chadster

A Tornado ripped through Branson early this morning causing major damage to the downtown and theater areas. Silver Dollar City is also reported to have received a significant amount of damage as well as the Titanic Museum. Pictures from Fox4KC Video from Fox2 KY3 Video from the Weather Channel Edit: Looks like the news media got it wrong...again SDC Facebook

Looks like a well maintained and themed park, thanks for the photo tour! One of these days I'm going to get to England.

^Thanks! And thats the dirty rumor as of now, tho I'm not sure it will be to Santa Cruz or not at this point, or, if it all. I should have it all firmed up by the end of the week tho

You need to go clean yourself...

I'm sorry

^I'm sure of it. Many still think the ride is rough and won't ride it either. Hello, have they not looked at it, can they not tell it hasn't changed, just a little bit? Apparently not. If the rumor on screamscape is true in regards to Mr. Freeze being down until May, well, I won't go until May as Shockwave is supposed to be in year 4 of 5 on it's track rehab and historically hasn't opened until late April and without those two rides, the only other rides worth having are NTAG and Batman, not worth the fuel $$

^I've seen the plans as part of my job. I can tell you 100% that it will not be built where they want to build it and the builder refuses to consider any other site which is crazy because other sites exist that are close to major highways and portray a similar setting. Major problems include 1. It's a designated Wilderness area, 2. Bald Eagles, and 3. Tons of high voltage power lines run multiple ways throughout the mountain from the nearby power plant, 4. Housing is across the street and they almost always put up a fight. A MUCH better option would be to incorporate it in to the bankrupt and "ready for sheriff's sale" Riverwalk Crossing, but I don't see that happening either. That site was actually surveyed a while back and with the appropriate approvals from the COE it can be done but again, not likely. As far as Bell's, that was a county decision, the city had nothing to do with it. I will admit that I was highly upset with my employer's decision even knowing the true reasons, sadly, it was not handled properly and people have a sour taste in their mouths. The Bell family had ample opportunity to move and GROW their business starting in the late 90's but they chose not to. One site offered was across from NSU Broken Arrow complete with their own Creek turnpike exit. Now all of their remaining stuff sits in tractor trailers minus the few rides at the flea market that I've yet to see run. Bottom line they were not making money hand over fist like they should have, survived bankruptcy twice, and almost didn't survive the last one had it not been for State Rep Kevin Easily. Ever wonder why they sold their original carousel and swinging horse thing? They were broke. The people of and surrounding Tulsa will support an amusement park, it just needs to be in the right location. Edited to say - hope this didn't come off as rude, it wasn't meant to be

For some reason I just can't get into Universal parks, very mediocre and for the cost, I'd rather go to Disney, and for me, that's saying a lot. My inability to like the place doesn't degrade from your pictures tho, thanks for the share!

^^ Thanks, and glad to know you showered after ^ I know, it's a rarity for sure, the the other one had more comic value

^Wait, you calling me picky? Their shirts are basically the same too, they just painted red track on them.

You probably line cut Robb for the Roller Skater

As promised, here is day 2 of WCB - KNOTTS! This year Knotts went all out giving us two firsts for the park, a tour of Monte's Zoom machine and for the first time ever, allowed those other than maintenance staff sit in the infamous B&M "Ball", not to mention a bonus Roundhouse tour! As always lunch was awesome and despite a change in operating hours, the park went above and beyond by allowing front of the line access with an additional 30 minutes of ride time! Here is an exert of what I wrote on their Facebook page that sums is all up Missed West Coast Bash Part I - SFMM ? Clicky Don't forget to post your comments! As advertised, QueerRudie was up with the roosters to be first in line. Knotts had a full staff on hand to help in passing out the days crap. Well, it wasn't crap really. It was amazing! Free group photo, Free on-ride photo, Free T-Shirt, and lots of other things to numerous to mention! Thanks Knotts! "If you mess your pants while touching Monte, please go back to the hotel and change" QueerRudie was also first in line for tour #1 Monte was connected to his rear wench so that he could be pulled out of the station and have his wheel replaced. Poly stew is on the menu today. Gather round parishioners, for you are about to have the most spiritual experience of your lives. And there it is, the holy grail. look at those lines, curves in all the right places In all of it's glory, the motor the spins the giant fly wheel Kent says "Here is my motor, it has over 1.5 million pulls, and to ensure we get another 1.5 million pulls, the mask is not allowed on property." And here is the infamous flywheel! Sexy Don't worry guys, this cable is not made by Intamin. Under Monte's skirt. The cable goes in here, and spins and spins and spins until the sensor says don't spin anymore. When it's told not to spin anymore the brakes are applied on the station end where a separate motor pulls the cable back into launch position. Rudie will never wash his hands again. Next Kent took us to see the original control panel. Looks like a panel. The gauges all read 0, which is a good thing, otherwise that would mean the ride was in operation, which would be a bad thing, because then we might have all had our hands, arms, and heads chopped off. The counter has clicked over once already. Noted. No Faults, music to my ears. This computer is used to check for programming etc. If it dies, the park will be forced to upgrade the ride system. Yay, spare parts! Going up the stairs to the station, we got up close and personal with the braking system. Now here is a shot you can't get during normal operation. At least it's good. This device pushes hard into the rear of Monte to make him go zoom. Here is the rear end cable pulley Wouldn't you love to be the one to push this button? All of these people were gathered round for the second service. Wake up!! We then got to sneak a peak inside Windseeker's naughty area. There was no wind being broken during pre-flight checks. Double Boob Credit!!! Next up was Silver Bullet "Welcome. This is my ball" So if Silver Bullet isn't silver, then why is it called Silver Bullet? "Please, step into my ball" How fortunate are we to be the only people, ever, outside of maintenance to be able to sit in this engineering marvel. "nerds..." I'm gonna run all you all down at a whopping speed of 2mph You can't get this shot everyday. I have to say sitting in that ball was my #2 highlight of the day. Hi JoJo and TJ! After the tours and some Xcel ERT, it was time to hit up a few other rides before lunch. After lunch we had to take a trip through the Calico Mine. errrm Chris' favorite thing to ride... And with that we bid farewell to Knotts. Thanks again Knotts and TPR for a great day! It was truly amazing!

^ Agreed Greg. Compared to many other CF parks, granted Knotts was originally a road side attraction of sorts, Knotts has a welcoming feel to it with a great vibe and energy, especially at night. I don't get that same vibe at CP, KI, or KD. What I get there is the vibe of the cash register. Perhaps those interested in building new parks should study Knotts a bit and take some pointers. If the do, they too will be successful.

^ I know, I was being a smart ass as they seem to only run three trains about 8 weeks out of the year when they could easily use them about 6 months out of the year.

The least they could have done was put the new layout of NTAG on the map instead of the OTAG. Oh.Wait.It's SFOT

So I have to give Kudos to the Tatsu crew at WCB. Instead of letting a train of people hang out in the brake run following a break down of train #3 in the station, multiple times, the crew hopped over to station #2, swapped the track, and unloaded train #1. I guess we know now the real reason they have that station...

ha! I knew this past December they were getting it ready to dismantle by all the buzz of workers around it, just didn't know who was getting it. Now, when do they set ozcat on fire? Its unsalvagable.

You guys should have seen the look of disappointment on his face when housekeeping did not replace the broken iron. I thought we were going to have to call for a 5150 hold on him, for his own protection. However I am most impressed with the butcher block in your kitchen. Where did you get that from?

Now that you guys mention it, I do remember all the different music going on, I kinda liked it, but I'm strange. I noticed the planters going in Monday and was all WTF? Also lets not forget about the planters on the backside of the log ride that are going in. Didn't they take out train stuff to do that?

Thanks! and soon my friend, very soon as in Sunday soon. Oh, it's big alright, and can get bigger if I want it too...

Why do you always get my bad angle? Anyway, what I'm looking forward to is the Monte portion of this report P.S. I was looking at porn

I believe so...

#$^@#$%)*)%*%)_&(!_*&!_#(!#%*&_!#^!_$^()@IY@)(*)G%IGFKJ(F%@)II^@I

Welcome to a special edition of CVA as I present WCB 2012 - Part I - SFMM As with any bash event, the people make the event, and the event wouldn't be possible without the hard work that Robb and Elissa put forth, THANK YOU!!! And while this years event at SFMM didn't include as many of our favorite coasters for ERT, in true TPR fashion we took lemons and made lemonade! Don't believe me? See for yourself! Oh! And if you missed our awesome trip to Adventure City, Clicky HERE! Just in case you losers who didn't attend forgot where we were. Check in time! Grab your tickets and grab your crap. Mr. Six was sneaking around everywhere today! You never knew where he was going to pop up! Robb's not quite sure about this guy's intentions. But it was time for morning ERT! Green Lantern produced yet another ride that convinced me to never ride again, no spin, stop in the brake run, not fun at all. Batman was hauling the mail and Riddler was running well. A courtesy ride was given to Colossus. Oh, and Goliath gave us some surprisingly good rides, some of the best I've had on it! Chris agrees! Then it was time for lunch and Caesar's favorite food, wiener! TPR even arranged for a fly over! Since we didn't have any scheduled photo walk backs this year, we made our own photo walk back out around the picnic area. Well now It's hairtime and turnaround time weeee, ok, where to next. oh yeah, more self guided photo tours! this is probably my favorite photo of the day see when you know where to go to get good shots, who needs a guided behind the walls photo tour over the river and thru the woods to grandmothers house we go Everyone has to have one of these in their report, it's a requirement And every report has to have a little Revolution I'm sure Anton is rolling over in his grave with the OTSR's The backdrop still makes for a great shot, the OTSR's don't make for such a great ride. No Mr. Six!! Don't Do It!!!! (Photo courtesy of ChrisRad) Continuing on our tour, we find a few trees that were sacrificed. Cassandra asks "What's going to go through this hole?" This would be the hole up close and personal. It's Magic Coming full circle it was time for Q&A. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but did get to see the schematics of Lex Luther. After that it was a quick ride on Scream before dinner at Game Day, unfortunately TJ, Spears, and David broke the damn thing. Back from dinner we made our way to the front gate again as everyone else was leaving. Where we had all you could ride on Viper! Who are these nut jobs anyway? Wew, what a day! Good friends and good times combined with ERT and some friendly park employees made a for a good day. Next up, KNOTTS!

^There was a CF press release about it sometime ago that all CF parks would see new pages, new ordering pages, etc.