GAcoaster

All of Williamsburg seems to always be crowded lately. :? I would try to go on Friday instead of Saturday. Although the weekdays may have school groups (senior trips and stuff), I think it will still be better, if for no other reason than school groups usually leave in the afternoon, so the evening may be less crowded.

Wow...that's awesome news. Generally that's what that would be...checking sight lines and things. I would love to see them add a new coaster since JP really doesn't have much going on.

I recently went on my second trip to DAK, and I have to say it was crappier than I remembered in some aspects and better than I remembered in others. There is really NOTHING TO DO in that park. I know the focus is the animals, but as animal parks go Busch Gardens Tampa is still superior since you actually see animals there. The few rides the park does have are really pitiful, and so much of the park seems half developed. Camp MinnieMickey - pointless. Africa - the star attraction is the Safari which is really sparsely populated with animals (granted, Wild Safari at SFGAdv is practically in my back yard, so maybe I have an unfair frame of reference). Rafiki's Planet Watch is just dull and leaves you stranded waiting for a train which takes you through dull backstage areas. Asia - has the walk through Jungle Trek, which is the best of the animal areas in the park, but even then it only has bats, birds and tigers. The rapids ride is very generic. Dinoland - feels like a hurried afterthought, and Dinosaur (the park's only real E-ticket) is dull and dated (Philicia Raschad and Wallace Langham?...who even remembers them anymore?). The best part of the park is the detail of all the theme elements. Every inch of the buildings and fixtures is full of great detail, which indicates to me the park had a great deal of thought put into it, except in development of the attractions which just makes no sense. Wouldn't you design attractions before the surroundings? Honestly, if it wasn't for EE construction, I wouldn't have even bothered with AK. I did take pictures (which I've posted to my Website). I wanted to share one of the detail shots here since when I saw it, I though of Elissa's love of all fuzzy little rodents:

He's now claiming it was more or less an act, and he was encouraged by the producers to be like that. Jonathan and Victoria went on "The Dr. Phil Show" for cunseling afterward. He was such an ass, but apparently it was pretty much an act since I've heard them interviewed on the radio and they're pretty normal. Loved "the Happy Boys" (as the hillbillies kept calling the gay boys). They are going to be a trip this whole season. Big contrast to Chip and Reichen...

The Golden Kingdom and the Tiger show are opening with the park on March 25th. Testing should start soon though (within the next 2-3 weeks).

Personally I see this as a good development in the industry. The group looking to make the purchase is headed by a "park" person, who knows the business. I'd like to see them make the buy out and become sucessful. With Universal's parks possibly being sold off from GE/Universal, and the shaky financial future of Six Flags, it would be good to see a dedicated park company (besides CF) that does well and could be a possible buyer.

No, it was the hillbillies! And I'm so disappointed, because they seemed like they were going to be funny. I hate Rob & Amber. They should never have been allowed to be on. Isn't there a rule that you can't enter contests after winning?

I thought the same thing when I realized Robb was 35. Then I realized he was born in January 1970 (I was born October 1969), and got depressed... None of us 35 year olds are the oldest members, but we're still twice as old as a good portion of the membership. lackeye:

The pull through was supposed to have either just happened or is just about to happen (who knows how all the snow and wind we've been having has effected that schedule). As for launch testing, I think that may be temperature dependent. We've had below average temps (are normal high this time of year is 45 degrees, and it's only been about 35). I know most parks won't run a coaster unless it's over 40, and I'd think that really cold temps would effect the hydraulics. As soon as it starts testing, we'll all know it. There are hundreds of people keeping an eye on KK for signs of life. And with all the employees starting over the next week or two with processing and training, there are plenty of insiders who will report what's going on. Every time a shovel full of dirt gets moved, someone lets me know at this point! How they could figure out I'd be interested is beyond me...

Q-bots cost $20 for the first person, and $10 each for up to 6 people. 1- $20 2- $30 3- $40 4- $50 5- $60 6- $70 I think the gold is double the cost for half the wait. Here's the website: http://www.lo-qusa.com/

Dude, what park are you going to? :shocked: Satrurday is the busiest day of the week. Go on a Tuesday. Avoid April and May because the park may not be fully staffed, which means longer lines (especially when there are school groups in the park). Kingda Ka and Nitro are on oposite ends of the park, so there is no "geographical convenience" there. The Skyway is only open on days with little or no wind, so it sometime s isn't open. Ditto for the Parachutes. Nitro is awesome...best of the B&M hyper coasters and one of the best hypers in the world. There's nothing rough about Medusa. If SUF is "nothing special" why would you ride it 5 times? The park food is hardly limited, and this season they are adding more dining options and pledging to have all restaurants open. The best food in the park is at Best of the West in the Western Section. Wok & Roll is open every day (and was all of the last two seasons), because it is run by a contractor who is required to have it open every day the park is open. I don't think there's much doubt KK will be as good as or better than TTD, since KK is just a larger version of TTD with an extra feature.

The last time I was at SFMM, I saw the same thing happen on STE. It was weird, because there was a car (full of guests) sitting at the bottom of the tower, and it kept slowly rolling back and forth between two sets of LIMs. It reopened later in the day too.

I agree on the PKI thing. I figured being their #1 park, it would be the best, but it looked really run down compared to PKD.

They will almost definitely have Q-Bot on KK. They'll probably do what they did on SUF, where they actually rent Q-Bots right at the entrance to the ride. People see the value of the Q-Bot very quickly when they encounter a 3-hour line. Besides, they already took the Q-Bot station off of Viper...

I'm 35. My first coaster was when I was 10 (I was terrified of coasters before that), and it was Runaway Mine Train at SFGAdv. My first looping coaster was Lightning Loops at SFGAdv, which was terrifying to me (when I was 12), simply because it shook as you were climbing the stairs to the platform. Just getting the nerve to climb those stairs was harder than getting the nerve to ride!

Disneyland, CA It's the original, and despite it's small size, has a lot more packed into it than the other Disney kingdoms. I like the fact it's a little more corny and old-fashioned than the Magic Kingdom at WDW. Things like the Casey Junior Train and Storybook Land are fun, even if they are very low tech. And I love New Orleans Square, the Blue Bayou and Pirates at DL.

Best.advice.ever... Q-BOT The lines for Kingda Ka alone will make it worth getting a Q-Bot. Nitro and Medusa both still get huge lines on busy days, and even on slower days, the lines can be 45 minutes to an hour.

The Flying Coaster at SFEG. Apparently they were either laughing to hard or too embarassed to come up with anything better.

I choose SFGAdv, but I've been going since I was 10 years old, so I'm biased. I thought SFMM was a great park too, and SFOG is a favorite as well. SFNE is OK, and SFDL was kind of fun. The only SF park I've been to I didn't care for was SFA. They've got a couple of decent rides, but overall the park kind of sucks. Then again, every time I go is on my way home from BGW and PKD, so compared to them SFA is really a dump. I'm looking forward to seeing SFGAm for the first time this Summer. I've heard it's one of the best, and from what I've seen it looks great.

Just curious what people listen to. I figure this is a pretty tech-savvy crowd, so I expect a bunch of people will be satellite fanatics, and I'm curious wich one people chose and why. I have Sirius and love it. I can't listen to regular radio anymore (too many commercials!). I went with Sirius for the talk channels as well as the music. I listen to the 2 NPR channels, PRI, BBC World Service, First Wave, Octane, Alt Nation, Underground Garage, Spectrum, Left of Center, The Pulse, Broadway's Best, Sirius Talk, and I'm really looking forward to Howard Stern next January.

Wow! That largest image is amazing! Seeing how HUGE Grizzly run looks from the air, and how small Matterhorn looks in comparison is incredible. And I love the leaves in Bug's Land from above. The shadow of DCA's "California" letters is really cool too. Thanks so much for posting those! igsmile:

I just hope they pull out all the green astro turf and put in some trees. It felt like an overgrown miniature golf course to me. If it they do the same thing they did to SFNE's waterpark when they Hurricane Harborize it, it should be a big success.

For hotels near SFGAdv, probably your best bet is to stay in Bordentown. It's right off Exit 6 of the NJ Turnpike (toll), and Interstate 295 (free), so you can take either through NJ. We have about a dozen hotels right here, plus restaurants, shopping etc. It's about 15-20 minutes to the park from here, and hotels are affordable. It's also easy to get here on your way to or from Hershey and Dorney since the PA Turnpike connector bridge is just 2 miles south. Let me know if you need more info, I'll be happy to help! :orangesmile:

Speed Stick (Musk) or Old Spice (Sport) depending which is on sale at CVS. And always deodorant and never anti-perspirant...anti-perspirant is too irritating to my skin and besides that, the body is meant to sweat. Stopping it from doing that doesn't seem healthy! :scared:

Getting the first Half Pipe in the US didn't do it for you? At least SFEG is getting something new this year (new water slides)...some parks aren't even that lucky. Then again it's easy for me to talk since my home park is SFGAdv...