John Peck

And If you make a trip all the way to Holiday World, whats adding an extra day to hit the very close SFKK which would break up the drive a little bit. Holiday World to me is a more superior park, but SFoT has a lot of big rides.

I really like PKI's Vortex and Tennesee Tornado in the back seat on those drops. Another great first drop was Astroworlds Viper through that tunnel it had.

^ At LEAST they put forth time and plans to build the wooden coaster. Those designs weren't just done for kicks. Like I said before, I have "Complete" Faith that Cedar Fair will do a good job with this park (if they do intend to keep it)

Wow! What a great looking ride! I hope they get this approved, I've been meaning to take another trip out East.

^ Yes, The Wheel had a white structure and Royal Blue supports. El Dorado has a pale yellow structure and Blue Carriage. I am looking very forward to what new paint-jobs these rides receive, though I hope the Wheel Stays the same colors.

This is what El Dorado Looked like at Geauga (Six Flags Painted it this color): http://geaugalaketoday.com/Rides/El%20Dorado.jpg Eldorado was about 65' when it was at it's highest point. And this is Americana: http://geaugalaketoday.com/Rides/Americana%20Lake.jpg It's a very nice looking wheel with unique ARROW/HUSS Tubs.

It's obvious to me that Cedar Fair are trying to make the most effort they can on the park considering they are having problems with the neighbors and 49ers. The sooner they can get past all the political crap and move on, the sooner we'll see some Major Capital improvements.. of course, theres always the possibility that the park could close and be sold, too, but the price has to be right. It took Dorney Park 6 years to expand after fighting with their neighbors on building a higher ride (Steel Force), Michigans Adventure took 4 years to fight with the city on water usage and 4 years for Cedar Fair to decide that Geauga Lake wasent profitable enough to operate a park of it's size.

^ I don't think there are any photos of it yet, Im not even aware if it's arrived at the park. I'm not sure if they are using the running stock from the older train or if it's an entirely new train all together.

I wanted to remark on your post there. Where I think it's wise to create a new marquee attraction for each of their newly aquired Paramount parks, Im not one to think the answer for each is a $20+ Million B&M. Fortunatly, we know that wasen't the cost on Dominator and wont be the cost on the GCI still planned for Great America. The Difference between Cedar Fair and Premeir Parks is that even though they both spent a large amount of money buying up parks, the Paramount Parks made more money and steadier attendance than the dozen or so parks Premeir bought. Also, when Cedar Fair obtained the loan to those parks, they also took out a seperate $500,000,000 credit loan towards park improvements which they have been using. Don't worry, they won't be making all the same mistakes that Premier/Six Flags made.

You did a nice job on those photos. Very nice composition.

Worst Parks by themselves I have been to... - J's Amusement Park (closed) - Gulf Shores Amusement Park (though it did have flyers. park closed) - SFKK from about 1999 to 2002 - SFNO (Rides were okay, but everthing else was terrible) - Pocono Play Park - Pharohs Lost Kingdom (rides closed, had potential)

I always had a good time on Twisted Sisters, the dueling effect was pretty decent for being one of, if not, the first of its kind. Two Train operation of course always moved that line pretty well. I hope it doesn't get removed, but what can you do, the area back there is limited and could be used for something else. T2 on the otherhand just needs to go bye-bye.

Well, its been said before... if you ask 100 enthusiats what the 10 best coasters are, you'll get 100 different lists, and yes, the Poll is probally your best source if you really want to know what others think. I have a few different coaster books, and each one highlights something different, perhaps this guy wasent able to ride El Toro or Voyage. I still like the fact that you can find new books written on these, even if they have opinions you don't much care for, that least things are up to date for the most part. My top 10 features Phantoms Revenge, Screechin Eagle and Tennesee Tornado. Does that make me wrong? Not in my opinion, but I would most likely list them if I wrote a book.

*SIGH* Headspin was supposed to be repainted those same colors at Geauga in 2007... and for some reason, it never got done.

^ Looks like you live about 2 hours from Anaheim, you could always try and convince them to do a stop at SFMM and then one at Disney or Knotts to break the long drive back up a bit... or beg them for the keys.

I've been to SFA only twice.. once in 2000 and again in 2003. I know that SFA was one of the possible "sell for land" parks Shapiro was looking at, but with the real estate market, Im not sure if he still thinks that way. Its all going to depend on whether or not attendance and in-park revenus will continue to make the park profitable enough to keep. The fact that they've added to the waterpark is good, but if you notice, the rides being removed lately have been the extremely high cost and unreliable rides. (Invertigo, Choas, Rotoshake and Drop Tower - if that has indeed been removed) My question is, is how much longer will they decide to keep pumping money into The Sea Coaster and Batwing?

Wow! What a great tribute to an amazing person! Thank you very much for that! Bacon and Morgan were truely talented people, the work that they accomplished and the way things are made today.. its just jaw-dropping. I was at Disneyland a few weeks ago and as always, was amazaed at the Matternhorn and the other Fantasyland rides. An other amazing feat nowadays... A 67-year marriage... wow! To this day, Arrow remains my favorite-all time design company.

My idea is them buying Disney's Maiboomer and putting it in that Circle area in Supermans Plaza, and pull Superman out completely thus renaming the Maliboomer "Superman: Tower of Power" Then pull out Deja Vu and put Wiggles World or a Boardwalk there Pull out the Swinging Ship and Yo Yo remains and put a large 150' Wheel on the side of the hill overlooking the County Fair, (The Swinging ship goes to the boardwalk, the Yo Yo gets replaced by the Gothem City Crime Wave as I mentioned earlier) Oh, and instead of a Master Blaster or waterslide... How about a huge California-Shaped Pool or second Wave Pool.

^ That coaster, my friend, is nearly identical to SFMM's old Stand-Up, Shockwave which ran from 86 to 88, which in turn got moved to Great Adventure and Astroworld soon after. http://www.rcdb.com/ig51.htm?picture=6

Theres always a Tony Hawk's Big Spin to think about. Jay Thomas said it himself that they plan on reclaiming the "most coasters" record, but personally, I think they have enough of them. One ride that would be great would be a Wave Swinger themed like SFoG's "Gothem City Crime Wave" right in that spot in front of the Gothem City Gate, that Yo Yo is Half-down anyway. And the other thing I noticed that the park could do is remove that old monorail and station

If we are talking rising esentially from the grave then Coney Island in Ohio... it definatly "came back" from really not much, and Belmont Park is also one of those. Nellie Bly Park is back too, but under a different name after being nearly all sold off, and so is Twin Grove Park in PA. A few other parks that had a few off years and are now doing better are the ones mentioned above as well as Lake Compounce, and Could we include Michigans adventure? They are doing very well now. I wish Geauga Lake Park would come back... thats been really painful.

Is Revoultion still down? Oh, and how have the fires been out there? I havent seen info whether or not they were out yet.

I agree that CF is a a well run business. But just because you run your business well does not necessarily mean that your product is great. Yet you can compare CF to the U.S. automotive industry? I think I see your point re. Microsoft; the Windows operating system is something that the majority of businesses and households need, whether they like it or not, whereas no one has to go to a theme park. Is that what you're getting at? CFC, I see what you're saying, but yes, I was comparing consumer product to consumer product. Computers are a touchy issue because 90% of the world uses PC's which nearly all have Microsoft components or software... even my Mac, so there are cases where you have no choice but to buy some of those products.. plus, some games and applications won't work on anything but PC's. Even if you don't buy one, you most likely have to work with them or learn on them, thats why I can't really compare them. But yes, I think you know what Im saying. It's gotten more complex than it needs to be. If you have a bad experience with a car or a restaurant, or an amusement park or a cd player, you don't have to buy or go there again. I never knew that about Jaguars height restriction change.. which is odd. There could have been a number of reasons to change it.. perhaps it was wrong to begin with, or insurance reasons, or even the manufacturer updated it.. or it was Cedar Fair paranoia... i don't know. (Millennium Force was 54" and now its 48" and I think SFMM's Viper was 48" at one time and I was surprised to find it at 54" considering the trains are built for a 48" Minium)

I agree that CF is a a well run business. But just because you run your business well does not necessarily mean that your product is great. Yes it does. If you offer a lousy product or service, then people arent going to come and purchase that. Cedar Fair obviously has a product of quality where people will continue to attend their parks. Look at the US Automotive industry, even though many of our cars have improved Many americans are burned on the sub par cars of the 70's and 80's and still won't buy a domestic make. You can't compare Microsoft to Cedar Fair, thats a whole different animal.

If Cedar Fair was a poorly run business, they wouldn't have both attendance and per cap spending up (granted, they have raised their prices) The fact that the inverstors recieve their cuts is a good sign, too. I see nothing majorly wrong with Cedar Fair right now, compared to the rest of the industry. It's rare to find a major coaster down for the entire day at CP.. You can usually find at least one at Six Flags although they are doing better. Using an Excellent, Good, Fair and Poor rating scale on Cedar Fair: Ride uptime: Excellent (They have a 95% uptime on their rides at CP) Ride maintainence: Excellent Attraction Diversity/Variety: Excellent Food Taste: Good Food Variety: Fair Average Park Beauty/Atmosphere: Good Safety: Excellent Shows: Good In-Park Prices: Fair Events/Festivals: Excellent Cleanliness: Excellent Customer Service: Good Employee Attitudes/Professionalism: Good Employee Training: Excellent