netdvn

^ Drop tower's been pushed back indefinitely for now. I rode Gwazi Lion in May (Tiger was down for rehab when I went) and it was running pretty badly, even with the new trains. I figured it was just a rehab thing and the Tiger side would be up and running while Lion side went down for retracking. I recall hearing news about Tiger being reopened during the summer too. I guess this is more long term than I thought. - The Lion side was pretty jarring though. I couldn't imagine riding this with the original trains.

There are plenty of bands out there that are talented musically, but don't have much recognition. That's just how things are. No matter how much recognition a band recieves, there will always be other bands that are more popular, regardless of talent (unless they're the most popular band in the land). In the end, it doesn't matter what instruments you use, it matters how you use them. Like I said, there are plenty of VERY talented electronic composers out there. There are people that can produce better music in Mario Paint than people with actual instruments.

You can't really call bands like RUSH and Evanescence "unpopular" when they already have a relatively large fanbase and still get airplay on radio stations. Sure they're not as popular with todays teens so you're not gonna hear either band on a top 40s station (unless they play older top 40s hits), but you can't say they're unpopular. Nothing wrong with moving "talent" to computers. There are plenty of talented electronic artists out there that pump out great music. They're just using a different medium from regular instruments.

Had a McRib the other day. I thought it tasted like a Bic Mac covered in BBQ sauce. I don't understand the hype over this sandwich. I thought the Baconator was a bit overrated too. As much as I love bacon, I thought the Baconator tasted a bit flat.

I've been to most of the states in the entire country. Might as well make it all 50. My bucket list is relatively long because I haven't traveled outside the country too much. Hong Kong Singapore Japan Austrailia/New Zealand South Pacific Islands (Fiji, Bora Bora, Cook Islands) The rest of the Caribbean islands I haven't visited yet Germany South Korea Vietnam Philippines Taiwan UK I'd love to check out the usual touristy sites and wonders of the world (Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Great Wall, Great Barrier Reef, Mt. Everest) in person. Along with a few cool things (zipline through the rain forest, jump off a waterfall, swimming with dolphins, snorkeling through a reef, exotic cruises).

^ I'm thinking KD gets their big capital investment before Knotts does. Unless they go with the mid-sized investment (GCI or something similar). Or unless KD fell off the radar in terms of flagship park status.

I thought CH's height restrictions was 48". Generally a coaster with a 48" height restriction could be considered more family-oriented, but I see it as that magic line between some of the less intense rides (Cheetah Hunt, Verbolten, garden variety flat rides) and some of the more intense, higher thrill rides (Millennium Force, X2, Drop of Doom). I'm pretty sure most kids would stay away from any flying coaster. Having inversions is enough to keep a good chunk of them away. Same with Windseeker and it's height. With something like a star flyer, you alienate the crowd that hates spinning rides and the crowd that hates heights.

The park already seems to have the family coaster edge with Stunt Coaster and Top Gun. Not sure if they really could use a third one. It would be nice to see a good cross between Maverick and Cheetah Hunt. They could even make it a pretty long ride to continue the Beast's legacy. Then again a giga/strata would be pretty neat for the park too.

I'm in the minority here. I'd love to see a coaster with a perfect amount of intense g-inducing inversions/turns and some good pops of airtime here and there. Toss in a good layout and you have a perfect ride. The public loves whatever's marketable. Unique elements and gimmicks almost always win out against coasters with lots of loops and loads of airtime, unless of course, you crank up the intensity on either. Of course with inversions, you alienate a group of people as well. Same goes for height and speed.Then again, you can't please everyone.

Congratulations on making the front page Jer! You rock!

Had an excellent time at Christmas Town this year. All three shows were awesome, penguins are now an inside joke between me and a few friends, Holiday Hills looks fantastic, and Verbolten's headlights make an awesome picture. I definitely plan to do this all over again in 2013. Crowds are a bit of a drag though. I really hope the park opens up more major rides to diffuse the crowds. Oktoberfest was a madhouse this year. - Gloria (5/5) Great show, great music! Still think the moving stages are used a little weird and the projections aren't as good as actual stage props, but overall a fantastic show. - Miracles (5/5) Another wonderful show with great music and dancing. This show felt a bit short though. - Deck the Halls (5/5) The park's Christmas carol show, being in the only indoor eatery in the park has its drawbacks (larger crowds than normal), but still a good show that actually uses mascots better than Entwined - O Tannenbaum (3/5) Nice Christmas tree lighting show, but not so nice location. It definitely creates a bottleneck on busy days. Maybe if they used a bit of Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Penguins (3/5) Could use a few more penguins. I feel bad for anyone who has to wait in long lines for this on a busy day. Otherwise an okay exhibit. Hopefully the park expands on this in the coming years. - Holiday Hills (5/5) Why can't Festa be decorated like this during Howl O Scream?

X2 and Millennium Force also have 48 inch height requirements. Both coasters are hardly considered "family" coasters at all.

Volcano and Flight of Fear seem to have the longest waits at KD while Verbolten is BGW's longest wait. Since you're going on a Saturday it seems, you might as well bite the bullet and get Fastpasses for both parks or hit any of the rides that get long waits early in the day.

Is it just me or does BGW get overrun with more and more ACErs every single weekend? Coaster Crew was in the park last night and ACE was at the event at least one of the last few weekends. Saw a guy in a TPR shirt Friday. Not sure who he was or whether or not he posts here often, but I gave him a high five.

When do you actually plan on visiting the park? If you go on a good day, you won't even need to purchase anything.

^ Hit all major stuff either early or late. Crowds are at their highest during the middle of the event. Friday crowds are usually pretty manageable, but in park special events, school letting out soon, and good weather can really cause crowds to swell up. Most of the park's coasters can't run below 40 degrees, give or take. Check the weather before you get to the park.

New rides break down. That's the nature of new rides. I was at the park yesterday and was told Verbolten was having technical difficulties. Yeah I was disappointed, but then again, I went on to enjoy the rest of the event. You can't really fault the park for having their brand new ride shut down for a good amount of the day, only thrill ride running or not. Have you contacted the park about it yet? You're probably better off making your complaint directly to the park about your situation so they can work it out.

Yesterday BGW hit capacity hard (literally wall to wall people everywhere). But interestingly enough crowds on Saturday don't really come until the lights come on so walk-ons for Verbolten, Mach, penguins early in the day, huge crowds in the middle (good time to see lights), and then the crowds pretty much clear the park around 9, giving you walk-ons to everything again. Not sure if Tampa works out like that though considering their CT is new this year.

A drawing I decided to rework. The first was done in 2009. The second one was made a few weeks ago. I'll probably bring the gondolas back in a future installment. Before and after

As long as you're not screaming in my ear or screaming to be obnoxious, I'm totally fine with people screaming on rides.

Is there any word on some of these larger additions coming to the Utah park? It seems like that water park could benefit from bigger slide additions.

^ Coasters with inversions can actually be pretty forceful if the inversions are tight and come one after the other (Alpengeist, yeah people say it's forceless, but it's definitely one of the more aggressive coasters in the park).

If you're really looking into adding some of those, you'd need a couple million dollars (US) at your disposal. B&M and Intamin coasters aren't very cheap. Flats are cheaper, but my guess is it depends on the manufacturer/model of the ride. Building a park isn't very easy. You'll still have to deal with the city and its residents (in many cases, the locals don't want an amusement park in their area). A lot of proposed projects have pretty much fallen by the wayside in the past few years. Even newer parks that actually opened pretty much shut down due to mis-management (Wild West World, Freestyle Music Park).

I'm all for a Big Fun coaster or a Eurofighter/El Loco being added. Oh and while they're at it, they should add some of those really awesome flats popping up all over (Air Race, Sky Flyer, Starflyers). I know ropes courses/ziplines are becoming increasingly popular as well. It's probably not likely for a pier like Casino Pier to get one, but it would be interesting to see how a pier can pull a ropes course off.

Wow some of those pics are fantastic. I've always wanted to go skiing one day. It doesn't help that the closest resorts are 5-6 hours away from where I live. I actually might consider a ski trip when I have more money to spend since there's a ski resort/indoor water park a few hours from here.