TheRealTinkerbell

Will, I love you! You're updates and TRs always make me smile! I'm kind of sad that they are only doing Grinchmas for 13 days. Last year was so much longer! But oh well.

"Ex-Miss" by New Found Glory

The Aquabats! I love them!! Great choice Robb! 7 parks in one day! Guiness Book of World Records????

Even though last years weather was quite weird it seriously didn't stop anyone from having a good time. We were all cold, and some of us soaked because we didn't bring an umbrella, but I'm sure that everyone had an amazing time! I know I did, even though when it started hailing, I looked up like an idiot and a huge piece of hail hit my eyeball! The good thing about rain in CA is that's it's usually not followed by or accompanied with thunder and lightning like Midwest storms. I remember working at Worlds of Fun and them closing almost all the rides because of the rain or lightning. Luckily I don't recall them closing a ride down at MM. Anyone know if they do that at SFMM??

^^ I would like to point out that at this point California's weather is completely unpredictable. WCB 2008 was sunny and quite hot, and then WCB 2009 was raining and at a point there was HAIL! I wouldn't be surprised if this year there's like...wait...I'm not even going to finish because I don't want to jix it! But yeah, not ALWAYS sunny!

Bahaha Brent, I heart thee! I like that you guys are still keeping it in March. I know that last year and I believe the year before Solace was the day before WCB(right?). Kind of separating the events dates should turn out really nicely! Rain or Shine, I can't wait!

Let me pick my jaw back up from the floor.... ok SO freakin excited! I've been waiting for this since last year! And this year I'll actually be able to go on the rides because I'm not pregnant anymore! How great that it's going to be a 2 day event!!! Can't wait to see what's going to happen!!!!!!

Poor Dan!!! Manta looks really awesome. I've never been to Sea World in Orlando and I'm just wondering do they have the fondle tanks there too? And are there dolphins you can feed there too? JW. You guys look like you're having aablast-as always! Thanks Robb and Elissa for keeping us updated!

OMG that stingray wants to attack Giovani, Steve Irwin Style! Great pics from the update. Was the speed boat an upcharge or was that like the secret of the day? Anyone get sick after the boat ride?

Oh the Morgan Video! That'll never get old! That Zipline looks freakin cool!

Oh GOODNESS! I love when everything is cooked on a giant skillet! When I went to Silver Dollar City they had that too.....AS WELL as Ham and Beans! But I didn't get mashed 'taters. It still looks good tough! Ok, that last picture of Kidtums is tooooo freakin cute. You should send it to Dollywood and be like "Advertise your Qbot with MY CHILD!!!!" And now, I must vote on the Carowinds picture. Originally I was going to vote for #4 because they were going south in the south. BUTT(pun intended) I MUST vote for #10! I mean, she put real dedication into that wonerful work of art-as Guy described it! I mean you try to find another person wth such dedication as to get each cheek in a different state! Go Brooke!

Well, I hope it makes it's way back to USH again. Last year they stopped it mid-HHN because a woman got offended. They took out Chucky's Insult Emporium, and then opened Terminator 3D. I'm just shocked that someone seriously went to guest services to complain about getting insulted. I mean, there's a freakin sign saying that the show contains profanity and joke of ill-manered taste and could be insulting to certain audiences. If Chucky's Insult Emporium makes it out to Orlando, I just might have to go to HHN in Orlando.

I don't remember the question, but I think we all agreed it was question # 25. I'm pretty sure. By the way Robb, that E-mail Dan logo at the end is PRICELESS!

I would love to say that even though I didn't ride anything(except for the Carousel) I had a BLAST at WCB! My husband now understands why I spend about 2 hours just sitting here on TPR reading updates and getting all giddy about TPR trips. Robb, Elissa, Chris and the MM Management once again have put together a fantastic job with this event. William, the scavenger hunt was the funnest thing ever! It totally kept us busy, and entertained, and it was just an awesome thing to do with friends. I loved my Team(Team 24 aka Team MILF aka THE WINNERS )! Thank you so much!!! I can't go on without talking about the obvious shenanigan that happened. The RECYCLING CAN SABOTAGER. Wow, seriously, you're PROUD of sabotaging a game that people worked really hard for. And the fact that you're not even appreciative of it disgusts me. I'd expect this from the immature 13 year-olds on this site, but from an adult? Wow. I'm glad that you were found out about before the presentation. And to think, you wouldn't even be appreciative of the fact that you were getting a piece of Magic Mountain's past . Good thing it didn't land in the wrong hands. Other than that, I'm so glad that I didn't miss WCB this year!

I'm number 147. My name is Jen and I won the Coaster Mania 2008 sweater. ALSO, I was on the winning team for the Scav-a-ganza and the Highest Score on the quiz we took. Go Team 24(aka Team MILF)!!! It was great to see ya Big Mike!

Thanks Elissa!

Robb, I never used Paypal before(last year I brought the money to the event). When I placed the order on the TPR store, I signed up for two tickets. When I went to pay at Paypal it said my quantity was only 1, but I was still being charged for both. Did I fail miserably at Paypal, or...what...? I'm kind of confused. Did anyone else get that too? Other than that, I'm really excited for WCB!!! Sorry I registered so late and all.

^I completely agree with you. But I remember last year at WCB, MM was really trying hard on the bigger rides to have the whole quicker dispatches down. The problem is, they were doing it on rides that really didn't need it because the lines are just not that big. We went on Riddler's and Scream, and they had people at the locker station telling everyone to use to lockers. I thought this was GREAT that they were doing it. It showed their efforts being put to use! And they were even getting mad at my friend's mother for walking with all of our bags, even though we throuroughly had explained to the employee that she was our bag holder, and just going to walk across to take pictures for a website. It really showed that the employees were in fact putting in that WOW factor that Jay Thomas so much loves. Same thing went for Riddler's that day. As soon as we got to the locker are, we had employees telling us about bags. It was great to see that they were not only having moreguest interaction, but they were helping with the overall dispatches. I do have to say, the dispatches were quicker on those rides. But what sucked, is that they had those people at the locker area, instead of one at the locker area, and one at the entrance greeting people and forewarning people that they would have to place their bags and items into a locker once they got closer. That deffinately would've been way more convenient(especially because the big huge surprise was that you had to pay to get a locker, which would totally suck for you if you had no money). I saw this also done on X2's opening day. But the whole problem with telling people about the locker situation AT the locker area, instead of in the front of the ride is that you get this huge clusterload of people at the locker station, and those stations are not that big enough to hold all those people at once, ESPECIALLY on a hot day. Yes, the nation is suffering a huge budget crisis, but there have been times where I've seen employees in front of the attraction greeting people to come in. Granted it was a once in a blue moon thing, but it has been done before, and I'm pretty sure that it can be done again! I do know that Six Flags is hiring right now, because I just got an e-mail from some job announcement website. If they hire at least 16 new ride ops, I know of 16 rides that would work a whole lot smoother!

Everyone has great examples of how and what slow down dispatches. I do have to say, there are other parks that have slow dispatches, not just the Six Flags logo. But the difference is how they look at their dispatches and how it affects their ride. Some parks see slow dispatches as something that MUST be outdone with, even on slow days. I was at Disneyland just this past week. Space Mountain was seriously at a WALK ON! Yet, the employees insisted on rushing people and telling people to move up to a certain spot. I pondered for a second why would they push themselves and others to this, but then I realized that we did almost the same at Universal. And what it really came down to was leads and managers trying to keep the attractions overall perception a good one. I learned from Joey when he was training me to be a ride op that one person, one single guest, can make or break the overall perception of your establishment. If ONE guest has a good time, and I'll quote Joey's powerpoint, "they will tell about 5 to 10 other people. But if they have a discouraging time, the number of people told is doubled." I'm sure that if one lead or manager at an attraction came up to each employee and talked to them personally for a secod just to say "Hey, today we're going to work on quicker dispatches," or "Hey, today we're going to work on our 10-5 and guest interaction," it would improve the ride's overall perception. It all depends on the willingness of people to TRY to change.

^^ Eric, thank you for starting my morning off by quoting one of my favorite movies EVER. I'd say the quietest times to go on rides are between noon and 2pm. And here's my theory to which I have gathered data and researched it(yes, seriously, I have.) June, school is finally out, and SFMM is filled with careless teenagers. They're bodies biological clock however are still stuck on SCHOOL MODE. Once Noon hits, they're bodies are like "LUNCH TIME, WHEN IS THE BELL GOING TO RING?" but it's not going to ring. So, naturally, they ignore it at first. But then, around the 1 pm marker, they automatically find themselves waiting in another line. THE FOOD LINE. Not rushing on getting they're food, because they are always used to standing in lines to get food at school, they wait patiently and then eat without rushing. It's trully the best time to go on good rides. Now, as for rushing to X2 as soon at the gates open. I'm pretty sure that SFMM will be announcing Terminator's opening in the beginning of May, so most of the crowds there will be probably rushing off to Terminator. Last time I went to Six Flags(last August, on a saturday mind you), I rushed up that hill so I can get on X2 before anyone. But, because I'm slow, people got in front on me. Still, I only waited 25 minutes to get on. And they were operating 3 trains that day. I'm pretty sure that if you get a good day where the workers are going at the speed they should without any disturbances(i.e. the cell phone usage) plus a 3 train operation, you shouldn't wait THAT long. Ok, so, hopefully that helped. I'm going to stop writting now, because I think I have filled my quota for the day.

WHAT?! Damnit! Well, if only SFMM was opening a new ride this year, then I could forget all about this tragedy! BillyB67, I seriously would recommend just going the first week of June. Yes, the park does close at 6, but if you get there when it opens, and just head over to X2 and Tatsu first, you'll practically have all day to wait in lines that shouldn't be too long. Plus, do you really want to stand in lines, in the heat, with a bunch of fresh-out-of-school teenagers without surpervision running around? Go the first week buddy!

Oh yeahhhhhh! I remember getting there too late and all the food was already gone! Ha! So that's what they're doing again this year. Just setting it up and we can just walk up as we please to get the food, or is it going to be like "BREAKFASTTTTT, COME AND GET IT!" and we all sit down and have breakfast like we had lunch last year.

I love the DDR one with Elissa's shoes! But Wes, now I know why I stopped drinking soda while reading ANYTHING on TPR. Because carbonation really burned when it comes out of your nose! Yours was GREAT!

OK, so, let's just pray my water doesn't break before the 22nd or -god forbid- the 22nd. I'm so excited! Now all I have to do is sit and wait for my paycheck to come in so I can by my tickets!!! $30 dollars is a fantastic deal! Especially because we are getting BREAKFAST! Last year it was just ERT till the park opened. Magic Mountain deffinately continues to put their WOW factor out, especially for TPR!

^ Yeah, some schools finish up the second and third weeks of June, hence as to why the park will stay open longer. Also, summer camps usually start June 20th or around that time. Even though the park will only stay open till 6 until the second week of June, you'd still get some time to ride most, if not all, of the coasters.