CdnbMatt

Thank You very much! I love this sudden onslaught of retro theme park stuff! Keep it coming... I wish i had a chance to visit this park!

Call me an ignorant Canadian, but what in the heck is muddin'??? As for best people watching, if you are a 17-18 year old male (which was me at one point) GO TO CANADA'S WONDERLAND ON GRAD NIGHT! I have never in my life seen so many good looking girls wearing so little clothing. The best part is, because it is Grad Night you know they are all your exact age give or take a year. AND that is my little bit of wisdom to pass onto my younger brothers.

I definitely think in these cases Disney is a victim of their own popularity. If I owned a place where millions upon millions of people visited every year....of course there would be a death or two once and awhile. The fact that it is Disney is the reason this at all made the news. While very sad, how many times a day does an old man die from a heart attack? or fall and die from the consequences? The media loves to made news where there is none. The unfortunate thing is if enough of these stories make the news, the GP will cry out Frankenstein's Monster and force harsher regulations, which will cause Disney and other places to create ridiculous rules to protect us from ourselves. Unnecessary.

^^^ Wow.....great pictures. The overhead view is pretty much exactly what ended up being made. I guess that drawing was one of the final drafts. It's too bad they don't use the aquarium anymore....the sea lion show was a great addition to the park.

^^ True.....never thought of that. i for one hope they keep it Scooby Doo....for nostalgias sake.

Nice pics...... you've really got some coaster photo talent! I've got to get back over to some European parks myself, the only one i've been to was Walibi Belgium.

Back in the 70's when these parks were built Hanna Barbera was the shiz! Jetsons, Flintstones, Yogi, Wacky Races, Huckleberry Hound, Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry... Actually come to think of it, these parks could have continued to use Hanna Barbera to this date with things like Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls amd Johnny Bravo. I think I heard that the Hanna Barbera contract ran out a couple of years ago, but around Wonderland you still get the odd appearance from Fred, Scooby & Barney....and the rainbow still says "Hanna Barbera Land"

You are all very welcome! When I found them, you were all the first I wanted to share them with..... the only people I figured would appreciate them as much as I did. This whole thing kind of makes me think..... It seems that if this version of Hanna Barbera Land became the reality, It would look very much out of place in the current Wonderland/King's Island/King's Dominion. So I wonder if originally such elaborate plans were in place for the rest of the areas of the parks as well. Maybe two seperate concepts were created for these parks.... one Disneyesque idea..... one less involved (less expensive) version like we have today. It would be really neat to see some concept work for the whole park.

I came across some very interesting Hanna Barbera Land concept art today. It's fascinating to see what this could have been. I can assume this was made for Canada's Wonderland, Kings Island, Kings Dominion etc.... BUT... I don't really know if it was made specifically for one park or not. Either way...enjoy! See......I can see how this was never built. I think they were getting a little ahead of their 1970's technology they had at the time. Neat idea though. Test Track....on the MOON! Not really sure what this would have been, but maybe a "Backlot Tour" type tram ride.... or some kind of dark ride. Close-up of the above mentioned ride Jet Craft Ship Plane Space ride! Possibly for a Jetson's themed area... A map of the above mentioned boat ride! Are you freaking kidding me? How wicked would this ride have been!! Heck....it would still be great today! Smurf Village..... kind of reminds me of thr Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area at MGM... looks great though! This was for a car attraction in the Bedrock area....perhaps an early Hot Rock Raceway. If you look in the background the track looks pretty awesome. More Yogi goodness. This was for a restaurant called Yogi's Picnic Basket...attached was a gift shop. Some of the building ideas. I'd say, for Wonderland anyway, they incorporated some of these ideas into the final product. The entrance to Hanna Barbera Land. In reality....a rainbow.

WOW great advice everyone!! I'll definitely take your tip Elissa and NOT stay at Sports. I can't really say I have a problem with kids, but kids away together in big groups with drunken parents scares me. I used to be one of those kids away on hockey tournaments....we were not very respectful of others The general consensus seems to be Pop Century. Being the newest of the resorts they probably tried to iron out any issues they found with the other resorts. I think I'll try to book Pop, if thats full then perhaps Music. My nest question is.....I plan to go to to SeaWorld one of the days I am there, but hope to not rent a car. Any ideas on the best way to get from WDW to SeaWorld?

I've been looking at some pictures and it looks to me that the Music may have the best pool area....I wonder if there is any truth to this.

It was a door prize at a golf tournament I was in back in September. I basically has a choice between that and a portable GPS system. I think I made the right choice

I recently won a four night stay at a WDW value resort. I plan on going January 10-14. Problem is I don't know which one to pick. I was hoping for some help. In all of your expert opinions should I stay at All-Star Sports, Music, Movies or should I stay at the Pop Century resort? If you could, please give me a reason why you are picking one resort over another. Thanks for your help!

Someone please make Cedar Fair do this! Once fixed I will fully agree that this is the best theme park entrance.

The way the quiz making is set up I don't actually have to know the locations myself, I can type in a name and it gives me the longitude and latitude and sticks it on the map for me. Otherwise, yes, you are absolutely right.....logically I should know the answers. oops...... not sure how I screwed that one up.... I'll fix it. Thanks for the tip.

For the record I scored 77,465 points on my own quiz......which is kind of sad.... not really a great score.

How well do you think you know North American theme parks? For kicks I created a quiz so you can find out! All you need to try is Facebook. Visit http://apps.facebook.com/travelpod-challenge/community/503829448/4660 It will automatically record your score so you can see how well you do against the world. Good Luck!

I am probably going out on a limb here BUT Wonderland's website does state "85 degree angle of descent".....however, they did not specify which drop contains that angle. Is it possible that it is not the initial first drop that has that angle?

Ok....I don't care who you are the is NO possible way you can look at a random photo and know the angle of drop! To say "From this photo the drop is obviously not 85 degrees" is nuts............the angle that the photo is taken is enough to change your perception of the drop. They said it is an 85 degree drop...therefore....it is an 85 degree drop.

^^ Yeah....it is a tough one....lt looks to me like a Mack mine train...BUT...which one?

In all honesty I absolutely love Wicked Twister. It's probably my forth favorite ride in the park (MF, TTD, Maverick 1 - 3). For pure fun factor it's one of the best. As for my vote I have to give it to Stitch at Magic Kingdom.....it's even worse that they removed one the most original and innovative attractions to put this in!

Yes, i've been to six.... Are you a Toronto Maple Leafs fan?

I have to agree with PKI Man about Millennium Force....in reality you are probably a good 10 feet away...on some of the turns it looks like your arms are inches away from the supports.

Which coaster makes you feel that decapitation will happen at any moment? My personal favorites are Gemini (there is one spot in particular that the whole train gasps) and Wondaerland's Wilde Beast (they have even installed padding for those who raise their hands up too high). There is also one and SFNE that I seem to remember having some pretty brutal head choppers, I can't remember which one though.

^^ However, Gemini has a head chopper like I've never seen! That's got to count for something too..