pvcoasterguy

I believe that the Zipper is one of the most flawed and unsafe designs out there, especially in a carnival setting. Throughout the ride, your force is pushing against the door, and, at times, the Zipper ride is incredibly forceful. This in combination with the chance that the operator may not even lock your car sends shivers down my spine. Any ride should be able to have fail-safes that would lock the car for the operator had he/she forgotten, or at least it should shut off the ride. But this ride doesn't. It's an old ride, extremely dated, with a bad design. I don't care what anyone tells me--I'm never going on a Chance Zipper. And Calaway, what are you even trying to say? Even if the arm was broken, it could still grasp something, especially if it was a life-or-death situation. I wouldn't question something like that... why would someone lie about an accident?

Um.... ew... that's all I can say.

Here's my thought: Shapiro has an idea of what is needed. He knows the families are the real money makers, and that big steel coasters won't always pay off, especially when a park gets one too often. He knows improvements need to be made, and he tried in vain this year to perform what he said he would. But, let's face it, the Six Flags company is truly screwed up. I think Shapiro has the right idea in narrowing up the company--if they focus on their best parks and their best parks alone, those parks can only grow and flourish. Six Flags could have some real quality parks. But right now, they are kind of getting shafted due to the crappy parks in the chain. He's trying damn hard, and he has some great ideas. I think he deserves the raise. 2007 is still looming, and hopefully Shapiro will improve the company some more. Because, let's face it: Six Flags this year is doing better overall that Six Flags last year, in terms of guest experience. Especially for the parks like Great America, Over Texas, Over Georgia, that have improved greatly even though it wasn't necessary for those parks, as they had a good guest experience prior to the changes of Shapiro. My idea for the company is this: try to fix the middle management at each park. Let's face it--one of the reasons SFMM is as crappy as it is now is because of their horrible middle management. There needs to be sufficient communication because the lower-level managers and the higher-ups, and that simply isn't happening right now. The lower-level managers are directly related to the guest experience, and if there is bad lower-level management, the park will never achieve its potential. Shuffle things up down there, Shapiro. That is what is hurting the guest experience most. Because teenagers can be good workers--they just need good management to ensure the proper things are happening, and that their workers are motivated.

Wow... I'm impressed! Seriously though, Vekoma has some great layouts for their coasters. For example, their layout for the SLC is great! Tight, compact, cool... but the downfall of Vekoma's cool designs is the roughness of their coasters. If this resolves that problem, I think Vekoma could become more prominent in the industry and build more than clones.

Wow... with that commercial, you'd think Gemini would be themed to death.

I'm going! October 25, baby... I'm really excited. There's more information about the tour here: http://www.howtobeamegastar.com/ It seems to be pretty similar to the Complex tour.

That Cobb woodie looks like it could be so good. But it looks like it hasn't been properly maintained at all. What do you think of the layout? I think if the park would maintain that ride and lose the Morgan trains, that ride could be a true winner. EDIT: Just checked RCDB, and it turns out that the woodie has trains built by S.D.C. (builder of the Galaxi coasters) WTF?

I've had a sore throat for a couple days now... and, we had lame standardized testing today. Boo hiss.

We have a couple particularly hilly roads around here... they have like a 25 MPH speed limit, but do I go that? No way! One is actually really good--the hills are very short and sharp, like bunny hops. It makes driving fun for once.

Awww... I love Pandas. I never really was a big Thomas fan, but I did like the big expensive train sets of Thomas that they'd have in stores.

This so beats Mavis Beacon!

"I bought a souvenir to grace the nether regions of my mouse." LOL... great caption! Nice TR!

Whizzer is a lot of fun. It's not too intense, but the turns have some fun forces. It's sad that these rides are disappearing, as they really are unique and fun.

Interesting TR... Those new Perilous Plunge boats look really claustrophobic. Are they really that tight, or is it just the angle of the photo? Thanks for posting it!

I'm torn between the two choices. Keep/Refurb? On one hand, it sounds like it could really make TSI have some cool technology, and it would attract some of the younger crowd. But then again, one of the coolest things about TSI is how removed you feel from technology. It's old school, but in a really good way. But, if the refurbishment is done correctly, it could turn out to be really cool. But, could it be too much Pirates? I don't know...

Methinks it's at Holiday World (from Voyage)... though I seriously have no idea.

FYI, all the Rainbows/Zamperla Version of the Rainbow are closed until a problem can be resolved. I'm not sure exactly what is wrong, but it was a manufacturer-found problem. So, in this case, the closed Rainbow is not actually Six Flags's fault. Nice TR!

Finally got around to formatting some of my China pictures. The Terra Cotta Warriors... it was so huge! (The Amazing Race was there... a couple seasons ago). Ellie and I having random fun in China. At the Great Wall of China. Polar Express 3D days of death... constant sold out shows daily... uf. IMAX rocks, though.

Wow... very cool pictures and an interesting TR. Thanks for posting it.

Space Mountain: Mission II effects and soundtrack? Sure... it'll make the ride better. Same track layout? Please, no. The track layout on WDW's Space Mountain is great, and I love the in-line seating. Airtime city! But, I'm all for new effects and a soundtrack. HHN seems like a great event--I hope I can get down there sometime. Nice TR!

Wow... seems like you had a crazy, yet fun, time! Nice and interesting TR!

Superman Returns Batman Begins Legally Blonde (lol... I know. But it's good feel good movie and very funny) Rent

Decided to bump this up as a PSA. The show begins at 7:00 in each time zone.

^ Because we're talking about Six Flags, Elissa.

Wow... that looks like a really reputable company with some great products. We'll have to keep watching this--it may very well succeed.