Keasbey Nights

When they bring those things out, they bring them out with bells and whistles. The entire restaurant knows that you and three other friends are tackling that beast. Jaxson's has so many other amazing desserts, though.

That is awfully scary, but I'm glad that they weren't trapped in an inversion or something. The fire brigade did a tremendous job with a hasty rescue; I recall people being trapped for 3 to 4 hours (of course, that may have been on a higher ride).

BeemerBoy - hahaha, I know, but I just had to chip in. Maximo37 - awesome! Be sure to post a full photo report.

Rules 1 and 2. (; And I've never had a chance to ride those go-karts, but they do look incredible. I think that they're separate from Boomers, but I should make the effort to ride them one day. Me being Jewish, however, I don't quite feel like springing for it.

Maximo37 - you have to buy the tickets at a booth in front of the roller coaster; you can't buy them from Boomers. You'll be able to get an unlimited roller coaster riding wristband there. BeemerBoy - I have no desire to order a Kitchen Sink at any point in my life, and any sane person would agree with me.

This was my first real roller coaster. I've always had a special place in my heart for it. I highly recommend riding this bad boy. There are never any lines, and there's a great ice cream place (they serve lunch and dinner, too) a few minutes down the road on Federal Highway. It's called Jaxson's.

I knew it was a bad idea to post that, but I figured it would provide some laughter.

I understand that there are a couple of threads for music in general, but I would like a medium for discussion of classical music. So, does anybody listen to it? Who are your favorite composers? Do you happen to play an instrument? I could name pieces for hours, but Gustav Mahler is my favorite composer of all time. His symphonies are so powerful, it's ridiculous. I would give anything to hear 2 or 8 performed live. Symphony No. 2 Finale (conducted by Rattle) Symphony No. 8 Finale (conducted by Bernstein) I highly recommend watching the Symphony No. 8 video. Bernstein is absolutely lost in the music. The brass is blowing their absolute brains out, and the trumpets are getting as high as anything.

Today, my sister and I went down to the Dania Beach Hurricane. As usual, there were no lines. The price of an unlimited rides wristband was bumped up to $12 (but it's still a great deal; a one-ride ticket is $6). She and I went on 15 times from various seats. The coaster seemed to be running a bit rougher than usual, but it was still a complete blast. I found that the middle few cars were running the smoothest. I got some great pictures and video (which I will upload to CoasterTube eventually as both a raw POV from the front, a raw POV from the back, and a compilation video set to music). For now, here are some pictures. All videos and pictures were taken with permission. A reverse view from the top of the lift hill. The lack of lines pleases everybody, except for maybe the park owner. The sweeping curve into the first drop. It's all up to physics from here! What you see from the station. The bunny hops. It was surprising to see a full train. A reverse view of the break run for all of you track enthusiasts. Although I don't have long hair, the bunny hops still provided some great hairtime. A view of pretty much the entire ride, taken from the first turnaround. The lack of riders didn't bother me. The station and spare train.

I've always loved moshing, but to me, ska is for skanking. Even if it's extremely fast ska, like with Streetlight. And during one of the many times I've seen Streetlight, after every song, he shouted, "YEAH! RED BULL! THAT'S WHY WE'RE PLAYING SO GOOD! RED BULL!" It got old very quickly.

I'm more than thrilled that there's another ska fan on this forum. Kalnoky is kind of a douche in concert, but that doesn't take away from the music at all. I got to see LTJ last year, but I still haven't seen Big D. Are you seeing them at Warped?

I've never met a ska fan who doesn't like . Quite frankly, you'd be hard-pressed to find a group of musicians more adept at their instruments, both musically and technically, than they are. (Besides Dream Theater.) Streetlight is basically insanely fast ska with catchy-as-hell lyrics and melodies. They also have some really good slow stuff (the song I linked is a mixture of both slow and fast). One complaint I've always had of slower ska is that their songs can sound incredibly repetitive and boring (I'm looking at you, Sublime). Streetlight is the opposite of that when they choose to do slow. Ska and punk fans should also check out Big D and the Kids Table. Almost everything they do is so chill and cheerful. I like to consider these guys the Arctic Monkeys of ska. The song I linked to, Shining On, is simply incredible (and the music video is amazing as well).

I would prefer that they add the rings back onto the lift. The POV animation made them look like an awesome effect. I have no idea what the official word is, though.

To counter your example, take Mean Streak, a roller coaster at the same park. From what I understand, it used to be one hell of a woodie when it first opened, but when I got to ride it, the various sections of trim brakes completely ruined the ride, its speed, and its intensity. There were trim brakes going down the first drop! Generally speaking, however, trim brakes and MCBRs do take away from some speed. I am aware that this is most likely to keep the intensity level down (Universal is a family park, after all), but us thrillseekers might not find it as good of a ride...oh well. EDIT: Vondroff, what else are we supposed to do while we wait for the ride to be completed? (;

Calm yourself. I have every right to express my thoughts on a message board. I do agree with you that it seems trimmed to hell; I recall at least 3 MCBRs from the animated video. I don't have any other specific reasons as to why I am not expecting much, but it simply doesn't seem like it's going to be a top-notch ride.

In case it wasn't evident, I was posting from a coaster enthusiast's point of view. From where I stand, it's not going to be an amazing ride. As I've mentioned three times now, I'm sure it'll be fun, but I'm not expecting much.

I mentioned this on the previous page, I think - I don't doubt that this roller coaster is going to be fun, but currently, it is being billed as "amazing" and "incredible", and I'm simply not seeing it turn out that way. I would love for Universal to surprise me, however...

I've been to Busch Gardens on a summer weekend (twice), and neither time had excessive lines. The longest I recall waiting was an hour for Sheikra (the ride had just opened at this point). $15 to $30 may be a worthy investment if you want to cram in as much riding as possible, but you have to remember that a lot of people only go to Busch Gardens for the animals and nature sections. BGA is the worst park to use crowd size as a measure of lines because of this.

Does that truly make a roller coaster good? Just because Maurer Söhne can build a drop that goes underground and call it "Drop Tuning" doesn't guarantee HRRR to be a good ride. In my opinion, all of the hype over these "new" elements is just to attract the average Joe. As I mentioned before, I do not see HRRR being as good of coaster as expected. That's not to say that it won't be good and/or fun, but I doubt that it'll make many top 10 lists.

I most recently saw Streetlight Manifesto perform with Dan Potthast, The Swellers, and A Wilhelm Scream. Raise your hand if you love ska. Jim Conti says, "I love ska!"

Goliath at Magic Mountain, Millennium Force, Dragster. Once I become of age and get a job, I'll hit up the rest, with the possible exception of those Japanese ones.

I was in Orlando a couple of months ago for a French competition. My room at the Doubletree Hotel had a wonderful view of the Universal skyline. I was able to see the Incredible Hulk, Dueling Dragons, Doctor Doom's Fearfall, and...what's that red thing? "Joe! Alex! Ryan!" I called to my three francophone compatriots. "You must see what they're building!" All I was able to see was that vertical lift hill, but at the time, I thought that it was going to be a launch. "Dude, that looks absolutely wicked," Ryan said in astonishment. None of us knew about this new coaster, but from that point forward, we thrill afficianados looked forward to the day we could ride it. Unfortunately, the leaders of the French competition would not let any of us leave the premesis to go to Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios, even though we tried asking in French ("Pouvons-nous aller rouler aux montagnes russes, s'il vous plaît?"). Two months later, I look at the construction. I scrutinize the video posted on the website. My conclusion is that this roller coaster doesn't seem like it'll be worth the hype. The first drop is going to kick ass, as is that non-inverting loop, but I don't see this roller coaster as living up to the expectations of the theme park community. Cool, there will be music and flashing lights. You'll even be able to buy an overpriced DVD of yourself riding it (which I surely will do on my mother's dime, for it is a great novelty item). But alas, I simply do not see this roller coaster as being amazing. Sure, it'll most likely be fun, but it won't be groundbreaking in the way that the Hulk was groundbreaking. I'm still going to ride it multiple times, of course. On another note, the people-mover loading system is awesome and can seriously cut down load and wait times, but I envision it being a problem with the elderly, the obese, and the stupid.