for attractions opening in 2014 as well? They could be announcing plans for future expansion, which might include the taking out of Bizarro. Just something to consider.

Six Flags Great Adventure Dorney Park Knoebels Hersheypark DelGrosso's Lakemont Kennywood Waldameer Conneaut Lake Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure Camden Park Castles n' Coasters

^ Alright, well, I guess it was at least bashing his government. Excellent points Beemer.

What was the point with this comment? I'm not sure what the seal hunt has to do with the horrible conditions reported at Marineland. I understand where you're going with the fact that people protest silly things when there are much larger issues going on in the world (Fastlane vs inhumanely killing animals). But take a step back and read that comment. This discussion is about a Canadian family/owner not treating animals properly in an aquarium-type setting. It comes off as though you're saying "why expect more from them when Canadians (the nation) allow seals to be clubbed to death each year?" I'm done now. I'm sorry if this came across the wrong way. I'll return to the Canada's Wonderland thread where I belong. I'll explain. He wasn't trashing Canadians. It's not something to take personally. It was a comment to say that people (not just Canadians) are more worried about irrelevant things in life (like Fastlane) as opposed to real issues (like the seal hunts). It wasn't bashing you or your fellow country-people. Simmer down.

That certainly isn't what we are saying. All we are saying is that people turn a blind eye to the cruelty that is around them until there is a news article from experts or something. Then, people care about it when it is probably something they should have been caring about all along. Here is an example from last night - I stopped in at a local Wawa (convenience store chain) which is right next to a local slaughterhouse in the area. Pigs, cows, and now even horses are taken to this place almost 24/7 within trucks. Prior to heading over to the slaughterhouse, the driver of one of the trucks stopped at the Wawa with a full double decker load of cows - right next to the slaughterhouse. I sat an waited 45 minutes to see if he would leave, but did not. He let the cows, crammed to capacity, barely able to move in a cage filled with their own feces, just stand their and wait for him to finish his meal (I presume to be loaded with some kind of products from a cow, either of the meat or dairy variety). He couldn't have taken them to the slaughterhouse to put them out of their misery before he stopped for something to eat? And from another perspective, if their were say, a truckload of dogs, people would have been absolutely outraged. Instead, nobody paid any attention to the cows constantly mooing and rocking the truck and just continued to frequent the Wawa without any looks toward the truck. Nothing. Now, there is a report from some trainers on the conditions, but really, the conditions at this park have been pretty evident for a while. I honestly don't think the park has been doing too much to restrict the visibility of the horrid conditions at the park. It is just that people have turned a blind eye to the obvious because it would cause their happiness dwindle when at the park. Who wants to have a sad day at an amusement park? Let's just ignore what is going on and go oooo and ahhh at the animals and go home with a smile on our face.

They have been involved with this place for a long time. It's sad that it takes interviews with former staffers to get this to be news. When PETA has said anything in the past people have just rolled their eyes. PETA has mostly themselves to blame for that. All those years of publicity-grabbing stunts have made most of the public immune to their message. But I agree that something needs to be done about Marineland. The poor animals' situation there sounds deplorable. Chuck - I completely agree with you. That is certainly one thing that I dislike about PETA, and caused me to disaffiliate myself with the organization for the most part. Their hearts are certainly in the right place, and they are EXTREMELY hard workers there, but their minds are in the wrong place. They truly believe that any publicity is good publicity, but that is just total bubble thinking on their part. They don't realize what kind of a name they are making for themselves in the public eye. All I was referencing was the comment of "Where is PETA in all of this?", when they have been working on getting this park up to standards for many years: http://petacms.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/tags/marineland/default.aspx http://www.peta.org/living/Animal-Friendly-Fun/Deadly-Destinations.aspx