Mechanic

I remember riding Star Tours the year after it opened. My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, had her clip-on earrings fall off during the ride and claimed it to be one the most realistic ride experiences she'd ever had. It was awesome then, but has grown somewhat stale 20-something years later. I still ride it each time we visit the park, but I certainly won't mind it getting a makeover.

I guess that's about as positive a way as there is to say, "We considered it, but then decided that seats falling off a coaster train was probably a bad idea."

Hopefully SFMM's will get a tunnel as well. It would be one more reason to "TAKE THE TUNNEL!" at the park.

X2 is definitely top tier in my mind. Tatsu is no slouch either. RR is the favorite stand up of many fairly well-traveled enthusiasts as well. I think the entire lineup is pretty solid across the board. Since the removal of Flashback and Pysclone there really are no total turds among the coasters the park has.

Not to mention free soda refills! WCB at Mooseburger was awesome with the buffet, but even the regular menu is a great value for a theme park sit down restaurant. We eat there every time we go to the mountain.

A quick search using the word "screamer" resulted in this: www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=50143&p=728341

There will also need to be a SBNO Flying Turns ride. People can queue up for it and walk the track while taking pictures, but the only trains ever run will be for failed tests.

I actually enjoy riding Viper in the very front row. Going up into the first loop is a rush. Yeah, some parts of the ride are a little rough but nothing too brutal. The one part I always brace for is the turn before entering the corkscrews, and that seems worse to me if I'm towards the middle or back of the train. I get bashed far worse on Revolution in any seat of any train that I've ever sat in. (since installation of the OTSRs) Long live Viper! Nice report and the photos look fine. Obviously not Hanno quality or anything, but perfectly serviceable nonetheless.

What a great series of reports. I particularly liked the first report of Plopsa Coo. It reminded me very much of Gilroy Gardens, except that it looks at least 10 times cooler.

I feel dumber for having read the last few pages of this thread.

A launched intamin coaster and a second generation drop tower would be mandatory in the "Intamin cables of death" themed area of the park.

Superman is cool and all for what it is, but just a retheme and launching a car (or even both cars) backwards doesn't really do much to pique my interest. Sure, I'd check it it out and ride it just to experience any changes they made to it, but I doubt that those types of changes would suddenly change my opinion of it very drastically. Honestly, I've only ridden S:TE a handful of times and the majority of those were during WCB events when it literally had no line at all. The very first time I rode it required a wait of about 45 minutes or so and after riding I didn't really feel the need to ride it anytime again soon. I hope for either one of 2 things: That launching backwards and retheming will make more of a positive difference than I currently think it will, or that they actually have bigger and more exciting plans than that.

I liked all the music they had for the ride, but I honestly feel the ending music captures the fun/slightly scary theme of the ride the best. The queue music would lead you to believe the attraction is far more scary than it really is. I realize that's a point that's already been beaten to death. It's just that it is what is, and personally I have no problem with it. If there was an area that I felt could use improvement inside the ride itself it would be that some of the scenes could use more "stuff" to look at. There's quite a bit of empty floor space that could be taken up with different props, or even just some sort of floor covering. The exceptions to that were the swamp area and the buried-alive Santa Cruz tourist scene. Both of those areas, particularly the swamp, had to plenty to look at. It could certainly reach a point where the ride seemed excessively cluttered if that idea were taken too far, but as it stands now there's something of a feeling that the ride isn't quite "complete" yet. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if some more themeing elements were added over time. It will also be interesting to see if they have any sort of plans to do Holiday themed overlays to spice up the attraction a bit for the Halloween and Christmas holiday seasons. The new ride has a lot more room inside than the old one did and I think they could really do a lot with ideas along those lines if they chose to. A little holiday bunting, some different music, and maybe a slightly different spiel for the King projections, could very well be marketable and help the park's attendance through the slower fall and winter months.

I imagine that they'll eventually leave Screamin' open during the shows. The sooner, the better.

Superman is an Intamin? No way! I refuse to believe it. I mean, it's never had a rogue cable lasso innocent riders or carelessly tossed anyone to the ground. It can't possibly be an Intamin creation. Every other Intamin ever built has left a wave of destruction in its path, right?

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Or it falls off...

^ You need to attend WCB next spring. You'll probably get at least 3 rides without even having to get off the coaster, unless you're in the front or back row.

I'm all for the police stopping bad guys from committing crimes, but does anyone else feel it's maybe just a bit overboard to be firing shots and engaging in a high speed chase over stolen SUV seats? The article states that the fleeing suspects struck a vehicle during the chase, and lord knows where the bullets that were fired ended up. By no means do I think thieves should be given a pass and be allowed to continue stealing, but I think the policies in place for dealing with a situation like this may need to be reviewed with the officers involved. This absolutely could have been handled WAY better than it was.

Welcome back Big Mike! You've been missed more than you can imagine. I enjoy reports from so many different members on TPR, but none more than the BMRS. I have no clue where you're headed or what coasters you're going to ride, but I'm sure you'll have a blast doing it and I can't wait to see the reports.

....to buy a Ferrari, which they drove to...

As stated in the opening paragraph by the OP, I am presupposing that Texas Giant will be a success. I imagine the cost effectiveness will be more difficult to judge. Time will tell, but I'd prefer to be optomistic.

More attentive groupers, or any grouper at all in some circumstances, would alleviate most of this issue. You would expect that people in a civilized society would naturally understand how to work these situations out to the mutual benefit of all involved, but such is simply not the case some of the time. Far too many people are much more concerned with only themselves and their own group. All of us probably fall into that category to some degree at times. Personally, I often enjoy the dynamic of being placed with other groups of riders, particulary on higher capacity ride vehicles like rapids rafts. After all, we all share the same goal of having fun during our day at a park. What's wrong with sharing that with a few more people than we might have otherwise? It really costs nothing more than a "hello" and a smile. The last time I checked, those were free. The circumstances under which I feel it would be completely acceptable to let empty seats go on a vehicle would be when a person in a group suffers from a social disorder that may not be readily apparent. These types of things can sometimes be confused as rudeness on the part of the party that wishes to ride with only members of their group and it is really no one else's business what anyone's particular disability may be. Of course, that can also lead to misuse or abuse of a park's policy relating to such matters, so there is a bit of a catch-22 there. As long as someone isn't obviously queue jumping, I ordinarily have no issue with reasonably well thought out last minute adjustments to queue order that are mutually beneficial, or cause no unreasonable delay to the yielding party. (a train or 2 just isn't much in the grand scheme of things) At the same time, don't allow yourself to simply be pushed around by those who would try to take advantage of your kind nature. I have been the beneficiary of people's good nature in such situations, and have also yielded to groups when it seemed appropriate. It's not like I keep score, but I think if you're reasonable and fair about it, it all comes out pretty close to even in the end. The main thing is to enjoy yourself and have fun while at a park. Don't let little things get in your way of that. Be courteous to those around you and karma (or whatever else you'd like to call it) will see to it that things work out as they should for you. Take some comfort that karma will also see to it eventually that those that would take unfair advantage of you will receive exactly what they deserve as well. You may not always see it happen, but it does.

Forget LeBron, D Wade, and C Bosh, I have an issue of much greater concern. I have recently discovered that I am the ONLY Lakers fan in a veritable sea of misguided and disillusioned Sacramento Kings fans at my new job. I guess having Arco Arena within sight is part of the issue, but man, this is going to be a rough adjustment. You should have seen how incensed some of them became when after they had mentioned the Lakers-Kings rivalry I suggested that they check the definition of the word rivalry, at which time they would realize that none exists. I'm afraid I'm going to enter a higher tax bracket with all the money I'm going to win in "friendly" wagers with coworkers. It's good to be the King, isn't it Kobe?

"Fire at a water park" just strikes me as so incredibly ironic. In all seriosuness, I hope everyone is safe and sound.

I found the attractions navigation a little clunky at first, but I do, for the most part, like the new ride videos and slide shows. I could do without the feigned static in several of the Tomorrowland attraction videos though. Very few video transmissions contain static in this current day and age, yet we're expected to believe that technology in this area, particularly in Disney parks, is going to regress as we move into the future? I'm all for setting a period appropriate tone with the pictures and videos, but sometimes less is more. Just saying... Overall, I found the look and feel of the site much more modern than what it replaced. It still hits you with advertisements for vacation packages, shopping, and dining options every so many clicks, whether you were expecting them or not, but I've got to cut them a break on that. I fully understand the purpose of the site is to generate sales and I wish them great success with it.