Squid

Judging by the pictures above... you're on Arakis. Enjoy the Spice!

I remember, back in 1990, when GC first opened. It was, by far, the best coaster I ever rode. Smooth as glass and the whole ride was incredible. If they put this treatment on GC... holy crap indeed. It would be taking that original ride and doubling, no, tripling its greatness. I wouldn't care whether it's a woodie or steelie, it would simply be awesomeness incarnate. That is, of course, assuming that it turns out to be as good as it looks. Squid

Pardon me while I drool... thank goodness, not a B&M flyer! I stand a chance of riding it.

The EuroFighter for SFoG is called Dare Devil Dive. Dollywood is getting Barnstormer and a retheming of Fairytale Forest.

It's not Intamin track at all; it's a curvy tower to hang lights from on the savanna! Seriously, at least we can say they're getting an Intamin coaster. I am curious as to how visible this will be from outside the park.

Buford Buzzard is still in business... just not at SFoG. He's at the Texas State Fair, last I heard. My father took extensive pictures of SFoG back in the 70s when I was a child and several of them were used for the Arcadia book. The two Log Flumes didn't intertwine... one was where Georgia Scorcher now stands and the other is still standing. Its great to see all of this old promo material. It reminds me of how much the park has changed over the years.

But they already have an observation tower... it's called Griffon! Of course, it only holds you at the top for six seconds... but it's a great view! In all seriousness, I would expect the ride's footprint to replace the bumper cars and the queue to be housed in the old Big Bad Wolf station. This would remove several problems for that park and allow further expansion around the side of the tower. Supposedly the new coaster, when it comes, will anchor a new land, probably Spain. Squid

Great Trip report, and great photos. Hopefully I can make it up there this year to ride Intimidator.

The Hogwarts Express photo doesn't have to be doctored... the luggage and the end of the tracks are probably portable props at the moment. When they're finishing construction, I'm sure they'll be cemented/bolted into place. HPatFJ is a tracked ride in the same way that Spiderman is a tracked ride. The robocoaster arms will be following a set path in the show building. What exactly is inside the box? Well, we know that the que is almost completely in the box, which means that several "rooms" are in the building... Potions Lab, Dark Arts Lab, Great Hall, Gryffendor House Room, the Greenhouse are all in the que. From what has leaked out we'll see The Dark Forest, The Chamber of Secrets, and the Chess Room from HPatSStone on the ride itself, along with several other things. Rumor has Dementors and possibly Slytherin himself being on the ride. We also know that there will be several different screens on the ride... various actors have confirmed that they shot scenes exclusively for the ride. (One of the scenes is the longest broomstick scene filmed to date.) Squid

Be aware that the new SF rewards program is only vaild for the park you process your pass at, so don't process it at any other SF park other than your home park, or your rewards will be useless.

Six Flags over Georgia Six Flags America Busch Gardens Williamsburg Busch Gardens Tampa Dollywood/Rebel Railroad Carowinds King's Dominion WDW - Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios Seaworld Orlando Universal Stuidos Florida, Islands of Adventure American Adventures (outside Six Flags White Water) Magic Kingdom (closed park in Pigeon Forge) I think that's it.

From my experience and what I have seen of the design of the clamshells, it is incredibly difficult to get out of the seat while riding, even if it's a bit loose. In order to get out, you would have to pull your legs up past your lower back to get them out, or to somehow get them out from the sides of the clamshell. I've never seen any of the B&M hypers launch with enough room for even a child to get their legs out from the sides of the clamshell. (Personal experience only. Your mileage may vary, some settling may occur during shipping.) The clamshell design works by forcing your thighs into a horizontal position. It really doesn't care where your waist or chest are... all it does is wedge your legs into the front of the seat. From there, you'd have to break your legs to get them out or be a master contortionist. Also, your feet are not touching the floor of the train so there's no place to gain traction from to lift yourself up. Squid

If you love wooden coasters, then I would recommend Rampage, even though I have not ridden it. I've heard nothing but great things about it. The wooden coasters at SFoG are, sadly, needing some work. Georgia Cyclone is very rough and I don't know how much love and attention it got during the off season. If you're hitting Carowinds you'll get to ride two B&M hypers during the trip... Goliath at SFoG, (My favorite steel) and the new Intimidator at Carowinds. I do have a recommendation for you to consider... instead of either AA or Camden, how about Dollywood? It's about 45 minutes away from Knoxville and about 3 to 4 hours away from Atlanta. (Not sure about the distance from Carowinds.) Thunderhead is an incredible coaster and if you love wood it would be a shame to miss it. Not to mention DW can easily be done, even in summer in just a day, even without a Q bot. (They do have them there, but most people go to Dollywood for the shows.) Admittedly your route would have to change slightly, (an emphasis on I-75 instead of I-77) but I think it would be doable. Squid

The Traveler (Days are Numbers) - Alan Parsons Project

Couple of guesses.... first, the one that makes the most sense to me. SDC. 2nd, the one I would hope for.... BGW. 3rd, the wild hair up my... well, you know.... Disneyland Shanghai! As a note, there's a clue in the terrain. There is a half circle cut out of the mountainside right about where the station would be going. I don't know why, but it makes me think that they're replacing an old ride with this one. If that half circle already exists then it should be an easy matter to find out which parks have such a half circle and then eliminate them one by one until you find a perfect match. However, I'm not coming up with a matching park. Anyone got any ideas?

Luxo Jr. appear about every 15 minutes and does a short musical number. One of the cool things about it is that the number is different at night than during the day. Squid

From working at one of the parks for a year... I really do believe the slowdown in attractions this year is due to two reasons. 1) Saving money for 2011's big anniversary celebration. All of the (remaining) parks are supposed to get a major attraction, and this has been in the works for about three years now. That's going to be a lot of capital expenditures in one year, so any money saved now goes toward 2011. 2) Most of the parks have been due for a "sprucing up/rehab" year for some time. SF seems to be doing them all this year in order to have all the parks looking their best for 2011. Squid

SFKK won't be closed, but the major rumor is that it will be converted into a water park only by 2011. Most of the rides will be shipped out to other parks, but there will be major capital improvements at all parks for 2011.

I would tear down and rebuild using GCI Georgia Cyclone at SFoG. It was great when it opened, but now it's very painful for just about everyone who rides it.

It wouldn't be a phobia, even a mild one, if it was rational. Beemerboy, I've heard about several of those deaths, but I've never heard of one on Soarin'. Are there any details about this incident? Squid

Looks good. I would tie in the theme of Voyage into Superman. Also, you might want to consider adding a new part of the train so that you can add in another station near where Superman is. Just a thought. Squid

Grim Grinning Ghosts

Heck, I'd settle for a Bioshock Meet & Greet. Can you imagine what a Big Brother would look like in real life as done by a professional costume company for a movie? I can easily see a Rapture/Bioshock dark ride... pneumatic tubes, anyone? Underwater elements? Bioshock has so many elements that lent it to a theme park attraction... heck, they could even make in a ride similar to Men In Black. Squid

I haven't taken that survey yet, but I have received it. ^The latest Indiana Jones movie came out in 2008 and was the highest grossing film worldwide. (It was #2 in the USA, but adding in the whole world made it #1) The next Indiana Jones film seems to be on track for 2011 or 2012. I believe the contract for HP at IOA is for 20 years, with 2 optional 10 year renewals. As for the book series... J. K. Rowlings has publicly stated both "Never say never again." and that she can't read any fan fiction because of legal reasons. The legal reason is for protection... if she writes another book series in the HP universe, she can't be sued for stealing someone's idea if she can show she never read what they wrote. Most pro writers do this for their own protection... but the interesting thing is that she feels this way. I don't think she's done with the HP universe, not by a long shot. WWOHP looks really interesting, but I'm wondering where the interactive elements are going in. The Universal/Magiquest license deal is all but publically confirmed, but very little has been heard about it. I'm surprised that we haven't seen some evidence of their animatronics being installed yet. Squid

Offhand... you're posting this over at the Atari forums, right? Squid