cfc

Behold the legendary Meat Cow!

Agreed.

I really enjoyed Cosmoworld and Sea Paradise back in 2007--good to see that they're getting even better (I'm particularly intrigued by the new walkthrough). You have to like any arcade that has an "armadillo race" game.

Same for me. In spring 2009, I thought Voyage was great and ranked it my top ten. But in August 2010 it just wasn't much fun. I was shocked at how much more brutal it had become.

Where the Canadian Palladium used to be--next to the Smokehouse.

July 4th at BGW and "The Legend of Killarney"--Sort Of I decided to head over to BGW on July 4 to see this year's Illuminights offerings and watch stuff blow up. Unfortunately, Mother Nature provided most of the fireworks in the form of thunderstorms that night. Fireworks displays all over southeastern Virginia were either cancelled or postponed. However, I did catch one Illuminights show: "The Legend of Killarney" over in Ireland. Now, my memory of the show is a bit fuzzy, but here's what I think went on . . . Fireworks! Ohboyohboyohboy! Looks like I'm just in time for the 6:00 pm show in Ireland. Yes, the entire village is shivering with antici . . . pation. OK, so we have a leprechaun. Or maybe just some Irish guy who dresses like one. Or he may be from New Jersey, and not actually from Ireland. (Yes, these are all jokes used in the show.) Anyway, whether he's from Dublin or Jersey City, the poor guy has lost his "Fairy Princess," which was pretty careless of him, if you ask me. I wonder if he looked under the couch or between the seat cushions of his car. He's so bummed because he can't hang out with his Princess that he blows his own flute. Poorly. His pathetic flute blowing actually draws the attention of demon puppet animals, who mock him and his "gold-digging fairy." Well, since he blows on the flute, he may as well try playing with his wand. But he still needs help. "Hmm--that's a mighty impressive wand ya got there feller. Near as big as mine, ha ha!" OK, no one needed to see you do that, pal. "Open the door for your . . . . . . Mystery Date!" Aghh! Well, that's what he gets for that silly wand dance and not being sure if he's from Jersey or Ireland. The demonic animal puppets were disturbed at this development, and wondered if maybe they should head over to Happy Hour at Applebee's. Oh, lord, he's really getting desparate now. Ta dah! Success! Or an Irish remake of Avatar. "Here's some treasure. Now lay off your flute! Ya wanna wear it out?" "Sweet! Coins!" "Thank you! You're a beautiful audience! I'm here all month!" That's all for now.

Speaking of Mach Tower, here's a picuture I took the other night--not the greatest, but you can see the seats and the catch car. Looking forward to riding it myself later this month. I do think it's a nice-looking drop tower. It fits Oktoberfest quite well.

He was probably "booing" them.

It's more of a "roadside attraction" for people staying in Cherokee than anything else. But if someone wants to post a TR of the place, go for it.

Looks like the other mystery of the "Mystery Zone" is which scenes are supposed to have working mechanical effects.

Yep--especially when compared to the Soapbox Racers or the Motorcycle Chase. (It also killed riders' jaws, kneecaps, ears, etc. Xcelerator was a huge improvement over this thing.) I'm still puzzled as to why they changed the Roaring 20s Airfield to the more generic Boardwalk theme. The Roaring 20s section was, at least, unique. I can't think of any other park that uses that era for theming. I think this change may have pre-dated Cedar Fair, though.

Those who complain that the park has lost some of its "charm" (as I do) aren't saying that the park shouldn't "progress"--they just don't agree with how Cedar Fair has gone about it. For example, I have no issues with something like Xcelerator, which at least adheres to the theme of the Boardwalk area pretty well (and is the best ride in the park). However, Silver Bullet does nothing to complement the theme of Ghost Town--it just overpowers it.

I figured that I'd be "one and done" with Insane during ERT at Grona Lund in 2009 (I'm not into spinning rides, either). But I loved it, ended up riding four or five times, and had quite a mixture of experiences depending on the load (including one particularly crazy ride where we went up the lifthill looking straight down at the ground). I'm looking forward to checking out Green Lantern, too.

After my ride on White Canyon in 2007, I didn't think it was all that bad. Then I saw the Yomiuriland video later, and based on what was happening to others on White Canyon, I realized that I'd been very lucky.

The warning should read as follows: "Spin Bullet is not appropriate for anyone."

I'm sure that a few people would say Horizons at Epcot. Although "saddened" might be a better word than "shocked."

That was my big gripe about Eejanaika--that the seats just flipped willynilly for no real reason at all, whereas the seat roataions on X2 made more sense and enhanced the ride. But I hear that Eejanaika has improved since then.

The Shaka Shaka Chicken looks great, but I think the Teriyaki Burgers are terrible (sounds like a good idea, but something is lacking in the execution). Other than that, all the other McDonald's food I've eaten is Japan is better than in the U.S. (I like the burgers with mushrooms and Swiss cheese in Australia, too).

^I think the last thing we need is another failed park that runs for a season or two, then just becomes a home for feral cats or racoons.

Nice meeting you at BGW, Steve--glad you enjoyed TPR Day. KD's Snoopy light show does look like one of the better ones (although Worlds of Fun's version seems to run over a larger area).

Patrick Warburton should do all ride safety videos.

They were scared off by the powerhouse that is Magical Midway.

Seems there was a biT of a problem at the Smokehouse today: http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/11-employees-treated-at-busch-gardens. Doesn't sound like a big deal--some employees gat a bit sick from cleaning-solution fumes.

I liked Nagashima Spaland back in 2007, and it looks like they've been sprucing up the place a bit since then. There was a fun haunted walkthough with a crazy cat demon that may have been Angus McNasty's mother, too.

TV's greatest detective is dead: Peter "Columbo" Falk. I loved that show back in the 1970s.