Bolliger&Mabillard

For $10 million they could demolish it and start from scratch.

^Home court advantage isn't goig to be that big of a deal for L.A. unless Cleveland makes it all the way. There's more competition in the east than west, so Cleveland will have to play tougher teams. L.A. won't have to work so hard to beat the teams here while Cleveland would more than likely get worn out faster. So even if they make it to the finals, will they be playing with the same intensity as they are now?

^^That sucks...I've tried to come back but someone elses' pride won't let that happen...lol!

^Oh I know, I just wanted to make it it clear that I don't consider it a coaster.

Lol! Janet still works at Xcel! Good times!

^Well it's not my opinion...I don't think it's a coaster. I consider it a flume ride. The PARK considers it a coaster

Yosimite Sam's River Adventure at SFOT was actually one of my personal favorites in the park. Sure the quality could have been better, but for what it was, it was a beautiful ride, with an original story and fun for just about anybody who rides it. For somereason there is no urgency for any park in the chain to mimic this ride. I'd lie to see one here, but one can dream... As for the internationals...when I worked there I asked about it, and how it was explained to me is that it's hard for them to run at full capacity without the additional staffing. Most of the park's seasonal employees come from either the San Fernando or Antelope Valley, which either isn't all that close, and convincing alot of people to commute upwards of 30 minute for 8 bucks an hour isn't as enticing as one would think. Of course this is how it was explained to me. I could have been misinformed, but this was the answer I received from management.

Perilous Plunge is counted as a coaster, making it the 10th they are referring to in the ads. The park classifies it as such because of it's chain lift and that it's course is entirely track, upstop wheels and all.

^Those were the "old Management" days where they would just build a new ride whether they had the money for it or not. Mark Shapiro is taking a more cautious approach as new rides are harder to come by for the chain nowadays. Back in 2002 the company felt that they didn't need to market new trains. the Shapiro administration feels it should.

I was actually referring to Texas Giant, but the same principle applies that corporate management at the moment are making some questionable decisions. Now I understand that marketing extensively rehabbed rides as "new" is an affordable way to get the turnstiles spinning, and I'm actually excited to see this transformation take place. I'm a big Superman fan and am familiar with the story behind him. There is no doubt in my mind that the theming will be better than what is was. I just hope that they stay practical in their budgeting.

From what I understand, X is a $10 upcharge per ride, so it's a one time fee for the additional 10 bucks, which I find wierd that more line control consideration was taken for X than Deja Vu, which is lower capacity. The crowds have not been heavy enough to NEED a flashpass, but we'll see how spring break fares.

Hey, what do you expect from a company that plans to spend 10 million dollars to renovate a ride that cost 5 and a half.

^^I don't think many people find the familarity of Bizzaro with reference made on Seinfeld. You know him from those reference, and a few other people may know, but I originally said A BROADER audience wouldn't necessarily know the story and background behind the character. Having said that, it's upto the revamp team and creative theming to provide the background behind the character. I'm going on a whim here, but that logic by itself does all but guarentee some sort of preshow/video prior to boarding. That way, you could justify naming a ride after a fairly unknown character if you use the queue to tell the story behind them.

^I'd have to admit that since Bizzaro has set to have been seen in any major film (which totally could have been the plot for Superman IV; Nuclear Man was an epic fail) He's not a character many would be familiar with, despite his dominant presence in the comic strip. I thinks it's a nice homage to people who follow the Superman storyline, but I think it's not going to be as recognizable to a very broad audience. I hate to link the two, but if SROS has been rethemed as a villain theme, and somehow Medusa is connected along with the rumor that the trains might be reversed...here's something to think about Mr. Mxyzptlk.bmp Mr. Mxyzptlk

What's next? Theming the Ride of Steel at America to Richard Pryor?

Steel Panther....er tomorrow.

^What about Ninja?

I don't think we'll see TDK out west. The two in 2008 weren't flops, but weren't a success in the same sense that EK or THBS was, so I expect to see a moderate coaster, but something still big enough to market. I'm hoping the 2010 coaster is something along the lines of Sierra Sidwinder @ Knotts, but obviously longer.

Man...did this guy call it or what?

Employye behavior is a factor I don't use when it comes to evaluating a park. Of course each case, person, and circumstance is different, but no matter how you look at it, a park has limimted control over how "nice" or "rude" their employees are. People have their own personalities, and they may not always reflect a "heads up" employee mentality in that personality. Some people are natually friendly, some are assholes, some are an assortment of the two. In most cases you can control how people act. If they suck at their job they'll get fired eventually, if they care about it they'll do well at it and progress through it, but because of free will, I don't add it in to the equation. I normally base a nice park on policies, ride upkeep and uptime/efficiency, cleanliness, what stores/foodstands are open, and more tangible traits. With that said, Knott's Berry Farm ain't winnin' no awards. It's a nice park, the ride selection is a litlle coaster biased, but the selection isn't bad. My beef with the park is that it's trying to become a major theme park on the scale of it's predecessor Cedar Point, however it's geographic and demographic location limits what it can provide. The problem is that Dick and Jack aren't letting that stop them. Also, rider policies and even employer ethics could be better. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom could close today and I don't think many people would miss it. If Magic Mountain follows suit as to how their flashpass system works, I fear GR getting swamped with guest complaints. We'll see....

I dont' think we're going to see much celebration for the park's individual anniversary, much like the 45th chain/35thfranchise celebrations in 2006. I've heard the Wiggles World rumor in 2011, but I hope that's not our "major attraction", I'm hoping for a non-coaster thrill ride. A drop tower or even a top spin. Something that's still fun, but cost effective.

I can't say why the ocean is drained, but Manta has a pilot car because Busch wanted a custom train, whereas Tatsu is a standard model.

In most cases, if not all cases, the park president and GM are about the only employees to know of rides coming to parks ahead of time. I'd like to see a full circuit launch as the park's next major ride.

^Not that agree with CF buying anything now, but if SF gets desperate enough, CF can restructure their own debt (admit it, their in at least a better ship than SF) then a sale of one or two MAJOR parks could happen. Of course this is all hypothetical, and is in all likeliness the last possibility of several to actually happen. What will most likely happen is CF will rebound, SF will find some way to stay afloat and end up in the same situation 15 years from now, and in the meantime we'll all go back to arguing over how much that rides that haven't opened or even been built yet underdeliver.

^In no way was my post intended to be derogitory in any way, so apologies if it did. I agree with you that Manta is not much shorter than Tatsu...and that it being short shouldn't mean it won't deliver. A prime example is the popularity of the Batman clone. Are there any BAD ones out there? Rough? Maybe. Too forceful? I'll give you that, but people who say they all out suck are few and far between. And who can deny that at 2700 feet this compact ride doesn't pack quite the punch. I look for Mant to be no different. Besides, it's only 300ft shorter than Tatsu, that's pretty much just the overbank turn, which that element doesn't do it for me anyway. But if it does indeed turn out to suck, I say blame the layout, not necessarily the length.