Ed Farmer

Oh good, another take the tunnel reference.

I think Great America is more than set in the "poor capacity coasters" dept.

Great news! I thought it was short-sighted to theme anything significant after Tony Hawk because that name just doesn't mean anything to a good portion of customers, and to those that it does (teens), modern attention spans did their thing and forgot about him. Not even yesterdays- he's last decades news. Wiggles is another brand that wasn't going to last, just as Teletubbies didn't. For Six Flags, the good thing about Wiggles is that now they can shout Expansion! and simply switch a few signs around. I'd guess that this was probably a given when the whole Wiggles World idea was conceived. Thomas is the one that was proven to last with time, but it was never Sesame Street. I wish the company would just push Looney Toons with even half the effort they did these flavor of the millisecond brands, or like Cedar Fair does Peanuts.

Great to see this kind of launcher still being built, even if it is in Indonesia.

Never understood why people fuss over a little grey/blackout sometimes to the point of disliking the coaster entirely(!). I especially appreciate coasters that can do that.

Yeah, they were in Stl. At least some of them were being kept near Batman recently.

I just don't think that someone legitimately undertaking the mammoth task of building an amusement park from scratch would be asking about such intracacies, thats all. I may well be wrong, it's just my opinion. These are things I would imagine you worry about FAR down the road, if at all. Again, just an opinion.

Wow. Save the Big Dipper wasn't taken seriously why again?

/\ That was the Frequent Faller. It looked like a cool concept. I think it was cancelled because of a dispute in the cost. The manufacturer bumped up the figure IIRC.

If cheetahs didn't hunt there would be no cheetahs. They need to hunt to survive. It's just a fact of life over there. Are you always upset with the Discovery, National Geographic, etc. channels? They constantly show hunting in all it's viciousness. Also, doesn't Holiday World have a ride where you shoot turkeys? Clearly when I wrote this I meant human holding a gun hunt. BGT also houses lions and tigers. What kind of dressing do you think they prefer on their salads?

Kumba, Sheikra, Montu or Gwazi sound just as made up and silly. You wouldn't have known any of those hold meaning in another language had the park not made a point of including the information in their respective press release. Ideally I'd love for Busch Tampa to find a translation in Swahili (I think it is) for a Cheetah's Hunt, but I'm willing to bet that 99% of park-goers don't care unless it sounds "cool". That is where we run in to the problem with including "hunt" in the name and the unfortunate "numb skull" populous.

I agree with DBru that there will be those who interpret the name wrongly. When the name was announced it was clear that it meant to convey a Cheetah's hunt. This is Busch Gardens. C'mon now... Even a family owned park would probably shy away from naming a ride after the concept of hunting ANYTHING. PC is just a fact of life over here. There are those who are thick skulled, however. I would think Busch could clarify matters with the whole you know, Cheetah habitat, conservationist stance they take on things. Not enough? I wasn't thrilled with the name at first, Cheetaka just seemed more fitting in the continuity aspect of things. Then I remembered Rhino Rally and it's lame-ass name. Three days later my worry focuses on the ride opening on time and being reliable. The nine year old Impulse at my home park is about as reliable as a crack addict paying his rent on time.

They're going to drop everything and build two of whatever qualifies as a coaster because it matters that much to them.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was. A major chain like SF won't hesitate to take every precaution to prevent problems. Overreaction? Probably, yes. Smart? Yes.

A damn good one. I'll always have fun on an impulse coaster, be it the standard issue or Wicked Twister (can't vouch for Linear Gale having never been there), but the modification to the West Coast V2 put it head and shoulders above the rest to me.