Bolliger&Mabillard

Deja Vu-At the only park that still has one.

^ To adress the "SFMM Phenonenon". I will be the first to tell you that SFMM has made dramatic changes, but one question you have to ask in that situation is, "Are these changes the average guest would even notice?" I have not seen a dramatic change in management that constitutes a second golden age for the park, or at least not yet. I appreciate the work, but there's still work that needs to be done. As for the KBF issues. Filling a park with "The summer's next hottest attraction" works so well with other parks, simply because they are "summer parks". Even with a park like SFMM that's open weekends throughout the year, they still make the bulk of their money in summer operation. Knott's has a disadvantage of being open the rest of the year, or at least management makes it a disadvantage. To the collage of coaster track in Fiesta Village/Ghost Town/Camp Snoopy: I don't blame the management for clustering rides in this area. Land is not a factor they have to work with, and with SFMM so close of striking distance they have to market something. They can't be too much of a family park because they'd get killed (horribly) by Disneyland. They can't boast themselves as a thrill park, because there is no way they'd ever fit rides like X or Tatsu there. The issue is, after Labor day is over, all the kiddes and college students are back in school, mom and dad have used up all there vacation time, and everyone has seemed to rack up a debt from all there trip spending, Knott's stays open daily while its main crosstown rival stands by its lonesome weekdays. The problem is, they have to find stuff for everyone else to do between September-May. With the erratic way the park is expanding, it's hard for "everyone" to enjoy the park as most people who visit the park in its off-season are in fact elderly people who enjoy it's heritage and I can only guess that looking at eyesore coasters that they themselves would not ride is discomforting. However, the management at Knott's is doing what any business strives to do, which is turn a profit. The Six Flags management of old used similar tactics which didn't work, but you can't blame it on them. They were trying to make a profit the only way they knew how. It didn't work so they rebuilt. As for the theme park turnover rate: Theme parls have horrible turnover rates for several reasons and can seldomly be pinpointed to one specific thing. For starters, minors from experience do not have the same work ethics as adults, primarily because most of them do not need to work for living income as opposed to expenditure income. I am not saying this is the case for everyone, but let's face it, someone who needs to pay bills is more apt at keeping their job as opposed to someone who works just to pay for the prom. I know Knott's has a horrific turnover rate in the rides department (I am in this statistic) due to extremely strict safety rules and un-empathetic management staff. If you have no sense of job security, you don't work to your best potential. In short, I think Cedar Fair is moving forward, Knott's as it is being damaged, but severe changes like seasonal operation can fix it. A lot of people complain that CF can't run a year round park. So far, they're proving those critics right.

^Iheard yesterday was horrible. Xcelerator was down from 11-6 and PE was down from 12 to 5.

^I demand video!

^What a difference home court makes. I hope that at the very least the Spurs keep their winning mentality in San Antonio

Shooting lights out down the stretch, on the road...That's something to tip your hat to. The Celts have their work cut out for them. If The Pistons can keep the Celtics winless on the road, who knows what could happen...heck they couldn't beat the Hawks at home!

^Makes sense, nothing is Mexican themed in Baja ridge. (not even the Panda Express)

Dive Machines don't really look like they offer much

I'm just happy that it will be open after a long six months.

The Pistons won in Boston...uh oh.

Take-home final is psych class. Hell Yea! I'm cheatin' my ass off!

Don't get me wrong, Scream is one of the better rides in the park...It never has a line and has minimal downtime. Sure it has a rattle to it, but the fact that it's always open and never has longer than a half hour wait even in peak makes it an ok ride. The zero-g is the only cool park about that ride.

I know for a fact that rollercoasters go into developmental stages years before they open. I'm sure that Tatsu for exampe, was already blueprinted when Scream opened, so I don't think the 2009 coaster was scrapped in any way. If it has been confirmed at this point I'm sure development for it began shortly after Tatsu opened. Now for more speculation, If the 2009 coaster were a woodie, those don't cost much to build. A decent woodie for a park the size of MM would run about 4-5 million. Adding a wild mouse that is already fabricated (and paid for) wouldn't hurt. One thing people seem to be neglecting in these speculations is marketing. Tourists want to travel to the park with the most of something, the fastest of something, the tallest of something, etc. Putting a larger roller coaster in BBW would draw a crowd as well (a la Sierra Sidewinder-KBF). I see it happening, will it? Probably not, but an enthusiast can dream.

^With that said...can I count Bart's imitation of Mickey in The Simpsons Movie?

I would definately say that the subway cars kick major booty. Out of all the parks not operated by Disney or Universal, I'd say that theme for this ride is heavy, which I think does a great job enhancing the ride experience. I give it a thumbs up for looking nice, but I haven't ridden it, so there is only so much I can say.

If indeed this is a hyper, one question I have is, "Will this ride feature the original hyper trains, or the tiered seating like Behemoth?"

^^Or if they go back to their plan to take the coaster throne back by opening both rides and put the coaster count back up to 17.

I have never had a bad experience at DL or DCA, or any park for that matter. Disney just stands out because the atmosphere is just more family oriented. I think most of people's problems stem from wanting to complain. It's very rare I will encounter a problem so bad that I have to complian about it...but it does happen.

The color scheme looks great! Fantastic PTR. As a big fan of B&M (obviously) it's nice to see this ride go to a park that will properly market it.

If the Bulls still had Brand, Chicago would be a much better team. If the Clippers get too good, they feel they're doing something wrong. I see Gordon getting traded and becoming a headliner somewhere else. I mean it happened for every othe player except for Jamaal Crawford and Eddy Curry.

As a former employee of both a Six Flags and a Cedar Fair park, I would not complain about certain things such as a "minimum rider requirement" or "rain policy". There are some things you learn as an employee that most guests, or even enthusiasts would not know. In that same respect, you learn things about manufactures (if you care about learning about your ride). Here are some examples to clear some of that up: Goliath at SFMM cannot run unless there ar 15 riders due to weight distribution when the train hits mid-course and main brakes. Vekoma boomerangs and giant inverted boomerangs require a minimum of 6 riders to operate. That is a rule from the manufacturer Xcelerator at KBF cannot run in rain because the water on the launch causes the wheels to loose friction with the track and cause a "short shot" or a rollback, which causes the ride to go down. Most B&M's cannot cycle in windspeeds higher than 25 mph because they have a chance to valley. Things people CAN complain about: All B&M's are designed with a "RAIN MODE" which enables it to run without slipping through drive tires/pinch wheels, BUT it requires one train operation. Waiting in a long line for a ride that generally never has a long line. (If you see ride ops. working hard, but see they're understaffed, yell at guest relations, and not the ride) If employees are rude. One of the biggest issues is the "No Preferred Seating" policy. That is a double edged sword and here is why. A grouper is designated to assign people where to go for two reasons, one to keep the line at a steady flow and two wait times at all points at approximately the same wait. Problems people seem to have with the grouper: They can't sit where they want They are rude Problems people seem to have with NO grouper Linecutting Longer waits for front sections with shorter waits for back sections crowding/stagnant flow near queue gates

^In the playoffs, yes Horry will be on the floor, regular season, I've never seen a guy 6'10'' miss so many dunks...UNCONTESTED

Haunted Mansion at Disnryland, As you are looking at the dinner/dancing seen there are three plates shaped to Mickey's likeness on the right hand, next to last in the right bottom corner. Hollywood Tower of Terror At Disney's California Adventure, the girl in the pre-show is holding a Mickey doll.

^I think how they convince B&M is by being their biggest client.

^I stand corrected.