Mechanic

^ Not if CGA is leveled and turned into another office park. As it stands now, yes, it does seem like a pretty small area for as grandiose as they're trying to make this new stadium sound. The truth is, that while this approval is a step in making the stadium a reality, it is far from a done-deal. A similar plan was hatched and well on its way for a new stadium at Candlestick point many years ago, but all that eventually unraveled. In this current economy, I really have my doubts that this new stadium will be built unless it's to be a shared venue for both the Raiders and 49ers. Of course that would be even worse for CGA. There's still much left to unfold before we can ultimately determine how CGA will be affected.

??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_America-Santa_Clara_Station http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_America_%28VTA%29 Thing is, they are spending hundreds of millions on a stadium, so infrastructure improvements should logically occur at the same time. The stadium owners can't just expect to plonk it down without thinking of these things. Furthermore, I think my original point still stands...It would be significantly cheaper to upgrade the two train adjacent stations with extra platforms to deal with game day crowds etc, and perhaps even go for even more capacity with a bus station similar in format to the ones at Suncorp Stadium and the Brisbane Cricket Ground, then it would be to try and build huge multideck car parks (That would suck anyway due to traffic congestion when everyone tries to leave at the end of the game) I mean, fair enough, other stadiums might have been built around the notion of providing acres of car parking, but if it's a new stadium, a with an amusement park next door to worry about, and a virtual clean slate then why would you do things the "wrong way" ? Trust me, I find no fault in your suggestions. The trouble is, even in more progressive areas of our state like the SF Bay Area, the mindset to support your type of proposals is still held by a relatively few people. I'm not trying to defend that notion, only relating that it is the current state of affairs. Californians in particular are very used to being able to come and go as they please without being tied to the constraints of a bus, ferry, or rail schedule. Right or wrong, it is a big part of the culture here. Public transportation has made significant strides here in the past 20 years or so, but it pales in comparison to many other areas of the world. America's relationship with, and dependence on, the automobile has very deep roots. Reliable and convenient public transit just isn't the priority that you might expect it would be.

^ To our detriment, things simply don't work that way here in the states. The automobile, particularly in California, is the chosen mode of transportation for the vast majority of people. The public transit infrastructure to accomodate your suggestions simply does not exist here.

^ OMG! I think I just went sterile!

A rave at DCA... Too weird.

Hearst being used in place of hearse is one of my pet peeves as well. (As are loose in place of lose, breaks in place of brakes, defiantly in place of definitely, etc. But I digress...) It's a very common mistake it seems, but not one I'd expect outside of casual conversation. You'd think that someone looking into drawing up concepts for a hearse would accidentally come across the correct spelling while researching the subject, but apparently not.

Well, like Elissa said, I'm not sure you quite understand our point. Here's my take on it... I'm not a Potter fan. But only because I know absolutely nothing about the franchise, and I'm not into "fantasy" at all. I'm also not a hater. I'm just completely indifferent to it. That being said, I really want to be able to "like" this new land in one of my all-time favorite parks. I mean, I liked Lost Continent just fine and I wouldn't normally be into any of the themes that land represented either. So even if I'm not into the theme, that doesn't mean I can't still find something else about it that really gets me hooked. I was hoping there would be some amazing new theme park technology, but so far I haven't seen that surface either. Really, it seems that in order to fully appreciate this new land, you HAVE to be into Potter. I feel like this is the Potter version of the "Star Trek Experience" that used to be in Las Vegas, and to be honest, that didn't make much sense to me either because it was targeted to "Star Trek Fans" and not really to the general public. To your average Trekkie, they went apeshit over it, but to random people, they didn't seem to get it. They would go "well, it was a pretty cool simulator, I guess, but I'm not into Star Trek." They focus on all the little details as opposed to emphasizing the concept. People may be lining up NOW, but what about 5 years from now? Or even 10? Is Potter the kind of franchise that has the staying power and the wide audience that something like The Simpsons does? It's easy to answer "yes" to that question now, but as popular as the franchise is from book sales and box office receipts, like the Star Trek Experience, is this going to appeal to someone who hasn't read any books or seen the films? I'm not into comic books at all, but the Spider-Man ride makes sense to me. Men In Black is pretty easy to follow for people who have never seen the films. Even Twister, by the very name of the attraction alone is easy to understand even if you never knew a movie by the same title existed. Attractions such as those seem to have taken a step back and tried to appeal to the masses, not just to people who have seen the films or read the comics. These attractions emphasize the concept, not just focus on little details. Bottom Line... I guess what I'm saying here is, Wizarding World is such a perfect opportunity to be able to "introduce" people to the world of Harry Potter who know absolutely nothing about the franchise. But everything I've seen so far, just like the Star Trek Experience, does NOT speak to that person, but instead speaks directly to the die-hard fan. I'm not dissing the idea or saying what has been created doesn't look cool. Just saying that it seems like they may be missing out on a great opportunity to widen their audience. --Robb "Do you guys get where I'm coming from?" Alvey I feel EXACTLY the same way. The Star Trek Experience analogy fits perfectly from what I've seen of Potterland so far. I want to see something that blows me away, but all I see is stuff that looks like it's probably cool, but I don't fully understand it because I'm not into the intricate details of everything Potter. You can see there was a lot of work put into making the area exceptionally detailed. The trouble is that all that detail is going to be lost on people that have no idea what any of it means. Not that I still wouldn't want to check it out. I just feel that I'd be missing a large part of what it was they were going for. As for the staying power of the franchise, I imagine only time can tell. With as many kids as there are all gaga over Potter, I'd have to think that they'll introduce their children to the stories and movies when that time comes. I could see it carrying a substantial following for some time to come. Obviously, Universal must have thought so as well, and they're in a better position to judge such things than I am.

I agree that changing it from Disney's to Disney does sound a little odd. I'm not sure if it will really matter one way or another though. Despite the fact that my kids have been to both parks of the DLR many times, they still don't really distinguish one park from the other to any great degree. I believe they probably represent your "average" teen parkgoers. They seem to think of all of it, including Downtown Disney and the Disney hotels, as what compromises what they know as "Disneyland". Considering they never visited before DCA existed, I guess I can kind of see their perspective to some degree, while I see both parks as distinctly different. The name change certainly isn't going to have any bearing on whether we visit the parks or not. Although DCA is lacking compared to its famous neighbor, I've always enjoyed it and expect that I always will.

And it rains, a lot.

I love it! Must have more Gertrude and Beth!

Nice report! I'm looking forward to more. Sorry my big head was in the way in your Shouka pictures.

I'm pretty sure it was the infamous Grizzly at CGA. To be fair, it was pretty darn smooth after all the track work that's been done. It still makes you wonder if it's actually going to make it around the first turn, but it was considerably smoother than when I last rode it. Robb made a solid effort at the presentation to point out that while it certainly isn't the best wooden coaster out there, it's definitely not the worst either, and that hopefully it can get out of that dead last spot on Mitch Hawker's poll. Considering my coaster count is low, I've still got to rank it last of the few woodies I've ridden though. Sorry about that, but it's just where it lands on my own short list.

Everything about Bay Area Bash was pure awesomeness! My kids will be working on a TR to post up soon. Thanks to everyone that made this weekend great.

I had no idea the Yeti was female. Is that actually the case?

I'm glad to hear that the Aladdin show won't be going away as soon as had been planned. I enjoy it, even after having already seen it several times. Even though many people probably go into the show with little more than the expectation of an air conditioned theatre to rest in for a while during a hot afternoon, most of the audiences I've seen become engaged in it and seem to really like the show. For a theme park stage show, I think it's exceptionally good.

However this all plays out, I certainly hope that Six Flags as a company recognizes the very noticeable difference in employee attitudes over the past few years. The 2 SF parks that I go to regularly, SFDK and SFMM, has made tremendous strides in employee courtesty / friendliness / helpfulness. That is in addition to having been generally cleaned up and refurbished / repaired / repainted. They really need to keep that up and hear that their guests do appreciate the efforts made. I look forward to new and exciting rides as well, but the change in atmosphere and employee attitudes are what really impressed me the most during the brief Shapiro era. Shapiro himself may have struck me on a not entirely positive note, (Whether it's fair or not, he just seemed kind of "mafia-greasy" to me. Maybe it was just the accent? I don't really know...) but I can't argue with the positive changes I experienced at the SF parks that I attend with my family while he was in charge. I'm glad to see the company in a better position from which to move forward and will hope for the best. P.S. I'm not entirely sure my use of parentheses will pass the copy editor's scrutiny.

I'll be there with my daughter on Saturday and youngest son on Sunday.

SCBB's Giant Dipper has a great tunnel. You drop in right out of the station for a twisty, slightly disorienting, old-coaster-grease odorific experience that culminates with a light-at-the-end-the-tunnel view of the upcoming lift hill. I really like that start to the ride, and it just gets better from there.

Well, you never know the circumstances... Maybe the mom was a really hardcore enthusiast. After getting off Canobie Corkscrew, the kid could have said something totally GP-ish, like, "Hey mommy, that ride was fun. Let's ride the loop-dee-loop coaster again." to which she may have responded, "Damn it little Billy! If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, Canobie Corkscrew has a double corkscrew, not a 'loop-dee-loop'. I'll bet you don't even know that it's an Arrow coaster that was previously at 2 other parks before being installed here! Now get over here and take what you've got coming!" -Slap!- "Don't you..." -Headlock!- "EVER!..." -Head punch!- "publicly embarass me..." -Hair pull!- "with your pathetic lack of coaster knowledge again! You were raised better than that!" If you ask me, it's entirely possible that her poor GP-ish kid may have brought this all upon himself and has now learned his lesson and will never spout such embarassing, uninformed foolishness again. (Of course I'm kidding) Sad story, really.

This is coming along nicely. The old haunted castle, while charming in its own way, had certainly seen better days. It's really good to see a smaller, classic seaside park like SCBB still adding or improving attractions. I'm looking forward to visiting this park again very soon, and again some time after the new haunted castle opens. Thank you for the updates. As mentioned before, people don't always post after an update is made, but I can assure you that there are plenty of us following the updates and I'm sure I speak for many when I say that we do appreciate that the effort is being made to provide them.

I had apparantley missed that post, and was pleasantly suprised to see a parking voucher show up in yesterday's mail. I re-checked the thread and there was the information about the FREE parking. Thanks again TPR for all the awesome perks you include with the events!

It's something they have set up on the forums to change what you write into something else. The same way that l0ckers turns into lockers, X D (with no space between the X and D) turns into XD, etc...

^ How about a dueling Vekoma with one side a sit down and the other side inverted? Oh wait, they already tried that, but the seats fall off.

How long until we get this Mickey? Not soon I hope. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKg0zRT8q-8

This should be fun. Yay for Gertrude and 100% Manly poses! 24. Shouka