Skycoastin Steve

Brazilians are obnoxious a-holes who don't know how to tip. Generalizations are fun!

Hmmmm.......send a train?

I feel kinda bad saying it's "overrated," but Verbolten certainly wow-ed me the least out of the new 2012 installations that I rode this year. Granted, the only other ones I rode were Wild Eagle and SkyRush, but Verbolten just seemed like it could have been a lot better than what it was. I know it's only supposed to be a family coaster, but I was very underwhelmed. Then again, it's entirely possible I was just exhausted from the trip that weekend and that affected my opinion on the ride. Loved the building portion, but everything else just kinda fizzled for me.

Yeah that was my most................creative credit whoring trip to date. Wild Eagle and SkyRush opening weekends (and the whole weekend at Dollywood) were amazing. My first Food and Wine experiences with some fantastic people. Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride. Favorite single ride of the year was my front seat ride on Space Mountain during One More Disney Day, after I hadn't ridden the ride in almost a decade. I don't know if I've ever laughed, ducked, and screamed out of terror on a single ride in my lifetime as much as I did on that single ride. It was a relatively slow year for me travel wise though, as living in Orlando has me a bit spoiled now with being so close to so many great parks and rides. However, this year was all about quality over quantity!

^I don't know, the far end of the family coaster looks obliterated to me.

What's that you say? You want to see some actual progress at Fun Spot? Well look no further, you found it! Drove by the park today, they've officially moved onto the "tractors pushing dirt around" phase. I imagine it shouldn't be long before we start seeing some construction on the expansion area of the park. The area is now officially a "hard hat" area, and no trespassing! John Deere made an appearance. Lots of dirt getting pushed around. Plowing the field so a magnificent GCI may grow and yield a bountiful harvest of airtime. Was that nerdy? I think it was a little over the top. Lots of construction markers. Push that dirt! Push that dirt! Just in case you didn't believe this was Fun Spot. This should look very different in a few months. Noted! I really wonder if any trees will be saved. From the end of the property you can see how much has been cleared. A little perspective on how large the expansion will be. Excited to have a GCI installed five minutes from home! For the bilingual TPR members.

Noooooooooooooooo not the Skycoaster!!!

^ACErs.

That last photo is pretty incredible, doesn't seem like anything survived the storm.

Agreed, but unfortunately they've made it clear that they want 7 home games every year, and with the neutral site game against UGA and the annual FSU matchup, road games against other BCS conference teams become difficult to pull off. The weird thing is, next year there will only be 6 home games for the first time since 12-game schedules became mandatory before the 2006 season. That can't be good for cash flow.

^^^It was closed for the day when I went. It was a week before Memorial Day weekend, so it's entirely possible that it just wasn't ready for operation yet. I ran into that problem with another credit or two that day.

Considering one of my favorite days ever as an enthusiast was last year when I drove down the shore visiting all these parks, it's definitely a bummer to see these parks in shambles the way they are. I didn't get the Star Jet credit, but I did ride that awful looper and the Wild Mouse (which I actually thought was a lot of fun). Mother Nature is a cruel bitch sometimes, but these parks should be able to rebuild just fine. It's going to be a long and challenging process for them, but they'll be back, hopefully with a better product (as others have said).

lol! You mean that the picture of the coaster collapsed in the water wasn't good enough for you??? I'm sure that a few determined enthusiasts with kayaks or fishing boats could have this coaster disassembled then reassembled on dry land in no time. Save Teh Starr Jett??

Star Jet was closed the day I went to Casino Pier last year. Oh well. Not that upset about missing the credit.

I don't think there's any way they have it closed that long and DON'T redesign the station. It's easily the worst thing about the entire ride, and they know what kind of problem it poses for capacity. Get some smart people on it and fix it!

I honestly don't think there will be an undefeated team this year. Just doesn't seem like even someone like Alabama will be able to pull it off. They still have to beat LSU on the road, and then if they get past that, beat either Florida or South Carolina in Atlanta, which will absolutely not be easy. Oregon always seems to have a boner game or two a year, and @ USC is no picnic, nor is @ Oregon State. Kansas State is on a nice roll, but they'll lose one eventually. And as big of a Florida fan as I am, it's hard to see them going 3-0 against South Carolina, UGA, and @ FSU on the back half of the season. ND won't win out, especially with games @ Oklahoma and USC. Might just be another 2007 with several worthy candidates in December.

Yeah there's no way it would cost $10M to refurbish that ride, I laughed when I read that.

^Ride is clear, VERY NICE!!! You made it back safely, GREAT SUCCESS!!!! Have a nice day, HIGH FIVE!!!

Wasn't Great Escape the Boomerang that had the ride op that sounded like Borat? There were so many boomerangs on that trip it's hard to remember, but I think that was the one.

We made it!

I can't wait for the USC game next week. I just really, really, really hope it's a night game. Being in that stadium for a night game that mammoth is going to be an experience, for sure!

^Yeah, it's getting a little redundant at this point, but it seems as if there's a sizable chance it could happen again this year.

^As long as Florida ends up in some type of championship game!

That day at Epcot was hands down one of the most fun days I've had at any park ever.

Like I said right after Space Spiral was brought down, EVERY retired ride should be blown up like this!