thrillerman1

^It is amazing that nearby Huntsville with a population of over 150,000 doesn't have its own water park by now. Shane, are you listening? Salt Lake City is only slightly larger. I haven't been to Point Mallard since the 80's, but as evidenced by these photos the place hasn't changed ANY except for the newer bowl slide. Back in the day, the 3 water slides were cutting edge stuff. I hope the concrete walkways with the raised sharp edged pebbles have been replaced by now. That used to KILL my feet. What were they thinking?! Well it was the nation's first wave pool, so maybe they didn't know any better at the time. I agree, the park is long due for an extreme makeover if it can be done without destroying any of its charm. Edit to add after looking back at the photos, it looks like the horrible concrete walkways with the sharp edged pebbles are still there.

Love that never before seen view of Tennessee Tornado! Sky Zip looks really fun (always wanted one in my backyard). Thanks for sharing the pics Robb!

I still would love to see a POV of the revamping (is that a word? lol).

I did think Efteling's Intamin bobsled, Bobbaan, was pretty awesome and the only bobsled like it where I've ever experienced airtime. The woodsy setting also made it fun swerving in and out and around the trees. Sounds like some great new additions!

It's time to heat things up a little bit this week, and join the TPR Oven the State...oops I mean Texas...trip with a look at Sea World San Antonio's Great White and Steel Eel. When I visited in 2007, Sea World was packed wall to wall with kids in strollers. I have never seen more strollers in my life! Needless to say it was not an easy day of getting around the park. Also, the operations were honestly pretty bad, especially at the food service places. I would almost rather go back to Fuji Q than Sea World. Hopefully TPR has a much better experience! Also...BONUS POSTCARD! I've been to Texas quite a lot over the years, and everytime I go, it seems like something crazy, wacky, or really unusual occurs. For example, back in my indie rock band touring days, we were driving from New Orleans to Houston when just as we crossed the state line and saw the "Welcome to Texas" sign, a huge chunk of metal flew off the truck/trailer driving next to our tour van and crashed through our windshield! Although we tried catching up with him, the driver never slowed down or noticed, but sped up and kept going. It was a seriously scary moment. You definitely don't mess with Oven the State! or else you will totally BAKE in Oven the State! Noted! Eel-ectrifying lol. Can you find Nemo? Both coasters have pretty cool logos!

I'm partial to buzz bars on woodies and Schwarzkopf restraints on Mind Bender.

WOW I grew up going to PM...never thougt I'd see it on TPR. Thanks for the pics!

After the Scandi trip, it's good to see that Yo Gabba Gabba lived on and was a part of the Deep South trip!

^ Ah ok gotcha. I thought you meant you were unaware of the trip in general. In that case, sorry you missed out on hanging out with the TPR group. It really is a blast to go on the trips, and I highly recommend them to everyone!

^ This Deep South trip has been known about and was announced since around last Sept/Oct of 2008. Maybe you don't frequent the TPR site very often though.

Innocent Vigilent Ordinary by The Appleseed Cast.

It's great to hear so many positives about Rampage. My night rides on it back in '03 were unreal! Have they fixed the clunk when the train rolls over the transfer track yet? It felt like about a half inch difference in track height there before. Overall a GREAT coaster!

Those are amazing!

Great pics...thanks for sharing. I voted for your photo too!

I'm so jealous Scott! You'll have to let us know how it's running.

Good eye Shane! I'm not sure if it's a photo "enhancement" or not. All of the pics on RCDB and in the TPR park index show it with silver track. Anyone know for sure if it ever actually had blue track?

In celebration of the TPR Deep South trip having begun, here's a postcard of my personal fav inverted coaster, Top Gun - The Jet Coaster (aka Afterburn), at Carowinds. Welcome to the South and have a great time on the trip y'all!

I keep wondering if this movie is titled after the song by Hole.

That's certainly an amazing article to read so thanks for the link...and kudos to the attentive ride op!

I envy you for seeing Kasabian and Echo and the Bunnymen. Thanks for the coverage and photos!

Where are the indie rock choices? I guess I would have to go with the Beasties or Crystal Meth songs.

Glasto is one festival I've always been really interested in checking out, and with BLUR (!), Bloc Party, and Franz F it would definitely be worthy. Did you get to see any of those bands? Also, I saw a special on the Travel Channel the other night about the Glastonbury Tor which looks like it would be cool to visit. Thanks for the photos...looking forward to seeing more.

One of the fairly big news stories this past week was finally hearing that the long dormant coaster, Cliff Hanger, at Ghost Town in the Sky was reopening. Well it did reopen with riders at least for a little while. It seems to be down again at the moment while undergoing some technical refinements, so let's hope the park can get the bugs worked out for this very unique ride. Here's a postcard featuring an aerial view of Cliff Hanger and the rest of the park built high on a mountain top in North Carolina. Cliff Hanger (sporting its former red and white colors when it was named Red Devil)

I don't think I've said this before Shane, but CONGRATS BUDDY!

I loved Grona Lund. Absolutely stellar! Why can't I have this on the waterfront in Nashville? Thanks GL guys for the incredible hospitality!