Mechanic

Morning ERT, if that was the only part of the event that you wanted to partake in, was free with sign up. (Park admission not included) The full day event which included an event T shirt, breakfast, lunch, the tours, the Q&A session, presentations by Six Flags and industry reps, a screening of the latest Coaster Expedition video, along with morning and night ERT, and free parking, was $20.00. Park admission for that day was discounted if you were coming for the event. I don't remember the exact price of the park admission, but I think it was $18 or $20. (We had season passes, so we didn't have to pay the park admission.) Although I tend to be a cheapskate by necessity, and I don't really want to give them any ideas, they could double the price of the event and you'd still be getting WAY more than your money's worth.

The only way this thread could get any better is if we find out that this coaster is actually a launched inverted flying floorless dive machine that is going to be built by NASA... ON THE MOON! P.S. It also wouldn't hurt if there were internet strippers at the press conference.

^ Thank you very much for that information.

Speaking of magic towels...

I had the privilege(?) of seeing that performance live in person. MJ was an amazingly talented and energetic performer at one time. It really is a shame that he developed such an attraction to prepubescent boys (and God only knows what else).

My color vision will sometimes briefly fade to gray on SFMM's Goliath during the helix. The pretzel on Tatsu feels more intense to me, but I don't have any issue with graying out on it. While the force on Goliath is not as intense, it's drawn out over a relatively long period of time at a pretty consistent level. As a comparison, Tatsu's pretzel continues to build intensity as you go down and then the force quickly diminishes as you climb back up. Of course, there are also the very different riding positions of each coaster that no doubt play their part as well.

Reading this thread makes me wish I'd ridden Ghostrider in its heyday. I've had a mixed bag of ride experiences on it over the last 5 or 6 summers. The really rough, spine-jarring rides have outnumbered the more pleasant circuits. It's definitely worse in the back of the train, but that's where I seem to prefer to ride most coasters as I really like the feeling of being whipped over the drops. It would be nice to see the coaster restored to even a semblance of the glory spoken of in its early years. edit: ^ Pscyclone, in my experience, was considerably worse in the last couple seasons before its ultimate demise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK0dhanq-Lo&feature=related

The careerbuilder.com ad hit so close to home that it became my favorite by default.

The game wasn't really poorly officiated as much as it was maybe a bit over-officiated. We can all Monday-morning-quarterback it to death, but no blown call determined the outcome of the game and the replay system worked as intended.

That turned out to be a good game in the 4th quarter. Congratulations to the Steelers on their unprecedented 6th Super Bowl Championship and to the Cardinals for making the game competitive.

16/20. An all time high for lucky guesses for me.

Gilroy Gardens is a great little park. With as many trees and plants as they have, it's fairly amazing to note that the only tree in the park that is not a transplant is the tree that is in the center of the Artichoke Dip ride. As stated by Big Mike and Coaster Palooza, the car ride is awesome. If you ever have the chance to see it during the park's "Holiday Lights" seasonal offering, do not miss it. As nice as the two courses are in their standard operating mode, they are even better during the holidays as the Twelve Days of Christmas are played out during the ride as a series of lighted displays that are VERY impressive. Most all of the attractions in the park are well suited to the relaxed, family friendly atmosphere. As nice as the park is, a family wooden coaster and/or a log flume would really be a nice fit here. I hope they are able to expand the ride offerings someday. Thanks for the photos and report.

The questionable officiating in that game helped more than just a little as well.

If anyone is willing to share their findings on good deals on nearby hotel rooms, I'd definitely be interested to hear about them. For what it's worth, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Simi Valley for last year's WCB. It's certainly nothing fancy, but it was clean and comfortable for $54 a night through Hotwire. If you search Hotwire for Simi Valley and a 3.5 star hotel for $54 comes up, chances are that's the hotel. I searched Hotwire again today and that same offer still shows up. It's a little over a half hour drive to the park from there, but it's all freeway and there was very little traffic on our way to the park Sunday morning. Ideally, I would prefer to stay closer to SFMM. The primary issue with that was the rooms I was able to find in the Valencia / Santa Clarita area were almost all nearly double or triple the price of the $54 room in Simi Valley. Since we needed 2 rooms to accommodate our group, the price savings was significant. I'm looking forward to hearing from anyone that finds a similarly priced room that's closer to the park.

With all the park projects underway for Dubailand, surely they'll have to start building track for them at some point, right? I honestly have no idea where this track is going but that seems like as reasonable a guess as any.

Will you watch? Of course I will. I've watched every Super Bowl since Super Bowl X. I, along with my father, attended Super Bowl XXVII. On an unrelated note, we actually met and spoke briefly with O.J. Simpson, along with a number of less infamous, but still famous, then current and retired NFL players at that game. O.J. was very approachable and accommodating. I'm sure glad I never met him in a dark alley after dating his ex-wife though. If I had, our encounter may have not been nearly so pleasant. It's just that my overall level of enthusiasm for this season's playoffs, and now the Super Bowl, is relatively low when compared with how much I usually anticipate the games. It won't surprise me to see the ratings for this Super Bowl drop from last year. I'll expect the Steelers to win and be pleasantly surprised if the Cardinals can pull off the upset, but in either event the outcome just doesn't seem like such a big deal this year. Does anyone remember much about Super Bowl XXXIII when the Broncos beat the Falcons? No? Really? No plays really stand out in your memory? Me either. That's kind of how this one feels to me even before it's played.

Wasn't that show riddled with subtle drug references? Well, that depends on what kind of "stuff" you think they may have been "Puffn".

I was referring to TV market size in the comparison of New York and Boston (homes of the teams that played in last year's most watched Super Bowl ever) to the TV market size of Pittsburgh and Glendale. I did use the term fan base, and that was an error on my part. I will not deny that the Steelers do have a large and loyal fan base despite their relatively smaller TV market size. The Cardinals.. Not so much. Of course, the big game has a national audience, but the market size of the teams involved does have an effect on overall viewership and general interest in the game. My interest in this matchup, and just about the entire bracket of teams that comprised this year's playoff picture, was pretty low right from the time the playoff teams were set. If your interest is greater than mine, then that's great for you. I'm just not feeling it.

It would be difficult to top last year's event, but we can certainly hope they try. If it's even half as good as last year, it'd still be awesome.

Done.

Ok, fair enough. I guess I should have qualified my statement by being more clear and saying no "large market" Northeast team. Any way you slice it, Pittsburgh definitely is not New York or Boston when it comes to comparing the fan bases, which was my point. Furthermore, while seeing the "Cowgirls" (as you refer to them) choke was certainly very hard to take for any long time fan, I don't recall complaining about it. So I'm really not sure what you mean. Well, maybe it isn't you, but someone sure is watching them, whether they admit it or not. Don't take my word for it though.. Click here for proof from the Nielsen ratings.

The Steelers are opening as a 6-1/2 point favorite and that seems about right. I'd much prefer to see the Cardinals win, but I wouldn't bet on it. There are a lot of factors that seem to stack up in Pittsburgh's favor. The same could be said about the Eagles though, and they were sent packing. I guess we'll just have to see it play out on the field. This entire postseason, except for the Cinderella story Cardinals, has been fairly disinteresting so far, (If not a total snooze-fest) as evidenced by TV ratings that are way off the mark from last year. I expect this Super Bowl will continue that trend. The NFL puts out a great product for sure, but with no Northeast or West coast teams, nor the Dallas Cowboys, (Even you haters KNOW you watch them, the numbers don't lie) left in the picture, it just doesn't have the same allure that it otherwise would. I'm SO ready for next season already.

I think I'm going to have nightmares now.

Happy slightly belated Birthday Big Mike!