JFrombaugh

^I've heard the same thing on Youtube comments, although I never believed it. Must have been some pre-theming sneak preview or something. I'll have to get back to Orlando sometime and ride it, it looks pretty cool.

That's just like in Final Destination 3, which oddly enough, uses that same coaster! As for me, ride ops being annoying, yes I've seen, but compromising their job performance, not really. For the most part they've either been cheerful and having a great time operating the ride, or just staying quiet and doing their jobs right (and yes I have been to SFMM and KBF). These two stories come to mind though: 1. Journey to Atlantis at SWSA - ride broke down for 10 minutes or so and this lady was on the loudspeakers asking everyone "do you want to play a game while we wait?" Man, we were all being a really tough crowd, yelling "NO!". Part of me felt sorry for her, but at the same time I understood why we were all wanting them to just get the ride fixed and leave us alone. 2. Firehawk at King's Island, my second ride in the evening - op was singing various songs over the speaker system and trying to get us to guess what song she was singing, and then at one point when this other guy op said something to her (couldn't quite hear what he said exactly) she blatantly told him to shut up over the loudspeaker!

^I didn't think Texas Giant was as rough as people made it out to be either, but I don't remember it being terribly spectacular - the hills deliver "floater" air at best (and that's on a good day). It certainly reminded me more of Son of Beast than any other woodie I've been on.

Glad you guys are doing meet-ups again!! If July 18-25th wasn't the same week as my Chicago-area trip (SFGAm and IB), I'd definitely meet up for Kemah, it's about an hour from where I live...oh well. OMG I LOVE that place!!! I used to go there when I was in elementary school. It's sort of like an "underwater Rainforest Cafe", I like the spiral staircase up the tubular fish tank, and the seafood there isn't half bad either. As for the rest of the trip, I know you guys will have a lot of fun at Schlitterbahn and on Boardwalk Bullet ERT...SFFT, SFOT, and SWSA are OK parks, although I definitely feel that Journey to Atlantis and the THBSs are weak additions that are setting you up for a big letdown. Have fun in Texas!!!

Great update so far, wish I could've been there...stupid economy! Can't wait to see R&E's opinion on the "ball" coasters!!

A funny thing happens to you while you're on a quiz show. As the spotlight shines on you and you're feeling the pressure, you suddenly start forgetting things. When it's your turn to answer a question, you know the answer, but you just can't think of the damn thing's name. Time's up! You have to answer. You blurt out an answer, then half a second later, you realize what you just said, and you wish you hadn't said it. The audience starts laughing, and the host, always managing to keep his cool, tells you that you are incorrect without actually saying the words "you're an idiot". This thread is meant to showcase your favorites of these moments. I'll start! (Jeopardy) This term for a long-handled gardening tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker. “What’s a ho” (Wheel of Fortune) _N _C_ _F KI_DNE_S "An ace of kidneys" (Family Feud) Name an animal with three letters in its name. "Alligator."

So it's Orlando VS LA, huh? Two of the most popular theme park destinations square off!!! LOL!

Quoted for truth - Raptor broke on me when I was sitting on the brake run. It fact, that breakdown resulted in the loss of an onride video souvenir for me. Also Air at Alton Towers is pretty unreliable in my experience.

^7/10, looks kind of like an ad

^^Yeah, you know what they say...whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Um, yeah, what the title says. Have you gotten in a physical fight with someone during your life, and if so, what was the outcome? Did you win, were you knocked unconscious/seriously hurt, did the fight only last for a minute or so before it was halted, did you and the other person get in trouble for it...? Tell us! The only times I've ever fought someone were in sparring during the few months when I tried out taekwondo. Aside from being fatigued, I was never physically hurt in these battles since they were monitored. I'm usually a non-violent person.

I always take mine off before any major coaster ride just to be safe. I'm thining about getting a strap for park visits though. I found this video of some guy riding floorless ShieKra for the first time and after the train drops you'll know why I posted it here.

Element personality quizzes featuring various elements are very popular, but the 5 Chinese elements of Wood, Water, Metal, Fire, and Earth belong to their own cycle and are specifically personality-related pertaining to Chinese lore. Each has a certain set of characteristics, and most people's personalities are ruled by one of the five elements. You can learn more about them on many other sites. Depending on what you guys have been doing on the web or elsewhere you may already know what your Chinese Element is (in which case you can just post it), but if you don't know it you can take a quiz here to find out: http://www.longevity-center.com/five_element.html It works on a different principle than most personality quizzes, just check off all the traits from each that are true about you and the one with the highest score is the element that is dominant over you. As for the Chinese Zodiac, that is a 12 animal cycle based on the year you were born in, so if you don't know it just look it up. In any case, once you know both, post them here. I was born in 1988 so my Chinese Zodiac is Dragon (almost Snake though). As for my element: Yep, this is pretty much me. How ironic, I am water in both the Greek element quizzes I've tried as well as Chinese element! EDIT: I actually only skimmed through it the first time and didn't check off everything I could have, so now I've done it more carefully, Water is still in the lead though. Joseph "Water Dragon" Frombaugh

The drive-thru ATMs at Bank of America have this new cash deposit reader. Instead of putting cash/checks in an envelope, you can just put the things in their proper slots. It says the cash feeder can take up to 40 bills at a time. Sounds simple, right? The cash feeder thingy simply doesn't work. You put in a bunch of bills (usually $1s or $5s), the lid closes, the machine tries to pull them in, and then it's almost guranteed the next thing you see on the screen is "We were unable to accept some of your cash", lid opens back up with most of the bills you put in. Speaking of which, my Mom has informed me about how Bank of America is ripping my parent's accounts off in various ways (it seems to also be in trouble in this economy), so it's probable we'll all be switching to Wells Fargo pretty soon. Which is good because I wasn't really the biggest fan of BoA, but still, changing all my credit information for various things is gonna be a chore.

One thing that I've really come to hate over the years (and it seems to be quite prevalent down here in TX) is when instructors are always impatient and telling you to show more energy, move faster, etc. One of my instructors from karate a couple years ago who will remain anonymous for this rant followed this approach wholeheartedly - I don't think there were many people in my class that liked this drill sergeant lady, but I'm not sure if they got as upset as I did when she yelled at the class. Partly, because I'm normally a very laid back person and I felt I was already moving as fast as I was comfortable with. She was a major reason I just stopped going to class. And this isn't really aimed at her personally, but rather instructors that have this kind of mentality in general. My Chemistry and Programming professors this semester can be like this sometimes, they're always constantly encouraging us to be more actively involved in the learning process than we are. The fact of the matter is, some people just prefer to remain quiet, don't feel comfortable speaking out in class, prefer to go at our own pace, or some combo of those - and I am one of those people. If you don't like it, most of us will just say tough, or turn down our energy level even more. Having a "you must go at my pace" attitude about being an instructor is like tailgating somebody on the freeway that's going slightly above the speed limit or telling a sacker at the grocery store to hurry up and finish sacking your groceries.

Now having seen the red track in there as well, I'm gonna say it'll be... Dueling Dragons 2.0 at Universal Hollywood or Singapore...floorless instead of inverted and the battle is between color armies instead of dragons! (Think the Knight's Kingdom lego sets with the colored armor) "Choose your side: Red...or Yellow!" Joseph "Either that or it's B&M's attempt to recreate Windjammer for Knott's..." Frombaugh

Yeah, I only go to SFFT, SWSA, and SFOT maybe once every 1-2 years or so on average. Dallas and San Antonio are about 3-5 hours from where I live (darn SFAW for closing before I had the chance to ride everything there!) and most of the coasters at those three parks I've already ridden multiple times before and I'm not really crazy about anyway. Kemah Boardwalk I guess you could say is my true "home park" and even though it has the awesome Bullet, it's the only coaster there, so I don't really find it worthwhile to make the surprisngly long drive down there from the Katy area just for a couple spins on that more than once every year. But I agree with the first poster, if I had CP, SFMM, or WDW/Universal as my home park I'd probably be going there many times a year!! Joseph "Although I still do need my Flashback credit from SFOT..." Frombaugh

Well I'm creeping up on 100 coasters now and I still get that tingle-in-stomach feeling on most launches, drops, and airtime hills. Titan gave me about 3 seconds of tingles on the first drop, and these also affected my stomach a lot as I recall: ToT, Boardwalk Bullet, Ghostrider, SKC, Tatsu's pretzel, and TTD's launch. Joseph "Hoping coasters will still be fun after I become immune to the feelings" Frombaugh

It Ends Tonight by the All American Rejects Sometimes I've felt the exact same way about someone or something that's just worn out their welcome.

I think they said somewhere in the press release that they chose to put "Freestyle Music" as two words on there as a move to make it more attractive to families or a wider music-oriented audience or something. MAYBE they intend to make a "Freestyle Parks" chain, but I highly doubt this place will survive long enough for them to do it. Like ginzo said, it seems like a cheap Cedar Fair-style attempt to redress an already-failed park. At least the name "Water World" has kind of a relevant adventure sound to it...When I heard the name "Freestyle Music Park" and saw the logo I instantly thought "Laser Quest-style flourescent rehab with guitar props and Baiyon's "Mixed Waste 4.2" playing over the speakers." It seems like Flight Deck, Backlot Stunt Coaster, and Freestyle Music Park are all in a fierce fight over who gets to have the worst and dumbest new name for an existing ride/park. Just watch...when Texas Giant comes out of its 2010 rehab it'll be renamed to "Time Travel Kaboom" to signify that its like going back to when it was still a good ride, or something...

Yeah, pretty much. Given the bad location of the park and the fact that it already failed as Hard Rock Park, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see it go bankrupt towards the end of 2009, just like its predecessor. Freestyle Music Park...WTF, I totally agree with Robb, what is up with that name. Maybe the new owners won't make quite as many obvious mistakes running the place as the Hard Rock owners did, but somehow I can't really see it surviving, especially in a location where two other parks failed. And the biggest thing is, if it does indeed fail, then the whole HRP/FMP saga will be an even bigger epic fail for the enthusiast books!

When I experience an intense sensation on a coaster (big drops, launches, etc.) I sort of unconsciously make this really weird "HOOOOOO!" sound. The interesting thing is that I can only make that noise when I'm on a coaster, and it's sort of sucked out of me by the intense sensations (most drops over 80 feet tall will do it, as well as launches and inversions). On a smaller coaster where I can keep it under control I'll usually just stay quiet. Starting around my Ohio trip (about 70 coasters ridden) I've noticed I'm not doing it as much as I used to. In fact, at times, it seems like I could almost do an onride commentary. I don't think I've ever screamed that high pitch girly scream unless it was during a really intense maneuver like Tatsu's Pretzel Loop and I don't think I ever would otherwise.

I'll be one who does not pass judgement until I ride it this summer (hopefully).

The only commercial with a coaster in it that I can remember off the top of my head was that old one for Aflac where the goose screams "Aflaaaac!" when the train goes down a drop. I think the coaster was either Magnum or Steel Force.

"Satan Said Dance" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah If I had to describe this song in one sentence, it would be "A techno song on the verge of overdosing on crack". It has some REALLY screwed up lyrics too: