roland303

That's too bad about Kings Island. I have wanted to go there since I heard about the Beast but as far as I can tell, there's no other reason to go to Cincinnati... .

Cool- Busch Gardens used to get a big thumbs down from all the high school kids I knew in Fort Lauderdale back in the late 80's. I gather that SF management can vary wildly from park to park. Is that true? I thought they were centrally managed and would think they would be a little more uniform, in terms of quality.

Ok, still being kinda new to the TPR boards, I still am checking out lots of stuff concerning parks and what people think of them. To be honest, I have not been to lots of parks in recent history, at first due to being broke-ass, and then to being a dad. Mini-history: I grew up in Kansas City and then moved to Florida when I was 12, and so the parks I know and remember (and even love) are- Worlds of Fun (very nostalgic about that place), Silver Dollar City (Fire in the Hole scared me to death), WDW, Epcot, Boardwalks and Baseball, and I've been to SFGA, Wild Waves in Seattle, Enchanted Forest/Thrillsville in Oregon, and lots of waterparks. Kinda partial to them, really. Ok, the point being is that I hear about some places (for example, Worlds of Fun) and its sounds like that, to a lot of people on these forums, that it has gone downhill, at least from what I remember. And I'm thinking No way, that place kicked ass when I was 10!! But obviously, things change and I want to know- What parks have gotten worse over the years? (And why would be helpful). And what parks have gotten better? Please cite an example why besides- it kicks ass or Duh, it has a Schwarzkopf, which seems to be enough for some people!

Technically, it's not awful business practice if they get a large enough party on a weekday and they pay a certain fee. It may make them more money and they don't have to staff as much either. So in that way, it's often not. I DO think that parks need to be very clear and communicate these kind of events well in advance via web, phone, signage, etc. To avoid confusing the general public who just wants to have a day with their kids. And going back to that Colorado thing; I think that's perfectly legit. I would have maybe thought it better to just give state residents (or locals) a hefty discount and not turn away the public but, hey, it's their park. It's like a big Chuck-E-Cheese and some annoying kids having a birthday party there- you probably don't want to be there anyways! Plus, why not book your own private day with your company or school or organization? Isn't that what ERT does?

botanist and daddy

Picard.

I love snowboarding and I have crosscountry skied before. But not alpine; just too late in the game for me to learn! I began in Oregon where I learned at Mt. Hood Skibowl (best night skiing ever!) and then went a lot to Timberline, Mt. Hood Meadows, Bachelor, and Hoodoo. All great places. Then I moved to cali and spend almost 100% of my time at Sierra Summit in the Central Sierras, where I work. It's a nice mountain, not too big but just about right for most days. Could snow a little more for my liking but ultimately I'm just happy snowboarding no matter what. Been to Tahoe before and it's great but a zoo. Dream trip? North Cascades/Central BC mountains heliskiing trip. that would be epic.... .

A personal belief of mine is that the Zipper is the incarnation of Satan on earth. I would rather run with the bulls or skate naked down a hill rather than sit in a Zipper again. They should rename it Vomit Cage or Last Rites, something more appropriate.

Thanks to Matty D's suggestion, pros and cons will be added to the list on my first post as the need arises! To me carnivals are the hybrid version of travelling circuses and flat-out bacchanalia, with less emphasis on the bacchanalia part. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that carnivals also came out of the actual Carnival festival from Europe, where feasting, orgies, and drunken revelry were done in order to break the gloomy spell of winter and to celebrate the anticipation of spring. At least two of those elements remain, I suppose!!

They had this waterslide in Branson built into the ground called Loop-the-Loop, and it was funny but I swear the banked turns were not high enough for the speed you would generate. there was one turn in particular that you could go all the way up on and touch the grass if you wanted. that scared the crap outta me. And there was a slide on the Six Flags water park in Fort Lauderdale that had similar banked turns but the slide was like 50 or 60 ft in the air on supports; not fun if you went over the top!!

Yeah, I guess you're right!

PROS: Experiencing actual death-defying thrills while riding a piece of equipment dating back to the Korean War. Hey, Loverboy is playing!! They have ninja swords for sale. From Japan!!! Genuine feeling of mortality, cheap food, pay-as-you-go, fun carny-watching! CONS: How can the smell of piss linger with you for so long? Hey, Loverboy is playing?! Carnies, cost, vomit They have Confederate flags for sale, too. Loud, scary, and the ones in the U.S. don't get crazy traveling Schwarzkopfs.

Who's coughing up the money? It's a big park for no known backers.

Thanks for the reply. I didn't mean to entirely dismiss carnivals as a deathtrap or that they were unsupervised, just a different sort of place from the more marketed, family-friendly theme parks that are more popular these days. And yes, I know the rides are inspected at a high interval during operation but so are theme park rides. The thing is that they recycle rides continuously, plus, one county's inspector may be more observant than another!

PROS: Experiencing actual death-defying thrills while riding a piece of equipment dating back to the Korean War. Hey, Loverboy is playing!! They have ninja swords for sale. From Japan!!! CONS: How can the smell of piss linger with you for so long? Hey, Loverboy is playing?! Carnies, cost, vomit They have Confederate flags for sale, too.

Yes!! Carnies are quite dubious! And vomit is definitely ubiquitous, especially outside the Zipper. PROS: Experiencing actual death-defying thrills while riding a piece of equipment dating back to the Korean War. Hey, Loverboy is playing!! CONS: How can the smell of piss linger with you for so long? Hey, Loverboy is playing?! Carnies, cost, vomit

PROS: Experiencing actual death-defying thrills while riding a piece of equipment dating back to the Korean War. Hey, Loverboy is playing!! CONS: How can the smell of piss linger with you for so long? Hey, Loverboy is playing?![/i]

I'm kinda new but I would like to ask what people think of carnivals, namely a list of pros and cons people can add to. I bring this up because of my repulsion/fascination with them and the whole experience. They used to be (and in some cases still are) the primary forms of entertainment using rides, games, attractions, music, and food to draw people in. But as a recent trip to any county fair or city "celebration" carnival will tell you, nostalgia has a pretty thin veneer when confronted with the unpleasant reality of today's ramshackle gypsy-snaggletooth parade of horrors (no offense to real gypsies). Here is my attempt at starting such a list of likes and dislikes of the modern carnival/fair: PROS: Experiencing actual death-defying thrills while riding a piece of equipment dating back to the Korean War. Hey, Loverboy is playing!! They have ninja swords for sale. From Japan!!! Genuine feeling of mortality, cheap food, pay-as-you-go, fun carny-watching! General Atmosphere (it's more of a party feeling!) all the crazy random stalls and rides that you don't get at your average theme parks. General amazement at carnival efficiency. Deep-fried Twinkies. CONS: How can the smell of piss linger with you for so long? Hey, Loverboy is playing?! Carnies, cost, vomit They have Confederate flags for sale, too. Loud, scary, and the ones in the U.S. don't get crazy traveling Schwarzkopfs. No Rollercoasters (generally - although the big ones have them occasionally), less variety of rides (some places will have two ferris wheels or multiple carousels) and obviously they are never as big as a theme park and don't have any theming - you can't really spend a day at a carnival/travelling fair just enjoying your surroundings and riding rides all day long! Capacity of the rides, since they are not designed for throughput. Hot Dr. Pepper (never had it, never will!!)

Well, as a fan of waterparks and "extreme" slides", it looks like a good step. And by that I mean I hope it translates into Stateside parks doing something similar. Or has someone already proposed this?

Well.... I went to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City when I was young (5 or 6) and was frightened/enthralled by these huge machines. My first memory is riding the Zambezi Zinger, a spiral lift coaster that is unfortunately somewhat rare these days. It was scary as sh** to me and the tunnel was pretty friggin' low (some rumors abound that people lost their hands on it) and I was hooked. Even the smell of blacktop smells good to me, as it brings back those memories of going to Worlds of Fun on summer weekends with family and friends... . Another memorable trip was to the defunct Boardwalk and Baseball in Orlando, Fl when I was 15. Like a carnival on steroids, it was pretty fun with tons of carny games and a pretty fun woodie. So now I get excited at the prospect of going to amusement parks or whatevers. My wife is not nearly as enthused, as she associates it with kids or some such thing, but when our little girl gets older, daddy will gladly take her to any park she wants!

1. What do you find most useful about the front page? The chronologically listed updates are good; and you break out special events, which is nice. 2. What do you find least useful about the front page? It's just a little cluttered and somewhat imposing when you first see the site. 3. Is anything on the front page confusing? The navigation bar stuff is a little small and the updates tend to be not very distinctive from each other. 4. How far do you scroll down the front page looking for updates? All the way, if I want to look for certain things. 5. How often do you look at the front page? Most of the time I'm on the site. 6. How often do you click on the "whatsnew" link? Almost never, now that you mention it. 7. What would you like to see added to the front page to make your visits to TPR better? Just better organization of updates and events, plus a less headache inducing font for categories. 8. Anything else you would like to mention? Like any thing else you would like to see us add/change/leave alone/etc? To be honest, when I first came across this site, it seemed rather unorganized and very "grassroots". That's not bad, but I was used to these other sites like Coasterforce, who have a rather slick graphic design and whatnot. So I actually would not visit this site due to that impression, until I realized you guys had some of the best content around, plus you're just one of the better humored sites around. So I was wrong about that first impression!

Aloha, I'm new here too. My name is jamie, originally from KC, and have lived in Florida, Hawai'i, Oregon, and now Cali. Robb and Elissa have a great site, and it's nice to see so many people into this!