Bolliger&Mabillard

^There was alot of hype behind the Dark Knight, so I wouldn't get so excited.

^Either people will be busy eating on the actual day or shopping the day after, don't look for any huge crowds. Silver Bullet still may be down for rehad however.

Having been on Nitro, Steel Force, Steel Eel, Titan, Millenium Force, Titan and Goliath, I'm going to have to say that the last two were by far the weakest of the type....and it's pretty hard to beat out Millenium Force as a "weak hyper". After the drop thats about as steep as the lift, you have a decent floater airtime hill and a forceful helix, but for a ride like say, Nitro-that has all the before mentioned, with ass-loads more airtime is a far better ride. Goliath stacked up against other rides of its type just isn't that good. Stand alone, it's okay, but Robb nailed it-For anyone that has been on other hypers elsewhere-Goliath all but sucks.

^They're fun. Zoom's much better though.

On a recent trip to MM, another guest asked an employee where the bathrooms were. The employee didn't know so I blurted out (in a friendly tone of course) They're located across from the season pass processing. Couldn't help it. I still know that park like the back of my hand.

^I think that's the problem everybody has with this whole Demon Drop fiasco. When it gets to the point where your best strategy for the family market is a 32 year old shuttle loop, and a 27 year old drop tower, you may have to go back to the lab on a few things...

Does anyone think that the cost to pay licensing fees and rebranding the park is all that practical of an idea right now when the current brand there now isn't horribly outdated? It's easir for Disney to do because save for Nightmare before Christmas and The Twighlight Zone, all new inductions into the parks are Disney owned.

Was and still is.

This actually made me laugh for a split second. I'd like to see something like a high-profile thrill ride in tomorrowland. And I also want to join the campaign to bring back the originality of Disney's rides. I mean, they make movies based on the rides there, what happens when you add nothing but rides based on movies?* *Wave after wave of sequels and direct-to-dvd movies...

Yes. They do. The whole thing is a lightning rod. But at least it kept the Dippin' Dots cart safe...

^I have a feeling that we'll see original rides in DLP before DCA. I think Disney wants to use that park as an outlet and due to wanting to up those attendance numbers. In order to do so, you have to use names, sights, and movies people are already familiar. I can completely understand why they'd go this route. It's easier to sell Cars than an original story (albeit it would more than likely be better than Cars). If you were to go with a ride with a storyline built from the ground up, you couldn't use the name recognition of "it's right across from Disneyland". If that actually worked, DCA would have pulled more than 5,000,000 visitors last year when it's older sister just a few hunred yards away pulled almost three times that.

If it didn't offsett the losses, then it didn't work. Agreed.

^I'd moreso say that the "STAYcation" theory was just something that workerd in theory. Single day admission is always a variable. Somedays people come in droves-somedays they don't. The one constant thing seasonal parks tend to see is groups, private parties, and special events. Something the chain claims to have seen a drop in.

I think that with the global economic market the way it is now, its cheaper to make your Halloween event the big ticket item than a new ride in the spring.

^^Manbearpig is nothing to joke about! I'm serious.

Daytime talkshows. Men are portrayed as jerks, assholes, pervs, cheaters, etc. Women can be under the same fire as men, but are generally looked at as "victims" in these situation.

^If my opinion means anything you...you didn't miss anything. It was basically Psyclone but longer. Imagine riding Psyclone with 30 more seconds of cycle time...

and may it never end...

See here's the thing about Knott's and it's last few additions that I've seen issue with (up to and including Demon Drop) Now this isn't bashing Knott's or Cedar Fair in any way, just some things I've noticed that I personally feel would've been a better decision. GhostRider is a cool ride (minus the roughness). It's a nice, long, big wooden coaster, and wooden coasters have always been a staple to amusement parks. The fact that 90% of it extends either out of the park or backstage keeps it's placement in the Historic Ghost Town tranquil and fitting. Many people can ride with the minimum height requirement at 48", so child swapping is kept to a minimum. Thumbs up on adding GhostRider. Supreme Scream. Yea, the height requirement is 52", so unless you're over 4' tall (pointing at children) you can't ride. SE DOES however add to the thrill factor of the park. It's not too extreme, immpecable safety record, low maintenence, and decent capacity, it gave guests a reason to forget that WindJammer was never open (and might I add is doing a great job at easing the pain on guests that Xcelerator's not open...but we'll get to that in a bit) Thumbs up on adding Supreme Scream. Perilous Plunge filled the void of soaker attraction in the park...(despite Bigfoot Rapids having it's geysers turned off, but for safety reasons, so you can't complain about that too much). Perilous was Knott's attempt to become a park that plays host to a "world's most" type attraction, which many would consider to be unfitting for "the friendliest place in the west". The ride did add water to the Boardwalk area, which prior to the addition of Perilous, the Boardwalk had no water...go figure. Save for vanity an a steepest drop on a water attraction, the problematic operations, horribly designed capacity, and reprofiling of the boats that cause a less than desirable splash, Perilous' novelty wore off the same time the new boat smell did. Thumbs down on adding Perilous Plunge Intamin shook the coaster world in 2002 with the inception of the hydraulically launched "Xcelerator". Never brefore has a coaster been able to pack such an intense jettisen, in a compact amount of space while conserving so much energy compared to it's magnetic predessesors. Getting up to 82 mph in 150 feet isn't something to be scoffed at, but in the same respect, this sinngle addition would be the blueprint for things to come at Knott's and the direction the park would be driven of this decade. Many parks would love to have a rocket coaster-when they run, but when the type rears it's ugly head of overheating, proximity sequence errors, mechanical foleys, and overall a "maintence nightmare", Xcelerator has just as much a reputation of "the ride that's never open", as it does the "coolest ride in the park. Can go either way on adding Xcelerator. Silver Bullet is a fun ride. Silver Bullet is a reliable ride. Silver Bullet is a high capacity ride. However, Silver Bullet has the single highest height restrictions in the park. Silver Bullet not only shows that the park made no attempt to make this ride blend into the celebrated scenary of Ghost Town, it almost as if it were intended to stick out like a sore thumb. The ride itself is no major nusance, but up to Bullets first dispatch for guests on December 7th, 2004, Knott's Berry Farm had gone 9 years without a true "family addition"-and the drought would continue. Silver Bullet was nothing more than a manifestation of the park's parent company doing to Knott's what it does to all it's parks, "build 'em high, build 'em fast". That formula has long worked for the thrill oriented market in mind, but Knott's has never truly been a strong player in the thrill market. Knott's made it's claim to fame from taking a piece of American history in the region and bringing that history to life through shows, rides, theming, and atmosphere, Silver Bullet was a harsh reminder that these things that helped establish what Knott's was, was exactly it...what Knott's Berry Farm WAS. As marketable as a B&M invert is, there are far more practical ways to keep attendance high without catering to the small and virtually penniless thrill market. Thumbs down on adding Silver Bullet. Sierra Sidewinder marketed as a family ride just seems odd to me, considering it replaced a BETTER family ride with lighter rider restrictions that could've been enjoyed by far more people...dare I say the entire family. Perhaps I'd think more highly of this ride if it were placed somewhere that could've been an addition to the coaster lineup, rather than "Well, it replaced Walter K. Steamboat...but the height requirement's only 42" so it's great for families". Sidewinder may very well be great for families, but Steamboat was BETTER for families. Thumbs down on adding Sierra Sidewinder. Pony Express. Where to begin with Pony Express. I would’ve much rather seen Knott’s spend $10 million in park renovations (log/mine ride updating) than buy P90X. It’s too short for it to really do anything, with the lack of restraints, it heralds a 48” height requirement, despite the fact it’s one of the more tame rides they offer, and in terms of diversity, offers what two other coasters in the park already do. Talk about continuity! Thumbs down on adding P90X Demon Drop….it is what it is. I think a park like Michigan’s Adventure or heck even Gilroy Gardens could’ve used this ride Waaay more than Knott’s could have. Ballpark figure…if it costs $1.5 million to dismantle, ship, reassemble, program, and open Demon Drop, I think it would’ve been much more practical to use that money to aid a hurting operations, use to once again improve park quality, and maybe even touch up or add new shows, the parks claim to fame to begin with. Just because coasters and thrill rides keep the turnstiles spinning doesn’t mean it’s the only thing that will. Thumbs down, not on adding Demon Drop, but on the thought that this was the best thing the park could do for next season, despite recent ride additions in 2007 and 2008. There are other areas in the park that could use updating.

^^All of any ride's forces are dictated by the train's center of gravity. Whether facing forward or back, this gravity point would not change, it would just be traveled in reverse. It's possible, just not practical.

Sounds Awesome. I can't wait to see it tomorrow. I'd love to know what you thought of it.

Hmm...Six Flags Magic Mountain introduced four major rollercoasters in four years: Goliath, 2000 Deja Vu, 2001 X, 2002 Scream!, 2003 Cedar Fair took a themed park with a quaint charm and a historic background and added Perilous Plunge in 2000, Xcelerator in 2002, Silver Bullet in 2004, Sierra Sidewinder in 2007, and Pony Express in 2008-all of which overcrowded the park with steel-not flesh. With the addition of a 27 year old drop ride to headline cap-ex for 2010, the next 10 years aren't looking great for Knott's next year. Walt's original Magic Kingdom became a resort in 2001 with the expansion of Disney's California Adventure and Downtown Disney. Cedar Point introduced the worlds tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world in Top Thrill Dragster-circa 2003, only to be one upped in 2005 with Great Adventure's Kingda Ka...almost as if Six Flags gave Cedar Fair a 456 ft. middle finger for trying to become a "world's blank-est" type chain. A coaster surge in the Far East. A surge in internet forums with adolescent males becoming experts in the them park management field. A change of Leadership at the helm of Six Flags promising a change in business, only to have done the same thing as the previous leadership...but much much cheaper. The accquisition of BEG to blackstone, giving a great company with a bleek future to rise to prominence in the next decade The induction of Mr. Six as the face of the chain in 2002, his death in 2007, and his rebirth in 2009. Cedar Fair thinking it was going to be "smarter" than Six Flags, buying the Paramount chain...and finding itself in debt...and propoing to sell three parks ...and others, who weren't so lucky.

THIS IS IT: 11/10 Michael Jackson was an amazing musician, dancer, and a humble, hardworking human being. That concert series would've ROCKED, and would have reestablished him as the best in the game. Jackson is no longer with us but his talent will remain a part of our memories forever.

^^I can't quite understand the reasoning of "family invert" you use. It's just a tame ride. Take for example a Batman clone. or Top Gun, heck even Raptor for the sake of the arguement. Each of the three previously mentioned rides are WAAAY more forceful than Silver Bullet...but here's the zinger....Bullet has the same rider requirements! If it was families Knott's had in mind with Silver Bullet, they wouldn't have bought a B&M. It would have been a Vekoma Jr. SLC. Knott's just wanted a tame coaster...and that's what they got.

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