itnotfair

Nice photos! Come 2011, its going to be a completely different park!

Great to finally see some progress. Thanks for the speedy coverage!

^I hope its a bulldozer. That ride was just sadistic.

^^Those things are cool! I've seen the one on the Metro in LA and one on the Bart in SF. Public transportation FTW! That would have to be a dangerously fast-moving speedramp for the technology to work, I think! Anyway, I love the hill! The hill provides awesome, tree-filled terrain for Tatsu and Ninja, two of the greatest coasters there. I must admit I've only ridden Superman once, though, and that has a lot to do with its location. That being said if it was Xcelerator up there, I'd climb my ass up that hill every visit!

Nice TR! Lots of good photos and info! Yeah, I must admit I've never been, either. Now that there are two credits to be had, I'll probably head over there! If you like Castle Park, you'll probably like Scandia, which is pretty close by. They have a steel triple out-and-back which is pretty fun!

There's a fine line between a hill thats too long and steep for the average GP and a GP who's too lazy and out of shape for the average hill.

2009 is almost upon us, so I'd better do my list now... Disneyland Disney's California Adventure Knott's Berry Farm Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Universal Studios Hollywood Pacific Park Scandia Dollywood Cheers!

^ Yep, its Pole Position.

^ Just what SFMM needs, a permanent Renaissance Faire. I can almost smell the patchouli.

Mine's in 3D!

The news from Shapiro is that we'll be seeing another new coaster at SFMM in 2010. I'm making a humble prediction: that either the 2010 SFMM coaster, or the 2010 Knott's project will be the West Coast El Loco model we've been hearing about! And the other one will be a Chinese B&M Dive Machine knock-off!

^ Shockwave had the cheesiest 80's commercial. I searched for it but I couldn't find it. It had all these dudes that looked alike, wearing shades, riding the coaster with completely stoic expressions. Anyone remember that? Another new coaster at SFMM sounds great to me. I'm almost positive I know what its going to be, too. That being said, I'll be good and leave speculation to the rumor thread!

I noticed the same thing, so I asked the staff at the Blue Sky Cellar. They said the tunnels stay. IMHO, its better that way. Although I agree it is more aesthetically pleasing without the tunnels, the ride experience itself would suffer. One of the things DL does better than DCA is hiding the park's location (namely Anaheim) from the guest's experience. Its hard to see outside the park, once inside. This creates a feeling that one has briefly left Orange County. Removing the tunnels from Screamin', and thereby revealing Anaheim, would only disconnect the rider from an already tenuous suspension of reality. Even better, fully enclose the whole coaster! Light tunnels! Maybe the one X2 was supposed to get...

Did you know that the coaster that eventually became the defunct High Roller on top of the Stratosphere was initially going to feature a 410 ft drop? Plans were scrapped due to neighborhood resistance. Did you know that Montezooma's Revenge at KBF refers to a kind of diarrhea? Way to go! Did you know that there are two masts in the background over the French Quarter of DL? It gives the illusion of the port in the distance. Little things like that make the park great. Did you know that Steve Martin got his start selling maps at DL as a kid, and then worked in the Magic shop, then moved on to working in the theatre at KBF? Did you know that Epcot center was going to be a planned utopian community until Walt died, and the execs said, "Aw the heck with utopia, let's make a crappy park!" I'm quoting verbatim, here. Did you know DCA was going to be Wescot Center, and then the execs said, "The heck with that crappy idea, here's another crappy idea." Again, this is all word for word.

My girlfriend wants to go; she loves the movie. Hopefully I'll post some pics soon. On a side note, we watched The Wizard last night. King Kong was the best part of the USH tram ride.

^A launched flyer would be awesome! Ironman: Tony Stark's Drunken Joyride?? It could happen!

^ I remember Santa's Village. That place always looked so unappealing on TV! Nonetheless I can't help but lament the missed kiddie credit. 1. Wacky Soapbox Car Racers 2. Corkscrew 3. Flashback 4. Psyclone 5. Does the old Space Mountain count?

Great TR! I was hoping you'd get over there for the new spinner sometime soon, as you're the only TPR member I've encountered representing the Inland Empire. I'm glad about that. My girlfriend and I just hit SFDK in Vallejo and got pretty sick on Tony Hawk's Sadistic Hellscape, so I was a bit worried about the Demon. Sounds like a cool place to spend an afternoon. I guess a trip is in order soon! I still need to hit Santa Cruz, CGA, and Gilroy Gardens as well. Oh, and Adventure City, but I need to kidnap a kid to get in.

I'm 28 now, and I think I was 5 or 6 for my first coaster. It was the Matterhorn, and my grandparents totally forced me on! I closed my eyes the whole way, except when my grandad said, "Hey look there's Disneyland!" as we passed an opening in the mountain. I was resentful at first, but exhilarated afterwards. I love that memory, and I still get a jolt out of the yetis. That's why Robb's avatar freaks me out!

My favorite names in random order: 1. Montezooma's Revenge (How can it be that such a great coaster has such a hilarious name?) 2. Invertigo 3. Thunderhead 4. Ninja (The one at SFMM. The other one is poorly named.) 5. Ghostrider 6. Alpengeist (You know the Germans always make good stuff!) 7. Big Thunder Mountain 8. Powderkeg 9. Dodonpa (I don't know what it is, but I like it.) 10. Boulder Dash I've only ridden five of these.

Oh man, I hope they paint fast! I'll be visiting on the 22nd, and I was really looking forward to my first SLC. If anyone has updates, please keep me posted!

^Of all the coasters they could build, why would you assume it would be a TTD clone? They have Xcelerator, which has an even better launch, I hear.

If all goes well, I'll be riding Kong on the 22nd. It'll be my first SLC. Any advice to a first timer other than keeping my head back? And don't tell me not to ride it, cause I'm getting the credit! People talk about Boomerangs and SLC's being rough. How is Invertigo at CGA? Isn't that basically a combination of the two?

^^Great point about disabled access. ^You're exaggerating our excitement a bit. Clearly its not a dream come true, the realization of utopia, or the second coming, but it is a neat toy! I mean as a kid I think I would have rather had this than a Power Wheels, and I really wanted a Power Wheels!

^^ I actually agree. In So Cal, its pretty much standard practice to allow a couple people to rejoin their party. Disneyland is a great case in point. How many times have I gotten out of the Splash Mountain line to grab a drink or snack before rejoining my party just before the indoor queue section? Many! And no one has ever made a peep!