willski

Basically, most Georgia schools don't get Clumbus Day off, but some colleges and my high school get the day off. It's a good day to go, but there will only be one train on everything and only a few stands open. DV and Acro will be closed (DV b/c of staffing and Acro due to lightning I guess).

^Yeah. Basically it's a day for us white people to celebrate the fact that we killed millions of Native Americans. Pretty cool, huh? end sarcasm.... Yeah, the park is completely abandoned. We went last year and the only real line was for S:UF, which started at the base of the stairs into the station and was inside the station once they put on the second train (don't know why they did-everything else was on 1 train ops with walk-ons). Overall, it's one of the best days to go to the park, because it's not too hot or cold and no one is there. I'll probably go this year and just ride Goliath all day.

^All of the normal stuff, PLUS the blood of a Confederate general. Mmmmm....tastes like Robert E. Lee. Or maybe Stonewall Jackson.....

^Did you unpackage it? If not, you need the Track Packager, which is available at nldc.interfix.net. The link might be broken though, since the maker of the packager is very ill and took her site down...... This wasn't bad. You had a few problems with pumping in the helix, as well as some of the hills weren't the right height. The reason you had some problems with the ride layout was that the lift wasn't steep enough (it's 45 degrees-yours was about 35, which made quite a difference). Also, the section before the lift is shorter than yours. You needed to hearlinte the track, as well as make the horshoe a bit steeper. This would've helped with your bunny hops, which got too fast at the end. Overall, this was a pretty good recreation. I'd give it a 7.5/10.

Usually, it's to make everything cheaper. They use different types of track for different heights and forces to minimize stress on the track and supports, as well as to save money. Here, it just looks like they did it so the track could fit inside those supports and the train would still have clearance. Looks like those supports are the station. It also looks like there will be two loading docks, a la Storm Runner (or that could be the transfer track). You can see where the track will enter/exit the station and go through a flat turn behind the supports in front. EDIT: Carnage beat me to it.

Well it's all a matter of opinion I think. The Incredible Hulk Coaster has a really amazing layout, and the launch is a ton of fun, but you feel a lot of force in all of the inversions, and I think it would have been a bit better if the vertical loops in particular had less force at the top. The first time I rode that, between the cobra roll and the loop, I blacked out quite a bit. Not that it was a problem, but I like seeing things upside down and I couldn't see anything. Hulk is not forceful. I don't care what row you ride it in, it's just not as forceful as Kumba or Montu (trimless, which is rare). I've ridden Hulk 20 times and never blacked out in any row, but I guess that's just me. As for forceless rides, I can't say that I like them. SheiKra was soooo incredibly forceless that it wasn't thrilling at all. Of course at the other end you have Goliath at SFoG, which is a great coaster, but the helix is just a tad bit intense-I black out every time (except front row rides, which I am about 50/50 on). I know most people here are thinking "Goliath isn't intense", but it becomes difficult to ride over and over, as you get a nice headache from blacking out the whole day long. Also, Batman is not a good ride to marathon in the back either-it's just far too intense. I guess in the end I like a ride with forces, as long as they aren't blackout inducing.

Hopefully MIT. My dad is good friends with a few higher up people there, plus the siwm coach seemed like she wanted me for the team. I'm going for a visit in early October (as well as hitting up Lake Compounce). If that doesn't pan out, there's always GT....

^Haha, agreed. Nice pics (except for the invisible hot ride ops )-it looked like fun. That L&T Runaway Train thing looked really intense for such a small ride (was it smooth though?). I never thought of Morey's as being a top tier park, but I guess it is compared to the rest of the parks along the Shore. I wonder how it mathces up to the Pavilion-I'm going for the first (and probably last) time on Saturday.

I used to do everything. In middle school, I wanted be the best at every sport, which was of course impossible. So I have a ton of sports equipment in my basement that I don't use because it's just a bit too small. I did cross country, basketball, soccer, hockey, tennis, and golf (and was on the school teams for all of those sports too-it's a good thing middle school had no homework). Now, I just swim. I'm the fastest on our team in most of the events, but that's not really saying much, since our team is awful. 100 free: 52.57 50 free: 23.75 50 back: 27.91 100 back: 59.78 200 free: 1:58.35 (haven't done it in a long time though-like 9 months) 100 IM: 1:02.34 50 fly: 26.89 I've never done breast because I suck at it, and my fly time is just from a relay. All I do is short-mid range free and some back. My favorite is definately the 100 free.

If USF is on par with UGA, you should be fine. I got into UGA as a junior (for joint-enrollment) with a 1500 SAT, but most of the people in my classes had around 1200-1300. I'm hoping for MIT, since I have 2 good connections inside the school, but if that doesn't pan out, then I guess GT it is for me. As for the thread starter, you should try to get involved in a few clubs or teams asap. Make sure you pick something that interests you, and become really involved in the club. Colleges want deep involvement in a few clubs rather than being in a ton of clubs and not doing anything. For example, I'm an officer in NHS and Student Council, a member of Beta Club, the captain of Academic Bowl, and hopefully the captain of our swim team this year. Hope that helps.

Colossus does 4 heartlined rolls in a row. Storm Runner does 1.5. I mean a double zero-g roll, in which the riders are inverted twice while going over a camelback. Basically a zero-g roll with an additional twist. The hill would have to be very gradual though, otherwise the rotational g's would be outrageous.

That would be sweet if it was the first ever double zero-g roll, but I doubt they'd do that.

^I wondered the exact same thing. Also, how are they going to tier the retractable floors? ---doesn't understand why people think SheiKra is so great--- It looks ok, not great not bad. I see maybe one airtime hill, and very little terrain use. It's no Boulderdash here folks, it just gets close to the ground. And with that, I'm done with Griffon until it opens....

^SheiKra is a pretty good coaster, but not in my top 10. Personally, I think it's the worst B&M in Florida (which doesn't say much, since all of Florida's B&Ms are great). There was so much hype to it (maybe because I hyped myself up), and it was a big letdown. Plus, there was little incentive to ride it more than I did (4 times-I waited only once in the line then got 3 re-rides) when Kumba and Montu were in the same park with no wait all day, while SheiKra had a 40-50 minute wait all day. Plus, SheiKra has a relatively short ride time. Griffon is just an improved SheiKra. I didn't really like SheiKra that much, so I don't have super high hopes for Griffon (which may end up being a good thing, because it just might rock ).

With half the capacity, half the reliability, and half of the longevity. Not to mention the fact that they are already responsible for how many deaths? I think that BGE made the best decision with all things considered ... A proven, reliable, people-eating, marketable attraction. I was just saying popular type of coaster. I wasn't trying to be specific, since BGE wouldn't even get a megacoaster,as they already have AC. They could have gotten many things instead of Griffon. I for one would've liked to see: Gerstlauer Eurofighter Plug-n-play woodie (loud, yes, but I'm not taking that into consideration) Gerstlauer Bobsled (could have been well themed, compact, and very, very good) Anything else someone can think of... You sure hit that nail on the head And I'm not just looking for airtime on a coaster, but since it is a dive machine, one would expect some air, which will be had on the immelmanns, drops, and maybe the small hill. I also really enjoy high G moments, which this ride lakcs. Sure, it's got some steep pullouts, but I would've really liked to see a tight helix or something with high g's. Also, throwing in the roll that was originally planned for SheiKra would've been really cool. Yeah, they had a limited amount of land, but there are some great rides shoehorned into tight spaces, such as Phatnom's Revenge, Great Bear (maybe not so great, but yeah), Georgia Scorcher (narrow footprint, but a great ride), and many others. Saying space is limited is not an excuse, you've got to be creative with what you have, and I feel BGE didn't do that very well with this ride. Will I ride it? Yes. Will it break my top 10? You never know; I'll give it a shot, the floorless trains should be really cool (how are they going to load though, since the rows are tiered?). If I don't like it, there are two other great B&Ms and two classic Arrows there for me to ride instead.

So stupid..... They have a great concept and once again kill it with a terrible layout. Drop, Immelmann, turn, brakes, drop, Immelmann, splash, helix, done. Mix it up a bit-thow in a roll or two, maybe a tunnel, nix the splashdown (which is pointless anyway), and put in an air hill. When I first saw the animation, I thought it was going to be an air hill after the first Immelmann, but it just goes directly into the brakes. I wish BG and B&M would be a bit more adventurous with the layouts instead of building rides with not much action (the only good parts are the 2 drops and 2 inversions, which is really not that much). If you're going to spend the money to build a dive machine, why not use the immense height to your advantage, instead of slowing it down with an MCBR and water splash? Griffon looks like it's going fast into the MCBR, but then it brakes to a near stop, loosing tons of speed. The watersplash is just a waste: Waste of track, waste of speed, waste of time, and waste of money. It produces a nice effect for non-riders (unless you don't care to get wet, but have to go through the wet zone to get on the ride- a la SheiKra), but adds nothing to the ride but some unwanted braking. The helix after the splash will be pointless as well, since it will be taken so slowly with a very wide radius, producing very little forces. Maybe it's just me, but Dive Machines aren't the best bang for your buck as for as coasters go. For the same $20 million you could get a fantastic Intamin megacoaster or something else worthwhile (cough...wooden coasterscrewkingsmill...cough)

^^Except that times zones aren't a uniform width when they avoid splitting areas apart. Also, the IDL, so just no....

I just don't get it. Millions of Americans want to live the "American" lifestyle, you know, big house with a yard, SUV, etc., but not a single person can afford it. I hate to be mean, but when you're making $55,000 a year with a family of 4, you just can't do it. So what do you do? You get 4 or 5 credit cards and max them out. Sure, you've got a lot of debt, but hey, you've got a brand new car, big house, and everything you've always wanted. Except now, you owe tons of money to the banks, have 2 or more mortgages, and have to pay interest rates on your credit cards (which are super high just so people won't do exactly what you've done). Eventually, the bank is going to take everything from you-why don't people understand that. This is why you see all of these new credit counseling companies-it's ridiculous how irresponsible people are with money. This may just be because my dad is a financial consultant, but I could never understand why you would spend more money than you have. Instead of saving for something expensive, you just buy it on the spot, and it ends up costing you more anyway (with interest and finance charges). Get 1 or 2 cards (one with mileage rewards, one with hotel rewards) and pay them in full when you get the bill. Don't pay the minimum or anything like that, because that's when the interest charges come in. If you just pay the darn thing off, it shouldn't cost you anything. If there are special charges for the mileage rewards, switch to a card that gives them for free. And that's about all I know in terms of credit cards.

Hahaha....yeah I guess that works too. This might be counter-productive for sleeping, but it works with me when I change a lot of time zones (like when I went to Hong Kong). Just stay up for an entire night, and I guarantee that you'll go to sleep nearly immediately the next night. For example, our flight to HKG was out of JFK, so it left early afternoon and arrived late afternoon in HKG. The entire flight was in daylight, which really sucked since it was 15 hours 30 minutes. I didn't sleep for the entire flight, so it felt like 4-5 am to my body when we arrived, although it was only like 4 pm. I stayed up until we ate some dinner and got to our hotel, then absolutely crashed at 10 pm. It worked-my parents and brother took the better part of the trip to adjust (it was a 14 day trip), while I adjusted basically the first day. I was still a bit off the next morning, but by our second full day in HKG, I was fine. So, try staying up from 7 am Tuesday until Wednesday night, it just might work....

Looked like you were rockin' first class there on AirTran on the way home. I love those seats-best in the domestic US (row 2 is the best). Awesome TR.

Changing it from PG-13 to R definately kept it from the top spot this weekend. What did they change about it-more gore, boobs, or both? Heck, I still thought it was PG-13. Not that it makes a difference, should be kickass-I'm going tomorrow.

Delta is still in bankruptcy, selling assets and gates, delisted from the exchange and trading otc. But hey at .71 with 52 wk high @ 1.50 and low @ .30 cents, good cheap stock to buy for a gamble. I see a future for S&S just not until a major shake up or change in direction and scope. I just think it's too late for them to create a distance from the Arrow name and operation. They just need to go back to what they do good at. Oh and as for the frog hopper, that thing rocks! Cheers! Delta isn't selling any assets or gates. In fact, they've announced new routes out of LAX, JFK, and ATL. They've also committed to purchasing 5 new 777, of which at least 2 will be Worldliners (the longest-ranged commercial aircraft in the world). Actually, if you take away the bankruptcy reorganization charges, they made a $355 million profit in Q2. Once they come out of Ch. 11, they will be stronger than any carrier in the U.S. except maybe Continental. Back on topic, hopefully this is just Ch. 11 and they can reorganize and continue operations (a la Vekoma). If this is Ch. 7, then we'll lose all of S&S's creations, in addition to wooden coasters like Avalanche and J2. Obviously Arrow's stuff would go too, but who wants the accursed 4-d coaster now? Also, is Huss going to be a Ch. 11 or 7 bankruptcy? I hope it's just Ch. 11.

You're overestimating the suckiness of MARTA. It really doesn't take that long to get to SFoG from the airport via MARTA-there's only a few bus stops after the rail ine ends. Also, it's not that far from the airport to SFoG. Airport to I-20 intersection is maybe 10 minutes, I-20 to SFoG is maybe 10 more. Everyone freaks out about how bad the traffic is in Atlanta, when really it's not that bad on weekends and weekdays from 9-4. The only bad times are 6:30-9 and 4:30-7 on weekdays, and even then, the traffic flows pretty smoothly unless there's a wreck. If you want traffic, go to NYC on a weekday-it's a living hell.

^^It's actually on the south side of town, and if you do decide to drive, it's really not far and the traffic won't be bad on a Saturday in October. The park won't be very crowded since early October is not very popular for some reason. The problem with renting a car is that you have to ride all the way to the rental place, then get the car, then drive. If you had a car already, you'd be okay, but renting a car will take too much time. I recommend MARTA this time (this may be the only time, lol). You can do it easily. If your flight gets in at noon, just make sure your luggage is checked through to Orlando, then quickly proceed from your gate to the Marta station. Take the train (10 minute ride at most) to the central station, then head west towards SFoG. You'll have to switch to a bus somewhere along the way, so you may want to look up schedules for that. You could get to the park as early aas 12:45 depending on what airline you're flying on, what gate you're at, and how smoothly the trains/busses are. If it takes you an hour and things go smoothly, then you should leave the park by 5. It'll take another hour, then you can go check in for your next flight. If you're going to do this, you MUST use the security lines at the T gates, which are shorter than the main line 99% of the time. It usually is about 5-10 minutes to clear security, so plan ahead. For example, when I flew ATL-EWR (Newark) earlier this summer on AirTran, we didn't get to the airport from our hotel (Reniassance) until 10:40, but with priority business/digital check-in and T gates security, I was at the gate on the end of C by 11:10. I was also the 3rd person on the plane. Don't skip the woodies, ride them in these seats: GASM: Front or second row of any car, the best is 1-1 or 4-2. Cyclone: Back car, front row is amazing if it's running well, which it almost always is.

Actually they built another floorless-stand-up-rotating-tilting-Intamin-gyro-drop tower at Movie Park in Germany. A crane dropped a piece of tower while it was under construction, and that delayed it's opening by a few months I think. It's plain white/beige colored, if I recall correctly.