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Although Andy Griffith is best know today as "Andy Taylor" or "Matlock," I think he gave his best performance as "Lonesome Rhodes" (sort of a "Bizarro Andy Taylor") in A Face in the Crowd. He foreshadows the rise of media personalities like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

They maintain Nessie pretty well, so it's held up over the years. I never found Verbolten to be particularly "rough," either.

It has a long, rich history. Yes, Verbolten has had first-season issues, but the looks on the faces of people on the last brake run behind the station tell me that people like it quite bit (lots of laughing and smiling).

Experiencing "the lively energy" of an otter sounds kind of sick.

Someone mentioned KI's Flight Deck earlier, and I'll go along with that one, too. It is in one very odd spot, and is dwarfed by the SBNO Son of Beast. So, I'd say SFA's Batwing and KI's Flight Deck share my "worst placement" prize.

I thought the two Cars flicks were very good looking movies, but I had trouble getting involved in them (particularly the second one). Pixar's best flicks are still the Toy Story series, The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Up.

But is the Intamin design "proven"? To the best of my knowledge, Intamin has built only one of these coasters with a drop element--Thir3een. And, as it's been pointed out elsewhere, Verbolten is quite a different ride. I think it's way too early to say that BGW was "ripped off"; then again, everyone on the Internet is an "expert," right? You're entitled to your opinion, just as I am entitled to disagree with it.

Here's the solution. It involves two steps: 1. Become a producer. 2. Make your own show. Plus, I have no idea what you mean by "unfair."

My advice is this--get there earlier and snag a Fast Pass. After all, you've already paid for it in your admission, so you may as well take advantage.

^DarKastle went through a rehab last year, so it's doing quite well. Verbolten, according to what the park said at media day, is now the park's most complex attraction.

This one.

Well, it is an arch. Just put a sign saying "St. Louis" in front of it--done.

^More like the "Summer of DarKastle," which had plenty of issues during its first season, too.

You're right, Adam--looks just like you. Now get me my cup of coffee!

^Does BGW really need to "catch up to Tampa"? Remember, BGW is a seasonal park (despite the introduction of Christmas Town), and the only real competition it has in the state is Kings Dominion (and the two parks tend to complement each other). BGW seems to please its audience pretty well; Tampa needs to do more to better compete with the Orlando parks (and has been pretty successful at it). And I'm quite happy to have "traded" the Wilde Maus for Curse of DarKastle, an attraction that's unique for this region (as is Verbolten, for that matter).

Ah, yes--one of Japan's numerous "Jet Coasters." (This may be the most popular name for a coaster in the Land of the Rising Sun.)

I'm quite happy that they didn't just build a clone of a ride they have somewhere else. Verbolten is unique and a lot of fun--but they need to get the kinks worked out (with the help of Zierer). You can do all the pre-testing you want--the true test is when you finally put butts in the seats.

The only somewhat jarring note is the fence around Casey Jr.--I guess they don't want wet kids climbing on him and falling off.

To give you an idea how important the animals really are to BGW, take the case of the Clydesdales. When Busch took their horses after selling off the parks, the new owners decided that Busch Gardens simply wasn't Busch Gardens without them. They rented Clydesdales for the first year of Christmas Town (for photo ops), and the public reaction was so favorable, they bought their own horses, along with sheep and dogs, and rethemed the stable as a Scottish farm.

^I'm not a fan of The Royal Tennenbaums, but I did enjoy The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (I think it's the weirdest movie Bill Murray has ever made).

High winds would affect rides like Drop Tower and Windseeker, too. As for Volcano, well, it is Volcano. (I like it, but it can be a bit temperamental.) Lightning strikes would be another possibility.

Looking forward to riding this in September--no one does themed coasters like Disney.

HULK HATE PUNY PRESS RELEASE! HULK WANT DETAILED BUSINESS PLAN!

I have a feeling the best movie I'll see this year is Moonrise Kingdom,and there's nary a CGI monster or alied in it (although there are a few small explosions). It's a quirky coming-of-age story set on an island off the U.S. East Coast. It's low key, but very funny.

Back on track, again.