USCoaster

I will miss Flashback. It was always one of my favorite coasters at SFMM. It was rough, but most of the time, I was able to brace myself and get a pretty good ride. It always hoped they would try to retrofit it with lap bars and enclose it to try to improve the ride a bit. But we've been hoping that SFMM would do that to Revolution for years so I don't think Flashback had a chance. Hopefully it doesn't get completely scrapped. I'm sure it could fit in somewhere with a little love. OK... so that was really cheesy.

I'm impressed with the pictures and video of the pill shaped giant wheel attached to the building. From the pics, I'm assuming its in Japan somewhere. Its a pretty cool design. I also find it very amusing each time a Disney ride system shows up on their website. Sun Wheel, Jumpin Jellyfish and Indy (Multi Motion Dark Ride) were on the previous site and I see they have added the Simulator system being used in Soarin' (Panoramic Flight Simulator). On a similar note, the Multi Media Dark Ride looks like the Spiderman Scoops. While I knew that Disney and Universal had outside help with the ride systems, I am a bit surprised that Intamin is advertising the systems on their site. The Indy and Spiderman systems require the park to spend the money on the rest of the experience and so I don't think Disney/Universal should be too worried about copycat rides, however all the Soarin' system requires is someone with a helicopter, a video camera, and a joystick to program the movements to replicate the experience.

^ The Cars themed area is supposed to connect the area in front of ToT to Paradise Pier somewhere. I am impressed with most of the plans that were announced. It will be interesting to see what the 2 other rides in the Cars area are since the Cars themed ride that just opened in Paris is already in DCA (the Ladybug ride). This also leaves a pretty large hole left in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot for new attractions. Al Lutz mentions the Millionaire soundstage being used as the temporary entrance while the construction of the new entrance occurs, but once that is completed, that building will be empty again. The Aladdin show will probably get changed out before these plans are completed, and I don't see Muppet Vision surviving until DCA2.0 is completed. And of course, there is Hollywood and Dine sitting empty off in the corner.

I thought the same thing, but I think it might be because the first part of the ride is just so intense. If it was on something like Medusa West, it might not be such a letdown. As for my thoughts on the post MCBR sections. Riddler's Revenge, Kumba, and Raptor are awesome. Montu is good, but I want to ride it without the trims on so hard Medusa West is slightly better than Scream!. Alpengeist had a nice pop of air in the back leaving the MCBR when I rode it the year it opened but the rest of the run seemed just ok. (Has BGW killed that with the trims?)

Two words: Invader Zim But I think Spongebob works too. If the actually spend some money and theme it, it could be a pretty cool/messed up little ride.

I'm so jealous you got to go see Erasure during this tour. They came to northern cali with the True Colors tour last month, but didn't schedule a show of their own. I guess I will have to deal with just seeing Pet Shop Boys at the Hollywood Bowl in Sept.

Is the white tower with the steps right behind the Sonic Boom new? I don't remember it from the original pictures of Sonic Boom that were posted when it was first built. And if it is new, do you know what it was? I'm guessing it is just a bungee tower based on the large cantilevered platform. As for Lagoon, I will have to make a trip out there later this year. I think I will probably skip Logan, but I will add in the zip lines and mountain coaster in Park City.

As far as I know, Kennywood reopened Pitfall the next day after they checked the ride and found everything to be in working order. I think it is great that Great America has reopened Drop Zone. After checking the ride system out, the parks can't really do anything else until the official investigation in Kentucky either determines it was a freak accident or that there were signs that is was a preventable accident. The Intamin Giant Drops have been running without major problems for years now. The rest of the parks might as well keep running their rides as normal and maybe step up the maintenance checks each day just a bit till they find out what happened.

Sony confuses me. I seem to remember them letting Playboy and a couple other adult media companies create UMD videos for the PSP. I'm not sure if they ever got released in the end, but I do know that at one point, they had approval.

Unless you mean North America, La Ronde isn't in America I was gonna put that, but you beat me to it so I will just say that I always thought that Canada was a big suburb of America anyway.

Long post with a couple of different topics being addressed. I must say that I was slightly irritated at the coverage on Good Morning America today that also included stock footage of the Boomerang at SFDK/SFMW/MWAUSA stuck in the boomerang and the coaster at Magic Springs stuck at the top of the lift and listed them as accidents. It then went on to say how many people in each were hospitalized while neglecting to mention that it would have been for dehydration and dizziness. Regarding the accident, after looking at the footage in the news reports it seems that with the exception of the cable snapping, everything performed as planned. All of the hoist carriages are at the top of the tower so I think it rules out all of the cables snapping and the 1 cable looped 3 times theory because the hoist carriage would have fallen with the car. And based on the pictures of the frayed cable, I think the theory that the cable snapped on the way up and was left dangling and her leg caught on it on the way down seems the most plausible. As for updates on the girls condition. Earlier I found an article on yahoo or something saying she was in surgery but that was all they knew. The SF Channel 2 News (Fox) just did a fairly neutral story on it and how it has affected the closure of Drop Zone at Great America. They did interview a bunch of kids who were split on riding it when it reopened and a mother who essentially said "if it did this to one girl, they should just close all of these rides because it could happen again." They finished the story by saying that Great America was not sure when they would reopen Drop Zone, but that Cal OSHA has inspected the ride and cable system and found everything to be in perfect condition.

I may be wrong here, but I think now that Six Flags owns the park, they might be able to ask for permission to raise the height limit or get a waiver for a new ride from the city. During the V2 fiasco, I remember there being talk of Six Flags being able to get a higher limit for rides if they bought out Vallejo's interest in the park. Things may have changed since then with new people in the city government, but I think it would be a good idea for Six Flags to pursue a height limit closer to 200 feet in the area along Marine World Parkway since it is the furthest spot from the local residents.

As far as I know, Voodoo is still running the same program that it was running when it was first installed. The flipping in the first part of the ride varies with the number of riders. If the car is completely full, you get at least one more flip. I really wish they would change the program once in a while. As for the simulated dolphin sex... Last time I was there, I was treated to a full on sex show in front of the underwater viewing window in the Walrus Encounter.

They had a Sky Wheel at the Nevada State Fair last year. I should have gone on it, but Ferris Wheels scare the crap out of me.

I might get one since since I don't have a normal 360 and Microsoft finally made the patch for Jet Set Radio Future which was my favorite game for the XBox. Until that patch came out, I really couldn't justify buying a 360.

I've added everybody. Name: John Code: 0000 9796 9341

I thought I had replied to this, but maybe it was on another forum. I prefer Coffee Bean (Ultimate Vanilla or Extreme Ultimate Vanilla Ice Blended) but since they don't have one in Reno, I only get to go there when I'm in LA or SF. As for Starbucks Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino with a floating shot of espresso Iced Coconut White Mocha (5 pumps of white mocha or its too sweet) and various other drinks depending on my mood.

I'll be getting Super Paper Mario. Now I just need to find time to actually play with my Wii.

I loved this video when someone sent it to me earlier this week. I can't stand most stuff Alanis has done, and I have an even lower tolerance for anything by Fergie and the Black Eyed Peas, but I found it hilarious just because it is making fun of the original song and in a way, Fergie's whole career. To be honest, its dumb. But thats what makes if funny. And I think it shows that Alanis is willing to laugh at herself.

The park was originally know as "Marine World Africa USA" which worked with the theme of the park a lot better than the Premier Parks/Six Flags shortened "Marine World". I think the name change was a pretty good idea. The "Marine World" name really ignored the entire north end of the park with all of the land animals. And from what I have heard from my friends in SF, there is some hostility towards the new location and the addition of rides to "Marine World Africa USA" so Six Flags would have had to deal with comparisons with the old park if they returned to the original name. (My friends seem to have this desire to have the original park back I guess.) Shedding the old identity of the park was probably one of the best things Six Flags could have done with the park. I just hope that Shapiro realizes that it isn't just a 1 year fix and will continue sending money to the park to keep up with maintenance. They don't need a huge new ride every year, but as seen at Disneyland in the last couple years, its amazing what a new coat of paint on a regular basis can do.

After CCI self-destructed in the middle of construction, didn't Cliff's essentially finish the coaster in-house? If so, they should have a good idea of how to retrack the ride. I think its great that the smaller parks are interested in keeping their rides in good condition.

I just got back from seeing the movie and I must say I was blown away. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and a bit shocked by the amount of gore in it. (I haven't looked at this thread until now.) Even with the gore, it was very beautiful and I can see why it won the Oscars that it did.

My favorites are Bounty, Mint Aero, Flake and Flake Noir (which was heavenly), Smarties and Wine Gums. I'm actually kinda glad they aren't more available here because then I'd probably eat a lot more candy.

I need to find one more Wii-mote so I have 2 of them and then wait to get the other two when they release the new colors next year (or whenever a Wii Mario Kart comes out...)

Here's my Wii number. 7287 4939 6033 9301 And I added everybody who has posted their numbers in this thread.