RoCo

Okay, so that Alien/Vader mash-up helmet skull thing almost made me lose it. That wins my awesome award for this week, no question. Now to go back and finish reading this report. EDIT: I'm in no way a real Star Wars geek (really, I'm not), but I did love this report. So, was that Booba Fett? (Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week) That "Scoundrels" thing... Yeah, Han WAS a scoundrel... WHEN HE SHOT FIRST!!1!!!1!11! LUCAS RAPED MY CHILDHOOD!!! /rant

This is nothing but great news. Looking forward to returning to this park after a very long hiatus.

Damn it, I'm getting all misty-eyed here... Very nice report, and thanks for the views from the beach! Merits of the ride aside, I'm always going to give Cedar Point, and ITEC, a ton of respect for the audacity of fully enclosing a bobsled coaster. Love it or hate it, there was nothing else like it, and probably never will be again. But I'll keep hoping that's wrong. That's a real shame, it was far from the worst coaster there. FAR. Like, miles and miles away from the worst.

^^Happy to know I'm in good company; thanks!

Very cool-looking little park! The train ride looks sweet, and that's a decent collection of flats. Will need to check this out next time I'm that far north. Although big fail for the self-abuse restrictions on the plane ride.

Heck yes, we need more "family" coasters like this! Looks really fun! Also: "fart." Because I have the intellectual maturity of a 12-year-old still.

I'll never get tired of looking at photos of this ride; thanks so much for sharing these. Just insane. Do we live in a magical time, or what?!

Great report, and the look inside the Coke tour is awesome! MUST get to that tasting station. (P.S. "The Little Shop of Horrors" movie is one of my favorites.)

Awesome photo report; thanks so much! IIRC, this park was supposed to have some kind of Harry Potter rip-off attraction. Was there any sign of that? Love the environmental work on the mine train and dino-themed splash-down boat rides! "The Stress Express" (Although, to be fair, I finally got a chance to try out the new Vekoma harnesses on Carowinds' Carolina Cobra, and they made a HUGE difference.

So sorry I couldn't be at ECB, but great to see these photos. Verbolten taunts me with its awesomeness.

This is truly great news; can't wait to see the Haunted House in action. Great to finally meet you, Larry, at the DSB and looking forward to your first "post-opening" update!

Another ginormous THANKS SO MUCH to everyone at Six Flags Over Georgia and Robb, Elissa, and the TPR team for making Deep South Bash such a fantastic event. The Monster Mansion backstage tour alone made it aces for me, but throw in all the ERT (Goliath at night - OMFG), the other tours, the food, the EBFPT, TPR Quest (did I thank the contestant who brought me up and got me a prize, the green Freefall dealie? I don't think I did properly - THANKS, AMIGO!) , the simply epic-beyond-epic Georgia Cyclone Water Challenge... it just goes on and on. This was truly The Mother Of All Bashes.

There is no Dana; there is only Zuul. (If this joke has already been made, my apologies.) Yeah, so anyway, PSYCHED!!!!

The third week of July, I was in New York City and I set aside a full day to rent a car, drive up to Middletown, CT and check out Wild Bill's; couldn't be that close and NOT get up there. I sent an email in advance, letting them know I was coming, how much I've been enjoying the simply incredible updates Larry has posted here, how excited I am for the "Dark Rides Paradise," yada, yada, and was hoping I would be able to say hello to Wild Bill, take some pictures, maybe just chat for a bit. Long story short, while my friend and I were there, a massive thunderstorm swept through the area, with pounding rain, hail, lightning, etc., and the power went out. Wild Bill ended up giving us a tour through the store, their poster print shop, the Haunted House, and the rear property for several hours. We got to meet and talk with Chuck and some other members of the team, and were able to soak up the passion and excitement they all have for this project. It was mindbendingly cool, and I cannot thank Wild Bill, Chuck and everyone else enough for their superlative hospitality and for granting us so much time, all very much unexpected and undeserved. I will be posting a trip report and more photos up at ThrillRide, later today or tomorrow, I hope, but for now I did want to add some photos here, as a small way of giving back to a thread that has been a source of great pleasure to me since Larry first started it. Thanks again to everyone at Wild Bill's and to Larry for turning us all on to what is undoubtedly going to be one of the most kick-ass amusement parks ever. Very jazzed to be here! The artwork all over this place is an explosion of color and awesome. I couldn't believe I was seeing this with my own eyes. Yep, it's really happening. The power outage turned a walk through the store into a sort of dark ride/fun house experience. This is the portal through which we pass just beyond the front doors. SWEET. If you are not already afraid of clowns, seeing this thing in person will do the trick. It's going to look so wicked as part of an attraction. "Mommy, kill the clown! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!" RIGHT ON. Wild Bill shows us just a tiny selection of the beautiful "show prints" and posters that his company produces, on a rare Heidelberg printing press adjacent to the store. I'll take both of these, please. (When I win a lottery, the first place I'm going to shop for myself is this store. Mark my words.) Something else I don't need, but want to possess badly. Must have. MUST. LOLOLOLOL! Walking back past the clown silo, to the Haunted House. Feeling a little woozy with awe. There's a lot of visible progress that's been made. This new tower looks righteous! I love this so much. Another shot with foreboding clouds in the background. Left to right: Dennis, Chuck Burnham, Wild Bill, Greg and John. Steve is seated in front. Dave and Wild Bill. These people all ROCK. Word.

Wow, seriously awesome find indeed! I have NEVER heard of this before, but while recording a Season Pass podcast last night, one of the guest-hosts, Urso Chappell, spoke briefly about SFOG in the 70's and how great it was, with the Krofft stuff, etc. Incredible. (Can't wait for Deep South Bash! )

I guess I'm one of the few who actually thought it was pretty cool, early on. No question, it became the most unendurable ride ever in those later years. Like being in a minutes-long car accident. The huge upside: so much new real estate to play with!

Very cool images, and a very cool-looking fair! Every time I read one of these German fair trip reports, I'm just astounded by their coolness. Hollenblitz is a bucket-list credit I MUST get, soon.

That El Toro shot is stellar, both for the rider reactions and the rear wheel elevation. SWEET. Looking forward to returning to The City Museum soon; what a crazy-ass place.

Had to get caught up... love the Knoebels report - Black Diamond looks amazing! It's been way too long since my last visit. Have you ever ridden Phoenix after dark? And if so, still no deep, deep love for it? Really? I had to chuckle - at least the park has figured out that the height requirement for Flying Turns is 48'".

Amazing collection of images, just fantastic! Thanks so much! So when I become CEO of Disney, I'm going to build a fifth gate in Orlando: Disneyland, circa 1960, with the Nature's Wonderland train, the mermaids, all of it. (A good reason, probably, for keeping me from becoming the CEO of Disney. )

^^^That video is tremendous. Do watch all of it. Once again: Japan dominates.

And there's a "Ring-inspired haunted house?!" Yeah, NEED. This is a stop on the Japan trip, please, for the love of goat cheese, tell me that's the plan...

Catching up late with this Water Challenge news; this promises to be sincerely epic, based on the reports from last year's DSB.

Just saw the news about Katie... (way, way off-topic: have you seen the movie "Go?" Fantastic flick, and she looks mega-adorable in it.)

^Sorry to hear you took a real hit on that thing. Very messed up. Still, it's SO messed up, I do kind of want to try it...