KBrylczyk

Reading that press release, this was my thought process - - Soooooo, motion simulator? - Nope, a Spider-Man style ride! - Nope, a...coaster? - ...maybe? - .....wut..... - Ummmmmmmm - O..kayyyyyyyyyy? - A coaster / Spider-Man / shooting gallery / wtf ride. Huh. That's new. Alright, Cedar Fair, time to explain yourself.

No we didn't. We spent the entire day (9am until 8:30pm) inside the Zoo. By that point the train and carousel were shut down.

To be fair, Harmon Tower didn't open due to not even coming CLOSE to passing inspection. The foundation rebar is all screwed up and it would have needed to be rebuilt, basically, if it ever was going to pass an inspection. Speaking of Harmon Tower, though, just today a judge gave the OK to dismantle it. I wonder how long MGM is planning on keeping it as a giant billboard.

^ Imagine what that would do to their self esteem if they could read!

Hiya, guys! Last week I made the trek from Las Vegas to San Diego for some fun times at the Zoo with my roommate. There's really not much to report with text since, you know, it's a zoo. They do have a skyride, though, so that means it counts as an amusement park! Anyway, short story shorter, we left Las Vegas just before midnight after we were both home from work. I drove straight on through the 328 miles while she slept. We pulled into the (free!) parking lot right around 4:30am. In the words of Clark Griswald, "First ones here!" It was around this time that I soon realized how much it sucks trying to sleep in the driver seat of my Honda Civic Coupe. After constantly moving around trying to get comfortable my body succumbed to exhaustion and I ended up getting maybe two hours of sleep. We woke up right at 9am for the Zoo's opening. On with the (cute and fuzzy animal) pictures! Timon! Tree Kangaroos! Kangaroos that live in trees. Clever name, no? Well, hello, main entrance! Big Daddy elephant. He was in la la land all day. Seriously, there was one point where he was just rocking side to side without a care in the world. Camels are always awesome. Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist. (Capybara) Chillin' on his rock. Hooray elephants! Hooray Polar Bear! It was lunch time for this guy. This was a Secretary Bird. I didn't see a rolodex, so I'm calling shenanigans. This rhino tended to stare people down as they walked past. Awwww, warthog family! An angry tiger. More elephants! OTTER! Tiny monkey! One of the monkey habitats, as seen from the bus tour. KOALA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PANDA!!!!!!!! RED PANDA!!!!!! (Notice how pandas apparently like sleeping with their crotches being violated?) Monkeys in the Otter habitat. I love ya, bro! This was a Pygmy Deer, I believe. He was maybe the size of my fist. Green stuff I don't see in the desert! Tiny turtles! Rudolph! Panda smile! Leopards just lounge. Bird! A great view of downtown from the skyride. This guy just wanted attention. Skyride shot! Great views of downtown San Diego from here! Howler monkeys losing it in the morning. Gah! Tiger! Crap, he saw me. Lioness is showing the goods to Mufasa.

I haven't noticed any issues with roughness (I've been on Raptor and Wild Eagle) but I could only assume that it is due to the train design. Since they're sticking out from the track they are less stable than being mounted on top. The vibration of the train is felt in a larger sense, if you understand what I'm saying.

That layout looks wicked! The sideways-pretzel-loop at the end looks like a lot of fun and the dive under the gift shop should definitely pucker some buttholes!

that's actually a pretty good point - raptor is a terrific ride Its French cousin is even better. Unfortunately Banshee's French cousin (OzIris) is horrible. This means Banshee might be even worse...

....WHAT?! I now have yet another reason to go back. Add that to the current list of 1,405,627,042 reasons.

At first glance (at the posted photo) I thought it meant that the Universal execs hadn't decided which park the haunt would be in. Then I realized I'm an idiot.

^ Parks are more keen to spend their money on tried and true crowd pleasers (Boomerang and SLC, unfortunately) than on something that hardly has any exposure.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there's no flame effects in a tiny tunnel. Yeah, I mean, what is this, Movieland Studios?!

Don't even try man. You blew your load with that one. You need some downtime and a ton of vitamin-B12. You deserve it! Don't forget the Gatorade.

In the future.....we run out of cheap plastic and resort to cheap black fabric.

So, wait, they're actually calling it YOLOcoaster now instead of Full Throttle? Someone shoot them. Edit - Clicked the link to the real article. I'm wrong. Edit 2 - Oh, hey, it's a forum-wide auto edit, haha.

Transdemonium is a credit, dammit! Anyone who says differently is a dirty liar! The zombie Mickey tree was one of the craziest things I've ever come across. The fact that it was looking stormy when we saw it made it even more creepy, haha. I'm pretty sure we got you spinning at a cool 120mph on that playground thing, too!

Ah, opening yet another closed ride for the tours. Robb, you rock!

The view is spectacular at the top!

Am I the only one who is terrified of the drop away floors on Insane Speed? I've ridden a few floorless coasters and they all take their time with the disptach, but DAMN that thing moved like it had a purpose!

Dude, Hollywood Tour is better than any of the Universal Studios rides COMBINED! Ken had to be a wuss and sit in the back, away from the waterfall, lol.

I want to be the guy who stands at the entrance of this ride. Why, you ask? Simply so I can say, "Hello, welcome to El Loco, which is Spanish for...The Loco." They don't even need to pay me. I'll do it for fun on my days off from my normal job.

The world needs more of these funky rides. Unfortunately us westerners are too caught up in "build it bigger and faster!" rather than "build it fun!" Great stuff, as always, Robb!

http://screamscape.com/html/schlitterbahn.htm If that rendering is correct, Schlitterbahn Kansas City is building the American version of Twin Peaks at Caneva Aquapark. If you need a refresher, here you go: I rode Twin Peaks twice last year on the TPR trip and can say with 100% certainty that it was the most butt-clenchingly terrifying experience of my life. For some reason I doubt this will be anywhere near as dangerous as the one in Italy, but who knows? It IS a Schlitterbahn park... That's me in front with the look of sheer terror. Kevin seems to be having a blast, though.

Thanks for the advice! The question of when schools begin letting out was worrying me, but knowing they're still in session for a few more weeks is very good to know. Looks like I'll be making a trip to Knott's next week, now, haha.

Hmm, hopefully someone sees this before I head out tomorrow - I'm taking my first ever trip to Universal Hollywood and was wondering if anyone had some tips on the best way to avoid the crowds. We're driving out to LA tomorrow after my buddy finishes up at work and visiting the park on Wednesday. We're not expecting insane crowds, but you never know. I've done some internet research and from what I can tell, I should go straight to Simpsons and follow that up with the Backlot Tour, then head down to the lower lot since, according to Google, the lower lot doesn't tend to get busy until after 12. We're gonna be there right at opening (9am) so we should have plenty of time. Any other tips? What time of day is best for a decent seat at Waterworld? I'd appreciate it. Thanks, guys!