Philrad71

^ Not to mention the parks in Asia and Europe that operate in cold weather as well.

^^ I agree...they got too cute for their own good. 49'ers fans must be pretty nervous after seeing that horrific play calling from Shanahan. ^ I also agree with you about OT - let each team have the ball once even if a TD has been scored on the first possession.

^^ I'm assuming that it's just your standard frozen chicken fingers tossed in a deep fryer and served - probably not unlike any of the other places in the park that serve them.

I think that they just went back to the original name before Chic-Fil-A: Frontier Inn.

^ I have also noticed that every train is always cheering when it comes into the station. Granted, I have never been a ride-op there, but I probably have at least 100 laps on MF and there is not one time where the riders haven't erupted in the station. That's why I don't get all the complaints from enthusiasts about this coaster. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I never could understand the "forceless" and "boring" claims. Yes, it's not as crazy twisty and full of airtime like other coasters...but it's a well-rounded thrilling coaster with several great elements - and it's in a great location.

^ Awesome, glad you got the opportunity! ^^ Congrats...I'll make sure to look for you this upcoming season. I have already met Daniel (TPR member) when he was working MF a couple of years ago as well as Marcel when he was working Magnum.

I believe that you still have to pay for parking for BE unless you have a season or platinum pass (part of the reason that it's cheaper), but I could be wrong. If you stay at Breakers, Lighthouse Point or Sandcastle, they reimburse your parking when you check in. ^^ Go back, get a FL+ and do the wait for the front seat at night...you won't be disappointed. Wow...I have NEVER seen that video. So cheesy, yet so awesome - love the theme music like what they play in the station! Doesn't seem like that long ago when they announced this, but then again...I remember when they "announced" Magnum in the 1-800-BEST-FUN magazines!

^^^ I'm with you there...I think that they've done a great job with it! I especially like the POV's for most of the major rides and coasters - a great idea! I'm also interested to see the Soak City remake into Cedar Shores this upcoming season. I'm already liking the new theme, new names (Muffleheads FTW!) and the new slide tower complex is sure to be a hit - as well as something that the park sorely needed.

We hit temps in the 30's and 40's when we visited Disney back in January 2010, but being from Western NY, we all had our winter jackets, hats and gloves with us so it wasn't that big of a deal. Upside to our visit was that most everything was a walk-on and the parks were practically empty. Downside to our visit was not being able to do the water rides nor see many of the animals on the Animal Kingdom tour (they weren't having any part of that coldness and most of them were holed up in their cages or caves).

Just thought I'd plop this one in here after posting it in the quote of the week thread....

Despite that this is only Monday, it's clear to see that we already have a winner for this week...

Atlanta will go down with the Bills as one of the all-time greatest choke artists in SB history. At least I won $95 on my pools. Wondering what people thought of this year's commercials? I don't care for the fact that they seem to be getting away from the funnier ones and leaning towards the more serious or heartwarming - or the just downright stupid ones.

Just found a new quote of the week to go in that thread...love it. Seriously though...why don't people have patience anymore? Sit back, relax and wait for the park to announce what's coming - it's really that easy. And to be honest, it will be more fun that way because you won't have shitty screen shots of every element as it's being constructed to ruin it for the people that are patiently waiting for the park's formal announcement. It's like snooping in your parent's closet to find out what you're getting for Christmas. Or like people that tailgate you on the road when you're doing the speed limit and then flip you the finger as they pass you by...basically we just live in a society where people can't (or won't) follow simple instructions or rules.

Yeaah...I should no better!

The cinnamon bread might disagree with you. As would the delicious skillet dinners.

I would be curious to know the name of this park where you got punched in the face, stomach and arm numerous times by drunk people (more so that I can avoid it) - or the parks where people were sexually assaulted or raped. Can't say that I have ever read about this type of problem at theme/amusement parks here at TPR or anywhere else. Gang violence and teen fighting? Yep, but I can't recall one instance of reading about someone being assaulted or raped by a drunken theme park visitor. I'm with the others that want to go out for a drink...oh wait, I'm already having one!

I'm rooting on hitting my numbers on the SB pools. Oh, and the Falcons too.

So what am I missing here? The original poster mentioning spreading out the cost of the transformation into two annual operating plans (AOP's) makes sense given that this remake is going to cost many, many millions of dollars - perhaps even more than your standard "build a coaster from scratch." Could they have done it in one year? Possibly. But spreading it out over the course of two years isn't poor marketing or financial balancing by any means. At my place of employment I have seen many large projects spread throughout several quarters (or even years) in order for them to meet or exceed their quarterly and annual financial AOP's. Oh, and by the way...acting like a know it all and bad mouthing one of the moderators on this site is likely going to get you banned quicker than you can fall out of a log flume. Just sayin'...

^^ That's good to know about DW...thanks! ^ Actually, I do remember visiting Carowinds when it was like 100 degrees. We did the water park from like noon-2, went and rode a few rides, saw the Snoopy On Ice show (to get out of the heat mainly), left the park to go get a bite to eat (as well as a few beers), went back to the park around 6:30 and hit the rest of the rides after it had cooled down a bit. I do seem to recall that they had trays of (small cups) of ice water at a couple of places we ducked into to escape the heat. The biggest problem with dehydration or over-intoxication at a theme park just boils down to stupidity more than anything else. As you mentioned, make a game plan for hydration on a day for when it is that hot and stick to it.

Here's what I got from the website, Andrew...looks like the tallest tower will be a combo. Given the fact that this is on the hill will make it seem like Power Tower high and I'm okay with that. I prefer the Intamin towers myself, but S&S towers are pretty good. Edit to the poster above: QFT.

I said change, not kill. I'm sure it would change things, and not for the better. At 95* you didn't need something to dehydrate you further. And you paid for water? It's free at any place with soda fountain (well except the Mill where they apparently have a screwed up fountain that only dispenses carbonated water) Just a beer or two is not going to dehydrate me, especially when I will still drink water in between as well as try to hit up water rides when it's hot outside. In terms of the free water, if I can walk right into any place that sells soda at DW, ask for (or grab) a cup with ice and fill it with water and walk out, then I will definitely remember that the next time that I visit the park. Most parks drinking fountains are nothing more than lukewarm tap water that tastes like sh%t and most are onto asking for free water to where they will only give you this tiny-ass cup with no ice. Most parks (excluding some smaller parks like Holiday World and Lake Compounce) are not into providing free anything because they want you to spend more money during your visit.

Would somebody please think of the children???? Seriously I've heard this argument time and time again whenever parks change their alcohol policies and I've never once seen anyone drunk at a theme park outside of a Halloween event (something that Dollywood doesn't have). I'm sure it happens, but I've never seen it. Everyone lost their collective sh*t when they brought alcohol to the Magic Kingdom and guess what? The world didn't end. The vibe didn't change. Everything is fine. Aside from a few Halloween events (which always bring out sh*t crowds) this is almost never an issue at any park anywhere. Hell, Busch Gardens Williamsburg has some of the nicest clientele of any park I've been to and they keep the alcohol flowing nonstop. We saw people walking around with bottles of wine drinking straight out of the bottle, but nobody was belligerent, nobody was being an a**hole, everything was fine. People don't go to theme parks to drink (except maybe Epcot and BGW), but it's nice to be able to get a few beers throughout the course of the day. There are tons of parks where people can drink, in many cases they can even walk around with their drinks and bring them into queue lines and everything is fine. Nobody goes to a park to get drunk on $12 bottles of American piss beer and $15 wine / mixed drinks. Dollywood would make a killing if they brought in some local distilleries and sold some drinks made with local Moonshine / Whiskey/ Craft Beer (sort of like Trail Tavern at Cedar Point). Like most parks, they could have a one drink per person policy and cut people off if it was ever an issue. People would bitch, but they'd get over it and the vibe of the park wouldn't change a bit. I can't think of a single example of a park that's "vibe" was ruined because they started selling alcohol. I'm really sick of this argument because I can't think of a single example of this ever happening. Seriously...kill the vibe? I like to drink, but unless I am at a beer or wine festival, I usually only have 3-4 beers at a park per day because of how expensive they are. There is nothing better than sipping an ice cold beer on a ridiculously hot day while just chilling out and people watching. It was 95 when we were at Dollywood once and I would have probably paid $20 for one 12 oz beer - but instead had to settle for a $3-4 bottle of water instead (I very rarely drink soda).

The best attraction at Fantasy Island...Big Gulp-sized Pepsi cups filled with Molson Canadian for about $6-7. And yes, Silver Comet is pretty fun too other than their shitty snail-paced one train ops - the beer will help tolerate that though Best beer prices at any park that we have visited!

This thread would be about as fun as me counting the crumbs stuck in between the keys of my keyboard.