cfc

Agreed.

^If there was an open bar, how can you assume that you've remembered correctly?

^In terms of ambition, yes.

^I thought I'd hate it during the first ten minutes, but it grew on me.

^^Maybe it's because water parks outside of Orlando tend to pull in locals, while the Orlando parks get a bigger mix of locals and tourists.

Williamsburg had a pretty "off" year in general in 2011. At least, Colonial Williamsburg and the local hotel owners were all crying in their beer about it. The Mach Tower mess probably hurt BGW quite a bit, too--delaying the opening of your new ride, even if it is just a drop tower, from May until August certainly couldn't have helped business. Vanish Point, Water Country's new slide for 2011, was fun, but didn't have all that much of a "wow" factor, but a 7.8 percent drop is pretty bad. Maybe they should consider going for some more "extreme" attractions along the lines of Mammoth or Wildebeest. It'll be interesting to see what Verbolten does for BGW. The public really seems to like it a lot.

"Pirates are in this year!"

"Those poor people will be sliced to ribbons! Hurry, Robin! There isn't a moment to lose!"

"Smurf me! Smurf me rough! Oh, smurf, smurf, smurf . . . !"

This is a particularly good idea for Water Country--keeps you from having to retrieve your wallet every time someone wants a drink or a snack.

The only other park where I've seen one of these simulators still working is Dutch Wonderland. Thanks for this look at South America.

^Makes sense. I imagine that the whole "postcard" thing would be something that only theme-park geeks who followed DCA's development on the Internet would get.

^Same here. I liked DCA's big entrance letters, and I'm glad they're not going to waste.

Schlitterbahn is a water park I've wanted to visit for years. Thanks for the pictures.

Here's some information from the park about their new "Discovery Dollars" program: Sounds similar to what Epcot offers for their annual Food and Wine Festival.

^The best part of MIB 3 was Josh Brolin--he was perfect as the young K. Will Smith's schtick is getting a bit old, though.

As I recall, one of Universal's big selling points was that their one-day, two-park ticket was cheaper than a one-day/one-park ticket at WDW.

It looks like a gigantic tidal wave is approaching.

^They're pretty damn good, but they will make all your arteries slam shut at once.

^Dadburn, rumor-mongerin' enthusiasts! Shut yer yaps, or it's the belt for ya!

I think it's right up there with Nemesis--a great ride in a rather remote location.

It's good to see SFA making some extra effort at theming. Some parts of the park look pretty good (for example, their "wild west" section) while others aren't so hot (for example, Gotham City). I remember when "barrels = theming"--now it's wrecked cars and crashed planes.

^I think my family's old photos of the first year of California's Great America are long gone--but I imagine they look just like yours (I think the parks were pretty much mirror images back then).

^I imagine they'll add other slides eventually, now that they have the existing water park rethemed.

24/40--lots of guesses, though.