larrygator

Thank you Urban Dictionary FYI - Just so everyone fully understands ERT. Parks do not open up rides out on the goodness of their hearts. ERT is paid for by the sponsoring club or organization.

That pretzel girl had BIG pretzels. I am actually talking about the pretzels.

Something doesn't add up. $6,000,000 to run the park. 300,000 people spending $20 each on tickets/wristbands covers $6,000,000. You can't tell me that place doesn't pull in 300,000 a year. The park has 100 operating days, that 3,000 people a day. Parking is $7 on weekends, $5 on weekends. 500 cars a day = about $250,000 a year. The food vendors have to be paying rent for their booths, also. If it really costs only $6,000,000 a year to run, I don't see how they don't at least break even. When Clementon Park was sold a couple of years ago, financial statements showed them with $1,500,000 in annual revenue.

Yes, it sure is. The good PTRs have a lot of useless threads, that have been back from the dead, to compete with this week.

thank you Laura "You done good"

Glad to hear that Cowabunga Bay is stil a hit and that the Attic is not empty.

Dave and Mike - thanks and mahalo. I'll be trying to complete some of the Midwest/Middle America parks myself over the next two weekends. For this first listing of rides we need any pictures you have of the ride: USA/Canada Canada's Wonderland - Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (need ride vehicle and inside building) Cliff's - Fireball Dixie Landin’ – Cajun Collision, Hot Shot Frontier City – Ol 89er Express Funtown Splashtown – Bumper Cars, Classic Carousel Joyland (Texas) – Bumper Cars, Dare Devil Drop, Carousel, Musik Express, Paratrooper, Rock-o-Plane, Roll-o-Plane, Spider, Space Shuttle, Trabant, Tilt-A-Whirl Kings Island - Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (need inside ride and cars) Lakeside – Starship 2000 La Ronde - Ednor Quassy - Free Fall n Drop Universal Hollywood - King Kong Wonderland (Texas) – Bumpers Cars, Scrambler, Shoot the Chute UK Botton’s Pleasure Beach – Cup and Saucer, Dodgems, Gallopers, Rockin Tug Camelot – Cup and Sorcerer Flamingoland – Dodgems Gulliver’s Warrington – Barrel Ride, Cycle Monorail, Joker, Sky Tours Observation Tower, Tree Tops Swing Legoland Windsor - Fairy Tale Brook, Longboat Invader (Rockin Tug), Sky Rider, Spinning Spider, Thunder Blazer, Train Paulton's Park - The Edge Pleasure Island – GoGator, Falls of Fear, Galleon Germany Hansa Park – Sturmvogel (Mondial Supernova) Heide Park – Kaffeetassan (Tea Cups), Koggenfahrt (Himilaya type ride) Holiday Park - Holly's Wilde Autofahrt Kernie's Familienpark - Kernie's Boot (Rockin Tug), Flying Carousel, Tea Cups, Disk-O Denmark Farup Sommerland – Wave Swinger, Tekopperne (Tea Cups) Tivoli Friheden – Forhindringsbane (Obstacle Course) France Mer de Sable – Riviere Sauvage, Train du Desert, Jungle des Chikapas (Indoor Tow Boat), Babagattaux (Outdoor Tow Boat) Parc Saint Paul – Le Dino Splash (Flume), Chateau Hante, Bateaux Mississippi (Swinging Ship), Carousel 1900, Les Chaises Aeriennes, Tacots 1900 (Antique Cars), Tabogliss (Slide), Voitures Tampoeusses (Bumper Cars) Sweden Grona Lund – Kuling (Rockin Tug) Spain Parque d'Attractiones Madrid - Los Rapidos, Noriavision (Ferris Wheel), Vertigo, Star Flyer China Chengdu – Family Coaster, Jungle Mouse, Loop Screw (*) Suzhou Amusement Land - Junior Coaster, Space Adventure (*) Suzhou Giant Wheel Park – Stingray (need photos) Japan Kamine – Dragon Coaster, See Through Coaster (*) Kashiikaen – Bun Bun Coaster, Rushing Coaster Lina World – Hello Kitty Angel Coaster, Scramble Coaster, Super Coaster Pleasure Garden – Mad Mouse, Through the Woods Jet Coaster (*) Rusutsu – Corkscrew, Mountain Coaster (*) Sendai Highland – Dragon, Loop the Loop (*) Space City – Space Switchback (*) Suntopia – Loop the Loop (*) Utsunomiya Zoo - (*) For the following rides we only need pictures of the ride sign: USA/Canada Bowcraft – Crossbow, Dragon Canada's Wonderland - Zoom Zone Cedar Point – Witches’ Wheel Galaxyland – Autosled, Mindbender, Space Shot Ghost Town in the Sky - Cliffhanger Marineland - Ladybug Coaster, Topple Tower, Skyhawk Western Playland - Bandido, Miner Coaster UK Flamingoland – Navigator, Sky Flyer Legoland Windsor - Extreme Team Challenge, Jolly Rocker, Wave Surfer Pleasure Island (UK) - GoGator Other Europe Hansa Park – Kettenflieger (Swings), Die Glocke (Bell), Power Tower Linnanmaki - Pilotti Power Park – Pegasus (Evolution) Sommerland Syd - Kaemperutshebanen, Tornado, King Kong Karrusel (Calypso), Svingeren (Wave Swinger) Tivoli Friheden – Forhindringsbane (Obstacle Course) Walibi Rhone Alps - Boomerang, Coccinelle Other Asia/Australia Adventure World (AUS) - Dragon Express Chengdu – Family Coaster, Jungle Mouse, Loop Screw (*) Kamine – Dragon Coaster, See Through Coaster (*) Kashiikaen – Bun Bun Coaster, Rushing Coaster (*) Lina World – Hello Kitty Angel Coaster, Scramble Coaster, Super Coaster (*) Pleasure Garden – Mad Mouse, Through the Woods Jet Coaster (*) Rusutsu – Corkscrew, Go Go Coaster, Hurricane, Loop the Loop, Mad Mouse, Mountain Coaster, Standing Coaster, Ultra Twister(*) Sendai Highland – Dragon, Hurricane, Loop the Loop, Mad Mouse (*) Space City – Space Switchback (*) Utsunomiya Zoo - (*) Zhongsang Park –Inertial Coaster (*) As the Submission feature in the Park Index is currently disabled, the best way to currently submit a ride photo is to download the photo into this thread. Remember photos must be .jpg should not exceed 800x600 (Unfortunately, in the past many people have submitted photos that are too large for TPR to use or in pdf form.) High quality photos, please (not blurry, distorted or out of focus). Lastly, we are not adding kiddie rides or major upcharges at this time, but we are at the point where family rides such: transportation rides, carousels, ferris wheels and bumper cars are being added. We are also not adding FECs (Family Entertainment Centers) to the Park Index. Our current rule of thumb is to includes places that have 6 or more adults rides. And if you have to ability to scan your park maps, feel free to submit those for the years that all not already in the Park Index. Of course any PTRs containing superior photos or entertaining captions and a variety of pictures including multiple rides and areas (Not just one or two rides/attractions) are always valued. Attention has been given to every previously submitted Photo TR. Don't feel discouraged if we can't include every one. Photo in your PTRs must be downloaded onto the Theme Park Review server (not Imageshack, photobucket) for it to be included in the Park Index, that way we know a Red X will never appear. Lastly, if you have photos of a non-kiddie ride that is not in TPR's Park Index, please submit that also.

I considered visited this park when I was in Vienna since the park has Mack YoungStar, but it was not easily accessible via train within the time constraints I was under. Thanks for posting the pictures, I am adding it to the Park Index.

OK, I admit it! I skimmed and missed the RUSH reference. Now I have to go back and read it again. Luckily, re-entry is also included in the admission price.

^Agreed, about the time, but still not relevant (and misleading to even reference) in this situation as the video is not from the actual accident. So let's not indict the ride operator based on another ride operators actions. Also, please do not post information that has already been posted as if you have an "exclusive', read the thread first. i.e.: Extreme World going into foreclosure was discussed 2 days ago.

I was about to mention that if you travel with a friend, get in the seat first and have your friend try to staple you in. I had a lot of fun "helping" staple Erik in a coaster.

Please refrain from making misleading comments. There have been no witnessed reports of the ride operator using a cell phone during this accident. It is posts like this that lead people on tangents and make everyone confused!

Mattias - we are looking forward to your park's announcement in 7 days. The changes to Bla Taget sound very interesting, also.

http://www.refresheverything.com/conneautlakeparkbluestreak It's back in first place now. 29 days to go!

Sorry you didn't get a wild ride on The Cyclone. The further back you are in the train the crazier the ride. Parking is really tough in the area, especially on weekends with the beach patrons and metered parking is damn near impossible when the Brooklyn Cyclones have a game. Did you get to ride Air Race? I still have yet to ride it myself.

Sorry one more post with all the park maps from the trip. Even though they can also be found in the Park Index. Duinrell Efteling Europa Park Gardaland Legoland Deutschland Legoland Windsor Mirabilandia Movieland Studios Phantasialand Skyline Park Strasswalchen Thorpe Park VidamPark Wiener Prater

So after walking back to my hotel I debated whether to take a dinner cruise on the Danube River to see the sights or just walk around. Since I like walking (and I'm cheap), the walking won out. Before I left the hotel I reviewed this list of things to watch out for in Budapest, apparently minor crime is a problem. Like in several cities of the world, in Budapest the major scams for the inexperienced tourist are taxis and restaurants. Taxis used to be a traveler's nightmare, mainly for those arriving from or going to the airport. Luckily the situation is slowly getting better: Zóna Taxi, a company with exclusive right to wait for passengers at the airport terminals, is reliable and works according to advertised prices; for details read the Airport transfer chapter. Sometimes scam taxi drivers will solicit services in the terminal to take you for a ride with a very hungry meter. Zóna Taxi has a stand outside the terminal, so unless you, like some locals do, have called for a cab from a different company to pick you up, do not accept a ride with any other taxi drivers. The alternatives to Zóna Taxi are to call for another trusted cab, saving €5-10 on the trip, or to use the Airport Minibus service. Airport Minibus has a booth inside the terminal and they will allocate you to a minibus with several other travellers who are going to the same area of town depending on your luck you will be the first destination otherwise the bus may go to a couple other destinations before reaching your destination. If you travel the other way around (from the city to the airport), pre-order your taxi on the chosen company's phone number or call for the Airport Minibus. Unfortunately, the situation around railway and bus stations is still not regulated. The worst is probably Keleti Pályaudvar: never trust drivers hanging around the arrival side; rather, pre-order a car. If that's not possible, take only taxis with a logo of the bigger companies, and with a proper sign on the roof and taxi licence plate. As a general rule, make sure the taximeter is on (and not set to the special "extortionate rate for unwary tourists") or agree the price with the driver beforehand. As recently as 2006, many cases have been reported in which taxi drivers have extorted hundreds of Euros from unwary visitors. Smaller crimes include being given change in worthless, obsolete Romanian or other currency, which is not instantly recognizable by tourists as non-Hungarian currency. Similar abuses have also happened in restaurants and bars, almost all of them in the vicinity of Váci utca in the touristy heart of Pest. You should avoid the eateries and bars of the zone. However, the majority of restaurants and pubs in Budapest are reliable. In Hungary it's compulsory to put the menu card outside the entrance; if it's not the case, don't enter. Eat only where locals eat, drink where locals drink. Don't take any tip on the streets, especially if the person is apparently a gift from heaven and is being very, very nice to you. Don't befriend the girls hanging around Váci utca, and never accept any invitation for a drink from them: you can be sure that they will lead you to fake Champagne, but you will be left only with the bill, and it's unlikely that a small conversation with them will be worth the hundreds of euros. You'll find the same sort of girls in erotic and topless bars; avoid them unless you're ready to pay your monthly salary for a glass of wine. Currently the standard trick is to produce a menu with small print at the bottom stating that the first drink costs HUF 15,000 (about €60) and consumption is compulsory. This modified menu might be produced only when the bill is presented. Most of the erotic bars in Budapest are tourist traps. As of December 2009, this scam is still happening on a daily basis. A common scam now is for attractive women to walk up to men and ask for directions to a particular bar. If you respond "I don't know", they will ask you if you have a map and say "let's go together" they commonly tell you a story such as "I just got in from Bratislava and am just looking for a good place to get a drink..." The most popular scam is a blond girl with and a shorter girl with dark hair. They always act together and ask for a light or the time. Next they invite single men for a drink, in a bar at Váci utca only accessible by an elevator from the street. Once there each drink is something like 50 Euros, but you only find that out at the end when you receive the 500 euro bill. So never go to the elevator bar (Városközpont) at Váci utca. The U.S. Embassy maintains a list of blacklisted erotic-clubs and restaurants. If you don't want to pay more, have your forints ready at restaurants even if they accept euros as well. The conversion rate they use is usually way worse than the rate you can get forints for at exchange offices. If possible, avoid using exchange offices of airports and railway stations, those in the center of the city offer a much better exchange rate. If you see people gambling on the streets, usually in popular tourists' destinations like Buda Castle, stay away! The modus operandi usually involves a guy playing the classic game of "hiding the ball". This involves covering the ball (or small trinket) with either a bottle cap or a match box and swirling it around with two other bottle caps asking people to guess the position of the ball. The game is set in a way that you can easily see the ball's position. This is done to lure the unsuspecting person into placing a wager. There are usually two main players and, between them, they will lose and win money back and forth to give the appearance that it is a fair game: do not be tricked! They are from the same gang. Once you get greedy and get lured in, you will surely lose your money! The person in control of the bottle caps will remove the ball from their position through sleight of hand and you will never see your money back. Besides the two or three other players involved, there are usually at least two lookouts: one on each side of 'stage'. It was about 1.5 miles to the Danube River so I mapped out a walk to see some of the sights I deemed important and interesting. As I mentioned in my last update Pest the east bank and is very flat where the west bank (Buda) is quite hilly. Heroes Square, along with VidamPark, is also within the larger City Park. There are statues of Hungary's heroes in this square. Cedar Fair did name the area. This is Saint Stephen's Basilica The Basilica houses the right hand of Saint Stephen who also founded Hungary and served as the first king. It's good to be king. Beer Belly Jozsef protects the Basilica. About a half mile north you come across the Parliment building. Side view of the Parliment. In remembrance of those massacred by the Soviets in 1956, this Hungarian flag with a hole in the middle flies in front of Parliment. and the story behind the flag Yes ma'am, that is Parliment and I'm in charge of guarding it. Now back away from the guard house. This is the chain bridge, the most scenic of the 7 bridges that connect Buda and Pest. Across the bridge you see the hilly area and the Royal Palace Protector of the Chain Bridge. Looking north from the bridge you see the Parliment on the right and the Margaret Bridge in front of Margaret Island. Margaret Island is a big drinking hangout at night. Looking south you see the Elisabeth Bridge and beyond that the Liberty Bridge Proof that I set foot in Buda. The old entrance to the to the lower levels of the Royal Palace (The Royal Gardens) are in dire need of sprucing up. I initially thought this was a statue of St. Stephen, but it is actually St. Gellert. So who is St. Gellert and why does he have a statue on the middle of a hill? He played a major role in converting Hungary to Christianity. He was the bishop of Csanád. Gellért was martyred in 1046 on a hill in Budapest which is now named after him. Allegedly he was placed on a 2-wheel cart, hauled to the hilltop and rolled down the now named Gellert Hill, then as still being alive at the bottom, beaten to death. Other unverified tales report him as being put in a spiked barrel for rolling down. The more you know! I resident of Buda returning home at the end of the day. I was trying not to laugh as I took this picture. After an awesome dinner at an authentic Italian place I found (Il Terzo Cerchio) I was out of cash for these services. I'm certain that BeatleBen would have skipped the dinner. For those that were on the Scandi Trip and remember my sneaker situation, you'll be happy to know I survived until the last day without duct tape. Barely! Traveling in style the next morning on a Soviet made subway car. Made in the CCCP. I didn't realize my upgrade to Business Class allowed me to use the Virgin Atlantic lounge on my Heathrow layover. The complimentary food was great and I spent the 15 pounds that I had saved for dinner on chocolates. My sleeper seat on the flight home. If anyone wants advice on replicating this trip let me know, but here are some tips. My itinerary. Even though you get a Eurail Train schedule with a pass it only lists times between major cities. Always print schedules from each countries rail sites and know the other train an hour before and after the one you want to catch. Print out logos, park times and basic travel needs. A picture is worth a thousand words when you can not speak the local language. Pictures and address of your hotels and train stations can be helpful. Very helpful if you get off at the wrong train stop and need to catch a cab in the middle of the night and the cabbies only speak German. Lastly, here's a bunch of more admission tickets from Amsterdam to Budapest, including a business card from that great Italian restaurant in Budapest.

^No restraints (typical of the side friction coasters, I don't think any that I rode had any restraints) and this one had springs in the seats that caused you to bounce in the air a little.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure we visited the President's Hall of Fame along with the Citrus Tower in 1973.. Then again I was only 6 so I might be confusing it with my first viewing of the Hall of Presidents at WDW. I'm betting that the President's Hall of Fame didn't win the lawsuit against Disney for stealing the idea.

^While it is possible to drive from Houston to Arlington in three hours, they are 250 miles apart. While I'm not advocating driving 85 MPH, but I've seen a lot of people driving much faster on Texas Interstates.

Bumping for those who were on the UK Trip that asked me what pictures we still need in the Park Index, and for those on the upcoming Middle America Trip. For this next listing of rides we need any pictures you have of the ride: USA/Canada Arnold’s Park – Swinger, Trabant Camden Park - Camden Princess Canada's Wonderland - Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (need ride vehicle and inside building) Cliff's - Fireball Dixie Landin’ – Cajun Collision, Hot Shot Frontier City – Ol 89er Express Funtown Splashtown – Bumper Cars, Classic Carousel Joyland (Texas) – Bumper Cars, Dare Devil Drop, Carousel, Musik Express, Paratrooper, Rock-o-Plane, Roll-o-Plane, Spider, Space Shuttle, Trabant, Tilt-A-Whirl Kings Island - Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (need inside ride and cars) Lagoon – Bumper Cars, Carousel, Rock-o-Plane, Space Scrambler, Skyscraper, Tilt-A-Whirl Lakeside – Heart Flip, Sports Cars, Starship 2000 La Ronde - Ednor Quassy - Free Fall n Drop Silverwood - Bumper Boats Universal Hollywood - King Kong Valleyfair - Northern Lights Wonderland (Texas) – Bumpers Cars, Scrambler, Shoot the Chute Worlds of Fun – Autobahn (Bumper Cars), Cyclone Sam’s, Skyliner (Ferris Wheel) UK Botton’s Pleasure Beach – Cup and Saucer, Dodgems, Gallopers, Rockin Tug Camelot – Cup and Sorcerer Flamingoland – Dodgems Gulliver’s Warrington – Barrel Ride, Cycle Monorail, Joker, Sky Tours Observation Tower, Tree Tops Swing Legoland Windsor - Fairy Tale Brook, Longboat Invader (Rockin Tug), Sky Rider, Spinning Spider, Thunder Blazer, Train Lightwater Valley - Trauma Tower, Octopus Paulton's Park - The Edge Pleasure Island – GoGator, Falls of Fear, Galleon Germany Hansa Park – Sturmvogel (Mondial Supernova) Heide Park – Kaffeetassan (Tea Cups), Koggenfahrt (Himilaya type ride) Holiday Park - Holly's Wilde Autofahrt Kernie's Familienpark - Kernie's Boot (Rockin Tug), Flying Carousel, Tea Cups, Disk-O Denmark Farup Sommerland – Wave Swinger, Tekopperne (Tea Cups) Tivoli Friheden – Forhindringsbane (Obstacle Course) France Mer de Sable – Riviere Sauvage, Train du Desert, Jungle des Chikapas (Indoor Tow Boat), Babagattaux (Outdoor Tow Boat) Parc Saint Paul – Le Dino Splash (Flume), Chateau Hante, Bateaux Mississippi (Swinging Ship), Carousel 1900, Les Chaises Aeriennes, Tacots 1900 (Antique Cars), Tabogliss (Slide), Voitures Tampoeusses (Bumper Cars) Walt Disney Studios Paris - Green Army Men Parachute Drop, Slinky Dog, RC Racer Walygator Parc – Monster Sweden Grona Lund – Kuling (Rockin Tug) Spain Parque d'Attractiones Madrid - Los Rapidos, Noriavision (Ferris Wheel) China Chengdu – Family Coaster, Jungle Mouse, Loop Screw (*) Happy Valley Shanghai – Lele’s Chariot, Spinning Coaster (*) Suzhou Amusement Land - Junior Coaster, Space Adventure (*) Suzhou Giant Wheel Park – Stingray (need photos) Japan Kamine – Dragon Coaster, See Through Coaster (*) Kashiikaen – Bun Bun Coaster, Rushing Coaster Lina World – Hello Kitty Angel Coaster, Scramble Coaster, Super Coaster Pleasure Garden – Mad Mouse, Through the Woods Jet Coaster (*) Rusutsu – Corkscrew, Mountain Coaster (*) Sendai Highland – Dragon, Loop the Loop (*) Space City – Space Switchback (*) Suntopia – Loop the Loop (*) Utsunomiya Zoo - (*) For the following rides we only need pictures of the ride sign: USA/Canada Bowcraft – Crossbow, Dragon Canada's Wonderland - Zoom Zone Cedar Point – Witches’ Wheel Galaxyland – Autosled, Mindbender, Space Shot Ghost Town in the Sky - Cliffhanger Marineland - Ladybug Coaster, Topple Tower, Skyhawk Valleyfair – Log Flume, Looping Starship, The Wave Western Playland - Bandido, Miner Coaster UK Flamingoland – Evolution, Navigator, Sky Flyer Legoland Windsor - Extreme Team Challenge, Jolly Rocker, Wave Surfer Pleasure Island (UK) - GoGator Other Europe Hansa Park – Kettenflieger (Swings), Die Glocke (Bell), Power Tower Linnanmaki - Pilotti Power Park – Pegasus (Evolution) Sommerland Syd - Kaemperutshebanen, Tornado, King Kong Karrusel (Calypso), Svingeren (Wave Swinger) Tivoli Friheden – Forhindringsbane (Obstacle Course) Walibi Rhone Alps - Boomerang, Coccinelle Walygator Parc - Monster Other Asia/Australia Adventure World (AUS) - Dragon Express Chengdu – Family Coaster, Jungle Mouse, Loop Screw (*) Happy Valley Shanghai – Lele’s Chariot, Spinning Coaster (*) Kamine – Dragon Coaster, See Through Coaster (*) Kashiikaen – Bun Bun Coaster, Rushing Coaster (*) Lina World – Hello Kitty Angel Coaster, Scramble Coaster, Super Coaster (*) Pleasure Garden – Mad Mouse, Through the Woods Jet Coaster (*) Rusutsu – Corkscrew, Go Go Coaster, Hurricane, Loop the Loop, Mad Mouse, Mountain Coaster, Standing Coaster, Ultra Twister(*) Sendai Highland – Dragon, Hurricane, Loop the Loop, Mad Mouse (*) Space City – Space Switchback (*) Utsunomiya Zoo - (*) Zhongsang Park –Inertial Coaster (*) As the Submission feature in the Park Index is currently disabled, the best way to currently submit a ride photo is to download the photo into this thread. Remember photos must be .jpg should not exceed 800x600 (Unfortunately, in the past many people have submitted photos that are too large for TPR to use or in pdf form.) High quality photos, please (not blurry, distorted or out of focus). Lastly, we are not adding kiddie rides or major upcharges at this time, but we are at the point where family rides such: transportation rides, carousels, ferris wheels and bumper cars are being added. We are also not adding FECs (Family Entertainment Centers) to the Park Index. Our current rule of thumb is to includes places that have 6 or more adults rides. And if you have to ability to scan your park maps, feel free to submit those for the years that all not already in the Park Index. Of course any PTRs containing superior photos or entertaining captions and a variety of pictures including multiple rides and areas (Not just one or two rides/attractions) are always valued. Attention has been given to every previously submitted Photo TR. Don't feel discouraged if we can't include every one. Photo in your PTRs must be downloaded onto the Theme Park Review server (not Imageshack, photobucket) for it to be included in the Park Index, that way we know a Red X will never appear. Lastly, if you have photos of a non-kiddie ride that is not in TPR's Park Index, please submit that also.

Was Evolutiion removed from Flamingoland? I don't see it on their website's ride list.

No! It's a nice thought but doesn't need it's own thread. If you want to discuss least favorite Coaster cars / trains do it in the other thread. I'll change the sub header. Use this thread While we certainly want participation on TPR, we don't need an overabundance of separate threads that bury a lot of good content and news that is current.

Pointed out on Page 3 But I just chalked up the "40 foot" comment as a fact error (much more common in today's reporting) since I don't care to speculate. If 40 feet was the true drop of her fall that implies that the net initially stopped her, then she fell the final 40 feet after coming to a stop in the net. The reporting just doesn't make sense unless she bounced or rolled off the netting (after her ride ended) before it was lowered or she fell through the net (after her ride ended). And if those were the facts, they should have been reported as such.

Ah, my journey has come to an end and so shall this PTR. I caught the 7:58 train from Vienna to Budapest. When I arrived at Budapest the train station was under construction and I had trouble locating the storage area. Since my hotel was so close I just decided to leave my luggage at the bell hop, but to my surprise my room was ready at 11AM and they let me check in. I stayed at the Best Western Hunagaria and have to admit it far exceeded my expectations. It was $25 cheaper than any other hotel I stayed at during my add-on and had air conditioning. Since I was still feel a little fat from too much eating with TPR I decided to forgo the subway and walk the 1.7 miles to VidamPark. It was a little bit of a challenge as the most direct route takes you through a recreational park with paths that sometimes go nowhere and no signage for VidamPark. But using my Boy Scout skills I was able to follow the sun and keep traveling north until I got to my destination. On to the journey. Although there is a flat fee to enter the park, a few of the rides are NOT included in park admission, but those rides are clearly labeled on the park map. Goodbye Vienna. I'll miss you. Chilling in first class. See the train station is under reconstruction. Even though I didn't need any information I stopped at this kiosk in the train station. and found this 15% discount coupon for VidamPark coupon rack. SCORE! Did I mention that it was freakin hot! Typical street in Pest. Budapest is actually two cities that have been combined. Buda is west of the river, Pest is the east bank. The park I had to walk through had busts of Ronald Reagan And Winston Churchill, two men that helped rescue the Hungarians from Hitler and then the USSR. This bar is set up in the public park right near VidamPark The parts of VidamPark that don't border on the public park look like this And there's the park entrance. Prices, there are about 200 Forint to a dollar, so entry is about $23 US, before my 15% discount which the cashier readily accepts. Actually there was a British family behind me that was very confused and couldn't see the prices so I pointed out this sign. That became a very strategic move on my part. More on that later. Boo Hoo where's my friend Lou? I had to ride the Condor (Ikarus) solo. They had a good ghost train that was pretty long. If you can't read Hungarian, let me translate. 300 Forint to ride (about $1.50 US), no smoking, ice cream cones, dancing or photography allowed. Ghastly ghost train vehicles. I head to the side friction woodie and am greeted by this sign. I sure hope this means the ride will open at 15:00 and that the Hungarians don't work on Spanish or Italian time. I got denied on the Wacky Worm (what is this South Carolina?) and it's pretty tough to explain credit whoredom and coaster enthusiast to a ride operator whom only speaks Hungarian. Showing her my TPR bag did not work. I repeated walked by the ride hoping the ride op would change or that some crying kid's parents wouldn't ride. But remember that British family I helped out at the front gate. Later in the day I ran into them and explained my predicament and they lent me their kid. SCORE! Spinning Coaster is the last credit in the park. RCDB says a Jet Star is under construction. I did see an empty lot but no signs of a coaster. Mesecsonak is a tunnel of love style boat ride with fairy tale theming. Inside "Red" found BBW. waaaaah! waaaah! we can't find BBW at Busch Gardens anymore. waaaah! waaaah! Smurfs with Gargamel, sorry no Smurfette! Snow White and those little guys can also be found along the way. and now we exist the dank tunnel. and that's the structure of Mesecsonak underneath the side friction wooden coaster. There's another dark ride on a train. Story dealt with some dude fighting other dudes in a war, flying on a giant bird, slaying a dragon and marrying a babe. I almost forgot the dark ride in the kiddie area of the park. You get in a pimped out car. and you watch happy animals, happy cannibals, and surprisingly even the dinner for the cannibals is happy. Inside this building is the most impressive carousel I have ever seen or ridden. Is this a carousel ceiling or the Sistine Chapel? Here is where the sounds originate. The turntable spins very fast and the horses face outward and rock like crazy. Kanyargo is the third best Whip I've ridden, after Rye Playland and Camden Park. From Panormakerek you can get a good view of most of the park. A view from the Ferris Wheel This is T-REX and the ride is pure evil. At one point I closed my eyes and wished the ride would end. It slowed down and ran the same cycle backwards, a fun ride if you can get into a comfortbale position. My shoulder was crushed in a bad position until the ride changed directions. I did not ride the upcharge Gyroscope thingy. The Drop Tower (Torony) was fun. I made it through the house of dirty glass in about 40 seconds. KidTums approved! It was now almost 3PM so I decided to eat before the wood coaster opened. Now those of you that know me, know that I'm a huge pizza snob but the pizza looked and smelled awesome. I had not eaten much in the morning so I bought a pie and it was great. Thin crust, slightly brown, good cheese and sauce. With the Coke it was about $6-7. By the way, there are two bars in the park serving hard liquor, similiar to that bar I showed you earlier in this post. It's was 3PM and the wooden coaster still wasn't open so I went to the Fun House. There was a parlor room, when you sat in these chairs and couches they started moving and vibrating. Crazy black light, neon light mirror room. By this point in the trip I had exhausted my supply of sleeveless shirts and had to wear my TPR Trip shirt. about to join Hot Fuzz in First Aid. Hullamvasut finally opened around 3:30. Here comes my train. People just line up in an orderly fashion with no air gates. You wait for the person ahead of you to select a seat then you pick from what is left. The dude in the orange shirt with no sleeves is not me, it's the brakeman. He sits in a seat like this and prevents the train from derailing. Look ma, no upstops! Ready to roll! More wood to take pictures of. Flying Circus? Never heard of this before, what does it do? Oh dear! I rode it. By myself. People seemed to be intimidated, but it was much more enjoyable than it looks even with a long cycle. I mean no offense to the Break Dance, Top Spin, Top Scan and Inverter or any other rides and their fans that didn't make the final cut for this report, but their pictures can be found in the Park Index. I'll have one more final post with my sightseeing in Budapest.