bulldogmom

Great photos! What a beautiful park. Dragon Khan is really awesome-looking- love the POV shots. Drunken monkeys on bicycles- what an original theming concept! I wonder how they came up with that? (or maybe I don't want to know) That is the saddest-looking Pink Panther I've ever seen... I caught the Hoffman Girl (does the poor girl have a name?) squeezing her boobs on the flume ride right away. Everybody seems to be having such a great time! Add: I just saw the video- great video. It seems smooth on the video- and fast. I love Elissa's comments at the end!

Great TR and pics. You gotta love county fairs! That looked like a good one, with some cool-looking rides. I love the palm trees you got there (we don't have those here in Pittsburgh). I can't believe the tram was rated R and that you had to pay to use the bathroom in Subway! That's just wrong. If it makes you feel any better, I don't care much for funnel cakes. They're made out of batter, and are like sickeningly sweet- not the thing you want to eat if you're at all nauseous. This is the first fair I've ever seen with a sky ride!

Even though I've only been to 2 SFs (Georgia and GrAdv), I have to get my 2 cents in anyway. 1. They're all expensive- including parking and food. 2. couldn't really say since I've only been to 2, but I like SFOG. Lots of trees, and nice theming. 3. Today I would say GrAdv- Ka, El Toro, Nitro, Medusa, Superman. Texas and Georgia's also look pretty good. 4. Gotta have a Ferris wheel and a drop ride- I know there's a big Ferris wheel at GrAdv. 5. Don't have kids, am not a kid, don't care 6. Personal opinion- depends on what you like. I would say Great Adventure cause it's close to my favorite vacation spot, the Jersey Shore/Atlantic City. I like to do a park and then a beach.

I've never been to Epcot but I've seen plenty of pictures of this thing (wand) and always thought it was hideous. As someone said, the architecture in the rest of the park is so beautiful, this thing was like a laughingstock. The sphere itself is awesome.

This is my bulldog, Humphrey, doing what he does best, bulldozing. It matches my name, Bulldogmom (mom of bulldog, get it?) I'm also a pug mom.

Great TR. I was at this park once and was really impressed- the theming, the landscaping, the rides, and the cleanliness. And the politeness of Canadians! Vortex was my favorite- by far the best Arrow suspended, in my opinion. I loved the Bat too. I also hated Minebuster- very rough.

^^ That Medusa pic is awesome! Not-so-good shot of Millennium Force at twilight

Here are 6 of my 10 guinea pigs (the boys) in their playpen. Clockwise from bottom: Hamlet, Malcolm, Falstaff, Horatio, Sir Toby Belch (Toby), Othello. Hammy is the dad of Malcolm and Horatio- they look just like him. Othello is the dad of the other two.

As others have said, it happens so fast, you don't really know what's going on. I think the ride goes faster than your brain can register the sensations, which is why I'm not that crazy about it- it's over too quick to realize that you're enjoying it. I think the feeling of "conquering" something you're afraid of would be more of a rush!

I voted for Intamin because of MF, Maverick, and Disaster Transport. Also the drop rides. I'm not that crazy about Raptor, Mantis, or Kumba- Batman is okay. Other than that, many of my fav coasters have been Arrows (hi Jahan) Magnum, Drachen Fire, Voretx at Canada's Wonderland, Big Bad Wolf, Loch Ness Monster, Gemini.

Great TR! I love the lobster picture. The Jersey Shore is awesome.

I've never been to this park but I believe the ride is an indoor scrambler w/a light/sound show. We used to have one at Kennywood called the Space Odyssey- I loved it. Anyway, the latest news is that the seats had high backs on them and that the ride op couldn't see that the victim was kneeling on one of the seats strapping somebody in. It said as soon as he saw that she wasn't clear he stopped the ride, but she had already been flung to her death. To make things worse, according to the news, some morons waiting were going, "Come on, start the ride!" It seems like the guy who started the ride would be at fault for not waiting until he saw that his partner was safely away from the ride- however, depending on his training and the park's policies, he could be safe. Either way, it looks like lawsuit city.

Does rec.rollercoaster count? I think I discovered it in 1995.

As shown by the Scooby Doo and Sky Princess coasters, purple is NOT a color for coasters- at least woodies. It looks like a bad acid trip or something (not that I would know what that looks like). On the other hand, it looks good on Apollo's Chariot.

Incredible. what a horrible case of miscommunication, with fatal results. Don't they yell "clear" or something?

I, too, hate Iron Dragon's new color scheme. Rather garish. I also don't like the colors of Voretx at King's Island, which I suppose is fitting because I hate the coaster.

That sounds like craziness. I'll pass. There's a difference between "thrill" and "torture".

Great pics and captions. I can't believe the price of that castle thing- that's more than my house cost! It is cool, though.

I was thinking about the thing with the park people trying to see the girl in the hospital- it was a nice gesture, if they did, but if I were her mother, would I want to see them? What would I say to them? (or they to me?) I can't imagine what that conversation would have been like- only that I would not want to be a part of it at all.

2007- Maverick- Cedar Point 1996- Mantis- Cedar Point- opening day! 1994- Raptor- Cedar Point 1991- Mean Streak- Cedar Point (I see a pattern here) 1987- Iron Dragon- Cedar Point

Great TR! Your description of Maverick is right on. It's such a unique coaster, it's hard to describe, but you did it perfectly. You and me are very much alike- MF is my #1 and Maverick my #2. I hate Mean Streak, and love Maxair and Power Tower. And I also think that Demon Drop should be headed for the scrap heap. With the addition of Power Tower, it's like a joke, and an eyesore. And that landing on your back! ouch. I would love to see them put the old Sky Wheel (double Ferris wheel) back in that spot, but I don't see that happening. Plus I think they need to put a dark ride back, but obviously it wouldn't go in that spot.

Holy carp! I was at Pymatuning a few times as a kid but don't remember much. Those fish are amazing. The pics of Conneaut Lake are nice. Sad about the park- there's nothing more depressing than a naked Ferris wheel. Ravine Flyer looks like a possible reason to go to Erie next year! (I can't think of any other ones )

Great pics! Looks like you really had a fun day. I was at this park once, in 1993- it was the end of October and it was like 30 degrees (seriously). So I didn't get a real good experience to form an opinion about it. I liked what I saw- I LOVE the GA Cyclone. I actually liked Ninja, but not GASM. None of the other stuff was there then. I like the Spanish theming. Even the chicken in the fountain is a nice touch! Goliath looks awesome.

^ "Stable"... I guess that's good. Better than "critical". As for the feet, maybe they were damaged and not fit to be reattached. Think about how many bones, nerves, and muscles are in your feet... Funny, we take feet for granted, I guess. With the medical miracles today, though, maybe they'll be able to get her a set of prosthetic feet that she can function with somewhat. I'm sure this would take time, though. I don't see her coming out of the hospital with a new set of feet.

^ Jeez, I can't believe you tried that thing with the weight cables! It definitely looks like at least the suicide was planned, as evidenced by the text messages. Why else would you send somebody a message regarding how to care for your dogs. As to the Kurt Angle and steroid thing, it's kind of funny because he's from Pittsburgh. When he won in the Olympics, he was like a local hero- that's all you heard around here was Kurt Angle this and Kurt Angle that. Then he started getting weird- either from steroids, other drugs, or just his head got too big, who knows- and now he's like an embarassment. It seems like for some reasons when athletes get in trouble, everybody wants to blame steroids (and or other drugs). This may be a cause in some things, but I don't think we can speculate that when an athlete does something crazy it's because of steroids (not that anybody has in this case, just in general).