willski

I would take French, since both B&M and Intamin are located in the French-speaking regions of Switzerland. Just a thought.....

I'm hoping that when the article says "Get water from the toilet", they really mean, "Get water from the sinks in the bathrooms" (since most Brits I know call the restroom just "toilet"). Otherwise that is gross. Also, the temperature was only in the mid-90s, which is not that hot, especially with all of the shade that Alton has. It was 105 on Tuesday at SFOG, and a few people in line for Goliath had to leave due to heat exhaustion.

Poor you, that must suck, that show is horrible. Sounds like a great day though, I wish I was going to SFGAdv. Actually I was until the summer program that I'm going to at Stevens changed their weekend trips (we're going to a Yankees game instead of SFGAdv...woohoo...not). I'll get there sometime.

You guys go buy some gasoline, I've got the Zippos.....

You can get free water if you ask for it. Also, Fearman's Manor has been there for about 3-4 years. Just remember folks, when you go to a Six Flags park, you need to lower your standards (which I think is ridiculous, but what can you do?).

Reading all these horror stories of SFGAdv park ops has just made me double check my reservation for a Gold Q-Bot when I go in late July. I think I'd explode if I had to wait in these long lines due to terrible operations. And I thought SFoG was bad!

Wooden: 1. Shivering Timbers 2. Georgia Cyclone 3. Gwazi Lion 4. Robin Hood 5. GASM 6. Blue Streak 7. Thunder Road 8. Gwazi Tiger 9. Hurler 10. Mean Streak (trimless) As you can see. I haven't been on many good wooden coasters at all-hopefully this changes later this month @ SFGAdv. Steel (not a top 10 since I can't decide): In no particular order: Goliath (Walibi) Goliath (SFoG) Millennium Force Raptor Magnum Speed: The Ride Apollo's Chariot Alpengeist Top Gun (PC) DD Hulk Montu Kumba SheiKra Kraken Mummy (USF) Nemesis A top 17 I guess (but not in order).

SFoG had the GASM name first. Make it 4 original names.

I sent him some more penis enlargement ones, plus an invite to Gmail (so he can get a new email address with 2GB of storage and his inbox won't bounce incoming mail).

I thought it was awesome, I don't know what you guys are talking about. I went back in 2002 and again this year in May. Both times were great, although this year we did have to evacuate the building due to a grease fire. We did get free desert shots since we were one of the few groups who came back and paid (some people are so dishonest-geez). It's really awesome for a theme park restaurant, but I wouldn't say it's in my top 10 restaurants (unless you count the fact that it IS inside a theme park). I look at it like this: -No lines (if you make a reservation, which is really easy) -Incredible theming both indoor and outdoor -Good food for a theme park, with prices comparable to other theme park eateries (but a much better setting) Okay, so the menu changed, but that happens to many restaurants when the head chef takes another position. I think that IoA (Mythos included) is kind of in a transition period right now. They are doing lots of renovation that should have been done a few years ago, and the park is starting to look more like it did in 1999. Just give it some time, I'm sure it'll get there soon.

"Increased guest spending is continuing at a strong pace - a clear indication that our strategy is working. The drop-off in attendance was driven primarily by an anticipated decline in our season pass sales, which we are no longer deeply discounting in an effort to restore price and brand integrity, and to wean ourselves from those teens who don't spend money in the park," said Shapiro. "What has been unexpected thus far is that the families we are targeting to replace those teens have been harder to attract than anticipated. Make no mistake about it, families are coming back - as evidenced by our solid increase in per capita guest spending - but not as quickly as we had hoped. We have to work even harder to regain their trust and bring them back to sample today's Six Flags." Shapiro noted that attendance was also negatively impacted by the season-long closure of the New Orleans park due to damage it sustained from Hurricane Katrina, reduced visits to the Six Flags park in Mexico City by school groups, reduced and delayed marketing expenditures, rides that came on-line late, and weather on the West Coast in the first quarter and on the East Coast in May. Hahahaha....I knew Red Zone would suck at managing SFI. Shapiro reports increased guest spending, which sounds nice in a press release, but in actuality it means they are selling the same amount of stuff as last year (or maybe even less), since the prices for everything have gone up. And once again, notice that they attacked the old SFI management for always blaming weather, and what do they do? Yes, that's right, blame the weather for closing a park and for decreased attendance. Sorry, but you can't change the focus of parks that were all-thrills for 15-20 years to families. SFMM, SFGAdv, SFGAm, SFoT, and SFoG will never (at least not for quite some time) be fantastic family parks, simply because they have so many thrill rides. I thought the old management was bad and that Red Zone was really going to change things. Boy was I wrong, everything is exactly the same, but the expectations are higher since SFI is under "new management". What a disappointment. EDIT: I also just had to add this. Most families in the large urban areas near a Six Flags do not have massive amounts of disposable income, so they are likely to visit once a year or once every other year because it is so expensive. Look at it this way (family of 4 @ SFoG): Parking (free map yay!!11!!!): $15 Tickets (no discounts): $210 Meal for 4+snack during the day: $65 Souvenirs: $30 That totals up at $330, which is a ton of money for some families. When Universal and Disney only cost a hundred dollars more or can even be cheaper via multi-day packages, it's no wonder that SFI's attendance is suffering, since most people would rather have a trip to Disney/Universal every other year instead of a yearly trip to a Six Flags park.

^Well, he IS from Las Vegas....

It's not that rough, really, it isn't. I've ridden it in the very front (not bad whatsoever) and very back (rough, but there are rides that are much worse....cough...Desperado....cough). New trains might help, but the trackwork isn't the greatest anyway, so that might not help.

HL2 CS:S I used to be hardcore at CS, but now I really don't play it anymore. Oh and of course No Limits.....

I laughed so hard at those comments on Amazon that I just Oozinatored on my monitor. Best product ever. And I wonder where they get their ooze from.......the adult entertainment industry has to be good for something, right?

^You prepay after you ask them if it is okay. If they say yes, you prepay. If no, then you go back to Expedia or whatever and try again. Also, this is how I'm going to have to arrange a lot of stuff in college, since I won't be 18 until the second half of my freshman year. I'll be sure to visit Whataburger, although probably not on the way down (I tend to not want burgers at 5 am, but that's just me). mmmm...burgers...ahhhhhhh.

I live near Athens, so we won't be hitting 75 until Macon. Thanks for the heads up though. Also, my friend just turned 17 and I'm still 16, however, last time we did something like this was about 4 months ago when we went to Wild Adventures. We booked a hotel online, sent them an email asking if it would be ok for two minors to stay alone, and then prepaid. We also had a letter/note from both of our parents stating that they didn't hold the hotel liable for any injury etc. It worked out great. And also, I hope to make it to at least Gainesville, since my car gets 400-420 miles per tank when driving on the highway.

This is directed more at Joe than the Alveys, but what the hey, I might as well try it. I have two days off work, two free 1-day 2-park passes for USF/IoA from a scholarship contest, a fuel efficient car ('01 Jetta), and a few hundred bucks from last weeks paycheck eating a hole in my pockets. I want to know the proper way to go down to Florida on the 28th and 29th (driving of course) and go to both parks. Those who have done it, please comment on what I have planned so far: 6/27: Get off work at 5 pm, go home, eat, shower, load car up with suitcases packed earlier, take Ambien, and go to sleep. 6/28: Get up at around 1-2 am, pick up my friend, head to Florida (469 miles from my driveway to IoA, about 400 of it interstate). I think I can do this in about 7 hours with only 1 or maybe 2 breaks (also, my car doesn't have cruise control, which is going to suck). Go to IoA and USF until close (10 pm, I think). Check into cheap-ass "3 star" hotel ($34 w/tax, whooohoo!). 6/29: Sleep in very late (noon) and drive home, arriving at 7-8 pm after 2-3 stops. 6/30: Sleep in uber late (3 pm) and go to work (lifeguard) at 5 pm. How does this sound? I know it involves a ton of driving and tiredness, but I really am feeling some DD right about now (since I missed it when I went in May).

4 transfers?!?! Holy cow, that sounds rough.

As for in a row, it's a tradition for my friend and I to marathon Cyclone every year on opening day at SFoG. Last year we got 23 and the ride was trimless (and super awesome after retracking). This year it was 29 in a row, with a daily total of 30-something. I've also gotten 10+ rides on a ton of coasters in one day: Shivering Timbers-14 (what else is there to do at MiA?) Top Gun-17 (PC) AC-19 (and it was 100 degrees all day in late May!) Alpie-14 or 16, don't remember (same day as above-it was deserted!) Goliath-20 (SFoG) Goliath-14 (Walibi) DD-14 (7 per side thanks to the re-entry doors-love them) I've also been on rides 10 times a day as well: Top Gun-10 (PC-done twice in the same year 2 months apart) Hulk-10 (once in 2002 and this year as well) LNM-10 GASM-10 (on about 4 or 5 different occasions) Kraken-10 And then of course the rides that I've been on many times: Cyclone-20+ (6 different occasions-2 of them trimless) Acro-70-something (May 31, 2005-the park had maybe 200 people in it and it was misting all day-I stayed on from 10-4 and got well over 70 rides. If you ask the ride-ops what the record is, they'll give you two numbers. One is my number (76 or 77), which is the most by a guest, and the other is in the 90s, which is an employee). Basically I hold (held?) the record for Acro last year. Needless to say, Acro is not nearly as fun as it used to be.

A 15 hour flight?!? HNL-IAD is right at 10 hours. Where did you guys connect in, Anchorage? Sounds great, we went to BGW in 2004 at about this time of year as well. It's great becuase no one is there and it's still hot enough to go to WCUSA (great waterpark). I also thought Alpie was rough back in 2004 except for the front and back rows-it was shuffling through the inversion like a woodie.

T2 wasn't the SLC prototype. That wonderful honor goes to El Condor, which I rode back in October. Without a boubt, El Condor was the worst coaster I have been on, and maybe the first that I would never go on if given another chance. Goliath @ Walibi World, on the other hand...... Anyway, looks like you had a good time (save the flat tire). I hope to visit Beech Bend, SFKK, Holiday World, and PKI on the way to/from our family's lakehouse in Michigan this year, so all of these Beech Bend/Holiday World TRs are getting me pumped up about it.

It's Intamin box track, plain and simple. I'm thinking that they will go for most inversions, but I hope they do something more original (like a prototype of some kind?).

Mindbender's second train was down for rehab (using parts from Greezed Lightnin' from PGA). It is now operational. Yes, that's right, Mindbender was running two trains on Saturday (4/1) for the first time since 2004!

Yeah, they were the same. I doubt they'll put new wheel assemblies on them, maybe new wheels, but that won't do much. I wish they'd buy new trains like these nice ones from KumbaK: http://rcdb.com/ig897.htm?picture=25 They also have pretty good contact with the track from all three wheel positions, which would help. I'm not sure if they are spring-loaded, but it would help.