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Changing all the good parts? The track will follow the same route it always did. It is simply old and needs replacing. Other Arrow Dynamics rides of that era have reached their end of life and been torn down (Big Bad Wolf, Great American Scream Machine), and none of those have seen the sort of 2400 riders-per-hour 365-days-per-year punishment that Big Thunder has. Sounds to me like they're replacing the old "bad" parts with new "good" parts. I don't understand your question at all.

^BGW's Christmas Town gets a little bigger each year. 2012 is the first year in which Festa Italia (or "Holiday Hills") has been part of the event. The only section of the park not involved with Christmas Town is the Sesame Street Forest of Fun (although Elmo and the gang do have a show in the Globe Theatre in England).

^I hope they have a particularly good filtration system.

^Personally, I think of a Boomerang as a "lesser experience" to begin with. Park chains do tend to keep opening dates for rides vague until they get farther along in the construction process. (Busch does this as a matter of routine--and remember how they were bitten on the butt when they missed Mach Tower's opening, largely thanks to the manufacturer's snafus, by about three months.) I'm not defending Six Flags here. I just don't have all the facts regarding the apparent delay in moving and installing the Boomerang.

My guess is going to be . . . food. Thanks for the off-season look.

An announcement from the park today. Remember--you must be between the age of six and ten to be a "KidCaster."

I think it would be t better if they used . . . and Animala!

^You mean, like this?

^It was a very "entertaining" meal--no argument about that.

^^I'm glad that you've enjoiyed the updates and the photos--thank you. Friday nights are generally "slow" nights for Christmas Town; however, the park is starting daily operations this coming Friday, which means they're anticipating more business, and you'll be heading there while Christmas vacation is in full swing. My best guess is that the park will be buiser on Friday, Dec. 21 than on the Friday when I visited--but still not as bad as Saturday (the park has been hitting capacity on Saturdays late in the afternoon). When I rode Verbolten, the temperature was definitely somewhere in the 30s, but that's no guarantee that some cold-related problems haven't popped up since then (I'd say you're probably safe if temps are in the mid-40s--check the park's Facebook page for any "official" announcement regarding Verbolten's status). I recommend hitting Verbolten early, and scheduling the rest of your visits around the shows (if you're group is into that). The food offerings are quite good during Christmas Town, and you might want to check out the Christmas Town buffet at Feshaus Kaffe (this requires making a reservation at Guest Relations, which also gives you a guaranteed seat for the show in the Festhaus). Or you could just wander around and dnjoy the lights and the "street enteratinment." (For example, there's a musical Christmas tree show every half-hour in front of the Festhaus and a brass band in Holiday Hills). Many of the outdoor dining venues offer some enclosed, heated seating. Note that the penguin exhibit in France isn't particularly spectacular but tends to draw a long line. I hope this helps. Enjoy Christmas Town!

It's got to be better than Spin Bullet, the ride it replaced. SB, with its restraint system by the Marquis de Sade, was one of the worst rides ever (although I did enjoy the rest of Joypolis).

Here's my ballot for 2012. --Generator: Jordan's Ballot Helper 2012 (wood)-- --Ballot: 7936dd1b48b-- --chuckc@aol.com------ LOCATION FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS) ~"Virginia" NAME FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS IN Ballot) ~"Chuck Campbell" RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,1 Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,2 Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,3 Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,4 Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,5 Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6 COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this Balder Liseberg SE,y,n,1 Phoenix Knoebel's PA,y,n,2 El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,n,3 Colossos Heide Park DE,y,n,4 My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,5 Wood Coaster Knight Valley CN,y,y,6 Thunderhead Dollywood TN,y,y,7 Dauling Dragon-L Happy Valley CN,y,y,8 Viper SFGAm IL,y,n,9 HellCat Timber Falls WI,y,n,10 Fireball Happy Valley Song CN,y,y,11 Raven Holiday World IN,y,n,12 Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA,y,n,13 Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA,y,n,14 Troy Toverland NL,y,n,15 Prowler Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,16 Renegade Valleyfair! MN,y,n,17 Apocalypse S. F. Magic Mountain CA,y,n,18 Dauling Dragon-R Happy Valley CN,y,y,19 Cornball Express Indiana Beach IN,y,n,20 Tonnerre de Zeus Parc Asterix FR,y,n,21 Thunderbird PowerPark FI,y,n,22 Outlaw Adventureland IA,y,n,23 The Beast Kings Island OH,y,n,24 American Thunder Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,25 Rutschebanen Bakken DK,y,n,26 Rutschebanen Tivoli Gardens DK,y,n,27 Thundercoaster Tusenfryd NO,y,n,28 Wild One SF America MD,y,n,29 Thunderbolt Kennywood PA,y,n,30 Grand National Blackpool UK,y,n,31 Twister Knoebel's PA,y,n,32 Cannonball Lake Winnepesaukah GA,y,n,33 Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA,y,n,34 The Legend Holiday World IN,y,n,35 The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,36 Wild Mouse Blackpool UK,y,n,37 Wild Mouse Aussie World AU,y,n,38 Wild Mouse Luna Park-Sydney AU,y,n,39 Grt Am Scrm Mach SFoG GA,y,n,40 Megafobia Oakwood UK,y,n,41 Roar SF America MD,y,n,42 Lost Coaster of SM Indiana Beach IN,y,n,43 Falken Farup Sommerland DK,y,n,44 Timber Wolf Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,45 Hoosier Hurricane Indiana Beach IN,y,n,46 Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,n,47 Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,y,48 Tornado Adventureland IA,y,n,49 Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA,y,n,50 Racer Kings Island OH,y,n,51 Thunder Road Carowinds NC,y,n,52 Vuoristorata Linnamaki Park FI,y,n,53 Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA,y,n,54 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,y,55 Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA,y,n,56 Racer Kennywood PA,y,n,57 Comet Hersheypark PA,y,n,58 Big Dipper Blackpool UK,y,n,59 Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,n,60 Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,n,61 Underground Adventureland IA,y,n,62 White Cyclone Nagashima Spaland JP,y,n,63 White Canyon Yomiuriland JP,y,n,64 Blue Flyer Blackpool UK,y,n,65 Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,y,66 Hurler Carowinds NC,y,n,67 High Roller Valleyfair! MN,y,n,68 Cyclops Mount Olympus WI,y,n,69 Scenic Railway Luna Park-Melbourne AU,y,n,70 Screamin' Eagle Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,71 Loup Garou Walibi Belgium BE,y,n,72 Zeus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,73 American Eagle SFGAm IL,y,n,74 Mammut Tripsdrill DE,y,n,75 Robin Hood Walibi Holland NL,y,n,76 Coastersaurus Legoland Florida FL,y,n,77 Roller Coaster Great Yarmouth UK,y,n,78 Nickelodeon Streak Blackpool UK,y,n,79 Kingdom Coaster Dutch Wonderland PA,y,n,80 Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA,y,n,81 Swamp Fox Family Kingdom SC,y,n,82 The Boss Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,83 Pegasus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,84 Little Dipper SFGAm IL,y,n,85 Ghoster Coaster Kings Dominion VA,y,y,86 Woodstock Express Carowinds NC,y,n,87 Woodstock Express Kings Island OH,y,n,88 Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,89 The Grizzly Great America CA,y,n,90 Jupiter Kijima Korakuen JP,y,n,91 Hades Mount Olympus WI,y,n,92 GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,n,93 Son of Beast (SBNO) Kings Island OH,y,n,94 The Bandit Movie Park DE,y,n,95 Anaconda Walygator Parc FR,y,n,96

The entree pictured above definitely works for me.

^Then, perhaps you should've said that. Just a suggestion. EDIT: I see you've edited your initial post. Carry on.

I am, to be frank, indifferent.

TPR visited two similar attractions in China this year: World Park in Beijing and Window of the World in Shenzen. Some of the displays were "interesting."

^ & ^^ More like this. And, no, this isn't a "spam" thread.

If you spend much time in Williamsburg, you might want to try the DOG Street Pub in Merchants Square. They have a pretty good sized selection of brew in bottles and on tap.

^I think the last time I rode one of those was at Dollywood with you and your kids, Guy.

^I finally streamed it via Netflix earlier this year. It makes Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space and Bride of the Monster look like tragic works of genius.

^Exactly. Most of the visitors to Christmas Town are there for the decorations, the shows, and the food--not necessarily for the rides. I went there on a Friday night, and Verbolten was a walk on (unless you wanted to wait two trains for a front seat). This is the first time I've seen that queue empty outside of an ERT event.

I'm really looking forward to trying the new Test Track myself. Looks like time and money well spent.

Well, there's always this for you holiday-viewing pleasure: Or, perhaps . . .

Me neither. I'd be surprised if that park lasted two more years.

As I recall from TPR 2009 Scandi Trip, a Star Flyer was planned for the new section they were hoping to build: Good to see that they can still incorporate at least some of those plans.