Gnome

Your tears and this annual occasion brings me great joy.

fixed

The only good part about Perilous Plunge was the drop. With that said, Dive Machines have the same drop but you don't get soaked right after, and they have more to them. In general, a dive machine is way better. If PP had actually been replaced by a DM, that would have been way awesome. I will still take what Knott's is getting over PP, but I think they could have done something more imaginative with the space.

The only good part about Perilous Plunge was the drop. With that said, Dive Machines have the same drop but you don't get soaked right after, and they have more to them. In general, a dive machine is way better. If PP had actually been replaced by a DM, that would have been way awesome. I will still take what Knott's is getting over PP, but I think they could have done something more imaginative with the space.

What are you taking about? Have you ever been to Walt Disney World? English is very often NOT the primary language spoken. Guarantee you if you walk into any park right now you'll hear more Portuguese than anything else! You only don't hear much Enlgish at Disneyland because Spanish is so heavily prevalent in Los Angeles! You have been to Southern California, right??? I should clarify. When I said English, I literally meant the people from England.

link didn't work. Some where, there's a grumpy cat smiling down on my misfortune.

It is the Lawyer's job to make an argument. It is the judge's call to see through the BS of that argument and rip it to shreds. As long as the six flag's legal team provides sufficient reasons as to why riders need their hands (IE, riders can choose to not hold onto the lap bars, but still have that option where as riders with no hands don't have an option at all) or for various other reasons, the judge will typically rule in their favor. Likely, this man's legal team will recommend to drag the case out until SF has had enough and will settle out of court. As a result no precedent will be set and will leave the next person who is "discriminated" against the ability to sue.

That's the thing, it's not. It just means that the locals are now embracing DCA as a "real" park instead of the joke that it has been for many years. Disneyland Resort still sees about 80% of it's guests from California, Nevada, and Arizona. That really classifies it more as a strong regional tourist destination, especially when you consider the size of the states mentioned. (California itself is huge) It's by no means solely a local's park if they're drawing guests from other states. Sorry that you're being a Californian and are taking what I already said, trying to disprove me, and then creating your own point, which is actually the same as the point I made, but you're somehow trying to make it look like you're better and smarter than me. I realize that because you're Californian, you don't see that you're doing this, which is why I'm pointing it out to you. Your "local" area are those destinations that are easily and cheaply traveled for people to make multiple visits each year. Las Vegas or Pheonix is to Anaheim as Miami or Atlanta is to Orlando. Even though those places are a few hours drive, they are still considered "locals", because the are close enough to visit many times per year. As for Vegas and Phoenix, for example, I'm willing to bet that there is a pretty large population of people in those areas who are annual passholders, and come out 4-6 times per year. Those people are your "regulars", regardless if their drive is 45 minutes or 4 hours. There are probably people who live in Vegas that visit Disneyland more often than some people who live in Anaheim. Your "tourists" are people who are planning a "once in a lifetime" vacation (or once in many years), and those people are NOT your "locals." Disneyland Resort's audience hasn't changed. I worked there in 1987 and if I asked 100 people that came through my location every day, I'd meet 80 people who were between a 15 minute and 6 hour drive, and the others were from a variety of different places. That holds true today, except that now you have people who will now spend more time at DCA than they did five years ago, or more people willing to spend an extra day at a resort hotel. You also have to realize that most people don't travel to California "just for Disneyland", the majority of "tourists" who visit Disneyland are on a trip to "California" and the Disneyland Resort is one of many stops. Again, the difference is that most people who are visiting Orlando, are there specifically because of the theme parks, will spend a week to ten days doing nothing but theme parks, and it's one of the top reasons why there is tourism in Florida. So yes, Disneyland is a regional tourist destination, aka your "locals". And your core "region" is California, Nevada, and Arizona, just like I originally said, and while it's not "solely" a locals park, it's pretty much a locals park. Deal with it. --Robb "Not sure what point you were trying to make, but I guess I'm glad you're sort of agreeing with me?" Alvey #confused ZING!!!! Just to build on what you've already said, working at the hotel, I met A LOT of people who were coming in from San Francisco (still California yes, but 6 hours away, would often make several trips through out the year), Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Hawaii. This is just the higher end spectrum of the market as well who have $400+ to spend each night of their stay, you aren't accounting for anyone else staying at the cheaper hotels off of Katella and Harbor. In general, Disneyland appeals to the Western states as well as the international countries in the Pacific like Japan, China, Korea, Australia. Obviously you go to Florida, you will find a far more abundant amount of English at WDW. You are right, majority of European tourists and Australians I encountered were usually doing a massive North American tour. Usually they'd spend some time in Canada, at some point make it to Las Vegas. It was common enough for them to start their vacation in New York then fly to Atlanta or some where in Florida, eventually finding their way onto the west coast. With that said, for every out-of-towner (non local) I met, there was at least one nearby person from Burbank/LA, San Diego, or Orange County. Also, if you were coming to California SOLEY for Disney, you're wrong. There's so much to do outside of Disney that it would be a sin to come strictly for Disney and nothing else. With that said, I have also met plenty of people who have spent 10 days at the theme park and done nothing else. So that's my experience with demographics. Some how this all fits into WOC, so i figure I'll pipe in on that. I think majority of WoC's problem is it's far to long and it shows FAR to many clips of movies. I like your analogy of watching Disney movies on your ipod in the shower. Its perfect. If they just stuck to the show tunes, or maybe.... actually cared to have an overall encompassing story that ties everything together (and shorter length) the show could be good. For now though, I generally skip it.

I'd say the marketing, coupled with a HIGHLY inflated budget (surpassing even that of the Avengers) were the reason why the film failed. Overall it was a solid movie. I enjoyed it. Not outstanding like the Avengers or Dark Knight Returns, but didn't deserve to be the flop that it was.

Mechanic, here is your decoder ring. My guess is if and when Disney rips up the area and redevelops it, I can see them retooling the area in the same manor that Carsland and Potter have been created with a large variety of exclusive foods and merchandise.

Somebody was ranting to me about how its the only attraction that "makes money." Well yes, but does it have a shop that can push out more crap to hungry consumer and isn't fixed to a set contracted rate?

I don't think that Ghost Rider needs to be re-profiled in such an extreme fashion. I think the topper track would be a better route. The layout of the track is perfect as is. It's the track itself that causes the problems.

Just clarify, I think that every year, Knotts does re-track parts of the ride, but never in such a way that it actually improves the experience, so much as it seems that they re-track it to keep structural integrity in order to keep it from falling apart. I mean I have ridden the ride the day after reopening from a rehab, and you will see the fresh yellow blocks of wood along the track, but it's still not close to the same experience it used to be. With that said, I'm probably one of the few people who are not bothered by the roughness, but I always go with friends and they will not ride it more then once. Usually they'll flat out say, "That sucked."

^ No I got it, that was my bad. I was trying to play off of your sarcasm with more sarcasm. #fail

Doubt it, it only went up yesterday. If you saw it yesterday on this page, I'm sure you would remember it. lol *looks at page 2908*

Many times I ask myself what else would they and could they really put into that space that Boomerang sits on currently? Of course, I think have the original corkscrew ride there would still be cool, but those days have been long shipped off to Idaho.

Between the stadium erection, and all the wood, its caused my wood to stand erect.

The other issue to, is it all that surprising that injuries occur from working with these massive mammals? I've been injured at work for doing god knows what, but throw in a several thousand pound whale, then its not surprising that injuries occur. As stated before, though, images like that can be used very effectively to appeal to one's emotions and rationales. While I think this documentary will sway some people, as a whole I don't see this toppling Sea World's business.

I can understand bashing a roller coaster if it completely lacks any thought and it looks like it was just thrown together, *ahem knotts berry farm*, but Gate Keeper looks to be the exact opposite. From a ride stand point in the catalog of rides that Cedar Point already offers, this will be a nice variation. Cedar Point hasn't built a large looping coaster for a long time now. Maverick does go upside down, but the inversions appear cute and small visually in comparison to gate keeper. Also, in terms of a design stand point for B&M, this ride, while offering some similarities to their other attractions, also varies enough to provide a unique B&M attraction that, in my mind, stands apart from many of their other cookie cutter attractions. If you are going to bash a ride, this, in my mind, doesn't seem to be the one. I'm very excited to read the reviews for it.

That's not really comparable. Those are dark rides on the more extreme end. They're on a different level from what ET was.

You also have to realize, though, this ride is going to very much be a "family" ride. I thought I remembered somewhere that it won't even have a height restriction, so it will be a lot more like Pooh than Spider-Man. I would perceive that to be better anyways for the demographics that this attraction would reach out to. Not everything needs to be a thrill ride. I think a good well executed production is the most important part and i'm willing to bet that this attraction will be a great example of that.

I didnt even get a memo in my department.... though it seems like we never get the memo! I'll be riding it very soon though!

In my mind, a bigger restriction to adding an additional attraction to sfmm would not necesserily be the land involved to build it on, but the funds needed to pay for the expenses associated with operating the coaster.

^ This is America, where anything and everything is for sale for the right price... except for protected land.... So I would never say never... just highly unlikely.

Not true. I get mad butterflies in my stomach going reverse through the loop when sitting in the back row. As a kid i used to hate it but now I love it and fully embrace it. I would recommend near the front row for first time... Sensation is no where near as intense.. Unless you just want to go balls to the wall with your first looping ride! D