VegasCoaster

Most definitely the Beatles. Had McCartney and Lennon been able to stand each other they could have changed a lot of things about music today. I have no doubt that their uncanny ability to have nearly every song become a classic would have continued. Even though they stopped playing live shows long before they broke up, they would be my top choice. Nirvana still being around would have been interesting too seeing how much they impacted music in the past 20 years. GNR could be interesting but Axl seems to be the major factor in their breaking up, and also one of the most vital components of their sound. Unfortunately I don't think he's about to change so thats not going to happen.

That's quite a story. Oddly enough, I live in Austin, TX now and we got absolutely nothing from Ike. No rain, no wind, nada. We were supposed to be right in its path but it just kept curling north. Glad that you got out of there safely and hopefully none of the medical carts had any serious injuries to contend with.

I loved the Georgia Aquarium when we went, but now I'm pissed that they have a manta ray after having been thinking that several other aquariums combine them (usually in Japan). The Tennessee Aquarium looks better than I expected too. Thanks for the PTR!

I have never seen a ferris wheel where they have the carriages facing different directions. Looked like someone didn't read the directions while assembling it for a while and then I noticed its every other one, so maybe it actually was on purpose. Better than most ghetto fairs I've been to!

The park looks great! Thanks for the photo TR. Looks like there are a lot of master blasters, or is it just one incredibly long one?

City Museum is easily the best thing to do in STL, though I haven't been to the Magic House, which is supposed to be fun as well. Great TR and good showing off all the free stuff in STL as well!

I remember hearing a similar debate around when MF was getting built as to when an overbank could become so banked that its an inversion. I think there was a similar conclusion that 135 degrees was the cut off. I wouldn't count Steel Hawg's drop as an inversion, but I would count incline loops and those cobra rolls and immelmans / dive loops that aren't that vertical.

Not a serious reply to the argument that Obama isn't experienced, but by far my favorite one: Daily Show Calling someone's stances on an issue "retarded" gets your argument no where. Actually it sets it back a lot, probably not the best word choice. Your point may be perfectly valid, but you can't take it seriously when you throw stuff like that in there.

I would just like to say that I am amazed at how many young people are actually interested in politics on this site. Its a good sign and I hope there are more people in your age bracket that are interested in politics.

I'll probably vote for Obama but I would like to study them both a little more than I have. The most important thing about being president is finding someone who is willing to compromise and work with the other side, which Obama looks like he will. Normally, this is McCain's strong suit as he normally does whatever the hell he wants, but he's been playing Republican a little too long and getting good at it. Most of our better presidents have accomplished things that weren't their party's goal in order to get things done (eg. Clinton balancing the budget). Obama is also staying a lot more positive, which I like. The negative ads just seem to cheapen a lot of the debate and try to convince people to be against a candidate for reasons that don't relate to the issues really. Don't dislike Obama for being a celebrity, dislike him for his stance on issues like Iraq or the economy. Also whoever keeps trying to say Obama is a Muslim or he won't say the pledge etc. I'm really getting tired of. You can't get people rilled up for being Muslim a month after doing the same thing with his kind of out there pastor at a Christian church. I hope people are smarter than to believer that, but then again it is spreading a lot. Not an attack on anyone, just venting.

Desert Storm isn't that rough, though it does throw you around quite a bit. To explain that a bit more, it doesn't rattle you a lot, but it throws you forwards and backwards and side to side (especially in the second inversion). It really isn't too bad of a ride, its just not great either. Looking back the flume could have been a good idea, but I didn't want to get the new mini wet or stinky from amusement park water.

Its actually the one on Frank Lloyd Wright! There was one near the theater too, but I'd have to take 17 home or back track a lot to get to it. I agree, we need something more, so hopefully that Decades park can come to fruition.

EDIT: Read the photos backwards. I initially posted them in the order I wanted to have them, previewed it and they came out backwards, so I switched them all and now they are actually backwards. So yesterday I kind of went nuts going around Phoenix doing all the stuff my parents wouldn't be up for in Phoenix. Mainly driving out to Deer Valley to go to a mexican restaurant that was on Food Network's Diners Drive-ins and Dives and seeing movies. On to what most people care about, the park! So while Castles 'n Coasters is a ghetto park, I found that the employees were actually very friendly and helpful. Most of them seemed to wish you a good rest of the day while you were leaving the ride. The only main problem with the operations was the fact that they had to wait until they had enough people to dispatch the rides. The ride ops were good about letting people know that and allowing people to get off the rides and wait until more people got in line, since in the heat sitting in a coaster train for a while is rather uncomfortable. The park doesn't have a whole lot there, but has a lot of rides that the entire family can enjoy with the exception of the drop tower and Desert Storm. Desert Storm deserves its own paragraph for being so special. As with most other Hopkins coasters, its kind of funky. After the lift you linger for a while which is kind of odd but builds the suspense. You drop into a loop and head up a hill into a dropping turn into the wtf moment of the ride. Its not quite a loop and it not quite a corkscrew, not really a loopscrew either. Most loops trail to one direction or the other so you can clear the track on the other side. This loop seems to be perfectly straight for the first half and then makes a hard right. While some other coasters may do similar things, I don't think I've seen it where your entire body is just thrown to the side like a ragdoll. Not to say that this was entirely bad, the loop has some pretty intense g forces especially in the front, just don't hold your hands up if you're riding with people. That is unless you don't really like them and want to "accidentally" knock them unconscious with an elbow. Good ride, but weird. On to the pictures! First stop: Food Network quality gas station Mexican food! While normally gas station food isn't that good, this place cooks everything to order! Carne Asada Tacos! Pretty good, though apparently they are known for their El Pastor plate. The main reason for making the trek out to Deer Valley, The Dark Knight in IMAX! Unfortunately, tickets were sold out for the show I wanted to go to, so I had to figure a way to kill some time. How about some credits to kill the time! The entrance has kind of a prison feel to it. Once inside you are greeted by a slew of arcade games, more on those later. There are credits to be had! Everything is kind of piled on top of each other here, so ambiance is kind of lacking. Prepare to hit whoever you are riding with in the head if your hands are up. Spelling is not this parks strong point as others have pointed out. Reminds me of an RCT mini map where you just have to stack rides to get anything done. The flume ride actually looked pretty decent, but I didn't go on because I didn't want to get the mini wet. Kind of an interesting mix of themes though. Half of the ride seems to be in a port and the other half has elephants. Don't know who these people are, but they apparently like the ride. Sky Diver, the park's carnival drop ride. One of the scarier drop rides I've been on. It wasn't scary in that it was suspensful, or high, but it did rattle an awful lot on the drop, so you wonder if you are going to stop. Well more accurately, you wonder how quick of a stop you're going to have. They also have a Himalaya ride, but there was a sign saying no single riders. : ( Credit whoring time! Did they ever need a queue for this ride? Not the most comforting sign. WTF? This isn't spelled incorrectly, its actually Spanish for carousel. You have to roll the r's. Money shot. I thought it was nice to have the actual ride blueprints on the ride building. They also have bumper boats and go-karts, but neither looked like you could get above a nice brisk idle. They have four mini golf courses to choose from as well, but since it was hot as hell, I was going to retreat inside to check out that arcade. I've never seen little abbreviated like that. They have one of the largest pinball collections I've seen. A good mix of new and old too! They also have a shooting gallery. The park has a kind of middle eastern theme, but they went for a Robin Hood theme here. Strange. This is an arcade game? The true test of a ghetto park, copyright infringement! Homer was Canadian, who knew? Upstairs they have a ton of older games like Joust, Lunar Lander, and Tron! Its hot, why am I playing mini golf? Grammar isn't their strong suit either. Loopage! Hole in one! There should be a game you can play here where if you find all the spelling errors you win something. My chariot awaits to take me back to the movies. All in all Castles 'n Coasters was better than I thought it would be! Why so serious? Unbelievably awesome! Go see the Dark Knight now if you haven’t already. So on the way home I needed grub, so I hit up the best fast food place ever, In-n-Out! This may look normal to people in California, but I've never seen an In-n-Out this empty. Double Double animal style, fries and a strawberry shake. Yum! One very happy guy after an awesome day. Thanks for reading!

So there's a none button, but I can't push it, so I'll just say that I have none and won't be getting any anytime soon.

I absolutely loved the movie. It was amazingly intense for the vast duration of the movie and of course Heath Ledger was bloody amazing. It was long, but I didn't really notice it, and when I did I didn't care. It was a great movie that I hope to see again in the near future. When I saw it in Tucson on Saturday a monsoon hit during the movie so when we got out it was pouring with lightning everywhere and steam coming off the hot pavement. Kind of creepy after coming out of that movie.

I'll join the "none are really that great but SOB is rather painful" camp. I did enjoy Beast, but the lack of airtime really disappointed me. I know it is or used to be in a lot of people's top ten, but it didn't make it to mine. I really only liked the first drop and the final helix. SOB wasn't the worst woodie I've been on, but post loop it was pointless and rough. I don't usually mind a rough ride but I literally got a headache after going on it, and for me, thats rare.

I've been looking forward to WALL-E since the character debuted. Something just strikes a chord with me when I see WALL-E. They made a robot have perhaps one of the most emotive faces ever without really making do things a normal robot would. I guess that made Disney's job a little easier when they made the life size version. Kung Fu Panda looks ok, but nothing spectacular.

I really want to go out there some time, the Coaster looks fabulous. This might be the engineer in me, but did anyone else notice how they mix English and metric units on the sign? 70 ft. tall and hitting 90 km/h.

Looks like a great park, aside from Dragon that is. Hopkins seems to have a knack for that though. I really like the amount of flats they have and a CCI isn't bad either.

Great photos! Looks like you guys had fun and I can't wait for more updates.

I'm not sure its a matter of getting rid of the theming, but rather an issue of any of it working anymore. I think they might have gotten rid of / moved one of the dinos for Chaos, but I think a lot of it is still there, but never used. They had a tilting rock, a bunch of bats in the lift hill, I think I remember some skeletons and treasure chests up top before the drop. The thing I have an issue with is that its freaking Vegas and we already got rid of Wet'n'Wild, we don't need less ways to cool off. I love coasters and all but there is a definitive need for a water ride in Vegas, even if its in a climate controlled dome.

If Intamin made the Canyon River Rapids, and its the ride many people believe will need to get the ax in order to have room for the wave pool. Would it perhaps make sense that intamin lives on might pertain to the rapids ride surviving the Tsunami?

I like the Blue Streak even as it is now, though I can see how it could have been a better ride in the past. Its a fun little ride and if nothing else, is hands down best woodie at CP.

Yes. No, my health has never come into question.

Sadly it looks as if they won't finish EK in time for graduation, so I'll have to come back to STL sometime later in life to ride it. I never found Screamin' Eagle to be that bad actually, but the Boss is absolutely horrible. Hopefully the work on the off season makes it a little more tolerable. Thanks for the PTR!