Imhotep

Awesome pics!! It looks like you guys had a blast. We are heading up there next weekend, It sucks neesh and I missed you guys by a week. Where is the magic seat on Georgia Cyclone by the way?

I love this one.. 90 DEGREES!!

My fav is Hot Match!!! Out of the main brands, I am kinda fond of Yamahas myself.

I felt the Shamu show brought Shamu to the center of the park again for many different reasons. Now, that doesn't mean the show didnt have its negative points, of course. I feel that the story line did add to the show as a whole. The shows target audience is children, so the show does a good job at attempting to inspire them. Plus, there is an interactive portion to the show (the Shamu chant) that gets the audience and especially the kids more into the show. There was plenty of interaction between the trainers and the whales, and Shamu did alot of the same stuff he did in the previous show, there was just a new added story line. The negatives were, I could have totally done without the individual trainer story. That totally does detract from the focus of Shamu. The screens were pretty awesome and they did rotate and move (I took some pictures of their many different positions, and I will post them once I get the film back), however they can be distracting because of this. Also, they were filming the action from different angles to show on the screens, and they kept switching between the different angles at a rapid pace which took away from the action as well. Overall though, I feel that Sea World did well remaking this show. It definately doesn't suck (like the new dolphin show), but it has some flaws.

I just got an invite from ACE saying that Busch Gardens will be celebrating their 1 year anniversary of Sheikra next Friday May 19th. They will be celebrating by filming some promo videos of the ride with riders dressed as chickens! BGA will be providing the Chicken Suits. It should be an interesting event. Will any ACERs from here be attending? Have any other parks done anything like this? On another AB note.. We went to Media Day for the new Shamu Express at Sea World this past Thursday. Shamu Express is a credit, but it is a tamest-of-the-tame kiddie coaster (sorry, no Flying Unicorn action here!). We also got the chance to see the first viewing of the new Believe! Shamu show which I must say, I was impressed. One really cool thing they did is instead of having one huge 'jumbotron' screen like in the old show, there were 4 wide-screen jumbotrons that moved laterally on a track and rotated 360 degrees in both directions. This show really brings Shamu back to being the center attraction of the park!

I loved the Virtual Boy! I wish I still had mine. MORE TRANSFORMERS UPDATES!! hehe

mmmmmmmmmmm.... lunch title....

I HATE Musicians Friend right now! I am a loyal customer , have been for 8+ years, and they shafted me royally. I initially ordered everything last friday, and its been a week of hell dealing with their online phone ordering dept. I usually order everything online, but i had to order over the phone because I had a pricematch request. If I would have know I was going to go through this, I would have ate the difference in price and got my order here earlier this week! Im mainly angry MF doesnt care do compensate me for their ineptitude. Every other day, they would call me with something they forgot to do, or info that they lost that they needed again, like they lost the customer service number I gave them for the credit card so they could verify it (that call was at 11pm ET on a Saturday). Then they called back saying that they initially gave me the wrong total, that it was more than what i was quoted, which not only were they not crediting me for, but they still hadnt shipped the part because I hadnt approved the incorrect total. So I happily payed more than what I was told, in hopes it would still get here on friday. Then Wed they called to see if the shipping I initially wanted, which was regular shipping, was really the shipping that I wanted, or if I wanted overnight shipping... And they still hadnt shipped my order. Luckily, after I expressed my disgust with them up until this point, they upgraded me to overnight shipping free of charge, but only after speaking with a supervisor.. Now coupe de grace, was I received an email dated this morning, that the item I really needed was backordered. Well, it wasnt friday when I ordered it, and it wasnt Wed when they called me, they said everything was due to be shipped out.. They state that just ordering alone doesnt reserve the product, and sometime between Wed and when the order processed someone must have ordered the item causing me to be backordered until 5/30. Now, its their fault that this happened, and they acknowledged this. They apoligized and said "well, we would be more than happy to cancel this item for you." I asked if they could keep the item on the order and credit me for their inconvenience, they said no. Its just crazy they that I had this many problems, and I probably wont be dealing with them for a long time.

I had an Amp energy drink.. Man I really need to stop drinking these things, Im sure they are horrible for you!

The only heel toe dance I know is a heel-toe technique used on the drums. Pretty cool technique. If you can get it down you can play twice as fast with half the effort..

The ride itself isnt that bad.. By that I mean the 2 drops.. The theming is pretty haggard, and it seemed like it took them forever to finally sync up the show sequences.. probably up until this year, everytime I rode it half the effects were cycling without any regard to the ride vehicles. Anyway, there are definately better flume rides in Orlando and elsewhere in the world, but nonetheless JTA is a great fit for Sea World IMO.

They would probably have to make some kind of guard to surround the cable so that if it does break or shear, that the cable stays within the confines of the guard. I thought I read somewhere that they already have something like that in place on 'Ka, whether that information was correct or not Im not sure.

Man.. I had a sinking feeling something bad was going to happen to this ride soon.. Hopefully the problems looked worse than they are. When I read that, right away I thought of that first scene from the movie Ghost Ship. Maybe 'Ka can be the focus of Final Destination 4 .

I just want to actually ride the effing thing! It broke down the day before I went to CP back in '03 (the day it actually broke down was on my birthday, the day the cable frayed and people were slightly injured), so I never got to ride it.

I know Ive seen veggie burgers at IOA, and salads are offered in most themepark restaurants, but Im sure its not really lucerative for parks to offer a wide selection of vegetarian or vegan delicacies. You do have a point, I think they should try to cater to everyone though. Not just vegitarians but people trying to stick to a strict diet... However I dont think you will get the same "theme park experience" eating a veggie/vegan meal as you would a good ol' hamburger or other carnivorous foods. And usually, if you are trying to lose weight, you would probably rather bring your own healthy food than pay twice as much for a theme parks version.

I guess the 10+ warning signs didnt offer enough encouragement, eh? Im glad they are giving some kind of option, but couldn't they have done like what Sea World did with Wild Artic and have a room where they show the ride so they could keep all centerfuges operational?

Lets see if I can come up with 5, I dont really think Im that interesting! 1. I write and throw with my right hand, but I am left handed at pretty much everything else, including the drums. 2. I have played House of Blues and Hard Rock Live here in orlando a few times. 3. I have known my Fiancee for over half my life. 4. I have been a band that has opened for Chimaira. 5. I used to be a pretty good artist, but haven't drawn since High School (I need to get back into it.)

Awesome, thanks for answering my question! I feel a little smarter now..

So, what are the Wii's graphics going to be comparable to? Will it be somewhat along the lines of the next generation consoles, or are graphical and performance upgrades taking a back seat to the upgrade in gameplay?

Yessir!!

Alright guys, answer this B&M question.. Ive always been curious What exactly the purpose of these type of supports? (the rightmost support on the cobra roll) I always assumed they are supports fitted with bearings that allow the track to flex as the coaster goes over that support, reducing stress on the track. Is that their real purpose? or am I way off?

Scorpion at BGT! Well, its not technically a 'family coaster,' but I like to classify it as a family coaster, considering the minimum height to ride is 42"...

Good to see you finally made it to THE MOST IMPORTANT PARK EVER CREATED! hehe Just kidding, of course I cannot discredit the park that brought you to the states in the first place Its crazy how much rehab/construction they have been taking on the past few months. Looks like SMMUDM's (or whatever its going to be called now) should be pretty fun!

Thats pretty lame. Im sick of hearing the media portray how 'deadly' this ride is, like it was designed by Dr. Kevorkian himself! Its funny when I ask people I know if they are going to ride M:S, they usually respond with something like "Are you kidding? You know how many people that thing has killed?" Thank you, Media! Just venting with you. Its sad what the media will try to make people believe for the sake of gaining an audience.

Sad news.. Sorry to hear of your loss I hope you guys are holding up well. I wish there was more I could say or do..