shivtim

^I'm not sure what the exact rules are, but I went to LSU vs. UNC in the dome and they were selling beer.

Don't worry, I'll be on the NC State side, and the beer will be flowing.

^Just going because it's here in Atlanta. GA Tech's opening game is an away game, so I settled for Wolfpack and Volunteers. College football in the GA Dome is neat (and there's beer!).

Just 45 days until the season begins! I've got my tix to NC State vs. Tennessee on August 31st, which will be the 11th game of the season. There are 10 games on Thursday night!

^^ Let's say you rode in a Honda Civic in Ohio. Then you rode in the same Honda Civic in Virginia. Did you ride in two different cars?

Great shots, Hanno! I love that coaster... it's rougher than the other Intamin pre-fabs, but that airtime is just fantastic. We even had fun with the rhythmic bumps on the helix.

Welcome, DollywoodTNgal! I'm sure Elissa might have more official answers, but I thought I'd give you my thoughts. 1)It's easy to "join up" with people at TPR events as long as you're social and outgoing. I'd suggest showing up early and introducing yourself to people you see standing alone. There are always "singles" that would love to join up and form riding groups! You can also meet people on this forum ahead of time and plan to meet up with them. I went to the Texas Giant Bash last year and had no problem meeting new people. 2)Based on what I said above, I think it would be best to come Friday night so you're up and ready to meet people on Saturday morning. Unfortunately that means you'd miss night-time ERT. Hopefully you can get the hotel to work out so you can stay for two nights. 4)I'm not specifically knowledgable about either of those hotels, but the area is fine. It's just a typical highway exit with multiple hotels, restaurants, etc., and it's very close to Six Flags.

I'm excited that there are TWO Chick-Fil-A kick-off games here in Atlanta this year. The match-ups aren't quite as good as they've been in past years (Clemson/Auburn and TN/NC State), but the city will still be buzzing on labor day weekend. I wish ESPN game day would be here, but I have no doubt they'll be at the Michigan/Bama game. Really kick-off weekend is going to be great, with the above games plus Boise/MSU, GA Tech/VA Tech, and Notre Dame / Navy in Dublin.

Hazle Park Greyhound?

Looks like a really neat park. Thanks for the TR! How was the alpine slide?

^Jason got it! Possibly the roller coaster with the highest ratio of vowels?

Hint: It's in the USA, west of the Mississippi River.

How about this one:

^Flare Meteor at Fantawild Adventure!

Short news clip on last Friday's Coasterthon fundraiser for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/entertainment/nine-people-attempt-ride-scream-machine-10-straigh/nPQb8/

^Correct! Post the next pic...

It's been 10 days with no movement, so I'm posting a new one to keep things moving along:

A couple of New England Brewing beers at Prime 16 in New Haven.

A 2 year old girl who died in the fire was from Atlanta. How awful. She went to a pre-school just a few blocks from my home. It's amazing how small and connected the world is sometimes. http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/atlanta-toddler-among-victims-1448755.html

Thanks for the pics/reports from these parks that we don't usually hear much about. I'm looking forward to the next set!

It's possible the ride will still be open to the public. They could alternate a coasterthon train with a general public train - but the wait would be twice as long. Hopefully I'll be there riding in the coasterthon, as long as I'm one of the top 24 fundraisers.

I was visiting a friend in Denver this past weekend and we went to Elitch for a few hours. It was my first time visiting the park, and overall I think its an enjoyable little park. We got there right before opening and went straight to Sidewinder. This was actually my favorite coaster in the park, and we rode it twice. It's the third Arrow launched shuttle loop I've been on, and these rides don't dissapoint. Simple but smooth and fun, nice airtime, and a bit of intensity going through the loop backwards. Next we rode Halfpipe, which was very interesting. We rode twice in a row because there was a very short line. It's not as intense as it looks, and there is a bit of rattling, but it's a very fun ride. Boomerang was much smoother than most boomerangs, but still nothing special. Twister II was fine. We rode in the front, and it was still a little rough, with no airtime. The final coaster was Minderaser, which is the worst coaster in the park. Typical hang 'n bang. My friend, who is not a coaster enthusiast, said it looked like Raptor at Cedar Point, but after riding she said it was "NOTHING like Raptor." We also rode Ghost Blasters, which was really fun. I always enjoy rides like this. We rode again without shooting just so we could pay more attention to all of the effects, then we rode a third time to try to get a top score. Great ride attendants on this ride. They kept the short line moving quickly by matching up groups of two. Slow loading on the coasters was an issue, but because the park wasn't crowded it didn't matter very much. They were running two trains on Minderaser and Twister II, but stacking the trains for several minutes each time. On Twister II, my restraint was checked a total on five times by two different employees. Part of it may have been due to opening weekend; I think they were still training some of the employees. I liked Elitch better than I expected. The coaster collection isn't great, but it's relatively affordable (except for the $15 parking, ouch!) and seems like a nice park for the whole family. The employees were nice. What they could really use is a mid-sized family coaster, something with a 42" height limit. Eventually it would be great to see them get a signature coaster. I think the park could support something like a small B&M hyper coaster.

This one is tough. My first thought was Japan, maybe something manufactured by Hoei Sangyo, but I couldn't find anything.

It was also a complete disaster when SFoG tried it. It was pretty much the exact same circumstances - a radio promotion on a weekday early in the season: www.wdsu.com/travelgetaways/11535997/detail.html Cars began lining up as early as 3:30 a.m. for the offer. The "Ditch Work" promotion offered free admission to the amusement park between 6 and 9 a.m. Traffic began backing up in both directions on I-20 before 5:30 a.m. Some drivers let passengers out of their vehicles to walk along the interstate to the park.Those pedestrians, many of them children, wanted to get in line at the park entrance, but Six Flags workers turned them away, telling them admission was limited to people in vehicles. That caused even more problems when those walkers began trekking back to their vehicles, wandering on the interstate searching for their rides.There were reports of fights near the park's front gates. Once Six Flags officials opened the parking lots at 5:30, they filled up quickly. Park officials decided to end the free admission promotion at 5:55 a.m. I would stay far, far away from Gurnee on that day.