OldJJman

DIE punk!!

16/20 I fail.

C'mon Alex, you're smarter than that!! Look at the facts surrounding the history of this venture: SSA gets formed, and hunts for private investors - NO takers. SSA goes through proper channels and tries to get the city of New Orleans to get bonds and/or other financing - Denied by the city. SSA goes through proper channels and applies to a professional investment firm, AMVEST, and gets denied. Fast forward to now: SSA is going through proper channels, and applying for financial bond backing from the government. Results - pending. See a trend here? Now, before you say "But look, now they have Nickelodeon on board", think about it: What REAL experience does Nickelodeon have in the amusement park industry?? Face it. They bought an established, semi-successful, open-year-round park, that acts as a babysitter for a couple of hours while parents are shopping in one of the largest malls in the world. Entrance is FREE, and rides are pay-per-ride OR Pay-One-Price. They also have a really nice "fast food" food court. They didn't try and resurrect a failed park that was done in by a hurricane. Something else to consider: In the beginning, SSA (Danny Rogers et.al.) first was looking for about $30 million to revive the park. Then, SSA was asking for bonds somewhere between $30-$50 million dollars. Then, SSA asked a private investment firm for (reportedly) $30-100 million. Now, SSA is looking for $165 million from the government in Go Zone bonds. One last thing to consider: IF Nickelodeon is so on board with this project, why are they not (apparently) financing any of it?? Think about it. JJ

I wouldn't get my hopes too high. No they weren't. Read the article. Nevermind. I'll save you the time, and post the quote here: "The bond allocation is still subject to the approval of the state bond commission." Good luck.

Yes it is!!

Car seat.

Nice Matt! Very cool!! I've had two experiences with the 4449. I saw it as the "Freedom Train" at Anaheim Stadium in (IIRC) November of '75. I actually have the pictures somewhere. Then in 1989, my brother and I went to the 50th anniversary of Union Station in Los Angeles, where the 8444 (844) and the 4449 came in side-by-side! That was pretty cool!! (Again, I have the pics ...somewhere!) JJ On a semi-related note: I was doing a collection today, I got stopped at a RR crossing by.... The Ringling Brother's and Barnum Bailey Circus train!! (Btw - 83 cars long. NERD!)

I wonder how much that yellow will fade before it actually opens. JJ

New for summer 2010 at Universal Studios Florida!!! Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit!! I'm guessing July 4!! JJ

Brilliant Scott!! Absolutely Brilliant!! Bonus points for no age jokes!! JJ

Definitely NOT true! Besides, I never have and never will count powered coasters!!! JJ Btw- Nice pics four-eyes!

Creepy!!!

10/20 This was awesome!! Love the tough ones!!

Whoa! Cool!

Draky? QFT!!

Fixed!!

You got a problem with that?? JJ

Is that a typing error or are you really only getting 15 minutes? Are you serious??? Let's see, if you did this on your own: Park admission - $44.99 Parking - $15 Oh wait! Since you're listed as being 12, you probably wouldn't have to pay for parking. My bad. Picnic lunch - NOT AVAILABLE - But you may buy your own lunch, so let's go conservative and say $12. The cheapest Flashpass - $26 - But you probably wouldn't pay for that either to save money. Besides, you probably enjoy standing in lines all day long. Meet & greet with animals & trainers - NOT AVAILABLE Getting in 15 minutes early to ride Medusa - NOT AVAILABLE An hours' worth of ERT on 3 coasters - NOT AVAILABLE Q&A with park management - Maybe, if you happen to know who they are and see them walking around the park the day you happen to visit. A few extra "surprises" that will make your time there more memorable - Well, you might get gum stuck on your shoe, or line jumped by two dozen kids pushing you around - we'll call that a draw. So, to recap your day: You've spent about $57, depending on your eating habits over a 10 hour park visit (plus $15 if you did have to pay for the parking, for a total of about $72). You DIDN'T get a "meet and greet" session with the animals and their trainers. You DIDN'T get 2-3 rides on Medusa before the GP even entered the park. You DIDN'T get an all-you-can-eat lunch. You DIDN'T get a discount on Flashpass to get multiple rides on pretty much everything. You DIDN'T get a 45 minute Q&A session with park management. (You were too busy waiting in line for a ride when you saw them walk by!) You DIDN'T get an hour's worth of ERT on ANYTHING! Yeah. For the low, low price of $57, I'd say YOU got YOUR money's worth. Now for rest of the poor saps going to the "Bay AREA BASH" hosted & arranged by Robb and Elissa with SFDK, they're forced pay the OUTRAGEOUS fees of $35!! (And the ungodly total of $48 if they choose the Flashpass option!) Do you really think you can just go to any parks management team and say your bringing in X amount of people to spend the day, what can they do for you? You'd get laughed right out of town! Without the hard EARNED reputation of Robb and Elissa, and the insane amount of hours talking with, and negotiating with parks ALL OVER THE WORLD, events like this WOULD NOT HAPPEN! Even the almighty "ACE" couldn't pull off a single day event of this magnitude for under $40! (Realistically $50) Thinking is fundamental! Thank goodness that they've been doing this for so long, all I have to do is ride their coattails! And I ALWAYS appreciate ANY perks they they can arrange. You can wait at the entrance for those 15 minutes. I'll get in 5 rides before you even get back there - Thanks to Robb and Elissa! JJ

Very cool coverage Chuck!! Still need more info on the "Porta Smoker Cubby" though. JJ

The designation of an "ACE Coaster Classic" is nothing more than: a) No seatbelts b) No seat dividers c) Fixed position (non-racheting) lap bars. A couple of "ACE Coaster Classics" have had their "status" removed (both "Grand National" and "Coaster" at Blackpool), and nobody seemed to care. It's also a way that ACE kisses up to a park trying to get more perks. They decide where they'd like to hold a national event (CoasterCon, SpringCon etc...), find a coaster they may meet their criteria, give them this special "honor" and then ask for more perks, as only coasters that meet "ACE's" high standards (gag, ack, barf) get this "honor". It's a faux honor, at best. I know exactly where you're coming from. I'd heard about this thing for years, before I finally went to ride it (due to the yearly "Playland is closing" rumors). In fact, it looks almost identical to "Coaster Thrill Ride" at the Puyallup fairgrounds. While "Coaster Thrill Ride" is a fun ride (and an "ACE Coaster Classic" as well), I could only give this a 6 on a scale of 10. But, once I got up to Vancouver and rode "Coaster", I (like many others) was completely blown away!! It has some of the most severe airtime and laterals on any coaster, and it's only 68 feet tall!! I actually prefer this to Phoenix (not blasphemy!!), as it has more laterals, and still has incredibly scary airtime. In Mitch's poll last year, it came in at #23. That's still in pretty damn good company. Personally, I still have it ranked in my top 10, at #10 (out of 161 wooden coasters). It's truly a gem. JJ (Edited to add) Nice pics Bill! Now, go get a digital camera!!

Credit whores. JJ

Robb (or anybody), Did they still have that messed up circus themed dark ride?? The one with the elephant poop??? That was kinda cool, from what I remember. JJ

^I think it's pretty safe to assume that the 4500'+ would be the total for both tracks.

I'd seriously doubt that for a couple of reasons. 1) Efteling is nowhere near any type of thrill park. It's about the gardens, the themeing that the various rides are engulfed by, and the overall beauty of the park. It's the type of place that is a child's first amusement park. Taken there by their parents, as they had the same experience. WHere they can ride pretty much everything. Very traditional, very slow paced. I really don't think that Efteling would order (what an enthusiast would call) a thrill ride. 2) There's only one GCI in the "top ten" of Mitch's poll (see here), and that is Troy at #7. GCI makes good, solid, dependable coasters, which are what parks order. Not necessarily great on thrills, though I do have OzCat at #2 and Troy at #8. To me, almost all GCI's feel pretty much the same, with the exception of the two I named above. (Honorable mention to Kentucky Rumbler.) Even Terminator felt like I'd ridden it before, in an altered state. The only interesting thing (to me) was the combination of "tunnel, station fly by, tunnel". I doubt that will crack my top 20 woodies. That's not to say it's a bad ride, just not too high on the thrill factor. Little to no airtime, and most laterals removed, due to the high banking. Lots of great changes of direction, but again, with the banking, not much in the way of heavy (thrilling) g-forces. GCI's tend to be mostly about sustained speed, thru the higher banking on the curves. That being said, after being to Efteling a couple of times, I can hardly wait to see what kind of themeing Efteling does come up with. Because, pretty much everything in that park is top notch, themeing wise. JJ

Oh crap!! I remember that now!! It was F'n nasty!! Ewwwwww! JJ