Looty

I do know those things...but I think posting those figures on the internet would get me in quite some trouble.

I'm a Team Lead in Finance.

^That would be fun!

On a good day, the roller coasters at The Park at MOA bring in a pretty penny. I know, for example, that the Pepsi Ripsaw can reach a ridership of around 8,000-9,000 on a good day. It cost $4.80 for a single ride and the unlimited ride wristbands are about $27 big ones. Now, I'm not sure how much of the ridership is repeat riders with wristbands...but that still is a lot. And take it from me, the Ripsaw is one of the least technically advanced roller coasters out there so I can't imagine that there is a lot of maint. costs.

Yeah I have some pictures of both Spongebob and Avatar testing...but the cars are a bit of a blur because of the lighting inside here. I'll post them later tonight. BTW...while on my break tonight, Franz Maier came into the breakroom to buy a soda so i got to chat with him a little. He's a really nice guy.

I'm at The Park right now working...i'll get some pictures tonight.

Ha that's funny...you can't see me but I was standing by the small hump after the loop at 9:40. That was Franz Maier up on the block brake at that time btw.

Wow i'm really impressed! I think this guy (Shapiro) really knows what he's talking about. Listening to him speak really made me want to just get up and go to a Six Flags park. I'm someone who wants to work in the amusement industry after college and i found what he had to say very motivating. It's someone like him that i would want leading myself and others. I agreed a lot with what he had to say and I cannot wait to see what he has planned for the near future. I'm really excited for WCB now and just the overall park...too bad X2 wont be open by then

I have a Valleyfair Maxx Pass that doesn't expire until march and I called Knotts about this and they said that they would take it because it is a Maxx Pass...so im going. But mine has a expiration date on it.

Keep your eyes open, Spongebob will be testing tonight!!!

Some of the concrete around Spongebob is being painted black. I believe that they will eventually fill these areas with water and possibly add some sort of water effect. Also, there are water dummies sitting in the Spongebob cars waiting to be tested so that should happen very soon.

^Yes it did. If you look closely at the Spongebob webcam, you'll notice that they put two cars on the track as well.

It is a Valleyfair Maxx Pass. I did call Knotts about this, but i got the runaround and the person I spoke with didn't seem to confident in what she told me. Anyways...thanks for your help. I'm looking forward to meeting you guys again. I briefly met you two when you were here for Renegade at VF, but I showed up right before you guys were leaving so you probably don't remember me.

I'm flying in from Minnesota for the event and I can't wait! This should be a really awesome event. I do have a question though if someone could help me out please. I'll also be attending the Knotts Solace event on Saturday but I was looking at the pricing and it says that it's $55 for adults and $25 for people with a CEDAR FAIR PLATINUM PASS or KNOTTS ANNUAL PASS. I have a 2007 Valleyfair season pass that doesn't expire until 3/31/08...so my question is, would that qualify me for the $25. If anyone knows anything, your help is appreciated. Thanks

They hardly ever use the second train on Ripsaw. They put it on when ridership is expected to be over a certain number and when they have the proper staffing. It takes four employees to run Ripsaw with 2 trains, and the crowds in the park over the last year haven't been strong enough for two trains...but I can almost guarantee that you'll see two trains often this year for Nickelodeon. The mall is expecting an additional 2 million visitors this year just for Nick Universe!

I guess they signed an entension with Pepsi Co. to sponsor the ride so it will be called the Pepsi Orange Streak. As for the station house, it's going to be blue with different shades of blue circles all over it...and a few Pepsi logos (it'll look like a lot of the current Pepsi cans). As for the station, the artwork I saw had large arches looming over it (very similar to TTD).

^^^Nothing was mentioned although I'll tell you that they are completely orange and have a neon green stripe running down the sides...I'm still looking into being able to post some of the stuff I've seen.

Ok so there was a employee update meeting today and for those of you wishing to get one more ride on the Log Chute...You're in Luck! The word today is that the Log Chute won't be rethemed for the grand opening (it is to be completed at a later date).

^They aren't going to paint Fairly Odd Coaster. the colors will remain as is. I'm not sure when Ripsaw will be touched up. The new fiberglass molds for the ripsaw trains are on site and actually look pretty good. Also, I saw numerous slides that suggest that Nickelodeon is not happy with the paint job on the SpongeBob cars. They compare artwork concepts to the actual cars in the parking lot and some of the words used in the report i saw include: "Incorrect", "Lack of", "Inconsistent", "Wrong"...you get the point. So not sure what's going to happen with that. Splat O Sphere is up and I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. It's just not as big as I thought it would be...I'll just have to wait and ride it. Log Chute will be going down in a few weeks and will be closed for approx. 3 weeks while it is torn apart and recreated as Green Slime Falls.

If you take a look at the last webcam, it appears that the main structure of Tumbler has been painted silver.

UPDATE: Splat O Sphere parts are here! http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/showthread.php?p=746708&posted=1#post746708

Construction pictures from tonight: http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/showthread.php?p=746406&posted=1#post746406

^Those used to be for the Mystery Mine Ride...not quite sure what they are going to do with them now.

Update with pics from today. http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/showthread.php?p=746359&posted=1#post746359

Update with more pictures from today: http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/showthread.php?p=745956&posted=1#post745956