PAL

^It was a laugh riot and a true highlight of last year's WCB. The Magic Mt executive staff are fun guys. I'm looking forward to this year's Q&A session. I'll definitely have something for them (but I don't expect a straight answer).

Fire! Fire! More fire! Heh heh heh... If DCA runs two shows a nights its going to be damn inconvenient to get a night ride on Screamin. To me its the height of idiocy to shut down a major attraction(s), especially a people eater, to run a nightly show. If it happens this way, well, its another example that the lack of sound planning that went into DCA's original design continues a decade later.

^Nice get! How about using your huge industry influence to sneak someone from Intamin into the Magic Mountain day? Just some unrealistic, slightly OT wishing from a prefab fan. The Knotts portion of WCB is getting better and better.

^ Oh, nice siggy. I suppose you'll have those at WCB too. Very cool, Club TPR is another step closer to here.

Thanks, this helps quite a bit. The parks are going to get a bundle from us either way. In fact, some of the perks will probably tempt us to dropping more cash or extend trips to visit this or that extra park.

Here's hoping we see that card printer at West Coast Bash. TPR is going over the top. Are there any US park tickets we should hold off on for just a bit? Making the rounds in central Florida in just a few weeks. This tease is very intriguing. We have a big midwest / east coast trip set for late summer. I can imagine tweaking the schedule once we've seen the perks and discounts list.

I've experienced the Superman over-run e-brake. At WCB 2009 as a matter of fact. On the way down we flew through the station fast enough I really didn't register it. There was just a flash of light followed by a firm and abrupt but not overly rough sudden stop. Only after we came to rest was it clear what had happened. We sat there a while until a mechanic arrived to fire up a power winch. Those magnets don't let go easily once they grab hold. It was definitely my most unique ride experience.

One aspect I forgot to mention. WCB is an unbelievable value. Everything else TPR offers seems to be the same - incredible values. That definitely earns the benefit of the doubt in my mind. TPR has set a very high bar. Let's see what else they can do.

I'd rather send my coaster club dollars to a site with a top notch bulletin board such as TPR. This would simply be a shift of funds from one business to another (capitalism in action). Although it would be an increase, I would pay it to help keep a high value site in the black. Also, I was relieved and not at all surprised to see Rob mention a family membership option. More controversially on the subject of cliques, they exist in any large grouping. If everyone is equal at TPR, some are more equal than others. That's life. A paid club won't change it.

Wonderful, so many memories. I still enjoy the park, but this will always be its heyday to me.

Not a DL fanboy. Not any fanboy. It's my opinion. Now stop with the name calling, based on a single post no less. Thank you very much. DL's Space improved when they closed up the queue viewing portals. Who'd a thunk. Dark = greater sensation of speed. Is the ride perfect? No. Is it the epitome of thrills? Neither is. When I ride the MK version I do miss the sound and visual effects. MK's layout, DL's updated technology, that would be nice. But really, isn't the Paris version best of all? I'd like to know from someone who's experienced all three. So how about that makeover? When Paradise Pier's workover is complete, its initials will still be 'PP.' Just funning. The park needs this extensive shot in the arm. Wake me when its finished.

What? Space Mt is better at MK? You must be talking about the track layout and overall style of the ride rather than show quality (the Disney Difference TM). Let's see, on one hand you have full dark, sound effects, better show elements, 2x seating, and now the Ghost Galaxy Halloween overlay. MK's has twin tracks, plenty of light pollution, no soundtrack, and let's be honest. It was allowed to fall into a very worn state before the ongoing refurb (here's something both coasts have in common). Hopefully it's getting a first class retouch. Otherwise I'll go with DL's. Better at MK: Splash Mt, Big Thunder, Mansion, Pooh, Teacups, the firework shows and obviously everything unique to the park. Better at DL: Pirates, Buzz, Space, Small World, let's throw Fantasmic in here too. As far as TOT goes, after riding DCA's a bazillion times, my entire family has TOT ADD. The Studios version I once loved so much takes forever to get to the action. It is tons of fun to compare the shared rides.

He has to mean Flight Deck at CGA. Personally I feel it's a nice invert. No Alpengeist but fun. Medusa is at SFDK, a superior floorless. Hey, we all make mistakes.

Your pictures are so wonderful I didn't look at anything else. Thanks for leaving the Exif info. I haven't taken my DSLR into a park yet because with kids we're always focused on riding, but I'm ever so tempted. You've given me a good starting place. I see you get motion blur at 1/500, but freeze the moment at 1/800 and higher. I'm curious about focus if you don't mind. I'm on my second Canon; the autofocus isn't always up to the task for action shots. Are you focusing manually? Great light in the station, very atmospheric. You inspire me to try longer exposures. Thanks again.

Eric, those are fair-minded observations. Personally I was most fond of the park's Roaring 20s era. Theme has suffered park-wide, its not just the encroachment of steel beasts in Ghost Town. But you know where my kids want to go first? Silver Bullet, then Sierra Sidewinder, Ghostrider and Xcellerator.

Beautiful photos! Would you mind sharing some shooting details? Camera body, lens, exposure. Very nice, my compliments. Neat coaster too.

We visited the park on Saturday primarily to ride Colossus backwards and get in a bunch of rides in the dark - no mazes for us. The park was fairly crowded as expected; we'd pre-purchased the regular Flashpass unit. I've used the regular and gold models at three Six Flags parks: MM, DK and GA. While expensive, they've always been a good value. Yesterday was not a good one for the Flashpass folks. Although operating from opening, Batman and Goliath did not appear on the system until after 1 and 3 pm respectively. Batman soon vanished again, never to return. More problematic, we encountered several stand-by lines in the 15 to 20 minute range. At the time the Flashpass return was an hour out. Remember, the regular Flashpass is supposed to match actual line wait time. By 5 pm I felt the Flashpass hadn't added a dollar's worth of benefit to the day, but subtracted nearly $100 from my wallet. On the way to Tatsu I stopped in at Guest Relations and spoke with supervisor Mark, who came across as friendly and concerned. You may know Flashpass is offered and managed by a vendor. Mark said the park couldn't do anything to offset our disappointment, and didn't have much insight on the problem. Mark then headed off to the Flashpass sales center to confer with their management. Eventually I ended up over there too, and learned a bit more about the system from Lance. As I figured, the Flashpass program is linked to crowd levels. There are also ride-specific adjustments. For instance, the return time for Colossus (forwards only) had been deliberately pushed back to an hour. Otherwise waiting times are indeed provided by ride crews. Lance said he'd look into why the system had performed poorly for us. He noted that it was their first Fright Fest, and admitted they'd experienced issues that they hope to correct. He was at first unwilling to offer any compensation, but eventually relented and offered either a refund or a card for a free future Gold Flashpass. If you are considering a Flashpass for next week's Halloween crescendo, consider going with the Gold and keep in mind the regular model may not perform up to expectations. Let management know if it isn't working. And never allow anything to wreck a park day. We had a great time anyway. If you've used a regular Flashpass recently, what was your experience?

I'm glad I didn't read this thread prior to last week's trip to Hershey and BGE, I might have skipped them or gone in with a bad attitude. The parks were a lot of fun. BGE was as beautiful as advertised with a handful of quality coasters to go with two top-notch dark rides. Hershey didn't have the best coasters ever, but Great Bear, Storm Runner, Fahrenheit and Lightning Racer were nice. I don't regret the trip, that's for certain, but I'm glad we saved Great Adventure for last. El Toro exceeded every high expectation. Kingda Ka wasn't all that. I have a hard time choosing an overrated park. I'll go with Legoland California. There's no there there unless you're 5 years old. Yawn.

Huge thanks for the advice to dash down from DC to BG. We're thrilled we squeezed it in, such a beautiful park with first rate attractions. DarKastle? Corkscrew Hill? E tickets! We loved Alpengeist, Griffon and Apollo's Chariot. Good ops everywhere, fast dispatches, helpful and cheerful staff, and virtually no lines. BG will be the highlight of the trip. Again, thanks!

A shorter list than some, but oh my gosh, my wallet is crying. Most of these are "home" parks within a few hours of SoCal. Its nice to live in a park-rich environment! This was a great year, our family's best by far for travel, with a last-minute Florida dash and a swing through San Francisco. There's more to come next week. We're extremely thankful for our good fortune. Sea World San Diego Belmont Park Disney's California Adventure Disneyland Knott's Berry Farm Six Flags Magic Mountain Legoland Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Six Flags Discovery Kingdom California's Great Adventure Las Vegas Land (they've got coasters and themed entertainment there!) Universal Studios Universal Studios Florida Islands of Adventure Epcot Animal Kingdom Magic Kingdom Disney Studios Done on a last-minute East Coast swing: Busch Gardens Europe (bonus!) Hershey Park Six Flags Great Adventure (El Toro, wow, just wow)

Thanks a lot for the info. I really really would love to get to BGE, it looks like a beautiful park. Of course Griffin is one of the main reasons! I just don't know whether we can shoehorn it in. If we do, we'll be coming from DC. How's the drive? Any other tips on a quick visit? After a couple decades of dreaming, we're coming from the west coast to sample some of the east side's coasters. Mixing in a little culture here and there too. Definites are DC, Gettysburg, Hershey Park, and Great Adventure. Knoebels is close by our route - its a maybe. This is a nice circle route. BGE would be 5 hours out of the way (got to drive there and back). Please convince me its worth losing half a day to the highway! (I know KD is a bit closer. I'm also aware of SFA - that park is already down to weekend operations, it doesn't fall within our schedule)

I might be making a first trip to BGE next Weds Sept 2. Park hours are 10-7. How busy is the park likely to be? Average line time for the top attractions? If we make it, it won't be for the full day. Would you invest in Quik Queue? Priorities are the coasters and DarKastle. Thanks for the help! We might not survive to pass this way again... Oops wrong park.

The park was dead on Tues. I'd wait on the Flashpass. We saw a few poor souls who'd bought them - they were absolutely no use. Please post up and let us know what Friday is like.

Very nice - my phone is now rocking 3 hours of steely coaster pron. SFW too. Rob! Please mobilize the coaster expedition DVDs - you've got at least one customer standing by ready to click "Buy Now."

Hey Atem, it was cool to run into another TPR'er at the park. Thanks for the shout-out. X was running great yesterday. Would you believe "smooth" in the back? Really! And it didn't hurt that the line was as short as I've ever seen it (we only make it to MM a couple times a year), only about 15 minutes when we hit it again at 3 pm. What a super day for re-rides. We walked onto Terminator (5 laps on the day), saw Deja Vu cycling nearly empty trains at 11:30, went straight into the seats on Goliath and could have stayed on long past our 3 laps. Even Batman with its slow ops was a 1 cycle wait, and that was for the front. We finally burned out with our ride count at 20 total, but it easily could have been 30 or more if we hadn't taken long cool-down breaks and stuck it out for the final two hours. These final few weekdays of summer 09 are a super time to hit the park.