King of Ka

I'm joining in late to the Big Mike Duckie Guess (if I'm allowed), my guess is five ducks.

I'm also glad Phoenix retains a top ten spot, although I honestly think it deserves better than 8. The only ride ahead of it I've ridden is El Toro, but I personally ranked Phoenix in front of it. Phoenix might not be as intense or out of control as El Toro, but it's the most fun ride I've ever been on- I think I could ride it for the rest of my life and not get bored.

I think part of what causes the "new ride bump" is that to a degree, a higher percent of of the people riding new rides, particularly Prowler IMO, tend to be locals. This provides the new coaster with tons of advantages: 1) Locals get the best of a ride. If they catch it on a bad day, it's more ignorable than to someone like a trip participant who only gets that one day. Also, locals can ride the coaster at its best time (night, often) and in its best seat, which people on trips can't always do. 2) Locals are more likely to visit on days with fewer lines or nicer weather. I know for me personally, short or no lines makes a ride much more fun, and a sweltering and sunny day can make any coaster unenjoyable. People who live near parks could plan around this more. 3) Fanboyism Some combination of these tend to give rides ridden mostly by people near them a good spot until they are more ridden. Also, I feel like this thread would be a good time to quote the, IMO, "Golden Rule of TPR," aimed at no one in particular: EDIT: ^^I think TPR might be the last place you'd find the 5% of people who aren't "midwest nutjobs"

Only if Intamin supplies the cables.

1. I expected this to happen, the plan seems very good, and I'll most likely sign up. I do have some second thoughts about TPR having a premium membership, but I guess it's the next step and so far this seems a great way to take that step. 2. Not really. As others have said, a weekly newsletter would be nice, although I'd definitely prefer a monthly or bimonthly premium-members live chat. I've always really enjoyed using them to fully interact with TPR, and if nothing else hearing your opinions on news in the amusement industry would be interesting. And I think this was brought up in another thread, a "Robb and Elissa Awards" sort of thing about your favorite rides, parks, and the like would also be great. 3. Yes, I'm definitely interested. If I had to decide at this moment, I'd say I'm 75% going to do it. 4. For me personally, I just feel like I'm spending a lot of money this year between a new phone and trips I hope to take this summer, and even a good deal like this is not something I want to spend on at the moment. Also, I think the perks sound great, but right now I don't think I'd be able to fully take advantage of all of them, I rarely ever get to enthusiast events or things like them. 5. I am glad that TPR is evolving, and this sounds great. I might personally wait to see it implemented before signing up, but in all likelihood will.

^^^I don't think they're so much arguing that it isn't a wood coaster, but moreso that it's smoother and less "out of control" (although El Toro is pretty out of control to me) than they expect a wooden ride to be. I guess it's sort of similar to the people who don't count Superman: TE as a coaster; something about the ride just doesn't seem to fit to them.

But that's just the thing, more people DIDN'T ride it as it was closed the entire year. All those people who went to Everland on the ECC trip didn't get to experience the #2 steel coaster in the world! That's true, I hadn't realized it had been closed for so long- I guess that's why it only has 13 riders. I can't help but wonder how the ECCers would have ranked it, if they had loved it too it might have dispelled some of the "TPR is rigging the polls!" conspiracy theories. Of course, even if they had liked it some of them might have ranked it badly....

Motorola Droid COD Modern Warfare 2 ~$200 CAKE+OK Go stuff Other little things It was a good year for me.

Pretty good seeming results, I am surprised about Diamondback and Prowler, but I agree that they'll fall in the coming years. I think new rides like this get a boost because after one year a relatively small number of people have ridden it, and most likely a decent percent of those people have had multiple rides on it since, and seen it at it's best- I think next year Diamondback will drop towards or out of the bottom of the top ten, and Prowler will fall one or two spots, but probably remain the top GCI. Nonetheless, I'm not surprised that either did well. Another surprise, for me at least, was that Eagle's Fortress stayed near the top- I really was expecting it to do worse than last year, as more people rode it. Very solid results, they make my possible Boulder Dash/Bizarro trip this year all the more appealing.

Posting this from my new Motorola DROID.

Some really beautiful and almost surreal pictures, fantastic work. Would you consider putting up a .zip download or something similar? These would make great wallpapers, I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate high-resolution versions, myself included. Keep up the great work! EDIT: Also, is the lens flare in the Time Machine picture edited in?

I'm seeing Photoshop contest potential in this...

I'm interested in how this would happen; I don't mean that I don't believe you, I'm just not sure what you mean. Healthcare costs? As I think was quoted in another thread, a study recently showed that combinations of sugar and fat were addictive at a level just below cocaine to lab rats, and presumably above weed. Does this mean that unhealthful foods should be illegal? And alcohol? What about fast cars? All these things could cost you money, but none of them are illegal. IMO, not repealing the marijuana law because it's already there and there isn't a compelling reason to seems to go against many of the ideals of justice in this country. Should a potentially unjust and unreasonable law be kept solely because it's already there? IMO we should strive to constantly change and improve our system I hope I'm understanding everybody's arguments correctly and adding something to the topic, this thread has thus far been home to some fantastic, healthy debate.

The song in the Blackpool video is Come on England by 442. One of my favorite TPR videos of all time.

Wow, simply the most amazing thing I've ever seen in RCT. Mind-blowing, you're truly turning RCT3 into more of a perfect simulator than it was ever intended. Keep up the fantastic work, and keep showing us!

For all the ACErs: BUFFET!

It's interesting, I love OMFG airtime like El Toro's, but at the same time I think B&M hypers provide a much more "free flying" feeling than any other ride I've been on. To me, B&M's hypers might not have as many awesome moments as rides with stronger airtime (I'm talking mostly about El Toro here, yet to ride an Intamin hyper; Bizarro is in my scope for the next few years), but the ride altogether is just plain fun.

^Isn't it sort of similar to Mitch's Poll in a sense? It values the overall consensus of an option being good or bad over which option is more peoples' favorite. I chose (just) option 4, looks the best in my opinion.

^^ I appreciate your reply, and completely agree with you. Hostility is the last thing to show your host, and it ultimately sounds like that's what these people were doing. Q&A sessions seem like a great perk, and it would be a shame to lose them if people can't understand that there's a difference between what they say in a chat room and during Q&A with management. I think nearly everyone appreciates the effort that goes into these events, and I'm sure for every person who's negative, there's another two who are just happy to be there.

It'd be interesting to see somebody combine this data with Mitch's Coaster Poll. I don't know how it'd be done, but it seems plausible and could have interesting results.

It's awesome to read these updates Soren, all these places look amazing, good for you! While in Vancouver, did you visit Playland? If so, did you ride the Coaster?

^I hope it isn't too taboo to repeat, for those of us not there. I'm interested.

^I've also made sure to get at least one TPR DVD every Christmas. They're great presents, and opening up a package from Robb and Elissa is always a joy. CE13 will have to be a late Christmas present, and I'm always happy to sit back and enjoy the site (and of course the seemingly non-stop free videos) while I anxiously await its release. There's no better way to say it, I LOVE THIS SITE! Keep up the great work R&E (and everyone else involved), I really appreciate your videos and trip reports!

All YOUR posts seem to have LOTS of ALL CAPS to EMPHASIZE WORDS. It makes it seem like you're TAKING THIS ALL TOO SERIOUSLY. Am I the ONLY one who SEES the IRONY in this coming from a PERSON NAMED ZEN?

I actually thought the Bizarro transformation of Medusa was great... I never really enjoyed the ride up to then. All the effects seemed to be something to enjoy other than the ride, and just made the ride all-around better. At any rate, I generally agree with quality over quantity, but the quantity at KD and BGE is just too much for two great coasters at SFNE/LC, and their quality also seems top-notch. As somebody else said, the NE trip could be done in one day, and I personally want to get to Boulder Dash ASAP while it's in top form, but right now KD/BGE is probably the better trip.