Bolliger&Mabillard

I'm not 100% on this but I think it's Intamin that won't work with the park rather than the park not contracting Intamin. Something went sour in the Superman deal. Don't quote me on that, though.

Meet Dave 8/10 Just saw this movie right now. I thought I'd be a comedy of sorts, but it actually teaches you about love, which made it cool. I'm glad I didn't pay to see it, but I'd red box it if you haven't seen it yet.

^The tip to riding Riddlers (comfortably) is to kneel before the seats lock, and once they are lock, extend your legs to create as much space between your "jewels" and the seat... ...As for rides, Batman will win my vote in any survey. Obviously I have a thing for B&M's. Batman is just a pennicle of engineering. Even though it's long gone, Psyclone will always have a place in my heart. Sure it sucked and bruised the weak, but It was always open and never had a line. How many rides in the park could you say that about back in 2003?

I visited the three Texas parks this past summer. I don't mind sharing what I think is good and what I think is bad. Of course this is just my taste, but it will give you an Idea if you've never been. SFoT: Titan-Damn good ride. I know it's just Goliath with an extra helix, but that helix makes a big difference. I also think that Titan carries it's speed better and has a faster pace than Goliath. Mr. Freeze-If the choice were up to me, this would be the best coaster in the park. Sure it isn't the fastes or tallest ride out there, but the launch is thrilling, and the return through the tophot is slightly slower, giving you some massive hangtime. Batman-A Standard clone. Good, but you already know what to expect. Judge Roy Scream-Fun, concise out-an-back design. Not a high adrenaline thrill ride, but fun if you enjoy nostalgia Texas Giant-Think "Psyclone", but 45 seconds longer. Ride it for the credit, and forget that the ride even exisists. Tony Hawk: Credit.Nothing more. La Vibora-As awesome and fun as everyone says it is. Shockwave-I had fun, Oldie but a damn goodie! Cool non-credits: Yosimite Sam's dark ride. While not the best dark ride out there, I could see families enjoying rides like this over Mack wild mouse and GCI coasters. Superman Tower of Power-Simply the best S&S combo tower I've been on. Period. SFFT: Superman:Krypton Coaster-On my very exclusive list of best B&M's ever built. Raised to a cliff, dropped off the cliff, coming out of the vertical loop, then dropped off of it again. Also 10x more intense than Scream! Rattler-Another one of those "do it for the credit" rides. Not as rough as TG, but still pretty rough. Poltergheist-Cool Premire launch coaster, It's an off-the-shelf design, but it's still pretty cool. SWSA Steel Eel-Airtime, speed, swoops and dips, this ride is like a coaster geek's dream. Great White-Another Batman clone, you know it's good. Everything else is just a matter of choice. I hope you find my information insightful.

Looks damn sexy....nice work.

As good of a ride as Cal. Screamin' is, why did no other park buy one like it?

A Jumbo Jack and two tacos. $2.17

This is sad. "The Great Train Robbery" is one of my favorite books. RIP.

^If the 2nd Raven turn didn't bash your head, I'd know al lot of people that would beg to differ.

^I'd love to see a British company in the US market, just to see how they run their parks. Merlin would be the company I'd like to see get Magic Mountain if SFI falls next year.

^^And what do you base that on?

I am excited to see Obama as or president elect. I feel he is the best person for the job, and as much as I try to keep personal feelings out of politics, I'd have to say that as our first African American president, I'm really excited to see how this election turned out. I personally agree with his economic and foreign policies and hope that we will see a new America emerge from these vital first 100 days.

I agree that Zep will go to SFA...or at least I hope it does. Just paint it green and call it Riddler's Revenge East.

Let's see what I have in My Documents... Me sleeping on Pluto's bed @ Disneyland Me at friend's brother's wedding Me at a bus stop Me riding BART

I don't think any U.S. operator would pick up any Sea World parks as AB is what comes to mind for aquatic parks. I just can't see Cedar Fair or Disney or even further of a stretch Six Flags running any SW park.

The person leaving the line to go to the bathroom has actually physically left the line and is attempting to come back. I don't see what he did as line jumping since he's still in the line and has only just bought a drink or snack. It's not like his group is now at the front of the line, they're a few people ahead. I don't see why people have a problem with this one since it's not going to slow them down. They had 50 people before them when he was with his group, 49 when he got his snack, and 50 when he got back with his group; they didn't move. The only exception to this is when they physically leave the line for something, because than it's been a good deal longer than just stopping at a vending machine. If parks consider this line jumping then they should get rid of the vending machines in lines. Anyways, when I worked at Canada's Wonderland I spent a day off at the park with my cousins. We were waiting in line for The Bat and getting close to the front when a large group of people jumped the entire line and got in front of us. We told them to leave the line, but they said no and threatened us. I told them I worked there and I would get the supervisor of the ride to come and deal with them. They threatened us again, so I got the supervisor's attention and told him what happened. Security removed them from the line when they got to the station. When we got off the ride, the group looked ready to attack us, but luckily security was still around. Peerhaps I may have come off wrong...this is the point I was trying to make... I don't agree with vending machines or churro carts or whatever in lines because you'll run into this problem every single time.

But you also have to consider that if it rains agin THIS saturday, that's still 20k Guarenteed.

^That's tough to say, but many people WOULD consider that line jumping, including myself. If there is anything I learned as a ride operator is that if you want to be a fair person, you'd have to be consistent. What is the difference between what you did and someone leaving the line to go to the bathroom? What your group should have done was wait at the cart out of the way of everyone else unil you were all ready to go. It's like one of those "tough but fair" kind of rules.

if you stand up against the gate at Gr8 Sk8 you can see: Sidewinfer, Jaquar, Montezooma's, Silver Bullet, Xceleratorn and Supreme Screme in one view. If you turn your head you can see Ghost Rider too. Xcelerator will be down for at least two more weeks, as the problem with it was mechanical, the weather had nothing to do with it. Sidewinder relies heavily on magnetic braking which is effected by rain, so as a precaution they drop the second train.

^Thanks for the link! I can't imagine Disney operating any of Busch's parks. Yea, they're clean, efficient and outstanding parks, but none have quite that "Disney" feel to it.

For personal experience, I've seen tons of this as a ride op. It angers me because no one likes waiting in line, but they do it anyway. I was grouping at Riddler's Revenge two summers ago (When it gets busy we group from the top of the stairs.) when a group of three came up pushing and shoving and just walked through without even looking at me. I tell everyone in line to wait until I approch the group. They told me the had Flash passes. I laughed saying "Well why did you come through the line and not the Flash pass entrance?" Their answer was "The guy downstairs told us to". Good stuff since I was the grouper and I would've been that person, so I told them their was no one downstairs. So I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I asked to collect their flash pass. The answer I got, "We don't have to show you anything! You don't own this ride! (add your swearword of choice to this statement, as there were many) I told them no. but I operate it and you don't, so I'm one up on you. Show to keep the line moving I put them in row one, let them ride and when the train came back, we held them in their seats until security got there. Hope they enjoyed the ride seeing as how it was was their last one of the day! In general, as I think I heard Robb say before, I don't believe in that whole "I'm meeting up with my group" crap. I feel you enter the line as a group, you wait as a group, you ride as a group. Simple as that. You don't want to wait, don't go to theme parks.

I guess Russel Simmons is going to have to pump the brakes on his "De Jam Park" project in Salt Lake City...

*Ride Ops who make reriders exit and walk back when there is ABSOLUTELY no line, including no one walking in queue. *People who think height requirements are merely sugguestions and the correct person to complain about it to is the 16 year old ride op. *ACEr's (I have my reasons) *Park management that create ridiculous safety policies JUST for the sole reason NOT to be compared to their crosstown rivals *Cough* Knott's . Having half your rides closed for "lack of Staffing", yet all of your games and merchandise venues are wide open. Movie tie-in s for rides to attract families, yet the brands chosen appeal to teens.

Back when I worked as a Ride Op at Knott's @ Xcel: Guest:What are those fins for on the track? Me: They're brakes, in case the train doesn't make it over the top and rollers back into the station. G:What if it does make it over? M: That's why they retract, so they don't interfere with launching. G: Those things sound pointless, you guys should just hit an e-stop or something (I thought to myself at this point he was some dumb ACEr who LIKED riding coasters but didn't understand how they work) M: An e-stop wouldn't be very effective without brakes.

Y?- The Pharcyde