palmerleeberry

That photo trip big time!!! It would make sense to host the carnival indoors since this is still winter time and anyone who'll be crazy enough to ride a spinning ride in the wintertime deserves to be turned into an ice cube. Why don't we have this in America (and if we do, then how come I didn't know about it?) I'll end with another

I have been to Astroworld, Geauga Lake, The Pavalion (in Myrtle Beach), Magic Harbor (also in Myrtle Beach), and to Lakeside (outside Roanoke, VA) and won't be coming back to either of these parks not by choice, but because these parks are DEFUNCT!!! It does make one , , and then when a park is no longer open, even worse if there was a favorite ride or a ride you couldn't ride anyplace else that was inside that park. I still miss the Shooting Star from Lakeside.

The Patchman wrote: You and me both. The Nighthawk's colors should be black and purple.

Ah, Kings Dominion in the late 70's and 80's - it brings back many fond and pleasant memories. King Kobra, the first coaster with inversions that I rode in 1978; Rebel Yell, back when it was a dueling coaster; Lake Charles, when they used to have those water skiing shows. And I would also remember riding the Galaxy, the small red coaster that had thrills between Rebel Yell and Scooby-Doo and the three attractions inside the Lost World (Believe it or Not - Haunted River still had the longest lines right up to its demise). Oh, well: reflection time is over. Great photos of early Kings Dominion and I hope to see more of them in future posts.

Well, I don't know much about Baker Leisure Group of Orlando and what their short and long term plans are, but since I won't be returning to Florida until either 2009 or 2010 (When Harry Potter's land opens up at IOA), I'll just keep a close watch on them and their developments. Their first task to get the Starliner up and running so they can get good #'s attending their park. Then their second task is to get that park OUT OF THE RED & BACK IN BLACK!!!. When that happens, this will happen: (maybe steal some of Disney's attendees, perhaps?)

Okay, here is my views: Borg being renamed "Nighthawk" - Since this ride makes the riders feel like they are flying and Nighthawl sounds like a super hero name, then I don't have any qualms about it. Top Gun being renamed :Flight Deck? That is probable the most lamest, stupidest name I ever heard to be used for a coaster. There could have been many cooler names to name this coaster, even "JOHN DOE" would have been a better name than "FLIGHT DECK". ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? To the person that thought up Flight Deck

supertrooper wrote Chalk it up to me to get those coasters names mixed up (again). I did mean the Mind Bender, the fun coaster with the Riddler's theme. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

As for me, now I can say that's two types of coasters I never got to ride because the @#$%& things were never running on the days I visited the parks. Of course, the coasters I'm talking about are the Deja Vu and Flashback. I always said that if you can't keep those coasters up and running all the time, then get rid off them!!! I'm sure there is an amusement park in (H - E - double hockey sticks) that could use them. "Welcome to my park. Tons of rides here" "But you got nothing running?" "This is (H - E - double hockey sticks): nothing runs here!" "Arrgh!!!"

That is a perfect defination of insanity, risking your life to retrieve a cap that probably cost between $15 to $20. Was a cap like that really worth it? Years ago, a women last her hat while riding Top Gun at Paramount Great America in California, so her husband jumped a fence in order to retrieve the missing hat. And he gets kicked in the head by a passing train full of riders. That man got killed, the rider (who's leg kicked him) had to be taken to the hospital to have it's leg placed in a cap, and the hat remains unharmed ( "Ha, ha, ha: I love that type of deathhead humor). The Palmer says this: "Never wear a cap on a ride - keep all caps safe at home!"

As for my opinion on the name changes, the Tomb Raider ride should have been called the "Crypt-hanger" (notice the pun in that title - it takes palce in a crypt-like place and you are hanging for dear life). As for the Italian Job ride, I - have no opinion on that. Sorry.

My favorite flat ride is known in the industy as "The Flying Duchman". Several examples of this type of flat ride is "The Pirate Ships" at Six Flags America (my rule when visiting this park - must ride at least twice), and the Santa Maria at Six Flags over Georgia. Then there is the Triple Spin at Kings Dominion that I also like. And (lat one) then there are the Scramblers. Those rides

Okay, I don't know if they are the best, but they are very fun rides. Wooden - The Wild One at Six Flags America (over 90 years old and still providing the thrills). Steel - Kuma at Busch Gardens Africa - This coaster is so smooth! Suspended - Big Bad Wolf - Riding at the speed of Fright. Inverted - The Volcano at Kings Dominion - This coaster is a real Blast! and finally - a small coaster at Montey's Piers called the Plitzer - it was so good I rode it many times. And I so also add The Whizzer at Six Flags Great America (there should be a law to make this last coaster of its kind a national shrine) and the Mind Eraser at Six Flags over Georgia (still a fun ride). Of course, I like all coasters, but these coasters on my list are my personal favorites.

I have a better contest: What is that girl thinking? Is it #1? "I SHOULD HAVE RIDDEN THE MERRY-GO-ROUND!" Is it #2? "WHY DID I LET MYSELF GET TALKED INTO RIDDING THIS?" Or is it #3? "I'M GONNA PUKE!!!" By the way, that coaster looked like it could be the Rebel Yell coaster from King's Dominion. I can't tell if it's going forward or backwards.

Okay, Okay, here's my craziest trip I've ever took. Way back in '91, I just bought a new car a few months ago and my mother told me "Now you can go west." You see, I wanted to go to King's Island so I can ride The Beast, but with the old used car I was driving at that time worried Mom alot (we lived in Harrisonburg, VA - so you know the distance between Harrisonburg and Cinncinatti is great). Now that I had a new car and some time off, I decided to go off to King's Island. In those days, I was young and poor, but I was also too high spirited and I wasn't going to let anything interferred with my plans of going. So on Memorial weekend in 1991, I took all the money I had, packed up all the food and sodas I could carry, and lefted for King's Island. I drove straight there, spent about eight hours inside the park, and drove straight back, barely getting a wink of sleep during that time. I didn't have any more money and the only credit card I carried at that time was a Chevron gasoline card (you can laugh; there are no Chevrons stations in Ohio). Still, I managed to make it back home in one piece and I sleeped until it was Memorial Day. Still, the trip was worth it. I got to ride The Beast. Since then, I only took two other trips like that: one to Cedar Point in 1995 and a big two week road trip in 2001 touring parks from Busch Gardens all the way to Six Flags Mid America and back. But those trips involved spending nights in a motel and a lot less strain since I'm no longer young nor poor. But I'm still high spirited.

I'm glad that Six Flags America is getting the Tony Hawk's Halfpipe for next season: I'm hoping that will ease the long lines for the Tornado and increase their water park side in popularity and capacity. Still, I wish the park was getting more for the amusement side to compersate for the flat rides they taken out. Another flat ride would be at least welcomed. Then again, the amusement side needed some fixings to help improve the park that may have cut into overall budget, thus preventing any new attractions. Oh well, maybe next season.

I must be fortunate, I had no bad experiences riding roller coasters even though I was at Kings Island riding the Scooby Doo Ghostbuster. I waited over an hour to get on, but the ride was so lame. I'm glad they got ride of it. But I did have a bad experience waiting in line to get on a coaster. At Six Flags Great Adventure, my buddy and I were in line to ride Skull Mountain and there were these three restless girls behind us playing "let's hit each other" games. One girl ducked out of the way and I got hit by one of them. They apologized and I accepted, but a minute later, I got hit again. I gave them a stern warning to quit their playing and resume my line waiting, and a minute later I get hit again! I was PO'ed after that and a yelling match resulted. My friend stepped in and, in the end, we decided to let these girls pass us in line, plus a few more riders to keep us seperated from them. I never hit a girl before, and thanks to my friend, I still never have hit a girl and have us thrown out of the park. I rather face a rough and tough coaster than to stand in that type of line again.

I've been on many Wild Mouse rides (my personal favorite layout is the "Ricochet" at Kings Dominion - Hey, what other Wild Mouse features that first fifty-foot drop? ), but I must admit that I've have never heard nor even rode a wooden version of the Wild Mouse (in other words, all the Wild Mouses were metal structures painted yellow). I can't think of any park in the USA that would want to have this version of Wild Mouse when they could get the updated metal version for a fraction of the price: still, the park that actually bought, dismantled, shipped, and rebuilt that ride could always boast of having "the only wooden Wild Mouse in America". And I would have to plan vacation time to go to that park and ride it so I can say that I rode the only wooden Wild Mouse in America.

I was there at Dollywood last summer and that place was awesome. My only regret was not getting a season pass cos one visit to that park just isn't enough. I'm envious: you got to ride those coasters at night? When I was there, the park opened from 10:30 to 6:00 and had to ride everything in daylight. I'm sure the Tennessee Tornado is even more daring to ride at night as it is during daytime. I'm sure the water rides weren't running, but what about the other flat rides? Did you get to ride the Train? And was the Tumble Tower running (it was down when I visited)? I bet that would be interesting: riding a coaster in December. I may want to consider a trip to the Smokey Mountains in December.

The name of the flight trainer ride at Kings Dominion was called the "Sky Pilot". I thought it was a fun little ride, but I had a trial or two trying to get in and out of the doggone ride. After a few years, that ride was taken out and the scrambler put into it's place. Today, the scrambler has been moved to Conga and the Drop Zone was put in its place. A little trivia I thought would interest you all; from the rider who's been at that park since 1978.

After going through all those photos, press releases, and a whole lotta other stuff, I can't say it, just express it - Thanks for the trip down memory lane for those who couldn't be there during that time.

First, my heart goes out to Jeffrey Reed and his family for this tragic event. People go out to amusement park to take a break from life and enjoy themselves knowing that when the day ends they would return home with smiles on there faces. To go to an amusement park with friends and families and to have someone in your party to not come home is very devastating. According to the report, there wasn't any report of anything wrong with the ride, so I have to speculate that the rider may had a condition that got triggered during the ride. To enjoy rides like that, you need to be in good physical health and not have any medical problems (a big reason for me to eat right and do my daily exercises - I want to be able to fit into the restraints and keep riding). This reminds me of another rider who died while riding the Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The autopsy revealed that the rider suffered from a pre-ride condition in her brain that got triggered while riding. What else can I say but know your physical health status before riding?

I can name a couple. From Kings Dominion - The Galaxy, King Kobra, (and hopefully not the Hypersonic - say it isn't so, Joe). From Busch Gardens Europe - Drachen Fire and the Glissade (can't say Wild Maus cos that's been moved to Busch Gardens Africa) From Six Flags America - Python From Six Flags Magic Mountian- The Pysclone

Way back in 1990, I saw on National Geographic (TBS) a segment on roller coasters, including the Pipline Coaster. I was thinking to myself back then "WOW, I would love to ride that!" and "I wonder which park will be the first to offer this ride?" (I was hoping Kings Dominion would be the first to pick it up, but they were busy building the Anaconda by that time). As the years and seasons went by, no Pipline coaster. Instead, the newest type coaster called the BATMAN at Six Flags Great Adventure (the inverted coaster) would caused all the other parks to get their own version. Well, I guess I can say that this coaster will be like the Deja Vu, I never got to ride it!

Whenever I hear of a park being sold, I tend to get anxious about the whole deal Sometimes the deal maybe great (Rmember Ghost Town in the Sky? I'm sure that park will grow and become greater within the coming seasons) But sometimes something happens when the new owners decides to change the park and make it into something different (Remeber Geauge Lake, anyone? That was a great park until it got screwed twice, first by Six Flags and then by Cedar Fair). It lefted a lot of people like this or Right now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this.

Wow! Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I first went to Kings Island way back in 1991, so I guess I missed getting on THE BAT. Of course, two years after my first visit, Kings Island added TOP GUN, which I didn't get to ride until 1999. This begs the question: If Cedar Point is dropping all Paramount logos and licenses, will TOP GUN be renamed? Could this ride be renamed THE BAT?