DerekRx

After a night at Clementon, I decided to go to Great Adventure with some people from work who had never been there before. Adam and Ellen would join us, as they had not yet actually ridden Kingda Ka and wanted to try one more time this season. The park wasn’t too crowded, but we opted for the regular Qbot just because we didn’t feel like waiting in line for KK. In the days time we managed 4 rides on Batman, 3 on Nitro, 2 on Skull Mountain, 1 on Robin: The Chiller, 1 on Superman: UF, 1 on GASM, 1 on Medusa, a ride on Houdini, and Runaway Train. After 3 hours of being Qbotted, Adam and Ellen finally got on Kingda Ka, as did I for my 2nd time. Some thoughts throughout the park: Kingda Ka really shakes you back and forth. My first ride in the back was really violent a month ago. This time in the middle was also really bad. The launch didn't seem as powerful as Dragster's either, it seemed more like "shifting" SUF is really annoying hanging as you wait for the other train to leave the station Rolling Thunder is closed for the season as they are working in that whole area on the new 2006 woodie Lots of land clearing inside Rolling Thunder No “new trains” on Runaway Train as promised earlier this year Medusa is still the best floorless coaster north of Orlando Batman still rocks Batman the Chiller is still lost A bunch of the crews are back to being slow and unhappy (ie SUF and Nitro) No more milkshakes Station spiels back on Skull Mountain and Batman Its our fault that tigers are dying and we should live in harmony with them I won’t ever wait more than 30 minutes for Kingda Ka again Something smells like goats cooking bacon Adam and Ellen give big thumbs up to Qbot for helping them finally get the Kingda Ka credit After at least 3 hours of waiting (or lots of money spent on a Gold upgrade) a trainful of excited Ka riders gets ready to leave the station The tortoises enjoy laughing at the humans dumb enough to ride GASM This view will look totally different next year, and I can't wait Kingda Ka stands tall, anxiously awaiting its wooden cousin next year. Note the lack of Viper but the remaining station? Could it be used next year.... Frontier Adventures between Golden Kingdom and Medusa is completely closed off, as there be construction a going on for the new 2006 Intamin Plug N Play. No Rolling Thunder anymore this year, but its not going anywhere Obligatory photo of Ellen sticking something in her mouth in a dirty fashion Here's a train of happy riders on Superman. They won't be so happy when they're sitting on the brakerun hanging for another 5 minutes while the crew casually checks restraints on the other train One of the only SF parks left with a Parachute Tower Holy crap! It only took 5 years, but Blackbeard finally has a sign!! Obligatory vertical loop photo Here's Batman. He's still newly yellow and always forceful and intense. Still smooth, still has forces, still is the best hypercoaster in Joisey. Nitro isn't cleaned up very often. (Actually they're just getting ready for Fright Fest, which starts in like another 20 days)

Just a short TR, I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking. On Saturday, the New Jersey region of ACE held an ERT session on J2 (formerly Tsunami) at Clementon Lake Park. Since I had such a great time last year, I decided to go again. There isn’t much to do at the park, so we didn’t arrive until after 5, and in that period we managed to ride the Ferris Wheel, train, see the tiger show, and just walk around briefly. J2 is an extremely aggressive ride. I prefer its brother Avalanche in the Dells to it, but its still the best wood coaster in New Jersey (for now, anyway). Thanks again to the Jersey region for hosting the event and opening it up to everyone! Enjoy the photos. With the park closing, the ACErs line up for J2-nami ERT. (the food must not have been out yet) Jill can resist no man with a waist pack large enough to store a Toyota Echo inside. Bret feels like he is truly at an ACE event There's also a tiger show at the park. Here are 2 of the park's cats. They smell and they eat raw meat. Here's a nice pretty picture I thought everyone would enjoy. If you don't enjoy this, please die yup Swingman! TPR's favorite Clementon employee is still "gittin' it on" And don't forget the Egypt themed Yo-yo. Which can only mean one thing..... There's also a kiddyland...for those kids brave enough to face their nightmares Which allows you to take this never before seen shot of J1 and J2, all in the same shot! INCREDIBLE!!!! What else is there at Clementon? Well, there's this ferris wheel Pay no attention to the Jack Rabbit station behind the fence Speaking of Jack Rabbits, how's the park's first coaster doing? Oh, its still rotting away After a bunch of rabid jack rabbits attack Pierre, South Dakota this winter killing 369 people, Clementon will be forced to change the ride's name again; something like No Offendo Here's the evil doom helix. Beware if you choose an axle seat. After a big tsunami wiped out lots of Southeast Asia, Clementon changed the coaster's name to J2, short for Jack Rabbit 2. Does anyone still remember last year's tsunami?? Here goes J2 into its severely screwed up 2nd hill Here's Tsu-J2 in the distance. Look how steep the drop is...oooooooh

The problem I have with this logic is IT HAS BEEN BUILT, at least in computer animation format. Looking at the frontseat POV, as well as the other various angles shown, you can pretty much get the general idea for how the ride will be. There won't be any healthy doses of airtime, the only moments there will be are in the zero-G roll (if you call that airtime) and the final hop into the brakes. There is no camelback hump, straight drop, or any other factors that will produce "surprise" negative G forces, unless Kansas City is the epicenter for some unknown natural occurance in which gravitational forces are different. With the zero-g roll being that high and spread out, it will not be strong simply because of the speed at which it will be at during that moment on the ride (unless, the gravity is different there or they add boosters after the vertical loop or something). No one on this entire thread thus far has said that the ride is going to suck. The comments I read are that the ride looks boring, its pretty much what everyone expected from CF, it doesn't look like its that necessary for me to rush out to WOF next season, looks like Talon, etc. No where did I see anyone say "this ride will surely suck, I am going to go to Sucky Worlds of Suck and prove beyond a sucking of a doubt that this ride surely sucks more suck than the last suck that ever sucked." And how is anyone setting themselves up for "failure"? Is my coaster card, credibility, and Golden Ticket survey entry going to be taken away from me because I say "this looks like it resembles Talon" when really it acts more like Alpengeist? Or will I just drop to page 197 in the "Who's Who Among Coaster Enthusiasts" journal that is published every year? :? Silver Bullet is not that bad, if you look at only those 3 things that "90% of all other coasters don't" that you look at. Of course, of the 508 different coasters that I've been on, I believe there are only 5 coasters that were not working on my first visit; Batman and Robin: The Chiller opening year, Superman: ROS-SFA (chain break) Deja Vu SFOG, and Kingda Ka. Seems like the reliability issue is skewed, and none of those "unreliables" were old tried and true technology. As for rerideable, lots of things are rerideable (not that you can actually reride anything at CF without going around and around and around, not to mention the awful operations at Knotts with those darn microphones). Tea cups are rerideable, if I don't want to spin, I don't have to. But sometimes I don't want a nice, relaxing, smooth ballet; sometimes I want to go to a rock concert and hang out in the mosh pit. Sometimes I want both. The majority of those coasters with that duality end up in my top rankings, such as Phoenix, Colossos, Expedition GeForce, Kumba, Nemesis, Dueling Dragons, and Shockwave at SFOT. If I always wanted smooth and force-lacking, I'd just drive in my car at 40mph all the time. Rides like Silver Bullet, Hydra, and Patriot are exactly what Cedar Faire asked for, a nice ride with mild thrills set for the enjoyment of the General Public. While we're all glad there is another coaster being added to the parks and we'll pay our respects and ride them pretty much on every visit once or twice (if there is no line), we're not going to be spending our entire summer riding these things 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you don't believe that rides like this don't spark that much interest in coaster enthusiasts, go there during an ERT session where these coasters are opened to ERT sessions at the same time as Ghostrider, Steel Force, and Mamba. At first they may have a little bit of a line (just because many haven't ridden them yet) but after 30 minutes or so, everyone will be over at the other coaster. These rides weren't made for extreme riders because CF doesn't want to "push the envelope" at these parks with these rides. These are set up to be the next step before you attempt the Top Thrill Dragsters and Xcelerators. You're finally 54 inches and Spinning Dragons just doesn't thrill you anymore, but you're thinking you're too scared to go on Mamba. That big inverted steel thing looks menacing, let me try that. Ok it wasn't bad at all, now let me try Mamba. Bingo, that's what its there for, to psyche people up and get people to actually return to the park next season. And for the next 10 years it will run reliably and require little maintenance, just like a Volkswagon. But for those of us that want a major thrill and excitement, a Ferrari it is not, and never was intended to be.

Yes, but with the new amazing technology known as animation, we can pretty much "ride" the coaster before it is even built, knowing pretty much what to expect. Its not like the Arrow coasters of yesteryear that were designed using coat hangers and you knew nothing about it until it actually opened. Its not that I'm not enthusiastic about the ride. I'm glad Worlds Lacking Fun is actually getting a coaster without taking another one out AGAIN! But for me to be jumping up and down and booking flights for April for a ride that more or less resembles a coaster 30 miles away from me would be like me super happy that SFOT is finally getting a Batman: The Ride 6 years after my local park got one and booking a flight immediately just for that ride. Or that its finally time for me to visit VisionLand because they got a boomerang when I rode one of them first back in 1990. For the local Kansas City person, first off I say "sorry you live there" and then I say "congrats, you've finally gotten a B&M inverted without having to drive to the other side of the state." Hey, if its even remotely like Talon, it still won't be the most forceless ride out there, just look forward to your near clone of Hydra in 2010.

Nice Photo TR. I enjoyed the SLC photo, reminds me of the Gouderix postcard I have. Poor Father Goose, he probably had enough of the nursery rhymes, or maybe he finally realized he was living at a Six Flags.

Worst endings: 1. Adventure Express- PKI. Lifthill of Terror 2. Volcano: The Blast Coaster- PKD. 80 foot drop at superspeed into a brake?? 3. Storm Runner- Hersheypark. RCT track autocomplete back to the station 4. Ninja- SFMM. And now to get you back up to the station......a lifthill Best endings: 1. Phoenix- Knoebels. Final tiny bunny slammer 2. Colossus- Thorpe Park. Heartline roll 1 foot over the ground 3. Montu- Trench to trench flatspin 4. Apollo's Chariot- BGW. Trench dive

Yey! I'm excited that Worlds Lacking Fun is getting a Talonesque ride! That means plenty of vertical loop photo opportunities for me.....when I get there, which will probably be in like 2038 when I've gotten every other credit in existence and finally decide to go to Worlds of Fun for their dismal collection. Oh well, so far 2 of B&Ms 2006 projects don't look too bad....

Wes gets my vote, as I too was thinking about doing that, but have very little ambition. Runners up are: Cllins- Six Flags OverSpent CoasterFanatic- Six Flags Over Asphalt

Plus MegaZeph is built with a steel structure. Only the track layering is wood. Does that make it a steel coaster?

Yup, its actually called that on the menu. They have other funky names for the sundaes at the stand by the log flume, but the Fat Guy was recommended highly to me by the natives.

It all really depends on when in December you are going. If you plan to be there during Christmas/New Years, then yes it is a good idea to get a reservation the day of. If you are going before that period, you shouldn't need a reservation, but keep in mind the restaurant has weird hours, opening around 11 and closing anywhere from 3 to 9, depending on the time of year (how crowded, peak/offpeak). They also may still close 1 or 2 days a week for the full day. Usually this is on a Monday or Tuesday, but not always. You should definitely be able to find something to eat on the menu, even Elissa can! Have fun, and if you're there around New Years, maybe we'll see you there!

The following morning we returned to the park for morning ERT and a photo walk back. We were still really sore and worn out from the ample rides the night before, but we knew we wouldn't be back for a while so we went. The same ride ops from the night before were there and were still just as energetic and enthusiastic as on the previous day. Screaming, handslapping, double rides, and breakfast were all there waiting for us. Two days admission to the park, 3 hours of ERT, waterpark admission, food, and a walk back all for $25, can’t beat that! After a final ride on the Astrosphere, we made our way out of the park and down to Old Orchard Beach and Palace Playland for the final 2 credits I needed in Maine. The beach area was pretty full, even though there is hardly a beach there at all. The amusement center was fairly empty still, and we managed to get on the Galaxi and Orient Express rather quickly. After a tromp through a really good and cheap funhouse with lots of effects, we went out onto the pier for some food and beer. After some lobster bisque, lobster rolls, and Shipyard Export Ale, it was time to get in the car and do 3 days worth of driving in 1. 9 hours later I arrived back home, a little sore, a lotta tired, and really glad I made the trip to Maine finally Old Orchard Beach looks pretty old, but seems to be lacking in orchards and beach Adam gives a salute as he crosses the final funhouse gag Adam looks on with enjoyment as Ellen pretends to be a hamster Ellen skeptically walks through the rubber band forest The cheapest thing in the park and probably the best, the funhouse Adam says "cha-ching!" The United States easternmost roller coaster, the Orient Express! Maine's other Galaxi, not more than 10 miles away Today the Breakdance was doing a little more breaking and a little less dancing Then it was off to Old Orchard Beach. Here's the map for Palace Playland. Pretty small, huh? After ERT it was time for the walkback. Here you see the first drop, with an empty train because there was no one back at Excalibur to ride yet for the day! The ops get ready for round 2 while the ACErs are starting to look a little worn. ACE girl says "hey baby, wanna ride" Still energetic, the ride ops gave double rides and handslapping the whole time

We woke up the next morning and were on the road by 11, having lunch plans in Portland set for 1pm. Luckily for me, Adam and Ellen’s warnings about bad traffic were false, thanks to Maine finally installing EZ-Pass lanes at their tolls. We were through the tolls and in Portland chowing down on some “Chowdah” at Gilbert’s with fellow Coaster Team members Mark “Rosenkrantz” and his wife Amanda, as well as Adam Sandy and Mark’s friend Billy. Enjoying our chowder in this seaport town was really neat, even though the weather was dreary and the air stank of fish or b.p. To go along with our chowder was Shipyard IPA and then a stop at Gritty McDuff’s for more beer. Taking the town at a leisurely pace, we stopped at the Shipyard Brewing Co. gift shop for some 6-packs, shirts, and other goodies before checking into our hotel in Scarborough. Finding the hotel was an effort with lots of phone calls, but we finally made it there, checked in, and then headed to Funtown/Splashtown USA in Saco. The dreary weather and cooler temperatures had kept the park fairly empty, which meant lack of lines, much better than the previous day at Canobie. The first stop of the day was the Galaxi coaster for my credit. There was no wait, and the coaster was pretty smooth and brakeless for being as old as it is. The next coaster up to ride was Excalibur, also with no line. For my first ride and 500th coaster, I selected the backseat. The ride did not disappoint. The first half was really good, with airtime, speed, and laterals. The second half lacked the speed and airtime, but delivered great laterals and direction changes. I think it’s a solid wood coaster that the parks maintains well. It doesn’t have the CCIness of other coasters (such as Villain or Ghostrider). After riding Excalibur, we rode other rides in the park, like the S&S tower, antique cars, sea dragon, tea cups, and the greatest flat ride ever….the ASTROSPHERE!! Picture if you will, a scrambler, put inside a dome, painted neon yellow. Then, mix black lighting, fog machines, lasers, strobes, a disco ball, and random pictures of a giant fly, a horse’s x-ray, a turtle eating, a snakes eye, a mummy, a skeleton, Isaac Newton, and the Loch Ness Monster. But wait, there’s more! Make it last for 5 and a half minutes, and play Electric Light Orchestra’s “Fire on High” the whole time. And that, my friends, is the great ride known as the Astrosphere. So great, in fact, that we had to ride it twice before ERT on Excalibur. As the ERT began on the coaster, it was performing great, a nice fog had rolled in, and combined with the lack of lights, it was really dark and hard to see. With light turnout to the event itself, we managed to rack up 40 rides that day on Excalibur, each cycle a double ride. Bruised and worn out, we retreated at the end of the night (after making sure there were no more cookies left to make cookie balls or cookie stacks) to the hotel. Dragon's Descent at night. Dragon says "Grrrrr, people give me gas and red eyes. You got anything for that, pharmacy guy?" BEHOLD! The AstroSphere, the most F'd up ride experience ever! AstroSphere says "yo dude, pass the doobie" Pretty cool station idea, a castle! You see, Excalbur is a mythical sword of King Arthur, some feudal guy who United some Kingdom by doing many random tasks like finding a shrubbery Hooray, we finally found our way to Excalibur! The parks log flume, which you don't get too wet on.....unless someone gets you with a water cannon The parks Galaxi coaster. Fun little ride, especially with no line! I used to build smaller versions of these as a kid. The T-Rex bones says "Hi Jeff, why don't you call me anymore?" Dragon's Descent is the parks S&S Turbo Drop. Dragon says "mmmm, food!" Here's a map of Funtown. Plan your path to Excalibur at your leisure Pulling into Funtown USA, you're greeted by Excalibur, who says "hey, how's it going?" because we found Shipyard Brewing Co, thats why! Why are these two so happy?.... Everyone enjoys their food at Gilbert's, especially Amanda Chicken corn chowder and a Shipyard Fuggle's IPA. What more could you ask for? Known for its famous chowders, Gilbert's was our main reason for driving up to Portland

I know it can't because after the accident they wanted it up as soon as possible while still being safe. (Its kinda hard now to have 2 trains bump if there is only one). Still, how many years ago was that accident, and why can't they finish the system so that it can run more than 1 train. If Vekoma can get it right, other companies have to be able to also. I just find it poor that after so long and with the lines being as long as they are (and apparently usually are like that) that the park can't finish the system in the offseason or something. The Cannonball was a fun coaster, and was very popular with the GP. If it had better capacity, people would probably ride it more, I know I would have. If people are standing in a line for 40 minutes, they aren't out buying food and spending money.

Wanting to broaden my park and coaster credits, but not wanting to have to fly again, I teamed up with Coaster Team members Adam and Ellen to head up to Maine for Funtown Fest, a supposedly lightly attended but loads of fun event. Taking the day off on Friday to make the trip seemed like a good idea, even though the event wasn’t starting until Saturday evening. Leaving Thursday right after work, I met up with Adam in Newark, who would drive us to Norwalk, Connecticut. After switching cars at Ellen’s, she drove the rest of the way that night to our hotel in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Our hotel was straight out of Friday the 13th, a little family run motel in the middle of the woods turned into a Days Inn. Ellen liked the bathroom, and they had cable with plenty of channels, so all would be ok. Friday morning we woke up and continued our drive, stopping off at Canobie Lake Park for the day. We got there shortly after opening and found the parking lot full. We were parked in an overflow grass lot next to someone’s house. It was not looking good, and none of us were happy. Luckily once inside the park, we found most people at the new waterpark area, consisting only of a tipping bucket play area. Our first mission was to get me on all the coasters, seeing how I was never at the park before. We made our way to the Yankee Cannonball, which had a completely filled queue and was only running one train (because they’re still afraid, some 3 or 4 years after 2 trains bumped). Our wait was about 40 minutes, and then I was off towards the front of Yankee Cannonball. The ride was a normal older PTC coaster, not airtime laden like the current Gravity Group, S&S, or Intamin woodies, but also not a snore fest like Dinn coasters of a few decades ago. The ride was actually a lot of fun, even though the wait was too long to have any of us desiring a second ride. After riding the Cannonball, we decided it was a safe bet that we could take a break from crediting to stop for some food. We were going to eat at a restaurant by the Boston Tea Party Shoot the Chute, but we couldn’t figure out how we got a table. So instead we stopped off at the Italian restaurant nearby. This restaurant must read TPR and knows everything about Elissa, because this place actually had prices on the menu for plain pasta with no sauce AND a side of garlic bread. I decided to get spaghetti with meatballs and a garlic bread stick, Adam and Ellen each had pizza. Afterwards, we were still hungry, so Adam got some Mexican food and I got some fried dough. Then it was off to fulfill my blood/alcohol deprivation by swinging by the pub for a Harpoon IPA. Food and beer levels rebalanced, it was time to return to credit whoring. The park only had 1 credit left to achieve, as the Galaxy was removed earlier this year, so we headed over to the Canobie Corkscrew, a standard Arrow corkscrew (hooray!). About 20 minutes later, I had my ears boxed good and we were free of riding bad coasters. We stopped to look at the tipping bucket for a bit, then made our way over to the park’s dark ride, the Mine of Lost Souls. Apparently it was Sally’s first ride or something, and didn’t have guns to shoot stuff. It started off a really cool mine ride, similar to Calico Mine at Knott’s or Flooded Mine at SDC. Then the Grim Reaper shows up, tells you your soul belongs to him, and he sends you to Egypt to see Imhotep. Definitely a strange storyline. We then walked back to ride some flats on the other side of the park, such as the Cuddle Up (where we got line jumped by like 10 teenagers, told them they were morons, watched one hit his head on the handrails, laughed at him, and then proceeded to line jump them to take the last opened car on the ride). We also hit my last operational Caterpillar credit in the country. Funny how 4 months ago I was never on one, and now I’ve seen them all. It didn’t run as fast as Idlewild’s, nor did it have the blower, but the canopy at Canobie was pristine. Then New England Coaster Team member Ed “Grampy” Nelson and his son Brian showed up. We decided to get some ice cream and stopped off at the ice cream stand. I got the Fat Man on a Dirty Sofa, which was Vanilla ice cream served over a whoopy pie, covered in hot fudge and whipped cream. It was delicious, and I felt like an ACEr. We then decided to ride Yankee Cannonball again, this time Brian and I managed to get a front seat ride. Still a little bit of air, still not rough, still fun, still a long wait. Then we had managed to time it right that the Vertigo Cinema 180 show was about to start, so we mad our way over there for some retro riding. It was great seeing the newest and greatest things ever, such as the Santa Cruz Giant Dipper, Dune Buggies, helicopters, and the newest innovation in roller coaster technology, the Python at Busch Gardens Tampa! The ride is still affective, and some people had to sit down and close their eyes. We then took the cruise around Canobie Lake at dusk. It was nice to see the park from the water, as well as the rich yuppie houses surrounding the lake. Finishing our day at Canobie Lake Park, we stopped to ride the replacement for the Galaxy, the Zamperla Skater. Its like a giant sized Rockin Tug that seemed very popular with the patrons to the park, as the ride always had at least a 4 cycle wait. It was a lot of fun, not too disorienting, and somewhat thrilling. Best of all, the restraints didn’t hurt like those found on the Disk-O. Riding everything we wanted, we decided to grab some German sausages (which really ended up being giant hot dogs) at the Dancing Bear Saloon. Afterwards, we said goodnight to Grampy and son and headed to our hotel for the night, the Staybridge Suites back in Massachusetts. This would be the nicest hotel of not only the night, but also the entire season thus far. Two bedrooms, kitchen, living area, two full bathrooms, and free internet. I was happy. The living room came equipped with a DVD player, so I put the Fantastic Four in for our evening entertainment. Then it was off to bed, the following day we had to prepare for bad traffic getting into Maine. Now for some pictures. Days 2 and 3 will be updated later this week, as my picture cd won't cooperate. Canobie Lake at dusk, oooh how pretty The Zamperla Skater, another very popular new ride for this year at Canobie Lake Park. Better than a Rockin Tug or a Disk-o The park also has a inground pool, though most people now prefer a bucket dumping water on their heads The Caterpillar with the best kept cover ever! Mmmmm, Fat Guy on a Dirty Sofa, 100% fat-free The log flume relies on the terrain for a good portion of it The park's dark ride was pretty cool, although very random Wow, look how crowded this area of the park is! My Garden Hose Kingdom would make big bucks up here The new "waterpark" was a big hit. Look, SharkTums even showed up! Ooooh, the Canobie Corkscrew. Can you feel the pain? Derek likes beer and fried dough Ellen likes beavers Today's secret word is....whatever! This here is the Boston Tea Party. Please keep the screaming to a minimum, the rich neighbors will be angry. We survived the wait. Everyone is happy again! A front seat ride on the Cannonball reveils its dogleg outnback layout Brian (Bri-YON!) is so excited about riding the YC, he gets his head stuck in the station The Yankee Cannonball, with its sole running train

Do SFNE in the morning. I believe they open before LC does, and even if they do not, there will be less crowds at SFNE during the morning than in the evening. Get in, head right to Superman, then do Thunderbolt, Mind Eraser, Batman, and then work your way over to Cyclone and Pandemonium. Finish off with some Poison Ivy and then back to Superman before heading off to the Lake.

1. Expedition GeForce-Holiday Park 2. Superman: Ride of Steel- Six Flags New England 3. Phoenix- Knoebels 4. Kumba- Busch Gardens Tampa 5. Nemesis- Alton Towers 6. Colossos- Heide Park 7. Dueling Dragons- Islands of Adventure 8. Shockwave- Six Flags Over Texas 9. Sheikra- Busch Gardens Tampa 10. Grand National- Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Utah is a good possibility. Elissa hasn't gotten those credits yet and Robb is in the market for a younger wife. Maybe he decided to keep Elissa around for video marketing and realized if he became Mormon, he could have as many wives as he could handle. Not sure about those special underwear though..... Derek-I'm totally chilling out on Robb's planet when I die!

If you're going solely for roller coasters, then PKD is much more quantitative than BGW. But depending on the day you want to go, PKD may not be opened. However, I think I prefer everything at BGW over PKD. Busch may only have 4 coasters to Kings Dominions 13, but they are of a better caliber and also have better capacity, meaning more rides. Plus BGW has great food, and other good rides like Darkastle, which is better than Kings Dominion's dark ride, Scooby Doo. In a few weeks we're going back to Busch Gardens, and Kings Dominion is closed that weekend for a company buyout. We're not sad in the least though, as it just means another day we can spend at BGW and stay at the Great Wolf Lodge with their indoor waterpark! Sadly, you don't have too many other options up north for opened amusement parks during Spring Break. Your only other options that I can think of are Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, Six Flags America in Washington DC, Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens, Dollywood in Tennessee, Carowinds in Charlotte, Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta, and Kings Island in Cincinnati.

Even if they do open those rides in Universal Studios, its not going to help us, as October 20 is a non-peak night, which is fine with me. Non-peak means less crowds, which means less lines, which means more rides. I, for one, would just rather ride them during the day or any other time of year. Its not like they're themed differently during HHN. HHN is all about the houses and the shows, with the coasters and stuff just thrown in for good bonus.

I just checked out the final update. The main character looks creepy (scary old ladies always freaked me out, almost as much as clowns, especially if she smells like mothballs!) but it doesn't really seem to fit with the whole theme of the park, which seems more EverQuest/Lord of the Rings/Dungeons and Dragons. Still, as always, it looks like a great event and I'm very glad I'm going. With all these houses as well as Dragons and Hulk and the shows, I'm glad we decided to go with the express passes (which, by the way, look totally different from the last time I got them). Come on October 20th!

Sorry Phishy, I don't think I'll ever be helping you out. Even when I go to Busch Gardens, I only get the free stuff. Its Friday, Labor Day Weekend has begun, and gas prices are so high that even I don't want to go out. That means BRING ON THE BEER! Shipyard's Fuggles IPA, good on a nice, hot day

To make up for the missing Dan and Joey I will make sure my hair is stiff, take lots of pictures, inject myself with insulin, be afraid of water, not pay for anything (stating something about no ATMs around), talk about how Haunt is better, and make certain fowl-smelling odors are emitted from my anus. Had Dave not been joining us, I would have done all that PLUS wearing a Rush shirt and wishing to destroy loads of tourists with a railgun. Poor Dan and Joey, they will be missed.

I'd totally vote for Knoebels over Mt. Olympus except for 1 problem, I can't find the 3rd wood coaster. Skloosh doesn't count, unless you're an ancient mailman in Southern California

Coaster looks good to me, although the length, height, and first drop worry me a bit. Hopefully, like Robb said, these won't make that big of a difference, much like Goliath in Holland. Still, with B&M being the way they are lately, it could be a forceless ride if it doesn't get enough speed. I'm hoping against that though. SFOG (and Lake Winnie) are definitely on my list for early next year. At least with B&M, it will open when it says it will, unless there is some major flooding or something.